Biographies - Shah Wali-U Allah

Shah Wali-u Allah was born on 4th Shawwaal, 1114 / 21 February 1703
1703 at Phulat in Delhi. His ancestors had migrated from Arabia to
Iran for reasons not known. Later on when the invasion of the
Tatarscaused widely spread terror and destruction in Iraq and Iran,
the forefathers of the Shah are said to have migratedto India and
found their settlement here at Rohtak village. His grandfather was a
gallant soldier in the Mughal army and a deep lover of the Qur'aan.
Shaykh Abdur-Rahim wasShah Wali-u Allah's father, the pupil of a great
scholar and sufi – Zahid Herawi. Abdur-Rahim was famous for
hisprofound knowledge of the traditions and Islamicjurisprudence. That
is why he was offered the service in the government to revise Fataawa
Alamgiri which he undertook at the instance of his mother. He was also
famous for found his seminary, Madrasah-e-Rahimiyyah in Delhi the
forerunner ofthe present Darul Uloom Deoband. Shaykh Abdur-Rahim had
interests in mysticism yet he did not ignore the practical aspects of
life. In the home of such a pious andlearned father, the Shah grew up
to great heights of eminence.
At the age of five, the Shah had his first lesson at school. After two
years he learnt reading and writing. He learnt the Qur'aan by heart
upto the age of ten. At the ageof fourteen years he reada part of
Bauzayi and the major part of Mishkawah.He got the graduation from
Rahimiyyah college at the age of fifteen. The prescribed syllabus of
thecollege laid great stress on the Qur'aanic studies with lesser aid
from commentaries and the Shah himself felt thankfulto God for being
provided with opportunity to lecture onthe lessons of the Qur'aanwhich
opened the doors of its knowledge for him.The other sciences like the
Hadith, Fiqh, logic, etc. were also learnt by the Shah. He became the
teacher of this very college of his father at the age of seventeen.
Only two years later, his father died and the management work of
theschool fell upon him. The Shah took up the task with devotion and
attained the help of the old graduates of the college. He prepared his
lectures after extensive study on various Islamic disciplines and
sciences. and provided guidance on the problems of varied nature.
While sitting on the grave of hisfather in pious meditation, he sought
solutions of the spiritual problems. 'When I sat meditating,' he
reports, 'at the grave of my father, problems of Tawhid (oneness of
God) were solved. The path of the divine attraction (Jazb) was opened;
and alarge share of Saluk (spiritual journey) fall to my lot, and
inspirational knowledge (Uloom-e-Wajdaniyyah) thronged the mind with
it.' Through his study of standard Fiqh literature and Hadith books,
the Shah came to the conclusion that the institution of
Fuqaha-e-Muhadditheen (jurisprudents who drew heavily upon traditions
of the Prophet Muhammad(Sallallaahu Alayhi Wasallam) was an adequate
one that he would adhere to in his future life.
Shah Wali-u Allah's journey to Hijaaz in October 24 1730 / 8
Rabi-as-Thaani 1143 proved a turning point inhis career. It was the
timewhen the Indian subcontinent was undergoing a deep crisis
consequent upon the declining fortunes of the Mughal empire. Under
such conditions there was growing an indifference towards religion.
The sectarian conflicts had become the order of the day. Sufism had
generated and various evils had crept into the society as a result of
the practices of the false Sufis. The sensitive mind of the Shah was
deeply moved by the deplorable situation prevailing in India and his
journey to Hijaaz had much to do with this preoccupation of the
scholar. In Hijaaz, the Shah stayed for about two years, performed
Hajj twice at Makkahand also spent sometime at the Prophet's tomb in
Madinah. Besides acquainting himself with the general condition of the
Muslimworld during his stay in Hijaaz, the Shah also received lessons
on the Qur'aan and the Hadith and thereby was able to attain
considerable guidance in the spiritual matters. He read from
thescholars of repute, Muatta of Imaam Maalik with Shaykh Wafadullah
and Bukhari of Imaam Bukhari with Shaykh Taj-al-Din Hanafi, the Mufti
(juri consultant) of Makkah. At Madinah, the Shah attended to Shaykh
Ibrahim Kurdi, an eminent traditionist and sufi, and revised all
famous books on Hadith under his guidance. Shaykh Abu Tahir, another
great theologianin Madinah, also guided the Shah in the science
ofHadith.
It can hardly be denied that Shah Shah Wali-u Allah's sojourn to
Hijaaz proved to be a landmark in his spiritual development. He
himself mentions many spiritual blessings and experiences in His Fuyuz
al-Haramayn. He receivedthem in a series of visionsat the precincts of
the holy Ka'abah and the holy tomb of Rasulullah (Sallallaahu Alayhi
Wasallam). In these visions include the task of the revival of Islam
entrusted to the Shah by the grandsons of the prophet, the
intelligibility of the most controversial problems ofontological
versus phenomenological monism, clearance of doubts on the
controversial issues relating to solidarity and development of the
Muslim institutions. A.D. Muztar has eloquently described this
enlightenment of Shah Wali-u Allah in the following words:
The prophet cleared his doubts concerning them in a series of visions.
For example, the prophet (Sallallaahu Alayhi Wasallam) told Shah
Wali-u Allah.
1. The order of successionof the Khulafa-e-Raashideen (the four
immediate successors of the prophet) had taken place under the will
and pleasure of God. It was best suited to the interests of Muslim
community and so far as the personal excellence of these four
companionsof the prophet was concerned, all of them were blessed with
qualities and stations special to each of them. The contentions over
the attributive supremacy of Ali on the one hand and of Abu Bakr and
Umar (Shaykhayn) on the other, were just useless and needless. Such a
controversy was apt to create hatred and disharmony among the Muslims.
2. All the mystic orders, such as (Chishti, Naqshabandi, Qadiri,
Suhrawardi, etc.) were equally acceptable to God. Nor was the
prophetof God especially inclinedtowards any particular order. One may
follow any or all of them with the only proviso that theywere followed
for the sake of God Almighty.
3. None of the schools of Jurists, Maaliki, Hanafi, Shaaf'ee and
Hanbali, excelled the other. All of them were fundamentally the same.
Therefore, all were equal in the eyes of the Prophet … It was further
revealed to him that in conveying his message tothe nation and share
their responsibilities; he benign and compassionate in his speeches
and writings; and pray for what was good for the people in their world
life and the life hereafter.
After the Shah's return to Delhi, he addressed himself to the task of
bringing about the revival of Islamic sciencesfor the general good of
Muslims. He made useful reforms in the studies at Rahimiyyah college
in order to impart such teaching and training to the pupil as could
enable them to relate true religious education to the practical needs
of thepeople. The wrong beliefs and customs, associated with Islam,
were reformed through the Shah's translation of the Qur'aan into
Persian which made the people to understand its actual message. His
Tafhimat-I-Ilaahiyya and Hama'at played a great role in clearing off
the doubts about the innovations in Sufism. The interpretation of
Islamic system comprising beliefsand Ibaadat, social, political and
economic matters, was made by theShah under the new and growing
exigencies of his time. Al-Badur al-Bazigah, Hujjatul Allah
al-Baaligha, al-Insaaf fee sabab bayaan al-Ikhtilaaf, etc. clearly
demonstrate the deep concern of the Shah in bringing about the revival
of Islamic sciencesin accordance with the needs of the Muslim society
in the Indian context.
The resurgence of Islamicpolitical thought marks an outstanding
feature of Shah Wali-u Allah's Islamic revivalism. The Ummah in
general and the Indian Muslim in particular were exposed to the
internal and the external threats. The so often controversies over the
standpoints of the Shi'as and the Sunnis, luxurious and lethargic
habits in the Mughal bureaucracy in the capital, rapid growth of the
Maratha power, the Jats, the Sikhs and above all the intrusion of the
Western imperialistic influences had undermined the solidarity of the
Indian Muslims. Their disdain and disunity was further affected by
their indulgence in the conflicts of sectarian, jurisprudential
schools oflaw, heterodoxy and orthodoxy nature. The Shah sensitively
reacted to these problems of political confusion and instability of
Muslims of the Indian subcontinent. He attempted considerably for the
purification and the revitalisation of this political deterioration.
His expositions on the political thought mark his rational approach to
human history and his critical interpretation of the classical history
of Islam.
Political Thought of Shah Wali-u Allah – an Analytical Study
Abdur-Rashid Bhat