"Such ideas were not confined to the Arabic- speaking parts of the Islamic world. In the eighteenth century the lingering prestige of the Arabs is evident in the attitudes of the great Indian scholar Shāh Walī Allāh Dihlawī (d. 1762), who claimed descent from the second caliph. Thus, in a testament he left for his children and friends, he stated: “We are Arab people whose ancestors fell into exile in the land of Hindūstān. The Arabness of our descent and language ( ʿArabīyat- i nasab wa ʿArabīyat- i lisān) are alike sources of pride for us.” The ground he gave for this pride in Arab identity was that it rendered the family close to Muḥammad; in gratitude for this great blessing, he urged that “so far as possible we should not give up the manners and customs of the ancient Arabs ( ʿArab- i awwal) from whom the Prophet sprang, and that we should not allow among us the manners of the Persians and the customs of the Hindus.”"
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Philosophers from IndiaTheologians from IndiaMuslims from IndiaPeople from New Delhi18th-century Indian philosophers
Original Language: English
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Cook, Michael - Ancient religions, modern politics _ the Islamic case in comparative perspective-Princeton University Press (2014)
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Shah_Waliullah_Dehlawi
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Shah Waliullah Dehlawi
Shah Waliullah Dehlawi (born 21 February 1703 Moza Phalat, Delhi, died 20 August 1762 Delhi) was an Islamic scholar, muhaddith reformer, historiographer, bibliographer, theologian, and philosopher.
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