Shah Waliullah
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| Islamic philosopher/scholar Mughal era |
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|---|---|
| Name |
Shah Waliullah
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| Birth | 1703 |
| Death | 1762 |
| School/tradition | Sunni Islam, Hanafi |
| Notable ideas | Evolution of Islamic philosophy |
| Influenced by | Al-Ghazali, Mujaddid Alif Sani [1] |
| Influenced | Islamic philosophy, fiqh, Shah Abdul Aziz Dehlavi, Shah Abdul Qadir, his son's. |
Shah Waliullah Muhaddith Dehlavi (Arabic/Persian/Urdu: شاہ ولی الله دهلوی) also known as Shah Waliullah of Delhi (1703–1762)[citation needed] was an important Islamic reformer who has been called "the greatest intellectual Muslim India produced."[2] He worked for the revival of Muslim rule and intellectual learning in the South Asia, during a time of waning Muslim power following the death of Mughal emperor Aurangzeb. Shah Waliullah urged Muslim rulers to a jihad against the Maratha and Jat Bharatpur enemies of Islam, [3] and hoped to restore the ulama's former power and influence.
He despised the divisions and deviations within Islam and its practice in the Indian subcontinent and hoped to 'purify' the religion and unify all Indian Muslims under the banner of the 'truth' (Haq). He is also thought to have anticipated many "progressive" social, economic and political ideas of the modern era, such as social reform, equal rights, labor protection, ruler as trustee beholden to the ruled, welfare entitlement of all to food, clothing, housing, etc.[4]
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[edit] Biography
[edit] Early life
Shah Waliullah was born in 1703 CE, in the town of Phulat in Muzaffarnagar, Uttar Pradesh, India. It is said his father, Shah Abdur Raheem, was foretold of the birth of a pious and obedient son by Hazrath Qutubuddin Bakhteyaar-e-Kaaki, who made Shah Abdur Raheem promise that the boy will be named after him as Qutubuddin Ahmad. So he named his boy Qutubuddin Ahmad. The name Shah Waliullah is given to him by people because Waliulla means "close to God" as he was very pious man. So his complete name was Shah Waliullah Qutubuddin Ahmad. His genealogy can be traced back to the second Caliph of Islam, Hazrath Umar Farooq (RA) from the paternal side and to Hazrath Musa Kazim (RAH) on the maternal side. His grandfather, Sheikh Wajihuddin, was an important officer in the army of Shah Jahan who supported Prince Aurangzeb in the war of succession. The forefathers of Shah Waliullah, Shaikh Shamsuddin Mufti came to the subcontinent and settled in Rothak during the initial period of Islamic rule. Although the mark of identification of this family was their command over religious sciences of Islam, one of his family members, Shaikh Mehmood, adopted the profession of a soldier after which tales of bravery remained associated with this family for a long time.
His father, Shah Abdur Raheem was among the leading Hanafi jurists and a distinguished scholar of Islam in Delhi. An expert in theology, he was a student of Allama Meer Zahid Haravi. He never sought the comfort of the material world and was always in pursuit of rewards of the hereafter, a quality that he passed on to his son and his progeny.
The anti-Islamic forces which had raised their head during the reign of the irreligious Emperor Akbar and later found their champions in Jahangir and Dara Shikoh were, to a great extent, checked by Mughal emperor Aurangzeb. With his passing away in 1707 A.C. started the political chaos which later culminated in the disintegration of the Muslim power in the subcontinent. This political disintegration which was the result of spiritual confusion encompassed the socio-economic spheres also. Aurangzeb’s successors were too weak and incapable of facing the rebellious forces emerging on all hands. At such a critical period of Muslim history was born Shah Waliullah, the greatest religious thinker produced by Muslim India who has contributed immensely to the reintegration of the structure of Islam.
Shah Waliullah was born in 1703 A.C. four years before the death of Aurangzeb. His grandfather, Sheikh Wajihuddin, was an important officer in the army of Shah Jahan who supported Prince Aurangzeb in the war of succession. His father, Shah Abdur Rahim, a Sufi and an eminent scholar assisted in the compilation of Fatwa-i-Alamgiri the voluminous code of Islamic law. lie, however, refused an invitation to visit the Emperor and devoted his energies to the organization and teaching at ‘Madrassa Rahimia’ a Theological College which he had established and which, later, played an important part in the religious emancipation of Muslim India and became the breeding ground of religious reformers and ‘Mujahid’ like Shah Waliullah, Shah Abdul Aziz, Syed Ahmad of Bareli, Maulvi Abdul Haiy and Shah Ismail Shaheed. Writing about the teachings of Shah Abdur Rahim and his brother, Maulana Ubaidullah Sindhi observes:
“The essence of the teaching of the two brothers was the effort, to discover a path which could be traversed together by the Muslim philosophers (the Sufis and the Mutakallim) and the Muslim Jurists (Faqih)”.
[edit] Education
Shah Waliullah received his early education from his father, who was his teacher as well as his spiritual guide. Being a precocious child with a retentive memory lie committed the Holy Quran to memory at an early age of 7 years. On the death of his father in 1131 A.H. when he was hardly 17 years old he started teaching in his father's Madrassa Rahimiya and carried on the work for 12 years when he left for Arabia for higher studies. He was a brilliant scholar; during fourteen months’ stay in Makkah and Madina he came into contact with the outstanding teachers of Hejaz. His favorite teacher was Sheikh Abu Tahir bin Ibrahim of Madina, from whom he obtained his Sanud (Degree) in Hadis (Tradition). The Sheikh was an erudite scholar, possessing encyclopedic knowledge; Shah Waliullah benefited much from him too and speaks highly of his piety, independence of judgment and scholarly talents.
[edit] Achievements and Services
During his stay at Makkah, Shah Waliullah had a dream in which the Holy Prophet commanded him to work for the organization and emancipation of the Muslim community in the subcontinent, He, therefore, returned to Delhi on July 9, 1732 and started his work in real earnest. This was an uphill task in a period when Muslim India was passing through the most critical phase of its history and its entire social, political, economic and spiritual fabric was torn to pieces. On his arrival in Delhi, he started training pupils in diverse branches of Islamic learning and entrusted them with the missionary work of enlightening people with the true nature of Islam. He embarked upon the task of producing standard works on Islamic learning and, before his death in 1762, completed a large number of outstanding works on Islam.
He rose to be a great scholar of Islamic .studies, endowed with saintly qualities. So great was his dedication to work that, according to his talented son Shah Abdul Aziz, "he was rarely ill and once he sat down to work after ‘Ishraq’ (post-sunrise prayers) he would not change his posture, till midday”. He was a real genius, an intellectual giant who set himself to the mission of educating the misguided Muslim masses with the true spirit of Islam. This was the task of the revival of Islam in the subcontinent which had been clouded with mystic philosophy and to bring it out in its pristine glory. He was a humble devotee to his cause, who resisted all temptations of personal glory.
His activities were not confined to spiritual and intellectual spheres only. He lived in troubled times and witnessed during his lifetime about a dozen rulers occupying the throne of Delhi. Endowed with a keen political insight, he observed with deep anguish the breaking up of Muslim power in the subcontinent and wrote to leading political dignitaries like Ahmad Shah Abdali, Nizam ul Mulk and Najibuddaula to stop the rot which had set in the political life of Muslim India. It was on account of his call that Ahmad Shah Abdali appeared on the field of Panipat in 1761 and put an end to the Marhatta dream of dominating the subcontinent.
Shah Waliullah was a prolific writer. It is in the realm of Islamic learning that he made a lasting contribution and within a period of 30 years wrote 51 books of outstanding merit, 28 in Arabic and 23 in Persian language. Some of these are still unsurpassed in the whole domain of Islamic literature.
His most valuable service to the cause of Islamic learning was that he codified the vast store of Islamic teachings under separate heads. Both in thought and prediction, his works occupy an outstanding place. As a reformer and as a propounder of theories dealing with socialism, he may be considered as the forerunner of Karl Marx.
His works may be classified into six categories. The first deals with the Holy Quran. It includes his translation of the Holy Book into Persian, the literary languages of the subcontinent of those times. According to him, the object of studying the Holy Book is “to reform human nature and correct the wrong beliefs and injurious actions”. The second category deals with Hadis (Traditions) in which he has left behind several works including an Arabic and Persian Commentaries on Muwatta, the well-known collection of the Traditions of the Holy Prophet compiled by Imam Malik. He attached great importance to this collection of Traditions by Imam Malik, even greater than those of Imam Bukhari and Imam Muslim. He is an outstanding Muhuddis (Traditionist) and links of all modern scholars of Hadis in the subcontinent may be traced to him.
[edit] Books
Foremost among these modern Traditionalists were his son and successor Shah Abdul Aziz and Syed Murtaza Bilgrami. Shah Waliullah wrote a number of books and pamphlets dealing with Hadis. The third category deals with ‘Fiqh’ or Islamic Jurisprudence, which includes lnsaf-fi-bayan-i-Sahub-al-Ikhtilaf which is brief but a very interesting and informative history of the Islamic Jurisprudence of the last five centuries. The fourth category deals with his works based on mysticism. The fifth category pertains to his works on Muslim philosophy and Ilm-al-Kalam. He also wrote a pamphlet on the principles of ‘Ijtihad’ (indepen¬dent interpretation) and taqlid (conformity). In his principles of ‘Ijtihad’ he clarifies whether it is obligatory for a Muslim to adhere to one of the four recognized schools of Islamic Jurisprudence or whether he can exercise his own judgment. In the opinion of Shah Waliullah, a layman should rigidly follow his own Imam but a person well versed in Islamic law can exercise his own judg¬ment which should be in conformity with the practice of the Holy Prophet. But the most outstanding of all his works is Hujjat-Ullh-il-Balighah which deals with such aspects of Islam that are common among all Muslim countries. In its introduction he observes: “Some people think that there is no usefulness involved in the injunctions of Islamic law and that in actions and rewards as prescribed by ALLAH there is no beneficial purpose. They think that the commandments of Islamic law are similar to a master ordering his servant to lift a stone or touch a tree in order to test his obedience and that in this there is no purpose except to impose a test so that if the servant obeys, he is rewarded, and if he disobeys, he is punished. This view is completely incorrect. The Traditions of the Holy Prophet and the consensus of opinion of those ages, contradict this view”.
The sixth category deals with his works on Shia—Sunni problem which had become somewhat acute in those days. His writings on this subject have done a great deal in simplifying this problem. His theories pertaining to economics and socialism are of revolutionary nature and he may be considered as the precursor of Karl Marx. Writing about his works in the History of the Freedom Movement, Sheikh Muhammad Ikram states: “Shah Waliullah wrote learned works and initiated powerful and beneficial movements, but perhaps no less important are the invisible qualities of approach and outlook, which he bequeathed to Muslim religious thought in the Indo-Pakistan subcontinent. His work is characterized by knowledge, insight, moderation and tolerance, but the quality, on which he laid the greatest emphasis, in theory and in practice, was Adl or Adalat (justice, fairness, and balance). His works and views bear ample testimony to the ways he observed this principle in practice and he lost few opportunities of emphasizing in theory its role in maintaining the social fabric”.
[edit] Education and training
Shah Waliullah was introduced to Islamic education at the age of five and completed the recitation of the Qura’an by the age of seven. By the end of his seventh year, he had started taking introductory lessons in Persian and Arabic and completed them in one year. After that he concentrated on grammar and syntax, and by the age of ten he was reading the most acclaimed book of grammar,"Interpretation by Ja’mi". He completed the study of philosophy and theology by the age of 15 and started teaching. He acquired the knowledge of Logic, Fiqah, Hadith, specially Tibb (Eastern medicine) and ma-an (meaning), Algebra, Mathematics, and oratory from his father.
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.
[edit] Pilgrimage to Makkah
In 1143 H.E. the 23 year old Shah Waliullah decided to perform the pilgrimage to Makkah. Despite the perils that lay on the journey; he reached the Mecca on 14 Dhul Qadha 1143 H.E. and performed the Hajj and then proceeded to Medina. There, he attended the discourses on Sahih Al Bukhari from Sheikh Abu Tahir Muhammad Bin Ibraheem Kurdi Madani. The Sheikh directed him in the study of the six Sahihs (Bukhari, Muslim, Tirmidhi, Abu Dawood, Nasa’ai, Ibn Ma’ajah), Muwatta Imam Maalik, Musnad Da’armee and Imam Muhammad’s Al A’saar. He returned to Makkah, performed the hajj again and learned the Muwatta Imam Maalik from Sheikh Wafadullah Maliki Makki, attended the discourses on Sahih Al Bukhari from Sheikh Tajuddin Hanafi Qalaei Makki for a few days and learned the six Sahihs from him. He was granted permission to teach all the books of hadith by Sheikh Tajuddin.
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.
[edit] Death
Devoting himself to the teaching and writing of Islamic books, on 29 Muharram 1176 H.E. (20 August, 1762) he died and was buried in the famous graveyard “Munhadiyan” beside his father Shah Abdur Raheem.
[edit] Descendants
He had a son, Sheikh Muhammad and a daughter, Ammatul Azeez, from his first wife. His second wife, the daughter of Shah Sanaullah, bore him four sons:
- Shah Abdul Azeez Muhaddith Dehlavi,
- Shah Rafiuddin,
- Shah Abdul Qadir,
- and Shah Abdul Ghani.
After the death of Shah Waliullah, his son Shah Abdul Azeez took his place and brought up his siblings. Each one of Shah Waliullah’s descendants were held in high regard in Islamic academia during their lives.
[edit] Influence
It is interesting to note that Shah Waliullah is respected and revered greatly by all Muslims in the South Asia and beyond, including the Barelvi, Deobandi and Ahl-e-Hadeeth groups and movements of Pakistan, Bangladesh and India, who include both Sufis and Salafis. The Deoband movement as well as the Ahl-e-Hadeeth both claim to espouse the ideology and thought of Shah Waliullah and the Barelvi movement follow his spiritual tradition.
One of his main desires was to intellectually revive Islamic learning and he did so by emphasising studies in madrassas (Islamic schools), especially his own, Madrassa-i Rahimiyya. Waliullah advocated the strenuous study of the Islamic "sciences of revelation", which comprised studies of the Hadith (the oral tradition of the sayings of Muhammad) and the Qur'an (the Islamic holy scripture). Shah Waliullah attempted to simplify the texts in order to spread their message to Muslims of every educated class. In addition, Waliullah was a powerful advocate of the establishment of Urdu as a mainstream literary and liturgical language, citing it as the lingual link among all Indian Muslims. Shah Waliullah's approach to learning and his Muslim revivalist agenda inspired the Deobandi movement, who claim their scholastic heritage and lineage back to Shah Waliullah).
Shah Waliullah was also a key protagonist in initiating the spiritual revival of Muslims through tasawwaf and Sufism (Islamic spirituality). He spread the message of Islamic spiritualism to the Indian masses and emphasised Da'wah and Tableegh (Islamic propagation) to his students and he supported the well-established tradition of the Sufis in the South Asia, while at the same time condemning external influences and innovations (bid'a) in Sufi practices, advocating the idea of a pure Islam devoid of such influences on the basis that Muslims should assert an independent identity free from the influence of Hindu polytheists. In this respect as well as others, Shah Waliullah was a follower of the tradition of Imam Al-Ghazali.
[edit] Service to Mankind
After returning from Mecca and Medina, the miserable condition of Indian Muslims inspired him to improve their character, buck up their morale, inculcate the feeling of selflessness and love for their fellows.
He overhauled the existing education system, separated the faith from unlawful invented traditions (bidaat), unnecessary and unwanted suspicions regarding Islam and its holy books. He presented what he considered pure and pristine Islam to the people.
[edit] His Final Will
“The final will of this humble servant of Allah is that always hold tightly to the Qura’an and Sunnah in your beliefs and acts. Regularly evaluate yourself against them. Read them regularly and if you can’t, then find someone who can and listen to at least a couple of pages everyday.”
[edit] Literary works
The biographers of Shah Waliullah place the number of his published literary works at above fifty. Shah Waliullah was a prolific writer who wrote extensively on several Islamic topics. The famous among them are
1.Fath ur Rahmaan Fee Tarjumatul Qura’an, a translation of the Qur'an in Persian.
2.Al Fauzul Kabeer Fee Usool at Tafseer, a booklet in Persian that follows his Persian translation of the Qur'an. It contains the nucleus of the Qur'an, the rules for interpretation, and interpretations of the Qur'an by other famous scholars.
3.Hujjatullahil Baaligha, is the most renowned book by Shah Waliullah whose title is taken from the Qur'an (Surah Al Anaam: 149). It is a two volume Arabic manuscript and elaborates about the jurisprudence fro the hadith and necessities of the shari’ah and is taught in many seminaries. Its Urdu illustration is “Rahmatullahil Waasiya” by Hazrath Mufti Saeed Ahmad Palanpuri and published by Maktaba Hijaz.
[edit] Legacy
[edit] Works
A partial list [5]:
- Arbain (Arabic)- A collection of 40 ahadith which are brief yet of inclusive character.
- Al-Irshad ila-Muhimmat-I-Ilm-al-Isnad (Arabic) - is about the scholars of Hejaz who taught Shah Waliullah.
- Izalat al-Khafa 'an Khilafat al- Khulfa (Persian)
- Al-Fauzul Kabir Fi Usoolu-Tafseer (Arabics)
- Atayyab al-naghm fi Madh-I-Saiyid al- Arab wal-Ajam (Arabic)- A collection of odes eulogizing Muhammad which speak of Shah's poetic talent and love towards Muhammad.
- Altaf al-Quds (Persian) - Deals with esoteric principles of mysticism.
- Al-Imdad-o-fi Ma'athir al-Ajdad (Persian) - A brochure giving Shah Waliullah’s genealogical table and containing brief notices about some of his ancestors.
- Al-Intibah-o-fi Salasil-il-Aulia Allah (Persian) - Gives the history and brief introduction of different mystic orders.
- Insan al-ain fi Mashikh al-Haeamyn (Persian)
- Al insaf-o-fi Bayan-I-Asbab al-Ikhtalaf (Arabic)
- Anfas aal Arifin (Persian)
- Al-Budur al-Bazigha (Arabic) - This work on theology employs philosophical terminology in discussing human nature and social behavior.
- Bawariq al-Wilayah (Persian) - The tract forms part of the Anfas al-Arifin in which the Shah has described the life and spiritual attainments of his father Shah Abdur Rahim.
- Tawil al-ahadith (Arabic) - It recount the stories of different prophets mentioned in the Quran in order to draw out lessons and rules of Shariah from the Quranic describtion.
- Tuhfatul Muwahhidin - It is a Persian tract explaining the creed of tauhid.
- Tarajim-o-Abwab al-Bukhari (Arabic) - It expounds the principles which would be found helpful in understanding certain difficult portions of the Bukhari.
- At-Tafhimat al-Ilahiyah (Arabic and Persian)- It's a mystical work, partly in Arabic and partly in Persian, giving the mystical experiences of Shah.
- Al-Juz al-Latif fi- Tarjumata al-Abd al- Dhayif (Persian)
- Hujjat Allah al-Baligha (Arabic)- The magnum opus of Shah has been discussed in the seventh section of this work.
- Husn al- Aqidah (Arabic)- The fundamental creed of Islam as accepted by the Ahli-I-Sunnat sect, has been expounded in this work in the light of Quran and Hadith.
- Al-Khair al-Kathir (Arabic)- This work on philosophy of religion elucidates the concept of m'arifat and wisdom of Divine Names, revelation etc
- Ad-durrus Thamain fi-Mubashshiratil Nabi al-Amin (Arabic) - A collection of glad tidings the Shah and his ancestors had had from Muhammad.
- Diwan-o-Ashar (Arabic) - A collection of the Arabic verses of the Shah.
- Risalah - was written in reply to certain mystical issues raised by Shaikh 'Abdullah bin Abdul Baqi.
- Risalah Danishmandi (Persian) - A valuable tract containing detailed directions in regard to methodology of teaching.
- Zahrawayn - A commentary on the Surat-ul-Baqarah and Imran.
- Surur al- Mahzun (Persia)- It is a concise Persian rendering of the Kitab Nur al-Uyun il-Amin al-Mamun a well-known biography of Muhammad.
- Sharh-o-Tarajim-I-Abwab-I-Sahih al-Bukhari (Arabic) - is an annotation on certain chapters of the Sahih of Bukhari.
- Shifa al-Qulub (Persian) - is a tract of mysticism.
- Shawariq al-Marifat (Persian)- a biography of the Shah's Uncle Shaikh Abdul Raza.
- Al-Atiyatus Samadiyah Fi Anfas Al-Muhammadiyah (Persian) - this small brochure contains a biographical sketch of the Shah's maternal grandfather Shaikh Muhammad Phulti.
- Iqd Al-Jid Fi-Aakham Al-Ijtihad Wat-Tajdid (Arabic)
- Fath-ur-Rahman (Persian) - a translation of the Quran.
- Fath-al-Kabir (Arabic) - A glossary of the intricate words of the Quran.
- Fath al-Wadud-li-Marifata-al-Junud (Arabic) - it pertains to the ethics and mysticism.
- Al fadhl Al-Mubin Fi Al-Musalsal Min Hadithin Nabi Al-Amin (Arabic) - It is about Hadith.
[edit] References
- ^ dead link
- ^ Muhammad Iqbal, Reconstruction of Religious Thought in Islam (London, Oxford University Press, 1934), p.162
- ^ Mortimer, Edward, Faith and Power: The Politics of Islam, Vintage Books, 1982, p.67-8
- ^ Mortimer, Edward, Faith and Power: The Politics of Islam, Vintage Books, 1982, p.67-8
- ^ [1]
[edit] See also
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