SHAH
WALI-U ALLAH
Shah Wali-u Allah
was born on 4th Shawwaal, 1114 / 21 February 1703
1703 at Phulat in Delhi. His ancestors had migrated from
Arabia to Iran for reasons not known. Later on when the
invasion of the Tatars caused widely spread terror and
destruction in Iraq and Iran, the forefathers of the Shah are
said to have migrated to India and found their settlement here
at Rohtak village. His grandfather was a gallant soldier in
the Mughal army and a deep lover of the Qur’aan. Shaykh
Abdur-Rahim was Shah Wali-u Allah’s father, the pupil of a
great scholar and sufi – Zahid Herawi. Abdur-Rahim was
famous for his profound knowledge of the traditions and
Islamic jurisprudence. That is why he was offered the service
in the government to revise Fataawa Alamgiri which he
undertook at the instance of his mother. He was also famous
for found his seminary, Madrasah-e-Rahimiyyah in Delhi the
forerunner of the present Darul Uloom Deoband. Shaykh
Abdur-Rahim had interests in mysticism yet he did not ignore
the practical aspects of life. In the home of such a pious and
learned father, the Shah grew up to great heights of eminence.
At the age of
five, the Shah had his first lesson at school. After two years
he learnt reading and writing. He learnt the Qur’aan by
heart upto the age of ten. At the age of fourteen years he
read a part of Bauzayi and the major part of Mishkawah. He got
the graduation from Rahimiyyah college at the age of fifteen.
The prescribed syllabus of the college laid great stress on
the Qur’aanic studies with lesser aid from commentaries and
the Shah himself felt thankful to God for being provided with
opportunity to lecture on the lessons of the Qur’aan which
opened the doors of its knowledge for him. The other sciences
like the Hadith, Fiqh, logic, etc. were also learnt by the
Shah. He became the teacher of this very college of his father
at the age of seventeen. Only two years later, his father died
and the management work of the school fell upon him. The Shah
took up the task with devotion and attained the help of the
old graduates of the college. He prepared his lectures after
extensive study on various Islamic disciplines and sciences.
and provided guidance on the problems of varied nature. While
sitting on the grave of his father in pious meditation, he
sought solutions of the spiritual problems. ‘When I sat
meditating,’ he reports, ‘at the grave of my father,
problems of Tawhid (oneness of God) were solved. The path of
the divine attraction (Jazb) was opened; and a large share of
Saluk (spiritual journey) fall to my lot, and inspirational
knowledge (Uloom-e-Wajdaniyyah) thronged the mind with it.’
Through his study of standard Fiqh literature and Hadith
books, the Shah came to the conclusion that the institution of
Fuqaha-e-Muhadditheen (jurisprudents who drew heavily upon
traditions of the Prophet Muhammad (Sallallaahu
Alayhi Wasallam) was an adequate one that he would adhere
to in his future life.
Shah Wali-u
Allah’s journey to Hijaaz in October 24 1730 / 8
Rabi-as-Thaani 1143 proved a turning point in his career. It
was the time when the Indian subcontinent was undergoing a
deep crisis consequent upon the declining fortunes of the
Mughal empire. Under such conditions there was growing an
indifference towards religion. The sectarian conflicts had
become the order of the day. Sufism had generated and various
evils had crept into the society as a result of the practices
of the false Sufis. The sensitive mind of the Shah was deeply
moved by the deplorable situation prevailing in India and his
journey to Hijaaz had much to do with this preoccupation of
the scholar. In Hijaaz, the Shah stayed for about two years,
performed Hajj twice at Makkah and also spent sometime at the
Prophet’s tomb in Madinah. Besides acquainting himself with
the general condition of the Muslim world during his stay in
Hijaaz, the Shah also received lessons on the Qur’aan and
the Hadith and thereby was able to attain considerable
guidance in the spiritual matters. He read from the scholars
of repute, Muatta of Imaam Maalik with Shaykh Wafadullah and
Bukhari of Imaam Bukhari with Shaykh Taj-al-Din Hanafi, the
Mufti (juri consultant) of Makkah. At Madinah, the Shah
attended to Shaykh Ibrahim Kurdi, an eminent traditionist and
sufi, and revised all famous books on Hadith under his
guidance. Shaykh Abu Tahir, another great theologian in
Madinah, also guided the Shah in the science of Hadith.
It can hardly be
denied that Shah Shah Wali-u Allah’s sojourn to Hijaaz
proved to be a landmark in his spiritual development. He
himself mentions many spiritual blessings and experiences in
His Fuyuz al-Haramayn. He received them in a series of visions
at the precincts of the holy Ka’abah and the holy tomb of
Rasulullah (Sallallaahu
Alayhi Wasallam). In these visions include the task of the
revival of Islam entrusted to the Shah by the grandsons of the
prophet, the intelligibility of the most controversial
problems of ontological versus phenomenological monism,
clearance of doubts on the controversial issues relating to
solidarity and development of the Muslim institutions. A.D.
Muztar has eloquently described this enlightenment of Shah
Wali-u Allah in the following words:
The prophet
cleared his doubts concerning them in a series of visions. For
example, the prophet (Sallallaahu
Alayhi Wasallam) told Shah Wali-u Allah.
1.
The order of succession of the Khulafa-e-Raashideen
(the four immediate successors of the prophet) had taken
place under the will and pleasure of God. It was best suited
to the interests of Muslim community and so far as the
personal excellence of these four companions of the prophet
was concerned, all of them were blessed with qualities and
stations special to each of them. The contentions over the
attributive supremacy of Ali on the one hand and of Abu Bakr
and Umar (Shaykhayn) on the other, were just useless and
needless. Such a controversy was apt to create hatred and
disharmony among the Muslims.
2.
All the mystic orders, such as (Chishti, Naqshabandi,
Qadiri, Suhrawardi, etc.) were equally acceptable to God.
Nor was the prophet of God especially inclined towards any
particular order. One may follow any or all of them with the
only proviso that they were followed for the sake of God
Almighty.
3.
None of the schools of Jurists, Maaliki, Hanafi,
Shaaf’ee and Hanbali, excelled the other. All of them were
fundamentally the same. Therefore, all were equal in the
eyes of the Prophet … It was further revealed to him that
in conveying his message to the nation and share their
responsibilities; he benign and compassionate in his
speeches and writings; and pray for what was good for the
people in their world life and the life hereafter.
After the
Shah’s return to Delhi, he addressed himself to the task of
bringing about the revival of Islamic sciences for the general
good of Muslims. He made useful reforms in the studies at
Rahimiyyah college in order to impart such teaching and
training to the pupil as could enable them to relate true
religious education to the practical needs of the people. The
wrong beliefs and customs, associated with Islam, were
reformed through the Shah’s translation of the Qur’aan
into Persian which made the people to understand its actual
message. His Tafhimat-I-Ilaahiyya and Hama’at played a great
role in clearing off the doubts about the innovations in
Sufism. The interpretation of Islamic system comprising
beliefs and Ibaadat, social, political and economic matters,
was made by the Shah under the new and growing exigencies of
his time. Al-Badur al-Bazigah, Hujjatul Allah al-Baaligha, al-Insaaf
fee sabab bayaan al-Ikhtilaaf, etc. clearly demonstrate the
deep concern of the Shah in bringing about the revival of
Islamic sciences in accordance with the needs of the Muslim
society in the Indian context.
The resurgence of
Islamic political thought marks an outstanding feature of Shah
Wali-u Allah’s Islamic revivalism. The Ummah in general and
the Indian Muslim in particular were exposed to the internal
and the external threats. The so often controversies over the
standpoints of the Shi’as and the Sunnis, luxurious and
lethargic habits in the Mughal bureaucracy in the capital,
rapid growth of the Maratha power, the Jats, the Sikhs and
above all the intrusion of the Western imperialistic
influences had undermined the solidarity of the Indian
Muslims. Their disdain and disunity was further affected by
their indulgence in the conflicts of sectarian,
jurisprudential schools of law, heterodoxy and orthodoxy
nature. The Shah sensitively reacted to these problems of
political confusion and instability of Muslims of the Indian
subcontinent. He attempted considerably for the purification
and the revitalisation of this political deterioration. His
expositions on the political thought mark his rational
approach to human history and his critical interpretation of
the classical history of Islam.
Political
Thought of Shah Wali-u Allah – an Analytical Study
Abdur-Rashid Bhat
Last modified:
July 19, 2007
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