Shah Ismail Dehlvi

Shah Isma’il Dehlvi (26 April, 1779 – 6 May, 1831) was an Indian Sunni Muslim scholar, Naqshbandi Sufi reformer, Hanafi jurist, and Kalam theologian. He, alongside Syed Ahmad Barelvi, was a founding figure of Tariqah-i-Muhammadiyah, an Islamic reformist and jihad movement against the Sikh Empire, which later spearheaded decades-long anti-colonial uprisings across various regions of British India. He is considered as an important influence on the Ahl-i Hadith and the Deobandi movements.

Early life and career Shah Isma’il was born on 26 April 1779. He was the grandson of famous Islamic scholar and leader Shah Waliullah Dehlvi, through his son Shah Abdul Ghani. due to the shared mission and objectives. The aim of the new movement was to purify the tenets of Islam from non-Islamic customs, traditions and cultural practices. According to Barbara D. Metcalf, the objectives and teachings of the new reformist movement were outlined in two texts. First was the Sirat'ul Mustaqim (the Straight Path), compiled by Shah Isma’il in 1819. Originally written in Persian, it was later translated into Urdu in order to reach a wider audience. The second work, Taqwiyat al-Iman (the strengthening of the Faith), was written by Shah Isma’il directly in Urdu. The two works emphasised the centrality of tawhid, the transcendent unity of God, and condemned those practices and beliefs that were held in any way to compromise those which were considered most fundamental of Islamic tenets. According to Shah Isma’il, God alone was held to be omniscient and omnipotent; he alone was entitled to worship and homage. According to the followers of Syed Ahmad, there were three sources of threat to this belief: false Sufism, Shi'a doctrines and practices, and popular customs.

According to Andreas Rieck, Syed Ahmad visited towns of North Indian plains from 1818 to 1821 with hundreds of missionaries to preach against Shi'a beliefs and practices. Syed Ahmad repeatedly destroyed tazias, an act that resulted in subsequent riots and chaos. Shah Isma’il also wrote against making of tazias, stating that forcefully breaking a tazia was as virtuous an action as destroying idols. In his treatises, such as Taqwiyat al-Iman and Tadhkir ul-Ikhwan, Shah Isma’il emphasized the importance of tawhid (monotheism) and the virtues of following the Sunnah. He categorized shirk (polytheism) into various types and warned against superstitious beliefs and certain folk rituals, denouncing them as shirk or bid'ah (innovation in religious matters). In Taqwiyat al-Iman, Shah Isma’il condemned practice of invoking spiritual guides, martyrs and angels during the times of difficulties, as well as giving children un-Islamic names and offering sacrifices to saints, calling them akin to the practices of Hindus.

Tariqah-i-Muhammadiyah movement

Shah Isma’il broke away from various folk practices and customs that existed among Indian Hanafis, but subsequently became convinced that he could not set up his ideal society so long as the company rule held sway over the subcontinent. He joined the cause of Syed Ahmad, who had moved to the Peshawar Valley bordering Afghanistan with his followers to lead an armed jihad against the Sikhs. When the military actions were initiated, some Muslim Nawabs, like Amir Khan of Tonk, provided funds but did not join them for jihad. Around 8,000 mujahideen who accompanied them were mostly clergymen or poor people. The rulers of Tonk, Gwalior and Rampur supported him with British consent because they were dependent on British forces, and knew well enough that the British would not stop them from aiding an enemy of the Sikhs. The main objective of the Tariqah-i-Muhammadiyah movement led by Syed Ahmad was to establish an Islamic state that would rule over the subcontinent. At that time, much of northern India was under British rule. So the leadership of the jihad movement concluded that they should move to an area with less British influence and with a majority Muslim population. The frontier region, known as Yaghistan, was chosen to carry out this experimentation, based on the assumption that being devout Muslims, the Pashtuns inhabitants would support the reformist movement.

Arriving in Peshawar Valley in late 1826, Syed Ahmad and his followers made their base in towns of Hund and Zaida in Swabi District. Syed Ahmad called upon the local Pashtun and Hazarewal tribes to wage jihad, and demanded that they renounce their tribal customs and adopt the Shari'a. The traditional khans were replaced by ulama (Islamic scholars) and a system of Islamic taxes was established to finance the jihad. Soon after this evangelist campaign and the establishment of the Sharia system, jihad was declared. He sent an ultimatum to Ranjit Singh, demanding him to accept Islam, or pay jizyah, or to prepare for an open war, further mentioning that in the case of later, all of Yaghistan supported his movement.

The mujahideen were educated with both theological doctrines and physical training sessions. Syed Ahmad organized wrestling, archery training, and shooting competitions. The mujahideen also repeated several Islamic anthems. One such popular anthem has survived, known as "Risala Jihad". On 21 December 1826, Syed Ahmad and his 1,500 followers clashed with 4,000 Sikh troops in the battle of Akora Khattak and obtained a significant victory. On 11 January 1827, allegiance was sworn on his hand and he was declared caliph and imam. Syed Ahmad's claim to khilafah was viewed with suspicion in the frontier region as well as in the clerical circles of northern India. When the jumu'ah (Friday prayer) sermon was read in his name, symbolizing his claim to power, the tribal chiefs became wary. According to prominent Pashtun sardars like Khadi Khan, maulvis were ill-equipped to run the affairs of a state.

Sufism was an integral part of the doctrine and practice of the Tariqah-i-Muhammadiyah movement. Although it was a sufistic resistance movement that campaigned against the encroachment of British colonial influence in the Indian subcontinent, Tariqah-i-Muhammadiyah was falsely labelled as "Wahhabi" by sectarian detractors and officials of the British East India Company regime. The movement’s supporters and leaders rejected such characterizations, firmly positioning themselves within the school of Shah Waliullah Dehlvi and the scholarly traditions of Madrasa-i-Rahimiyah and Madrasa Firangi Mahal.

Tariqah-i-Muhammadiyah movement gained prominence as an influential strand of the Naqshbandi-Mujaddidi order in the Indian subcontinent, and its revivalist teachings were widely adopted by the Indian Naqshbandis of that period. Syed Ahmad, the leader of Tariqah-i-Muhammadiyah, was a Sufi murshid deeply influenced by the Mujaddidi path of Ahmad Sirhindi and continued to initiate his disciples into the Naqshbandi, Qadiri, and Chishti orders. Sufi saints like Akhund Abdul Ghaffur who were active in the Tariqah-i-Muhammadiyah preached the teachings of Shah Waliullah Dehlvi among their Pashtun murids and imparted Sufi training to them, many of whom carried forward the struggle against the British after the battle of Balakot.

The historical roots of Ahl-i Hadith, the puritanical reform movement that emerged in mid 19th-century India, is traced back to the jihad movement of Shah Isma’il and Syed Ahmad. Shah Isma’il's teachings on tawhid (monotheism), along with his condemnation of various folk rituals he regarded as shirk (polytheism), his denunciation of excessive celebrations during Mawlid as bid'ah (religious innovation), and his exercise of Ijtihad deeply influenced the Ahl-i Hadith. After the Islamic state of the mujahideen was destroyed by the Sikh Empire, a faction of Shah's followers, who described themselves as Ahl-i Hadith, subsequently travelled across the Indian subcontinent and began spreading aspects of his reformist teachings in a radical manner. This set the stage for the emergence of an organised form of Salafism in the subcontinent. By the early 20th century, Ahl-i Hadith had become an important religious movement all across South Asia. Major scholars and religious students of the Deobandi movement also refer to Shah Isma’il's treatises for theological guidance.

Deobandi scholars of the Hanafi school are profoundly influenced by the Hanafi centric juristic methodology of Shah Isma’il Dehlvi.

Literary works Taqwiyat al-Iman (Strengthening of the Faith) Sirat al-Mustaqeem (Right Path)