Inayatullah Khan Mashriqi

Early years

Background Inayatullah Khan Mashriqi was born on 25 August 1888 to a Punjabi Rajput family from Amritsar. Mashriqi's father Khan Ata Muhammad Khan was an educated man of wealth who owned a bi-weekly publication, Vakil, in Amritsar. From an early age, he showed a passion for mathematics.

In 1907 he moved to England, where he matriculated at Christ's College, Cambridge, to read for the mathematics tripos. He was awarded a college foundation scholarship in May 1908. In June 1909 he was awarded first class honours in Mathematics Part I, being placed joint 27th out of 31 on the list of wranglers. For the next two years, he read for the oriental languages tripos in parallel to the natural sciences tripos, gaining first class honours in the former, and third class in the latter.

After three years' residence at Cambridge he had qualified for a Bachelor of Arts degree, which he took in 1910. In 1912 he completed a fourth tripos in mechanical sciences, and was placed in the second class. At the time he was believed to be the first man of any nationality to achieve honours in four different Triposes, and was lauded in national newspapers across the UK. The next year, Mashriqi was conferred with a DPhil in mathematics receiving a gold medal at his doctoral graduation ceremony.

He left Cambridge and returned to India in December 1912. During his stay in Cambridge his religious and scientific conviction was inspired by the works and concepts of Professor Sir James Jeans. He became headmaster of the High School, Peshawar on 21 October 1919.

In 1920, the British government offered Mashriqi the ambassadorship of Afghanistan, and a year later he was offered a knighthood. However, he refused both awards.

In 1930, he was passed over for a promotion in the government service, following which he went on medical leave. In 1932 he resigned, taking his pension, and settled down in Ichhra, Lahore.

Nobel nomination In 1924, at the age of 36, Mashriqi completed the first volume of his book, Tazkirah. It is a commentary on the Qur'an in the light of science. It was nominated for the Nobel Prize in 1925, subject to the condition it was translated into one of the European languages. However, Mashriqi declined the suggestion of translation.

Political life

Mashriqi's philosophy A theistic evolutionist who accepted some of Darwin's ideas while criticising others, he declared that the science of religions was essentially the science of collective evolution of mankind; all prophets came to unite mankind, not to disrupt it; the basic law of all faiths is the law of unification and consolidation of the entire humanity.

Mashriqi is often portrayed as a controversial figure, a religious activist, a revolutionary, and an anarchist; while at the same time he is described as a visionary, a reformer, a leader, and a scientist-philosopher who was born ahead of his time.

Mashriqi and his Khaskar Tehrik opposed the partition of India. He stated that the "last remedy under the present circumstances is that one and all rise against this conspiracy as one man. Let there be a common Hindu-Muslim Revolution. ... it is time that we should sacrifice…in order to uphold Truth, Honour and Justice."

Imprisonments and allegations On 20 July 1943, an assassination attempt was made on Muhammad Ali Jinnah by an individual named Rafiq Sabir Mazangavi who was assumed to be a Khaksar worker. The attack was deplored by Mashriqi, who denied any involvement. Later, Justice Blagden of the Bombay High Court in his ruling on 4 November 1943 dismissed any association between the attack and the Khaksars.

In Pakistan, Mashriqi was imprisoned at least four times: in 1958 for alleged complicity in the murder of republican leader Khan Abdul Jabbar Khan (popularly known as Dr. Khan Sahib); and, in 1962 for suspicion of attempting to overthrow President Ayub's government. However, none of the charges were proven, and he was acquitted in each case.

Death Mashriqi died at the Mayo Hospital in Lahore on 27 August 1963 following a short battle with cancer. His funeral prayers were held at the Badshahi Mosque and he was buried in Ichhra. Tazkirah Volume II, published posthumously in 1964. Tazkirah Volume III.

Fellowships Mashriqi's fellowships included:

Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, 1923 Fellow of the Geographical Society (F.G.S), Paris Fellow of Society of Arts (F.S.A), Paris Member of the Board at Delhi University President of the Mathematical Society, Islamia College, Peshawar Member of the International Congress of Orientalists (Leiden), 1930 President of the All World's Faiths Conference, 1937

Edited works God, Man, and Universe: As Conceived by a Mathematician (works of Inayatullah Khan el-Mashriqi), Akhuwat Publications, Rawalpindi, 1980 (edited by Syed Shabbir Hussain).