Muslim Reformist Movements

Mujadad Alf Sani

Sheikh Ahmad Sirhindi

Brief Life History

Birth 26th June 1564, Sirhind in East Punajb.
Named Ahmed and title was Badr-ul-Dir
S/o Sheikh Abdul Ahad uptio Hazrat Umer
Farooq
Read Quran, Hadith and Fiqh from father and
Maulana Kamal and Maulana Yaqub Kashmiri
Journey to Agra and met with Fazl and Faizi
Journey to Delhi and met with Hazrat Khawaja
Baqi Billah Bairang
Died in 10th December 1624 in Sirhin

WORKS OF MUJADAD
Maktoobat (3 Volumes, Research and Ijtehad, His
complete work and philosophy of life, faith and
religion)
Asbat un Nabooh (Is logic and reason enough, need of
prophet and diving knowledge, at the age of 18)
Risala e Tahleelia (Israr e Tauheed and La ilaha,
against Akbars Bidaat
Sharah Rubaiat (Tafseer of Rubaiat of Baqi Billah)
Mabd au Muaad (Khawaja Baqi Billah and about
Naqshbandi Silsala
Maaraf ud Dunya (Maarafat e Ilahi, Slook o Tareeqat,
Shariah and Tassawuf)

Quotation
Hazrat Khwaja Baqi Billah predicted
Sheikh Ahmad is such a light which will
illuminate the whole world
Hamid Algar (Malaysia)
The Maktubat of Sirhindi came to replace
the focus of Ibn e Arabi as a text for study
and meditation

Service to Islam
Origin of Concept of Wahdatul Shahood
against Mohayyudin Ibn-e-Arabis concept
Efforts against Bhakti Movement and
Deen-e-Ilahi
The Bhakti movement is a Hindu religious
movement in which the main spiritual
practice is loving devotion among the
Vaishnava saints.

Situation at the time of Mujadid

Sulah e Kul and Univeralism (Nehru The Discovery of India)

Shaitan Purah
Riba, Gambling, Bribery, and Sharab as Halal
Ban on Salat and Hajj
Eating allowed in Ramzan,
Various Mosques were demolished
Sources of law were changed from Quran, Hadith and Sunnah
Jinn o Malaik, Karamaat were declared flase
Azaab e Qabar declared as false
Hindu festivals and cluture adopted by the king
No repsect given to Sahaba , Tabiin and Saleheen

Bhakti Movement
The history of the movement goes back to the time of
great reformer Shankracharya who gave Hinduism a solid
philosophical background. But the movement became
popular in the middle ages. Chaitanya led the movement
in the east( modern Uttar Pradesh), Tuka Ram, Nam Dev
and Tirlochan in the Central India, Sadna, Pipa, Mirabai,
Tulsi Das and above all Kabir were its leaders in the
north. Kabirs teachings had great influence in the
Punjab, but actually the movement in the Punjab was led
by Guru Nanak and his nine successors. The message of
love and devotion to god was spread among the people
of the Punjab for ten generations. This intense and
organized propaganda of the Bhakti cult by the Sikh
Gurus led to the foundation of a community of Bhaktas
known as the Sikhs.

From the One Light, the entire universe welled up. So who is good,
and who is bad?"

Quotation
To consider Ram and Rehman as one is
stupidity because creator cannot be one
with its creation

Reformation Efforts
Transfer of Kingdom to Prince Saleem
(Jehangir)
Connection with Dignitaries specially with
Ameer Nawab Jahan Khan
You can add the abiding by of Shariat in your
services and do the work of prophets which
will exalt the religion. Begars like us cannot
reach anywhere near you even if we try for
yers with our lives

 Imprisonment by Jehangir in Gwaliar for

one year but later received Khilat-eFakhira and 1000 rupess
Promotion of Naqshbandia Chain
Reformin Scholars and Mystics
Oppsition of Bidaat
Reformation through Documents
Starting of two-nation theory

 Concept of Government (Amir Sheikh

Farid Bukhari
The position of a king is the same as that of
the heart in the body, if the heart is pure the
body will be pure and if the heart is not pure
how can the body be pure.

Effect of Teachings
Jehangir instead of Khusro
Differentiation of Kurf and Islam (Ram and
Rahman, Kaaba and Kaashi, Quran and
Paran)
Dominance of Islam
Opposing United Nationnhood
Advise on Shariat
Shariats superirority to Myticism

Quotations
Kashf and revelation get value through the book
of Allah and Sunnah and not through wajd
If Muslims want to live as a nation than they
have to quit the talk of shirk and Bidat and stay
separate from Hindus. If the awareness of
separate national identity is not awakened in
Muslims than it is feared that they would be
swept away with the flood of combined
nationhood. Islam would become observed in
the soil of and would be destroyed like
Buddhism and other religion which have been
absorbed in Hinduism

Shah Wali Ullah

Qutbuddin

Early Life
21st February 1703 in Moza Phalat near
Delhi
S/o Abdul Rahim founder of Madrassa
Rahimia
Pedigree leads up to Hazrat Umer from
fathers side and to Imam Musa Kazim
from mothers side

Educational and Religious Services

Persian Translation of Holy Quran to
answer questions of Christian Missionaries
Al Fauz al Kabir, Muqadima Fe Tarjumatul
Quran, Hajjatul hil balagha, Shahrah al
Mustafa, Shahrah al Musawa, Insaf-eBiyan Fe Sabab Ul Ikhtilaf, Aqd ul Iayad Fe
Ihkam ul Ijtihad ul Talqid, Tafhemat Ilahi,
Izaalatul Khifaa

Social and Political Services

Ending of Social Evils
Reformation of Islamic Society
Invitation to Ahmed Shah Abdali and
formation of Majlis-e-Muntazima
Representation of Unity of Islamic World
Opposition of Sectarianism
Revolutionary Legislature for Islam

Shah Waliullahs four basic principles of

economics

Shah Waliullah has discussed about the four basic principles of

economics; such as Production of wealth, consumption of wealth,
distribution of wealth, exchange of wealth.
The whole nation is participant in the production of wealth, so it
should be distributed in the whole nation. He established the
principles for distribution of wealth among people as well as the
values that how the wealth should be consumed. That economic
system is successful which establishes the principles for these four
branches.

The first principle is that people living in specific geographic

boundaries has the right over the resources of that area. That
economic system in which all the people are equal no single person
or specific class can get hold of the resources. He has narrated
Hazrat Abu Bakkar Siddique in Aizaalatul Khifa Equality is better in
economics than giving priority to one group over other.

Shah Waliullahs four basic principles of

economics
Second principle is that everybody has the right to have
limited owner ship as the abilities of every individual are
different. Not that the whole nation should have same
clothing, food and houses.
Third principle is that any practice which concentrates
wealth in certain hands will not be tolerated and the
system will oppose it.
Fourth principle is that such a balance should be
maintained in these factors that society develop as a
whole.
Shah waliullah stressed on the creation of a party on
such principles which will end the outmoded system and
built a new system which ensures the development of
society as a whole.

Aligarh Movement
Sir Syed Ahmad Khan

Early Life
17th October, 1817 to Syed Muhammad Muttaqi
Joined East India Company in 1836 in the office of
Commissioner of Agra and soon promoted as sub-judge
In 1857 saved 20 British Families and was made Sadrus-Sadoor
In 1869 along with Syed Mehmood went to England and
wrote Khutbat-e-Ahmadia
In 1878 Lord Dalton nominated him Member of Imperial
Council
In 1887 Lord Defren made him Member of Civil Service
Commission
Died in 1898 in Ali Garh

RESOURCE FOR ALIGARH

HAYAT E JAVAID BY HALI
Writings and Speeches of Sir Syed
compiled by Shan Muhammad

MAO College and AliGarh

There are three myths about the Aligarh movement: it was simply a movement for
education, Aligarh Muslim University IS the movement, and that the movement is long
dead. Syed Ahmed Khans concerns, visions, and efforts for the Indian Muslims came to
be later known as the Aligarh Movement but it was not simply a movement to make
Muslims learn Western education or even the establishment of a university. It was a
movement to give mission to a community that seemed to have lost its bearing in the fastchanging world, to prepare them for new challenges, and give them new tools to connect
back to their religion and history. Incredibly, Muslims of India still face these issues and the
need for Aligarh movement is still alive.

Rarely history offers such a sharp divide as in 1857 when medieval India came to a close
and a modern India emerged from the ruins. Syed Ahmed understood the new power and
new rules that will shape the future of India. British saw Muslims as a threat and a
challenge to the British rule in India. They held Muslims responsible for the brutal 1857 war
between British and Indian forces. In this situation Muslim centers of learning and culture
in North India were uprooted or abandoned. At that time Syed Ahmad was in the
employment of the British. He wrote Asbab-e-baghawat-e-hind (The Causes of the Indian
Revolt) to show that events of 1857 was a result of British high-handedness in India and
not a conspiracy by the Muslim feudal elites. It was an attempt to tell the rulers of India that
we understand that you are here to stay but we want to be a partner in this new system.

Chronology of Sir Syeds Efforts

Aligarh Movement
1859: Built Gulshan School in Muradabad.
1863: Set up Victoria School in Ghazipur.
1864: Set up the Scientific Society in Aligarh.
This society was involved in the translation of
English works into the native language.
1866: Aligarh Institute Gazette. This imparted
information on history; ancient and modern
science of agriculture, natural and physical
sciences and advanced mathematics.
1870: Committee Striving for the Educational
Progress of Muslims.

Chronology of Sir Syeds Efforts

Aligarh Movement
1875: Muhammadan Anglo-Oriental School (M.
A. O.), Aligarh, setup on the pattern of English
public schools. Later raised to the level of
college in 1877 and university in 1920.
1886: Muhammadan Educational Conference.
This conference met every year to take stock of
the educational problems of the Muslims and to
persuade them to get modern education and
abstain from politics. It later became the political
mouthpiece of the Indian Muslims and was the
forerunner of the Muslim League.
MAO College Aligarh to Muslim University

Objectives of Movement

To protect Islam against the onslaught of Orientalists and to prove

that it was the one true religion;
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;
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;
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.
To maintain Urdu along with English as an associate official
language and to develop it through translations and original writings

QUOTATIONS

Sir Saiyad was a prophet of education (Mahatma Gandhi)

The real greatness of the man (Sir Saiyad) consists in the fact
that he was the first Indian Muslim who felt the need of a fresh
orientation of Islam and worked for it (Sir Allama Iqbal)

Sir Saiyad was an ardent reformer and he wanted to reconcile

modern scientific thought with religion by rationalistic
interpretations and not by attacking basic belief. He was
anxious to push new education. He was in no way communally
separatist. Repeatedly he emphasized that religious differences
should have no political and national significance.
( Jawaharlal Nehru, Founder Prime Minister of India)

Works of Sir Syed

Abtal e Ghulami
Ahkam Taam al-kitab
Ain-E Akbari, 1855, Urdu
Al Khutbat al Ahmadiya (1870), in reply to Muir''s "Life of
Mahomet"
Aldua Wal Istajaba (1892), Urdu
Asbabe Baghavate Hind (1858), Urdu
Izalatul Ghain An Zulqurnain (1889), Urdu
On Hunter's "Our Indian Musalmans", 1872 (Eng)
Tabiyul Kalam Fi Tafsir Al-Taurat-o wal Injeel, 1862, Urdu
Asar al Sanadid

Effects of Aligarh Movement

Development of Western Education

Establishment of Islamic Educational Institutes
Economic Development of Muslims
Political Leadership
Maulana Muhammad Ali Johar, Maulana Shokat Ali,
Nawab Mehdi Khan (Mohsin-ul-Mulk), Nawab Wiqarul-Mulk and Nawab Ishaq Khan, Liaquat Ali,
Nazimuddin

Development of Urdu Language

Role in Pakistan Movement
Negative Effects of Aligarh Movement

Aligarh Movement

Political Aspect

The causes of the Indian Revolt (Admission

of Indians to Legislative Councils

Loyal Muhammadans of India

Opposition to the Muslim

participation in the politics (Badruddin Tayyabji).

Muhammadan Educational
Conference

Two Nation Theory (Hindi-Urdu

Controversy, Larger community will over ride the
smaller community)

Aligarh Movement

Educational Aspects

Establishment of Schools
Scientific Society
Establishment of M.A.O School
Establishment of M.A.O College
Publication of Tahzeeb-ul-Akhlaq

Aligarh Movement

Social Aspects

Western Rationalism
Preaching the Western Civilization
Superstitions outlook
Ahkam-e-Taam-e-Ahle-Kitab
Muslim Orphan Houses

Tafsir al Jinn Wal Jan ala mafi al Quran

(1891), Urdu

Quotations
Educate, Educate, Educate
Landmarks of the Pakistan Movement by
S.M.Burke
Hindus and Muslims are two
irreconcilable Nations (While talking to
Altaf Hussain Hali)
The British System of Election;Pure and
Simple is not suitable for india

 C.F. Andrews and Girja Mookerjee, The

Rise and Growth of the Congress in India
p 52
Other men have written books and founded
colleges; but to arrest as with a wall, the
degeneration of a whole people, that is a
work of a prophet

Quotations
G.F.I. Graham The Life and Work of Sir Syed Ahmad Khan
One of his great characteristics is his untiring energy. In addition to
great breadth of views on question of national importance, he
posseses a power of work as regards minute details which is
astonishing. Up at 4 am he writes his newspaper articles, his books
and pamphlets- sees visitors, official and private conducts the
onerous duties of the secretary ship to the College Committees not
only by dat, but not infrequently far into the night. His meals are
served in European style, and he is a rigid abstainer from all liquor
except Adams ale. The topics of conversation range from
discussions on metaphysics, religion, and politics to quotations from
Persian poets and humorous anecdotes. He is of middle height and
of massive build, weighing upwards of nineteen stone. He has a
hearty laugh and enjoys a joke as much as any man