Ilm-ud-din

Ilm-ud-din (December 4, 1908 – October 31, 1929) was a Muslim who murdered a book publisher named Mahashay Rajpal for publishing the book Rangila Rasul, that supposedly offended religious values of Muslims. For this his name is often mentioned in Muslim sources with the honorifics 'Ghazi' and 'Shaheed'.

Why Rangila Rasul was written?

Rangila Rasul was a book published during the time of Arya Samaj and Muslim confrontation in Punjab during the 1920s. It was written by an Arya Samaji, Pt. Chamupati in 1927, but the name was never revealed by the publisher Rajpal in Lahore. On the basis of Muslim complaints, Mahasay Rajpal was arrested but acquitted in April 1929 after 5 years of trial. It is believed that the presiding judge was of Christian faith. After several unsuccessful attempts to kill Mahasay Rajpal, he was stabbed to death by a young man named Ilam-Ud-Din on April 6, 1929. The murderer was hanged but was hailed as a martyr by some Muslims, and is now accorded the title of "Ghazi" which means he came back from his holy mission alive. Originally written in Urdu, it has been translated in Hindi and English. The book is banned in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. ^[1]

Early life

Ilm-ud-din hailed from city of Lahore, Pakistan (pre-partition). His father was a carpenter. When he was old enough to work he started working alongside his father on his shop. He had a friend named Abdul Rasheed, who was called "Sheeda". Sheeda's father’s shop was in front of the Wazir Khan Mosque. One day both the friends, Ilm-ud-din and Sheeda were passing near the Wazir Khan Mosque. There was a huge crowd near the mosque. People were shouting slogans against Mahashay Rajpal.

At that time Ilm-ud-din decided that he would kill Mahashay Rajpal by going to his shop and running him through with a dagger.

Background for assassination

Kumar Prasad Preet wrote the book Rang De by the Pen name of Chami Patul Lachi. It was alleged by some sections of Muslim community that the book had made allegations against the Islamic prophet Muhammed.

The book was published in 1923 by a Publisher from Lahore, Mahashay Rajpal as a pamphlet by the name of 'Rangila Rasul', which contained a rescension of hadith from Bukhari, among other sources, along with salacious commentary. Rangila Rasul had a surface appearance of a lyrical and laudatory work on Muhammad and his teachings, for example it began with a poem which went "The bird serves the flowers in the garden; I'll serve my Rangila Rasul," and called Muhammad "a widely experienced" person who was best symbolized by his many wives, in contrast with the brahmacarya of Hindu saints.^[2] Various sections of the Indian Muslim Community started a movement demanding the book to be banned, but the British government of India apparently paid no attention to Muslim demands.

Ilm-ud-din unveiled his intention to his friend. According to one account, both of them decided to murder the publisher.

Assassination

He then went to bazaar and bought a dagger for one rupee. He hid the dagger in his pants and then he headed towards Mahashay Rajpal’s shop. Mahashay Rajpal had not arrived yet. It was 6 September 1929.

As soon as Ilm-ud-din saw Mahashay Rajpal entering his shop, he attacked him. He stabbed Mahashay Rajpal using the dagger. He was overpowered by the general public.

Then police arrived and arrested Ilm-ud-din, and sent him to Mianwali Jail situated in Punjab Province on October 4, 1929. Later, he was convicted and given the death penalty according to the Indian Penal Code.^[3]

Trial and execution

The trial lawyer for Ilm-ud-din was Farrukh Hussain. Ilm-ud-din claimed that he was not guilty. The defence produced two witnesses that claimed that he was not guilty. Two witnesses from the prosecution side claimed that he was guilty. Muhammad Ali Jinnah, then a prominent Indian lawyer, and later the founder of Pakistan, was then sought to appear in the appeal at the Lahore High Court. Jinnah attacked the testimony of the prosecution witnesses but the court overruled his arguments. Jinnah then appealed that there were extenuating circumstances, i.e. Ilm-ud-din was a man of 19 or 20 who was riled up by feelings of veneration for the founder of his faith, which could turn the death sentence into transportation for life. This contention was also rejected.^[4]

Jinnah who was at the time considered an ambassador of Hindu Muslim unity was criticised by the Hindi Newspaper "Pratap" which claimed that this would be a blow to Jinnah's prestige amongst the Hindus. It bears remembering that Jinnah himself had sat on the select committee for the bill that introduced 295-A to Indian Penal Code for which Jinnah sounded a warning that the law might be used to stifle dissent and academic criticism of religion.

Then officials took Ilm-ud-din towards the gallows. The authorities buried his body without Janazah prayer in front of the Mianwali Jail but with the intervention of leaders like Dr. Allama Muhammed Iqbal, Mian Amiruddin and Mian Abdul Aziz the Muslims were able to get his body back. Later his body was sent to Lahore for burial by the efforts of Dr. Allama Muhammad Iqbal and his allies.

Funeral

Though some sources claim that Ilam Deen was buried by noted scholars, among them Allama Iqbal, the sources can be considered dubious at best. The events surrounding the burial as well as the various quotes attributed to Allama Iqbal where he remarks that Ilam Deen was a righteous Muslim or that a sinner such as himself (Iqbal) could not lead Ilam Deen's procession are from unreliable sources. What is known is that upon asking, Allama Iqbal refused to lead the procession. Ilam Deen was buried in Lahore on 14 November, 1929.

Legislative Response

In 1927, under pressure from Muslim community, the British ruled India government enacted a law to stifle criticism or insult to religion..^[5]

References