Maulana Mehmud Hasan
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Maulana Mehmud Hasan (1851–November 30, 1920) was an Indian political leader and Muslim religious scholar popularly known as Shaikhul Hind (Leader of India).
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[edit] Early life
Mehmud Hasan was born in the town of Bareilly (in modern Uttar Pradesh). His father Maulana Zulfeqar Ali was an expert and scholar of the Arabic language, and worked in the education department of the British East India Company's administration in the region. Hasan received a traditional Islamic education with a strong emphasis on the study of Islam, the Persian language and Urdu. His father sent him to the newly established Darul Uloom religious school, where he was reputedly the very first student. The school was established by Deobandi Muslim scholars, and Hasan studied under Maulana Muhammad Qasim Nanotvi, a distinguished religious scholar and leader of the Deobandi school. Hasan completed his education in 1873, and began working as a teacher at the school. In 1890, he would be appointed principal of the school.
[edit] Revolutionary activities
- See also: Malta exiles and Partitioning of the Ottoman Empire
Although focused on his work at the school, Hasan developed an interest in the political environment of British India and the world. When the Ottoman Empire entered World War I against the British Empire, Muslims across the world were concerned of the future of the Sultan of Ottoman Empire, who was the caliph of Islam and spiritual leader of the global Muslim community. Known as the Khilafat struggle, its leaders Maulana Mohammad Ali and Maulana Shaukat Ali organised protests across the country (see: partitioning of the Ottoman Empire). Hasan was fervently active in encouraging Muslim students to join the movement. Hasan organised efforts to start an armed revolution against British rule from both within and outside India. He launched a programme to train volunteers from among his disciples in India and abroad who joined this movement in a large number. The most eminent among them were Maulana Ubaidullah Sindhi and Maulana Mohammad Mian Mansoor Ansari. Sending Maulana Sindhi to Kabul and Ansari to the Northwest Frontier Province to mobilize popular support and recruit volunteers, Hasan himself travelled to Hijaz to secure Turkish support. Obtaining the Turkish governor Ghalib Pasha's signature on a declaration of war against the British, Hasan planned to return to India via Baghdad and Baluchistan to start the rebellion. However, he was arrested in Mecca when details of his plans leaked. He was imprisoned in Malta, Malta exiles, for more than three years before his release in 1920.
[edit] Legacy
Hasan's endeavours won him the admiration not only of Muslims but of Indians across the religious and political spectrum. He became an icon of the Indian independence movement, and was given the title of Shaikhul Hind, or the Leader of India. Upon his release, Hasan returned to India to find the nation on the verge of revolt over the Rowlatt Acts. Hasan issued a fatwa making it the duty of all Indian Muslims to support and participate with Mahatma Gandhi and the Indian National Congress, who had prescribed a policy of non-cooperation — mass civil disobedience through non-violence. He laid the foundation stone of the Jamia Millia Islamia, a university founded by Indian nationalists Hakim Ajmal Khan, Mukhtar Ahmed Ansari to develop an institution independent of British control. Hasan died on November 30, 1920.
