Shah Ismail Dehlvi (26 April, 1779 – 6 May, 1831) was an Indian Sunni Muslim scholar, Naqshbandi Sufi reformer, Hanafi jurist, and Kalam theologian. He was an active member in the jihad proclaimed by Sayyid Ahmad of Raebareli with the support of Pashtun tribes against the Sikh Empire, which ruled northwest India with their base in Punjab in the early half of the 19th century. He is considered as an important influence on the Ahl-i Hadith and the Deobandi movements.
Ismail Dehlvi was born on 26 April 1779. He was the grandson of famous Islamic scholar and leader Shah Waliullah Dehlawi, through his son Shah Abdul Ghani. When a new Islamic religious revivalist movement appeared in northern India under the leadership of Sayyid Ahmad of Raebareli (1786 – 1831), he was joined by two members of the Shah Waliullah family: Shah Ismail Dehlavi (1771-1831) and Maulvi Abdul Hai (died 1828) who joined it because they shared its mission and objectives. "The agenda of the new movement known as Tariqa Muhammadiyya was to purify the tenets of Islam from Hindu customs, traditions and cultural practices." "His motive was to convince the Muslim community to purify Islam from Hindu influences and Shiite rituals. He was harsh in his criticism and believed that religion should be practiced in its original form; a thought process which gradually evolved into a Jihad movement." Professor of history at the University of California; Barbara D. Metcalf wrote:
According to Andreas Rieck, Syed Ahmad visited towns of North Indian plains from 1818 to 1821 with hundreds of missionaries to preach against Shia beliefs and practices. Syed Ahmad repeatedly destroyed tazias, an act that resulted in subsequent riots and chaos. Barbara Metcalf offers the following explanation to his anti-shi'ism:
In 1821, Shah Ismail left for Hajj (pilgrimage) along with Syed Ahmad and a group of his devotees. He returned from Haj in 1823, and once again visited different parts of India. For Syed Ahmad and the followers of the Faraizi movement, India was âÂÂDarul Harbâ (the abode of war) and therefore jihad was obligatory for the Muslims. In his book, Sirat-e-Mustaqeem, Shah Ismail Dehlavi wrote:
"a large part of present-day India has become âÂÂDar al-HarbâÂÂ. Compare the situation with the heavenly blessings of India two and three hundred years ago".
Comparing India with Darul Islam, he said:
"compare India with Rome and Turkey in terms of heavenly blessings".
Shah Ismail broke with various folk practices and customs that existed among Indian Hanafis, but subsequently became convinced that he could not set up his ideal society so long as the company rule held sway over the subcontinent. Shah Ismail joined the cause of Sayyid Ahmad, who had moved to the Pashtun areas bordering Afghanistan (todayâÂÂs Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) with his followers to lead an armed Jihad against the British. Sayyid Ahmad established a mujahideen state and proclaimed himself as the Amir ul-Mu'minin (Commander of the Faithful). The main objective of the Jihad movement led by Sayyid Ahmad was to establish an Islamic state that rules over the subcontinent. At that time, much of North India was ruled by the British. So the leadership of the jihad movement concluded that they should move to an area with less control of the British and with large majority of Muslim population - North-West Frontier region - which is now known as Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in Pakistan. The Frontier region was chosen to carry out this experimentation, based on the assumption that being devout Muslims, the Pashtuns would support the reformist movement.
The opponents of the mujahideen of Sayyid Ahmad and Shah Ismail labelled them as "Wahhabis", associating them with Muhammad Ibn 'Abd al-Wahhab's movement in Najd. Their followers, however, preferred the term Tariqah-yi Muhammadi (way of Muhammad) to describe themselves. The Tariqah-yi-Muhammadi movement coupled their emphasis on the direct consultation of Scriptural texts with an aggressive campaign against shirk (polytheism) and bidat (heretical innovations), attacking practices they asserted that Indian Muslims had adopted from Hindus or Shias. While the rest of the Indian clergy had commonly differentiated between bidat-i-hasanah and bidat-i-sayyia (good and bad innovations), the Tariqah-i Muhammadiyya criticised all forms of bidat, insisting that the ProphetâÂÂs own life and practices were the best guide for Muslims.
Sufism was an integral part of the doctrine and practice of the Tariqah-i Muhammadiyya movement. Although it was a Sufi-based resistance movement that campaigned against the encroachment of British colonial influence in the Indian subcontinent, Tariqah-i Muhammadiyya was falsely labelled as "Wahhabi" by sectarian detractors and officials of the British East India Company regime. The movementâÂÂs supporters and leaders rejected such characterizations, firmly positioning themselves within the school of Shah Waliullah Dehlawi and the scholarly traditions of Madrasa-i-Rahimiyah and Madrasa Firangi Mahal.
Tariqah-i Muhammadiyah movement gained prominence as an influential strand of the Naqshbandi-Mujaddidi order in the Indian subcontinent, and its revivalist teachings were widely adopted by the Indian Naqshbandis of that period. Sayyid Ahmed, the leader of Tariqah-i Muhammadiyya, was a Sufi murshid deeply influenced by the Mujaddidi path of Ahmad Sirhindi and continued to initiate his disciples into the Naqshbandi, Qadiri, and Chishti orders. Sufi saints like Akhund Abdul Ghaffur who were active in the Tariqah-i Muhammadiyya preached the teachings of Shah Waliullah Dehlawi among his Pashtun murids and imparted Sufi training to them, many of whom carried forward the struggle against the British after the Battle of Balakot.
Inspired by the teachings of his leader Sayyid Ahmad, Shah Ismail Dehlvi wrote several treatises explaining the orthodox Sufi teachings of the Tariqah-i Muhammadiyya movement. In these works, he sought to outline Sayyid Ahmad's Sufi methodology and articulate the movementâÂÂs reformist vision. In his treatises, such as "Taqwiyat al-Iman" and "Tadhkir-ul-Ikhwan", Shah Ismail emphasized the importance of Tawhid (monotheism) and the virtues of following the Sunnah. He categorized shirk (polytheism) into various types and warned against superstitious beliefs and certain folk rituals, denouncing them as shirk or bid'ah (innovation in religious matters). Shah Ismail wrote in "Taqwiyat al-Iman":<blockquote>"It is customary for many people, in the time of difficulty, to invoke the spirits of pir, apostles, imams, martyrs and angels, and fairies, and to beg them to fulfil their wishes. To propitiate them, vows and of erings are made in their names. Moreover, children are named after them, for instance, 'Abdun Nabi (slave of apostle), Ali Bakhsh(gift of Ali); as well as Hasan Bakhsh, Husayn Bakhsh, Madar Bakhsh, Salar Bakhsh, and also Ghulam Muhiy-u-Din (slave of the reviver of the Faith). And for the life protection of their children some keep a lock of hair on their heads, and others make them wear a woven thread around their necks and clothe them in the name of some saints. Some people put chains on the leg of their children, and some offer sacrifices. Many of them invoke the saints in the time of difficulty and take oaths in their names. In short, what the Hindus do towards their idols, these pseudo Muslims do all these things with prophets, saints, imams, martyrs, angels and fairies, and yet they claim that they themselves are Musalmans."</blockquote><br />When the military actions were initiated, some Muslim nawabs, like Amir Khan of Tonk, provided funds but did not join them for jihad. Around 8,000 mujahideen who accompanied them were mostly clergymen or poor people who joined the militia. The rulers of Tonk, Gwalior and Rampur supported him with British consent because they were dependent on British forces and they knew well enough that the British would not stop them from aiding an enemy of the Sikhs. Since Syed AhmadâÂÂs campaign was based on Islamic concept of jihad, his spokesman, Shah Ismail Dehlavi, tries to create desire for the war by saying:
"as far as the special benefits are concerned that go to the faithful Martyrs, the Muslim Mujahideen, the ruling Sultans and the brave men of the battle field, donâÂÂt need to be elaborated here".
Arriving in Peshawar valley in late 1826, Syed Ahmad and his followers made their base in towns of Hund and Zaida in Swabi District. Syed Ahmad called upon the local Pashtun and Hazarewal tribes to wage jihad, and demanded that they renounce their tribal customs and adopt the Sharia. The traditional khans were replaced by Wahabi-style reformist ulama (Islamic scholars) and a system of Islamic taxes was established to finance the jihad. Soon after this evangelist campaign and the establishment of the Sharia system, jihad was declared. He sent an ultimatum to Ranjit Singh, demanding:<blockquote>[...] either become a Muslim, pay Jizyah or fight and remember that in case of war, Yaghistan supports the Indians.</blockquote>
The mujahideen were educated with both theological doctrines and physical training sessions. Syed Ahmad organized wrestling, archery training, and shooting competitions. The mujahideen also repeated several Islamic anthems. One such popular anthem has survived, known as "Risala Jihad". On 21 December 1826, Syed Ahmad and his 1,500 followers clashed with 4,000 Sikh troops in the battle of Akora Khattak and obtained a significant victory. On 11 January 1827, allegiance was sworn on his hand and he was declared Caliph and Imam. Syed Ahmad's claim to Khilafah was viewed with suspicion in the Frontier region as well as in the clerical circles of North India. When the Jumu'ah (Friday prayer) sermon was read in his name, symbolizing his claim to power, the tribal chiefs became wary. According to prominent Pathan Sardars like Khadi Khan, Maulvis were ill-equipped to run the affairs of a state. In response to the criticisms, Syed Ahmad asserted that his aim was not material but to lead a jihad against kuffar. Defending his claim to Caliphate, Syed Ahmad wrote:<blockquote>"We thank and praise God, the real master and the true king, who bestowed upon his humble, recluse and helpless servant the title of Caliphate, first through occult gestures and revelations, in which there is no room for doubt, and then by guiding the hearts of the believers towards me. This way God appointed me as the Imam (leader)... the person who sincerely confesses to my position is special in the eyes of God, and the one who denies it is, of course sinful. My opponents who deny me of this position will be humiliated and disgraced."</blockquote>
Regarding his Imamate, Syed Ahmad wrote to Nawab Wazir ud-Dawla, the ruler of Tonk:
"believe me, the person who sincerely confesses to my position is special in the eyes of God, and the one who denies it is, of course sinful. My opponents who deny me of this position will be humiliated and disgraced".
After the conquest of Peshawar by the mujahideen, Syed Ahmad announced the abolition of all tribal rituals that he regarded as bid'ah (religious innovations). He abolished various practices such as: the bride being paid a regular price for marriage; the widowed of the deceased Muslims being divided among his heirs; practice of more than four marriages; denial of inheritance to women; clan wars being considered like jihad and its plunder being considered as booty. He also pushed for aggressive and violent policies to enforce Sharia. These included: allowing brides as long as half of the agreed money was given; young girls eligible for marriage should be married immediately; flogging people who didn't pray.
In addition to the stated social agenda, Sayyid Ahmad also attempted to collect the Islamic tithe (usher) of ten per cent of crop yields. The alliance was defeated and the Islamic reformers finally occupied Peshawar. Over several months during 1830, Sayyed Ahmad tried to conciliate established power hierarchies. But before the end of 1830; an organized uprising occurred and the agents of Sayyid Ahmad in Peshawar and in the villages of the plain were murdered and the movement retreated to hills.
They ran into trouble in this area with many of these Pashtun tribes because they had no cultural or linguistic relation to the locals and tried to wipe out their own old tribal rules and customs by force. Some of their old tribal leaders had sensed a threat to their own prevailing influence over the local tribal population and their traditional Pashtun nationalism which they were not willing to give up and hand their power and influence over to the newcomers in their area in the name of Islam.
Punjab, parts of North-West Frontier and Kashmir regions, in 1831, were under the strict rule of powerful Maharaja Ranjit Singh who also had future ambitions to control all of the North-West Frontier region of the Pashtuns. So he sent his powerful Sikh army to fight them and after a fierce battle, defeated them, at Balakot. There in the town of Balakot in 1831, Syed Ahmad was killed by the Sikh Army. He was beheaded.
Ismail Dehlvi was killed on 6 May 1831 during a fierce battle at Balakot against the army of Maharaja Ranjit Singh (1780 – 1839), the ruler of the Sikh empire that governed the region at that time. "Traditional historians accused the Pakhtun tribes of betraying the religious cause and glorified the role of the movement." Some other historians point out that the British government silently supported the movement and its planned migration to the North-West Frontier region. "Most probably, the British government wanted to shift the troublesome elements from the territory under their control to that of the Sikhs' in order to weaken the Sikh rule."
The historical roots of Ahl-i Hadith, the puritanical reform movement that emerged in mid 19th-century India, is traced back to the Jihad movement of Shah Ismail. Shah Ismail's teachings on Tawhid (monotheism), along with his condemnation of various folk rituals he regarded as shirk (polytheism), his denunciation of excessive celebrations during Mawlid as bid'ah (religious innovation), and his exercise of Ijtihad deeply influenced the Ahl-i Hadith. After the Islamic state of the Mujahidin was destroyed by the Sikh Empire, a faction of Shah's followers, who described themselves as Ahl-i Hadith, subsequently travelled across the Indian subcontinent and began spreading aspects of his reformist teachings in a radical manner. This set the stage for the emergence of an organised form of Salafism in the subcontinent. By the early 20th century, Ahl-i Hadith had become an important religious movement all across South Asia. Major scholars and religious students of the Deobandi movement also refer to Shah Ismail's treatises for theological guidance.
Deobandi scholars of the Hanafi school are profoundly influenced by the Hanafi-centric juristic methodology of Shah Ismail Dehlvi.