THE ROLE OF SUFIS AND ULEMA IN SPREADING ISLAM


1) INTRODUCTION:

a) Muslim nationalism in India would have never seen the reality of the day had there been no Sufis or Ulema behind its scene;

b) The view that ‘Islam was spread by the sword’ lacks the understanding of the history;

c) Islam indeed spread by means of its pragmatic ideals – humanitarianism, piety, justice, tolerance and peace – fostered by great Sufis and Ulema through their teachings and practical life;

d) They converted large number of Hindus to the fold of Islam – sword never played decisive role in this respect.

2) JUSTIFICATIONS:

a) If ‘sword’ of Muslim Kings / Sultans had been the driving force then one would naturally expect largest proportion of Muslim population in Delhi, Agra, Luknow – seat of power;

b) This not true and the percentage of Muslims in these areas is very low as compared to other areas constituting Pakistan and Bangladesh;

c) Arnold, a European writer of Indian history, states: “There are instances on record where isolated families were converted under political pressure, but they were few. The vast majority converted not through any Governmental pressure but by slow and patient process of missionary work”.

d) Maclagen and Qanungo, two eminent non-Muslim scholars, studied spread of Islam in Pakistan and Bangladesh, and came to the conclusion that Sufi saints added to the numerical strength of Muslim population by encouraging conversions to Islam through peaceful and non-violent means in these areas;

e) Had Islam been spread by sword / force, 1000 years of Muslim rule would have been sufficient to bring the entire sub-continent under the sway of Islam – which is not the case;

3) CONTRIBUITION OF SUFIS AND ULEMAS:

a) The contribution of Ulema and Sufis was instrumental;

b) In cities, where upper class of Muslim society lived, Ulema were custodian of religion;

c) In far flung areas where masses lived, Sufis played major role not only to preserve the inner spirit of Islam among the Muslims but to win thousands of converts;

d) Sufism was ‘a great spiritual movement in Islam which sought mystic realization of Almighty Allah’. It traces origin to Qoran and Hadith.

e) Organization: organized themselves in ‘silsilahs’ (orders) and established ‘khanqahs’
f) Four ‘silsilahs’ are worth mentioning:

i) Chishtiyah –Khwaja Abu Ishaq Shami (940 AD)
ii) Qadiriyah – founder Shaikh Abdul Qadir Jilani (1077-1166 AD);
iii) Suhrwardiyah –Shaikh Najibuddin Abdul Qadir Suhrawardi (1169 AD);
iv) Naqshbandiyah – founder Khwaja Bahauddin Naqshband (1388 AD);

4) THE ROLE OF CHISHTIYAH ORDER:

i) The silsilah was brought to the sub-continent by Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti Ajmeri (1141-1236 AD) – converted many Rajputs to Islam;

ii) His eminent disciples – Shaikh Hamiduddin (converted many Rajputs in Nagaur Rajputana) and Shaikh Qutbuddin Bakhtiyar Kaki (welcomed by Iltutmish but declined and carried out peaceful missionary work) – further popularized the order;

iii) Shaikh Fariduddin Ganj Shakr, Khalifah of Bakhtiar Kaki, produced galaxy of Sufi preachers who further spread message of Islam;

iv) Shaikh Nizamuddin Auliyah (1238-1325 AD), Ganj Shakr’s eminent disciple, produced many Sufis who propagated Islam and converted thousands in Bengal, Deccan and Gujrat;

v) Shaikh Salimuddin (16th C AD) a contemporary of Akbar, continued his Mission with the emperor;

5) SERVICED OF QADIRIYAH ORDER:

i) The order was introduced in the subcontinent by Niamatullah and Makhdoom Mohammad Jilani by mid 15C AD;

ii) Shaikh Abul Maali of Lahore and Mulla Shah of Badakhshan were renowned saints;

iii) The order established firm hold in Punjab and Sindh;

iv) Shaikh Abdul Haq Muhaddis Delhvi, a celebrated Sufi scholar and Miyan Mir rendered services in Delhi and Sindh [Shah Jahan and Dara Shikoh held Miyan Mir and Mullah Shah in high esteem];

v) The order did not make much headway in the sub-continent during Delhi Sultanate;

6) TH ROLE OF SUHRAWARDIYAH ORDER:

i) Shaikh Bahauddin Zakariyah was the founder of most popular order of Sufis in sub-continent (Khanqah in Multan) – thousands including Chiefs from Multan, Lahore and Sindh embraced Islam;

ii) His son Sadruddin Arif succeeded him in Multan while disciple Syed Jalaluddin Bokhari (1213 AD) founded strong suhrawardi centre in Uchh Sharif – converted many tribes to Islam in Uchh;

iii) Shaikh Jalaluddin Tabraizi established his Khanqah at Deomahal in Bengal where Hindu and Budhist tribes flocked, converted to Islam and became his disciples;

7) REVIVAL OF ISLAM BY NAQSHBANDIYA ORDER:

i) Khwaja Baqi Billah introduced this order in the sub-continent and his celebrated disciple Shaikh Ahmed Sirhindi (Mujaddid Alf Sani) rendered valuable services to the purification of Islam during and after the reign of Mughal Emperor Akbar;

ii) The heretic ideas of Wahdatul Wajud were dispelled by him; he stood up against the un- Islamic practices of Akbar’s era, refused prostration in Jahangir’s ‘darbar’;
iii) Ma’sum, son of Shaikh Ahmed, followed his father. Aurangzeb Alamgir, as prince, used to attend his lectures and later as emperor translated Shaikh Ahmed’s ideas into action;

8) OTHER MUSLIM RENAISSANCE MOVEMENTS:

i) Shaikh Ahmed’s cause was furthered by Shah Waliullah, whose time was of great turmoil and anarchy of Muslim society – shia sunni rift and divisions among sunnis; Ijtihad was put in cold storage and shariah being misinterpreted; Shah Waliullah regenerated the Muslim society and revived the spirit of Shariah;

ii) Jehad Movement was spearheaded by Sayyid Ahmed Shaheed in NWFP and the Punjab. He waged a holy war against the sikh fascist forces and established supremacy of Islam; he was martyred in Balakot along with his comrade Shah Ismail and others;

iii) Similarly, many other movements were launched with the twin purposes – establish supremacy of Islam and fight against fascist forces in various provinces;

iv) These include Faraizi movement in East Bengal by Haji Shariatullah.

9) CONCLUSION:

i) It is established from the above discussion that Islam spread in the subcontinent by peaceful means through missionary work of Sufis and Ulema;

ii) A few movements were launched at the end of the Mughal rule to check the advance of fascist forces to crush Islam and Muslims but these were in defence of faith and not really for spread of Islam.

FARAIZI MOVEMENT



1) THE FARAIZI MOVEMENT:

i) The Muslim revivalism in Bangal during early 19th Century was a local manifestation of the contemporary trend for the return to orthodoxy, felt throughout the subcontinent. The first such movement, Faraizi movement, drew its inspiration from the principles of Wahabism in Arabia.

ii) Faraiz, meaning injunctions of God and the holy Prophet (PBUH).

iii) Like other revivalist movements the Faraizis prescribed strict observance of the principles of Islam and abhorred any deviation form them, especially shirk (polytheism) and Bid’ah (innovation).

iv) Social equality was emphasized and social discrimination and caste practices of any kind disapproved.

v) Most distinguishing feature of the movement was that its followers refused to attend the juma and eid prayers. They argued that according to Hanafi School of law, to which they belonged, these prayers could only be performed in the presence of a Caliph or his agent. To them British India was Darul Harb (a land of enemy), and not Darul Aman (land of peace). They resumed these congregational prayers only after creation of Pakistan.

vi) Haji Shari’atullah (1781-1840) the founder of this movement devoted his attention mainly to religious reforms.

vii) His son Dadu Mian (1819-1862) was less a religio-moral preacher and more a politico-military activist.

viii) Supporters of the movement were mostly depressed Muslim cultivators, oppressed by their mainly Hindu landlords or new class of European indigo planters who treated their native labourers almost as plantation slaves.

ix) Developing as a mass movement the faraizi assumed the form of a socio-economic reform movement.

x) Dadu Mian’s confrontations with these landlords brought him into conflict with the British authorities, who as founders of the permanent settlement of land revenue of 1793, always favoured the landlords upholding freedom of contract and laissez faire liberalism.

xi) During his life time Dadu Mian set up an elaborate underground organization with an administrative hierarchy discharging various responsibilities;

xii) Titu Mir (1782-1831) was another political militant, who initially followed Haji Shariatullah but, later became militant as Dadu Mian.

2) INFLUENCE OF THE MOVEMENT(S):

i) The religio-political activism generated by the movement contributed to the general transformation of the Indian Muslims from a religious community into a political force, later to be utilized by the Ulema and political elite in the late 19th and early 20th Centuries.

ii) The movement, along with similar movements, helped to create necessary momentum which brought about a measure of social unification and removed the internal social and cultural barriers that existed within the community.

iii) Another after effect was the activation of religious sentiment among the Muslims and reorientation of their attitude towards the Hindus.

iv) The revivalism succeeded in purging the Indian Islam of many Hindu practices and re-established teachings of early Islam in Arabia.

v) Wider social and religious contacts between Muslims of different regions reduced differences and opened new channels of communication. This resulted in further religious activities and sponsoring of institutions and organizations. The Islamisation efforts of the reform movements gradually generated a sense of solidarity across the social divisions of the community.

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"MAST TAUKALI ae DUA"