Ibn on Shah Waliullah Dehlawi

“Shāh Walī Allāh [1703-1762] is best remembered for his efforts to restore Muslim rule to India, ending with his appeal to the Afghan ruler Ahmad Shah Abdali to invade India, destroy the Hindu Marathas... The central element in Shāh Walī Allāh’s vision of the restoration of the true Islam was the emphasis on the textual sources of Islam, the Koran and the hadith. In his Hujjat-Allah al-bāligha, Shāh Walī Allāh tells us that the Sharī ‘a was the “fitrat” or natural disposition or original qualities of mankind and, “as the last in the cycle of divine laws, was the guardian of the best interests of mankind. The Islamic Sharī‘a was destined to dominate the world and crush all undesirable elements. All misinterpretations which entered it were removed by a renewer whom God raised up at the end of each century.” Islam was superior to all other religions, and especially to Hinduism. Jihād was central to Islam, which could not have been so successful without it. Shāh Walī Allāh deplored the way jihād had been interpreted as defensive.”

“Shah Wali Allah ascribes at least three objectives to jihād: First, to extend the boundaries of right guidance; second, to fight criminality; and finally to combat idolators. Like earlier Muslim thinkers of India cited above, Shah Wali Allah showed implacable hatred for non-Muslims in general, and Hindus, in particular, often encouraging, and exulting in, the destruction of Hindu temples... When he called for equity, justice and moderation, Shah Wali Allah only saw these principles through Muslim eyes—in other words non-Muslims and Shi‘ites were not considered worthy of similar treatment as if equal to Muslims.”

“Rizvi paraphrases Shāh Walī Allāh’s doctrine as spelled out in his Hujjat-Allah al-bāligha: “The modern interpretation of jihād or Islamic holy war over-emphasized its defensive character. To the ‘ulamā’, jihād was the fard kifāya (collective duty) and it remained a duty as long as Islam was not [the] universally dominant religion in any area. According to Shāh Walī Allāh the mark of the perfect implementation of the Sharī‘a was the performance of jihād… Force, said the Shah, was the much better course-Islam should be forced down the throats like bitter medicine to a child. This, however, was only possible if the leaders of the non-Muslim communities who failed to accept Islam were killed; the strength of the community reduced, their property confiscated and a situation was created which led to their followers and descendants willingly accepting Islam.””