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Shah Wali Ullah By: name

By Falak Naz
 1.Hazrat Shah Wali Ullah
Muhadis Delhvi
After the death of Aurangzeb, in 18th century, the Muslim society faced some serious
problems. The Moghal empire had fallen into the hands of most incapable
successors of Aurangzeb . who could not withhold the supremacy of the Muslim rule
because they indulged into luxurious life. With the weakness of the muslim empire.
Islam, the religion of the Muslims, faced serious problems. The un-islamic trends and
practices were flourishing and a general ignorance of Islam, Quran and hadith had
created anguish amongst the religious saints.
Hazrat Shah Wali Ullah was born in a pious family of Delhi on 21st February, 1703,
four year before the death of Aurangzeb. His real name war Qutub-ud-Din and later
on be known as Wali Ullah for his pious habits. Shah Wali Ullah received his
early education in spiritualism and mysticism from his father. He memorized the
Holy Quran in his childhood. He received education in Tafsir, Hadis and acquired
spiritual discipline from his great father. He also studied metaphysics, logic and ilm-
ul-kalam under his father.
Imam-ul-hind Hazrat Shah Wali Ullah, a great saints, scholar and reformer is
one of those great personalities of islam who, with his dedicated services
had brought the Muslim society together on the stable foundations. He
continued the work of Hazrat Mujadid Alif Sani and struggled for religious,
cultural political and social revival of the Muslims.
2. Social condition of India in Shahwali Ullahs time
During these days political and social turmoil was rampant in the sub-continent. Life,
property and honour were not secure as there were a number of disruptive forces at
work in the Muslim society. The Moghal empire after the death of Aurangzeb, was in
the hands of the incapable successors who were unable to withhold the glory of the
empire. The Moghal empire gradually began to collapse with manifest signs of
decadence. The religious groups were also claiming their superiority and the tussle
between the Shia and sunni sects was posing serious threats to Muslim nobility.

b. Shah Wali Ullah went to Hejaz for his higher education and for performing haj.
During his stay at Makkah Shah Wali Ullah saw a vision in which Holy Prophet (peace
be upon Him) blessed him with the tidings that he would be instrumental in the
organization of a section of the Muslim society.
 3. Shah Wali Ullahs Movement
a. Shah Wali Ullah during his stay in Hejaz, received reports of unstable and chaotic
conditions in India. He was advised to stay on in Arabia which he did not accept and
returned to Delhi on july9, 1732.
b. Shah Wali Ullah persuaded the Muslims to strictly follow in the footsteps of the
Holy Prophet .
c. He introduced the basic tenets of Islam to the people.
d. he advocated the Quranic education for the welfare and benefits of the Muslims
and asked them to abandon un-Islamic trends and practices.
e. He urged the people to lead a simple life and avoid involvement in the luxuries of
the world.
f. He initiated tabiq (integration) of the Muslim society which was on the verge of
destruction. By adopting the method of tatbiq he introduced a liberal element and
thus brought elasticity in the understanding of Islam.
g. He adopted a balanced approach and understanding towards religious matters. He
thoroughly studied all schools of thoughts and expressed what was right and just in a mild and
sophisticated way without hurting anyone.

h. He removed misunderstanding to a larger extent, between Shias and Sunnis and in this way
provided a spiritual basis for national solidarity and harmony.

i. He presented Islam in a more rational way to make it acceptable to the larger number of
people. He himself states, I was informed through ilham that I would have to undertake this
responsibility. The time has come when every injunction of the Sharia and the general
instruction of islam should be presented to the world in a rational manner.

j. Shah Wali Ullah got in touch with the rulers and impressed upon them to enforce Islamic
laws. He also urged them to mould their lives, according to the islamic way. He educated the
Muslim soldiers on the importance olf jehad and asked them to go for jehad for the
glorification of Islam.

k. He asked the traders to adopt fir principles of trade as preached and practiced by the Holy
Prophet. He informed the people about the sins of accumulation of wealth and asked them to
keep as much wealth with them as was required for their economic needs.

l. Shah Wali Ullah is regarded as the founder of modern Muslim India and as such the father of
modern Muslim India. He produced illuminations like Sir syed ahmad khan who rendered
meritorious services to the Muslims of India to draft their destinies.
 4. Political Services
Apart from imparting religious education to Muslims, Shah wali ullah also provided leadership to the
Muslims in the political field. He came out with his great wisdom and foresight to create political
awakening in the Muslims of India.
b. The rise of marhatas and Sikhs had posed serious problems to the Muslim rulers. The moghal rulers
were no more in a position to withhold the supremacy of the Muslim rule which was gravely
jeopardized by the emergence of the Sikhs, marhatas and other non-Muslims forces.
c. Shah wali Ullah came up to tackle this precarious situation. He had rightly noticed that if the
marhatas are not checked effectively the political of the Muslims would disappear for ever. d. He
wrote letters to the leading Muslim nobles and informed them of the critical situation hanging on the
head of the moghal rule. He asked for military assistance from them and was successful in bringing
some of Muslim chieftains to come around. He eventually won over Najib-ud-Daula, Rehmat Khan and
shuja-ud-Daula against Marhatas.
e. However,the Muslim chiefs were unable to face Marhats effectively. There resources were
inadequate to crush the Marhatas power. Shah Wali Ullah, therefore, looked towards Ahmad Shah
Abdali whom he persuaded to retrieve the Muslim rule in India. Ahmad shah Abdali,on the call of Shah
Wali Ullah came to India and inflicted a crushing defeat on the Marhatas at the Third Battle of Panipat
in 1761. The victory of Ahmad shah abdali at Panipat blasted the marhatas power and paved way for
the revival of Islam in India.
 5.Works of Shah Wali Ullah
 Shah wali ullah wrote many books, fifty in all, on mysticism and other branches of
Islamic learnings which deal with religious, economic and political problems.

 His outstanding work was his translation of the Holy Qran into simple Persian
language which was the literary language of his days. He produced this
masterpiece of literature in 1737-38 with invitedgreat criticism from the orthodox
ulama who threatened him even with death. Shah wali ullah’s translation was an
exceptional act as there had never been a translation of the Holy Quran before in a
foreign language.A

 After Shah Wali Ullah his two sons Shah Rafi-ud-din Shah Abdul Qadir prepared
Urdu versions of the Holy Quran.
 Hujjat-ullah-aBalighais another famous work of Shah Wali Ullah.In this workShah
SahibHas discussed in details the reasons of the social and religious decay of the
Muslims. He has also discussed the importance of application of Ijitihad in this
book and has mentioned the intellectual and scholasitic requirements of a
Mujtahid priest .
 In his time the Shias a Sunnis were aggressively hostile to each other and their
rivalry was damaging the Muslim unity. Shah Wali Ullah wrote “Izalat-al-Akhifa”
and “Khilafat-a-Khulafa” in order to remove misunderstanding between Shias and
the Sunnis.
 He refused to denounce Shias as heretics. Shah Wali Ullah adopted an analytical
and balanced approach towards the four school i.e. Hanafi, Hambali, Shafii and
Malaki, he wrote ‘‘Al Insaf fi Bayan Sahab al Ikhtilaf” in which he traced their
historical background.
Shah Wali Ullah 1703-1793