History (the history and culture of pakistan)

Chapter 1 Notes
SHAH WALIULLAH
INTRODUCTION:
❖ Shah Wali Ullah was born on 21 February 1703 during the reign of Aurangzeb
❖ His real name was Qutub-ud-din but became famous as Shah Wali-Ullah
❖ His father was Shah Abdul Rahim who founded Madrassa Rahimia in Delhi his father died in 1718.
❖ In 1724 Shah Wali Ullah went to Arabia to perform Hajj.
❖ He studied under famous scholar Sheikh Abu Tahir bin Ibrahim and returned to Delhi in 1732.
❖ 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.
❖ After 14 months of stay in Arabia, two hajj pilgrims 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.

BELIEFS:
❖ He believed that the Muslims were facing decline not because of weak leadership but because of
Muslim community itself.
❖ He believed that many Muslims did not have complete knowledge of Quranic teachings.
❖ A major problem was that Muslims were divided into Shias and Sunnis and fought with
themselves.
❖ It was necessary to follow Islamic teachings into every aspect of life.

WORK:
❖ He worked hard to ensure that he was a role model for every Muslim.
❖ He translated the Quran into Persian because many people were unfamiliar with Arabic.
 ❖ Later his sons, Shah Abdul Qader and Shah Rafi, translated the Quran into Urdu so more and
more people could gain Islamic knowledge.
❖ He wrote fifty one books in Persian and Arabic.
❖ Amongst the most famous were Hujjatullah-ul-Baligha and Izalat-Akhfa.
❖ He also wrote an account of the first four caliphs of Islam in a way that was acceptable to both
Shias and Sunnis.
❖ In economics he emphasised the need for social justice and for peasants and craftsmen to be
truly valued for their contribution to the economy.
❖ His most important contributions to the Muslim community was his organization of opposition
to the Marathas, who were threatening to over-run the Mughal Empire from the south.
❖ It was to call together the divinities among Muslims and unite them for Jihad.
❖ He wrote a letter to Afghan King Ahmad Shah Abdali and joined local forces with local Muslim
leaders and defeated the Marathas in the Battle of Panipat in 1761.
❖ However, despite encouragement from Shah Wali Ullah, the Muslim leaders did not unite to take
advantage of the defeat of the Marathas.
❖ Perhaps if they had done so, the Muslims would not have soon found themselves under
Non-Muslim rule.

IMPORTANCE:
❖ Shah Wali Ullah was one of the first thinkers to state that the decline of Mughal Empire and the
vulnerable position of the Muslims were due to a neglect of the principles of Islam.
❖ He showed how this regeneration might take place.
❖ The Madrassa continued to play a vital role in teaching Islamic principles and researching
Islamic thought.
❖ He believed that Muslims could prosper if they followed proper Islamic customs and did not
indulge in social evils.
❖ His writing gave a large number of Muslims a chance to study their religion and understand its
teachings.
❖ He gave Muslims inspiration to lead a pure simple Life.
❖ He showed that Muslims had to concentrate more on basic principles rather than finding the
difference which would lead them in the conflict among them.
❖ He tried to oppose Maratha and unite the Muslim under a common enemy.
 ❖ Many future leaders were inspired by his teachings. And fight for the good of Muslim
community.

SYED AHMED BARELVI

INTRODUCTION:
❖ Syed Ahmad was born in a small town of Raebareli near Lucknow.
❖ He moved to Delhi in 1806 and Studied in Madrassa Rahimia for two years.
❖ In 1810 he joined a Pathan Military Leader and learned to use European weaponry.
❖ In 1817 He returned to Delhi trying to make Islam to its original purity.

BELIEFS:
❖ He believed that Muslims could achieve their freedom by having an arm struggle against the
British and Sikhs.
❖ He believed that the evil in the Islamic Society had to be cured.
❖ He called for Jihad Movement to over throw the non-Muslim force which was oppressing them.
❖ Only then Islam could be rescued from the evil customs of other societies.

WORK:
❖ In 1821 He went for Hajj and returned from Arabia in 1823 ready for action.
❖ At this time Punjab and NWFP were in the control of Sikh and Muslims were unable to live
according to their faith.
❖ He traveled many hundred miles to raise a mujahideen force.
❖ In 1826 Syed Ahmad established his headquarters near Peshawar and sent a messenger asking
Ranjit Singh the ruler to allow muslims follow their religion but the request was turn down so he
had no choice but to attack at Okara on 21 December 1826 and after that Hazarothe and defeat
the Sikhs.
❖ He was a successful military leader and the mujahideen force soon reached 80,000 men, but
there was a major problem as the force had people from different areas they quarreled on how
the camping should run.
❖ Sikhs tried to exploit the army by calling it un-Islamic but it was consider jihad by Muslim
leaders.
 ❖ When Syed Ahmad was about to attack the fort of Attock he encountered the army of Sikh of
35000 men.
❖ What he did not know was that Yar Muhammad Khan a Pathan chief was bribed by the Sikh and
even his servant tried to poison him.
❖ Then Yar Muhammad deserted him on the battle field along his men and thus this creates chaos
and lead to defeat.
❖ Syed Ahmad had no choice but to move his headquarters to safety of Panjtar near Kashmir but
was again betrayed when a person in his army told the British a secret way to attack them.
❖ In the battle of Balakot 1831 a surprise attack was led by Sikh and Six hundred Muslims were
killed along with Syed Ahmed.

IMPORTANCE:
❖ The Defeat of the mujahideen in the Battle of Balakot was a serious setback for the Jihad
movement still it survived.
❖ The movement continued on the hills of NWFP until 1863 when the British sent a large force to
deal with it still it survived through determination of its followers.
❖ The work of Syed Ahmad was important because it was the first arm struggle of a movement to
free Muslims from non-Muslim rule.
❖ It was not a movement for a leader but it was to achieve religious freedom.
❖ The Jihad of Syed Ahmad inspired many Muslims.
❖ It is the fore-runner of Pakistan movement as the aim of this movement was to safe-guard
Muslim interest and achieves a homeland where they can practice their Religion, Culture and
Freedoms.

HAJI SHARIATULLAH
INTRODUCTION:
❖ He was born in 1781 in Faridpur district in east Bengal.
❖ His family was poor.
❖ In 1799 He went to Arabia on pilgrimage and stayed there for nineteen years
❖ He was greatly influenced by the teaching of Sheikh Muhammad Abdul Wahab.
BELIEFS:
❖ He believed that the miserable condition of the Muslims in India led to the country being
Dar-Ul-Harb (Country under Foreign Rule).
❖ He said that Friday prayer and Eid prayer cannot be offered here.
❖ He also believed that Muslim community had moved away from Islamic practice.
❖ He wanted them to return to what he thought was the proper observation of Islamic duties called
Faraizi. This was why he started his movement called Faraizi Movement.
❖ The Faraizi Movement supported the idea of Jihad against the non-Muslims who were
undermining the true principles of Islam.

WORK:
❖ He started the Faraizi movement to restore the Pride of the Muslims and remove what he
thought were the Hindu practices.
❖ Emphasis was placed on praying for past sins and promising to lead a righteous life in the
future which had crept into their worship.
❖ The success of this movement caused British and Hindu Landlord’s and they did not want Haji
Shariat Ullah to create difficulty for them by uniting a desire to improve their lives and purify
their religion so they drove Haji out of the reign to Nawabganj in Dhaka where he died in 1840.
❖ His work however was carried by his son Mohsin-ud-Din who continued to improve the position
of Muslim in East Bengal and introduced important economic measures.
❖ He divides East Bengal into a circle under control of each Khalifa to carry out religious
activities.
❖ He helped the peasants to oppose land taxes and he threatened to declare Jihad against the
British so he was captured and put in prison where he died in 1860.

IMPORTANCE:
❖ Work of Haji Shariat Ullah was important to the Faraizi Movement because it gave
encouragement to Muslims at a time when they demoralised by oppression suffered by Hindus
and British.
❖ It also brought about a spiritual revival which led to a revival in Islamic religion in East Bengal.
❖ Hindu influences were removed from Islamic practices.
❖ It might be said that some seeds for the Pakistan Movement were sown by the Faraizi
Movement.
COMPARISONS OF RELIGIOUS THINKERS

Islam was widely spread in subcontinent by Shah Wali Ullah Syed Ahmed Shaheed Barelvi and Haji Shariat
Ullah.
Shah Wali Ullah was a religious scholar. He taught Islamic teachings in the Madrassa Rahimia. This produced a
number of scholars in the sub-continent and therefore increased spread of Islam. Shah Wali Ullah also
translated the Quran in Persian. Arabic was not very much understood in the sub continent so translating
Quran revived Quranic teachings in the subcontinent because Muslims and also other people could
understand Quranic teachings. Shah Wali Ullah also wrote to all Muslim leaders in the subcontinent to unite
and defeat the Marathas it was partly due to his persuade that Ahmed Durrani came to subcontinent and
defeated the Marathas. Thus by writing letters he decreased the non Muslim influence of Marathas and
united Muslim leaders which revived Islam in subcontinent. Shah Wali Ullah wrote several books about 51.
These books were extremely popular. These not only converted many people to Islam and increase
understanding of religion for Muslims of Islam but also united the different Muslim sectarian such as the
Shias and Sunnis.
Syed Ahmed Shaheed Barelvi also played part in reviving Islam. He started the Jihad Movement. The Jihad
Movement was a Movement started by Muslims to defeat the non Muslim oppressors. The Movement united
all the different Muslim against one common enemy. This showed the power of the Muslims and united the
Muslim community which spread Islam.
Haji Shariat Ullah started the Faraizi Movement. It indicated that Muslims should return to their religious
teaching and perform their religious obligations. This particularly became popular in Bengal and Muslims
were revived back to their religious teachings. His movement also united the Muslims of Bengal.
However there were failures
Shah Wali Ullah was not able to bring Muslim power back to subcontinent and Muslims were still being
oppressed by Marathas who prevented them from obeying there religions law.
Syed Ahmed eventually failed to defeat the British and the oppressing Sikhs and Muslims once again
returned to their torturing lives.
Haji Shariat Ullah could only bring rejuvenation in Bengal and so could not reach the entire subcontinent.
The failure of the Jihad Movements discouraged Muslims to rise up against the enemy which weakened Islam.

CONCLUSION:
Although every religious thinker was quite successful in spreading the message amongst the people, Shah
Wali Ullah through writings, Syed Ahmed Shaheed Barelvi through his Jihad Movement and Haji Shariat Ullah
through his Faraizi movement, yet in my opinion Shah Wali Ullah was most successful as his work was ever
lasting and sowed a seed for the later "Pakistan Movement".

COMPARISON OF THEIR WORKS

There were many Muslims reformers at that time. SWU was one of them. He believed that the Muslims were
not able to understand Islam because they weren’t able to understand the Holy Quran because it was in
Arabic. He translated the Holy Quran from Arabic to Persian. Later it was translated to Urdu by his sons. He
wrote 51 books .They include Hujjatullah-ul Baligha and Izalat al Akhfa. He also wrote an account on the four
Caliphs of Islam to decrease differences between Sunnis and Shias.(he also fought against the Marathas)
Another reformer was SASB. He was a man of action. He was a great Muslim warrior. He gathered an army of
mujahideen to fight against the Sikhs and Ranjit Singh's forces. He did Jihad against the Ranjit Singh army
many times. Although many people left him he still continued the fight against the Sikhs. He fought the
Battle of Balakot in 1831. It was the first example of a movement formed to free Muslims from non Muslims
leaders. It was a uniting force for the Muslims and inspiration for future Muslims.
Another reformer was HSU. He believed that the country was now Dar-Ul Harb where non Muslims ruled. He
also believed that the Muslims had moved away from true Islamic practice so he started a movement called
the Faraizi Movement. It supported the idea of Jihad Movement. The Faraizi Movement was started to restore
the pride of Muslims and remove non Muslim practices in Islam. This Movement encouraged the Muslims. It
brought a spiritual revival. It also had much economic impact. The Bengal peasants became united in
opposition to the British and became aware of their rights and unity became to grow between them and they
realised their rights that should have been given.
Conclusion
I think SWU was the most important reformer because he was one of the first persons to realise the main
thing of Muslims problems. He did the major thing of translating Holy Quran to Persian so that more people
could understand it.

Key questions addressed in this this chapter:

● How important were the religious reforms of shah waliullah?
The translation of the Qur'an into Persian was a very important reform, Shah Waliullah believed that the
lack of knowledge of the Qur'an and Islam was a major reason for the problems of the Muslims. Translating
the Qur'an, he made a large number of Muslims able to understand and follow the Quranic teachings which
were vital to the Muslim community.
He played a very important role in defeating the Marathas at the Battle of Panipat in 1761. He believed that
the Muslims had to unite to deal with this threat, he wrote to all Muslim nobles calling on them to unite and
save the Mughal empire. It was partly his influence which made Ahmed Shah Abdali of Persia intervene.
Joining the local Muslim leaders, he defeated the Marathas at the Battle of Panipat.

His influence continued long after his death, the Madrassa Rahimiya continued to flourish and many future
Islamic leaders were inspired by him to fight for the good of the Muslim.

● What influence did syed ahmed barelvi exerts in the revival of islam?

Syed Ahmed had a great influence in the revival of Islam. He was the First person to fight against the foreign
power and rule and the first example in Indian history to free Muslims from the tyranny of foreign rule.

Syed Ahmed had a great influence in the revival of Islam. He was the First person to fight against the foreign
power and rule and the first example in Indian history to free Muslims from the tyranny of foreign rule. The
jihad movement of Syed Ahmed is a uniting force for Muslims This movement was not aimed to place a
particular person on a throne but to achieve religious and spiritual freedom. The fact that Syed Ahmed and
his followers were prepared to die for their cause was an inspiration to many Muslims.This movement is also
regarded as a very important move towards achieving an independent and separate state for Muslims even
though this was very ahead of that time. Syed Ahmed's efforts were an inspiration to all Muslims in
defending their religion and culture. Those Muslims who in the future worked for a separate independent
state saw Syed Ahmed as an example because even he wanted a separate independent state for the Muslims.

End Chapter Questions:

Q: What was the Faraizi Movement? [4]

ANS: Faraizi movement was started by Haji Shariat Ullah (1781-1840) in Bengal to revive Islam and to
improve the condition of Muslim peasants who were opposed by Hindu and British landlords. Haji Shariat
Ullah advised the Muslims to perform religious obligations (Faraiz i.e. prayers etc) strictly and seriously.
Haji Shariat Ullah started the faraizi movement to restore the pride of the Muslims and to remove what he
thought were the Hindu practices had crept into their worship. The faraizi movement was important because
it gave encouragement to the Muslims at the time when they were demoralized by the oppression they
suffered from the Hindus and the British. It brought about a spiritual revival which led to a revival in the
Islamic religion in East Bengal. Hindu influences were removed from the Islamic practices. It also had an
important political and economic impact. The Bengal peasants became united against the harsh treatment
they received. They became aware of their rights and the political unity began to grow amongst them. This
movement was carried on by his son till 1860.

Q: Why did Shah Waliullah translate the Holy Quran into Persian? [7]
ANS: Shah Waliullah believed that many of the problems the Muslims faced weredue to their ignorance about
Islam and the Holy Quran. He felt that an emphasis on Quranic teachings would not only improve their
knowledge, it would also reduce sectarianism differences and create a feeling of solidarity. As Arabic was not
widely understood, the average Muslims derived his/her knowledge from the teachings of Muslim Jurists and
theologians. Shah Waliullah recognized that the tenets of Islam could not be followed properly unless the
Holy Quran itself was understood. In order to spread the teachings of Islam he translated the Holy Quran
into Persian the main language of educated Muslims at that time in the Sub-Continent.

Q: Was the work of Syed Ahmad Shaheed Barelvi the most important factor in the revival of
Islam in the period 1700-1850? Give reasons for your answer. [14]

ANS: The work of Syed Ahmad had been the very important factor in the revival of Islam because of many
reasons. Syed Ahmad Barelvi Shaheed was born in 1786. He was greatly impressed by the preaching and
thoughts of Shah Waliullah. So, Syed Ahmad Shaheed started preaching true Islam (as Shah Waliullah did).
But he was of the opinion that there should be a political power behind the preaching for the revival of Islam
and Muslim power in India. He founded the Jihad Movement for the restoration and revival of Muslim power
in India. His main objective was the establishment of an Islamic state on proper Islamic principles. Also the
aim of the Jihad Movement was to liberate the Muslims of the Punjab and N.W.F.P from the Sikh rule.
Prepared By: Rizwan Javed At that time (beginning of 19th century) Punjab and N.W.F.P were under the Sikh
rule of Ranjit Singh. Muslims were facing great difficulty in following their religion in this area. Therefore,
Syed Ahmad chose Punjab and N.W.F.P for his activities. He also expected help from the Afghan and Pathan
tribes of N.W.F.P. Syed Ahmad established his headquarters at Nowshera. His first encounters against the
Sikh forces took place at Okora in which the Mujahideen were successful. The jihad movement ended in 1831,
but it was a brave and determined movement effort for the revival of Islam and Muslim power. Syed Ahmad’s
example continued to inspire the future Muslim generations. The work of Syed Ahmad was important but the
work of another two reformers was also very important for a number of reasons: Shah Waliullah was one of
the first Muslim thinkers to state the decline of Mughal Empire and the vulnerable position of the Muslims
was due to the neglect of the principles of Islam. Shah Waliullah worked hard to ensure that he was a role
model for other Muslims. His deep understanding about the Quran, Hadith, Fiqah and Tasawwuf made him a
highly knowledgeable scholar at an early age. Since he believed that an emphasis on Quranic teachings was
vital to Muslims so Shah Waliullah translated the Holy Quran into Persian which was the language of
educated Muslims at that time. He also wrote 51 books to explain the principles of Islam. He wrote an
account about the first for Caliphs of Islam in a way in which it was acceptable to both Shias and Sunnis. He
hoped that this would help to heal the divisions between them. His writings brought him great fame and
prestige and enabled him to have influence in other areas too. For example: in economics he emphasized the
need for social justice and for peasants and craftsmen to be truly valued for their contribution to the
economy. He advised the Muslims to give up extravagance and wasteful expenditure on marriages, deaths,
births and other occasions. Wealthy Muslims were asked to look after the poor and the needy. Shah Waliullah
wrote letters to the rulers of Muslim states asking them to unite and rise against non-Muslim forces. He
invited the Afghan ruler Ahmad Shah Abdali to deal with Marathas who were threatening Muslims in Delhi and
Punjab. Ahmad Shah Abdali defeated the Marathas in the battle of Panipat in 1761 so they were never able to
rise again. Shah Waliullah explained the importance of JEHAD to the Muslims. He gave the concept of social
justice and advised the Muslims that due importance and value should be given to peasants and craftsmen.
Prepared By: Rizwan Javed Haji Shariat Ullah’s contribution towards religion was also very important. Haji
Shariat Ullah started the faraizi movement to restore the pride of the Muslims and to remove what he
thought were the Hindu practices had crept into their worship. The faraizi movement was important because
it gave encouragement to the Muslims at the time when they were demoralized by the oppression they
suffered from the Hindus and the British. It brought about a spiritual revival which led to a revival in the
Islamic religion in East Bengal. Hindu influences were removed from the Islamic practices. It also had an
important political and economic impact. The Bengal peasants became united against the harsh treatment
they received. They became aware of their rights and the political unity began to grow amongst them.
Although the work of another two reformers was also important but the work of Syed Ahmad was the most
important factor in the revival of Islam in the SubContinent.