Sunni Scholars and their Loyalty to the British

Introduction

Anti-Ahmadis claim that Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (AS) is a Kafir for declaring Jihad of the Sword against the British as Unislamic. They also claim that he is a British agent. With this argument, these people have declared all their scholars as British agent and Kafir. In this article, we will show not only the Sunni scholars declaring Jihad against British as Haram, but also going many steps further in proving their loyalty and servitude to the British Empire.

Jihad against British Haram

Ahmad Raza Khan Barelvi

“Jihad is not obligatory for us, the Muslims of India, on the basis of the Qur’an. He who holds that it is obligatory is an opponent to the Muslims and intends to harm them!”

[al-Mahajjat al-Mu’tamana, p. 208]

Ashraf Ali Thanvi al-Deobandi

“If Allah gave us government then we will keep the British as our subjects but with utmost comfort and peace because they kept us in peace.”

[Malfoozat Hakeem-ul-Ummat, vol. 6, p. 102]

Rashid Ahmad Gangohi al-Deobandi

“The Deobandis, as described above, used the services of officials in supporting their management of the school. They made sure that they conformed in every way to a posture of loyalty.

Rashid Ahmad, for this reason, refused to accept a grant of 5,000 rupees a year from the Shah of Afghanistan for fear that a political link might be suspected.

And the school celebrated ceremonial occasions like coronations with appropriate pomp, and observed times of crises, like Queen Victoria’s last illness, with fitting prayers and messages.”

[Islamic Revival in British India, p. 154]

Sir Syed Ahmad Khan

“Since the Muslims were living in peace they could, in no case, come out for Jihad against the Government.”

[Asbab-e-Baghawat-e-Hind, p. 8]

Ottomon Khalifa, Sultan Abdul Majeed

“Rather in 1857, an order was taken from Sultan Abdul Majeed, in his capacity as a Caliph, that Muslims must not fight the British and must obey them.”

[Naqsh-e-Hayat, vol. 2, pg. 631]

Maulvi Muhammad Husayn Batalwi

Some of our Muslim brothers believe that the present misfortunes of the followers of Islam cannot be removed without the sword. It is no use acquiring worldly education. However, looking at the present condition of the Muslims, this belief appears improbable.”

“Brethren! the age of the sword is no more. Now instead of the sword it is necessary to wield the pen. How can the sword come into the hands of the Muslims when they have no hands. They have no national identity or existence. In such a useless and weak condition, to consider them as a nation is to exceed the imagination of Shaikh Chilli (a proverbial, comical figure in Urdu fiction).”

[Isha’at-as-Sunnah, vol. vi, no. 12, December 1883, p. 364]
[Book Link]

“In terms of the true meaning of jihad, Sayyid Nazir Husain of Delhi did not consider the 1857 rebellion to be Islamic legal jihad. He thought it to be faithlessness, breach of covenant, and mischief, and declared it to be a sin to take part or help in it.”

[Isha’at-as-Sunnah, vol. vi, no. 10, December 1883, p. 288]

In our Ahle-Hadith Madhab, the ruler under which we live under in peace, doing jihad is haram

[Isha’at-as-Sunnah, vol. 10, no 25, page 36]
[Book Link]
[Computerized Urdu]

ہندوستان کے تمام طبقات رعایا سے صرف یہی ایک فرقہ اہلحدیث (؟) ہے۔ جو اس سلطنت کے زیر سایہ رہنے کو بلحاظ امن و آزادی، اسلامی سلطنتوں کے زیر سایہ رہنے سے بھی بہتر جانتا ہے، کیونکہ اس فرقہ کو بجز اس سلطنت کے کسی اور سلطنت میں (اسلامی کیوں نہ ہو ) پوری آزادی حاصل نہیں ۔

Among all the subjects of India, the Ahl-al-hadith are the only sect of Muslims (?) who know living under the shadow of this empire in terms of peace and freedom is better than living under the shadow of Islamic empires, because this sect does not have full freedom in any other empire (even if it is Islamic) except in this empire.

[Isha’at-as-Sunnah, vol. 9, no. 19, 194-195]
[Computerized Urdu]

This makes sense as there was extreme bad blood between the Ahnaaf and the Ahle Hadith in India. For example, if an Ahle Hadith did Rafa Yadain in a Hanafi Mosque he could be beaten and kicked out of the mosque. Ahmad Raza Khan, who defended traditional Hanafi Orthodoxy, in India said that Wahabis are not only Kafir but also Wajib ul Qatl and that they are followers of Satan.

“The King of Turkey is a Muslim King but so far as law and order and administration are concerned (leaving aside the religious aspect) the British Government is also of no less pride for us, the Muslims more so for the people who are known as Ahl-i-Hadees, this Government is of a greater pride for peace and freedom of conscience (as compared with Turkey, Iran and Khurasan)”

[Ishatus-Sunnah, vol. VI, Shumara 10, p. 292]
[Book Link]

Maulana Muhammad Hussain Batalawi severely condemned the 1857 mutineers who rebelled against the British. He writes:

“Uninformed Muslims should examine this implication and bear it in mind, and not consider fighting with every rival faith on account of its unbelief to be legal jihad. To fight with peaceful or covenanted people most definitely cannot be legal jihad, whether national or religious, but is rebellion and sedition. The Muslims who took part in the 1857 rebellion were serious sinners, and according to the Quran and Hadith they were rebels, mischief makers and wicked *(BAGHI Aur BAD KIRDAR). Most of the ordinary people among them were like beasts. Those known as the prominent and the Ulama were unacquainted with true faith, or lacking in understanding. Knowledgable Ulema did not participate in the rebellion nor did they sign the Fatawa for Jihad.”

[Al-Iqtisad fi masa’il al-Jihad, P. 49 – Rebels are Beasts]

“To fight against this government [i.e. British rule of India] or to aid those who fight against it, even though they
be one’s Muslim brothers, is clear treachery and haram.”

[Al-Iqtisad fi masa’il al-jihad, p. 49]

Maulvi Muhammad Hussain Batalvi sent his said ruling in relation to Jihad against the British:

Moulvi Mahomed Hossein, one of the leading and most influential Mowahideens of Lahore, when asked to give his opinion as to whether it was lawful to take up arms against the British, replied that a religious war against the British Government, or any other Government which allowed perfect freedom in religious mat ters, so far from being countenanced by the Mahomedan Law of jehad, was opposed to the doctrines of Islam. In proof of his assertion, he compiled a treatise entitled ‘ Jehad,’ in which he most ably and conclusively demonstrated that jehad against a Government like the British was unlawful and equal to a rebellion against a lawful king, and those who took any part in such a war deserved to be treated as rebels.

[Interpertation of Wahabiya, pg 105-106]

Battalvi lies that he does not believe in the Mahdi and Messiah that fights the non-Muslims using the sword. As per him, Mahdi will only use heavenly signs in support of his claim as the Bukhari has the hadith that the war will be abolished at the time of the Messiah.

This contradicts the “Sunni” view which claims that the Mahdi and Messiah will have armies and fight governments using the sword and kill all disbelievers. No non-Muslim will be left alive until they are done with their mission. Everyone will either accept Islam or will be killed.

He could not put forth this belief in front of the government, so he lied to the public and wrote lengthy articles in his magazine and the English Magazine, like below:

“It is also untrue to say that the belief in the coming of Masih and Mahdi is dangerous, for the learned Muhammadans do not believe that the Promised Masih and Mahdi will propagate Islam by the sword. According to Sahih Bukhari, a book unanimously believed to be an authority by Sunnis, the promised Masih will put an end to all fighting and will propagate Islam simply by means of heavenly signs and spiritual powers. Imam Mahdi will also come at the same time and there shall be no bloodshed and no Jehad. Islam will be spread by peaceful methods. I have written a lengthy article on the subject and it is about to be published shortly, so I need not go into details here, but I may declare it most emphatically that the Muhammedan belief in the coming of Masih and Mahdi does in no way constitute a danger to the country’s peace.”

[Civil & Military Gazette (Lahore) – 19 July 1907]

Maulana Sayyid Nadhir Hussain of Delhi – Founder of Ahle Hadith in India

Maulana Sayyid Nadhir Hussain of Delhi (1805-1902) was a very prominent and influential Salafi (Ahlul Hadith) scholar in British India. Today’s Ahlul Hadith of the Indian subcontinent look up to him as a very important scholarly figure. He was the highest Ahl-i hadith theologian.He made it explicitly clear that Jihad against the British government was prohibited:

پس جب کہ شرط جہاد کی اس دیار میں معدوم ہوئی، تو جہاد کرنا یہاں سبب ہلاکت اور معصیت کا ہوگا۔

“Since the criterion of Jihad is absent from this land, to conduct Jihad here would be a means of destruction and a sin.”

[Fatawa Naziriya; v. 3, p. 275]

Nazir Husayn Delawi says this after putting four conditions of Jihad and says that there is no reason to do. Jihad in British India. Here is more context.

“Shaikh al-Kul Maulana Syed Muhammad Nazeer Hussain Muhaddis Dehlavi (may Allah have mercy on him) writes: ‘So I say that in this era, none of these four conditions are present — so why would Jihad take place? It absolutely will not take place…’”

[Fatawa Nazeeriya, vol: 3, pg: 284]

ہندوستان میں اس وقت انگریزی حکومت ہے وہاں ہر مذہب والا آزادی کے ساتھ اپنے شعار مذہب کے ادا کرنے کا مجاز ہے۔ کوئی مسلمان نہ جمعہ سے روکا جاتا ہے نہ جماعت سے اور یہاں اسلامی سرزمین اور مسلمانوں کی حکومت میں ہم لوگ طواف کعبہ اور جمعہ و جماعت سے مجبور ہیں۔

At present there is British rule in India where every religious person is allowed to freely practice the tenets of their faith. No Muslim is barred from Jummah or Jamaat, yet in this Islamic land and under a Muslim government, we are prevented from Tawaaf e Kaaba and Jummah and Jamaat.

We are but helpless to say that the English Government is God’s Mercy (Khuda Ki Rehmat) for Muslims of Hindustan.

[Al Hayat Baad Al Mamat, p. 91]

It is noted about him by Muhammad Husayn Batalvi:

“In terms of the true meaning of jihad, Sayyid Nazir Husain of Delhi did not consider the1857 rebellion to be Islamic legal jihad. He thought it to be faithlessness, breach of covenant, and mischief, and declared it to be a sin to take part or help in it.”

[Ishatus-Sunna, vol. vi, no. 10, October 1883, p. 288]

“Maulavi Nuzir Husein is a leading Moulavi in Dehli who in difficult times has proved his loyalty to the British Government and in his pilgrimage to Mecca Thope any British Officer whose help or protection he may need will afford it to him as he most fully deserves it.”

(Signed) J.D.Tremlett BCS. Commissioner & Sup Delhi Division.

AUGUST 10, 1883.

[Ishatus Sunnah, vol. 6, no. 10, pg. 294]
[Al Hayat Baad Al Mamat, pg. 83]

Maulvi Nawab Sideeq Hasan Khan Bhopali – Co-founder of Ahle Hadith in India

He was an eminent Ahl-i hadith religious scholar as well as a political leader. In his book Tarjuman-i Wahhabiyyat, he wrote:

“No Muslim subject of India and the Indian states bears malice towards this great power….This book has been written to inform the British government that no Muslim subject of India and the Indian states
bears malice towards this great power.”

[Edition published in Lahore, 1895, Tarjuman-i Wahhabiyyat, p. 6]

عیسائی لوگ ہو جا دینگے تمام ہوا مضمون احادیث وغیرہ کا ان حدیثوں سے یہ بات معلوم ہوئی کہ اگر چہ حکومت اسلام کی ضعیف ہو جاوے یا جاتی رہی لکن بالکل مسلمان دنیا سے نہیں مٹین کے یہانتک کہ قیامت آجاوے اور طول و عرض دولت عیسائیوں کا بہت ہوگا اور یہ لوگ سب پر غالب اور حاکم ہو جا وینگے چنانچہ مطابق او سکے دیکھا سنا ہوجا اس دیکھا جاتا ہے پیس نکر کرنا اون لوگون کا جو اپنے حکم مذہبی سے جاہل ہیں اس امر مین کے سکوت برٹش سٹ جیا وے اور بیہ امن و امان جو آج حاصل ہے فساد کے پردہ میں جہاد کا نام لیکر اوٹھا دیا جا رے سخت نادانی و بیوقوفی کی بات ہے بہلا ان نا عاقبت اندیشون کا ہا ہوگایا اویس سید صادق کا فرمایا ہوا جسکا کہا ہوا آج ہم آنکھوں سے دیکھہ رہے ہیں۔

“Christians will dominate everywhere — this is the essence of the discussion based on Hadith. From these Hadiths, it is understood that even if Islamic rule becomes weak or disappears, Muslims will never be completely wiped out from the world until the Day of Judgment. The dominion and expanse of Christian power will be vast, and they will become dominant and rulers over all. This is exactly what we are seeing and hearing today. To incite unrest under the guise of Jihad during this peaceful and secure time — when British rule has brought stability — is sheer ignorance and foolishness. What has become of those shortsighted people? It is just as Syed Sadiq had said, and we are witnessing his words come true before our eyes.”

[Tarjuman-i Wahhabiyyat, p. 10]

“During the mutiny [of 1857], some rajas and so-called nawabs and men of means interfered in the peace and calm of India under the name of jihad, and they fanned the flames of battle till their disorder and hostility reached such a level that women and children, who cannot be killed under any law, were thoughtlessly slaughtered. … If anyone lets loose such mischief today, he would also be the same kind of trouble-maker, and from beginning to end he would stain the name of Islam.”

[Tarjaman e Wahabiyyah pages 22-26]

“In the treacherous era, those people who fought against the British government and broke their oath – that was not jihad, it was depravity.”

[Tarjaman e Wahabiyyah pages 54]

“No sect in our research is more benevolent, peace-loving, desirous of the comfort and tranquility of the public, and appreciative of a fair government than the group that calls itself Ahl al-Sunnah wa al-Hadith (People of the Sunnah and Hadith), and it is not a Muqallid of any particular Madhab”

[Tarjaman e Wahabiyyah pages 58]

The Nawab of Bhopal also declared that whosoever acted against the British Raj in India, he:

One who is insincere and violates his promises is, according to his own religion, looked upon as having committed a great sin; and to what punishment is such a man to be ultimately doomed will be perfectly known on the Day of Judgment. In short, such a man is a loser in this as well as in the world to come. When the laws of Mahomed enjoin the fulfilment of our promises during the whole term of a treaty, it is incumbent upon every native Prince or Chief to observe the same till the period of its close, and faithfully carry it out without a thought of violating it.

[Interpreter of Wahabism page 39]

” The current number of the Ishaatus-sunnat contains a long leading article under the heading ‘ Wahabis,’ attempting to prove that the Wahabis of India (who in the article under notice are styled as Mowahideens) are as good and loyal subjects of the Queen as any other section of the Mahomedan community. The article in question commences by stating that the name ‘ Wahabi ‘ is regarded by the Mowahideens in the same light as that of bidati, that is> superstitious, by the Sunnis. The reasons why they regard it so are many. In the first place the word whatever be its meaning from a religious and literary point of view has long been associated with disloyalty, as the Sunnis have long laboured to impress on the rulers of the country, that Mowahideens of India, like the Wahabis of Hazara and other frontier tribes, are the enemies of order and peace, and that they hold it lawful to make jehad, or religious war, against the British Government. That the Mowahideens have cleared themselves of this most malicious and serious charge, is evident from the fact that, in 1875 Moulvi Mahomed Hossein, one of the leading and most influential Mowahideens of Lahore, when asked to give his opinion as to whether it was lawful to take up arms against the British, replied that a religious war against the British Government, or any other Government which allowed perfect freedom in religious mat ters, so far from being countenanced by the Mahomedan Law of jehad, was opposed to the doctrines of Islam. In proof of his assertion, he compiled a treatise entitled ‘ Jehad,’ in which he most ably and conclusively demonstrated that jehad against a Government like the British was unlawful and equal to a rebellion against a lawful king, and those who took any part in such a war deserved to be treated as rebels. This pamphlet he caused to be circulated among a large number of the most learned Maulvis of the Punjab and other provinces, for the purpose of eliciting their opinions on the subject and ascertaining whether the quotations made by him in support of his statements were from competent authorities or otherwise. All Maulvis, among whom the treatise in question was circulated, unanimously testified to their entire concurrence with the opinions of Maulvi Mahomed Hossein and declared his authorities to be unimpeachably trustworthy, putting down their signatures and seals on the pamphlet as a mark of concurrence with its contents.

[Khan, Nawab Siddiq Hasan. Interpreter of Wahabism, p.105-106]

“No wise, experienced, and discerning man can for a moment believe that the learned will justify jihad against the British Government, in the present state of India or think that the conditions for it exist; except those Mullas who have had no perfect knowledge of their religion and no correct information.”

[interpreter of Wahabism, p.21,86]

48 References from Tarjaman e Wahabiyyah can be found at this Link where Nawab Sideeq Hasan Khan calls the rebels “stupid”, that jihad against the British is haram, that the British give religious Freedom, and that the rebels were creators of fasad and traitors and tried to ruin the peace established by the British – The full book can be read at this link

Shah Ismail Shaheed Delawi (RH) – Respected by Deobandis, Ahle Hadith, and Ahmadis

He was the deputy of Sayyid Ahmad Barelvi, and died in a battle against the Sikhs. It is written about him:

“A man asked, ‘Why do you not give a pronouncement of jihad against the British?’ He replied: In no way is it obligatory to fight jihad against them. Firstly, we are their subjects. Secondly, they do not interfere in our performance of our religious duties. We have every kind of
freedom under their rule. In fact, if someone attacks them, Muslims must fight the attacker and let not their government be harmed a whit.” ()

[Hayyat Tayyiba, biography on Shah Ismail Shaheed by Mirza Hairat of Delhi, pg 462]

It should be remembered that Mirza Hairat of Delhi was an opponent of Promised Messiah AS and would mock him.

“This was the reason why Maulavi Ismail of Delhi, who knew the Quran and Hadith, and acted upon them, did not fight in his country India against the British, under whose peace and protection he lived, nor did he fight the states of this country. Outside this country, he fought the Sikhs who interfered in the religious practices of the Muslims, prohibiting the loud sounding of the Azan.”

[Al-Iqtisad fi masa’il al-jihad, by Maulavi Muhammad Husain Batalvi, published 1876, pp. 49–50]

Shaykh Muhammad Husayn Batalvi also writes:

Maulana Isma’eel Shaheed waged Jehad against the Sikhs on account of their intervention in the religion of Islam. He composed that particular sermon to motivate others for Jehad. He neither declared Jehad against the British Government, nor does this sermon contain any explicit, or inplicit, reference to waging Jehad against this Government. As a matter of fact, he did not consider it legitimate to wage Jehad against this Government.”

[Isha’at-us-Sunnah, vol. 9, no. 1, pp. 11 dated 1886]

A leading follower of the famous Maulavi Muhammad Ismail Shaheed, he wrote:

“War is not jihad. War is called qital, and it only arises now and then. Jihad is to strive to proclaim the word of God, and this goes on for a long period. It is only your misconception that you term qital as jihad.”

[Swaaneh Ahmadi, by Maulvi Muhammad Ja’afar Thanesari, p. 108]

More references for Maulana Shah Ismail Delawi RH

Sayyid Ahmad Barelvi (d. 1831) – Respected by Ahle Hadith, Deobandis, and Ahmadis

He was a Muslim military and religious leader who fought against Sikh rule in the North West of India, and is regarded as a mujaddid of the thirteenth century Hijrah. It is recorded about him:

When he was going forth to conduct jihad against the Sikhs, a man asked him: ‘Why do you go so far to fight jihad against the Sikhs, when the British are ruling the country and they are deniers of Islam. Conduct jihad against them in every house and wrest India from them; millions of people will support and help you’

The British Government—although a disbeliever in Islam—does not treat the Muslims with any cruelty or high-handedness, nor does it prevent them from attending to their religious obligations or observing the obligatory acts of worship. I preach and propagate (the Faith) in their kingdom but they never impede or oppose it. Rather, if someone commits any excess against us, they are ready to punish him. Our real task is the propagation of Tauheed—the Unity of God—and the renaissance of the Sunnah—precepts—of the Chief of all the Messengers—which we perform without let or hindrance in this country. So why should we wage a Jehad against the British Government and, contrary to the principles of our Faith, needlessly shed blood on either side.”

[Swaaneh Ahmadi, by Maulvi Muhammad Ja’afar Thanesari, p. 71]

“The British government has granted Muslims the freedom to fulfill their religious duties.”

[Swaaneh Ahmadi, by Maulvi Muhammad Ja’afar Thanesari, p. 115]

Those who did Rebellion against British were Mushrik/Sinners/Animal

“No one has heard even to the present day that a Muwahhid (monotheist) obedient to the ordinances of Mahomed, the Koran and the Hadis, has ever violated his promise, been faithless or intent upoen violence and rebellion. All those who proved troublesome to, and rebellious against, the British officials were mukallids of the Hanafia church, and not the followers of the Hadis.”

[Interpreter of Wahabism, p.41]

Scholars getting paid by British

“The agricultural land that Allah Almighty has granted me through the government is 4 Murabba (100 acres) in size.”

[Ishaatus Sunnah, vol. 19, no. 1, 1902]

https://ia803107.us.archive.org/25/items/al-iqtesad-fi-masailil-jehad-muhammad-hussain-batalvi/al-iqtesad-fi-masailil-jehad-muhammad-hussain-batalvi.pdf

https://qutbi.amuslim.org/index.php?p=nayy%20b%20pocket%20book/jihad%20haram%20aor%20angraiz%20hukumat%20jawab/other/programm%208%20hawaly

https://qutbi.amuslim.org/index.php?p=nayy%20b%20pocket%20book/jihad%20haram%20aor%20angraiz%20hukumat%20jawab/other/programm%207%20hawaly

1) Syed Ahmad Barelvi Angraiz Dost Ya Angraiz Dushman By Inayat Ullah Chishti Chakralavi – Article