SHAH WALIULLAH
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INTRODUCTION:
Shah Wali Ullah was born on 21 February 1703 during the
reign of Aurangzeb his real name was Qutub-ud-din but became famous as Shah
Wali-Ullah his father was Shah Abdul Rahim who founded Madrassa Rahimiya in
Delhi his father died in 1718.In 1724 Shah Wali Ullah went to Arabia to perform
Hajj. He studied under famous scholar Sheikh Abu Tahir bin Ibrahim and returned
to Delhi in 1732. During the course of his education, he learned many of his
books from his father and was inducted in the tradition of bayath (sacred vows)
by his father and by the age of 17 was permitted by his father to provide
spiritual guidance and reform his fellow Muslims. After 14 months of stay in Arabia, two hajj
pilgrimages and learning the books of hadith from the scholars of the holy
cities, Shah Waliullah finally returned to India in early 1145 H.E. the journey
home lasted six months and he reached Delhi on Friday 14 Rajab 1145 H.E. on reaching
home, he started teaching again and writing until his death three decades
later.
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BELIEFS:
He believed that the Muslims were facing decline not because
of weak leadership but because of Muslim community itself. He believed that
many Muslims did not have complete knowledge of Quranic teachings. A major
problem was that Muslims were divided into Shias and Sunnis and fought with
themselves. It was necessary to follow Islamic teachings into every aspect of
life.
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WORK:
He worked hard to ensure that he was a role model for every
Muslim. He translated Quran into Persian because many people were unfamiliar
with Arabic. Later his sons, Shah Abdul Qader and Shah Rafi, translated Quran
into Urdu so more and more people could gain Islamic knowledge. He wrote fifty
one books in Persian and Arabic. Amongst the most famous were
Hujjatullah-ul-Baligha and Izalat-Akhfa. He also wrote an account of the first
four caliphs of Islam in a way that was acceptable to both Shias and Sunnis. In
economics he emphasised the need for social justice and for peasants and
craftsmen to be truly valued for their contribution to the economy. His most
important contributions to the Muslim community was his organization of
opposition to the Marathas, who were threatening to over-run the Mughal Empire
from the south. It was to call together the divinities among Muslims and unite
them for Jihad. He wrote a letter to Afghan King Ahmad Shah Abdali and joined
local forces with local Muslim leaders and defeated the Marathas in the Battle
of Panipat in 1761. However, despite encouragement from Shah Wali Ullah, the
Muslim leaders did not unite to take advantage of the defeat of the Marathas.
Perhaps if they had done so, the Muslims would not have soon found themselves
under Non-Muslim rule.
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IMPORTANCE:
Shah Wali Ullah was one of the first thinkers to state that
the decline of Mughal Empire and the vulnerable position of the Muslims were
due to a neglect of the principles of Islam. He showed how this regeneration
might take place. The Madrassa continued to play a vital role in teaching
Islamic principles and researching Islamic thought. He believed that Muslims
could prosper if they followed proper Islamic customs and did not indulge in
social evils. His writing gave large number of Muslims a chance to study their
religion and understand its teachings. He gave Muslims inspiration to lead a
pure simple Life. He showed that Muslims had to concentrate more on basic
principle rather than finding the difference which would lead them in the
conflict among them. He tried to oppose Maratha and unite the Muslim under a
common enemy. Many future leaders were inspired by his teachings. And fight for
the good of Muslim community.
SYED AHMED SHAHEED
BARELVI
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INTRODUCTION:
Syed Ahmad was born in a small town of Rai Bareli near
Lucknow. He moved in Delhi in 1806 and Studied in Madrassa Rahimya for two
years. In 1810 in joined a Pathan Military Leader and learned to use European
weaponry. In 1817 He returned to Delhi trying to make Islam to its original
purity.
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BELIEFS:
He believed that Muslims could achieve their freedom by
having arm struggle against the British and Sikhs. He believed that the evil in
the Islamic Society had to be cured. He called for Jihad Movement to over throw
the non-Muslim force which was oppressing them. Only then Islam could be
rescued from the evil customs of other societies.
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WORK:
In 1821 He went for Hajj and returned from Arabia in 1823
ready for action. At this time Punjab and NWFP was in the control of Sikh and
Muslims were unable to live according to their faith. He traveled many hundred
miles to raise a mujahideen force. In 1826 Syed Ahmad established his
headquarters near Peshawar and sent a messenger asking Ranjit Singh the ruler
to allow muslims follow their religion but the request was turn down so he had
no choice but to attack at Okara on 21 December 1826 and after that Hazarothe
and defeat the Sikhs. He was successful military leader and the mujahideen
force soon reached 80,000 men, but there was a major problem as the force had
people from different area they quarreled on how the camping should run. Sikhs
tried to exploit the army by calling it un-Islamic but it was consider jihad by
Muslim leaders. When Syed Ahmad was about to attack the fort of Attock he
encountered the army of Sikh of 35000 men’s. What he did not know was that Yar
Muhammad Khan a Pathan chief was bribed by the Sikh and even his servant tried
to poison him. Then Yar Muhammad deserted him on the battle field along his men
and thus this creates chaos and lead to defeat. Syed Ahmad had no choice but to
move his headquarters to safety of Panjtar near Kashmir but was again betrayed
when a person in his army told the British a secret way to attack them. In
battle of Balakot 1831 a surprise attack was lead by Sikh and Six hundred
Muslims were killed along with Syed Ahmed.
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IMPORTANCE:
The Defeat of the mujahideen in the Battle of Balakot was a
serious setback for the Jihad movement still it survived. The movement continued on the hills of NWFP
until 1863 when the British sent large force to deal with it still it survived
through determination of its followers. The work of Syed Ahmad was important
because it was the first arm struggle of a movement to free Muslims from
non-Muslim rule. It was not a movement for a leader but it was to achieve
religious freedom. Jihad of Syed Ahmad inspired many Muslims. It is the
fore-runner of Pakistan movement as the aim of this movement was to safe-guard
Muslim interest and achieves a homeland where they can practice their Religion,
Culture and Freedoms.
HAJI SHARIATULLAH
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INTRODUCTION:
He was born in 1781 in Faridpur district in east Bengal. His
family was poor. In 1799 He went to Arabia on pilgrimage and stayed there for
nineteen years . He was greatly influenced by the teaching of Sheikh Muhammad
Abdul Wahab.
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BELIEFS:
He believed that the miserable condition of the Muslims in
India led to the country being Dar-Ul-Harb (Country under Foreign Rule). He told
that Friday prayer and Eid prayer cannot be offered here. He also believed that
Muslim community had moved away from Islamic practice. He wanted them to return
to what he thought was the proper observation of Islamic duties called Faraizi.
This was why he started his movement was called Faraizi Movement. The Faraizi
Movement supported the idea of Jihad against the non-Muslims who were
undermining the true principles of Islam.
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WORK:
He started Faraizi movement to restore the Pride of the
Muslims and remove what he thought were the Hindu practices. Emphasis was
placed on praying for past sins and promising to lead a righteous life in the
future which had crept into their worship. The success of this movement caused
British and Hindu Landlord’s and they did not want Haji Shariat Ullah to create
difficulty for them by uniting a desire to improve their lives and purify their
religion so they drove Haji out of the reign to Nawabganj in Dhaka where he
died in 1840. His work however was carried by his son Mohsin-ud-Din who
continued to improve the position of Muslim in East Bengal and introduced
important economic measures. He divides East Bengal into circle under control
of each Khalifa to carry out religious activities. He helped the peasants to
oppose land taxes and he threatened to declare Jihad against the British so he
was captured and put in prison where he died in 1860.
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IMPORTANCE:
Work of Haji Shariat Ullah was important to Faraizi Movement
because it gave encouragement to Muslims at a time when they demoralised by
oppression suffered from Hindus and British. It also brought about a spiritual
revival which led to a revival in Islamic religion in East Bengal. Hindu
influences were removed from Islamic practices. It might be said that some
seeds for the Pakistan Movement were sown by the Faraizi Movement.
COMPARISIONS OF RELIGIOUS THINKERS
Islam was widely spread in subcontinent by Shah Wali Ullah
Syed Ahmed Shaheed Barelvi and Haji Shariat Ullah.
Shah Wali Ullah was a religious scholar. He taught Islamic
teachings in the Madrassa Rahimya. This produced a number of scholars in the
sub-continent and therefore increased spread of Islam. Shah Wali Ullah also
translated the Quran in Persian. Arabic was not very much understood in the sub
continent so translating Quran revived Quranic teachings in the subcontinent
because Muslims and also other people could understand Quranic teachings. Shah
Wali Ullah also wrote to all Muslim leaders in the subcontinent to unite and
defeat the Marathas it was partly due to his persuade that Ahmed Durrani came
to subcontinent and defeated the Marathas. Thus by writing letters he decreased
the non Muslim influence of Marathas and united Muslim leaders which revived
Islam in subcontinent. Shah Wali Ullah wrote several books about 51. These
books were extremely popular. These not only converted many people to Islam and
increase understanding of religion for Muslims of Islam but also united the
different Muslim sectarian such as the Shias and Sunnis.
Syed Ahmed Shaheed Barelvi also played part in reviving
Islam. He started the Jihad Movement. The Jihad Movement was a Movement started
by Muslims to defeat the non Muslim oppressors. The Movement united all the
different Muslim against one common enemy. This showed the power of the Muslims
and united the Muslim community which spread Islam.
Haji Shariat Ullah started the Faraizi Movement. It
indicated tht Muslims should return to their religious teaching and perform
their religious obligations. This particularly became popular in Bengal and
Muslims were revived back to their religious teachings. His movement also
united the Muslims of Bengal.
However there were failures
Shah Wali Ullah was not able to bring Muslim power back to
subcontinent and Muslims were still being oppressed by Marathas who prevented
them from obeying there religions law.
Syed Ahmed eventually failed to defeat the British and the
oppressing Sikhs and Muslims once again returned to their torturing lives.
Haji Shariat Ullah could only bring rejuvenation in Bengal
and so could not reach the entire subcontinent. The failure of the Jihad
Movements discouraged Muslims to rise up against the enemy which weakened
Islam.
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CONCLUSION:
Although every religious thinker was quite successful in
spreading the message amongst the people, Shah Wali Ullah through writings,
Syed Ahmed Shaheed Barelvi through his Jihad Movement and Haji Shariat Ullah
through his Faraizi movement, yet in my opionion Shah Wali Ullah was most
successful as his work was ever lasting and sowed a seed for the later
"Pakistan Movement".
COMPARISION OF THEIR
WORKS
There were many Muslims reformers at that time. SWU was one
of them. He believed that the Muslims were not able to understand Islam because
they weren’t able to understand the Holy Quran because it was in Arabic. He
translated Holy Quran from Arabic to Persian. Later it was translated to Urdu
by his sons. He wrote 51 books .They include Hujjatullah-ul Baligha and Izalat
al Akhfa. He also wrote an account on the four Caliphs of Islam to decrease differences
between Sunnis and Shias.(he also fought against the Marathas)
Another reformer was SASB. He was a man of action. He was a
great Muslim warrior. He gathered an army of mujahideen to fight against the
Sikhs and Ranjit Singhs forces. He did Jihad against the Ranjit Singh army at
many times. Although many people left him he still continued the fight against
the Sikhs. He fought the Battle of Balakot in 1831. It was the first example of
a movement formed to free Muslims from non Muslims leaders. It was a uniting
force for the Muslims and inspiration for future Muslims.
Another reformer was HSU. He believed that the country was
now Dar-Ul Harb where non Muslims ruled. He also believed that the Muslims had
moved away from true Islamic practice so he started a movement called the
Faraizi Movement. It supported the idea of Jihad Movement. The Faraizi Movement
was started to restore the pride of Muslims and remove non Muslim practices in
Islam. This Movement encouraged the Muslims. It brought a spiritual revival. It
also had much economic impact. The Bengal peasants became united in opposition
to the British and became aware of their rights and unity became to grow
between them and they realised their rights that should have been given.
Conclusion
I think SWU was the most important reformer because he was
one of the first persons to realise the main thing of Muslims problems. He did
the major thing of translating Holy Quran to Persian so that more people could
understand it.
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