ADVENT OF ISLAM IN INDO-PAK SUB-CONTINENT

Introduction

Arabs, as traders entered the sub-continent within a two years after their conversion to
Islam. The Muslim traders played a very significant role in preaching Islam in the subcontinent,
as Hitti remarks:

that it has passed through three distinct stages “originally a religion, Islam later became a state
and finally a culture”.
The Arab Muslims conquered Sindh in the seventh century A.D. Sea faring and maritime interest
of the Arabs on the coast of India were considerable even before Islam: and under a centralized
government of Umayyad, the commercial activities expanded in the subcontinent. Mohammad
bin Qasim, the conqueror of Sindh made Sindh Dar-ul-islam and based his policy on the Sharia;
the laws of Islam. The majority of converts who entered the fold of Islam belonged to lower
caste of Hindus to whom Islam at once brought that social equality which Hinduism had denied
them from a long time. Arab missionary activities also played a significant role in the large scale
conversion of Hindus. As T.W. Arnold says, “But for the arrival of the Portuguese, the whole of
this coast would have become Mohammedan”.Feroze Shah Tughlaq in his autobiography writes,
“I encouraged my infidel subjects to embrace the religion of the Prophet. The new converts were
favoured with presents and honours”.

Traders and growth of Islam:

Islamic influence first came to be felt in the Indian sub-continent during the early 7th
century with the advent of Arab traders. Arab traders used to visit the Malabar region , which
was a link between them and the ports of South-East Asia to trade even before Islam had been
established in Arabia. According to Historians Elliot and Dowson in their book ‘the history of
Indians as told by their historians’, the first ship bearing Muslim travelers was seen on the Indian
coast as early as 630 AD. H.G. Rawlinson, in his book: Ancient and Medieval History of India y
J. Sturrock claims the first Arab Muslims settled on the Indian coast in the last part of the 7th
century AD.
The Arab merchants and traders became the carriers of the new religion and they
propagated it wherever they went. However, it was the Muslim conquests in Persia, including the
provinces of Kirman and Makran, which brought the Arabs face to face with the then ruler of
Sindh, who had allied with the ruler of Makran against the Muslims. But, it was not until the sea
borne trade of the Arabs in the Indian Ocean was jeopardized that serious attempts were made to
subjugate Sindh.
Bab-ul-Islam: The invasion of Muhammad bin Qasim ushered the way for spread of
Islam in sub-continent. But, to say that the invasions were reasons of spread of Islam is
absolutely wrong because if it so then why Halaku khan could not succeed in spreading
Buddhism anywhere in the World?
Preaching of Islam:
History is witness that there were some major groups of elements who preached, propagated and
popularized Islam. Among them were Sufis, Ulemas and reformers. All are discussed below in
detail:

SUFIS:
In the Subcontinent, the Sufis made untiring, selfless and incessant struggle for the
spread, growth and evolution of Islam. The spread of Islam stems from the invasion of
Muhammad Bin Qasim in the Subcontinent, but roots of Sufism took shape and became an
institution in the 12th and 13th century. The two great pioneers in this filed were Shaikh Abdul
Qadir Jilani and Hazrat Shahabuddin Suharawardy. Four branches of Sufism, namely Qadriya,
Chishtiya, Suharawardya and Naqshahbandya were introduced in the Subcontinent can be traced
to the time when the first Sufi, Muhammad Alfi, came to the Subcontinent. It was their affection,
sympathy, fraternity and unlimited philanthropist actions that won the hearts of people.

1. Shaikh Ismail Bukhari: CENTRE: CENTRAL PUNJAB (LAHORE)

Due to his attractive personality people accepted Islam in large number. Thousands of Hindus
attended his sermons every Friday and it was generally believed that no unbeliever came into
personal contact with him without being converted to Islam.

2. KHAWAJA MUIN-UDIN CHISHTI: CENTRE: RAJISTHAN (AJMER)

A Great Sufi, popularly known as ‘khowaja Ajmeri’ converted thousands of non-Muslims to
Islam. While in Delhi on his way to Ajmer he is said to have converted Seven hundred Hindus to
Islam. He also introduced ‘Chishtya silsila’ in India.

3. BAHA-UD-DIN ZAKARIA: CENTRE: SOUTH-EAST PUNJAB (MULTAN)

A highly educated person, Bahaudin Zakaria was the founder of ‘SHORWARDI silsila’ in India.
His alluring personality and policy of public welfare impressed non-Muslims to embrace Islam at
a grandiose scale.

4. FARID AL-DIN GANJ SHAKAR: CENTRE: FAR-NORTH-INDIA (PAKPATAN)

Farid was an eloquent Panjabi poet. With his elegant speech and wide spread message of peace,
he became successful in winning hearts of non-Muslims.

5. NIZAM-UDIN-AULYA: CENTRE: NORTH-INDIA (DELHI)

His vision of the world was marked by a highly evolved sense of secularity and kindness.
Historiographer Ziauddin Barani claims that his influence on the Muslims of Delhi was such that
a paradigm shift was affected in their outlook towards worldly matters. People began to be
inclined towards mysticism and Islam. His disciple Amir Khusro was reason of introducing new
modes to Sufism, say Qawali’.
6. ALI MAKHDOOM HAJWERI:
Hazrat Ali Bin Osman Hujweri, popularly known as Data Ganj Bux. He was leading Sufi
philosophers of the day. He did immense missionary work in his individual capacity and set an
outstanding example for future generations.
Above all, it was the sheer straggle of the Sufis which paved the way for the future Islamic state
in the Subcontinent. Had the Sufis shunned their practice of Islamic teachings in the 13th and
14th century, it would have been difficult to implant a Muslim civilization in the country where a
well-organized Hindu community had lived for centuries

ULEMAS:
Sheikh Ahmad Sirhindi
Shah Wali Ullah

C: CLERGY AND GROWTH OF ISLAM:

The Islamic clergy also paved the way for growth of Islam in sub-continent. Using their Friday
sermons and power to issue fatwas they were able to exercise greater influence on the polity than
were Hindu priests. With the rulers on their side, it was much harder to challenge them. Hence,
there was a systematic cycle of Islamic preaching and way of life, which attracted liberal non-
Muslims.

REFORMERS:

SIR SYED AHMED KHAN:

The whole blame and repercussions of war of independence fell over Muslims. The
revolutionary personality took the task. According to the need of time, the policy of Sir Syed was
based on unquestioned loyalty to the British government. He was the earliest modernist in the
history of Islamic thought. When in 1867, the ‘Hindi-Urdu controversy’ started, Sir Syed gave
the idea of ‘TWO-NATION THEORY’.Religiously,English missionaries produced literature
designed to create doubts in the mind of the average Muslim. He managed to interpret those
thoughts for western education with interest of Muslim nation. To save the Muslim from the
charges of disloyalty and also raising the intellectual level of Mulsims,Sir Syed wrote
immensely:” loyal Mohammedans of India”; a magazine “tahzib-ul-akhlaq”.His biggest
achievement was creation a ‘British Indian Association Aligarh(which later resulted in creation
of ALL-INDIA MUSLIM LEAGUE) and Aligarh movement.
IQBAL:
The poet philosopher Iqbal played an important role in stipulating the spirit into the
Muslim nation in Indo-Pak. He became the greatest exponent of the Muslim Milat of the
subcontinent. His words were mighter then sword. For awakening the Muslims from dead sleep,
he says:
And for stressing unity in Muslim nation, he says:

Thus, though reformers like Iqbal were modern and final architecture of Muslim nation but their
role in building a nation is liable for tribute.
RULERS AND GROWTH OF ISLAM:
Islam in sub-continent grew more strongly because of Islamic rule there. But, at the same time, it
is wrong to assume that if missionaries had not received a fresh impulse under the Muslim
dynasties, its propagation would have been checked. Islam grew more and more with or without
the backing of political power to it, especially during the British rule. According to the Census
report of 1891: “It is satisfactorily proved that since last twenty years, out of every 10,000
persons in Bengal, Islam has gained 650 persons. So, lets have a look that how MUSLIM rule
helped in growth and evolution of Islam.

INVASION OF INDIA:
With the political factor as reason’detre of invasion of Hindustan, Muhammad bin Qasim
established first ever Muslim rule in India. Thus starts the history of Muslim rule in India.

POLICIES OF MUSLM RULERS FOR ISLAM:

It is noteworthy to observe that the how the Muslim rulers supported the elements which were
ingredients for growth and evolution in Islam. Let’s check the few examples:

A: SULTAN Mohammad Toghluq transferred numerous saints and Sufis to Daulatabad.

B: Masud, the son of Sultan Mahmud while coming to Lahore, brought with him Sufis like Ali
Makhdum Hajweri of Ghazni.
C: Sher Shah Suri in his short reign played a particularly decisive role in creating several new
urban centers particularly like Delhi and Rohtas.These urban centers were viewed as ‘MUSLIM
COLONIES’.
E: Rulers like Ahmed Shah of Ahmadabad or Adil Shah of Bijapur maintained a relatively close
connection with indigenous traditions. Ahmed Shah incorporated Hindu and Jain architectural
motifs into his buildings without inhibition.
F: Mughal rulers like Akbar and Jahangir tried to be eclectic in their tastes, and others like the
Deccan rulers encouraged unique local-flavored styles. Some of the more enlightened Islamic
rulers invested in vital public works. This pretended them to be more an Indian ruler then a
Muslim ruler.Thus, their non-Muslim subjects had good courtesy towards them and this helped
in spread of Islam.

OTHER FACTORS:

• ECONOMIC POLICY AND EVOLUTION OF M.SOCIETY

Agriculturally developed societies played a crucial role in this transformation. The interests of
the mercantile community were such that they wished agricultural taxes to be high but trade
duties to be low. By and large, Islamic rulers implemented exactly such a regime. This enabled
the founding of new trading and manufacturing centers that emerged wherever Islam took hold.
For the desert areas of the world, Islam came as a big boon - providing wealth from trade that
would have been unimaginable considering the poverty of the natural landscape.

• CULTURE, ARCHITECTURE AND TECHNOLOGY FOR CAUSE OF ISLAM: The growth

in migration, trade and development of Hindustan ushered the Muslim community and Islam in
Hindustan. That is why historian call things like ‘indo-Islamic culture/architecture’. In culture,.
In architecture, the use of ceramic tiles in construction was inspired by architectural traditions
prevalent in Iraq, Iran, and in Central Asia. In technology, there is also the example of Sultan
Abudin (1420-70) sending Kashmiri artisans to Samarqand to learn book-binding and paper
making. Many Islamic rulers developed Karkhanas - i.e. small factories during their reign.
Towns were hub of in particular industries.Like,Mirzapur for carpets, Firozabad for glass wares,
Farrukhabad for printing, Lucknow for barware, Srinagar for papier-mâché, Benaras for jewelry
and textiles, and so on.
• Flaws in Hinduism; a blessing in Disguise:

The social evils of Hindu society and the peaceful efforts of Muslim missionaries were the main
causes of conversion to Islam. Hinduism had evils such as notorious caste system and social
lacks. At this front, Islam was viewed as sigh of relief and complete code of conduct particularly
for low-caste Hindus and Buddhists.