SHEIKH AHMED SIRHINDI (1564 TO 1624)

 Also known as Mujaddid Alif Sani (Reformer of a Second Millennium).

 Father Name Abdul Ahad who was a well-known Sufi.
 Basic Education at Home.
 Higher Education of Quran and Hadith from Sialkot.
 Went to Delhi at the age of 36 years.
 Met Hazrat Baqi Billah, Joined Naqshbandi Sufi Order.
 Reached the higher Rank of Sufism in a blink of eye as this path was not new for him.
 Muslims were lacking in orthodox Islamic Teachings.
 They were more inclined towards the mysticism than true teachings of Islam.
 Cause
 This was the result of the chain of experiments started by the Mughal Emperor Akbar.
 Due to some political benefits and lack of Islamic knowledge he initiated a new
religion Deen-e-Ilahi.
 He started the Court of Muslim Scholars as well as Scholars from other Religions to
discuss the differences and similarities between them.
 To get the political benefit he decided to merge similarities and dissimilarities of all the
prevalent religions and formed a new religion called Deen-e-Ilahi.
 The outcome of that decision was to bring peace in Akbar’s Kingdom but in real it was
destroying the actual spirit of the religions.
 Akbar also introduced the ideology of Wahdatul Wajood that Allah is present in
everything and everyone as the whole universe is created by him and was present in his
thoughts before creation.
 In opposition of this theory Hazrat Mujaddid present the theory of Wahdatul Shahood
that the creation and creator are separate because Allah is forever and will remain forever
but the creation will be abolished one day.
 He wrote letters to the Muslim Scholars, Nobles and elites of the time to convince them
to follow the true path of Islam.
 In the meantime, Akbar’s Son Jehangir succeeded to throne.
 He was informed about the Sheikh’s influence and attitude.
 Jehangir called him to his Court where Sheikh was required to do full prostration as per
prevalent practice.
 Sheikh denied to do the prostration and told Jehangir that the prostration is only for
Almighty Allah.
 Sheikh was sentenced for two years imprisonment at Gawaliar Fort for this act.
 Jehangir got under the influence of the teachings of Sheikh and within a year released
him from the jail and asked him to become his Advisor.
 Sheikh after attaining the important position in Jehangir’s Court fully convinced him to
follow the true Islaming teachings. In-result Jehangir ended the theory of Deen-e-Ilahi
and accepted the Muslims are completely a different nation and cannot be merged with
any other religion.
  He died at the age of 60 years at his home town sirhind.
SHAH WALIULLAH MUHADDIS DEHLVI (1704 to 1762)
 Real name was Qutubuddin.
 He was born in Delhi.
 Father name was Abdul Raheem.
 Father was a well-known Muslim Saint.
 He learned Quran and Hadith at the age of 15 and at the age of 17 he delivered lectures at
his father’s Madrasah Raheemya.
 Religious Services
 He translated Holy Quran in Persian.
 Later his Sons translated Holy Quran in Urdu.
 He also wrote commentary of Hadith collection by Imam Muttah in Persian and Arabic.
 He also arranged the Hadiths in order with reference to the topics.
 Renaissance of Islam
 He recommended Ijtihad against blind Taqlid in his book Ahkam-ul-Ijtihad wa – Taqlid.
 Studied writings of famous school of thoughts Hanafi, Maliki, Humbali and Shafai.
 He wrote comprehensive volumes about what is fair in light of Islam.
 He adopted the balanced approach considering the teachings of all the major school of
thoughts in his book Insaf ul Bayan Sabab ul Ikhtilaf.
 Political Services
 Tried to trace the downfall of the Mughal Empire.
 Mid18th Century Marathas become powerful.
 They tried to occupy the Crown of Delhi.
 He wrote letter to King of Afghanistan Ahmed Shah Abdali to help Muslims.
 The Marathas were defeated by Ahmed Shah Abdali.
 During his time the Shia – Sunni conflicts were also at peak. He tried to mitigate the
tension between both the Sects by writing Book Khilafat u l Khulafa.
 After Sheikh Ahmed Sirhindi Shah Waliullah worked for the separate identity of
Muslims as a Nation.
 Shah Waliullah did not want Muslims to become part of the general Milieu of the sub-
continent but wanted them to expand their relations with other Muslims civilizations so
that commutatively they can fight for the rights of Muslims around the globe.
 Muslim renaissance movement of Shah Waliullah was the forerunner of the Pakistan
movement.
SYED AHMED SHAHEED BARELVI (1786 TO 1831)
 He was born in Rai Bareli.
 His father name was Shah Ilmuddin and he was a religious Scholar.
 He studied at Madrasa Raheemya for two years under the discipleship of Shah
Waliullah’s son Shah Abdul Aziz.
 He was more the man of action than words.
 He was a young brave man who joined the Army of Amir Khan of Tonak to take part in
Jihad against British Rulers.
 He mastered to use the latest weapons and due to his expertise he was soon given the
command of a group of Mujahedeen.
 During his period the Muslims were very oppressed by the Sikh Rulers.
 They were not allowed to follow their religion with peace even call to prayer was
banned in some areas.
 Considering the scenario and also because Amir Khan made peace with the British, he
decided to launch a separate Jihad movement.
 For this purpose he travelled extensively in the areas where Muslims were in
troublesome condition because of Sikh Rulers.
 The Muslims who were tired of the attitude of Sikh Rulers towards them started joining
hands with Syed Ahmed Shaheed.
 He then went to perform Hajj with his numbers of companions and took their oath at
Madina.
 He initially launched his Jihad Movement against Ranjeet Singh who was the Ruler of
NWFP now Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
 He started his Journey accompanying with number of Muslim Soldiers. It was not
possible to reach the area directly through Sikhs territories therefore, he decided to go
through Gawaliar, Tonak, Ajmer, Sindh, Baluchistan, Qandhar, Ghazni and Kabul.
 Then he reached Peshawar where the people of Peshawar joined hands with him for
Jihad against Sikhs and then against British. He then left for Nowshera.
 Before starting armed struggle against Ranjeet Singh he invited him to embrace Islam
but got no positive response but now Ranjeet Singh was aware about the mission of
Syed Ahmed.
 Ranjeet Singh sent an army of 7000 fighters under the command of his cousin Budh
Singh.
 They were defeated by the army of Syed Ahmed.
 The Muslim population was impressed by the victory of Mujahideens and started
joining hands with him for the Muslim cause.
 Syed Ahmed was selected as “Imam-ul-Mujahideen” and within two months 80000
Muslims including Pathan leaders, notable and mystics joined Syed Ahmed.
 Two Pathan Sardars Yar Muhammad Khan and Sultan Muhammad Khan also wrote
letter of goodwill acknowledging his leadership.
 Ranjeet Singh again prepared his army to take revenge of previous defeats for the battle
of Shaidu.
 The Muslim army prepared themselves and reached Shaidu alongwith Yar Muhammad
Khan, Sultan Muhammad Khan and their third Brother Pir Muhammad Khan under the
leadership of Syed Ahmed.
 Yar Muhammad Khan was the puppet of Ranjeet Singh. On the eve of battle he
poisoned Syed Ahmed and made him sick.
 Despite the sickness Syed Ahmed lead his army on the battle field and launched the
successful attack against Sikhs.
 Due to betrayal of Yar Muhammad Khan Muslim Army bared heavy loss.
 Syed Ahmed along with his forces took refuge at Panjtar and decided to make it the
permanent headquarter and to implement the Sharia.
 Syed also occupied Peshawar made Sultan Muhammad Khan brother of Yar
Muhammad Khan the Ruler of Peshawar.
 The decision of appointing Yar Muhammad Khan leader of Peshawar proved wrong
because he took the revenge of his brother death and killed the Qazi of Peshawar. He
also initiated the conspiracy against Syed Ahmed that he is trying to expand his rule in
the Muslim areas.
 In result people of Peshawar started killing the companions of Syed Ahmed.
 Being disappointed by the betrayal of Khans of Peshawar Syed Ahmed with his sincere
fellows took refuge at Balakot which according to them was a safer place.
 But again Syed Ahmed was betrayed by fellow Muslims who guided the Ranjeet
Singh’s advanced Army who were trained by the French Generals and equipped with
the latest weapons by British to the hideout of Syed Ahmed.
 Syed Ahmed Army fought with bravery but due to lack of resources and unity they
were killed by the Army of Ranjeet Singh including Syed Ahmed.
Two Nation Theory
 Precisely stating Two Nation Theory is a concept that discriminate two different nations
with their separate religion, custom, values, Tradition etc.
 This term Two Nation Theory is more commonly used for Hindus and Muslims.
 Before Partition the Hindus and Muslims were in majority in the sub-continent and were
always in loggerhead because they were different in every aspect.
 Many Muslims Scholars and Political leaders of the sub-continent always pointed out
towards the Two Nation Theory.
 This theory become the major cause of establishment of Pakistan.
 Muslims of the sub-continent realized that they cannot be merged with Hindus as they
(Muslims) have their separate identity and they are also a Nation.
 There are some prominent names who widely professed two nation theory