Role of Qur’anic Interpretation in the Social Mobilisation during India’s Struggle for Independence
By
Grace Mubashir, New Age Islam
13 July
2022
Influence
of Qur’an and Its Interpretations Over the Muslims Is Not A Fact Exclusively
Belonged To India Contexts, But Is A Globally Perceived Phenomenon Wherever
Muslims Encountered the Colonial Forces
Main
Points:
1. Quran has
served as an inspiration for the people to embark on the social transformation
through massive social mobilization.
2. All bygone
sects in the Islamic history have somehow tactically used the Qur’anic
interpretations to justify their movements.
3. Holy Qur'an
is not a dogmatic scripture demanding blind actions from the faithful.
4. Quranic
teachings are misconceived by fringe elements and that wreaks havoc.
-----
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Holy Qur'an is not a dogmatic scripture demanding
blind actions from the faithful. Qur'an is a dynamic vision document which
calls for constructive work from the believers. The Quranic teachings are
misconceived by fringe elements and that wreaks havoc. The message of Quran is
clear: stand for justice and humanity. Any attempt to contrive false messages
through literal reading of some verses of the text has to be abjure.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Throughout
the history, Quran has served as an inspiration for the people to embark on the
social transformation through massive social mobilization. All bygone sects in
the Islamic history have somehow tactically used the Qur’anic interpretations
to justify their movements and appeal to the people for the unwavering support.
Arberry traces the revolutionary background of Quran to its unrivalled
authority among the laity and the general scholarly stipulation for the firm
adherence to the Qur’anic teachings. In the colonial era, freedom fighters of
different Muslim nations like Umer Mukhtar and Abdul Qadir Jaza’ri have taken
recourse to Qur’anic teachings to drive home the importance of holy war among
the masses.
The Indian
war for independence in which Muslims ardently participated was not an
exception. The war for the independence of India assumed paramount significance
among the Muslims as they waged the war for the restoration of the lost glory
of Islamic rule. Leaders with different affiliations used the Qur’anic
interpretation to draw the people to their movements. Hasrat Mohani and Azad
from the Congress, scholars from the Deobandi, Barelvi and Ahle Hadees and even
the proponents of the partition advocated their idea through the loose
interpretation of the Quran. This paper presents in-depth study about the
various discourses of Qur’anic interpretations of Indo-Pak scholars during the
war for the independence from various spectrums.
Native
people of India opposed tooth and nail the colonial subjugation that wreaked
havoc over their economic welfare and posed potential threat to the religious
and the cultural practices of local people. Various struggles against the
colonial oppression bear witness to the reality of people being united, without
least consideration for their religious and ethnic affiliations, against the
common grievance of infringing the freedom of the nation. Muslims, as noted by
K.N Panikkar, was in the vanguard in the struggles against the colonial powers
due to their aversion against the Christian west and the rise of west
challenged mercantile supremacy enjoyed by Muslims in Mediterranean Sea.
Muslims of
India relentlessly vied to overthrow the colonial administration and, hence,
staged bloody rebellions against the rule of colonial forces. Muslims proved to
be detrimental force for the rapid expansion of colonialism in India, while
other communities came to terms with western masters in due course of time. The
zeal to secure religious rights in the country they reside, Muslims, guided by
the revolutionary precepts of Qur’an, rose in rebellions and mutinies against
the alien oppressors. The timely broad interpretation of Qur’an by the erudite
scholars stirred the Muslim community to take resort to violence in their hope
to retard the growth of colonial powers. This paper analyses the role of
Qur’anic interpretation in the social mobilization of Muslims against the
British raj.
Muslim
Response towards British
The book
written by Thomas .P. Hardy gives in-depth analysis over the chequered relation
of Muslims had with British in various course of time. Rather than reaching a
sweeping generalization, prudent would be to weigh the various approach of
Muslim of community according to the relevant social condition. Ever since
colonial powers made inroads into the India, no consensus existed among the
scholars and they stood divided on many issues like paying of tax to
government, cooperation with the infidels, and establishment of Dar-ul-Islam
and so on. So was the case of Muslim stance against British and they adopted
political and religious positions expedient to the changing complex social
conditions. However, Muslim relation with the British, according to Hardy,
could be classified into major four stages.
• Before the 1857 mutiny,
Muslims altogether abhorred the British for disrupting the Islamic rule in
various parts of the country.
• After 1857 educated Muslim
intelligentsia coming to terms with British reformative policies like modern
scientific education.
• Liberal and orthodox
Muslim scholars join hands with congress against British policies towards
Ottoman Khilafat, in the wake of latter’s defeat in world war first.
• Growing rapport of Muslim
community towards British policies and the evolution of two state theories.
Qur’an
and the Social Mobilization Process
Post-colonial
historians of Muslim world have strikingly characterized the adherents of Islam
as agents of change in the localities they dwell, either through intellectual
debates or through physical violence. The pattern of Muslim anti-colonial
resistance from Africa to Middle East asserts the revolutionary nature of
Islamic faith when their religious existence is seemed endangered by the
Christians and Jews, historical arch-rivals of Islam. The religious
susceptibility of Muslims is a hot subject among the academicians as they
explore the staunch loyalty of Muslims of towards their religious cause and
often attribute the zeal to court martyrdom to the tremendous rewards promised
if one sacrificed his life for the sake of god.
Various
elements drew the Muslim folks to take arms against the rivals and eventually
shed the life in the cause of Allah the Almighty. In the book Against Lord And
State which gives an extensive study over the uprisings of Malabar Muslims
against the British forces, author K.N Panikkar traces the rebellious fervour
of Muslims into various factors; immunity enjoyed by holy Qur’an and the
prophetic Sunna, reverence to the Sufi saints and the martyrs, unflinching
loyalty towards the scholars and the abundance of literary works in the form of
ballads, speeches and folklores were the major sources that ignited the Muslims
against British. The ill-equipped companions of prophet Muhammad (P.B.U.H) who
accompanied him to the gruesome battlefield of Badr, the maiden war in the
history of Islam, were stirred by the dictates of Qur’an to take on the
formidable prowess of Makkan aristocracy. According to the Thomas Arnold, the
verses in the Qur’an that signify moral battle between Muslims and infidels are
of importance in the history of Islamic conquests and the fact that Muslims
voluntarily joined the forces fighting the unbelievers substantiates the
augment of the historian.
Throughout
the centuries, Qur’an enjoyed and will enjoy the status of a sole religious
book poised to create troubles for the unjust colonial rulers, a fact relayed
by various British government appointed committees to look into the causes of
Muslims rebellions. Hence, after the breakout of first war of independence in
1857 British government ordered the seizure of the holy texts in the fear of
rebellion blowing out of the conditions as these texts, according to British
correspondence, spewed venomous hatred against the administration and the
feudal institution that props up the injustice. The influence of Qur’an and its
interpretations over the Muslims is not a fact exclusively belonged to India
contexts, but is a globally perceived phenomenon wherever Muslims encountered
the colonial forces.
Many
historians have discussed the paramount significance of Qur’an behind the
social mobilization of Muslim communities. All the discussions could be
summarized as follows:
1. The supremacy enjoyed by
the Qur’an among the masses as the lone fool proof dive revelation of god that
exists to date without even minor abrogation
2. The wide currency of
Qur’an among the people in written form because according to a layman religious
education meant to acquire the ability to recite Qur’an, except for the other
mandatory knowledge.
3. The inherent revolutionary
teachings of Qur’an and the scholars’ perception of Qur’an as a catalyst of
positive change
4. Sacredness of Qur’an among
all factions: although a great deal of divisions and disputes could be found
among the people of various factions, the Qur’an in its scriptural form is
identical to all, unlike any other sources of legislation in Islam.
The
positions that the Ulama took on the various issues took the form of juristic
opinions or fatwas, mostly issued in response to questions raised by Muslims
wanting to follow the religiously correct course of action, or were embedded in
shuruh of the Qur’an and Hadith. Muhammad Qasim Zaman describes commentaries as
follows: “The discursive form of the commentary was, in fact, one of the
principle means (the other was the fatwa) through which the law was not only
elaborated but also expanded and modified to meet the exigencies of changing
times. Commentaries allowed scholars to preserve the identity and authority of
their school of law, their legal tradition, while simultaneously providing them
with the means to make sometimes important adjustments in that tradition.
Faraizi
Movement of Bengal
The Faraizi
movement fanned out through Bengal and Orissa is considered forerunner to the
well-knit mass religious rebellions of nineteenth and twentieth century. India
succumbed to anarchy towards the close of eighteenth century. Taking advantage
of the chaos and the vacuum caused by the fall of central authority the British
vied to carve out a place for themselves, which they retained for more than a
century. Superior techniques and adept diplomacy further gave British an upper
hand and in league with the indigenous states and rebellious princes, they came
into prominence and emerged victorious. Meanwhile, the delicate relation of
British government with the various ethnic and religious communities got
deteriorated and the later decades witnessed grave battle between the
oppressive administration and the people.
The Faraizi
movement was founded by Pir Shriatullah (1781-1840) of Faridpur who preached a
revolutionary religious dogma against the British in 1804. The Faraizi Movement
of Bengal was the first organized Islamic movement in British India.3 It would
seem that initially this movement was a purely religious reform movement. As
far the teachings of Haji Shariatullaah and his disciples are concerned, they
did not deviate from the accepted beliefs of Islam and that could not be even
imagined that they established a new creed by any stretch of imagination. They
vociferously advocated the purging of unIslamic practices that were inducted
into the code of religious worship due to the internalization of indigenous
customs.
But, the
Faraizis could not remain indifferent to the economic exploitation and
miserable plight of the people among whom they were working and whom they
sought to reform. As a result, they found themselves entangled in combating the
economic exploitation of the helpless peasantry by the Zamindars and
indigo-planters and this imparted to their movement an-anti-British character
and ultimately it become one of the distinctive features of the movement.
Those spearheaded the movement had outstanding
mastery over Islamic disciplines and hence they wielded unrivalled esteem the
rank and file. They tactically invoked the Qur’anic interpretation to mobilize
the people into rebellion against British and in the unmatched authority of
divine book they perceived the potential to consolidate the fragmented umma on
a common course. People were instilled with the craze to fight against the
tyrannical administration and unequivocally stated their political pursuits
were apparently the replacement of British hegemony by the establishment of an
Islamic state rooted in the revelations of Holy Qur’an. The revolutionary
interpretation of Qur’an was conveyed through the rabble-rousing speeches that
were delivered by eminent Faraizi leaders. Thanks to the tradition of oral
transmission, the compilations of these interpretations are non-existent to the
date, save some historical documents of British official correspondence.
That the
Faraizis were patriots and made matchless sacrifices for their motherland is
undisputed. Inspired by the Qur’anic clarion calls thousands of oppressed
peasants rose like a man against feudal lords and British planters and for many
successive years jeopardized the very existence of British establishment in
north-eastern parts of India. They were passive freedom fighters. After initial
emphatic success, British harshly repelled the fighters, leaving a massive
trail of destruction behind. British army, benevolently aided by feudal lords,
conducted serial military raids in Faraizi dens which eventually expedited the
premature death of the movement.
Muslim
Participation in Anti-British Politics
After the
failure of Khilafat movement, the imperial slavery continued to haunt the
Muslims. In their attempt to eliminate the colonialism Muslims stood divided
mainly in two poles: one communal alliance under the Muslim League and another
socialist movement under congress and Gandhi. Followers of Aligarh movement and
the Samastha Kerala Jamliathul Ulama, a vibrant clerical body established to defend
the onslaughts against Islam, constitute the exception. Muslim leaders from
various strata aligned with different movements for India attain her freedom.
Muslims wholeheartedly participated in Quit India Movement, Civil Disobedience
Movements, Salt Satyagraha and many more, earnestly burying the hatchet with
the Hindu society. The rise of educated Muslim middle class helped the reviving
of the lost grandeur of Islamic education and began the interpretation of Islam
and Qur’an afresh.
Ulema and
leaders owing allegiance to both parties used the Qur’anic injunctions and
teachings to garner the support of the masses. League leaders’ unleashed fierce
verbal attack against the congress and supporters of nationalistic course by
allegedly invoking the Qur’anic concept of Vala’ Wal Bara’. The verses
that bar the faithful from forming the alliance with the pagans were cited to
justify League’s anti-Congress stance and coming to terms with the Book of
People rather than submitting to the hegemony of idol worshippers. Jinnah
Sahib, a lawyer by profession and the staunchest believer in the efficacy of
Islamic state in the postcolonial era, perceived Qur’an as the postulate of
Muslim League and the arbitrary supreme manual of move; thus the movement
exuded the character of pan-Islamic credentials. That the Qur’anic verses were
misconstrued by partisan leaders to advance their communal ideology and the
politics of hatred is a contested issue and, however, Muslims of the
subcontinent were made and will be made to bear the brunt of vilification
campaign that spoilt the delicate religious harmony.
On the
other hand, Muslim leaders who supported the nationalist movement and Congress
were articulate in their position and eschewed the communal politics outright
by copiously referring to the Qur’an and prophetic approach to non-Muslims.
They found the resemblances of their pathetic political degeneration in the
Makkan life the prophet (P.B.U.H) when he was dwarfed by mighty adversaries. As
a matter of political expediency, these scholars made a strong pitch for the
united movement with non-Muslims and reckoned with the leadership of Gandhi.
Scholars of Deobandi school of thought, Abul Kalam Azad, Khan Abdul Gaffer Khan
and M.A. Ansari were the prominent Muslim scholars in the nationalistic
alliance and passionately collaborated with and even staged a number of
demonstrations for the freedom of nation. When compared to the mass appeal of
Muslim League had among Muslim denominations, the congress lagged very behind
in securing the backing of non-educated Muslims. These scholars also drew
inspiration from the pluralistic concepts of Qur’an, a fact substantiated by
the harmonious life prophet (P.B.U.H).
Khan Abdul
Gaffer Khan, a formidable Pashtoon leader and the revivalist of Pashtoon nationalism,
adored the Gandhian way of passive resistance very much and became the ardent
proponent of non-violence, a political philosophy he extracted from the
interpretation of Qur’an. 16While the British colonial authorities decried
Abdul Ghaffar Khan as another trouble- making Indian nationalist dreaming of
freedom, Mahatma Gandhi found in him a paragon of non-violence and one who drew
his ahimsa (non-violence) from the Holy Qur’an.17 He formed a voluntary
organization named Khudai Khidmatgar to address the needs of the destitute and
people in rebellion-ravaged areas as part of his nationalistic pursuits. Their
motto was that the service of humanity was the best worship of God. They succeeded
in creating at the local level a culture of Khidmat-o-Qurbani (service
and sacrifice) through two Qur’anic means: Sabr-o-Salah (patience and
prayers). The Khudai Khidmatgars summarized their mission in the Qur’anic
injunction of stopping evil and spreading virtue.
Born in
Makka, Maulana Abul Kalam Azad is considered a unique modern Muslim scholar of
India having mastery over the traditional and the progressive Islam which
helped him carve out a distinct niche in the history of Islamic progressivism.
He served the Indian National Congress as president in two terms and the
independent India as the first educational minister, a post he held till his
death in 1956. His political acumen won the Muslims hearts in joining hands
with the Congress to a great extent. Hardly he had supported the communal
politics of Muslim League nor demanded a separate state exclusively for
Muslims; instead theoretically and logically he countered the hollow arguments
raised by spokesmen of dual nation theory. Azad wrote a voluminous Qur’anic
interpretation in Urdu language named Tarjuman-e-Qur’an, in which he tried to
explain Islam according to the modern sciences and the pluralistic political
concepts of Qur’an.
What is
remarkable about Azad’s political practice is that it is grounded in his
interpretation of the Qur’an and the Sharia. The Qur’an according to him
revealed a universal religion—din—which is shared by all those who believe in
God. Din consisted in “devotion to God and balanced, righteous action”. The
Qur’an, in his interpretation, did not ask the followers of other religions to
accept Islam as an altogether new religion. “On the contrary, it asks them to
return to the true form of their own religion”. That is to say, Azad saw Islam
as recognizing the de jure legitimacy of all institutional religions. Since a
spiritual bond unites all believers regardless of their institutional
differences, the practice of Muslims regarding themselves as members of a
metaphysically closed religion has only historical, but no doctrinal,
foundation. Azad went further. There should therefore be no doctrinal or
juristic objection against Muslims forming an Ummah Al-Wahidah, or
unitary body, with the Hindus. He claimed that his interpretation was based on
the practice of the Prophet (P.B.U.H)—the settlement that he had reached with
the non-Muslim tribes of Medina.
Azad sought
the basis of his political alliance with Indian National Congress, on the basis
of the following Qur’anic verses and the Meesaq-e- Madinah: “Serve
Allah, my people for you have no god but Him”. 21The Meesaq-e- Madinah
contains the following clause, i.e., the Jews of Bani Awf will be a part of the
Muslim Ummah. The Prophet said, due to an agreement between the Jews and the
Muslims, they will be considered as one Ummah and therefore, there will be no
discrimination between them. According to Maulana Mawdudi, it was a time bound
agreement for the sake of a military alliance. Therefore, it will be improper
to refer to it as composite culture as it is used in the present day political
terminology.
It is thus
clear that the Holy Qur'an is not a dogmatic scripture demanding blind actions
from the faithful. Qur'an is a dynamic vision document which calls for
constructive work from the believers. The Quranic teachings are misconceived by
fringe elements and that wreaks havoc. The message of Quran is clear: stand for
justice and humanity. Any attempt to contrive false messages through literal
reading of some verses of the text has to be abjured.
------
A
regular columnist for NewAgeIslam.com, Grace Mubashir is a journalism student
at IIMC, Delhi
URL: https://newageislam.com/islamic-society/quranic-interpretation-social-independence/d/127469
New Age Islam, Islam Online, Islamic Website, African Muslim News, Arab World News, South Asia News, Indian Muslim News, World Muslim News, Women in Islam, Islamic Feminism, Arab Women, Women In Arab, Islamophobia in America, Muslim Women in West, Islam Women and Feminism