Hindu-Muslim unity: a historical speech by a leading
Deobandi maulvi
Posted May 21st, 2008 by kashifArticles Indian Muslim
Translated by Yoginder Sikand
Maulana Anwar Shah Kashmiri (1875-1933), a native of
Kashmir, was a leading Islamic scholar and taught in
the Darul-'Ulum at Deoband, India's premier Islamic
madrasa. Among the many Muslims who crusaded for the
country's independence from the British and called for
an India where people of all communities could live
together in peace and harmony and justice were
numerous Deobandi ulama. Their leading role in the
freedom struggle and in the effort to form a united
front of all religious communities for a new India
have, sadly, been largely forgotten. It is crucial
that such voices be retrieved and an important part of
Indian history—the heroic role of many Muslim leaders
in the movement for free India—be brought before the
general public.
This translation of certain sections of a lecture of
historical importance by Maulana Anwar Shah Kashmiri
is a small effort in this regard.
This lecture was delivered by Maulana Anwar Shah
Kashmiri as a presidential address to the 1927
Peshawar meeting of the Jamiat ul-Ulama-i Hind ('The
Union of the 'Ulama of India'), an organisation of
largely Deobandi ulama from all parts of India. The
lecture, recently published in Urdu by the Jammu and
Kashmir Islamic Research Centre (Kokerbagh Dak Khana,
Nowshehra, Srinagar, Kashmir) runs into over a hundred
pages in the original Urdu. Here I have translated
only those portions of the lecture which deal with the
question of Hindu-Muslim unity.
This is not a word-to-word translation, for a literal
translation cannot do justice to the original.
However, every effort has been made to present as near
a rendering as possible
The Presidential Address of Hazrat Allama Anwar Shah
Kashmiri
to the Annual Session of the Jamiat ul-Ulama-i Hind,
Peshawar, 1927
An agreement between the Muslims and the non-Muslims
"Respected elders! The Jamiat-ul Ulama was formed at a
time when there was much talk about a joint pact
between the Muslims and the non-Muslims of India. Both
communities [Hindus and Muslims] were united in the
struggle to free their country from alien rule, and
for this were working together from a common platform.
I have no hesitation in saying that the Muslims did
not go back on their pledge. They committed no
treachery against the country or the nation, nor did
they resort to any oppression against their non-Muslim
compatriots. Despite this, the atmosphere [of unity]
which the two communities had succeeded in
establishing through dialogue and broad-mindedness did
not last long, and today the situation is even worse
than it was before 1920. I do not wish to talk about
the causes of this development, but I will certainly
say that the Muslims bear no responsibility for this,
and that they, in accordance with the teachings of
their holy faith, are ever obliged to behave with
broad-mindedness and the highest standards of
morality. I can say with full confidence that if our
fellow countrymen turn to tolerance and consensus,
they will find no greater advocates of peace,
agreement, loyalty and decent behavior than the
Muslims. If the responsible elders of both the
communities can jointly work out a just and fair
settlement that will satisfy both parties so that both
communities can thereby live with respect and freedom
and carry out their religious duties without
hindrance, what better way is there to ensure India's
prosperity?
The basis of any such settlement is that each
community must fully respect the other and must desist
from attacking the life, property and respect of the
other. Everyone should be allowed complete freedom to
follow his faith and there should be no interference
in or attack on anyone's religion. The Muslims, within
the limits set by the commandments of Islam and the
Islamic law will be the first to welcome any such
agreement, and, in accordance with the teachings of
their faith, will turn into the protectors of the life
and property of those with whom they enter into such a
treaty.
History is replete with thousands of instances that
tell us that even at the height of their power and
glory, the Muslims protected the life and property of
the non-Muslims with whom they had entered into
agreements, and for that they even sacrificed their
very lives.
I want to make it amply clear that if anyone desires
that the Muslims should budge even an inch from their
religion in order to enter into an agreement with
others, this is not at all possible, and if any
organization of Muslims, owing to ignorance of Islamic
teachings, enters into such an agreement it will be
wholly unacceptable and cannot last long. Muslims
cannot transgress the boundaries set by Allah. Any
agreement that seeks to placate others while at the
same time angering Allah cannot be acceptable to us.
There is a tradition of the Holy Prophet Muhammad [may
peace and Allah's blessings be upon him], which says
that if anyone seeks to please others by adopting a
way that angers Allah, then Allah shall appoint people
to destroy him.
I must stress here that just as India is the land of
the Hindus, so, too, is it the land of the Muslims.
The first Muslims came here many centuries ago. They
ruled this country for many hundreds of years. Even
today allover India there are reminders of the glory
of the Muslims of the past which give ample testimony
of their knowledge, skill, and love of the country.
The Muslims have as much love for India as any true
lover of his country should, and why not, because they
have before them the glorious example of their blessed
master, the Holy Prophet [may peace and Allah's
blessings be upon him]. When the Holy Prophet [may
peace and Allah's blessings be upon him], faced with
the opposition of the unbelievers, left his beloved
town of Mecca in accordance with Allah's orders and
migrated [to Medina], he addressed Mecca thus: 'By
God, I love you the most among all places on God's
earth, and if my people had not forced me, I would
never have left you'. After this, when, in compliance
with the Divine commandment, he shifted to
Medina...and Medina became his [new] home, he prayed
thus: 'Oh God! Make Medina as precious to my heart as
Mecca was or even more than that [...]".
[...] Because of the great love that the Holy Prophet
[may peace and Allah's blessings be upon him] had for
his land it is impossible that a Muslim can be a true
Muslim if he does not have love for his country. That
is why, you should rest assured, Muslims have love for
their country [India]. Besides the Muslims there are
other communities living in India and India is their
country as well. Therefore, it is natural that all
Indians should have an equal desire in their hearts
that India should be independent. However, because the
Hindus are in a majority in India and the Muslims in a
minority, it is also natural that the Muslims should
be concerned about the protection of their religious
and other rights. Hence, the best solution is that
both communities should come to a just and fair
agreement so that no one should feel apprehensive that
after the country gains independence the minorities
would be mistreated by the majority. If the fears of
the Muslims are put at rest by such a pact, they
should have no cause for fear. They love their country
as well as their religion, and their religion teaches
them broad-mindedness and enjoins upon them the
honouring of agreements which they enter into. If the
concerns that they entertain vis-à-vis the majority
are dealt with justly, they can, in fact, prove to be
a powerful force for the defence of India.
As for the fear of how the Muslims of India will react
if after India wins independence an outside Muslim
power attacks the country, I must say that if the
Muslims of the country are satisfied with any
agreement that they enter into with their non-Muslim
compatriots and are not made the victim of the
majority, their reaction will be the same as that of a
person whose house is attacked, even if the attacker
belongs to his own religion and community. An even
more important point is that if the Muslims are bound
by any agreement with the non-Muslims of the country
and the agreement is just and is properly enforced, no
outside Muslim power has the religious legitimacy to
attempt to breach this pact. Rather, it is binding on
such a power to fully respect such an agreement. As
the Holy Prophet [may peace and Allah's blessings be
upon him] says: 'The promise and duty of the Muslims
are one. If even the least among them makes an
agreement, others are bound to respect it'.
This is a short summary of the historical pact of the
Holy Prophet [may peace arid Allah's blessings be upon
him]... My intention in raising these issues is
to...help Muslims know how they can, by exhibiting a
certain degree of broad-mindedness and tolerance,
enter into a just agreement with their compatriots. As
I said earlier, these two communities [Hindus and
Muslims] have to live in India and India is the
country of both.
[Here, in a footnote, Maulana Kashmiri adds: "A
well-known incident in early Islamic history well
exemplifies this principle. In the war of Persia, a
Persian general [presumably a Zoroastrian- y.s.]
disguised himself and sought refuge with a Muslim
soldier. When his identity was discovered and the
matter of his punishment arose, the general of the
Muslim army, Hazrat Abu Ubaida ibn Al-Jarrah, heard
that a Muslim soldier had given him shelter. He saved
the life of the Persian because to respect the promise
of a Muslim is a duty for all other Muslims].
I assure my [non-Muslim] countrymen that if they enter
into a just and fair pact with the Muslims, and
implement it sincerely and do not resort to political
intrigues, they will find the Muslims fully loyal and
good-intentioned neighbours, because the Muslims, in
accordance with the commandments of the Holy Qur'an,
are duty-bound to fulfill their agreements. The Holy
Qur'an says that Muslims must honour all pacts that
they have entered into with the non-Muslims till the
term of those treaties is over, provided the latter,
too, abide by the terms of the treaties and do not
assist anyone against the Muslims. And Allah says [in
the Holy Qur'an] that if the non-Muslims deal fairly
with the Muslims, the latter, too, must deal fairly
with them. Undoubtedly [the Holy Qur'an says], God is
the friend of those who practice forbearance.
Respected ulama! On this occasion there is another
issue which one must consider, one that is often the
cause of much misunderstanding. This relates to the
rules of the Shariat. These rules are of three types:
those that concern 'the abode of Islam' (dar
ul-Islam); those related to 'the abode of peace' (dar
ul-aman); and those related to 'the abode of war' (dar
ul-harb). We need to consider in which one of these
three categories India today finds herself. As far as
the principles of the Shariat are concerned, at best
India can be considered to be 'the abode of peace'
because [at present] there appears to be no
possibility of enforcing the rules of 'the abode of
Islam' here. Our revered Shaikh-ul-Mashaikh Hazrat
Maulana Shah 'Abdul Aziz Muhaddith Dehlawi [a leading
eighteenth century alim of Delhi] has said that under
the present circumstances India cannot be considered
to be an 'abode of Islam'.
[...] In the event of India not being an 'abode of
Islam' today, our duty is to search the books of [our]
religion to see which rules apply for 'the abode of
peace', and in the light of those commandments fulfill
our duty of guiding the Muslims of India. Although in
this short speech I cannot elaborate on all the
commandments that apply to 'the abode of peace', it is
necessary that I should make some suggestions. In this
regard, it is best that I draw your attention to some
sections of the pact that the last prophet of Allah,
Hazrat Muhammad [may peace and Allah's blessing be
upon him] entered into with the Jews of Medina after
he migrated there. By studying those sections of the
treaty you will be able to understand what sort of
agreement Muslims can enter into with non-Muslims in
'the abode of peace' or 'the abode of war'.
The Pact Between the Holy Prophet Muhammad [may peace
and Allah's blessings be upon him] and the Jews of
Medina
As the treaty is very lengthy, I shall simply present
those sections of it that are related to the point I
wish to make.
'In the name of Allah, the Most Merciful, the Most
Compassionate. This is a treaty of Muhammad, the
Prophet of Allah [may peace and Allah's blessings be
upon him] and the Muslims and those people who have
entered into an agreement with them as allies. All
parties to this agreement [Muslims from Mecca and
Medina and those Jews who have signed the treaty] will
be considered as one party (jama'at) and one community
(qaum) as against other non-Muslims and those who have
not entered into this agreement... It is binding on
the Muslims that they should oppose those who try to
create strife and oppress and persecute the creatures
of God. All Muslims must unite and act against such
people, even though the latter may be their own sons.
'It is binding on the Muslims that they should help
those Jews who have entered into this agreement with
us and behave kindly with them and save them from
oppression and not help any oppressor against them […]
It is their Islamic duty for Muslims to remain true to
their pledge and exhibit the highest standards of
morality possible... The Jews of the tribe of Banu Awf
are allies of the Muslims and have entered into a
treaty with them. The Jews will be free to practise
their own religion, and the Muslims will be free to
practise theirs. In matters other than religion, the
Jews of the tribe of Banu Awf and the Muslims will be
considered one party, and those who resort to
oppression, violate this treaty or commit any crime
will be liable for punishment. (After this, the Holy
Prophet Muhammad [may peace and Allah's blessings be
upon him] mentioned the names of various other Jewish
tribes who had also entered into the treaty, such as
the tribes of Banu al-Najjar, Banu al-Harith, Banu
Saidah, Banu Jusham and Banu Al-Aws, and stated that
they would have rights similar to those of the Banu
Awf). If any third party should declare war on the
Jews and the Muslims, all the treaty partners should
fight unitedly. The Muslim and the Jewish armies will
be responsible for their own expenses... It is binding
on the treaty partners that they should behave with
piety and good intentions with each other. They must
refrain from oppression and injustice and should help
the persecuted. Consider your neighbour as valuable as
your own life, provided he abides by his word and the
rules of morality and commits no crime".
This is a short summary of the historical pact of the
Holy Prophet [may peace and Allah's blessings be upon
him]... My intention in raising these issues is
to...help Muslims know how they can, by exhibiting a
certain degree of broad-mindedness and tolerance,
enter into a just agreement with their compatriots. As
I said earlier, these two communities [Hindus and
Muslims] have to live in India and India is the
country of both. Therefore, it is the duty of every
Indian to try to create such a climate in the country
that the daily strife and killings are stopped so that
everyone can lead a life of peace and contentment".
Sukhia Sab Sansar Khaye Aur Soye
Dukhia Das Kabir Jagey Aur Roye
The world is 'happy', eating and sleeping
The forlorn Kabir Das is awake and weeping
------------------------------------
*****************************************
Sign the Petition : Release the Arrested University Teachers Immediately : An Appeal to the Caretaker Government of Bangladesh
http://www.mukto-mona.com/human_rights/university_teachers_arrest.htm
*****************************************
Daily Star publishes an interview with Mukto-Mona
http://www.mukto-mona.com/news/daily_star/daily_star_MM.pdf
*****************************************
MM site is blocked in Islamic countries such as UAE. Members of those theocratic states, kindly use any proxy (such as http://proxy.org/) to access mukto-mona.
*****************************************
Mukto-Mona Celebrates 5th Anniversary
http://www.mukto-mona.com/Special_Event_/5_yrs_anniv/index.htm
*****************************************
Mukto-Mona Celebrates Earth Day:
http://www.mukto-mona.com/Special_Event_/Earth_day2006/index.htm
*****************************************
Kansat Uprising : A Special Page from Mukto-Mona
http://www.mukto-mona.com/human_rights/kansat2006/members/
*****************************************
MM Project : Grand assembly of local freedom fighters at Raumari
http://www.mukto-mona.com/project/Roumari/freedom_fighters_union300306.htm
*****************************************
German Bangla Radio Interviews Mukto-Mona Members:
http://www.mukto-mona.com/Special_Event_/Darwin_day/german_radio/
Mukto-Mona Celebrates Darwin Day:
http://www.mukto-mona.com/Special_Event_/Darwin_day/index.htm
*****************************************
Some FAQ's about Mukto-Mona:
http://www.mukto-mona.com/new_site/mukto-mona/faq_mm.htm
****************************************************
VISIT MUKTO-MONA WEB-SITE : http://www.mukto-mona.com/
****************************************************
"I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it".
-Beatrice Hall [pseudonym: S.G. Tallentyre], 190Yahoo! Groups Links
<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/mukto-mona/
<*> Your email settings:
Individual Email | Traditional
<*> To change settings online go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/mukto-mona/join
(Yahoo! ID required)
<*> To change settings via email:
mailto:mukto-mona-digest@yahoogroups.com
mailto:mukto-mona-fullfeatured@yahoogroups.com
<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
mukto-mona-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: