theologians-from-india

"The ocean doesn’t ask if you’re ready—it challenges you to prove that you are."

"The real barriers are not in the body but in the mind. Once you break them, the world is yours to conquer."

"Rising beyond the waves is not just about swimming; it’s about refusing to sink in the face of adversity."

"A Life Changing Approach: Inspirational Hero Satendra Singh Lohiya is the inspiring true story of Padma Shri Awardee Satendra Singh Lohiya, a para-swimmer who defied a 70% disability to conquer the English Channel and achieve global recognition. Written by Devrishi, this book is a powerful testament to resilience, determination, and triumph over adversity."

"It is part of the Church's mission to ensure that every child has access to Christian catechism: it is education through which the faith of the child has the opportunity to grow and take root."

"When the intention is to spread Islam and annihilate non-Muslims, two widely discussed methods are love jihad and narcotics jihad. There is a section of people who want to establish that no such thing exists in our society today. They are trying to conceal the truth and reality."

"From the hand of the cup-bearer I drank the goblet of love. Oneness became overpowering, forget infidelity and Islam."

"The mysteries of Oneness of Being are remarkable. They are known by the dealers of unity who behold the real Sinai Flash in each and every existent."

"Leave aside craving for other than God: anything else is pseudo thought. Except the Real One, all things are perishable. Each instant concentrate on the Real; undoubtedly this is the committed way."

"O Farid ! Friend is not hidden; everywhere He is openly manifest. Darkness is all pervaise Light. Only it has been named differently."

"Beauty and ugliness are manifestations of the self-The lovely colorless is in each color."

"Whoever found the beloved in the temple of the heart, got purged of all affliction and sin, by meditation attained permanence. Farid subsists without individuality."

"Nor at present, nor in the past, we have ever denied, That your sense of justice is trumpeted far and wide. Whatever has been happening, we also accept Fell within the limits of law, with justice as your guide. Even when you ordered firing on the helpless multitude, You didn't even by a hair-breadth the law of land defied. But this truth too cannot be lightly brushed aside, Thay your act unleashed a deluge of death in the twinkling of an eye, The handsome youth when they fell before your deadly [[fire], Wondered if it was the doom, or the stars shooting from the sky. The arch and pulpit of the mosque were left riddled with bullets, But the mosque needs perhaps such patterns on its front and sides. Fast-fettered did they watch, the convicts and the passers-by, And the police took the stand: How can we, the servants, the sovereign's fiat defy? But let's state the fact, you may or may not like, We are the oppressed folk, you are not the oppressor, right!"

"O custodians of civilization, may we ask how long Will you perpetrate horror, commit wrong on wrong? Conceded that you want to test the sharpness of your swords, But how long will you try them on our pliant throats? You want to see the assembly with rhetoric hot ablaze, How long can our sighs and wails satisfy your craze? True that the tales of woe titillate your heart, But how long can we relate the tales of grief and loss? We know that you grudge the drought caused by the heavens high, How long can our tears of blood your withering crops revive> You require glimmering stars to brighten up your fate, How far can these grains of dust emblazon your face? Knowing we are faded leaves of a fallen tree, How long will you continue to crush us out complete?"

"To sacrifice the life of Quran and Hadis at the altar of idolatry is gross disrespect of the Quran and Hadis, and it is to accord great respect to idolatry, declares the Maulana. If this is not kufr, he says, then nothing in the world is kufr. Alluding to an instance in which the Prophet had taken the help of a kafir to make his way in an unfamiliar place, the Maulana exclaims, where is taking a polytheist along over an unfamiliar terrain, and where is making him one’s leader and guide in regard to one’s faith! Can there be any comparison, he asks. If a shaikh or imam were to sit in an ekka and the one driving it were a kafir, does that mean that, on the ground that the shaikh or imam was sitting behind the kafir, his followers can accept the imamat of the kafir and read the namaz behind him? And that incident regarding the Prophet, the Maulana says, too is an incident of a period when the order of jihad had not yet come down (from Allah), and of a time when the practice was ‘Unto you your religion and unto me mine’. But after that what was expected of Muslims regarding kafirs became progressively stricter, the Maulana points out, and eventually came the revelation for all time: O Prophet! wage jihad against kafirs and hypocrites.... If you draw your rule from the first incident then it is a great foolishness—if it is drawn by an ignorant man; and if it is drawn by or on the authority of an educated person then it is a crime and gross wickedness. This is false imputation on the Prophet, the Maulana proclaims. Never did the Prophet maintain any social relations with any kafir. For it is said in the Quran, He who among you maintains relations with them is one from among them. The ordinance of Allah to His Prophet was: O Prophet! wage jihad against all kafirs and hypocrites, and observe a harshness and strictness towards them.... And then the Maulana takes up the practice of calling Gandhiji a ‘Mahatma’. ‘Mahatma,’ he says, means ‘Great Soul,’ and this, he recalls, is the appellation special to angel Gabriel. To associate it with a polytheist is pure enmity of Allah and the Prophet."

"Most Indian Muslims are Sunnis, some say almost 85 to 90 per cent are Sunnis. Most Indian Sunnis are Barelvis, some would say two-thirds of them are, in particular those living in the countryside. The Fatawa-i-Rizvia is the most important collection of fatwas of the Barelvis. It consists of the fatwas issued by the most influential figure among them—Maulana Ahmad Riza Khan. He was a prolific issuer of fatwas, a formidable polemicist, often an abusive one, an indefatigable campaigner, in a word a pugilist. Few dared to cross swords with him, indeed few dared to even stand in his way. He lived from 1856 to 1921, and came to exercise a mesmeric hold over vast numbers."

"Praise be to Allah, ever since I gained consciousness I have found only strong dislike for the enemies o f Allah in my heart. Once I had gone to my village (apne dehat ko). Some rural courtcase arose and our servants (mulazim) from all four directions had to go to Badayun [to appear in court]. I was left all alone. This was a time when I suffered from severe colic pain. That day the pain started from the time o f zuhr (m id-day). . . I couldn’t stand up for the namaz (prayer). [Ahmad Riza then relates that he supplicated Allah and the Prophet for help, this plea was heard, and he was able to offer the namaz. But the pain returned just as severely as before, and he decided to lie down. While he was lying there,] a Brahman from the village passed by in front o f me. (The wretch himself professed something close to tauhid and deceitfiilly inclined toward the Muslims in order to please me.) The gate was open. Seeing me he came in. And putting his hand on my stomach he asked, 'Is this where it hurts?’ Feeling his impure (najis) hand touching my body I felt such revulsion (karahat, najrat) that I forgot my pain. And I began to experience a pain even greater than this, [knowing that] a kafir’s hand was on my stomach. This is the kind of enmity ( ‘ adawat ) that one should [cultivate toward kafirs]."

"He goes on reiterating the denunciation, repeating the points, citing the Quran and other authorities. And then he addresses the rationalization that there are grades of kufr and that it may be permissible to cooperate with some kinds of kafirs. Yes, he declares, if there is a difference among kafirs it is in this that the greater a person’s kufr the more haram it is to deal with him. To revere evil is kufr, the more severe the evil the stricter the commandment. This shall befall the liars and calumners—that in kufr the Magians are worse than Jews and Christians; and the Hindus are worse than the Magians; and the Wahabis and apostates are worse than the Hindus. The commandments about them are progressively harsher in this very order...."

"Maulana Ahmad Riza Khan’s fulminations against doing anything which entails association with kafirs, Hindus in this case, extend over more than a hundred quarto-sized pages of closely packed text. The denunciation and scorn he heaps on those who are advocating such a course are even greater than what he hurls at the course itself. Indeed, time and again he declares that those Muslims—’Muslims’ is the wrong term actually for his school had issued the fatwas of kufr on the leading ulema of Deoband, etc.—who advocate such a course are greater enemies of Islam than the kafirs themselves. His fatwas against associating with the kafirs in any way are, as we have noticed earlier, grouped under the generic heading, ‘Nafrat ke Ahkam’, ‘The Ordinances of Hatred.’..."

"Some of the practices which he allowed, indeed prescribed, were ones which others condemned as vestiges of paganism and polytheism—for instance, celebrating the urs or observing the anniversaries of pirs and ‘saints’. At the same time he was most emphatic in denouncing anyone who joined hands with the kafirs even for attaining strictly Islamic objectives. Thus, for instance, he heaped abuse and scorn at those who had agreed to work under the leadership of Gandhiji even though it had been with the object of restoring the greatest of Islamic institutions, the Caliphate. You have agreed to work under a kafir, he railed. You have made Muslims the slaves of a kafir, he railed."

"He next takes up the question of according respect to a polytheist, be he a man as exceptional as Mahatma Gandhi. Quoting authorities, including the Quran, the Hadis, the Durr-ul-Mukhtar, the Maulana declares, respect is to be paid only to Allah, the Prophet and the Muslims, but the hypocrites—munafiq—know not. Citing the Prophet the Maulana says, he who renders respect to followers of the wrong faith has without a doubt lent a hand for the demolition of the Islamic religion. When this is the commandment in regard to one of wrong faith, what shall be the commandment for honouring a polytheist?, he asks. The Prophet has forbidden us to even shake hands with any polytheist, he says, even to refer to him by his surname (kunniyat), even to use words of welcome (marhaba) upon his arrival. These are not even very consequential things entailing great honour, they pertain to regard of a very low degree, the Maulana notes—that one should not call him by his name, one should not call him as the father of so and so, one should not say ‘Aiye’ when he comes. And yet, he notes, the Hadis has forbidden Muslims from doing even these things. And these persons are asking us to cry ‘jai’ for him! This is a Satanic deed, the Maulana pronounces..."

"Shah Wali Allah ascribes at least three objectives to jihād: First, to extend the boundaries of right guidance; second, to fight criminality; and finally to combat idolators. Like earlier Muslim thinkers of India cited above, Shah Wali Allah showed implacable hatred for non-Muslims in general, and Hindus, in particular, often encouraging, and exulting in, the destruction of Hindu temples... When he called for equity, justice and moderation, Shah Wali Allah only saw these principles through Muslim eyes—in other words non-Muslims and Shi‘ites were not considered worthy of similar treatment as if equal to Muslims."

"Waliullah had travelled all the way to Mecca and Medina - a difficult and dangerous undertaking in his days - and studied under half a dozen Sufis and savants of ‘Islamic sciences’, only to ‘discover’ and declare what the meanest mullah in the most obscure village mosque in India had been mouthing for more than a thousand years. He himself wrote as many as 43 books between 1732 and 1762 - thirty thoughtful years - only to re-echo the routine ravings of a thousand theologians who had continued to thunder ever since the advent of Islam in this country! He wrote hundreds of letters to his contemporary Muslim monarchs and mercenaries, including Ahmad Shah Abdali, whom he considered to be the saviours of Islam in India, only to convey the conventional Islamic message which all of them had crammed in their cradles - convert of kill the kãfirs, humiliate the Hindus, and establish an Islamic state in keeping with the ‘holy’ commandments of the Quran!"

"Rizvi paraphrases Shāh Walī Allāh’s doctrine as spelled out in his Hujjat-Allah al-bāligha: “The modern interpretation of jihād or Islamic holy war over-emphasized its defensive character. To the ‘ulamā’, jihād was the fard kifāya (collective duty) and it remained a duty as long as Islam was not [the] universally dominant religion in any area. According to Shāh Walī Allāh the mark of the perfect implementation of the Sharī‘a was the performance of jihād… Force, said the Shah, was the much better course-Islam should be forced down the throats like bitter medicine to a child. This, however, was only possible if the leaders of the non-Muslim communities who failed to accept Islam were killed; the strength of the community reduced, their property confiscated and a situation was created which led to their followers and descendants willingly accepting Islam.”"

"After Aurangzeb’s death when Muslim power started to disintegrate, the Sufi scholar Shah Waliullah (1703-1763) wrote to the Afghan King Ahmad Shah Abdali, inviting him to invade India to help the Muslims. The letter said: “…In short the Moslem community is in a pitiable condition. All control of the machinery of the government is in the hands of the Hindus because they are the only people who are capable and industrious. Wealth and prosperity are concentrated in their hands, while the share of Moslems is nothing but poverty and misery… At this time you are the only king who is powerful, farsighted and capable of defeating the enemy forces. Certainly it is incumbent upon you to march to India, destroy Maratha domination and rescue weak and old Moslems from the clutches of non-Moslems. If, Allah forbid, domination by infidels continues, Moslems will forget Islam and within a short time, become such a nation that there will be nothing left to distinguish them from non-Moslems.”"

"In this age there exists no king, apart from His Majesty [Ahmad Shah], who is a master of means and power, potent for the smashing of the unbelievers’ army, far-sighted and battle-tested. Consequently a prime obligation upon His Majesty is to wage an Indian campaign, break the sway of the unbelieving Marathas and Jats, and rescue the weaknesses of the Muslims who are captive in the land of the unbelievers. If the power of unbelief should remain at the same level (God forbid!), the Muslims will forget Islam; before much time passes, they will become a people who will not know Islam from unbelief. This too is a mighty trial: the power of preventing that is attainable for His Majesty alone, by the favour of the beneficent God . . . In the name of Almighty God we ask that he [Ahmad Shah] expend effort avidly for a holy war against the unbelievers of this territory, so that in the presence of Almighty God a fine reward may be inscribed in His Majesty’s book of deeds, so his name may be recorded in the register of holy warriors . . . so in the world innumerable foes may fall at the hand of the heroes [ghazi]of Islam, so Muslims may obtain rescue from the hand of the unbelievers. The victory of Islam is the destiny of the entire community; so, wherever there is a Musalman, [the Muslim warrior-kings] will love him on a part with actual sons and brothers; and wherever there is a warlike unbeliever, they will be like raging lions"

"Another means of ensuring conversions was to prevent other religious communities from worshipping their own gods. Moreover, unfavourable discriminating laws should be imposed on non-Muslims in matters of rules of retaliation, compensation for manslaughter and marriage, and in political matters."

"By the time of Shah Wali-Allah's death no power in the disintegrating Mughal empire had been left to convert Hindus to Islam, but it would seems that the rising Baluch and Afghan zamindars and the military adventures converted Hindus to Islam in their respective areas of influence. Shah Wali-Allah's son Shah `Abd al-Aziz claims to have Islamicized hundreds of Hindus. They might have been Hindus living between Phalit and Delhi. However, the proselytization programme of Shah Wali-Allah only included the leads of the Hindu community. The low class of the infidels, according to him, were to be left alone to work in the fields and for paying jizya. They, like beasts of burden and agricultural livestock, were to be kept in abject misery and despair."

"Muslim ‘community’ in India had remained sharply divided into two mutually exclusive segments throughout the centuries of Islamic invasions and rule over large parts of the country. On the one hand, there were the descendants of conquerors who came from outside or who identified themselves completely with the conquerors - the Arabs, the Turks, the Iranians, and the Afghans. They glorified themselves as the Ashrãf (high-born, noble) or Ahli-i-Daulat (ruling race) and Ahl-i-Sa‘adat (custodians of religion). On the other hand, there were converts from among the helpless Hindus who were looked down upon by the Ashrãf and described as the Ajlãf (low-born, ignoble) and Arzãl (mean, despicable) depending upon the Hindu castes from which the converts came. The converts were treated as Ahl-i-Murãd (servile people) who were expected to obey the Ahl-i-Daulat and Ahl-i-Sa‘adat abjectly. Shah Waliullah (1703-62) and his son Abdul Aziz (1746-1822) were the first to notice this situation and felt frightened that the comparatively small class of the Ashrãf was most likely to be drowned in the surrounding sea of Hindu Kafirs. ... They had to turn to the neo-Muslims. The neo-Muslims, however, had little interest in waging wars for Islam. They had, therefore, to be fully Islamized, that is, alienated completely from their ancestral society and culture. That is why the Tabligh movement was started."

"Shāh Walī Allāh [1703-1762] is best remembered for his efforts to restore Muslim rule to India, ending with his appeal to the Afghan ruler Ahmad Shah Abdali to invade India, destroy the Hindu Marathas... The central element in Shāh Walī Allāh’s vision of the restoration of the true Islam was the emphasis on the textual sources of Islam, the Koran and the hadith. In his Hujjat-Allah al-bāligha, Shāh Walī Allāh tells us that the Sharī ‘a was the “fitrat” or natural disposition or original qualities of mankind and, “as the last in the cycle of divine laws, was the guardian of the best interests of mankind. The Islamic Sharī‘a was destined to dominate the world and crush all undesirable elements. All misinterpretations which entered it were removed by a renewer whom God raised up at the end of each century.” Islam was superior to all other religions, and especially to Hinduism. Jihād was central to Islam, which could not have been so successful without it. Shāh Walī Allāh deplored the way jihād had been interpreted as defensive."

"According to Shah Wali-Allah the mark of the perfect implementation of the Shari'a was the performance of jihad. He compared the duties of Muslims in relation to the law to those of a favourite slave who administered bitter medicine to other slaves in a household. If this was done forcefully it was quite legitimate but if someone mixed it with kindness it was even better. However, there were people, said the Shah who indulged in their lower natures by following their ancestral religion, ignoring the advice and commands of the Prophet Muhammad. If one chose to explain Islam to such people like this it was to do then a disservice. Force, said the Shah, was the much better course-Islam should be forced down their throats like bitter medicine to a child. This, however, was only possible if the leaders of the non-Muslim communities who failed to accept Islam were killed; the strength of the community was reduced, their property confiscated and a situation was created which led to their followers and descendants willingly accepting Islam. The Shah pleaded that the universal domination of Islam was not possible without jihad and by holding on to the tails of cows. Not only would this be humiliating but it would make other religions more powerful."

"Strict orders should be issued in all Islamic towns forbidding religious ceremonies publicly practiced by infidels (such as Hōlī and ritual bathing in the Ganges). On the tenth of Muharram Shi ‘is should not be allowed to go beyond the bounds of moderation and in the bazaars and streets neither should they be rude nor repeat stupid things, (that is, recite tabarra or condemn the first three successors of Muhammad)."

"Your honoured letter regarding suppression of the Jats has arrived. Allah is merciful, and it is hoped that he will crush the enemy. You should rest assured… You should forge unity with Musa Khan and other Muslim groups, and put to use this friendship and unity for facing the enemies. I hope for sure that on account of this unity among Muslims and their nobility, victory will be achieved. The reason for the rise of enemies and the fall of Muslims is nothing except that, led by their lower nature, Muslims have shared their (Muslims’) concerns with Hindus. It is obvious that Hindus will not tolerate the suppression of non-Muslims. Being farsighted and practising patience are praiseworthy things, but not to the extent that non-Muslims take possession of Muslim cities, and go on occupying one (such) city every day… This is no time for farsightedness and patience. This is the time for putting trust in Allah, for manifesting the might of the sword, and for arousing the Muslim sense of honour. If you will do that, it is possible that winds of favour will start blowing. Whatever this recluse knows is this that war with the Jats is a magic spell which appears fearful at first but which, if you depend fully on the power of Allah and draw His attention towards this (war), will turn out to be no more than a mere show. Let me hope that you will keep me informed of developments and the faring of your arms…"

"The presence of the kings of Islam is a great blessing from Allah… You should know that the country of Hindustan is a large land. In olden days, the kings of Islam had struggled hard and for long in order to conquer this foreign country. They could do it only in several turns… Every (Muslim) king got mosques erected in his territory, and created madrasas. Muslims of Arabia and Ajam (non-Arab Muslim lands) migrated from their own lands and arrived in these territories. They became agents for the publicity and spread of Islam here. Uptil now their descendants are firm in the ways of Islam…Among the non-Muslim communities, one is that of the Marhatah (Maratha). They have a chief. For some time past, this community has been raising its head, and has become influential all over Hindustan… …It is easy to defeat the Marhatah community, provided the ghãzîs of Islam gird up their loins and show courage… In the countryside between Delhi and Agra, the Jat community used to till the land. In the reign of Shahjahan, this community had been ordered not to ride on horses, or keep muskets with them, or build fortresses for themselves. The kings that came later became careless, and this community has used the opportunity for building many forts, and collecting muskets… In the reign of Muhammad Shah, the impudence of this community crossed all limits. And Surajmal, the cousin of Churaman, became its leader. He took to rebellion. Therefore, the city of Bayana which was an ancient seat of Islam, and where the Ulama and the Sufis had lived for seven hundred years, has been occupied by force and terror, and Muslims have been turned out of it with humiliation and hurt… …Whatever influence and prestige is left with the kingship at present, is wielded by the Hindus. For no one except them is there in the ranks of managers and officials. Their houses are full of wealth of all varieties. Muslims live in a state of utter poverty and deprivation. The story is long and cannot be summarised. What I mean to say is that the country of Hindustan has passed under the power of non-Muslims. In this age, except your majesty, there is no other king who is powerful and great, who can defeat the enemies, and who is farsighted and experienced in war. It is your majesty’s bounden duty (farz-i-ain) to invade Hindustan, to destroy the power of the Marhatahs, and to free the down-and-out Muslims from the clutches of non-Muslims. Allah forbid, if the power of the infidels remains in its present position, Muslims will renounce Islam and not even a brief period will pass before Muslims become such a community as will no more know how to distinguish between Islam and non-Islam. This will be a great tragedy. Due to the grace of Allah, no one except your majesty has the capacity for preventing this tragedy from taking place. We who are the servants of Allah and who recognise the Prophet as our saviour, appeal to you in the name of Allah that you should turn your holy attention to this direction and face the enemies, so that a great merit is added to the roll of your deeds in the house of Allah, and your name is included in the list of mujãhidîn fi Sabîlallah (warriors in the service of Allah). May you acquire plunder beyond measure, and may the Muslims be freed from the stranglehold of the infidels. I seek refuge in Allah when I say that you should not act like Nadir Shah who oppressed and suppressed the Muslims, and went away leaving the Marhatahs and the Jats whole and prosperous. The enemies have become more powerful after Nadir Shah, the army of Islam has disintegrated, and the empire of Delhi has become childrens’ play. Allah forbid, if the infidels continue as at present, and Muslims get (further) weakened, the very name of Islam will get wiped out. …When your fearsome army reaches a place where Muslims and non-Muslims live together, your administrators must take particular care. They must be instructed that those weak Muslims who live in the countryside should be taken to towns and cities. Next, some such administrators should be appointed in towns and cities as would see to it that the properties of Muslims are not plundered, and the honour of no Muslim is compromised."

"Shah Wali-Allah was pessimistic about the real depth of faith of those converted by the sword. Such converts were in reality hypocrites and on the Day of Judgment they would be thrown to the very deepest part of Hell, together with the infidels. Islamicization by the sword, added the Shah, did not remove doubts from the minds of newly converted Muslims and it was always possible they might revert to infidelity. The Shah believed that Imams (here meaning rulers) should convince the people through rational argument. They should preach that other religions were worthless since their founders were not perfect, and that their practice was opposed to divine law, interpolations having made them unbelievable. The superiority of Islam should be explained in positive terms and it should be brought home to converts that Islamic laws were perfectly clear and easy to follow. What appeared confusing (literally, night) in reality was clear (literally, day)."

"Another prominent Indian Naqshbandi Sufi , Shah Wali Allah al- Dihlawi (d. 1762), who was also an influential Muslim thinker and reformer, as well as a prolific author, lived roughly a century after his spiritual and political predecessor, Sirhindi. Shah Wali Allah’s attitude regarding how Muslims ought to deal with unbelievers who reject Islam echoes the harsh words and militant stance of Sirhindi. ... Though some of his pronouncements are extreme and not necessarily representative of the Sufi tradition as a whole, they do have a doctrinal basis in both Islamic scripture and in the words of his many Sufi predecessors who had also dealt with the topic of the martial jihad and relations with non-Muslims."

"We are strangers. Our forefathers came to live in India from abroad. For us, Arab descent and the Arabic language are cause of pride, because these two bring us nearer to the Lord of First and the Last, the noblest of the Prophets and Apostles."

"Shah Wali Allah had been a late addition to his family. His father, Shah 'Abd al-Rahim, had long been one of the most respected in the Mughal real, and his talents and austere piety had won him and then cost him royal favor decades before his most famous son was born. When Shah Wali Allah was five, his father placed him in the school he supervised, and by seven the boy had memorized the Qur'an. He mastered Arabic and Persian letters soon thereafter and was married at fourteen. A childhood spent studying at his father's feet meant that by sixteen he had completed the standard curriculum of law, theology and logic along with arithmetic and geometry. A year later, Shah Wali Allah would recall poignantly, his father and greatest teacher 'Voyaged onward to the above of God's mercy.' The young student's ambition to seek ilm remained strong, and by nineteen he had exhausted the Knowledge of Dehli's scholars. So Shah Wali Allah voyaged across the Indian Ocean to perform his hajj pilgrimage and pursue his studies in the holy cities of Mecca and Medina. In the Prophet's mosque in Medina, at the feet of scholars from across the Muslim world, he studied a book to which he became exceedingly attached and which he viewed as the foundation for understanding the Prophet's Sunna. It was the Muwatta, the 'Well Trodden Path,' of the eight-century scholar of Medina, ."

""The individuals who are able to dispel the obscurities of the ego in order to make their reason strong, such individuals are called "the virtuous by knowledge"."

"Besides what Shah Sahib feels so sorry about and for which he so bitterly laments is the apathy and negligence on the part of the Muslims towards Jihad which in fact is continuous and permanent. So long as the spirit of Jihad was alive among them, they were made successful and victorious wherever they went, but no sooner it disappeared from them than they were subjugated and held in contempt everywhere. The verse of the Holy Qur’an: “And fight on with them until there is no more tumult or oppression, and there prevail justice andfaithin God altogether and everywhere, but if they cease, verily God does see all that they do,” clearly points out the necessity of the continuation of Jihad until the emergence of Islam as a dominant force."

"In his ‘Last Testament’ Shah Wali Allah urged his followers to observe the customs of their Arabian ancestors: As a mark of gratitude for these blessings we should, as far as possible, not abandon the customs and mores of the early Arabs, because they were the immediate followers of the Prophet Muhammad. We must not adopt the mores of the Hindus or of the people of ‘ajam (non-Arabs of countries beyond Arabia).°"

"Thus long before British rule and long before modern political notions of Muslim nationhood, the consensus of the Muslim community Tn India had rejected the eclectisim of Akbar and Dara Shukoh for the purified Islamic teachings of Shaikh Ahmad of Sirhindi and Shah Wall-Ullah. Cultural apartheid was the dominant ideal In medieval Muslim India, in default of cultural victory."

"“God has charged His servants with what He has commanded and forbidden [and in this] He is comparable to a man whose slaves have become ill and bids a man of his household make them drink medicine—even if he compels them to drink it or forces it into their mouths—this is just; however, mercy ( rahma ) demands that he explain to them the benefi ts of the medicine so that they will desire to drink it, and mix honey with [the medicine] to assist in rendering the desire natural and sensible.”"

"Then there are many people who are dominated by base inclinations, beastly morals, and the temptations of Satan ... and the customs of their forefa- thers cleave to their hearts, [such people] do not heed the benefi ts and do not obey that which the Prophet commanded and do not reflect upon the superiority [of what the Prophet commanded]; mercy for them is that belief should be forced upon them, despite themselves, like bitter medicine; there is no subjugating [them] save through killing him among them who is strongly prejudiced and stubbornly refuses, dispersing their power, and dis- possessing them of their property until they become unable to do anything, only then will their followers and their offspring willingly and obediently embrace the faith."

"Its highest degree of eloquence, which is beyond the capacity of a human being. However, since we come after the first Arabs we are unable to reach its essence. But the measure which we know is that the employment of lucid words and sweet constructions gracefully and without affectation that we find in the Tremendous Qur’an is to be found nowhere else in any of the poetry of the earlier or later peoples."

"It is the general authority to undertake the establishment of religion through the revival of religious sciences, the establishment of the pillars of Islam, the organization of jihad and its related functions of maintenance of armies, financing the soldiers, and allocation of their rightful portions from the spoils of war, administration of justice, enforcement of [the limits ordained by Allah, including the punishment for crimes (hudud)], elimination of injustice, and enjoining good and forbidding evil, to be exercised on behalf of the Prophet… It is no mercy to them to stop at intellectually establishing the truth of Religion to them. Rather, true mercy towards them is to compel them so that Faith finds a way to their minds despite themselves. It is like a bitter medicine administered to a sick man. Moreover, there can be no compulsion without eliminating those who are a source of great harm or aggression, or liquidating their force, and capturing their riches, so as to render them incapable of posing any challenge to Religion. Thus their followers and progeny are able to enter the faith with free and conscious submission... Jihad made it possible for the early followers of Islam from the Muhajirun and the Ansar to be instrumental in the entry of the Quraysh and the people around them into the fold of Islam. Subsequently, God destined that Mesopotamia and Syria be conquered at their hands. Later on it was through the Muslims of these areas that God made the empires of the Persians and Romans to be subdued. And again, it was through the Muslims of these newly conquered realms that God actualized the conquests of India, Turkey and Sudan. In this way, the benefits of jihad multiply incessantly, and it becomes, in that respect, similar to creating an endowment, building inns and other kinds of recurring charities.… Jihad is an exercise replete with tremendous benefits for the Muslim community, and it is the instrument of jihad alone that can bring about their victory.… The supremacy of his Religion over all other religions cannot be realized without jihad and the necessary preparation for it, including the procurement of its instruments. Therefore, if the Prophet’s followers abandon jihad and pursue the tails of cows [that is, become farmers] they will soon be overcome by disgrace, and the people of other religions will overpower them."

"But Rizvi has summarized them in the following words from Waliullah’s magnum opus in Arabic, Hujjat-Allah al-Baligha: “According to Shah Wali-Allah the mark of the perfect implementation of the Sharia was the performance of jihad. There were people, said the Shah, who indulged in their lower nature by following their ancestral religion, ignoring the advice and commands of the Prophet Mohammed. If one chose to explain Islam to people like this it was to do them a disservice. Force, said the Shah, was the better course - Islam should be forced down their throats like bitter medicine to a child. This, however, was possible only if the leaders of the non-Muslim communities who failed to accept Islam were killed, the strength of the community was reduced, their property confiscated and a situation was created which led to their followers and descendants willingly accepting Islam. Another means of ensuring conversions was to prevent other religious communities from worshipping their own gods. Moreover, unfavourable discriminating laws should be imposed on non-Muslims in matters of rule of retaliation, compensation for manslaughter, and marriage and political matters. However, the proselytization programme of Shah Wali-Allah only included the leaders of the Hindu community. The low class of the infidels, according to him, were to be left alone to work in the fields and for paying jiziya. They like beasts of burden and agricultural livestock were to be kept in abject misery and despair.”"

"It has become clear to my mind that the kingdom of heaven has predestined that kafirs should be reduced to a state of humiliation and treated with utter contempt. Should that repository of majesty and dauntless courage (Nizam al-Maluk) gird his loins and direct his attention to such a task he can conquer the world. Thus the faith will become more popular and his own power strengthened; a little effort would be profoundly rewarded. Should he make no effort, they (the Marathas) would inevitably be weakened and annihilated through celestial calamities and in such an event he would gain no credit.... As I have learnt this unequivocally (from the divine) I spontaneously write to draw your attention to the great opportunity laid before you. You should therefore not be negligent in fighting jihad."

"We beseech you in the name of the Prophet to fight a jihad against the infidels of this region. This would entitle you to great rewards before God the Most High and your name would be included in the list of those who fought for jihad for His sake. As far as worldly gains are concerned, incalculable booty would fall into the hands of the Islamic gazis [warriors] and the Muslims would be liberated from their bonds.”"

"Strict orders should be issued in all Islamic towns forbidding religious ceremonies publicly practiced by Hindus such as the performance of Holi and ritual bathing in the Ganges. On the tenth of Muharram, the Shias should not be allowed to go beyond the bounds of moderation, neither should they be rude nor repeat stupid things in the streets or bazars."