Mohtarma Fatima Jinnah asked a question to President General Ayub Khan in 1964. She asked that American military aid to India was the talk of the town. And India would use this aid against Pakistan. "I want to know how it happened." America was your friend. Why did you lose this friend? Everyone living in the East and the West Pakistan wanted to get the answer to this question. This question came up in the early era of Ayub Khan when industrial development was fast taking place. Now it had become clear that this progress was due to Pakistan's support to America against Russia. In return Pakistan had secured economic aid from America. This aid was being spent on the construction of Tarbela, Mangla dams and many other projects. But the Indo-China war in 1962, changed the scenario. America turned its face on Pakistan and started to give military aid to India. On the one side, America was giving military aid to India on the other, India was annexing Kashmir to its territo
Shah Waliullah Dehlavi was born on February 21, 1703, within the town of Phulat in Muzaffarnagar, Uttar Pradesh, India, because of the reign of Aurangzeb, the Mughal emperor of India, was nearing
its end. (Four years later, Aurangzeb died.) was born as Qutb-ud-Din, but he would come to be
better referred to as Shah Waliullah, an appellation that indicated his inherent
goodness and spirituality. His grandfather, Sheikh Wajihuddin, was a high-ranking officer within the army of Shah Jahan, who sided with Prince Aurangzeb within the war of succession. His father, Shah Abdur Rahim,
was a Sufi and an illustrious scholar who helped compile the
Fataawa-i-Alamgiri, the large written work of shariah . He taught at the Madrassa-iRahimiya, a theological college,
or seminary, that he helped establish. The institution would become a crucial part of the religious emancipation of Muslim India because it provided a start line for later religious reformers. Precocious Scholar Shah Waliullah received his basic education from
his grandfather, but his father later provided him together with his academic and spiritual education. When he was only five years
old, Shah Waliullah was introduced to Islamic education. Two years later he
could recite the Holy Quran. Obviously, he was a precocious scholar. He was
only ten years old when he was ready to read from the Interpretation by Jami, an acclaimed grammar
book. Around this point, he also gained knowledge of Tafseer, Hadith, spiritualism,
mysticism, metaphysics, logic, and Ilm-ul-Kalam. Once introduced to Persian and
Arabic languages, he was ready to complete his lessons in one year. then he targeting grammar and syntax. On top of all that, he studied medicine. After his father died, Shah Waliullah, who was
then 17 years old, became a teacher at the Madrassa-i-Rahimiya. He taught there for 12 years,
providing guidance to fellow Muslims on their spirituality and reformation. A
deeply devout person, Shah Waliullah adhered to the Islamic custom of offering
prayer five times each day. The Madrassa-iRahimiya would become the middle of the Islamic Renaissance within the Indian subcontinent because it attracted scholars from all parts of the country.
After their training, they carried the seminary's teaching throughout the region.
Experienced Vision in Arabia In 1730 Shah Waliullah went on to pursue higher
studies in Arabia. He studied at Makkah and Madina, two renowned educational
institutions, where he developed a reputation as an excellent scholar. In all, he studied for 14 years in Madina, where he
received his Sanad in Hadith (the oral traditions associated with the teachings and therefore the lifetime of the Holy Prophet Muhammad). At the time, he also became aware
that the Marathas (invading warriors from the Maratha Empire) staged continuous
attacks within India, where they looted the wealth of the Muslims. According to accounts, while he was in Arabia, Shah
Waliullah received a vision of the Holy Prophet Muhammad, who commanded that he
work to arrange then emancipate the Muslim community in India. Apparently in
response to the present vision, Shah Waliullah returned to Delhi on July 9, 1732,
where he began what he considered to be his life's mission. Became a Muslim Leader In pursuing this mission, Shah Waliullah faced a
formidable task. At the time, Muslim India was in chaos socially, politically,
economically, and spiritually. But Shah Waliullah identified the causes of the issues and indicated appropriate remedies. He was
critical of the non-Islamic customs that had become integrated into Muslim
society, mostly as a result of the Muslim society's exposure to Hinduism. Specifically, he
denounced extravagant marriage ceremonies and festivals. Also, he determined
the causes of the economic erosion within the Muslim society and proposed appropriate changes, including
greater distribution of wealth, an idea that predated the economic theories of Marx, the nineteenth-century philosopher, and economist
who denigrated capitalism and have become referred to as the daddy of communism. But the larger, underlying problem, Shah Waliullah
believed, was a scarcity of data on the part of Muslims about Islam and therefore the Holy Quran. This ignorance, he felt, was the source of all
of the troubles that the Muslims endured. Once settled in Delhi, Shah Waliullah began
teaching students within the many varied branches of Islamic learning, also as preparing them to be missionaries who would leave and divulge to the masses the true nature of Islam. Further, to assist promote Islamic teachings and make the Holy Quran
more comprehensible to laypeople, he translated the Quran into Persian, which
was the common language at the time. He also tried to assist settle the differences that separated Muslims into
various sectarian groups. during this way, he rose to become an excellent leader also as a scholar, and his followers recognized in him
certain saintly qualities. His ambitions were great yet selfless, and he saw
his own mission as engineering the revival of Islam in India. A humble man,
Shah Waliullah sought no personal reward but only greater glory for his fellow
Muslims. Besides being a deeply spiritual and noted
academic, Shah Waliullah was also politically astute. He helped create a united
Muslim front to oppose the rising Mahratta power, which threatened the already
deteriorating Muslim influence within the northern part of India. To forestall the eradication of Muslim power, he
prevailed upon the national leaders of the time, including Ahmad Shah Abdali,
Nizam ul Mulk, and Najibuddaula. especially, he wrote to Ahmad Shah Abdali, asking him to assist the Muslims of India defeat the Mahrattas, also as their constant threat to the declining Mughal
Empire. As a result of the plea, Ahmad Shah Abdali appeared on the battlefield of
Panipat in 1761 and, together with his army, halted the Marhatta ambitions to regulate the Indian subcontinent. Shah Waliullah's letter to Ahmad
Shah Abdali is now considered one among the foremost important historical documents associated with the eighteenth century, as Shah Waliullah perceptively
described the grave political circumstances in India also because of the numerous dangers the Muslim society faced from all sides. Shah Waliullah not only had a keen grasp of
regional and national politics; he also clearly understood the profound impact
of economics. supported what he saw, he promoted the concept of socio-economic
equilibrium and he deplored the buildup of wealth, viewing it essentially because the proverbial root of all evil within the world. Further, he advocated a social order that
embraced Islamic principles of equality, fraternity, and brotherhood. Prolific Writer As his letter to Ahmad Shah Abdali suggests, Shah
Waliullah exerted an excellent deal of influence through his use of the word. A prolific writer, he assumed a lifetime task of manufacturing standard works on Islamic learning. Within a period of 30
years, he wrote 51 books (23 in Arabic and 28 in Persian). Today, a number of his works are still considered being unmatched within the entire sphere of Islamic literature. Scholars tend to classify Shah Waliullah's written
works into six categories: those works that affect the Holy Quran (which includes his Persian
translations), people who affect Hadith, works associated with “Fiqh” (or Islamic jurisprudence), work supported mysticism, works handling Muslim philosophy and Ilm-i-Kalam, and, finally, the writings
that focused on the Shia-Sunni division that had become quite acute during his
time. His most famous works include Fath Ur Rahman Fee
Tarjumatul Qur’an, a translation of the Holy Quran in Persian, and Al Fauzul
Kabeer Fee Usool at Tafseer, a booklet written within the Persian language that communicates the core of the Holy Quran
and its rules for interpretation. It also reviewed interpretations of the Holy
Quran made by other scholars. Many regard his most famous work to be the Hujjatullah-il-Balighah, a two-volume
manuscript penned in Arabic that detailed jurisprudence for the Hadith, also as aspects of Islam shared altogether Muslim countries. it's still taught in seminaries. The Studying Islam internet site quoted Shah Waliullah in his introduction to the present work: “Some people think that there's no usefulness involved within the injunctions of Shariah which in actions and rewards as prescribed by God there's no beneficial purpose. They think that the
commandments of shariah are almost like a master ordering his servant to lift a stone or touch a tree so as to check his obedience which during this there's no purpose except to impose a test in order that if the servant obeys, he's rewarded, and if he disobeys, he's punished. This view is totally incorrect. The traditions of the Holy Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) and consensus of opinion of these ages, contradict this view.” One chapter within the work described the evils of capitalism, which Shah Waliullah
believed led to the autumn of the Roman and Sassanid empires. Many of his theories concerning economics and socialism are now deemed revolutionary, and he's considered to be a forerunner to Marx. Shah
Waliullah criticized the exploitation of the poor and saw it as a fomenter of
bloody revolution, which he deplored. Revolution, he felt, should be of a
peaceful and intellectual nature, and he believed that an intellectual
revolution needed to precede any lasting sort of political change. In Izaalat-ul-Khifaa, another of his
best-known works, Shah Waliullah fully described the thought of the political revolution that he envisioned.
Shah Waliullah's ideas and values little question came in response to the time during which he was born, which has been described as an era of decadence.
His ideal vision for the Muslim society was one where all individuals enjoyed
complete freedom and rulers based their decisions on the Holy Quran. He was
critical of the idle rich, like the Mughal rulers and India's nobility. The
Studying Islam internet site further quoted him writing about this element of society: “Oh
Amirs! does one not fear God? (How is it that) you've got so completely thrown yourself into the pursuit of momentary
pleasures and have neglected those people that are committed to your care! The result's that the strong are devouring the (weak) people.”
Influence Lasted Beyond Death
After a lifetime dedicated to teaching and writing about Islam, Shah Waliullah died on
August 20, 1762. The Muslim leader and reformer was 59 years old. He was buried
in “Munhadiyan,” a famous graveyard in India, next to his father. After his
death, his son, Shah Abdul Aziz, alongside his followers and generations of successors, continued his
mission to regenerate the Muslim faith.
Today, he's still highly respected by Muslims throughout Asia.
His teachings and tradition survive with the Deoband and Bareli movements. Later, Shah Abdul
Aziz, following in his father's footsteps, translated the Holy Quran into Urdu,
the language of the Muslim masses in India. Meanwhile, Shah Waliullah's
influence continues to be felt in many spiritual, social, and political matters.
