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Sha'baan 1423                               Volume 1,  No. 3                            November 2002

DEOBAND AND ITS ULEMA

Deoband, the alma mater of thousands of Ulema, was the first Islamic institute to fight British imperialism and colonialism In India

The Ulema of Deoband were in the forefront of the struggle against the nefarious designs of the British Empire to divide and rule. These Ulema were also responsible for entrenching Islam in the sub-continent, as well as the spread of Islam to the four corners of the globe. The following article on Deoband will outline all this, and much more. This story will be published in serial form. It is a condensation of an article written by Hazrat Mufti Zafirud-Deen on the history and achievements of Deoband, and was translated into English by Prof. Atique Siddiqui of India.

It was as early as 1717 (CE) that the British began trade links with India, under the patronage of Mughal Emperor Farrukh Siyar who also granted them exemption from many taxes and duties. Later on Emperor Shah Alam II ceded to them revenue authority over the states of Bihar, Orrisa and Bengal for a paltry sum of rupees per year.

All this emboldened the British designs for expansionism, and in 1803 Lord Lake attacked Delhi (the capital), imprisoned the Emperor and forced him to sign a treaty in terms of which his rule would be confined to the city and the Red Fort of Delhi, as well as the rural areas surrounding Delhi. As for the rest of India, it was to be governed by the British.

In view of this tragic turnabout of Muslim fortunes, one of the great scholars of Hadith in India, Hazrat Shah Muhaddith Abdul Aziz Dehlavi (died 1823 CE) was compelled to announce that India was no longer Daarul-Islam (a Muslim country) He also declared that since Delhi was under the hegemony of Christian rule, the Muslim Ruler or Imam could not issue any Islamic writs over that city. During this period, the light of Deen that had been shining so brilliantly in India was now beginning to dim. This ominous decline of Muslims was not viewed lightly by the Ulema of that time, and so Hazrat Shah Abdul Aziz urged one of his great followers, Hazrat Sayed Ahmed Barelvi, and his famous nephew, Hazrat Moulana Ismail Shaheed to initiate an armed struggle against the Christian imperialists. With the help of an organized group, these Men of Allah began a campaign of Jihad aimed at bringing about an Islamic revival and revolution throughout the country. They had the blessings of all the Awliyaa and Ulema of India at the time. A major confrontation took place at Balakot.

(To be continued, Insha-Allah)

THE TRUTH ABOUT QADIANISM AND AHMADIS
Part 3

After his son, about whom he had made such predictions, died, Mirza Qadyani came up with yet another interesting prediction … or prophecy, if you like. Actually Mirza was making all these prophecies so as to make people believe in his false prophet hood. Real prophets are not overly fond of making miracles happen or of predicting future events. These things just happen by themselves when the occasion demands it. It is Allah Ta'ala who makes miracles happen at their hands or tells them about future events, which they in turn tell the people. They are never worried whether their prophecies will come true or not but as Mirza was a false prophet he was worried all the time lest he might be proved a liar. He therefore used ambiguous words so that if caught he could innocently say, 'when did I ever say that?' That is not what I meant. Here is what he predicted about how long he would live. In his book he writes: "Allah Ta'ala has so willed that not only the people of this age should benefit from my prophecy but that there should be some [prophecies] which will prove to be a magnificent sign for people of the ages to come – as for example, this prophecy that I shall live to be eighty, or a little bit less, or a little bit more.

Well, this prophecy is nothing less than a joke isn't it? Allah Ta'ala has destined each and every person to live a certain, a fixed number of years in this world. How can he live more or less than the allotted time? Mirza was actually afraid that if he were to say that he would live to be 80, but then died before or after that, he would prove to be a barefaced liar. So he added the words, 'a little bit more or a little bit less'. But even that was not to be. Mirza died at the age of 68 only. How do we know that? Well he has written it in one of his own books. "I was born in 1839 or 1840." According to all his followers, Mirza died in 1908. He was thus 68 years old at the time of his death and nowhere near 80. A few years less would have meant 76 or thereabouts and a few years more would have made it about 84. Mirza died when he was 68 years old, which makes it 12 years less than the predicted 80. All this goes to prove that Mirza's prophecy was nothing but a false claim, a brazen lie. When Mirza's followers are confronted with the year of his birth as mentioned by himself in one of his own books, they come up with the excuse that in those days the custom of recording births did not even exist. The fact is that in telling lies the followers of Mirza leave even their master far behind. Were you to turn the pages of history, you would definitely find the year our Prophet (sallallahu alaihi wasallam) passed away, mentioned there. You would easily find the dates of birth of the Khulafa-i-Rashideen written there too. Not only that but you would also find the dates of birth and death of all famous people in their biographies. And the Qadiyanis say that in the days of Mirza, the custom of recording births did not exist! It existed fourteen hundred years ago but during the time of Mirza, i.e. only a hundred years ago, it did not exist! Can anyone really believe that?

So we were talking about the senseless and nonsensical prophecies of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad Qadiyani. Here is an interesting account of one. Every prophecy of Mirza invites us to think about what he really was.

Ahmad Baig was a relative of Mirza. He lived in Hoshiyarpur. One day he visited Mirza in connection with some work. Mirza seized the opportunity to ask him for his daughter's hand in marriage. Taken aback by this sudden turn of events, poor Ahmad Baig refused to give an answer immediately. He had come on an entirely different matter but here was Mirza asking for his daughter's hand in marriage. Without giving him a reply, Ahmad Baig returned home. A few days after his return, Mirza wrote him a letter. Now listen carefully to what Mirza said in his letter: "Allah Ta'ala, through His special message, has revealed upon me that if you were to agree to your daughter's marriage with me, He would remove all evil and bad luck from you. If this marriage does not take place, it will not be lucky for you to marry her to someone else. Trouble, pain and death will be the outcome of that marriage. These two prophecies, of blessedness and death, are such that their taking place shall prove whether I am a liar or speaking the truth." The words of this letter are crying out aloud that Allah Ta'ala revealed upon Mirza what would happen to Ahmad Baig if he did not marry his daughter to Mirza and secondly, that this prophecy would prove Mirza to be a true prophet or a liar.

If the heart finds pleasure in Ibadat (worship), regard such Ibadat as food for the Rooh. If it becomes disinclined towards worship then consider that Ibadat as medication for the rooh. (Hazrat Maseehul Ummat)