SHEIKH AHMAD SIRHINDI

Sheikh Ahmad Sirhindi was also known as Hazrat Mujadid Alf Sani, he was a descendant of the
second pious Caliph Hazrat Umar Ibn Al Khatab due to this he was referred as “Farooqi”. He
was the son of Sheikh Abd-al-Ahad, who was a Sufi and a scholar and he received Khilafat from
his father in the Chishtiya and Suhurawardiya spiritual orders. He was the reformer of second
millennium and he was a great saint as he challenged the strength of Akbar to re-establish the
glory of Islam which had been gravely threatened by the anti-Islamic trends of Akbar. He was
the follower of Khawja Baqi Billah, a saint of the Naqshbandia spiritual order. He was born on
June 26, 1564 at Sirhind. He received education from Sialkot and Sirhind from most learned and
qualified teachers. He was a hafiz-e-Quran and then also studied Hadith, Tafsir and Ma’qul.
Sheikh Ahmed wrote his book “Isbat-un-Nabuwwat”, in this book he gave a very good
explanation of the prophethood. Baqi Billah granted Khilafat on Sheikh Ahmad soon after he
joined his discipleship. When he began his reform movement Muslim society was involved in
un-Islamic practices as they all believed in Karamat which really misguided people. Basically in
Sufism many developments were made regarding supernatural powers as the authenticity of
Shariah was denied. The ulama did not refer Quran and Sunnah and due to this the religious
spirit extremely weakened. In this time period Akbar was ruling who did not have proper
learning about Islam he promoted Hinduism by marrying a Hindu and giving free access to the
Rajputs and Hindus in the court. Akbar granted Hindus top positions and introduced din-i-illahi
which basically distorted Islam. This new introduced religion affected Muslims as it split them
into different practices. The Mughal emperor gave him title of Mujadid-i-Azam and Iman-i-Adil
he used to pass orders which he considered as authentic and final. Sheikh Ahmad started his job
of purifying the Muslim nation from un-Islamic practices. He asked for following Shariah and
Ittibat-i-Sunnah this work was followed in India and neighbouring countries. He used a very
efficient way or method to persuade the nobles of the royal court by writing letters which are
known as Muktubat-e-Imam Rabbani. He opened the misconception of din-i-illahi and he
emphasized on following tauheed and to live their life according to Shariah. After a lot of hard
work he was successful at the time of Jehangir, he extracted a solemn undertaking from the
Muslims that they would not obey any orders against to Islam. He emphasized to adopt simple
habits; he explained importance of Namaz and Fasting. Sheikh Ahmad was imprisoned as he did
not prostrated in front of Jehangir when he called Sheikh Ahmad to his court. Sheikh Ahmad
refused to perform this act of Shirk as sajdah is only for Allah. He was later on released by
granting him dress of honour and 1000 rupees. Sheikh Ahmad introduced two nation concept as
he desired to maintain a distinct image of Muslim Nationalism so he firmly believed in two
nation theory. He simply denied the philosophy of Wahdat-ul-Wajud which means God and his
creations are same so if we worship creature it will be equal to God’s worship Sheikh Ahmad
denied this and introduced his philosophy of Wahdat-ul-Shahud that God and his creations are
two different entities. The efforts of Sheikh Ahmad to purify the religion and life of Muslims
have a great impact on Muslim history. He continued his hard work till end by creating
difference between Islam and atheism by being the only person opposing Akbar. He died on 10
December 1024 A.D and was buried in Sirhind. He was the most powerful religious personality.

HAZRAT SHAH WALI ULLAH MUHADIS DELHVI

Shah Wali Ullah was born on 21st February 1703 in the Central State of the United Provinces,
just as the reign of Aurangzeb was near its end. He belonged to a respected and religious family
with his father, Shah Abdul Rahim, being a founding member and teacher of the Madrassa
Rahimiya in Delhi. That was the institution where he received his early education. His real name
was Qutub-ud-din but later he became known as Shah Wali Ullah due to his piety. Shah Abdul
Rahim was also associated with the completion of the famous Islamic legal text, Fatwa-i-
Alamgiri. He memorized Quran as well and received education in Tasfir, Hadis and he studied
metaphysics, logic and Ilm-ul-kalam. He studied Sahih-i-Bukhari and acquired knowledge of
various branches of fiqah which included Sharh-i-Waqaya, Hidaya and Usul-i-fiqah. He gained
knowledge in other fields as well such medicine and Tib. After finishing his education at the
Madrassa, he taught there for 12 years. He then went to Saudi Arabia for pilgrimage and higher
studies. There he was influenced by Sheikh Abu Tahir bin Ibrahim and studied from him in
Madinah for 14 years. His father died at the age of 77 and transferred the Ba’ia and Irshad to
Shah Wali Ullah at his death bed so then he taught in madrassa for 12 years. During those days,
there was social and political disorder in the country. When Shah Wali Ullah received news
about the political disorder in the country, he returned to subcontinent. He prepared a few
students and gave them knowledge about Islamic teachings so that they can spread it around. He
adopted a sensible methodology towards religious matters. Apart from spreading Islamic
teachings, he also provided leadership to Muslims in the political field. He was of the opinion
that the rise of Marathas would weaken the political power of Muslims forever. He wrote letters
to the leading Muslim nobles and asked for their support. He looked onward to Ahmed Shah
Abdali’s support that he persuaded to recover the Muslim rule in India. Ahmed Shah Abdali
came onward to support Shah Wali Ullah. Together, they crushed the power of Marathas in the
subcontinent.

SYED AHMED SHAHEED BARAILVI

The name of Syed Ahmed Shaheed carries great importance with regard to the revival of Islam in
the history of subcontinent. His tactic to freedom was based on the armed struggle and war
against the foreign and non-Muslim forces. Syed Ahmed Shaheed Barailvi belonged to a
respectable family of Rai Baraily. He was greatly impressed by the preaching and principles of
Shah Wali Ullah. He began his career as a Sawar in the service of Nawab Amir Khan. During his
service he learnt military discipline and strategy which made him a great military commander.
In 1807 he took the oath of commitment at the hands of Shah Abdul Aziz. In 1818 Syed Ahmed
wrote Sirat-i-Mushtaqim.
Syed Ahmed Shaheed was extremely discouraged to see the letdown of Muslims in their
religious and political commitments. His main objective was to establish a state which was based
on Islamic principles. In the time of Syed Ahmed, Punjab was ruled by a Sikh ruler. Muslims
severely suffered under his rule. The NWFP had also fallen to Sikh power. The conditions of
Muslims worsened day by day and therefore Syed Ahmed decided to launch his Jihad movement
against the Sikhs. He selected NWFP to launch his Jihad for the removal of non-Muslim forces.
He challenged the Sikh Army at Akora on 21st December 1826. It was a successful operation and
the Sikhs had to suffer a heavy loss. The Mujahedeen fought a second battle at Hazro which too
was successful. His Jihad movement was conducted with great passion and eagerness and he
occupied a number of places but his movement fell into dismay after his death.