Reform Movements and Muslim Revivalists

• Phrasing 1: What kind of natives did the British want to create through their new policies?
• Phrasing 2: What was the aim of the new British educational and social policies?

Ans: They wanted to create natives who were Indian by birth but European in their outlook and sensibilities.

• Phrasing 1: How were the people of India colonised, besides physically?
• Phrasing 2: What does it mean that Indians were colonised "psychologically"?

Ans: Along with being ruled physically, their thinking and mindset were also influenced, so they became colonised mentally as well as physically.

Ans: To improve the moral and social conditions of the Muslims and to encourage them to reclaim their former political glory.

• Phrasing 1: What was the main aim of the Muslim revivalists?
• Phrasing 2: What did the reformers want to achieve for the Muslims?

Ans: To create awareness among Muslims about Islam and to unite them against the imperial (British) forces.

Ans: They were instrumental in the revival of Muslim Nationalism in the subcontinent.

Ans: They are seen as the pioneers in creating a sense of national identity among the Muslims of the subcontinent.

Ans: A scholar or reformer who worked to revive true Islamic teachings and the moral, social and political condition of the Muslims.

Ans: He is commonly known as Mujaddid Alf-e-Sani.

Ans: The word "Mujaddid" literally means "reviver".

Ans: He was born in 1564.

Ans: They claimed to be direct descendants of the second Caliph, Hazrat Umar Ibn Al-Khattab.

Ans: His father was Shaikh Abdul Ahad, a well-known sufi who made sure his son learned the Holy Quran, Hadith and religious theology.

Ans: He furthered his studies in Hadith, Tafseer and philosophy.

Ans: About the relationship of mysticism with Islamic Shariah (laws).

• Phrasing 1: What was Ahmad Sirhindi’s main aim as a reformer?
• Phrasing 2: What did Mujaddid Alf-e-Sani try to purify?

Ans: To purify Muslim practices and beliefs that had become mixed with the beliefs and practices of other religions in the region.

• Phrasing 1: Which religion did Emperor Akbar introduce, and why?
• Phrasing 2: What was Deen-e-Illahi?

Ans: Akbar introduced Deen-e-Illahi, which mixed Hindu and Muslim practices, to reduce the religious differences among his subjects.

Ans: As a gifted writer he used oration and wrote letters to the nobles in Akbar’s court, urging Muslims to fulfil their religious duties.

Ans: Because he acted as a reviver of the true essence of Islam in India.

Ans: By organising the Naqshbandiya order, giving sermons and lectures, meeting other scholars, and writing books.

Ans: He wrote the famous book Tauheed-e-Shuhudi.

Ans: Emperor Jehangir noticed his work; Jehangir was more orthodox (stricter in religion) than his father Akbar.

Ans: He was imprisoned for two years because he refused to bow before Emperor Jehangir — a rule that applied to all subjects.

Ans: He released Ahmad Sirhindi and went on to reverse all the un-Islamic laws that Akbar had introduced.

Ans: He passed away in 1624 CE, preaching Islam even in his last days.

Ans: He lived from 1703 to 1762 CE.

Ans: In his father’s madrasah, Madrasah-e-Rahimia, in Tafseer-e-Quran, Hadith, sciences, logic and philosophy.

• Phrasing 1: Into which language did Shah Waliullah translate the Holy Quran, and why?
• Phrasing 2: Which translation of the Quran did Shah Waliullah make?

Ans: Into Persian, because it was widely read and understood by the Muslims of India at that time, which made religion easier to understand.

Ans: The traditional values of the Islamic faith.

Ans: Through his speeches and writings he tried to unite the different sects and build a strong sense of Muslim brotherhood.

Ans: Against the un-Islamic practices that were common at that time.

Ans: The purest version of Islam, based on the simplicity and social justice of the days of Hazrat Muhammad (SAW).

Ans: He wrote fifty-four books on different aspects of Islam.

Ans: "Hujjat-ullah-al-Baligha", which explains the religious, moral, social and economic causes of the decline of the Muslims.

Ans: That they had become prey to social evils and luxuries.

• Phrasing 1: Whom did Shah Waliullah invite to India, and why?
• Phrasing 2: Whom did Shah Waliullah call to defeat the Marathas?

Ans: He invited Ahmed Shah Abdali to free the Muslims from indulgent rulers and to defeat the growing power of the Marathas.

Ans: To reform and strengthen Muslim rule in India.

Ans: That the Islamic way of life was different from that of other religions.

Ans: From 1781 to 1840 CE.

Ans: In Faridpur, Bengal, in 1781.

Ans: He went to Arabia to study religion.

Ans: He was disappointed to see the poor condition of the Muslims of India.

Ans: To acquire agricultural land and to use the cheap labour of the area.

Ans: After the Battle of Plassey.

Ans: Hindu dominance and Christian missionary activities.

Ans: It started in 1819 and was led by Haji Shariatullah.

Ans: "Faraiz" means the commandments or duties of Allah.

Ans: To give up non-Islamic practices and follow only the commandments (Faraiz) of Allah.

Ans: It revived the moral and social conditions of the Muslims of Bengal and protected the rights of the peasants; it was a peaceful movement that grew rapidly.

• Phrasing 1: Who continued the movement after Haji Shariatullah’s death?
• Phrasing 2: By which name was Mohsin-ud-Din famously known?

Ans: His son Mohsin-ud-Din, famously known as Dadu Miyan.

Ans: For the rights of the peasants who were oppressed by Hindu landlords.

Ans: It ended with Mohsin-ud-Din’s death in 1862.

Ans: From 1786 to 1831 CE.

Ans: In Northern India in 1786 CE.

Ans: In the Madrasah Rahimiyya, which was established by Shah Waliullah’s father.

Ans: The British ruled the subcontinent, while the western subcontinent was under Sikh rule.

Ans: He returned from Arabia in 1823.

Ans: He started the Jihad Movement, aiming to replace Sikh and British rule with Muslim rule.

Ans: He wanted to see the Muslims as a free nation.

Ans: In 1826 CE he gathered an army of volunteers known as Mujahideen.

Ans: Because they believed they could take action to safeguard their religious beliefs.

Ans: They captured Peshawar, where a Muslim state under Shariah rule was established.

Ans: Syed Ahmed was pushed back to Kashmir by the Sikh ruler Ranjit Singh.

Ans: He was martyred in a surprise attack by the Sikh army in Balakot (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa).

Ans: He had a revolutionary mind and wanted to do something to help his people.

Ans: Because of the Muslims’ support for the restoration of the Mughal Emperor.

Ans: It became worse; they lost all respectable positions in government jobs.

Ans: Because of the East India Company’s education policies that promoted Christian values, and because Muslims saw modern education as an un-Islamic act.

Ans: They took the opportunity of Western education and the benefits it offered.

Ans: Sir Syed Ahmad Khan.

Ans: In Delhi in 1817.

Ans: He became a local judge in 1857.

Ans: They needed to overcome their ignorance and their resistance to modern ideas.

Ans: A separate identity.

Ans: It became the foundation for the Pakistan Movement decades later.

Ans: "Causes of the Indian Revolt", which argued that the Muslims should not be blamed for the revolt.

Ans: To the Members of Parliament.

Ans: To stay away from politics, to bridge the gap between the British and themselves, and to get educated so as to be eligible for government jobs.

Ans: He was the first Muslim leader to realise the importance of education for the Muslims.

Ans: In Muradabad and Ghaziabad; they taught modern education in English, Urdu and Persian.

Ans: It was set up in 1864 to translate science books into Urdu.

Ans: To remove misconceptions among the Muslims about British rule and policies.

Ans: It was established in 1875.

• Phrasing 1: What did the Muhammadan Anglo-Oriental School later become?
• Phrasing 2: What did the MAO School grow into?

Ans: It became Aligarh College in 1877, and later Aligarh University, chartered by the government in 1920.

Ans: In 1877.

Ans: It was chartered by the government in 1920.

Ans: In 1886; its aim was to set up Islamic high schools in almost every town and city across India.

Ans: He consistently wrote about ethics and stressed the importance of Urdu to the identity of the Muslim nation.

Ans: The Hindi-Urdu controversy of 1867.

Ans: It motivated him to publish extensively in Urdu and to provide modern education to the Muslims.

Ans: They were held in England, so Indian candidates could not compete fairly with English candidates.

Ans: Because he believed that the Muslims should have a separate voice in India.

Ans: He proposed a separate electorate for the Muslims, which became the basis of the Two Nation Theory.

Ans: The spirit of Muslim Nationalism; they became pioneers of the Two Nation Theory.

Ans: The intellectual revival of the Indian Muslims and, eventually, the creation of Pakistan.

Ans: He passed away in 1898, before his dream came true.

Ans: It was set up in 1866 by several Muslim Ulema.

Ans: It is located in Deoband, India, and was headed by Maulana Muhammad Qasim Nanotvi.

Ans: To promote a traditional and progressive education for the Muslims.

Ans: On the 17th-century Indo-Islamic syllabus known as "Dars-e-Nizami".

Ans: Yes, English was offered as an option to students who wished to study it.

Ans: It provided many prominent leaders for the independence movement.

Ans: It was established in 1892 at Kanpur.

Ans: It was later shifted to Lucknow in 1898 CE.

Ans: Muhammad Ali Mongiri, Ashraf Ali Thanwi, Mahmud-ul-Hassan and Shibli Nomani.

Ans: To create harmony between Islamic education and modern demands, and to meet the challenges of Western education.

Ans: With the help of eminent scholars, its Islamic curriculum was updated with the modern curriculum.

Ans: The challenges of Western education.

Ans: It was a Hindu religious movement that originated in the 8th century.

Ans: "Bhakti" means devotion to God.

Ans: It believed in the equality of men and rejected the caste system, idol worship and the worship of multiple gods.

Ans: It gave birth to Sikhism.

Ans: The word "Sikh" literally means "learner".

Ans: Guru Nanak (1469–1539 CE) founded Sikhism in the Punjab.

Ans: That there is only one God and that all human beings are equal; he condemned the Hindu caste system.

Ans: It was founded in Bombay in 1875 by Dayananda Sarasvati.

Ans: He believed that the earliest Hindu scriptures, the Vedas, were the ultimate truth.

Ans: It is Sanskrit for "Society of Nobles", so called because it was organised in "samajas" (societies), each headed by democratically elected officers.

Ans: Idol worship, animal sacrifice, temple offerings, and basing caste on birth instead of merit; it was monotheistic.

Ans: They spread education, encouraged female education and social reform, and helped the growth of Indian nationalism.