Background
Background
Background
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After the death of last Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb’s in 1707 the authority of the Mughal
emperors moving towards decline. Aurangzeb’s ruled according to Islamic teaching and
Muslims were happy with his government. On the other hand, other religious groups got anger
and provoked with Islamic teaching. Muslims who had been strong and powerful during the
reign of Aurangzeb but after his death started to disintegrate. Shah Waliullah was born shortly
before the end of Aurangzeb. Shah Waliullah grew up at a time when Muslims felt increasingly
threat and helpless. He belonged to a deeply religious family and his father had been a religious
advisor in the Mughal court. During his stayed in Arabia, he believed that he had been blessed
with a vision of the Holy Prophet(peace be upon him). He tried to organize and gave spiritual
leadership to Muslims in subcontinent.
1. During his stay in Arabia, he deeply thought about the fundamental problems of the
Muslims in the Mughal Empire
2. No doubt, Mughal Empire was towards decline and there was no unity among Muslims.
3. Muslims were facing various kinds of attacks on the religion Islam.
4. He was determined that reform could not come from the weak leadership of Delhi.
5. This could come from within the Muslim community itself.
6. Muslims had no proper knowledge about Quran and Islam in general and it was
important that Quranic teaching become accessible to the people.
7. Muslim community was divided into sectarian groups such as Shias and Sunni.
8. Shah Wali Ullah wanted them to unite on the fundamental principles of Islam and put
aside their difference, believing that this would create a more united community.
9. It was necessary to comply the moral and spiritual principles of Islam in order to create
good society.
10. Un-Islamic Principles were not acceptable in any area of society, either in politics,
economics or in daily life of individual Muslims.
Shah Waliullah was considered one of the first Muslim influential thinkers who defined
the decline of Mughal Empire. Shah Waliullah also considered one of the founder of
Pakistan two nation history.
Shah Waliullah also defined the vulnerable position of the Muslims due to a neglect of
the principles of Islam.
To stop the status of decline there had to be spiritual and moral regeneration.
Madrassa Rahimiya continued to play a vital role in teaching of Islamic principles and
research in Islamic thoughts.
Shah Waliullah writing in Persian made Islamic teaching easily available to every one.
He firm believed that, Muslims could only prosperous if they properly followed the
Islamic customs and did not indulge in social evils such as liquor and merry making .
(https://www.britannica.com/biography/Shah-Wali-Allah)
Shah Waliullah provided new vision for all Muslims to lead a good life, which should be
based on the belief that anti-social attitudes incurred the displeasure of God.
Shah Waliullah reiterated that revival could take place if there was an acceptance that
sectarian division was to stop.
Shah Waliullah did endeavor to bridge the gap among the different Muslim sects and to
unite the community.
Shah Waliullah did this by organizing Muslims against Marathas by emphasising the
importance of Jihad.
His influenced continued after his death.
Shah Waliullah writing ,translation and Madrassa Rahimiya also flourished as his sons
carried forward his work and teaching.
hah Waliullah
.
Wahdat-ul-Shuhood
Not only was this but the idea of ‘Wahdat-ul-Wajood’, nothing less than an attack to root
out Islamic principles from India. The propagation of amounting the creator and the
creation as one was in fact favorably advocating the Hindu practice of worshiping idols.
Wali stood against this idea and presented the factual idea of ‘Wahdat ul Shuhood’. He
solemnly rejected the assumption of equalizing the creation and the creator. He
asserted in the oneness of Allah Almighty as the creator of the whole universe.
In nutshell, his religious preaching was a magnificent step to secure the coming
posterities from being prey to the Hindu culture, to make the Muslims stick to what
Quran reveals upon them and to prohibit the religious scholars from bringing the laymen
to plunge into the architectured sects.
Smelling these fears, Shah proposed the idea of a separate homeland for the Muslims
irrespective of its size but what mattered him the most was its need in order to provide
an Islamic environment to the Muslims free from Hindu interference. Thus, it can be
safely assumed that Shah was one of the early founders of two nation theory, the
rationale which led to the creation of Pakistan.
Shah’s Formula for Dashing Down the Anticipated Threats to Muslim Rule in India
Shah was the reformer who dared to point out the three major threats to the Muslims of
Sub-Continent and his prediction proved to be right in the years to come. According to
him; ‘Jatts of Delhi and Agra, Marhattas of the Southern India and Sikhs of the Punjab’
were one to have unsheathed their swords against the Muslims. In order to avert this
imminent attack on the fragile politics of the Muslims, he wrote to the Muslim big shots
of time like Ahmad Shah Abdali and Nawab Sujjah-ud-Daulah inciting them to wage
holy wars against the enemies of Muslim rule in India. His letters worked and the power
of Marhattas prepared to root out Muslim rule was dashed to the ground of Pani Patt in
the history’s third ferocious combat there in 1761. Thus, Shah being circumspect played
a wise political move to protect the Muslim political rule for India. Even after this
success, the custom of waging holy wars against the enemies of Muslims was kept alive
by Syed Ahmad Shaheed and his comrades.
n the 18th century, Islam in the Sub-continent was faced with menacing problems.
Sectarian conflict, low moral tone of the society, poor understanding of the Holy Quran, and
general ignorance of Islam were just some of the issues which gave rise to fear that political
collapse would be accompanied by religious disintegration. This did not happen; rather an
era of religious regeneration was inaugurated, which was due more than anything else to
the activities of one man, Shah Wali Ullah.
Shah Wali Ullah’s singular and most important act was his translation of the Holy Quran into
simple Persian, the language of the land, so that people of the Sub-continent could
understand and follow it. He studied the writings of each school-of-thought to understand
their point of view, then wrote comprehensive volumes about what is fair and just in light of
the teachings of Islam. He worked out a system of thought, beliefs, and values, on which all
but the extremists could agree. He thus provided a spiritual basis for national cohesion.
Shah Wali Ullah trained students in different branches of Islamic knowledge and entrusted
them with the teaching of students. He recommended the application of Ijtihad against blind
Taqlid. He also interpreted Quran and Hadith according to the context of the times.
Shah Wali Ullah directed his teachings towards reorienting the Muslim society with the
concepts of basic social justice, removing social inequalities, and balancing the iniquitous
distribution of wealth. He established several branches of his school at Delhi for effective
dissemination of his ideas. In his book “Hujjat-ullah-il-Balighah”, he pinpointed the causes of
chaos and disintegration of Muslim society. These were:
Pressure on public treasury, the emoluments given to various people who render no service to
the state.
Heavy taxation on peasants, merchants, and workers, with the result that tax evasion was
rampant. According to Shah Wali Ullah, a state can prosper only if there were light and
reasonable taxes.
He wrote open letters to:
His efforts resulted in the defeat of the Marhattas at the hands of Ahmad Shah Abdali and
Najib-ud-Daula, in the third battle of Panipat in 1761.
Shah Wali Ullah was responsible for awakening in the community the desire to win back its
moral fervor and maintain its purity. To rescue a community’s conscience, belief and faith
from destruction was no small achievement. Even after his death in 1762, his sons and
followers carried on his work. Many future Islamic leaders and thinkers were inspired by his
example.
Shah Walliullah was a great Muslim reformist of 18th century in India. He was a brilliant thinker
and scholar with critical insight of political scenario of that time. He worked for the betterment
and true education of Muslims on right Islamic norms. At that time in the Muslims after ruing
India magnificently were going to lose power. The decline of Muslim rule in India had already
begun and Muslims were being exploited at every facet of life. In order to bring Muslims of India
on right path and help them Shah Walliullah worked really hard. He was born on 21st February
1703 in Delhi and he died in 1762. His father was a famous religious personality at that time his
name was Abdur Rahim he was a famous educationist who was running a Madrasah called
Madrasah –i-Rahimiyah. Shah Walliullah got his early education under his well educated father
who taught him well and he was also enrolled in Naqshbandiyya Sufi order to enrich his spiritual
insight. Soon he got permission to teach at father’s Madrasah, where he continued teaching for
next 12 years. In 1730 he got a chance to go to Mecca where he performed pilgrimage and got
lucky to get education from the leading Muslim scholars of that time. It was a time when a new
thought got roots in his mind that the position and predicament of Muslims at home was
overwhelming. That it was a time for Muslims of India to adopt true spirit of Islam, this is
because of their religious decline Muslims of India were facing decline in social, political, and
economic aspects as well. So he decided to take a lead and started working to show Muslims
actual spirit of Islam in rational manner. He contributed literary fields as well like; in 1738 he
translated Quran into Persian despite of opposition he faced by orthodox Ulemma. He worked to
bring together Shiites and Sunnis and Ulemma and Sufis. He proposed ways like Ijtihad in Islam
and denounced blind Taqlid. He believed in grooming of Muslims as a society and educated
them to live up as a society in which economic and social justice would prevail. He educated
Muslims of India to emancipate Muslim society from economic injustices and social biases. He
wrote almost 50 books on various subjects he trained a group of Ulemma to spread the true
knowledge of Islam. He opened many branches of his school in Delhi to spread his school of
thought. His versatility was his main asset; he worked on every prospected field which could
raise the standard of Muslims as a nation or individual entity. He laid the foundations of all
political, religious, and intellectual movements which would initiate in Indian sub-continent by
Muslims in future. He was an authentic theologian and scholar of Islam; he had great
understanding of Quran and Hadith. He also gave many economic theories which gave reasons
which became the cause of decline of Muslims. Politically Shah Walliullah was a vibrant
personality. He ran an indigenous political movement of its kind in India. He tried to unite
Muslims as a single entity. His main political agenda was a retain Mughal Empire; he became
the cause to invite Ahmad Shah Abdali to India in order to fight Marathas who were undermining
Mughal rule at that time. Thought his efforts to maintain Muslim rule in India did not capitalize
but it would provide an insight for future political, intellectual and religious movements in India
A great civilization must have the resilience to renew itself from within. It is what
distinguishes a civilization from a mere dynasty. Islamic civilization has demonstrated
time and again its innate capacity for renewal after every disaster. The death of
Prophet Mohammed was the first great trial of the Islamic community. That challenge
was successfully met, although the price for that success was the civil wars (656-670)
that hardened Shi’a-Sunni differences. The second major challenge was that of ideas
from Greece and India. The Islamic world internalized these ideas, developed them,
and after a period of tumult brought on by Mu’tazilite ideas (8 th and 9th centuries)
remolded them within its own ethos. The result was the emergence of Asharite
doctrines and a more spiritual Islam, embodied in tasawwuf that dominated Islamic
thinking for a thousand years. The challenge of Greek and Indian ideas ended with the
eloquent defense of Al Ghazzali (1111). The third test came with the Mongol
devastation of the 13th century (1219-1301). Islam overcame that challenge through its
inner resilience embodied in tasawwuf. The conquerors were themselves converted
and became the standard bearers of Islamic faith. The fourth challenge came from
Europe (1600-1900). It was a total challenge embracing political, economic, cultural
and ideational spheres. As western civilization became global (1945 onwards), that
challenge also became global, and its reach included not just the Islamic civilization
but also other non-European civilizations of China, India, Japan and Africa. It
continues to this day, although its thrust has shifted from religion to economics.
Reform, as a collective effort to return to the purity of faith, is a recurrent theme in
Islamic history. Since the decisive moment when the Prophet passed away, Muslims
have struggled to shape their destiny in the mold of the Sunnah (example) of the
Prophet. This perpetual struggle has produced some of the most influential personages
in the history of the Muslim peoples.
After the Battle of Plassey (1757), the tide of global affairs had turned decidedly in
favor of Europe. Although it would take more than a hundred years to supplant and
colonize much of Asia and Africa, the relative weakness of the Muslim world was
obvious to perceptive minds. Some scholars felt that this weakness was the result of
deviation from the path of the Prophet. First there was Shah Waliullah of Delhi (d.
1763) who followed in the long lineage of scholars in the subcontinent and had a
decisive impact on the political military events in South Asia. Then came Shaykh
Abdul Wahhab of Najd (circa 1760). His reformist thrust was terse, shorn of the
embellishments that had accrued to religion in the Ottoman Empire. The third
influential personage was Shaykh Uthman Dan Fuduye of Nigeria. Shaykh Dan
Fuduye belonged to the Qadariya movement and his approach, in contrast to that of
Shaykh Abdul Wahhab, was decidedly Sufic and activist.
Although they lived in the second half of the 18 th century, these three reformers faced
different challenges. Shah Waliullah lived at a time when rampant corruption had
destroyed the Moghul Empire. He attempted to restore the glory of Muslim
civilization in India. Shaykh Abdul Wahhab desired to bring back the simplicity of
religion that existed in early Islam. Both Shah Waliullah and Shaykh Abdul Wahhab
were dealing with local situations wherein Islamic civilization was past its zenith, and
decay had set in. In contrast Shehu Uthman Dan Fuduye faced a society wherein
Islam was spreading among the masses and the purity of faith was compromised by
the retention of old animist practices of the people. The first two, Shah Waliullah and
Shaykh Wahhab, waged a rear-guard action to arrest the decline of old societies. The
last one, Shehu Uthman was in the forefront of a revolution to create a new one.
Among the thinkers who have influenced the course of Islamic history in the India-
Pakistan subcontinent, the names of Shaykh Ahmed Sirhindi, Shah Waliullah of
Delhi, and Muhammed Iqbal of Lahore stand out. History is propelled by ideas. These
three were the giants who provided the ideas for men of action like the Moghul
Emperor Aurangzeb, Shaykh Syed Ahmed Shahid of Punjab, and Muhammed Ali
Jinnah, the architect of Pakistan. The triumphs and tribulations, the achievements and
failures, the hopes and disappointments, the joy and the sorrow, of the great Islamic
community in the subcontinent, which today stands at well over 400 million, can be
traced back to the work of these stalwarts. Shaykh Ahmed Sirhindi was the
intellectual force behind the triumph of the orthodox wing of Indian Islam under
Aurangzeb over the Sufic Islam championed by Dara Shikoh. In choosing orthodoxy
over the reforms instituted by Emperor Akbar (d. 1604), Muslims in the subcontinent
selected an historical course, which would make accommodation with the largely non-
Muslim Indian milieu more difficult. The political initiatives of Shah Waliullah
resulted in the third Battle of Panipat (1761). It contained Maratha influence to areas
east of Lahore, created a political vacuum in central Punjab, and contributed to Sikh
ascendancy under Ranjit Singh. Lastly, the concept of Pakistan was first proposed by
Muhammed Iqbal (1931). It was later adopted by the All India Muslim League (1940)
and carried to fruition by Muhammed Ali Jinnah.
This event has elicited controversy among Indian historians as to the “foreign”
orientation of Shah Waliullah. The controversy has been accentuated by the current
India-Pakistan dialectic. Those who support the Pakistani position praise the Shah for
stopping the Marathas east of Lahore. In India, on the other hand, the Shah is taken to
task for inviting a “foreign invader” to Indian soil. Some have gone so far as to
portray the Third Battle of Panipat as a Hindu-Muslim clash. None of these positions
is supported by historical facts. First, in the context of the times, Lahore and Kabul
were not “foreign territories”. They were part of Moghul territories that had been
taken by Nadir Shah as late as 1738. The factions headed by the Afghans, Pathans,
Moghuls, Rajputs and Marathas were all “internal” to Hindustan. Secondly, it is
incorrect to portray the Maratha armies as “Hindu”. Of the five Maratha army corps
that fought at Panipat, one was led by a Muslim general who spearheaded the very
first charge, and was a casualty of the war. Thousands of Muslims fought on the
Indian side believing that the Marathas were safe-keepers of the Moghul throne. It
would be more correct to portray the Maratha armies as “Indian”. Conversely, Ahmed
Shah Abdali was interested primarily in taking revenge for the eviction of his son
from Lahore, and not in the affairs of Hindustan. This is confirmed by the fact that he
retired to Kabul after the Battle of Panipat and did not advance towards Delhi. Given
the contest for Lahore, a test of arms between the Afghans and the Marathas was
inevitable, and would have taken place with or without the correspondence of Shah
Waliullah. Maratha influence in the Delhi-Agra areas did not decrease as a result of
the Afghan invasion. In 1785, the Moghul Emperor Shah Alam invited Sindhia of
Gwalior to become the divan and reorganize the empire. Maratha power in the Delhi-
Agra area decreased and disappeared not because of the Third Battle of Panipat, but
because the Marathas were defeated by the Rajputs in 1787. Lastly, in historical
hindsight, the Maratha-Afghan contest comes across only as a footnote to the broad
and sustained advance of the British upon the subcontinent, which was taking place
about the same time.
Shah Waliullah passed away in 1763, leaving behind a scholarly legacy that has
seldom been surpassed. If there is any critique of his work, it has to be that he
overlooked the British challenge to Islamic civilization. Even as the Shah was
involved in the internal disputes between the Afghans and the Marathas, the shadow
of European domination was extending inland from the Indian Ocean. The Battle of
Plassey (1757) gave the East India Company control of all the territories from
Allahabad to Calcutta. Shah Waliullah must have been aware of the oppressive
policies of the Company, and of the economic collapse of Bengal and Bihar under
British jurisdiction. Yet, one does not find awareness in his writings about the rising
challenge of the West to a static and disintegrating India. Indeed, the great Islamic
reformers of the 18th century had their vision directed inward, and were focused more
on internal reform than external threat. The task of placing Islam in the context of a
world-domineering Western civilization was left to scholars of a later age. Shah
Waliullah offered no fresh guidance as to how to live with people of other faiths
except to reiterate the practices of an earlier age based on a compartmentalized
division between “Dar ul Islam” and “Dar ul Harab”.
Shah Waliullah Dehlavi
ackground
Shah Waliullah was born in 1703. This period is marked as persistent decline and deterioration all over
in the Muslim society. The people had no peace of mind and no safety of life. Loot and plunder, feuds
and fighting had spread everywhere. Disintegration of the Mughal Empire had set in and the Muslims
were split among themselves. Consequently, they suffered much at the hands of the Sikhs, Jats and
Marhatas.
When Aurangzeb Alamgir died, Shah Waliullah was only four years old. No less than ten rulers
ascended the throne one after the other during his lifetime. None of them was competent enough to
stem the tide of decline. The attack of Nadir Shah ruined Delhi and made it vulnerable for more
attacks.
For an improved and reformed economy, Shah Waliullah thought it necessary that the basic
necessities of life should be provided to the people. That state would be considered a welfare state
where this is done.
Corrupt Government
“A corrupt government, which neglects satisfying the basic needs of life, ‘says Shah Waliullah’, should
and must be overthrown by every hook and crook. If it is allowed to continue, its corruption will
spread like a cancer first in some members of the administration, which, if it is not cut out from its
very root, will go on spreading till the whole body will disintegrate”.
Religious Conditions
The luxury of Akbar and Shah Jehan period led the so-called Ulema to discuss dogmatic intricacies in
terms of reasons. As they failed to furnish the religious grounds to the rational one, they started
propagating against the very teachings of Islam. No research and investigation was made by the
learned in the affairs of religion as to solve the problems emerging from time to time. Sufis were
hollow, and had no knowledge of the Holy Qur’an and the Traditions.
Jihad
It is for this reason that he emphasises the necessity of the continuation of Jihad, he generally meant
revolution (Inqilab). He strongly recommends the retention of the spirit of Jihad for all times to come.
So long as this spirit, he says, was present in the Muslim, they remained victorious and were
honoured everywhere, but no sooner it disappeared from them, they were humiliated and hated
wherever they were. He tells that in the existing times, the Muslims should in no way neglect the
sacred duty of Jihad as such neglect in turn amounts to the loss of abundant good.
Economic Reforms
He Presented some of the economic principles for governing a state:
1.Economic prosperity depends upon the hard worker of its labourers. These labourers are the
backbone of our economy.
2. He advised Mughals to be conscious of their duties and not to indulge in the accumulation of wealth.
3. He underlined the importance of Economic Equality.
4.He said that such economic system is dangerous for the development of country where labourers,
artisans and peasants failed to get their basic rights.
As a Social Reformer
Shah Waliullah directed the his teachings towards reorienting the Muslim society with the concepts of
basic social justicse, removing socilal inequaliliteis and balancing the distribution of wealth. In his
book, Hujjat-ullah-il-Balighah, he pinpointed the causes of chaos and disintegration of Muslim society.
Following are the reasons:
1. Pressure on public treasury, the emoluments given to various people who render no service to the
state.
2. Heavy taxation on peasants, merchants and workers with the result that tax evasion was rampant.
3. He also requested Mughal rulers to stop their corrupt activities and advised not to give lands to
those who were not loyal to the state.
Political Movements
Finding no other way to get out of this critical situation, he wrote a letter to Ahmad Shah Abdali to
attack India. Ahmad Shah Abdali made an all-out attack on India in 1174 H /1760-61 A.D. The battle
took place in the plains of Panipat. The Marhatas, despite their great military might, suffered a
crushing defeat. They could not rise for some time to come. This was a golden opportunity for the
Muslims to avail of, but against all expectations they remained where they were.
Shah Abdur Raheem was one of the prestigious members of the committee.
Articulating his dissent on a wide range of legal postulates, Shah Abdur
Raheem voluntarily distanced himself from the committee. Aurangzeb
Alamghir personally entreated him to show up, and offered him an entitlement
to a vast swath of estate. Adamant on his refusal, Shah Abdur Raheem
established a college of law in Delhi and called it “Madrasa-e-Rahimiya”. The
college was founded with an aim to prepare a class of scholars who would
master the “rational sciences” and the “traditional sciences” of Islam. After the
death of Shah Abdur Raheem, his eldest son Shah Wali-ullah rose to the
occasion and continued his legacy.
Qutbuddin Shah Wali-ullah Muhadith Dehlevi was a lone genius of his age
and time. He mastered at an early age the rational sciences(called Aqli ulum)
of logical syllogism, Iranian gnosticism, dialectics, Greek philosophy, Iranian
illumination, speculative reasoning, and arithmetic, and the traditional
sciences(called Deeni ulum) of Quranic exegesis, scriptural hermeneutics,
Hadith literature, legal formalism, mysticism, and textual genealogy. His
eclecticism aimed at demonstrating affinity between the schools of Hanafite
and Shafite rites, amongst the different orders of mystical strands, and
amongst the guilds of Aasharism, Maturidism, and Mutalizism.