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Arabic: قطب الدين أحمد بن عبد الرحيم العمري الدهلوي, romanized: Quṭb ad-Dīn Aḥmad ibn ʿAbd-ur-Raḥīm al-ʿUmarī ad-Dehlawī‎; 1703–1762), commonly known as Shah Waliullah Dehlawi (also Shah Wali Ullah), was an Islamic Sunni scholar and Sufi reformer[13] who contributed to the Islamic revival in the Indian subcontinent and is seen by his followers as a renewer.[14]

Early life and education

Ahmad was born on 21 February 1703 to Shah Abdur Rahim, an Islamic scholar in Delhi. He became known as Shah Waliullah because of his status as an Islamic scholar; he memorized the Qur’an by age seven. “Shah” was an honorific; Ahmad never became a ruler. He quickly mastered Arabic and Persian letters. Ahmad was married at age fourteen; by age fifteen, he had completed the standard curriculum of Hanafi law: theology, geometry, arithmetic, and logic. Two years later, he succeeded his father as dean of his Madrasah-i Rahimiyah. Shah Waliullah visited Makkah at age 29 years in 1732. He was on the committee appointed by Mughal emperor Aurangzeb to compile Fatawa-e-Alamgiri, the code of law. Shah Waliullah’s great-grandson was Shah Ismail Dehlvi, who had an impact on the Deobandi movement.[15][16][17][18]

Views

Sunni Islam

Shah Waliullah defined Sunni Islam broadly, rather than confining it to a specific school of theology. According to Shah, Ahlus Sunnah Wal Jamaah are those who followed the Qur’an and Sunnah on the way of the Sahaba (companions of Muhammad) and tabi’īn, by holding “fast to the beliefs of the pious ancestors (al-salaf)”.[quote needs citation] He considered the four legal schools and the Ahl al-Hadith (Athari) and Ahl al-Ra’y (Maturidi and Ash’ari) schools of theology to be Sunni. According to Shah, the differences between them are only over secondary issues of valid Ikhtilaf; on fundamental issues, they are united.[19][20]

Fiqh (jurisprudence)

He believed that leaders should rule in accordance with the precepts of Islam, and the teachings of Islam should be purified by teachers who exercise ijtihad based on the Quran and Hadith. Shah Waliullah believed that boundaries must be placed on Sufism, and the four main madhahib should be combined into a single system of law and moral codes.[21] He said,[22]

There are numerous benefits in it that are no secret to anyone. These are especially required in these days when people lack courage, when carnal passions have taken deep root in people’s souls and whenever a person is obsessed only with his opinion.

In Tahfimat al-Ilahiyya, Shah expressed his conviction that the unity of the Hanafi and Shafi’i schools of law was essential for an Indian Islamic revival;[23][24] many of his legal positions aligned with the views of Imam al-Shafi’i.[25] He saw the reconciliation of differences between the Shafi’i and Hanafi schools of fiqh as his duty. Particularly concerned about the Hanafi fanaticism prevalent in his community, Shah called for an association of all the schools of law.[26][27] He said,[22]

The entire Ummah, or rather those of them who are dependable, are unanimous about the fact that it is permissible to follow one of these four Madhahib that have been methodically systematised and recorded. This unanimity remains to this day.

Tafsir (Quranic commentary)

Shah Waliullah emphasised a direct understanding of the Quran; students with sufficient knowledge must work with the text rather than previous commentaries. He said that the Quran is as clear to any student with sufficient knowledge of Arabic as it was understandable to its first recipients and scholars, including those portions which are mutashābih (unclear). Shah preferred the interpretation closest to the literal meaning (ẓāhir al-maʿnā) of the Quran and the Sunnah which fits the Qur’anic context, without adhering to a particular school in exegesis, grammar, or theology.[28]

Divine attributes

Shah Waliullah held the Ash’ari position on the nature of divine attributes,[29] believing that a limited ta’wil (alternative interpretation) of the divine attributes is permissible. He wrote in Hujjatullah al-Balighah, “It is our right to interpret them (the attributes of God) in senses more easy to comprehend and more suitable than what they said, for clarity’s sake, since holding these (specific) meanings is not stipulated, and the one investigating by means of intellectual proof is not forced to use them, and they are not preferable to others, nor do they have any exclusive merit.”[30]

Although he was an Ash’ari, Shah Waliullah opposed excesses in kalam (speculative theology) and defended early Atharism.[31][32] He wrote in Hujjatullah al-Balighah, “Those speculative theologians (Mutakallimun) who behaved contemptuously towards the Atharis calling them corporealists and anthropomorphists, saying that they sought refuge in the formula of “without asking how” (Bila Kayf) … this contempt of theirs is unfounded and they err in their sayings both from the viewpoint of tradition and of reason and they err in slandering the leaders of the true religion.”[32] In contrast to speculative theologians he considered in error, he said about the limits of interpretation and its speculative nature: “There is no ruling to the effect that God meant what we hold, nor is there a consensus that one should believe in them and acknowledge them; such a thing would be absurd.”[30]

Marathas

Shah Waliullah expressed his dislike of the Marathas in a dream in Fuyooz-ul Haramain: “And I saw that the king of the infidels took over the land of the Muslims and looted their property. He enslaved their women and children, and in the city of Ajmer he declared the rites of disbelief”.[33]

Correspondence with Ahmad Shah Durrani

He reportedly wrote to Durrani Empire founder Ahmad Shah Durrani (also known as Ahmad Shah Abdali) urging Abdali to intervene militarily against the expanding influence of the Maratha Empire, which had gained control of former Mughal territories after the decline of the Mughal Empire.[34] Shah Waliullah viewed the Maratha ascendancy as a threat to Muslim authority in the Indian subcontinent, and believed that Abdali’s intervention would help restore a balance of power.[35] Abdali invaded India a number of times, culminating in the 1761 Third Battle of Panipat in which the Maratha forces were decisively defeated. The “Maratha resurrection” followed ten years later, led by Mahadaji Shinde.[36]

Historians differ in their assessment of Shah Waliullah’s motivation and the extent of his influence on Abdali’s decision to invade. Some view his appeal as primarily political, aimed at countering Maratha expansion, and others interpret it in the broader context of regional 18th-century power struggles.[34]

Shia Islam

In one of Shah Waliullah’s letters in the manuscript collection in Rampur, Uttar Pradesh, he asked Muslim rulers led by Ahmad Shah Bahadur to ban religious ceremonies by non-Muslims and issue orders against some ceremonies by the Shia (whom he considered Muslim): “Strict orders should be issued in all Islamic towns forbidding religious ceremonies publicly practiced by non-Muslims ─ such as the performance of Holi and ritual bathing in the Ganges. On the tenth of Muharram, Shi’a should not be allowed to go beyond the bounds of moderation: they should neither say or do things that are considered offensive by other Muslims ─ that is, to recite tabarra, or to curse the first three successors of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, in the streets or bazaars”.[37]

Arab culture

Shah Waliullah strongly opposed adopting non-Islamic customs, and advocated commitment to Arab Islamic culture: “Muslims, no matter where they live, wherever they spend their youthful days, they should in any case be completely separated from the natives of that country in their culture, traditions and mannerisms. And wherever they are, they must be immersed in their Arabic splendor and Arabic trends”. About adherence to Arab culture, he said: “Beware! The rich intend to adopt the ways of strangers and non-Arabs and those who deviate from the right path, and try to mix and be like them”. Shah Waliullah sought to conform to the habits and customs of the early Arabs and Muhammad, and to “abstain from the customs of the Ajam and the Indians.” The only logical hikmat-i-amali, or practical wisdom for Muslim rulers, was to strengthen community boundaries by conducting jihad against opponents and promoting cultural practises (adab) which distinguished Muslims from non-Muslims.[38]

Death

Indoor grave with a headstone and rug
Grave of Shah Waliullah Dehlawi in Mehdiyan, Delhi, India

Shah Waliullah died at age 59 on 20 August 1762 (29 Muharram 1176 AH), at the time of Jummah prayer in Old Delhi. He was buried beside his father Shah Abdur Rahim in Mehdiyan, a graveyard on the left of the Delhi Gate.[39]

Works

  • Hujjat Allah al-Baligha (The Conclusive Argument of God), Lahore: Shaikh Ghulam Ali and Sons, 1979. Considered to be his most important work. First published in Bareilly, India in 1286 Hijri.[40] T
  • Al-Fawz al-Kabir
  • (The Sacred knowledge), ed. D. Pendlebury, trans. G. Jalbani, The Sacred Knowledge, London: Octagon, 1982.[41]
  • Al-Khayr al-kathir (The Abundant Good), trans. G. Jalbani, Lahore: Ashraf, 1974.[41]
  • Sata’at (Manifestations), trans. into Urdu by S.M. Hashimi, Lahore: Idarah Thaqafat Islamiyya, 1989; trans. into English by G. Jalbani, Sufism and the Islamic Tradition: the Lamahat and Sata’at of Shah Waliullah, London.[41]
  • Lamahat (Flashes of Lightning), Hyderabad: Shah Wali Allah Academy, 1963; trans. G. Jalbani, Sufism and the Islamic Tradition: the Lamahat and Sata’at of Shah Waliullah, London, 1980 (an important work on Sufism).[41]
  • Futuh al-Haramayn (Emanations, or Spiritual Visions of Mecca and Medina).[41]
  • Al-Tafhimat (Instructions, or Clear Understanding), Dabhail, 1936 (two volumes).
  • Al-Budur al-bazighah (The Full Moon Rising in Splendour).
  • Ta’wil al-ahadith fi rumuz qisas al-anbiya (Symbolic Interpretation of the Events in the Mysteries of Prophetic Tales) [42]

Shah Waliullah is also credited as the first person on the Indian subcontinent to translate the Quran into Persian.[43] He wrote 51 books in Persian and Arabic;[44] among the best-known are Hujjat Allah al-Baligha and Izalat al-Khafa.[citation needed]

References

  1. ↑ “Shah Waliullah Dehlavi”. Encyclopedia of World Biography. Encyclopedia.com.
  2. 1 2 Peter N. Stearns, ed. (2008). The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Modern World. Vol. 4. Oxford University Press. p. 243. ISBN 9780195176322.
  3. ↑ Siddiqa, Ayesha. “Peace in Afghanistan.” (2019): 703–710. “The first significant name is Shah Waliullah (1703–62), a Hanafi scholar,”
  4. ↑ Shahid, Amir Khan. “DISPLACEMENT OF SHAH WALIULLAH’S Shah MOVEMENT AND ITS IMPACT ON NORTHERN INDIAN MUSLIM REVIVALIST THOUGHTS. Journal of the Research Society of Pakistan 51.2 (2014). “It would not be out of context to cite a reference of Shah Abdul Aziz (1746–1824) which is provided by Manazar Ahsan Gilanithat someone enquired from Shah Waliullah whether the Shias were Kafir. He maintained the different viewpoints among the Hanafi School of thought on the subject …”
  5. ↑ Mohammad Afzal (2003). Shah Wali Allah’s Philosophy of Education. National Institute of Historical and Cultural Research, Centre of Excellence, Quaid-i-Azam University. p. 12. ISBN 9789694150628. Shah Wali Allah agrees with Shaykh Abu’l Hassan Ashari on most of the points held in dispute. In the beginning of the tenth khizanab he mentions fourteen main points. Shah Wali Allah is of the view that the Ashari school of thought generally represents the school of the companions. It is stated that Shah Wali Allah himself was Ashari in taste.
  6. ↑ Mohammad Sharif Khan (Professor of Education, Aligarh Muslim University); Mohammad Anwar Saleem (Department of Philosophy, Aligarh Muslim University) (1994). Muslim Philosophy and Philosophers. New Delhi: Ashish Publishing Houseg. p. 25. ISBN 9788170246237.
  7. ↑ Edward Craig, ed. (1998). Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy: Questions to sociobiology. Vol. 8. Routledge. p. 734. ISBN 9780415187138. In the tenth khizana, Shah Wali Allah explains his theological view which, according to him, is in full accord with Ash’arite theology.
  8. ↑ Oliver Leaman, ed. (2015). The Biographical Encyclopedia of Islamic Philosophy. Bloomsbury Publishing. p. 558. ISBN 9781472569462. Another important work dealing with metaphysics is al-Khayr al-Kathir (The Abundant Good), which is divided into ten chapters or, by his description of it, khizana (treasures). The book seeks to reconstruct new cohesive modes pertaining to the reality of wujud (being), the knowledge of God and human knowledge, the relationship between the Creator and the cosmos, and the reality of prophecy and the prophethood of Muhammad. Then, he discusses the principles of sainthood and Sufism. In the eighth and ninth chapters, practical and theoretical religious matters, such as the Shari’a (Islamic law) and the eschatological theories of Islam, are evaluated. In the last chapter, his theological views, generally in line with the Ash’arite theological school, are discussed.
  9. ↑ Shah Waliullah Dehlawi (2008). Ahmad Farid al-Mazidi (ed.). الخير الكثير أو خزائن الحكمة [The Abundant Good or Repositories of Wisdom] (in Arabic). Lebanon: Dar al-Kutub al-‘Ilmiyya. p. 6. ISBN 9782745158123 – via Google Books. وقال في الختام: وكتبه بيده الفقير إلى رحمة الله الكريم الودود ولي الله أحمد بن عبد الرحيم بن وجيه الدين بن معظم الدين بن منصور بن أحمد بن محمود عفا الله عنه وعنهم، وألحقه وإياهم بأسلافهم الصالحين؛ العمري نسباً، الدهلوي وطناً، الأشعري عقيدة، الصوفي طريقة، الحنفي عملاً، والحنفي والشافعي تدريساً [He (i. e., Shah Waliullah Dehlawi) then finally said: “And he wrote it with his hand, the one needy of the mercy of Allah the Generous and Most Loving, Waliullah Ahmad b. ‘Abd al-Rahim b. Wajih al-Din b. Mu’azzam al-Din b. Mansur b. Ahmad b. Mahmud, Allah forgive him and them, and join him and them with their righteous ancestors. Al-‘Umari by way of lineage, al-Dehlawi by way of homeplace, al-Ash’ari in ‘Aqida, al-Sufi in Tariqah, al-Hanafi by way of practice, al-Hanafi and al-Shafi’i in terms of teaching.”]
  10. ↑ “Shah Waliullah Ijazah:Hanafi, Ashari, Sufi”. daralhadith.org.uk. 31 December 2008.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link)
  11. ↑ “Shah Waliullah – transmitter of an Ashari Musalsal chain”. daralhadith.org.uk. 14 February 2015. Archived from the original on 2026-02-10.
  12. ↑ Robinson, Francis (2001). The ‘Ulama of Farangi Mahall and Islamic Culture in South Asia. C. Hurst. p. 225. ISBN 9781850654759.
  13. ↑ Muhammad Mosleh-uddin (2003). Shah Waliullah’s Contribution to Hadith Literature: A Critical Study. Aligarh, India: Department of Islamic Studies: Aligarh Muslim University. p. 2. As for Tasawuf Shah Waliullah was a reformist Sufi..{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: publisher location (link)
  14. ↑ Kunju, Saifudheen (2012). “Shah Waliullah al-Dehlawi: Thoughts and Contributions”. 2021, Prajñā : Journal of the Gauhati University Teachers’ Association: 1. Retrieved 5 April 2015.
  15. ↑ Anil Chandra Banerjee (1981). “Two Nations: The Philosophy of Muslim Nationalism”. p. 44. Retrieved 2016-01-21.
  16. ↑ “Ranjit Singh | Maharaja, Biography, Family, & History | Britannica”. www.britannica.com. 2024-10-25. Retrieved 2024-11-04.
  17. ↑ Shaheed, Shah Ismail. Tafsir of Surah al-Layl. IslamKotob.
  18. ↑ Sinan Siyech, Mohammed (4 February 2020). “What Makes a Movement Violent: Comparing the Ahle Hadith (Salafists) in India and Pakistan”. MEI. Archived from the original on 18 April 2021.
  19. ↑ K. Hermansen, Marcia (1996). “Chapter 84: The Difference Between the People of the Hadith and Those Who Exercise Personal Opinion”. The Conclusive Argument from God: Shāh Walī Allāh of Delhi’s Ḥujjat Allāh al-Bāligha. Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill Publishers. pp. 24–26, 437–450. ISBN 978-90-04-10298-9.
  20. ↑ MUHAMMAD MOSLEH UDDIN (2003). SHAH WALIULLAH’S CONTRIBUTION TO HADITH LITERATURE: A Critical Study. Aligarh, India: Department of Islamic Studies: Aligarh Muslim University. pp. 90–91.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: publisher location (link)
  21. ↑ Hourani, Albert (1991). A History of the Arab Peoples. England: Faber and Faber. p. 257.
  22. 1 2 Waliullah, Shah. Hujjat Allah Al Baligha. Dar Kotob Ilmiyah. p. 361.
  23. ↑ Mallat, Chibli (1995). “The Renewal of Islamic Law: Muhammad Baqer as-Sadr, Najaf and the Shi’i International, Chibli Mallat”. Digest of Middle East Studies. 4 (2): 64–67. doi:10.1111/j.1949-3606.1995.tb00552.x. Retrieved May 12, 2023.
  24. ↑ Hamid, Saiyid (2016). “SOCIO-ECONOMIC IDEAS OF SHAH WALIULLAH” (PDF). Retrieved May 12, 2023.
  25. ↑ MUHAMMAD MOSLEH UDDIN (2003). SHAH WALIULLAH’S CONTRIBUTION TO HADITH LITERATURE: A Critical Study. Aligarh, India: Department of Islamic Studies: Aligarh Muslim University. pp. 139, 142–144.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: publisher location (link)
  26. ↑ MUHAMMAD MOSLEH UDDIN (2003). SHAH WALIULLAH’S CONTRIBUTION TO HADITH LITERATURE: A Critical Study. Aligarh, India: Department of Islamic Studies: Aligarh Muslim University. pp. 139–140.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: publisher location (link)
  27. ↑ L. Esposito, John (2013). “Chapter 2: Salafiya, Modernism, and Revival”. The Oxford Handbook of Islam and Politics. New York: Oxford University Press. p. 28. ISBN 978-0-19-539589-1. Shah Wali Allah was primarily concerned about the pervasive Hanafi fanaticism that he observed in his community. Instead of condoning this he was more inclusive and argued for a synthesis of all of the schools of law
  28. ↑ Schmidtke, Sabine (2016). The Oxford Handbook of Islamic Theology. New York: Oxford University Press. pp. 768–769. ISBN 978-0-19-969670-3. He placed great emphasis on understanding the Qurʾān, first and foremost, through the Qurʾān itself, .. Shāh Walī Allāh maintained that students of the Qurʾān, after having acquired sufficient knowledge of Arabic, should directly work with the text itself instead of reading commentaries on it. The Qurʾān, he argued, is perfectly understandable to any serious student with knowledge of Arabic, just like it was understandable to its first recipients; to the learned scholar, even those parts that are usually considered unclear (mutashābih), … In seeking an explanation for Qurʾānic verses, Shāh Walī Allāh argued, one should not follow a particular school, be it of exegesis, grammar, or theology, but prefer the interpretation that is closest to the literal meaning (ẓāhir al-maʿnā)..
  29. ↑ Al-Khateeb Al-Tabrezi (2013). Mishkaat Al-Masaabih (Manifestations of Truth). Nawab Qutbuddin Khan Dehlavi (trans.), vol. 1, p. 40. Darul-Ishaat.
  30. 1 2 Waliullah, Shah (2020). Ḥujjat Allah Al Baligha. Brill. p. 194. ISBN 9789004444775.
  31. ↑ Muhammad Mosleh-uddin (2003). Shah Waliullah’s Contribution to Hadith Literature: A Critical Study. Aligarh, India: Department of Islamic Studies: Aligarh Muslim University. pp. 94, 95. Shah Waliullah disagreed with the Ash’arite scholars and said, “The groups agreed that Allah is living, knowing, willing, powerful, speaking and they said that there is a difference between those seven Attributes and (other Attributes) like mercy (Rahmah), anger (Ghadhab) and generorsity (Jood) in this respect. While others said that seeing and hearing were two independent Attributes.” In refusing the faith of Ash’arite the Shah said, “The earlier pious were unanimous in believing in Allah’s Attributes according to His wish and as He obligated it (to the men) to declare Him as dissimilar with the creatures by His verse, “Nothing is like Him.” And whoever holds the opposite thought, he contradicts the way of the earlier pious. I say that there is no difference among the hearing, seeing, having power, laughing, speaking and Istiwa (existing upon the Arsh).”{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: publisher location (link)
  32. 1 2 K. Hermansen, Marcia (1996). “Chapter 40: Belief in the Divine Attributes”. The Conclusive Argument from God: Shāh Walī Allāh of Delhi’s Ḥujjat Allāh al-Bāligha. Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill Publishers. p. 193. ISBN 978-90-04-10298-9.
  33. ↑ Dr. Mubarak Ali, “Almiyah-e-Tarikh“, ch. 9 – 10, pp. 95 – 105, Fiction House, Lahore, (2012).
  34. 1 2 Robinson, Francis (2001). The Ulama of Farangi Mahall and Islamic Culture in South Asia. Permanent Black. pp. 45–48.
  35. ↑ Metcalf, Barbara D. (1982). Islamic Revival in British India: Deoband, 1860–1900. Princeton University Press. pp. 21–23.
  36. ↑ Roy, Kaushik (2004). India’s Historic Battles: From Alexander the Great to Kargil. Permanent Black. pp. 80–90.
  37. ↑ S. Athar Rizvi, “Shah Waliullah and His Times“, p. 227, Ma’rifat Publishing House, Canberra, (1980).
  38. ↑ Ayesha Jalal (3 January 2008). Partisans Of Allah: Jihad In South Asia. p. 41.
  39. ↑ Syed Mehboob Rizwi. History of The Dar al-Ulum Deoband (Volume 2) (PDF). Translated by Prof. Murtaz Husain F. Quraishi (1981 ed.). Idara-e-Ehtemam, Dar al-Ulum Deoband. p. 109. Retrieved 9 July 2019.
  40. ↑ Al-Ghazali, Muhammad (2004). The socio-political thought of shah wali allah (PDF). India: Adam Publishers. p. 124. ISBN 8174353607. Retrieved 25 October 2021. Hujjat Allah al-Balighah (Arabic), Cairo, 1933 It is the magnum opus of the author which has been universally acknowledged by Muslim scholarship as his most outstanding and epoch-making contribution. It constitutes a highly significant exposition of the Islamic worldview. We shall separately present an introduction to this work in some detail. It was first published in Bareily (India) in 1286 A.H.
  41. 1 2 3 4 5 “Shah Wali Allah (Qutb al-Din Ahmad al-Rahim) (1703-62)”. Muslim Philosophy. Retrieved 5 April 2015.
  42. ↑ Virani, Shafique (2019). “Hierohistory in Qāḍī l-Nuʿmān’s Foundation of Symbolic Interpretation (Asās al-Taʾwīl): The Birth of Jesus”. Studies in Islamic Historiography: 147–169. doi:10.1163/9789004415294_007. ISBN 9789004415294. S2CID 214047322.
  43. ↑ Abbas, Mohammad. “Shah Waliullah and Moderation”. Islamic Research Foundation International, Inc. Retrieved 5 April 2015.
  44. ↑ Nigel Kelly, “The History and Culture of Pakistan,” 2018.
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