Saha Waliullaah (1703 – 1762)

Introduction
Shah Waliullah was one of the most original and constructive thinkers of the period with a
clear appreciation of political realities. He tried to create a new ideological basis for the
reconstruction of the Muslim State.
Shah Walliulah was born on 21 February 1703 in Delhi. He completed his formal
education under the loving care of his father at the age of fifteen. Soon after, he was
permitted to teach others at the Madrasah-i-Rahimiyah which had been established by his
father. After his father’s death, Shah Waliullah continued teaching there for twelve years.
This was a critical period in the history of Muslims in the sub-continent.

Brief
In the words of Allama Iqbal, Shah Walliulah was the first Muslim “to find the urge of a new
spirit in him.” Shah Walliullah went on a pilgrimage to Mecca in 1730 and had the good
fortune of studying at the feet of and associating with the leading Muslim divines of the
period. What he saw of the Muslim people there deeply affected him and the social,
political and spiritual decline of the Muslims at home and abroad confirmed him in his
belief that it was high time to re-interpret Islam and popularise Islamic values amongst the
Muslims.
During 1737-38 he translated the Holy Quran into Persian much to the disgust of the
orthodox ‘ulama’. He set himself the task of removing the differences and bridging the gulf
that separated the Shi’as from the Sunnis and the ‘ulama’ from the ‘sufis’. He
recommended the application of ‘ijtihad’ as against blind ‘taqlid’. Believing in the
universalism of Islam he wanted to interpret Islam in terms of time and place. His entire
teaching was directed towards reorienting the Muslim society on the basis of social justice
and removing inequalities and iniquitous distribution of wealth and the inherent conflicts
and tensions which split the society into hostile groups. When asked as to how the end
was to be achieved he replied, “by discarding the outmoded socio-political order.” No other
statesman or thinker had so carefully studied and scientifically analysed the cause of the
social and economic malaise as Shah Walliullah did. He wrote his programme in Persian
and Arabic and then spread and popularised it amongst the masses. He was a teacher
and bearer of a message and not an agitator. He wrote about fifty books, trained a group
of ‘ulema’. His greatness lies in the versatility of his genius, his profound understanding of
Quran and Hadis, his unrivalled breadth of outlook and his keen desire to interpret and
explain the Quran and ‘Hadis’ in the context of the times. He is more concerned with the
present and the future. “He was a sensitive observer, not unaware that something quite
serious had gone wrong, or was going wrong.” Shah Walliullah tried to reconcile the basic
differences amongst the different sections of the Muslims and he considered the
government as an essential means and the agency for the regeneration of his community.
Shah Walliullah failed in his mission to vitalize the Muslim society or prevent collapse of
the Mughul empire. His teachings, however, created a new awareness of the present
dangers and what the future had in store for the Muslims of the sub-continent.
Shah Walliullah was a realist in his political thinking, “who had a clear insight into the
intimate relation between ethics, politics and economics. He made a passionate appeal to
all classes of Muslim society to realise the danger which threatened them and prepare
themselves to face it squarely.” He died in 1762 and his work was nobly carried on by his
sons and disciples. Every subsequent political, social and religious movement may be
traced back to him and it was he who laid the emotional and intellectual foundations of the
movement for national independence.
Sayed Ahmad Shaheed (1786 – 1830)
Saiyid Ahmad was born at Rai Bareilly in Awadh. He left his home at an early age and
came to Delhi to study under the guidance of Maulana Abdul Qadir, son of Shah Waliullah.
He completed his studies there and was enrolled as a disciple by Shah Abdul Aziz, the
most learned theologian of the time. He left Delhi for Tank and joined the service of Amir
Khan. After 1817 when Amir Khan’s troops were disbanded, he returned to Delhi.
According to Sirat-ul-Mustaqim, it was after this that he began to enrol disciples and two of
the most famous of them were Maulavi Muhammad Ismail better known as Shah Ismail
Shahid, the nephew and Maulawi ‘Abdul Hai, the Son-in-law of Shah Abdul Aziz. In 1820
he left Delhi to enlist support for the movement. The movement initiated by Saiyid Ahmad
is commonly known as the Mujahidin Movement. He first went to Saharanpur then to
Rampur and from there proceeded to Calcutta. He made a large number of disciples in
Patna and his journey beyond was a veritable triumph. In 1822 he proceeded to Mecca
and after his return to Delhi he set out with a vast following through Sindh for the Afghan
territory to wage a war of liberation against the Sikhs. The Yusufzais who had their own
scores to settle with the Sikhs welcomed him. He appears to have been well supplied with
recruits and money from Uttar Pardesh, Bengal and Bihar through a remarkable
organization. After initial reverses due mainly to the cooling enthusiasm of the Yusufza’is
he succeeded in capturing Peshawar in 1830. Soon after Saiyid Ahmad Shaheed was
compelled to give up Peshawar.
In 1831, Saiyed Ahmad Shaheed and his followers were routed by a Sikh force at Balakot
and Saiyid Ahmad Shaheed and Shah Ismail were killed in action. The expedition was a
military failure mainly due to the lack of coordination, the rigidity with which the laws of
Shari’ah were enforced upon the Pattnas who were unused to organize government and
the cupidity and self-interests of the Afghans. But the fire that Saiyed Ahmad Shaheed had
lit continued to be a major source of anxiety for the British for more than sixty years.
Mohsin-ul- Mulk (1837 – 1907)
Mohsin-ul-Mulk was born on December 9, 1837 in Etawah. He took up-service under the
British after qualifying a competitive examination for the selection of Deputy Collector. He
stood first to become an Inspector of Revenue in 1871. He served for twenty years in the
State of Hyderabad for some time as Financial Secretary to the Nizam.
Many people regard Mohsin-ul-Mulk as ‘the cause of Sir Syed’s Success’ but, perhaps, it
will not be wrong to say that his contribution towards the Muslim University was as
significant as that of its founder. In 1888, Mohsin-ul-Mulk visited England and five years
later resigned his post to take up permanent residence in Aligarh and to serve and
manage the affairs of the institution that Sir Syed had founded. He also contributed to Sir
Syed’s Tahzib-ul-Akhlaq. He served in Nizam’s Government in Hyderabad Deccan, during
1874-93. He presided over Muslim Educational Conference annual sessions in 1893 and
1896. He was Secretary, M.A.O College, Aligarh during 1898-1907. Mohsin-ul-Mulk
organized Urdu Defence Association in 1901. He also founded Anjuman-i-Taraq-i-Urdu in
1902. He was entrusted responsibility of drafting its Constitution along with Nawab Viaqar-
ul-Mulk. He was elected Joint Secretary of the All-India Muslim League for the period
1906-07.
Mohsin-ul-Mulk led the Muslim Educational Movement and played a significant role
against the anti-Urdu movement of the Hindus and their demand for the introduction of
Hindi written in the Nagri Script as the official language. He resented against a ruling in
1900, when Lieutenant-Governor Sir Anthony MacDonnell government issued a resolution
declaring that Hindi written in the Nagri script would enjoy equal status with Urdu as the
language of law courts in the provinces and that in the future only such persons would be
appointed, except in a purely English office, to Government job who knew Urdu as well as
Hindi.The Hindus welcomed the resolution with gratitude. The Muslims, on the other hand,
perceived in it the repetition of the situation that followed the change of official language
and resulted in their general exclusion from government offices. Protest meetings were
held against the resolution in almost all important Muslim centres in the country. However,
an organized movement against it was started by the Aligarh leaders.
Nawab Mohsin-ul-Mulk, the Secretary of Aligarh College and, in all respects, a successor
of Sir Syed, took upon himself the responsibility of representing the Muslim point of view.
A protest meeting was held at Aligarh in May 1900, where he delivered a strong speech
and a resolution was passed asking the Government to withdraw it’s order. Later, a
representative meeting of the Urdu Defence Association was held at Lucknow on August
18, 1900 under the Presidentship of Nawab Mohsin-ul-Mulk in order to protest against the
Government’s decision recognizing Hindi, and to demand its withdrawal. Nawab Mohsin-
ul-Mulk’s action was resented by the Lieutenant Governor of U.P., who asked Mohsin-ul-
Mulk to choose between the Secretaryship of the Aligarh College and the Presidentship of
the Urdu Defence Association.
The Association embarked upon an active campaign for the withdrawal of the resolution.
The Lieutenant-Governor, MacDonnell himself visited Aligarh and warned the trustees of
the Institution as well as President of the Urdu Defence Association, saying that the
Government would be compelled to discontinue financial aid to the College. In view of the
importance of the College, Mohsin-ul-Mulk had to give up the Presidentship of the
Association. As was anticipated, his withdrawal from the Association weakened the
movement for the protection of Urdu and it could not be continued further with the vigour
with which it had started.

Detail
It was Nawab Mohsin-ul-Mulk who first gave utterance to the need of separate
representation for the Muslims in the services. It may be recalled that the Deputation,
which was earlier led by the Aga Khan in 1906 to see the Governor General of India, for
recognition of the Government to the principle of separate representation in services was,
in fact, laid down by Nawab Mohsin-ul-Mulk. Mohsin-ul-Mulk wrote an article in the Aligarh
Institute Gazette as to what should be done by the Muslims to safeguard their political
interests and pointed out that Sir Syed never believed in the policy of silence; he had
always boldly expressed the views of his community on all important matters. However,
since he, in his own person, was more than an institution, and, after his death, the
necessity of forming a Muslim organization had become more and more imperative. The
proposal of joining the Hindu Congress was, therefore, considered ‘tantamount to suicide,
and it was categorically rejected’.
Mohsin-ul-Mulk was a most peace - loving and accommodating of man, but by an irony of
fate he had to take part in some active controversies and the first of these arose soon after
he had taken charge of the College Secretaryship. The activities of Mohsin-ul-Mulk were
adversely criticized by the pro-Congress press, and the Communal electorates, which
were introduced mainly as a result of the demand put forward by the Simla Deputation,
which became a subject of keen controversy. But, no critic of separate electorates could
positively suggest any effective alternative by which the interests of the minorities could be
safeguarded in a country where the Hindus and Muslims had been voting mainly for their
co-religionists.
Actually, the Simla Deputation by suggesting a procedure, under which the Muslims could
secure genuine representation without clinging to official nomination, facilitated the
introduction of the system of election in India, and, there is no wonder that leaders like
Gokhale even did not object to its basic proposals. After the work of the deputation was
over, Mohsin-ul-Mulk got busy with the formation of a Muslim political organization. On 30
December, 1906 at Dacca, the All-India Muslim Educational Conference held its annual
session, and, on this occasion, it was decided to organize a separate organization of
Muslim India called the All-India Muslim League. Mohsin-ul-Mulk and Viqar-ul-Mulk were
appointed to draft its constitution. The Aga Khan was to be its permanent President.
Mohsin-ul-Mulk was, however, unable to do more than preliminary spade-work for the
League, as he passed away before its first formal session which was held at Karachi.
It may be recalled that the last days of Mohsin-ul-Mulk were embittered by the strained
relationship between the European staff and the College students, which culminated in a
strike by the students. Luckily he was able to see the affairs amicably settled. Towards the
end of September 1907, he left for Simla, where details about the proposed reforms and
Muslims’ share in the new arrangements were under discussion. He met the Viceroy and
carried on negotiations with other officers. This stay, however, at a high altitude was too
much for a badly damaged heart and Mohsin-ul-Mulk fell seriously ill in the beginning of
October. He passed away on 16 October, 1907 at a place which was the scene of his
greatest political triumph. He was laid to rest at Aligarh by the side of his former chief and
co-worker, Sir Syed Ahmad Khan.
In a short poem Hali paid a tribute, which the late Nawab would have valued most, and
which he deserved so richly;
Viqar-ul-Mulk (1841 – 1917) Viqar-ul-Mulk whose real name was Mushtaq Hussain, was
born in 1841, in a village in Moradabad District of United Provinces. He was self made
man and like Sir Syed and Mohsin-ul-Mulk, rose from a humble position to one of honour,
by hard work. He worked as reader to Syed Ahmad when he was sub-judge at Aligarh. He
took active part in the educational efforts of his chief and, apart from assisting him in the
management of the printing press and the office of the Scientific Society, collaborated in
the translation of a book on “French Revolution and Napoleon.”
When Syed Ahmad was transfered from Aligarh to Benares, he was succeeded as sub-
judge by Maulvi Sami Ullah Khan, and thus Viqar-ul-Mulk got an opportunity of serving
under two principal figures of the Aligarh College. He worked longer under Maulvi Sami
Ullah Khan.
In 1873, Maulvi Sami Ullah Khan was the Secretary of the Aligarh elementary school
branch and Viqar-ul-Mulk was his right-hand man in running the institution.
One of the first important questions which Viaqr-ul-Mulk had to handle was the question of
the powers of the College Principal and the European Staff. Syed Ahmad wanted to have
the question settled amicably, but Beck, the Principal of the College struck out for
maintenance of full discipline, and objected to the members of the managing committee
intervening in administrative matters. All the European Staff supported him and even
threatened to resign if they were not allowed to work on what they considered sound
administrative lines. Maulvi Sami Ullah Khan even objected to the appointment of highly
paid European Professors on grounds of economy. The European Staff, therefore,
demanded statutory safeguards for themselves, and suggested that Syed Mahmud, who
had attracted most of them to Aligarh, should be made Joint Secretary so that he could
succeed Syed Ahmad after his death. He had sharp differences of opinion with his
predecessor about the rights of the European staff and certain questions of the College
administration, but he was completely at one with him in political matters. Some “highly
placed Government officers” supported the proposal, and after some hesitation, Syed
Ahmed agreed to include it in a Trustee Bill, drafted for re-organization of the College
constitution. This Bill was passed by the College Committee after a bitter controversy and
Maulvi Sami Ullah Khan severed his connections with the College.
The differences between the Staff and the Students as discussed earlier, took a serious
turn in 1907, when there was a strike by the College students, which shook the College to
its foundation. This was a great blow to Mohsin-ul-Mulk, who, however, got over the crisis
by appointing an Inquiry Commission, which settled the immediate question amicably. The
Commission, however, did not deal with the controversial question of the powers of the
Principal. This had to be tackled after Mohsin-ul-Mulk’s death by Viqar-ul-Mulk and looking
to his life long associations with Maulvi Sami Ullah Khan and his firm, strong bent of mind,
there could be no doubt about the lines on which he would settle it.

Detail
After Mohsin-ul-Mulk’s death, far-reaching changes took place in the administration of the
Aligarh College and even in the body politic of Muslim India. Nawab Viqar-ul-Mulk, was
elected Secretary of the Board of Trustees. He was also elected Honourary Secretary of
the Aligarh College on 15 December, 1907. If Sir Syed and Mohsin-ul-Mulk led the Muslim
educational Movement, Viqar-ul-Mulk gave the movement its political aspect. He shared
the political ideas of both but it was he who was able to see that the Hindus and the
Muslims were two nations and the two would not be able to live together for very long. He,
therefore, adopted the political platform along with the educational, and felt the need for
forming a political party of the Muslims on this basis. He agitated for it for many years till
the formation of the All-India Muslim League in 1906 of which he became the Joint
Secretary. The Partition of Bengal in 1909 and its revocation had disillusioned him about
the British and he finally took his stand against them when he wrote his famous article
entitled, "Future Course of the Muslims" published in the "Aligarh Institute Gazette." It will
not be wrong to say that this article pointed out the path Muslims ultimately followed. In
December 1911, Coronation Durbar was held at Delhi, and the "settled fact" of Partition of
Bengal was unsettled. The Muslim reaction was sharp, if not violent, and Viqar-ul-Mulk
was the first to give expression to their point of view. On return from the Drubar, he
immediately wrote an article on "The Fate of Muslims in India", which appeared in the
"Aligarh Institute Gazette" of 20th December, 1911, in which, he politely but firmly criticized
the decision of the government.
He said "It is now manifest like the midday sun that after seeing what has happened lately,
it is futile to ask the Muslims to place their reliance on Government. Now the days for such
reliances are over. What we should rely on, after the grace of God, is the strength of our
right arm, for which we have, before us, the example of our worthy countrymen." He
always looked back to the year of the Simla Deputation (1906) as the beginning of the
Muslim’s political re-birth in India and, like Syed Ahmad and Mohsin-ul-Mulk, pinned his
faith on the Anglo-Muslim alliance, as a means of saving Muslims from being submerged
by the majority community. Nawab Viqar-ul-Mulk encouraged religious sentiments not only
by rules and regulations, but by his own inspiring example. To this effect, a glimps can well
be seen in the writing of Maulana Shaukat Ali which he wrote in the biography of Viqar-ul-
Mulk. He writes:-
"The revolution which can be seen in our materialistic and even ‘dandyish' lives was due to
simple Islamic life of the late Nawab (Viqar-ul-Mulk). His example inspired us with respect
for the grandeur of true Muslim life, and showed us that even in the twentieth century, a
Muslim could easily live a religious and Islamic life and serve his community and country."
Nawab Viqar-ul-Mulk died on January 27, 1917 at the age of seventy six and was buried at
Amroha where he had settled after his retirement from the College.
Justice Shah Din (1868 – 1918)
Mian Shah Din was born at Lahore in 1868. He belonged to the well-known family of
Baghbanpura. In 1887, he graduated from the Government College, Lahore, and left for
higher study of Law in England, being the first Muslim from the Punjab to go abroad for
this purpose. While in England he joined Sir Abdul Rahim and others in the foundation of
the Anjuman-i-Islamiya, London, which was established on 10 November, 1889. This was
the first Muslim organization in the United Kingdom and Shah Din was elected its Vice-
President. On return to Lahore, Shah Din started legal practice. In 1891, he established
Young Men Mohammedan Association at Lahore. Two years later, he read out at the All-
India Mohammedan Educational Conference, a learned and thoughtful paper on “The
Education of Musalmans in the Punjab”, which remains a mire of information for the
historians. This paper impressed Syed Ahmad Khan so much that Shah Din was chosen,
at the early age of twenty-six, to preside over the next session of the All-India
Mohammedan Educational Conference.
Shah Din was one of the members of the Simla Deputation in 1906. After the All-India
Muslim League was established, an active provincial branch was organized in the Punjab
in November 1907 and Shah Din was elected its president. But soon after, he had to
resign on his appointment as Judge of the Chief Court of the Punjab in 1906. This
curtailed his political activities, but he continued to take interest in education. Mian Shah
Din presided Muhammadan Educational Conference in 1894 and 1913. He was fellow of
the Punjab University, Lahore, in 1895 and worked as a Trustee of the Aligarh College in
1896.
In April 1907, when the Muslims agitation against the anti-colonisation Bill developed into
riots, Muslim leaders tried to steer the community away from the Hindus. Muslims under
Mian Muhammad Shafi and Shah Din held meetings to eschew violence and to express
their loyalty to the British. The anti-Colonisation agitation and other disturbances
prevented Muslims from organizing themselves. It was not until November 30, 1907 that
leading Muslims met in Lahore to form the Punjab Provincial Muslim League. Those who
attended represented various parts of the Punjab. It constituted itself as a branch of the All
India Muslim League and claimed to safeguard and advance the political interests of the
Muslims in the Punjab and to infuse in them a spirit of enlightened patriotism. Mian Shah
Din and Mian Mohammad Shafi were elected President and General Secretary
respectively of the new body. By the end of 1907, two organizations claimed to represent
Provincial Muslim League: the one formed earlier under Fazl-i-Husain and the other set up
by Mian Shafi and Shah Din. Both attempted to secure affiliation with the All India Muslim
League at its session held at Karachi in December 1907. After negotiations, Fazl-i-Husain
withdrew his claim and the two Leagues were merged. Mian Shah Din became its
Secretary while Fazl-i-Husain became Joint Secretary.
Under the Minto-Morley Act of 1909 Mian Shah Din alongwith Sir Mohammad Shafi, Umar
Hayat Tiwana and Chaudhary Shahab-ud-din was taken on the Punjab Council. These
leaders were marked by their progressive and liberal views. Drawn from the Muslim middle
class, this group was western educated. It had championed the Pan-Islamic Movement
which emerged in 1911 even at the cost of displeasing the government. It felt betrayed at
the annulment of the Partition of Bengal, and claimed ‘Islam to be in danger’. In March
1908, Mian Shah Din was elected President of the All-India Muslim League.
His death in 1918 at a comparatively early age of fifty, which was the occasion of a
touching elegy by Iqbal, brought to an end a career of great promise and usefulness.
Molana Mohammad Ali Jauhar (1878 – 1931)
In the brilliant galaxy of men and women whom India has produced, few can compare with
the two brothers, Shaukat Ali and Muhammad Ali, popularly known as Ali Brothers, who
fought the greatest British colonial power then in the first half of the twentieth century so
that India may gain its freedom. They graduated from M.A.O. College, Aligarh.
Muhammad Ali later proceeded to Lincoln College, Oxford, for further studies where he got
honours degree in Modern History and devoted himself more to the study of history of
Islam. The Ali Brothers became firm opponents of British rule under the combined shock of
the Balkan wars and Kanpur Mosque incident in 1913. Muhammad Ali started his famous
weekly called, Comrade and a year later, an Urdu journal namely Hamdard. Muhammad
Ali served as President of the Indian National Congress in 1923. He died in London during
the first Round Table Conference and as he wished not to return to an India that was
unfree, he was buried in Jerusalaem.
Born in a family belonging to Rampur, which in every sense of the word was conservative,
the Ali Brothers, contrary to all expectations received western education. They were men
of a verstile genius and played a great part in the Indian attempt to throw off the foreign
yoke. They were great orators and still greater Journalists. Their disregard of world
comfort, their sacrifices in the cause of India’s freedom, and their persistence in pursuing
the goal most dear to them won them the tribute and affection of their countless
countrymen.
Shaukat Ali, the elder brother, and Muhammad Ali, the younger, were given English
education by their farsighted mother, Abadi Bano Begum, who had foreseen the likely
impact of western education on the development of a liberal outlook in India. Though their
uncle had refused to give them any money for English education, their mother mortgaged
almost all her landed property and sent them to the Muhammadan Anglo-Oriental College,
Aligarh, founded by Sir Syed Ahmad Khan in the second half of the Nineteenth Century
with a view to impart English education to Muslims who were educationally backward.
Both of them graduated from this College. Muhammad Ali showed exceptional brilliance
throughout his College career and stood first in the B.A. examination of the Allahabad
University. Muhammad Ali stood for Hindu-Muslim unity and fought for independence of
the country. He had to undergo untold sufferings, including several long prison terms, but
he took everything in his stride and never deviated from the path he had chosen for
himself. He fought for Swaraj and continued his battle even on his death-bed in a foreign
land. In his own words:
“To live for a great cause, and live up to it, is perhaps harder than to die for it.”
An ardent supporter of Hindu-Muslim unity, he was a great believer in peace between the
two communities. Religion was to him a matter of internal faith and every one was free to
follow his own inclination. He was of the opinion that religion and politics were two different
things but were interdependent. Probably, he was convinced of the truth of a verse of Iqbal
who said: "If politics is separated from religion, it degenerates into gangsterism".
Muhammad Ali Jauhar joined service in his own state of Rampur, and later in the Baroda
State where his brother was already employed as an officer in the Opium Department.
Molana Shukat Ali (1873 – 1938
This served as a stepping stone in Muhammad Ali’s career. He made considerable
administrative reforms in the department which was in his charge and won a distinguished
place in the administration of the State. But he could not reconcile himself to the limited
sphere of activities in a small State. He wanted a wider circle where he might come face to
face bigger issues. His writings in the Times of India made him unpopular in official circles.
A circular asking State officials to refrain from expressing opinions which may create
revolutionary tendencies among the people was issued. Muhammad Ali was already
dissatisfied with things in the State and this circular enabled him to make up his mind
about himself quickly. He left the State service and entered into politics.
The development of political ideas in Muhammad Ali dates back to his sojourn at the
M.A.O. College, Aligarh, because of the increasing influence of the English staff in the
college. The English staff went much further, and started dictating Politics for which they
found official support. The dawn of the Twentieth Century found the College Administration
and the English staff at loggerheads. Estrangement between the two became increasingly
evident. The English staff did not also pull on well with the students and the Indian staff.
Muhammad Ali, even long after leaving College, was still in close touch with the student
community at Aligarh. His letters to the Times of India reflected the growing estrangement
between the English staff and the students which resulted in student’s unrest in 1907. This
perturbed the British bureaucracy for the first time. The government of Sir John Hewett
indirectly instructed the Nawab that Muhammad Ali would not be his Assistant Secretary
and Shaukat Ali was transferred from Aligarh to Banaras by way of punishment for having
a hand in the student unrest.
By that time, dissatisfaction among the Muslims had arisen because of Hindus
indifference. Muhammad Ali in a letter, addressed to Gokhale, had already drew his
attention to it. He felt that Muslim view-point had not been properly understood and it had
ultimately resulted in the deteriorating relations between the two major communities.
Forced by the need to have an English paper to represent Muslim grievances and keeping
in view the way politics developed in India, Muhammad Ali took to journalism as a life long
career. Muhammad Ali earnestly wanted to devote himself to the service of his community
and country. When once asked as to why he had adopted journalism as a profession, he
replied that the circumstances of his community and the country had impelled him to have
recourse to journalism. He said: ‘We are partisans of none, comrades of all. We deeply
feel the many dangers of increasing controversy between races and races, creeds and
creeds, and earnestly desire an understanding between the contending elements of the
body-politic of India”.
The strained relations that existed between the ruler and the ruled were also to be patched
up. He was of the view that ‘the line of demarcation between the two should be obliterated
and the smooth relation should come out.’ More than anyone else Muhammad Ali knew
the growing estrangement between the Hindus and the Musalmans. His paper, “Comrade”
intended to work out a real Hindu-Muslim entente, for a united nationality.
Like Sir Syed Ahmad Khan, Muhammad Ali too did not think of meddling in politics of other
Muslim countries of the world. To quote his own words: ‘When I first thought of making this
change in my career I did not expect that any but a small fraction of my attention and
energies would be attracted by Muslim politics outside the confines of my own country.’
Circumstances, however, impelled him to devote himself to the question of the sovereignty
of some of the Muslim countries. In 1911-12, the Tripoli and the Balkan issues made him
restless when Italy and other European powers were determined to overthrow the Turkish
and Arab domination in the spirit of the crusade. The eclipse of Muslim rule in Tripoli and
the Balkans had greatly affected him and his feeling during the disastrous days of the
Balkan War had so over-powered him that he even ‘contemplated suicide.’ The Kanpur
mosque crisis further aggravated the fears of the Muslim community that they were being
treated as a humiliated and weak community.
In an article: ‘The Communal Patriot’: Muhammad Ali argued that Hindus and Muslims
should recognise clearly that there are differences between them which need not interfere
with the development of mutual respect. “None, however need despair”, he wrote, “as the
influences of education, and leveling, liberalizing tendencies of the times are bound to
succeed in creating political individuality out of the diversity of creed and race”.
For his views and involvement in the Pan-Islamic upsurge, Muhammad Ali was sent to jail,
first on 15 May 1915, later in November 1922. During his famous Karachi trial in October
1922, Muhammad Ali said, “The trail is not Muhammad Ali and six others versus the
Crown, but God versus man.”
During the Khilafat Movement, Muhammad Ali was a close ally of M.K. Gandhi and a
staunch supporter of the Indian National Congress. But when Hindu-Muslim relations
deteriorated in the aftermath of the Khilafat and non co-operation movement, Muhammad
Ali became disillusioned with the Congress as well as with Gandhi.
The gulf that separated Gandhi and Muhammad Ali was confirmed by Muhammad Ali’s
open condemnation in April 1930 of the civil disobedience movement launched by Gandhi.
Muhammad Ali urged Muslims not to join it because its goal was the establishment of
Hindu raj.
He was of the view that one’s belief in one’s religion should not obstruct the development
of harmonious relations between different communities following different faith. In his own
words: Where God commands I am a Muslim first, Muslim second and a Muslim last and
nothing but a Muslim. My first duty is to my Maker and not to His Majesty the king. But
where India’s freedom is concerned, where the welfare of India is concerned, I am an
Indian first, an Indian second, and Indian last and nothing but an Indian. His prophetic
words came true. He did not return to a slave country and was laid to eternal rest in
Jerusalem in the court-yard of Masjid-ul-Aqsa, the second holiest mosque of Islam. Iqbal
paid him the highest tribute: (The holy land took him in its yearning embrace. He went to
Heaven by the path the Prophet had taken) Muhammad Ali’s death left Shaukat Ali forlorn
figure but he continued to fight for freedom of the country from different platform. He too
passed away in 1938 and was buried in Lal Qila grounds near the Jama Masjid Delhi. It is
unfortunate that his patriotic services to the country have not been duly recognized.
Fazlul HaqAbdul Qasim Mohammad (1873-27 April 1962

After early education at Barisal High School, he joined the Presidency College, Calcutta
and graduated in 1893 with triple Honours in Chemistry, Mathematics and Physics. He
passed M.A. Mathematics from Calcutta University; B.L. from University Law College
Calcutta in 1897. He started his career as Professor of Rajchandra College where he
served during 1903-04. Latter he entered Government service as Deputy Magistrate in
1906. In 1911, he resigned his job and rejoined the Bar and was elected member of
Bengal Legislative Council in 1913. In 1914, he presided over Bengal Presidency Muslim
League, and from 1913-16 served as Bengal Provincial Muslim League Secretary. From
1916 to 21, he was President of the All-India Muslim League and also presided over All-
India Muslim League Delhi session in 1918. He was one of the signatories of the Lucknow
Pact of 1916. In 1919, he presided over the Provincial Congress session at Midnapore and
became the General Secretary of Indian National Congress. In 1920, was elected member
of Reformed Bengal Council, and in the same year presided over the second All-India
Khalifat Conference held at Delhi. He became first Education Minister of Bengal under
Montague-Chelmsford Reform. In 1924, He founded Krishak Praja Party of which he
always remained a President. He participated in the Round Table Conference in 1932-33
held in London. In 1935, he was elected to the Indian Legislative Assembly and in the
same year, was elected First Muslim Mayor of Calcutta Corporation in 1937. He was
elected Member of Reformed Provincial Assembly and was appointed Chief Minister of
Bengal, thus was first Muslim to hold this post since the Battle of Plessey. He held this
office from Ist April 1937 to 28th March, 1943. In 1940, moved the historic Pakistan
Resolution at Lahore on the occasion of All-India Muslim League annual session. In the
same year he presided over Provincial Muslim League session held at Madras. In 1943,
resigned from Chief Ministership of Bengal. He was leader of opposition in the Bengal
Assembly during Khwaja Nazim-ud-Din Ministry. He rejoined the Muslim League in 1946.
After the creation of Pakistan came over to Dacca and joined Dacca High Court and was
appointed Advocate-General, Government of East Pakistan. He resigned from the party a
few months before 1954 elections. He also resigned from the Muslim League in 1953 and
formed Krishak Sramik Party which was one of the constituent parties of the United Front
Party. He formed the United Front Ministry on April 2, 1954 which was removed on May
29, 1954. In 1955, he became Interior Minister of Pakistan and took active and leading
part in framing the first Constitution of Pakistan. In 1956 he was appointed Governor of
East Pakistan for one term. He was Editor of 'Balak' from 1901-06 and joint editor of
'Bharat Subrid' from 1900-03.

Mir Gulam Bhek Narang (1875-76 1952)

He graduated from Government College, Lahore, passed LL.B. and started practice at
Ambala. He remained in government service for some time but resigned and started legal
practice again. He was in touch with Allama Iqbal, Sir Fazl-e-Husain; Abdul Aziz Falk-
Paima and others. He became famous in literary field through Makhzan. At times, he acted
in absence of Abdul Qadir as Editor of Makhzan. He participated in literary movements
and played a vital role in 1923-24 at Agra, Mathra, Bharatpur. At one time, he joined
Jamiat-e-Ulema-e-Hind but quitted after Nehru Report and joined the Muslim League. He
was responsible for organizing the Ambala Muslim League. He was elected in the
Legislative Assembly of India in 1938 and was Deputy Leader of the League in the Central
Assembly while Quaid-i-Azam was its leader. After the creation of Pakistan, he migrated to
it and was later elected Member of the Legislative Assembly of Pakistan. He died at
Lahore on October 16, 1952.

Sir Aga Khan (1887 – 1957)

The Aga Khan who was the hereditary head of the Islmaili Khojas was born at Karachi on
2 November, 1877; head of Ismailis from 1885 till death. The Aga Khan spent his youth in
Bombay and Poona and, after coming under the inevitable influence of Sir Syed’s
movement worked in consultation with Mohsin-ul-Mulk, Viqar-ul-Mulk and Syed Amir Ali to
further the cause of the Muslim educational and political struggle for Muslim identity by
constitutional means.
When his father died, he was only eight, but under the guidance of a wise mother he
received liberal education, not only in Arabic and Persian literature and history, but also in
English and modern subjects.
The Aga Khan was a Member of Imperial Legislative Council in 1902-04. He was
Chairman of the Reception Committee for the All-India Muslim Educational Conference
which met at Bombay in 1903. A year later, he was selected to preside over the important
session of the All-India Muslim Educational Conference which met at Delhi in 1904,
immediately after the Durbar held by Lord Curzon. The Conference was of special
importance, as it was attended by a number of celebrities who had come to attend the
Drubar. The Aga Khan read a thoughtful and statesmanlike Address and, in particular,
urged the setting up of a Central Muslim University at Aligarh.
On 1st October, 1906 “thirty-five Muslim leaders under the leadership of the Aga Khan
submitted a memorandum demanding separate electorates for the Muslims to Lord Minto
who, as a matter of principle, got convinced for the safeguard of political rights and
interests of Muslim India. After informal discussion with the Viceroy, the Muslim leaders
agreed that the final decision will be taken at the convention of Mohammedan Educational
Conference which was scheduled to be held in Dhaka.
The All-India Muslim League in its first formal session, that met at Karachi in the last week
of December 1907, elected the Aga Khan its permanent President who continued to hold
this office till he resigned in 1913, following the shift in Muslim politics. In 1910, the Aga
Khan at the third session of the Muslim League had expressed the hope that the
achievement of separate electorates would result in a permanent political sympathy and a
genuine working entente cordial between the two sister communities of India. Syed
Nabiullah in his presidential address endrosed the views of Aga Khan.
In 1911, he toured all over the country with Maulana Shaukat Ali as his honourary political
secretary, to raise funds for the Aligarh University and was able to collect all the money
that was required. He became Vice-Chancellor of Aligarh Muslim University in 1921. In the
constitutional negotiations of the early 1930, Quaid-i-Azam could not play a key role due to
the emergence of a pro-British Muslim group (All-India Muslim Conference) led by the Aga
Khan. At the Round Table Conference (1930-32), Aga Khan was leader of the Muslim
delegation and Joint Parliamentary Committee on Indian Constitutional Reforms 1933.
A split in the All-India Muslim League’s ranks occurred in late twenties on the issue of
Simon Commission. Consequently, two groups of the League emerged. In 1927, two
separate sessions of the League were held. One group sided with Sir Mohammad Shafi
and the other joined the Quaid. In the League’s Lahore session an important resolution
was unanimously passed authorizing the President to call a Round Table Conference of
Muslim leaders of all organizations to bring about the unity of thought in political ideals
amongst the Muslims and to make an effort to unite their various elements. This idea later
on climaxed into All-India Muslim Conference held at Delhi under the presidentship of the
Aga Khan.
As referred to earlier, the Aga Khan was the leader of the Muslim delegation at the Round
Table Conference. The Muslim representatives for the Round Table Conference were
chosen by the British authorities in consultation with Sir Fazl-i-Hasain who did not wish to
see Mohammad Ali Jinnah as the leader of Muslim India. However, the Quaid played an
important role to arrive at some settlement with other communities.
The Aga Khan’s most signal service was, however, during the Round Table Conference of
which different sessions were held in London from 12 November 1930 to 24 December,
1932. At this crucial Conference, the Aga Khan was in his own element. Not only was he
the leader of the Muslim group, but was also elected leader of the entire Indian Delegation.
He played his card remarkably well, kept the Muslim team solidly together in visible
contrast to the many and the discordant voices, which spoke from the other camp. He tried
to come to an understanding with M.K. Gandhi on the Hindu-Muslim question, but when
these talks proved unfruitful, he initiated a Minorities Pact, by which all sections of the
Indian political life except the caste Hindus and the Sikhs, joined hand with the Muslims.
This facilitated the task of the British Premier in giving his Communal Award (16 August,
1932) which not withstanding its deficiencies, improved the Muslim position in majority
areas and was a milestone on the road to Pakistan.
In 1945 crucial elections were held in the sub-continent. The Quaid-i-Azam was opposed
by Hussain Bhai Lalji, an Ismaili who was being backed by the Hindu Congress. The
Congress in a false statement had said that the Aga Khan had asked, his community to
vote for Hussain Bhai Lalji. But another prominent Ismailis’ leader, Ibrahim Rahimtoola
was very close to the Quaid-i-Azam. Fortunately, the Aga Khan happened to be in Delhi at
that time. Rahimtoola immediately contacted him on phone. He not only denied having
ever instructed the Ismailis to vote for Hussain Bhai but asked Rahimtoola to intimate all
Ismaili families to vote for the Quaid-i-Azam. The members of the All-India Muslim League
at that time played a glorious role. A Pamphlet stating the views of the Aga Khan soliciting
Ismailis to vote for the Quaid-i-Azam was printed and delivered overnight to all Ismailis’
families.
The Aga Khan was a great admirer of the Quaid-i-Azam about whom he once said:
“On the Future of Muslim State” he said; “I hope and pray that it may be the destiny of
Pakistan whose creator Quaid-i-Azam was essentially a modern man, to bring about
spiritual and intellectual unity between the Muslim countries.”
The Aga Khan passed away on 11 July, 1957 and in accordance with his wishes, was
buried in Egypt.

Moulana Zafar Ahmad Usmani (1890 – 1974)

The Maulana being author of 20 Vols. book on Hadith; Ala-ss-Sunah, was regarded as a
top rank scholar of the Indo-Pakistan sub-continent who played a prominent role in the
great Pakistan Movement. Together with Maulana Shabbir Ahmad Usmani, he founded
Jamiat-ul-Ulema-i-Islam during the Pakistan Movement to counter the propaganda of the
powerful pro-Congress Jamit-ul-Ulama-i-Hind. He was the first Vice-President of the new
Ulema Party. He also played an important role in the overwhelming verdict of the people in
favour of Pakistan in the referendum held in Sylhet and N.W.F.P. in 1947. After the
establishment of Pakistan, he led a quiet life devoting greater time to religious teachings.
He died on December 8, 1974.

Hussain Shahed Suharwardy (1893 – 1963)

He belonged to well known Suhrawardy family of Bengal. He was educated at Calcutta

and Oxford. He actively participated in the Khilafat Movement and later joined the All-India
Muslim League and became Secretary of the Bengal Provincial Muslim League and held
this office for several years. He remained member of the Bengal Legislative Council during
1921-46 and became Chief Minister of Bengal in 1946. After the creation of Pakistan, he
founded Awami League in 1949. Thereafter, he became Law Minister, Government of
Pakistan, in 1954. He performed as Prime Minister of Pakistan during 1956-57. He died in
1963.

Ch. Rehmaat Ali (1897 – 1951)

Chaudhary Rahmat Ali was the son of a devout father, Haji Chaudhary Shah Muhammad
of Mohar. He finished his education in England, obtaining M.A. LL.B., with honours from
the University of Cambridge and Dublin respectively. In 1933, Chaudhary Rahmat Ali
originated the word Pakistan. So far as scheme of the division of India is concerned he
claims to have proposed it as early as 1915 in his inaugural address to Bazam-i-Shibli, in
these words:-
"North of India is Muslim and we will keep it Muslim. Not only that, we will make it a Muslim
State. But this we can do only if and when we and our North cease to be Indian. For that is
a pre-requisite to it. So the sooner we shed 'Indianism', the better for us all and for Islam".
From 1915 to 1930, nothing further is known about Rahmat Ali's views and activities. In
1930, a series of Round Table Conference was held in London do devise a new
Constitution for India and to these Conferences, delegates of all communities and parties
of whom about 26 were Muslims were invited to participate on this occasion, he
approached the Muslim delegates, and discussed with them the political and constitutional
situation from Muslim point of view.
The historic declaration titled: 'Now or Never' was issued from Cambridge on 28th
January, 1933. Besides Chaudhary Rahmat Ali, the other cosignatories were Mohammad
Aslam Khan Khattak, President Khyber Union, Sahibzada Sheikh Muhammad Sadiq and
Inayatuallah Khan of Charsadda, Secretary, Khyber Union. The Declaration urged:-
"India, constituted as it is at the present moment, is not the name of one single country;
not the home of one single nation. It is in fact, the designation of a State created by the
British for the first time in history. It includes peoples who have never previously formed
part of the Indian nation at any period of its history, but who have, on the contrary, form
the dawn of history till the advent of British, possessed and retained distinct nationalities of
their own. One of such peoples is our own nation. In the five Northern Provinces of India,
out of a total population of about forty million, we, the Muslims, constitute about thirty
million, our social code and economic system, our laws of inheritance, succession and
marriage are fundamentally different from those of most peoples living the rest of India.
The ideals which move our people to make the highest sacrifice are essentially different
from those which inspire the Hindus to do the same. These differences are not confined to
broad, basic principles. Far from it. They extend to the minutest details of our lives. We do
not inter-dine; we do not intermarry. Our national customs and calendars, even our diet
and dress are different."
In the name of the Muslim brethren who live in 'Pakistan' a demand was made for a
separate Federation of the five predominantly Muslim units - Punjab, North-West Frontier
(Afghania Province), Kashmir, Sind and Baluchistan. The declaration ended on this note:
"...The issue is now or never. Either we live or perish for ever. The future is ours only if we
live up to our faith. It does not lie in the lap of the gods, but it rests in our own hands. We
can make or mar it. The history of the last century is full of open warnings, and they are as
plain as were ever given to any nation. Shall it be said of us that we ignored all those
warnings and allowed our ancient heritage to perish in our own hands."
Rahmat Ali launched the Pakistan National Movement by issuing and distribute pamphlets,
tracts, hand-bills and other literature. A weekly newspaper under the title 'Pakistan' was
also started. As a result of the campaign carried on for the propaganda of the Pakistan
Scheme, notice thereof was taken by the Joint Parliamentary Select Committee and
questions were put about Pakistan on 1st August, 1933, to the Muslim deputation
consisting of Mr. A. Yusuf Ali, Sir Muhammad Yakub, Mr. H.S. Suhrawardy, Dr. Khalifa
Shuja-ud-Din and Khan Sahib Haji Rashid Ahmad.
In July 1935, Chaudhary Rahmat Ali circulated another four page leaflet from another
Cambridge address. In it he claimed to be the founder of Pakistan National Movement and
as its President he signed the document. A new point was made of the new Government
of Burma Act. "While Burma is being separated from Hindustan, it remains a mystery to us
why Pakistan is to be forced in the Indian Federation."
In 1937, Rahmat Ali declared that there should be Bang-i-Islam'stan for the combined
territories of Bengal and Assam. On March 8, 1940 Rahmat Ali addressed a meeting of the
Supreme Council of the Pakistan National Movement at Karachi on the 'Millat of Islam' and
the 'Menace of Indianism'. He initiated the second part of his plan pertaining to Bang-i-
Islam (abbreviation of Bang-i-Islam'stan) and Osmanistan (Hyderabad Deccan).
Rahmat Ali was not satisfied with his scheme for the establishment of Pakistan, Bangistan
and Osmanistan. He inaugurated in October, 1942, what he calls Parts III, IV, VI and VII of
the Pakistan plan. The Seven Commandments of Destiny for the seventh Continent of the
Dinia are contained in the pamphlet under the caption of "The Millat and the Mission".
On March 15, 1943 Chaudhary Rahmat Ali issued the statement called "The Millat and her
Minorities" wherein he dealt with the creation of 'Haideristan". In 1944, he pursued his
scheme of the Commonwealth of Nations through a circular captioned the "Millat and her
ten Nations". In 1945, he announced the 'Dinia Continent Movement'. In 1946, he
proposed 'Siddiquistan' for the Central Dinia. At the same time, he published a booklet
entitled "Safistan" with regard to the status of the Muslims in the Western Ceylon and the
Ameen Islands. The word 'Safi' was adopted as in Arabic it meant 'the chosen'.
Simultaneously another pamphlet was issued by him called "Nasaristan" dealing with
eastern Ceylon. After the Muslim League accepted the British plan of the 3rd June, 1947,
he issued a statement on 9th June 1947, revised version whereof was published under the
title: "The Greatest Betryal". He pleaded therein for the rejection of the British plan and to
redeem the Millat by accepting his 'Pak Plan'. On 15th August, 1948 he addressed from
Lahore a Memorandum to the Secretary-General, United Nations, regarding the Muslim
minority in India and the saving duty of the U.N.O. He referred to "the horrible crimes"
explained that were being committed against the Muslim by the Hindus, explained the
causes of their helpless position under "Hindu hegemony" and demanded the immediate
dispatch by the U.N.O. of a Commission of Inquiry to India.

Nawab Iftikhar Hussain Mamdot (1906 – 1969)

He was born at Lahore in 1906. He received his early education at Government College,
Lahore. After completion of his education, he joined police service at Hyderabad Deccan,
but left it later on. He joined the All-India Muslim League and worked so enthusiastically
that he became President of the Punjab Muslim League at a very young age. He steered
the Civil Disobedience Movement against the Unionist Government in Punjab. He became
the Premier of the Punjab after Independence and remained in this office from 1947-49.
He remained member of the Pakistan Constituent Assembly during 1947-1955 and worked
as Governor of Sind from 1954 to 1955. He died on October 18, 1969.

Qazi Mohammad Isa (1914 – 1976)

He was born on July 17, 1914. He received his early education in Sandeman High School
and Government High School Quetta and went to England in 1933 for higher education.
He was called to Bar in January 1939; later he went to Bombay, where he met Quaid-i-
Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah for the first time and was so impressed with ideas and
personality of the Father of Nation that he dedicated himself to the Pakistan Movement.
He founded Provincial branch of the Muslim League in Baluchistan in 1939 and remained
associated with the League for 37 years. He was one of the trusted Lieutenants of the
Quaid. He played an important role in the Pakistan Movement. In 1945 he presented to the
Quaid a historic sword of Ahmad Shah Abdali. In 1946, he was made Chief of Publicity
Committee of the All-India Muslim League for the general elections 1945-46. He was later
entrusted a task to organize the Muslim League in NWFP which he successfully fulfilled
within a year.
From 1940 to 1947, he travelled more than three lakh miles to campaign for Pakistan
Movement. In February 1948, he was made a Member of the Advisory Council of Agent to
the Governor General in Baluchistan. He held various important political offices in the
party. In 1951, he was made Pakistan’s Ambassador to Brazil and served in that capacity
for two years. He had been a member of Pakistan delegations to the United Nations in
1950, 1954 and 1974 respectably. He was also member of the Committee on Minorities in
the first Constituent Assembly of Pakistan. He died on June 19, 1976.

Raja Noushad Ali Khan

He attended the foundation session of the All-India Muslim League held at Dacca in 1906
and was appointed a Member of its Provisional Committee. From 1907 to 1909, he
campaigned with Nawab Viqar-ul-Mulk and Mohammad Ali for the foundation of District
Muslim League. He was the first Secretary of the U.P. Provincial Muslim League at the
time of its foundation in June, 1909.
In the same year, he agitated against separate electorates and took active part in, the July
1909 discussions of the Government of India’s ‘Compromise Proposals’. He was
supported by Jehangirabad in 1909 as a candidate for the Oudh Muslim Seat on the
Provincial Legislative Council. He faded from politics after Morley-Minto Reforms.

Shah Abdul Aziz (1703 – 1762)

Introduction
Shah Abdul Aziz; ‘The Sun of India’ the eldest son of Shah Waliullah was only 17 years
old when Shah Waliullah died. After the death of Shah Waliullah, his son, Shah Abdul Aziz
gradually became an outstanding figure among the Indian Muslims. Shah Abdul Aziz,
having completed his necessary education assumed the responsibility of the principalship
of the Madrash Rahimiya (Delhi). Thereafter, Shah Abdul Aziz devoted his life to teaching,
to spiritual guidance, to delivering sermons and to writing books. Every Tuesday and
Friday, he used to give public sermons on the premises of the Madrasah which was
attended by Muslims and non-Muslims both. The Madrasah was a centre of traditional
Islamic learning. As was the custom in those days, he started his education at the age of
five with the study of Holy Quran. Every biographer of Shah Abdul Aziz seems to have
agreed that he finished his education in Tafsir, Hadith, sarf (accidence), Nahw (Syntax),
Fiqh, Usul-i-Fiqh (Principles of Jurisprudence), Mantiq (logic), Kalam and Aqaid (theology),
Astronomy and Mathematics at the age of about fifteen years. He was taught especially by
his father and by two of his father’s disciples, Shah Muhammad Ashiq and Khwajah
Aminullah. His father held authority (ijazah) in all four existing mystic orders, the
Naqshbandi, the Qadiri, the Suhrawardi and the Chisthti. Shah Abdul Aziz too obtained
such Ijazah in all these orders from his father. He was also a poet of high merit and used
to write poems and Ghazals.
Apart from spiritual guidance and teaching, Shah Abdul Aziz wrote and dictated several
books. Some of them related to contemporary religious issues, and some contained the
biography of the Muhaddithin, and of the grandsons of the Holy Prophet (P.B.U.H) and his
other companions. He wrote a few books on the subjects of logic and rhetoric. Tafsir Fath
al-Aziz or Tafsir-i-Aziz (in Persian) and Tuhfah-i-Ithna ‘Ashariyah are among his well-
known books. Fatawa Aziz, another famous book, is the collection of Fatawa (questions
and answers on religious issue). The other well-known and highly controversial book
written by him is the Tuhfah. In this book, he has described the history, belief and
teachings of the Shia’s. There was hardly any Suni house, he says, in which some of its
members had not become Shia’s. They did not know anything about their new faith, or
even concerning Sunnism. Therefore, the author, as he says, compiled the book, to
provide information to people who were really interested in such debates.
He became the leader of the movement started by his father. Throughout his life he was
busy in propagating the ideals and thought of his father. He wrote several books which
were based upon Shah Waliullah’s ideas but were written in a language more easily
intelligible to a man of average education. For Sixty years, Shah Abdul Aziz laboured at
his mission until his death in 1823.

Detail
Although the Muslim power had ended, but the Muslims were still confused because the
legal fiction of the Mughul emperor’s sovereignty was kept up. Shah Abdul Aziz removed
this confusion by declaring unambiguously that the emperor was utterly helpless; the real
power was in the hands of the British; they had only found it politic to refrain from
establishing their administration in certain areas. The sub-continent was no longer dar-ul-
Islam, a land where the Faith could consider itself in power or even free; the fact that the
British did not interdict the practice of certain Islamic rites made no difference; the Muslims
were now living in dar-ul-harb, an area where Islam had been deprived of its authority.
Shah Abdul Aziz tried to remain friendly with the British realizing the fact that the policy of
military resistance was no longer feasible. Opposition in those circumstances meant
committing suicide. He, therefore, adopted such a policy for which he could not be
accused of hostility to the British and could thus proceed with his mission. His mission was
to prepare the Muslims to face the changed political circumstances. Having realized the
hopeless condition of Muslim political power, he asked the Muslims not to live in the world
of dreams. It is safe to assume that he was probably sure that the country was no longer
an abode of Islam, where Muslims could live according to their own law. The country had
become Darul Harb. To Muslims, as it was understood, there were only two alternatives,
Jihad or hijrah, if they were to take the classical Fiqh-opinions on their face value.
Otherwise they had to find out their own way in that new situation.
Hence it had become responsibility of Shah Abdul Aziz to find out a safe way. This he did.
He came forward and, without allowing his character and personality to be harmed and
without compromising his religious identity, he tacitly told the Muslims how to adjust
themselves into new situation.

Sir Syed Ahmad Khan (1817 – 1898)

Introduction
Sir Syed Ahmad Khan was the greatest Muslim reformer and political leader of the 19th
Century. After receiving education in Persian and Arabic he took up the Government
service.
Sir Syed Ahmad Khan came forward to guide the destinies of his co-religionists and help
them steer through stormy seas of ignorance and superstition to safe shores of confidence
and fresh aspirations. Sir Syed Ahmed Khan, one of the pioneers of the freedom
movement of the Indo-Pakistan, was the torch-bearer in imparting modern scientific
education to the down-trodden and ill-educated Muslims of the sub-continent to enable
them to stand up to the political and socio-economic needs of the time. Sir Syed Ahmad
Khan stands out as an important landmark in the development of Muslim thought in the
South Asian sub-continent. Sir Syed was the founder of the Aligarh Movement which was
the most important movement after the struggle of 1857. He opposed the campaign
started by Hindus to replace Urdu by Hindi. The objective of this campaign was to ruin the
Muslim civilization and culture by destroying Urdu.

Detail
Sir Syed Ahmad Khan was born in the year 1817 at Delhi in a renowned family of scholars
and statesmen. He was educated like all Muslims of his day under the traditional system of
education.
Sir Syed Ahmad Khan started his career by entering into government service as a
Sarishadar at Delhi in 1836. After the War of Independence of 1857, he wrote his famous
thesis entitled "Loyal Mohammadans of India". He wrote his Risala-dar-Asbab-i-
Bhagawati-i-Hind and Ahkam-i-Ta’am-i-Ahl-i-Kitab and other pamphlets to further his
educational ideas. In 1864, he established a School at Ghazipur where the English
language along with eastern languages was also taught to Muslims. He founded a
Scientific Society. Here he started the periodical which was first called Scientific Society
Papers and later, the Aligarh Institute Gazette.
He visited England in 1869 and, on his return, started his famous movement for the
establishment of the Muslim University. It started the Muhammadan Anglo-Oriental
College in 1898 and gradually expanded it to be raised to the status of a University in
1920. He started a monthly journal called the Tehzib-al-akhlaq. It’s object was to bring
home to the Muslims the need for liberalizing their religious thought and turning to western
education in order to regain their former prosperity. The Translation Society established at
Ghazipur in 1864, whose objective was to translate books from European languages into
Urdu, was being managed by Syed Ahmad’s lifelong friend, Raja Jai Kishan Das.
Similarly, the British Indian Association established in 1866 with the object of keeping in
touch with the members of the House of Commons was composed of both Hindus and
Muslims.
he establishment of Aligarh College was the crowning of his work and it is by that work
that his name will always be reverenced amongst Mohammadans and, indeed, by Indians
of other creeds. Syed Ahmad Khan had set out to achieve the following objectives:-
i.“To protect Islam from the onslaught of Christian missionaries and to prove that it
was the one true religion;
ii.To remove the bitter enmity which had arisen between the Muslim and the British
for religious or political reasons and to establish friendly relations between them;
iii.To reinterpret the teaching of Islam and bring them in harmony with Modern
Science and Philosophy so that educated Muslims while holding on to their
religion, might take a rational and enlightened view of life and meet the demands
of the new age;
iv.To persuade Muslims to learn the English language and Western sciences so that
they might secure a substantial share in the administration of the country.
v.To maintain Urdu along with English as an associate official language and to
develop it through translations and original writings”.
Sir Syed Ahmad’s services to his community may be summarized in three phrases;
"loyalty to the British, devotion to education, aloofness from politics". He preached and
practiced loyalty to the British rule. From his speeches, writings and letters, it is not difficult
to read his mind.
In order to bolster up the morale of Muslims, Sir Syed Ahmad Khan took a number of
measures that aimed at the cultural renaissance, social regeneration and the political
rehabiliation of the Muslims in the sub-continent. Sir Syed Ahmad Khan, during the early
phase of his public career, believed in a United India but when the Urdu-Hindi Controversy
and Hindu prejudices against Muslims rose in tempo, he began to express views indicating
his belief in the Two-Nation Theory.
Hindu leaders of Benares proposed that "the Urdu language written in Persian Script
should be discontinued in Government courts and should be replaced by the Hindi
language written in Devanagri script". It was the first occasion, says the well-known Urdu
biographer of Syed Ahmad (Hali) "when he (Syed Ahmad) felt that it was now impossible
for Hindus and Muslims to progress as a single nation and for anyone to work for both of
them simultaneously. He firmly believed that the crying need of the movement for his
community was not their participation in politics but a comprehensive plan of education to
fit them for life in a changing world. The need for stress on education can be gleaned from
the fact that in 1872 "out of three hundred students on the rolls of the Hoogly College
[which was maintained by the East-India Company out of the income of a Moslem
Educational Trust] only three were Moslems". Syed Ahmad believed that Muslims were
backward educationally and economically and were far behind the Hindus in every
respect. There could be no co-operation between them in political struggle unless they
were on a footing of equality. He therefore, worked ceaselessly to divert Muslim energies
into literary rather than political activities.
Syed Ahmad was a great admirer of Turkey. He was perhaps the first Indian to don a
Turkish cap - the Fez and make it part of student uniform in Aligarh. He constantly
published articles on Turkey in his Tahzib-ul-Akhlaq. Sir Syed Ahmad Khan died in 1898
and was buried at Aligarh in the College Compound.

Jamal ad-ud-Din Afghani (1838 – 1897)

Jamal ad-ud-Din Afghani’s full name is Jamal ad-ud-Din Afghani-As sayyid Muhammad
IBN Safdar Al-Husayn. He was born in 1838 in Asadabad, near Hamadan in Persia (now
Iran). He was a politician political agitator and a Journalist whose belief in the potency of a
revived Islamic civilization in the face of European domination significantly influenced the
development of Muslim thought in the 19th and early 20th centuries. As a young man, he
seems to have visited, perhaps in order to extend and perfect his theological and
philosophical education, Karbala, and an-Najaf, the Shi’it centres in Southern
Mesopotamia, as well as India and perhaps Istanbul. The intellectual currents with which
he came in contact remain obscure, but whatever they were, they made him early into a
religious skeptic.
In November, 1866 when Jamal-ud-Din Afghani appeared in Qandahar, Afghanistan, can
evidence be pieced together to form a consecutive and coherent picture of his life and
activities.
In 1870, Syed Jamal-ud-Din Afghani visited Istanbul, where he gave a lecture in which he
linked the prophetic office to a human craft or skill. This view gave offense to the religious
authorities, who denounced it as heretical. Afghani, therefore, had to leave Istanbul and in
1871 went to Cairo, where for the next few years, he attracted a following of young writers
and divines, among them Muhammad Abduh, who was to become the leader of the
modernist movement in Islam, and said Pasha Zaghlul, founder of the Egyptian nationalist
party the Wafd. Again, a reputation of heresy and unbelief clung to Afghani. The ruler of
Egypt then was the khedive Ismail, who was both ambitious and spendthrift. By the mid-
1870s his financial mismanagement led to pressure by his European creditors and great
discontent among all his subjects. Ismail tried to divert their wrath from himself to the
creditors, but his maneuvers were clumsy, and, in response to French and British
pressure, his suzerain, the Ottoman Sultan, deposed him in June 1879. During this period
of political effervescence, Afghani attempted to gain and manipulate power by organizing
his followers in a Masonic lodge, of which he became the leader, and by delivering fiery
speeches against Ismail. He seems to have hoped to attract thereby the favour and
confidence of Tawfiq, Ismail’s son and successor, but the latter, reputedly fearing that
Afghani was propagating republicanism in Egypt, ordered his deportation in August 1879.
Afghani then went to Hyderabad and later, via Calcutta, to Paris, where he reached in
January 1883. His stay over there contributed greatly to his legend and posthumous
influence as an Islamic reformer and a fighter against European domination.
In Paris, Afghani, together with his former student Abduh, published an anti-British
newspaper, al-Urwat al-wuthqa (“The Indissoluble Link”), which claimed (falsely) to be in
touch with and have influence over the Sudanese Mahdi, a messianic bearer of justice and
equality expected by some Muslims in the last days. He also engaged Ernest Renan, the
French historian and Philosopher, in a famous debate concerning the position of Islam
regarding science. He tried unsuccessfully to persuade the British government to use him
as intermmediary in negotiation with the Ottoman Sultan, Abdul Hamid II, and then went to
Russia, where his presence is recorded in 1887 1888, and 1889 and where the authorities
seem to have employed him in anti British agitation directed to India. Afghani next
appeared in Iran, where he again attempted to play a political role as the Shah’s counselor
and was yet again suspected of heresy. The Shah, Naser ud Din Shah became very
suspicious of him, and Afghani began a campaign of overt and violent opposition to the
Iranian ruler. Again, in 1892, his fate was deportation. For this, Afghani revenged himself
by instigating the Shah’s murder in 1896. It was his only successful political act.

Detail
From Iran, Afghani went to London, where he stayed briefly, editing a newspaper attacking
the Shah and urging resistance to him and particularly to the tobacco concession that had
been granted to a British subject. He then went to Istanbul, in response to an invitation
made by an agent of the Sultan. The Sultan may have hoped to use him in pan-Islamic
propaganda, but Afghani soon aroused suspicion and was kept inactive, at arm’s length
and under observation. He died in Istanbul in 1897. His burial place was kept secret, but in
1944 what was claimed to be his body, owing to the mistaken impression that he was an
Afghan, was transferred to Kabul, where a mausoleum was erected for it.
Iqbal sought in the reformation of Islam a way to harmonize religion and the natural laws of
the development of nature and society. Here he drew heavily upon the teachings of Shah
Waliullah on the essence and form of religion, the “philosophy of nature” of Sayyid Ahmad
Khan, and the ideas of Jamul-ud-Din Afghani on the creative nature of Islam, which
stimulates social progress and connects the traditions of the past with the tasks of modern
society. They attracted Iqbal above all as attempts to reshape Islam in line with the
development of one’s own people and the conditions of one’s own time. That is why he
lined the reconstruction of Islam to the names of these three ideologies.
Shah Waliullah, in Iqbal’s words, could only feel the necessity of a new orientation in
Islam: “The man, however, who fully realized the importance and immensity of the task,
and whose deep insight into inner meaning of the history of Muslim thought and life,
combined with a broad vision engendered by his wide experience of man and manners,
would have made him a living link between the past and future, was Jamal-ud-Din Afghani,
“ Iqbal wrote. “If his indefatigable but divided energy could have devoted itself entirely to
Islam as system of human belief and conduct, the world of Islam, intellectually speaking,
would have been on much more solid ground today.”
However, Jamal-ud-Din Afghani, according to Iqbal’s just assertion, also failed to offer an
expanded philosophical and political conception of an Islam reshaped to meet the social
conditions of Iqbal’s time. In Iqbal’s opinion, Sayyid Ahmad Khan took a great step forward
in this respect. His philosophy of nature (nacharia), called upon to substantiate the
“correspondence” of Islam to the laws of nature, was especially attractive to Iqbal.

Syed Saadat Ali (1849 – 1928)

He was born on April 6, 1849 to Syed Saadat Ali of Unao, Oudh, of a family originally from
Persia descendant of the Holy Prophet Mohammad (Allah's Peace and Blessings on him)
through Imam Ali-ar-Raza, of Mashad. He was educated at Hughli College from where he
did his M.A. and B.L. He was called to the bar at the Inner Temple in 1873, and, though
practiced in the High Court, Calcutta. He remained Fellow of the Calcutta University in
1874. He served as Magistrate and Chief Magistrate in Calcutta during 1878-81. He
lectured on Muhammadan Law between 1875-9 and become Member of the Bengal
Legislative Council during 1878-83 and of the Governor-General's Legislative Council in
1883-5. He became Tagore Law in Professor 1884. He worked as Puisne Judge of the
Calcutta High Court, 1890-1904. He was founder of the Central National Muhammadan
Association, and worked as its Secretary during 1876-90. He was a strong advocate of
English education and of the education of Indian women. He was very influential among
the Muslims in Bengal. He was President, London Branch of the All-India Muslim League
in 1908 and worked hard for separate electorates for the Muslims and take active part in
the Khilafat Movement. After retirement, he settled down in England and breathed his last
in the same country. He wrote Critical Examination of the Life and Teachings of
Muhammad (PBUH), The Spirit of Islam; The Ethics of Islam; A Short History of the
Saracens; Personal Law of the Muhammadans; Student's Handbook of Muhammadan
Law; Muhammadan Law. He was joint author of A Commentary on the Indian Evidence
Act, and of A Commentary on the Bengal Tenancy Act. He frequently wrote articles in The
Nineteenth Century, and wrote letters to the Times, London. His articles have been
compiled by Dr. S. Razi Wasti under the title. Memories and other Writings of Syed Ameer
Ali; Syed Ameer Ali on Islamic History and Culture. Dr. K. K. Aziz has also done the same
job by publishing a book titled: Life and Works of Syed Ameer Ali.

Mian Mohammad Shafi (1869 – 1932)

The void created by Mian Shah Din’s appointment to the Chief Court was filled by his
cousin and brother-in-Law, Mian Muhammad Shafi. He was born on 10 March, 1869. He
went to England to study for the Bar in August 1889. He also took active interest in
Anjuman-i-Islamiya of London and was elected its President for a term. He returned home
in 1892. After some years’ practice at Hoshiarpur, he moved to Lahore in the beginning of
1898. He interested himself in public affairs and was a member of the Simla Deputation.
When a branch of the All India Muslim League was started in November 1907 in Punjab,
he became its General Secretary.
His differences with Mian Fazl-i-Husain had started about the same time. Mian Fazl-i-
Husain had started an organization for which he coined the name of “Muslim League” and
which held its first meeting in February 1906. A few months later, Mian Muhammad Shafi
organized a Muslim Association, but when the All-India Muslim League was formed, he
formed its powerful branch in the Punjab of which he became the General Secretary. This
branch, organized in November 1907, was known as the Punjab Provincial Muslim
League, while Fazl-i-Husain also continued to call his organization by a similar name. Both
claimed allegiance to the All-India Muslim League and both had attended the first formal
session of that body at Karachi in December 1907. Their differences came to a head at the
second meeting of the Muslim League. “The second sitting of the Aligarh meeting dealt
with the problem of squaring up the differences between the two provincial Leagues in the
Punjab. The whole of the Muslim community was anxious on this score, Mian Muhammad
Shafi presented the names of twenty-four members and Mian Fazl-i-Husain of eighteen to
constitute the executive body of the Punjab Provincial League.
After long discussions, it was decided that both of them should confer together and arrive
at a unanimous decision to submit the names of twenty four members which was actually
done. In this way, the ill prospect of disunion in the Punjab was shattered.” As a result of
the compromise, Mian Muhammad Shafi continued as General Secretary of the Punjab
Muslim League while Mian Fazl-i-Husain became its Joint Secretary. “The Muslim
demands in the forthcoming Minto-Morley Reforms was the result of the efforts of Mian
Muhammad Shafi and Mian Shah Din”. Shafi presided over the annual session of the All-
India Muslim League in 1913 and retained his control of the Provincial League till 1916,
when his organization was disaffiliated by the All-India Muslim League. According to his
daughter, Begum Jahan Ara Shah Nawaz, Mian Sahfi’s differences with the All-India body
were due to his opposition to the “Lucknow Pact which sacrificed the Muslim interests in
the Punjab and Bengal”.
In July 1919, Mian Muhammad Sahfi, who had been elected as the President of the Chief
Court Bar, became a member of the Viceroy’s Executive Council during 1919-24. The fact
that he was taken away from the Punjab at a time when, owing to the introduction of the
Dyarchy, politics was to become fruitful in the provincial sphere, in a way, reduced his
usefulness. His tenure as Education Member was, however, marked by many important
developments, including the setting up of the Muslim University of Aligarh. When he
returned after completing five years’ term, he again became active in Muslim politics, and
played an important role when the Simon Commission visited India and, again, at the first
Round Table Conference 1930-31. He passed away on 7 January, 1932, shortly after his
appointment as Education Member of the Government of India during Sir Fazl-i-Husain’s
absence on deputation in South Africa. His two daughters namely Begum Jahan Ara Shah
Nawaz and Begum Geeti Ara Bashir Ahmad earned fame as leading Muslim women who
took active part in the Great Struggle for Pakistan.

Maulana Zafar Ali Khan (1873 – 1956)

Maulana Zafar Ali Khan, a renowned Journalist and a leader of the Pakistan Movement
needs no introduction. The multifaceted personality of the Mualana will be remembered as
a true, fearless journalist, a revolutionary poet, a vitriolic debater and a bold activist of the
Pakistan Movement. He spoke and wrote in favour of the Muslims and against the
prejudiced Hindu Congress and its anti-Muslim activities. He valiantly struggled for the
uplift and arousal of the Muslims of India on all fronts. It was his unshakable devotion, his
undaunted perseverance and commitment to his mission that Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad
Ali Jinnah remarked in his Address in 1930, in a meeting held at Badashahi Mosque, “if
you get some more youths like Zafar Ali Khan from Punjab, I assure you, Muslims cannot
be defeated by any power.”
Maulana Zafar Ali Khan was born in 1873 in the village Kot Mirath, Tehsil Wazirabad. His
father Maulvi Sirajuddin was an employee in the post office. Maulvi Sirajuddin had natural
penchant for journalism and he brought out a weekly paper Zamindar from Wazirabad to
highlight the problems of the poor farmer community of the Punjab. Under the supervision
of Maulana Zafar Ali Khan, weekly Zamindar played a vital role on the journalistic front for
Pakistan Movement. Zafar Ali Khan did his Matriculation from Patiala and graduation from
Muslim University, Aligarh. Originally a poet and litterateur, Maulana Zafar Ali Khan made
his debut in magazine journalism by launching, “Deccan Review”, a first class literary
journal, from Hyderabad Deccan in 1904. After a few years, he returned to his home
province, the Punjab, where he took over the editorship of “Zamindar” after the death of
his father, Maulvi Sirajuddin Ahmad.
Maulana Zafar Ali Khan converted “Zamindar” into a daily. He initiated the elements of
dynamism, fear-lessness and a rhetoric style of editorial-writing. While his contemporaries
Muhammad Ali Jauhar and Maulana Abul Kalam Azad addressed their message, through
their papers to the Muslim intelligentsia alone, Zafar Ali Khan knocked at the door of the
common man and created in him an undying taste for newspaper reading. For a number of
times, printing plants owned by him were confiscated by the government and the Maulana
had to subscribe to the coffers of the government over a hundred thousand rupees as
security deposits.
During Maulana’s life time, Muslims of India were passing through a crucial period. Within
the country, they were fighting against the Hindus on political and social fronts while
European colonialism was suppressing the Muslims throughout the world. The Partition of
Bengal in 1905 and its abrogation in 1911 was an ample proof of Hindus turpitude against
Muslims. Shudhi and Shanghtan movements were in progress to draw away the Muslims
from Islam. In 1919, the tragedy of Jalianwala Bagh beat the past records of British
atrocity and the large scale genocide of innocent people recalled the barbarism of Tartars.
In 1929, the events of Ghazi Ilm-ud-Din’s unjustified execution was also an eye opener for
the Muslim of India. During those critical circumstances, Zafar Ali Khan and his Zamindar
clamoured with all his force against the British imperialism and its step-motherly treatment
towards the Muslims of India. His revolutionary poetry with rebellious tings stirred the
conscious of the Muslims and on the other hand unmasked the ugly face of Hindu
hypocrisy and British despotism. His pen was a scalpel that pricked the Muslims and
agitated them to rise against the colonial forces. Due to his rebellious write-ups, he was
sentenced to jail many a time but nothing could shake his courage and resolution. When
he wrote and published a biting poem Ragray Pay Ragra against Shudhi and Shanghtan
movements, it caused a furor in the Hindu community across the country. They raised
much hue and cry and demanded to ban Zamindar. Maulana’s passionate speeches and
his grandiloquent style stirred the conscious of the audience and infused within them a
spirit of struggle. In 1929, when the body of Ilm-ud-Din Shaheed was buried at Mianwali,
Maulana addressed a mammoth rally at Mochi Gate, Lahore, on November 11, 1929 and
categorically demanded the distinterment and return of the body to Lahore. Sensing the
wave of agitation created by the speech, the Government accepted the demand. Likewise,
when Khilafat Movement was launcehd in 1919 to save the Caliphate in Turkey, Maulana
participated in the campaign along with Mulana Shaukat Ali, Maualana Muhammad Ali
Johar, Maulana Abul Kalam Azad and through his speeches appealed for the help. On his
call, the Muslims of India donated hefty amounts and a sum of Rs. 600000 was collected
and sent to Turkey.
A little after Partition of India, his health deteriorated and he gave up his political and
literary activities due to his senility. His last participation was in the Urdu Conference, held
at Punjab University on March 20, 1948, where he recounted his thesis but in a very feeble
voice. On this occasion, he recalled his prime time and expressed his contentment on the
establishment of Pakistan. On November 27, 1956 the founder of journalism and literature
breathed his last.

Wazir Hassan (1874 – 1947)

He was born on May 1, 1872 in a town Kalupur in district Jaunpur. He graduated from
MAO College and started practice in 1903 at Lucnkow. In 1920 he became Additional
Commissioner and worked as a Judge in Chief Court and Oudh in 1925. In 1930, was
appointed Chief Judge. After quilting in 1934, begun legal practice in Allahabad. He was
knighted in 1932.
He was one of the founder workers of the All-India Muslim League when it was founded in
1906. he worked as first President Secretary General on the occeasion of the League
session held at Delhi in 1918. He was elected Secretary of the League in he in the
League’s annual session held at Lucknow in 1913. He occompanied Maulana Muhamamd
Ali Jauhar to London when he persuaded the Quaid-e-Azam to join All-India Muslim
League. Syed Wazir Hasan was nominated member of the joint committee of the League
and the Indian National Congress set up for constitutional reforms. Between 1916-1919,
he remained member of the UP Assembly. In 1936, he presided over the 24th League
annual session held at Bombay. In 1937, he was ousted from the league because of some
differences but did not opt to join the Hindu Congress and, instead withdraw himself from
active politics. He remained member of the syndicates of Aligarh, Allahabad and Lucknow
universities. He died in August 1947.

Fazlul Hasan Hasrat Mohani (1878 – 1951)

He was born in Mohana town in UP in 1878 in a Syed family. In 1899, he did matric and
graduated in 1899 from Aligarh University. After completion of his education, he launched
a literary journal called Urdu-e-Muala, from Aligarh, He joined National Congress in 1904.
In 1907, he differed with the Congress policy and resigned from it. Laer, he joined Majlis-i-
Ahwar, He was arrested for …… ……..in 1916. He presided over the annual session of the
Muslim League held at Ahmad Nagar. He took active part in the League session in 1919
held at Amratser in 1922, he was again arrested for two years. 1936, the Maulana joined
the Muslim League and was elected member of the U.P Parliamentary Board. In 1937 he
moved a resolution for complete freedom and got it pass. In 1946, he was elected on the
League ticket from U.P. He remained member of the Assembly even after the creation of
Pakistan. He is known as Pan-Islamic journalist and politician and remained closely
connected with ‘extreme’ Ulema in the Khilafat Movement, and challenged Gandhi on
independence issue in the Congress in 1921.

Mian Amir-ud-Din (b. 1889)

He was born at Lahore and graduated from Government College. He was elected a
member of the Lahore Municipal Corporation in 1924 and was elected as Mayor in 1946.
He became member of the Punjab Assembly during 1941-46. Financial Secretary of
Punjab Muslim League, 1938-49, elected M.L.A. on Jinnah Awami League ticket in 1950.
He rejoined the Muslim League in 1953.Beside above he was President, Anjuman-i-
Islamia Punjab, Anjuman-i-Himayat-e-Islam for a long time.

Liyaqat Ali Khan (1895 – 1951)

Liaquat Ali Khan was the first Prime Minister of Pakistan. The Quaid found him sincere,
able, hard working and true to the Muslim cause. Quaid-i-Azam described him as his “right
hand” in the Struggle for Pakistan. He was the longest serving General Secretary of the
All-India Muslim League.
He became leader of the Muslim League Parliamentary Party; Chairman of the Central
Parliamentary Board in 1945, and leader of the Muslim League parliamentary party in the
Interim Government in October 1946 before being named Pakistan’s Prime Minister in
August 1947.
Liaquat Ali Khan was born in a well to-do Zamindar family of Karnal (East Punjab) on 1
October, 1895. He was the second son of Nawab Rustam Ali Khan. He received his early
education in his own hometown. In 1919 he graduated from Allahabad University. After
graduation, he decided to go to England for higher studies, and left India in September,
1919 for England and joined St. Catherine College, Oxford and thereafter migrated to
Exeter College. He took up Honours School of Jurisprudence and obtained the degree in
1921. After completing his studies in England, he returned to India in 1922. When he was
at Oxford, he was the prominent member of the Indian Majlis- a debating club, generally
discussing topics pertaining to the political developments in the Sub-continent. In 1933,
Liaquat Ali Khan married a second time. Begam Rana, his second wife was a
distinguished economist and educationist, who later contributed to his success because of
her outstanding mental and social qualities.
During his stay in England, Liaquat Ali Khan met the Quaid and persuaded him to return to
the Sub-continent to lead the Muslims. It was on April 26, 1936 that Liaquat Ali Khan, in a
session of the Muslim League at Bombay, was elected the Honorary Secretary of the
League in place of Sir Muhammad Ya’qub.
Liaquat Ali Khan was again elected as Honorary Secretary of the Muslim League in 1938.
In an astonishingly short period, he came to command popularity and esteem by hard
work, common sense and boundless devotion to the Muslim cause. He devoted himself
whole – heartedly to the work of re-ogranisation of the Muslim League and opened its
offices in different districts of the Sub-continent. He won the confidence of the Quaid-i-
Azam who entrusted him with new responsibilities day after day. Liaquat Ali achieved
popularity and confidence of the Muslims and ranked amongst the foremost leaders of the
community after the Quaid.
In 1940, Liaquat Ali Khan was elected as member of the Central Legislative Assembly.
The same year the Muslim League, recognizing the importance of the work in the
Assembly, had organized the Muslim League Assembly Party. Previously they had worked
in the Independent Party which Quaid had organized in 1924. Quaid-i-Azam Muhammad
Ali Jinnah was elected as the leader and the Nawabzada Liaquat Ali Khan as the Deputy
Leader of the Party. Quaid-i-Azam, after 1940, found little time to attend to the business of
the Legislative Assembly. As a result, Liaquat had to shoulder the responsibility of
safeguarding Muslim interests in the Assembly.
During the period from 1940 to 1945, Liaquat Ali Khan was active in consolidating the
position of the Muslim League amongst the Muslim masses. In August 1942, the Congress
rejected the Cripps offer and decided to launch an “open rebellion” by resorting to mass
civil disobedience movement. In order to keep the Muslims away form the Congress
activities, and to strengthen the League’s hold over Muslim masses, The Muslim League
appointed a Civil Defence Committee in August 1942 and Liaquat Ali was one of its active
member. The object of the Committee was to organise the Muslims everywhere, not with a
view “ to creating trouble but in view of the internal trouble that might take place or external
elements which might cause trouble.”
Liaquat Ali Khan was invited by the League to lead the Muslim League representatives in
the Interim Government. He was given the portfolio of Finance, which the Congress had
surrendered under the impression that the League "would not be able to manage Finance
and would have to decline the offer and that any Muslim accepting the portfolio would
"make a fool of himself". But Liaquat made "fools of his Congress Colleagues" by
presenting a successful Budget in the Assembly. Liaquat’s work in the Interim Government
proved that he was gifted with qualities of a very high character.
The most admirable achievement of Liaquat, as the Finance Minister of the Interim
Government was his ‘Poor Man’s Budget’ for 1947-48. Liaquat’s memorable Budget
speech was "one of the most brilliant" chapters of the Pakistan Movement when he laid
emphasis on the policy of social justice and development.
When Liaquat Ali Khan assumed office of premiership, the newborn country was faced
with the innumerable problems. Though Quaid-i-Azam was there to guide the nation,
Liaquat had no less important duties to perform in establishing the new State on a sound
footing. Liaquat’s responsibilities increased when the Quaid fell seriously ill and later
moved to Ziarat. During his illness, Liaquat was forced to assume almost all the
responsibilities of running the State and to rely more and more "on his own judgment and
initiative."
On the death of the Quaid-i-Azam, on September 11, 1948, Pakistan was faced with great
crisis. Within a few days "after the death of the Father of the Nation" Liaquat Ali Khan was
successful in bringing confidence and internal cohesion in the nation.
Liaquat’s devotion and love for the Quid-i-Azam was unequalled to which he often gave
expression in his speeches before and after the death of the great leader. So was his love
for the Muslim League organisation which he had gradually built up. He considered the
Muslim League and Pakistan as the "special trusts" of the Quaid.
Liaquat had, "an abiding faith" in democratic institutions and in the people of Pakistan.
Some people advised him that the masses being illiterate and uneducated, having little
experience, perhaps democratic institutions like adult franchise were not suited to
Pakistan. His reply to such suggestions was that the people could attain maturity if they
were given responsibility and that political education depended upon the opportunities of
gaining experience. He stated that dictatorships were based upon a lack of faith in the
intelligence of the people and that there could be no "deterrent to the expansion of
freedom than the fallacy that the people could be governed without any reference to their
feelings and desires by those who considered themselves wiser."
One of the most difficult and important problems which Liaquat had to face during his
Prime Ministership was that of framing a Constitution for the State of Pakistan. In the
struggle for Pakistan and after its achievement, it was stated from the platform and the
press that the future constitution of the new State would be based on Islamic Principles. It
was one thing to profess but to give it a practical shape was a problem. Quaid-i-Azam did
not live long to give guidance to the nation on this particular issue. There was demand
from certain extremist section of the Ulama for an immediate replacement of Pakistan
Penal Code and other Statutes by Islamic Law. Liaquat Ali Khan had decided to hold
general elections on the basis of adult franchise, province by province and then for the
Central Assembly, "before grappling seriously with constitutional issue."
As regards relations with India, he was right to say that amongst the major matters of
dispute between the two countries was that of Kashmir. "There is luckily the international
agreement between Pakistan and India that the question of Kashmir’s accession to India
or Pakistan shall be decided by a free and impartial plebiscite of the people of Kashmir.
"By this we stand; but we have never wished to conceal our anxiety over the inordinate
delay that has taken place in holding such a plebiscite and in ensuring, according to the
barest requirements of common sense, that the plebiscite when it takes place should be
free and truly impartial. Even a cursory study of some of the other disputes will be enough
to clarify and justify Pakistan’s stand. Take for example the question known as the canals
dispute. Nineteen million acres of land in Pakistan are irrigated by canals from five rivers,
three of which have their origin in India and the other two in that part of Kashmir which is
under Indian military occupation. It is not Pakistan that is in a position to disregard
international obligations and neighborliness in such matters. On the other hand, Pakistan
cannot but insist that its international rights should not be disregarded. It is only because
our integrity as a State and our international rights seemed to be in jeopardy that, as a self
preservative measure we had to deflect a great deal of our expenditure to the
consolidation of our defence".
Quaid-i-Millat Liaquat Ali Khan fell a martyr to an assassin’s bullet on October 16, 1951. It
was the severest blow to the State of Pakistan after the death of the Quaid-i-Azam. His
death was more tragic for the nation, as he had satisfactorily filled in the void created after
the Quaid-i-Azam’s death but after him no one raised himself to that level of selflessness,
self-efficacy and statesmanship. He boldly met all difficulties by adopting a balanced and a
realistic policy. Quaid-i-Millat was a practical statesman and he would have adopted
effective measures for raising the standard of living of the man in the street, as it was one
of the important slogans in the struggle for the achievement of Pakistan. Had he been
spared for another couple of years, he would have found out better solutions of the
problems facing the country. The future generations of Pakistan will always be proud of
the leadership of the Quaid-i-Azam and the Quaid-i-Millat because it is very rare in the life
of a nation to be bestowed with leadership of the caliber of the Quaid and Liaquat.
Raja Ghazanfar Ali Khan (1895 – 1963)

He was educated at Government College, Lahore. He became member of Indian

Legislative Assembly in 1923 and worked as Minister Alwar State during 1928-29.
Thereafter, he became Member of Indian Council of State in 1933. He became member of
the Punjab Legislative Assembly in 1937 and 1946 respectively. He also worked as
Parliamentary Secretary to the Punjab Government in 1937-44 and, thereafter, became
Member of the Interim Government during 1946-47 after the creation of Pakistan, he
became Health Minister, Government of Pakistan in 1947-48 and was sent as
Ambassador at Iran in 1948.

Nawab Bahader Yar Jung (1905 – 1944)

Nawab Bahadur Yar Jung was born in Hyderabad Decan, on February 3, 1905. He was
the scion of an old Jagirdar family which had migrated to Decan in the first half of the 19th
century and was honoured by the Asif Jahi rulers of Hyderabad with titles and jagir for
helping the royal family against Marhatha atrocities. Nawab Sahib was hardly seven on the
death of his mother and eighteen on that of his father. He started his brilliant career not by
indulging in the luxurious life of Nawabs, but by taking keen interest in the social service of
the down trodden.
Nawab Bahadur Yar Jung was a born orator. He started his career by making fiery
speeches at Milad-un-Nabi gatherings. This created such an image of his personality that
he was invited from all parts of India to address Milad meetings.
The Nizam of Deccan was so much impressed by his eloquent speech on an occasion that
he honoured him with the title of Bahadur Yar Jung. His addresses at Milad meetings
helped him in his mission of Tabligh-e-Islam and nearly twenty thousand Hindus embraced
Islam at his call.
He was ardent Khaksar and worked with Allama Inayatullah Khan Mashriqi for a number of
years. He had a deep regard for Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah's untiring efforts for
the Muslims under the banner of the Muslim League. Whenever the Quaid invited him to
address the Muslim League sessions, he always obeyed his leader.

Siraj-ud-Din Pal (1906 – 1976)

Mumtaz M. Khan Doltana (b. 1916)

He was educated at the University of the Punjab, Lahore, and Oxford University. He was
called to the Bar in 1939. He became member, Punjab Legislative Assembly in 1943-1946.
He worked as General Secretary Punjab Provincial Muslim League during 1944-47. He
became member of the Pakistan Constituent Assembly in 1947 and was appointed Chief
Minister, Punjab between 1951-53. Thereafter, he became Federal ministry of the
Government of Pakistan in October-December 1957. After a lengthy gap of an active
politics was made Pakistan's Ambassador in U.K. during Bhutto's regime. ( -1978).

Abdul Haroon (the man and histimes

Why do we remember Abdullah Haroon, year after year, on his death anniversary?
Because he is relevant even today. He is relevant because he serves as a role model
today, as he did in his own life-time. We remember him for what he had stood and worked
for and for what he had accomplished.
People belonging to his genre generally set a trend for shaping the course of history, a
trend which become as it were a part of his people's national heritage. Abdullah Haroon's
eminence as a leader and friend of the poor stems from the fact that he started from
scratch, with a limited resource base, and yet became a success in business, in politics, in
organizing and establishing social work and charitable institutions, and in various other
spheres of life and in various other ways.
Consider, in the first instance, his business activities which provided him a solid financial
base to move on to other fields. An orphan at age four, with little formal education, he
started out as a messenger and help boy at age fourteen.
He entered as an under-study in his maternal uncle's grains business firm at age eighteen,
started his own modest business at age twenty-four, began importing sugar on a large
scale at age thirty-two, secured a sound footing in the sugar import business at age thirty-
seven, and bought up the zamindari of Motipur in Muzaffarpur, Bihar, imported equipment
from England, and set up a sugar mill at Motipur during 1931-34 when he was about sixty.
Twice he suffered heavy losses (in 1907 and 1918), but that did not dampen his spirits,
nor deflected him from his chosen path. He believed in initiative, enterprise, and hard
work.
He built up his business, step by step, laboriously, strenuously and patiently, and that over
long decades; he competed with established houses in the field on their terms, and made
his mark. In short, he rose from rags to riches, and that without ever resorting to unfair
means, to gimmicks, and to business tricks.
Today, in Pakistan, to name only one category of unethical practices, bank loan defaulters
(in business) form a legion, and that provides an index to the prevalent business ethics.
Thus, Haji Abdullah Haroon's life presents a role model for those latter-day business
tycoons and industrialists who are obsessed with the idea of getting rich overnight, and by
all means, fair or foul.
Now consider his political career. Although he started taking interest in politics and
attending public meetings from 1901, he did not launch himself formally into public life until
1913.
That year he was elected to the Karachi municipal committee as a member. Interestingly
though, before entering a public career, he had built for himself (and his family) a solid
financial base.
He had acquired, among other things, a spacious office on Napier Road, then the hub of
business activities in Karachi, and bought property in Ranchore Lines, a horse-carriage,
and a bungalow on Victoria Road, then part of the city's fashionable and expensive areas.
This would later become "Seafield" and serve as a transit camp for such political
luminaries as Maulana Mohammad Ali, Maulana Shaukat Ali, Bi Amma, Maulana Hasrat
Mohani, and Quaid-i-Azam Mohammed Ali Jinnah.
This means that unlike latter-day leaders, Haji Abdullah Haroon did not live off politics, nor
did he intend to make a profession out of it. This reminds us of what Khasa Subba Rao,
editor of the Indian Express, once wrote about Jinnah.
At about the turn of the century, when Jinnah had already established himself at the bar,
he was asked as to why he was not taking active part in politics. Jinnah's reply was
characteristic of the man who would later be acknowledged as the most incorruptible
politician in the country.
He said that he was awaiting the day when he had saved up enough (and he named a
figure, considered enormous at the time) to afford to involve himself in politics since he did
not want to live off nor make a profession of politics.
And like Jinnah, Abdullah Haroon considered politics as a means of serving the
community and the country, and not as a source for amassing wealth. He spent his own
money to finance not only his own political activities, but also those of his party.
In one of his last letters sent posthumously, he told Shaikh Abdul Majid, "... you know very
well that I have no more funds left and of the Working Committee of the assembly party,
except a very few, none yet sent in their help, though they had promised to do so. As yet I
have been financing all the expenses of the Muslim League branch here."
What a contrast to our present-day leaders who miss no opportunity to call themselves
awami and swear by democracy present. The list of bank loans and telephone and
electricity bills' defaulters among politicians is long.
The proceedings of the National Assembly during the past six months, and the
"Mehrangate affair" of earlier years provide an indication of their insatiable greed to amass
wealth through political pressure and influence, and to defraud the nation and its
exchequer of billions of rupees which should have gone for social and economic
development.
Above all, their penchant for living off politics is unlimited. Even umras, along with
planeloads of family members and favourites, are performed at public expense while
bemoaning an empty treasury, while all the provinces, especially Sindh, are burdened with
overdrafts of billions of rupees.
Against this background, it is easy to see how Abdullah Haroon's thrift and financial
discipline and how his role in politics becomes relevant to contemporary Pakistan -
relevant if we really want to rid our politics of pervasive corruption and make our leaders
servants of the people rather than their exploiters and oppressors.
Consider Abdullah Haroon's role in social development. Having himself gone through the
travails that are the fate of orphans in a backward and economically downtrodden society,
he dedicated himself, once he had become financially solvent and secure, to alleviating
the sufferings of the poor, the orphans, and the needy.
This dedication led him to set up the Jamia Islamia Yatim Khana (1923), Karachi Muslim
Gymkhana (1927), Hajiani Hanifabai Memon Girls School, Sind Muslim League
Employees Bureau (1939), Wakf alal-Aulad Trust (1940), Sukkur Relief Fund (1940), and
a charitable trust (1941).
He contributed liberally to the Angora Fund, the Symerna Fund (circa 1920s), the
Palestine Relief Fund (circa 1930s), the Bhuj Famine Fund, and to scores of other
charities and organisations involved in promoting education, health and religions causes.
His philanthropy knew no geographical bounds: it extended to the entire subcontinent, and
even to Arabia. The sums he contributed were enormous even by today's standards.
Today there are in Pakistan tycoons and industrialists who are a lot more affluent than Haji
Abdullah Haroon, and yet how many have involved themselves in promoting education,
health, charitable institutions, orphanages and such other activities, designed to alleviate
the lot of the poor and promote social development? The beneficiaries and legatees of Haji
Abdoola Haroon also need to emulate his example.
At his forty-seventh death anniversary commemorative meeting at Karachi in 1989, this
writer had suggested that a Trust be set up with a sum amounting to the par value at
current prices of his total charities during the last nine months of his life and that the
proceeds from it be utilized to set up a research centre after his name, and that this centre
should sponsor meaningful research studies not only on his life and times, but also on
Sindh and Pakistan.
Such an institution would be a more fitting tribute to Haji Abdullah Haroon than mere
commemorative meetings and anniversary articles held once a year.
Abdullah Haroon Foundation on the lines of Carnegie or Rockefeller Foundation would
hopefully break new ground and become a trend setter in Pakistan. That suggestion needs
to be taken seriously.Abdullah Haroon's last letter, addressed to Nawab Ghulam Hussain
Leghari and despatched posthumously, reads as if it does not pertain to 1942 but to 1994.
Therein, among other things, he said "In all parts of Sind reports of bloodshed and
dacoities are rife which I always read in the press. May God have pity on us and give
some sense to our Muslim brethren to stop this oppression. My conclusion is that this is all
due to the disunity and folly in our ranks ...."
As the discussion above indicates, even specific events in the life of great men contain or
are inspired by an element of universal truth, which is relevant at all times. As Benedetto
Croce, the famed Italian philosopher, says, "The practical requirements which underlie
every historical judgment give to all history the character of contemporary history because,
however remote in time events there recounted may seem to be, the history in reality
refers to present needs and present situations wherein those events vibrate".
As with history, so with the lives of great men who shape the course of history. And the
events in their lives, when abstracted in terms of their underlying, universal components
and interpreted in perspective, become relevant to present needs and situations.
Finally, one aspect that still needs to be delineated is Haji Abdullah Haroon's role in
charting the course of modern Muslim India's history - the aspect which calls for our
attention even if he had not done anything else.
This was the First Sind Provincial Muslim League conference in October 1938, which he
organized and of whose reception committee he was the chairman. This represented his
most important contribution as a shaper of history.
In particular, it was the resolution adopted at this conference which he formulated
(presumably with the assistance of Pir Ali Muhammad Rashidi) but which he allowed
Shaikh Abdul Majid, secretary of the reception committee, to move because of Shaikh's
threat to walk-out of the conference if he was denied that privilege and because of his
(Haroon's) keen desire to keep unity in the Sindh Muslim League's disparate and factious
ranks.
In perspective, the Sind Provincial Conference resolution represented the penultimate step
to, and prepared the ground for, the adoption of the Lahore Resolution at the Muslim
League session in March 1940. Herein lies the significance of Haji Abdullah Haroon
contribution as a trend-setter in modern Muslim India's politics, and as a "shaper" of
history in a larger sense.
The writer is a former director of the Quaid-i-Azam Academy and a distinguished author.

Hamid Nazami ( 1915 – 1962)

He was born on October 3, 1915 at Sangla Hill, a small Railway junction not far from
Lyallpur (Now Faisalabad). He received his early education at his native place and,
thereafter, did his Masters in English from the University of the Punjab, Lahore. He was a
self-made man and his early life was a great struggle. While still a students at Islamia
College, Lahore, he founded along with others, the Punjab Muslim Students Federation
and became its first elected President. Due to his dynamic role as a student leader, he
came close to the Quaid-i-Azam and remained an ardent follower of the Quaid and the
League first as a student leader and later as a journalist. After attaining his degree, he
chose journalism as his career and worked for a short time in the Press branch of the
Punjab Government. After receiving training under a scheme sponsored by the Punjab
Government, he also worked for some time on the staff of National Congress, an Urdu
daily started by Dr. Satyapal, who represented the liberal wing of the Provincial Congress.
Thereafter, he became the Manager of Lahore Office of the Orient News Agency and used
the resources of the Orient News Agency for the projection of the League point of view
and for helping the cause of Pakistan. The year 1940 was something of a landmark in the
life of Hameed Nizami when he launched his fortnightly paper called Nawa-i-Waqt from
Lahore on March 23, 1940. He was elected President of the Punjab Muslim Student’s
Federations for the second time in 1942. He was able to convert his fortnightly Nawa-i-
Waqt into a Weekly, a newspaper with which his name will remain associated for ever. On
December 15, 1942 the Nawa-i-Waqt became a Weekly. Later on, it was converted into a
daily paper. The daily Nawa-i-Waqt came out on July 22, 1944 with a prayer and a
message of the Quaid-i-Azam. Hameed Nizami made Nawa-i-Waqt with all its limitations a
powerful newspaper for the cause of Muslim League and the Pakistan Movement. He was
a clear headed, methodical and devoted journalist. With these qualities he made himself a
legend. He rendered a lofty service for the cause of Pakistan during the entire period of
Pakistan Movement and, later, for the stability of Pakistan. He was a strong spokesman of
democracy in the country. The first Martial Law of 1958 greatly hurt him which proved fatal
for his life and he departed in February 1962.