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Fazl-e-Haq Khairabadi

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Fazl-e-Haq Khairabadi
TitleAllama
Personal
Born1796 or 1797
Khairabad, Awadh
Died19 August 1861(1861-08-19) (aged 64–65)
Andaman Islands, British India
ReligionIslam
DenominationSunni
JurisprudenceHanafi
CreedMaturidi
Known forAssisting the Indian Rebellion of 1857
OccupationMufti, scholar, theologian and poet

Fazl-e-Haq Khairabadi (1796/1797 – 19 August 1861) was a Hanafi mufti, Kalam scholar, Maturidi theologian, and poet. He was an activist of the Indian independence movement and campaigned against British colonialism. He issued an early religious edict in favour of doing military jihad against British colonialism during 1857 and inspired various others to participate in the 1857 rebellion. He wrote Tahqeeq al-Fatwa Fi Abtal al-Taghwa in refutation of Ismail Dehlvi's Taqwiyat al-Iman and authored books such as al-Thawra al-Hindiyya.

Life

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Fazl-e-Haq was born into a family of Indian Muslims. He was born in Khairabad, Sitapur.[a 1][1][2] His father was Sadr al-Sadur, the chief advisor to the Mughals regarding religious matters. He became a teacher by the age of 13. In 1828, he was appointed to the position of mufti in the Department of Qaza.[2]

Besides being a scholar of Islamic studies and theology, he was also a literary persona, especially of Urdu, Arabic and Persian literature. More than 400 couplets in Arabic are attributed to him. He edited the first diwan of Mirza Ghalib on his request.[citation needed] He followed the Hanafi school of thought and was a theologian of the Maturidi school, he was also a poet.[3][4]

On account of his deep knowledge and erudition, he was bestowed with the title of "Allama" and later was venerated as a great Sufi. He was also called the Imam of logic, philosophy and literature. He was considered by scholars to be the final authority on issuing fatwas or religious rulings.[5]

He possessed a great presence of mind and was very intelligent. There are many stories about his repartee with Mirza Ghalib and other contemporary eminent poets, writers and intellectuals. He and his son Abdul al-Haq Khairabadi established Madrasa Khairabad in northern India, where many scholars got educated. He wrote Risala al-Thawra al-Hindiyya in Arabic language and wrote an account of the rebellion called al-Thawra al-Hindiyya.[2]

Fatwas against Wahhabi and Deobandi beliefs

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Khairabadi, in his career, had written various Masnavis against Wahhabis.[6] In 1825, Khairabadi issued fatwas against Ismail Dehlvi for his doctrine of God's alleged ability to lie (Imkan al-Kidhb).[7] Ismail is considered as an intellectual ancestor of Deobandis.[8] Darul Uloom Deoband, founder Rashid Ahmad Gangohi later accepted Dehlvi's doctrines of Imkan al-Kidhb by stating that God has the ability to lie.[9] This doctrine is called Imkan al-Kidhb.[10][9] According to this doctrine, because God is omnipotent, God is capable of lying.[10] Gangohi supported the doctrine that God has the ability to make additional prophets after Muhammad (Imkan al-Nazir) and other prophets equal to Muhammad.[10][9]

Allama Fazl-e-Haq Khairabadi refuted these theories and wrote that, according to the Qur'an and Hadith, Muhammad is the final prophet, and there can be no other prophet or "messenger" after him. To believe that there can be another Muhammad would necessitate that Allah did something apart from what he has stated in the Qur'an, that is, that Allah has lied. Lying is a flaw, and it is impossible for Allah to have a flaw. Even this concept has a flaw as it gives an impression that Allah has lost the ability to make something or to do something which is against Quranic verse “يخلق ما يشاء” ( That He /Allah CAN CREATE whatever he wants “ and Quranic phrase of “يفعل ما يشاء” that “He / Allah CAN DO WHATEVER HE WANTS”.[11][12]

Jihad against British governance

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As the Indians started to struggle against British occupation, Khairabadi conducted several private meetings with the Mughal emperor Bahadur Shah Zafar, which continued until May 1857. On June 26, 1857, when General Bakht Khan along with his army of 14000, reached Delhi from Bareilly, Khairabadi gave a Friday sermon, attended by a plethora of Muslim scholars and issued a religious edict supporting jihad against the colonial government. The fatwa was signed by Sadruddin Azurda, Abdul Qadir, Faizullah Dehalvi, Faiz Ahmed Badayuni, Wazir Khan, and Syed Mubarak Shah Rampuri. Through this edict, he inspired people to participate in 1857 rebellion.[13][14] Subsequently, the Britishers deployed an army of some 90,000 around Delhi to protect its interests and to curb spread of jihad, following the issuance of Khairabadi's edict.[15][16] Later, he was sent into exile to Kalapani jail in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.[17][18][19][11]

He was arrested by the British authorities on January 30, 1859, at Khairabad for inciting violence.[20] He was tried and found guilty of encouraging murder and role in the rebellion.[20] The authorities considered him "extraordinary intelligence and acumen who should be reckoned as the most dangerous threat to the British presence in India, and therefore must be evicted from the Indian mainland. He was accused of being the major force behind the mutiny, persuading masses to rise in revolt against the authority of the Company, campaigning and motivating masses to join the mutiny by calling it war of independence and issuing Fatwas inciting violence and making provocative speeches.[15][16]

He had chosen to be his own counsel and defended himself utilizing arguments and a manner in which he defended his case that was so convincing that the presiding magistrate was writing a judgement to exonerate him, when he confessed to giving the fatwa, declaring that he could not lie. He was sentenced to life in prison in Kalapani (Cellular Jail) on Andaman Island, and his property was confiscated by the judicial commissioner of Awadh court. He reached Andaman Island on October 8th, 1859, aboard the steam frigate Fire Queen. He would remain imprisoned there until his death in 1861. One of the major reasons for the outbreak of war was the fear among the people that the Christian British government was going to destroy their religions and convert Indians to Christianity.[15]

Literary works

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Khairabadi wrote Tahqeeq al-Fatwa Fi Abtal al-Taghwa refuting Ismail Dehlvi's Taqwiyat al-Iman.[21] His other works include:[21]

  • al-Hidayah al-Sayyidiyya
  • al-Raudh al-Majud : Maslahi Wahdat al-Wujud Ki Buland Payah Takhliq
  • al-Ḥashiyya lil-Mawlawi Fazl e Haq Khairabadi ʻala Sharh al-Salam lil-Qadi Mubarak
  • al-Thawra al-Hindiyya

Personal life

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He was Farooqui. His father was Imam Fazl-e-Iman. One of his sons, Abdul Haq, was also a leading and respected scholar and was given the title of Shams al-Ulama. His grandson was Muztar Khairabadi. Renowned poet and lyricist Jan Nisar Akhtar was his great-grandson and Javed Akhtar, Farhan Akhtar and Zoya Akhtar all are his descendants.[22]

Among his sons, Abdul Haq Khairabadi was a rational scholar and a teacher of Majid Ali Jaunpuri.[23][1]

Death

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He stayed for 22 months in captivity at Andaman, Allama wrote a number of eyewitness accounts in the form of verses in Arabic (Qaseeda), apart from a book al-Thawra al-Hindiyya which is an analysis of the war and events of 1857. This is also the first ever book on the events of 1857.[15] Fazl-e-Haq Khairabadi died on August 19, 1861, in exile on the Andaman Islands.[1]

Notes

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  1. ^ His birth year is given as 1796 by the Indian History Congress, but as 1797 by different sources including Asir Adrawi.[1]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c d Asir Adrawi (April 2016). "Mawlāna Fazl-e-Haq Khairabadi". Tazkirah Mashāhīr-e-Hind: Karwān-e-Rafta (in Urdu) (2nd ed.). Deoband: Darul Moallifeen. pp. 210–211.
  2. ^ a b c HUSAIN, IQBAL (1987). "Fazle Haq of Khairabad—A Scholarly Rebel of 1857". Proceedings of the Indian History Congress. 48: 355–365. ISSN 2249-1937. JSTOR 44141709.
  3. ^ Khairabadi, Fazl-e-Haq. Al-Rawdh al-Mucawwad. Mufeed Al Islam. p. 3.
  4. ^ Khan, Siddiq Hasan (2002). Abjad Al-Ulum. Dar Ibn Hazm. p. 714.
  5. ^ Anil Sehgal (2001). Ali Sardar Jafri. Bharatiya Jnanpith. pp. 213–. ISBN 978-81-263-0671-8.
  6. ^ Mujeeb., Ashraf (1982). Muslim attitudes towards British rule and Western culture in India : in the first half of the nineteenth century. Idarah-i Adabiyat-i Delli. OCLC 1203516311.
  7. ^ Khair Abadi, Fazl e Haq (1825). Taḥqīqulfatvá fī ibt̤āl al-t̤ug̲h̲vá. Shah Abd al-Haqq Muhaddith e -Dehlawi Academy.
  8. ^ Jamal, Malik (2008). Madrasas in South Asia : teaching terror?. Routhledge. ISBN 978-0-415-44247-3. OCLC 759884386.
  9. ^ a b c Ingram, Brannon D. (2009), "Sufis, Scholars and Scapegoats: Rashid Ahmad Gangohi(d. 1905) and the Deobandi Critique of Sufism", The Muslim World, 99 (3), Blackwell Publishing: 484, doi:10.1111/j.1478-1913.2009.01281.x, archived from the original on 28 October 2021, retrieved 12 June 2020
  10. ^ a b c Ingram, Brannon D. (21 November 2018), Revival from Below: The Deoband Movement and Global Islam, University of California Press, pp. 7, 64, 100, 241, ISBN 9780520298002, archived from the original on 9 February 2024, retrieved 14 September 2020
  11. ^ a b Vivek Iyer (2012). Ghalib, Gandhi and the Gita. Polyglot Publications London. pp. 43–. ISBN 978-0-9550628-3-4.
  12. ^ "Qaed-e-Inqilab Allama Fazl-e-Haq Khairabadi". Sufinama. Archived from the original on 12 May 2021. Retrieved 12 May 2021.
  13. ^ Sircar, Jawhar (8 May 2017). "Andaman's Cellular jail holds lessons for the current Indian polity". DNA India. Archived from the original on 12 May 2021. Retrieved 12 May 2021.
  14. ^ Ali Sardar Jafri. Bharatiya Jnanpith. 2001. ISBN 9788126306718.
  15. ^ a b c d "Allama Fazle Haq Khairabadi – the scholarly rebel of 1857". The Nation. 23 January 2021. Archived from the original on 1 May 2021. Retrieved 12 May 2021.
  16. ^ a b "Independence Day Special: अल्लामा फजले हक को फातवा देने पर मिली थी काला पानी की सजा Lucknow News". Dainik Jagran. Archived from the original on 12 May 2021. Retrieved 12 May 2021.
  17. ^ "Seminar on Allama Fazle Haq Khairabadi held in Bhiwandi". TwoCircles.net. 1 February 2012. Archived from the original on 14 July 2020. Retrieved 14 July 2020.
  18. ^ Sher, Ali (5 November 2014). The role of muslims in the pre independence politics in India: a historical study (PDF). Jhunjhunu, Rajasthan: Faculty of Fine Arts, Shri Jagdishprasad Jhabarmal Tibarewala University. p. 125. Archived (PDF) from the original on 16 July 2020. Retrieved 14 July 2020.
  19. ^ "The Role of Popular Muslim Movements". The American Journal of Islamic Social Sciences. 25 (1–3). Indiana University: Jointly published by the Association of Muslim Social Scientists; International Institute of Islamic Thought: 150. 2008. Archived from the original on 10 February 2024. Retrieved 14 July 2020.
  20. ^ a b Anderson, C (2007) The Indian Uprising of 1857–8: prisons, prisoners, and 'Jihad', Anthem Press, London P17
  21. ^ a b "Faz̤l Ḥaq K̲h̲airābādī 1797-1861". WorldCat. Archived from the original on 31 August 2021. Retrieved 31 August 2021.
  22. ^ "Farhan Akhtar wants to trace his roots, back to Uttar Pradesh". Hindustan Times. 10 January 2017. Archived from the original on 12 May 2021. Retrieved 12 May 2021.
  23. ^ Syed Mehboob Rizwi. Tarikh Darul Uloom Deoband [History of The Dar al-Ulum (Volume 2)]. Translated by Murtaz Husain F Quraishi. Idara-e-Ehtemam, Dar al-Ulum Deoband. p. 55.

Further reading

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  • Rao, Malladi Rama (2022). "An Ode to an Unsung Sufi Saint". South Asian Tribune.
  • Bates, Crispin; Carter, Marina (2009). "Religion and Retribution in the Indian Rebellion of 1857". Leidschrif. Empire and Resistance. Religious Beliefs Versus the Ruling Power. 24 (1): 51–68.
  • Malik, Jamal (2006). "Letters, prison sketches and autobiographical literature: The case of Fadl-e Haqq Khairabadi in the Andaman Penal Colony". Indian Economic and Social History Review. 43 (77). doi:10.1177/001946460504300104. S2CID 145540286.
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