Ghazwa e Hind: Fictitious or Factual
By
Rasheed Kidwai
Tr. New
Age Islam Edit Desk
August 25,
2021
Ghazwa
an Arabic-Origin Word Denotes an Islamic Battle Fought For the Religious
Beliefs and Doctrines
Main
Points:
1. The word
Ghazwa has been recurring in India for quite some time now.
2. Ghazwa is a
battle which is fought only on doctrinal grounds.
3. Maulana
Mufti Salman Mansoorpuri has pointed out a number of misconceptions in this
regard.
----
The word
Ghazwa has been recurring in the country for quite some time now. An
Arabic-origin word which denotes an Islamic battle fought for the religious
beliefs and doctrines, the Ghazwa war cry doesn’t aim at achieving wealth or
winning just a country or a land, but in fact it is a battle which is fought
only on doctrinal grounds. Ghazwa finds a lot of mention in the Prophetic
sayings [hadiths]. At present, the term 'Ghazwa-e-Hind' is being used in a
negative connotation. This implies that an Islamic war is being waged in which
Muslim fighters will attack and conquer the Indian subcontinent.
But a lot
of misconceptions have crept in it, which have been pointed out by the
authoritative scholars [read clerics]. Maulana Mufti Salman Mansoorpuri, a
leading figure in the Jamiat Ulema-i-Hind (JUIH)—an Islamic organisation which
played a vital role in liberating the country—has also pointed out a number of
misconceptions in this regard. He penned
down a well-reasoned article on what it means to refer to “Ghazwa-e-Hind” or
the Islamic conquest of India. According to him, Pakistan is mischievously
spreading a plethora of fabrications in the name of Ghazwa-e-Hind with a view
to harming India’s national interests.
In an
article widely circulated by the [prominent Deobandi seminary] Jamia Qasmia
Shahi in Muradabad, Maulana Salman Mansoorpuri refutes the claims of terrorist
organizations like Jaish-e-Muhammad with great evidences. He cautions that the
hadiths of the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) must not be used for political interests
[of Pakistan] or any other ulterior motives.
One of the
major problems in this regard is that the 'warmongers' sitting in our TV
studios have also been dwelling on this subject, talking illogically and
concocting a lot of falsehoods in the
name of ‘Ghazwa-e-Hind’. It is not difficult to understand the opinion of
anchors and supposed experts sitting in the newsrooms with an anti-Muslim
mentality. As you might have seen on a channel called Times Now. One day, it
headlined: “Ghazwa-e-Hind: a new enemy of India. Will Lutyens believe now?
(India Upfront with Rahul Shivshankar, 26 September, 2019).
Swarajya, a
right-wing monthly print magazine carried a news article based on a substandard
propaganda video spread by a Pakistani agency. In this video made by a
Pakistani filmmaker, there is a lot of baseless talk. It predicts that the
Islamic dream of an invasion of the Indian subcontinent will be fulfilled by
2025. Interestingly, it has also even been claimed in the video that Virat
Kohli will then be part of the Pakistani cricket team and will play for
Pakistan against the England cricket team in the World Cup tournament. Maulana
Mansoorpuri, as an author of several books and a leading cleric, has questioned
the authenticity of this video and such news being spread from across the
border.
Maulana
Mansoorpuri has also mentioned some Ahadith [plural of Hadith] about the
conquest of India, such as the narration of Hazrat Sauban (R.A.), the freed
servant of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh). He narrates about Ghazwat-ul-Hind and
reports that the Prophet (pbuh) said:
“In my
Ummah, there would be two such armed groups, which Allah will save from the
torment of Hellfire; one is the group which will attack Sindh (Indian
subcontinent) and the other would be the one who would accompany Hazrat Isa Ibn
Maryam (A.S)”.
Another
similar hadith is attributed to Abu Huraira, a close companion of the Prophet
and narrator of more than 5,000 hadith reports. According to this hadith, which
is narrated by Abu Hurayrah, the Prophet (pbuh) has promised us that some
Muslims would wage jihad in the Indian subcontinent. If I had found this, I
would have sacrificed my life and property in the path of Allah, the Almighty,
and if I had died in it, then I would have been one of the best martyrs, and if
I had returned alive, then I (Abu Hurairah) would have been freed from
Hellfire.”
Muhammad
Salman Mansoorpuri affirms that there are many hadiths about the conquest of
India (Ghazwat-ul-Hind) and its rewards. But the narrators of these hadiths are
often unreliable, weak (Da’eef), hesitant, and sometimes exaggerators. There
are narrators in these hadiths from whom the chain of authentic hadiths is
scarce. The authenticity of a narrator is highly important in the case of
hadiths. It is due to the authenticity of these narrators that the hadiths have
acquired the status of the second primary source of Islam.
Maulana
Mansoorpuri further says that the chain of narrators [Sanad) of the
Ghazwa-tul-Hind hadiths is weak. At the same time, they do not say anything
clear about the exact time and place of the battle. According to him, however,
three possible things can be said about the Ghazwa-tul-Hind.
First of
all, these may be the battles of the first and middle ages of Islam, the focus
of which revolved around the Indian subcontinent. After the conquests in these
campaigns, Muslim domination in these areas continued for a long time. These
were the wars led by Muhammad bin Qasim and Mahmood Ghaznavi. This view is
reinforced by the fact that Sindh is also mentioned in the Ghazwa-tul-Hind
hadiths. A hadith says that Sindh will be conquered. We all know and it is
written in the pages of history that Muhammad bin Qasim had conquered the then
Sindh [So, there is more need or relevance of the Ghazwa-e-Hind now].
Secondly,
the word 'Hind' used in these hadiths is not specifically for India but rather
it encompasses the Indian subcontinent and the surrounding areas, especially
Basra and its neighbourhoods. This is further substantiated by the fact that
according to the Prophet’s Companions (Sahaba), "we used to call Basra
‘Hind’." In view of this, Maulana Mansoorpuri says that these hadiths
[concerning the Islamic conquest of the Indian subcontinent] may be an
insinuation to the wars that were fought against Iran [the then Persia] in the
early days of Islam.
The third
possibility is that the wars mentioned in the Ghazwa-tul-Hind have not yet been
fought. This confrontation may occur when, according to Islamic teachings,
Hazrat Eisa (Jesus Christ) and Imam Mahdi will appear.
In his
conclusive remarks, Maulana Mansoorpuri writes that “these details clearly show
that in this day and age, it is completely wrong to incite the Muslims of the
Indian subcontinent to jihad in the name of the Ghazwa-tul-Hind. That is
because in the first two inferences from these hadiths, there is no possibility
of (any war) for them. And the third connotation is dubious. But even if we
accept it, the signs of the day when Jesus will come down are not yet clear or
fully evident.
Courtesy:
Inquilab, August 25, 2021, New Delhi.
Urdu
Article: Ghazwa e Hind: Fictitious or Real غزوۃ الہند: فرضی یا حقیقی
URL: https://www.newageislam.com/radical-islamism-jihad/ghazwa-hind-mansoorpuri/d/125287