February 17:
It
is an established fact that the Muslims after their settlement in India
adopted it as their home and considered it their duty to work for
socio- economic and cultural development of the country and general
welfare of the people. In fact, they took part in the freedom movement
with the same sense of duty and worked whole-heartedly along with their
country-fellows to achieve the desired goal of the freedom of their
homeland. The different sections of the Muslim society, including ulama,
utilised their respective resources for this purpose.
As torchbearers of the Muslim community, the ulama employed various
methods to serve the cause of the freedom movement. Apart from actively
participating in different programmes of the movement which were going
on in those days under the leadership of Gandhiji, they did their best
to make the movement successful through their speeches, writings and
issuing fatwa for creating awareness among the Muslims about the
Britishers or in support of the crucial programmes of the freedom
movement.
The fatwa (pl. fatawa), as it is well-known, is exposition of the
Shariat's point of view by a mufti or a learned jurist with regard to
any emergent problem in response to a legal query (istifta) by any
person or on his own. As a matter of fact, the institution of ifta
(writing or issuing fatwa) is an integral part of Islamic juridical
system and has important role in guiding the ummah in emergent problems
or new situations. It is pertinent to explain here that the fatwa issued
by the competent legal authority about any issue is given much
importance by the common Muslims, because it is believed that a fatwa is
a declaration of the Shariat's point of view expressed either in the
light of the Quran and Hadith or through interpreting their text. As
such it is considered binding as a provision of the Shariat, though, of
course, a mufti individually can not force any one to follow his fatwa.
It can not be denied that in recent times, some of the fatawa issued by
certain muftis in haste, without thorough examination of the concerned
cases, have undermined the dignity of this great institution of Islam.
The issuing fatwa is not an easy job as it is generally thought. It
requires extreme care and utmost regard for the well-defined principles
of the ifta. As a matter of fact, issuing fatwa or delivering legal
verdict about different issues or cases has a very old history in India.
In the modern media, the fatwa is sometimes dubbed as document which
negates democratic principles, serves the sectarian approach and
undermines the rights of women and non-Muslims. It has been forgotten
that it was the fatwa which had set into motion the struggle against the
Britishers who had established their control over India and had
snatched the rights of the Indians to rule over their country. There are
enough evidences to suggest that fatawa of the Indian ulama had
mobilized the Muslims to render services and make sacrifices for the
sake of their homeland and had boosted the cause of the freedom movement
in its several stages.
In the history of the freedom movement in India, the fatwa of Shah
Abdul Aziz Dehlawi, issued in 1803, has crucial importance as it
declared India of that time as Darul Harb and thus prompted the Muslims
to start struggle against the Britishers and permitted them to wage war
for bringing change in the situation.
In fact, it was the starting point of the freedom movement in a
practical way, though it is rightly said that the ground for the
movement was actually prepared by the writings of Shah Waliullah Dehlawi
(d. 1762 CE) about the political situation of India in the 18th
century. The historic fatwa of Shah Abdul Aziz was endorsed by many
ulama of that period, including Qazi Sanaullah Panipati, Shah Rafiuddin,
Shah Abdul Qadir, Shah Ismail Shaheed, Shah Muhammad Ishaq and Mufti
Ilahi Bakhsh. It is noteworthy that the fatwa of some of these ulama had
clearly declared that in the present situation it had become obligatory
for the Indian Muslims to wage jihad against the Englishmen to change
the situation of the country. This edict had certainly given legal
sanction for the same to check the enslavement of the country and its
inhabitants and had also awakened the people to prepare themselves for
further line of action. During the subsequent period, the fatawa
continued to be issued by the contemporary ulama in support of the
different programmes of the freedom movement. Quite obviously, the
fatawa that were issued with the signature of a large number of ulama
proved to be more effective. Some such fatawa belonged to the pre- and
post-first war of independence. Just before the painful event of 1857,
when the Britishers were exhausting their energies to gain full control
over Delhi and were damaging the life and property of those who were
resisting it, a fatwa was issued with the signature of 31 ulama of
Delhi, which declared jihad farz-i-ain for the Muslims of Delhi and
farz-i kifayah for those of adjoining areas. The signatories to the
fatwa included Sayyed Nazir Husain, Maulana Rahmatullah Kairanwi, Mufti
Sadruddin, Mufti Ikramuddin, Maulana Abdul Karim, Shah Abdul Ghani
Mujaddidi, Mufti Rahmat Ali Khan and Maulana Ilahi Bakhsh.
It is well-known that after 1857, the main target of revengeful
action of the British government were Muslims, as they had led the first
war of independence and had posed great challenge to the rising power
of the Britishers. In this situation, some of the ulama, including
Maulana Kifayatullah of Muradabad reinforced the above edict to motivate
the Muslims for struggle against the oppressive Government.
Another important fatwa issued by Shaikhul Hind, Maulana Mahmud Hasan
in July, 1920 is related to non-cooperation with the British
Government, which was actually an important part of the freedom movement
to put pressure on it. The fatwa of the Shaikhul Hind declared it
unlawful for the Muslims to join the government service, especially in
police and army and to cooperate with it in any way. The fatwa endorsed
by a large number of ulama in the meeting of the Jamiatul Ulama (held at
Calcutta in September, 1920) was printed with the signature of 474
ulama and distributed in different parts of the country. It contributed a
lot to make the programme of non-cooperation more effective as many
Muslims following the dictates of the fatwa left the government jobs,
discarded the military service and returned the government awards and
titles. Moreover, echoing the same edict, a resolution supported
strongly by Ali brothers, was passed in the Khilafat Conference session
of September, 1921, (held at Karachi) openly declaring the police or
military service of the British government unlawful (haram).
Subsequently, the resolution was compiled under the fatwa format by
Shaikhul Islam Maulana Husain Ahmad Madani and was signed by him along
with Maulana Nisar Ahmad and Peer Ghulam Mujaddid. It was also sent in
the printed form to several parts of the country, which generated more
heat in the freedom movement as the non-cooperation had become a mass
programme among Muslims due to the impact of the fatwa. The situation
was quite alarming for the government which took steps to suppress the
rising impact of the fatwa by seizing it and arresting the compiler and
supporters of the same. It was the same fatwa on the basis of which the
famous Karachi case of inciting sedition was started against the above
prominent freedom fighters who were put to trial and finally awarded
punishment of two years rigorous imprisonment. Instead of bringing any
setback to the movement, these repressive measures spread the message of
the fatwa far and wide and strengthened the people's resolve to go
ahead on the path of the freedom.
In addition to the non-cooperation programme, the salt satyagraha
movement started by Gandhiji in March, 1930 against the anti-people salt
law of the government also proved to be more effective to air the
feelings of resentment and anger against the Britishers and exhorted
them to work more vigorously to relieve the country from their
oppressive and unjust rule. The Muslims, including ulama, actively
participated in this historical satyagraha, and worked hard to give it
wider acceptance through their speeches and writings. Some of them, like
Mufti Atiqur Rahman Usmani, are reported to have given a verdict that
no government has right to levy tax on items like water and salt and
that it is permissible to make struggle against a government which dares
to do it. Such fatwa had led to create more awareness among the common
Muslims for participation in the satyagraha.
It is well-known that the freedom movement and the Khilafat Tahrik
were interlinked. They got support and strength from each other. The
whole-hearted support of Gandhiji to this Tahrik had made it an all
India issue. Consequently, the Khilafat Tahrik had given great strength
to the Hindu-Muslim relationship and their unity which was obviously the
most powerful source for the country to achieve the lofty goal of
freedom from the foreign rule. The Indian ulama, as is well- known, had
been in the forefront in the Khilafat movement led by Ali brothers.
Though I could not come across any formal fatwa issued in support of
this movement, but it could not be overlooked that this Tahrik itself
was started on the basis of the well-considered opinion of the Indian
ulama that according to the Shariat at that time no one was legitimate
Khalifa of Muslims except the Sultan of Turkey. So, the Muslims all over
the world were required to raise this issue and work for restoration of
his Khilafat. Moreover, just about one month before the formation of
the Khilafat Committee in India, in a public meeting of Anjuman
Muaiyyidul Islam held in Farangi Mahal (Lucknow) in February, 1919 under
the chairmanship of Maulana Abdul Bari Farangi Mahli, it was resolved
unanimously that a fatwa giving details of the rules of the Shariat
about the institution of Khilafat be prepared and after being signed by
the ulama of the Arab and Islamic countries be sent to the Governor
General.
Another well-known matter which was juridically examined by the ulama
in course of the freedom movement was joining the Congress party by the
Muslims and working in coordination and cooperation with the Hindus to
bring freedom to their country. Some of the ulama of the period put
their seal to it by their fatawa to remove any misgiving, if found in
this regard. The fatwa in support of joining the Congress party had been
issued by the famous freedom fighter Maulana Habibur Rahman Ludhianwi
in 1888. It was published with the signature of about 300 ulama and
distributed in different parts of country. This fatwa, though
confiscated by the government like other important fatawa, had also
served the cause of the freedom movement, because it is generally
accepted that among the political parties of that time the Congress was
playing the leading role in this movement. In the same way, many ulama
of the period stressed the need of the Muslims jointly working with the
Hindus against the Britishers who had subjugated their country and had
enslaved them. What is important in this regard is that some of them
openly declared that there was no bar from the Shariat for Muslims
working with non-Muslims for a good cause.
In brief, it is quite clear from the above details that many
important programmes of the freedom movement were supported by the ulama
and given wide acceptance among the Muslims through their fatawa. This
was actually an important part of the multi-dimensional role of the
ulama (especially those belonging to Darul Uloom, Deoband) in the
freedom movement which is generally overlooked by the historians and
writers of the modern period. The real importance of their fatawa lies
in the fact that they contributed to build up the opinion of the common
Muslims against the Britishers who had adopted repressive policies
towards the Indians particularly Muslims and under whose rule their life
and property was insecure and their religious and political rights were
in peril. Besides, these fatawa led to make them more active and
dutiful with regard to the struggle for freedom of the country. The
Britishers, as also became clear from the above deliberations, were
themselves fully aware of the inherent impact of the fatwa and had tried
their best, though unsuccessfully, to suppress it by seizing copies of
different fatawa and subjecting their authors, printers and propagators
to harsh and humiliating punishment. It may be also added here that the
fatawa referred to above in relation to the freedom movement are merely a
fragmented part of huge fatawa literature of the same nature available
in the well-known Fatawa-collections, records of Darul Ifta of different
madrasahs and treasures of private libraries. These are required to be
brought out, studied thoroughly and compiled systematically to assess
their quantum and to find out the real role of this hitherto-neglected
literature produced by the Indian ulama.
Lastly, it can not be missed to point out that the ulama, who
prepared the above fatawa and took care of their distribution in printed
form among the people to make them more effective, were mostly products
of the madrasahs or institutions of Islamic learning. This strongly
supports the view that they are not only assets to the Muslim community,
they are also rendering (as they did in the past) many services
(khidmat) to the country,the noblest being promotion of learning, reform
of moral life and socio-cultural upliftment of the people. Their good
works, undoubtedly, cannot be obliterated by the ongoing hateful
campaign and adverse comments about them in a section of modern media.
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