10. REFORM MOVEMENTS AMONG MUSLIMS

Some important reform movements among Muslims were as follows

TITU MIR MOVEMENT

Mir Nithar Ali, popularly known as Titu Mir (1782-1831), was an ardent follower of Syed Ahmad of Rae Bareli. He preached the fundamentalist doctrine of Islam and mobilized Muslim peasants to organize a rebellion against the government, which was ruthlessly crushed.

WAHABI MOVEMENT

The earliest organized Muslim response to the Western influence in India came from the Wahabi Movement founded in India by Shah Waliullah, who was influenced by the teachings of Abdul Wahab of Saudi Arabia. Syed Ahmad of Rae Bareli (1786-1831). a disciple of Shah Abdul Aziz, eldest son of Waliullah popularised the teachings of the latter and also gave it political color. It was a revivalist movement with a slogan to return to pure Islam. Jihad was declared with the prime objective of converting Dar-ul-Harb (land of infidels) into Dar-ul-Islam (land of Islam). As Wahabis were ill-equipped in terms of arms.

The British crushed the movement in the 1870s. Wahabis considered Sher Ali, the assassinator of Lord Mayo a martyr. Shah Waliullah translated Kuran into Persian. Darul Uloom House of Knowledge at Deoband in Saharanpur, Uttar Pradesh was established.

ALIGARH MOVEMENT

It was a reformist movement founded with a prime focus to modernize Indian Muslims. It was started by Sir Syed Ahmad Khan (1817-1898). He himself was in judicial service of the Company at the time of the Revolt of 1857 and retired from the government service in 1876. He was prepared to accept the official patronage and reconcile the differences of the community with that of the government and develop the Muslims, socially and economically.

He was convinced that in order to get a larger share in a government job, modern education was a must. He tried to modernize Muslim Community and propagated his ideas through his writings in the journal named Tahzeeb-ul-Akhlaq (improvement of manner and morals). He advocated a rational approach towards religion and emphasized the reinterpretation of Kuran in the light of reason to suit the new trend of the time. He condemned the system of Piri (mystic faquirs being treated as teachers/gurus) and Muridi (disciples) and the institution of slavery in Islam.

With full official backing from the government, Sir Syed founded Aligarh School in 1875, which was upgraded by Mohammedan Anglo-Oriental College, which became the nucleus for the formation of Aligarh Muslim University in 1920. He stressed the need for Hindu-Muslim unity. However, he did not associate himself with INC and asked the Muslims to stay aloof from political movements and urged them to be loyal to the British in order to get maximum benefits.

FARAIZI MOVEMENT

It was an orthodox Islamic Movement founded by Haji Shariatullah of Faridpur in East Bengal. He was deeply influenced by Shah Waliullah and his doctrine. He called for a return to Faraid (the obligatory duties of Islam) like Namaz, Zakat, and Haj fasting in Ramzan ete and started the struggle in 1830 against political domination and economic exploitation. Under Dadu Miyan (son of Shariatullah), the movement became revolutionary and violent and spread in the region from 1840-1847. Dadu Miyan’s Movement was the first no-tax campaign against the British Government, for it believed that all lands belonged to God and no man had the right to demand any tax.

DEOBAND MOVEMENT

It was an important revivalist movement founded in 1867, by two theologians Muhammad Qasim Nanotvi and Rashid Ahmad Gangohi Deoband, at Saharanpur in 1866, with two main objectives

1. Popularising the teaching of Kuran and Hadis.
2. To initiate Jihad against foreign rule.

It discouraged English education and criticized Western culture and trained students for preaching the Islamic faith. There was a wide gulf between Deoband and Aligarh Movements. It welcomed the formation of INC and supported it. The Deoband Movement issued a Fatwa against Sir Syed Ahmad Khan’s Organisation in 1888.

AHMADIYYA MOVEMENT

It was founded by Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of Qadiyan (Punjab) in 1889. The main aim of the movement was to liberalize the tenets of Islam, in the context of modern enlightenment. It believed in rationalism and stood for a Western system of education. It opposed the medieval concept of Jihad (Crusade), which led to the destruction of mankind

AHRAR MOVEMENT

It was founded in 1910 under the leadership of Maulana Mohammed Ali, Hakim Ajmal Khan, and Hasan Imam. Maulana Zafar Ali Khan, Mazhar-ul- Haq, etc in opposition to the loyalist politics of the Aligarh Movement. Its members advocated active participation in the Nationalist Movement