Explore the life and legacy of Shah Waliullah, an influential Islamic scholar and reformer in central India, whose work impacted Islamic thought and spirituality.

Shah Waliullah and His Contributions to Central India

Shah Waliullah Dehlawi

Shah Waliullah Dehlawi (1703–1762) was an Islamic Sunni scholar and Sufi reformer who contributed to Islamic revival in the Indian subcontinent. He is seen by his followers as a renewer.

Early Life and Education

Ahmad was born on 21 February 1703 to Shah Abdur Rahim, a prominent Islamic scholar of Delhi. He memorized the Quran by the age of seven. He was married at fourteen. By fifteen he had completed the standard curriculum of Hanafi law, theology, geometry, arithmetic, and logic.

Death

He died on Friday the 29th of Muharram 1176 AH, or 20 August 1762 at the time of Jummah prayer in Old Delhi, aged fifty-nine. He was buried beside his father Shah Abdur Rahim at Mehdiyan, a graveyard to the left of Delhi Gate.

Views on Sunni Islam

Shah Waliullah defined Sunni Islam in broad terms, rather than confining it to a specific school of theology. He considered the four legal schools, as well as both the Ahl al-Hadith (Athari) and Ahl al-Ra'y (Maturidi and Ash'ari) schools of theology to be part of Sunnism.

Views on 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 with ijtihad based on the basis on which the Quran and Hadith is founded on.

Views on Tafsir (Qur'anic Exegesis)

Shah Waliullah placed emphasis on a direct understanding of the Quran, maintaining that those students with sufficient knowledge must work with the text, rather than previous commentaries.

Views on Divine Attributes

On the nature of Divine Attributes, Shah Waliullah held the positions of the Ash'ari creed. Shah Waliullah held to the position that ta'wil (alternative interpretation) of the Divine Attributes is permissible within limits.

Stance on Marathas

His dislike of the Marathas is expressed in one of his dreams that he narrated in “Fuyooz-ul Haramain” where he said "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".

Views on the Shi'a

In one of his letters available in manuscripts collection at Rampur, he asks Muslim rulers led by Ahmad Shah Bahadur to put a ban on public religious ceremonies by non-Muslims and to issue strict orders against certain ceremonies by the Shi'a.

Views on Arab Culture

Shah Waliullah strongly advocated against adopting non-Islamic customs, and argued for commitment to Arabic Islamic culture.

Works

Hujjat Allah al-Balighah (The Conclusive Argument of God), considered to be his most important work. This book explains how Islam is found suitable for all races, cultures, and people of the world and how successfully it solves social, moral, economic and political problems of human beings.

He translated the Quran into Persian. Few Muslims spoke Arabic and so the Quran had not been widely studied previously.

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