Syncretic Islam: Life and Times of Ahmad Raza Khan Barelvi

By Anil Maheshwari and Richa Singh

Syncretic Islam is a fascinating and brilliant study of the religious thought and career of one of the doyens of Muslim traditionalism in South Asia, Imam Ahmad Raza Khan Barelvi. An Islamic scholar, jurist and an Urdu poet, Ahmad Raza Khan was the founder of the Barelvi movement whose defining feature of thought is the active veneration of the Prophet as the most exalted of all beings. This work overviews and analyses the multiple facets constituting Ahmad Raza Khan's intellectual life and, in extension, the Barelvi school of thought in an eminently accessible manner. It is the story of a remarkable revivalist, born in the North Indian town of Bareilly during British India, who grew up to be hailed by his followers as the mujaddid, or reviver, of Islam in nineteenth-century India.

A Pathan by descent, Hanafi by religious mores, Qadiri by disposition and Barelvi by nativity, Syncretic Islam captures the astounding contribution of Ahmad Raza Khan and attempts to explain his spiritual influence that still binds millions of people in the Indian subcontinent.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
• Release date: Apr 18, 2021
• ISBN: 9789354350092

Book preview

1

Birth, Family and Home

Rohilkhand—the name evokes images of a vast expanse of verdant plains running through hundreds of kilometres in the western part of Uttar Pradesh. Strewn with lush green farmlands amid myriad hamlets, villages and cities, it always gaggles with people like the rest of the Indo-Gangetic basin. But long ago, Rohilkhand had a wild and thick forest cover that was waded through by gurgling tributaries and rivulets of the mighty Ganges. The ebb and flow of times nurtured a vibrant Muslim milieu that, in fact, had once come riding on the back of military might. Military expansion had led to most human migration through most of the world and continued to do so until the dawn of the modern era that gave birth to, what is called, the modern nation state.

Indeed, there was a time when Rohilkhand was a tumultuous and turbulent region, stretching from the Himalayan foothills in the north to a town called Etah in the south, and from the fringes of Ganges in the west to the borders of Awadh in the east. It was here that the roistering Rohilla Pathans descended from Afghanistan via Lahore in the 17th century and turned it into their home forever. They entrenched themselves quickly in their new domain and oversaw the power of their sword lift the listlessness of their past in Afghanistan. Their sway, however, came under attack from the British towards the mid-19th century. The bewildering British fire-spewing canons, superb cavalry and military sinews swamped, subsumed and humbled the Pathan power. The bustling town of Bareilly, which lay in the heart of Rohilkhand and had become the pride of the Pathans, fell to the British.

Around the same time, history was about to take a sharp turn. In 1856, there was a rise in the concerns of the residents of Maulana Raza Ali Khan’s house in Jasoli (now Zakhira), which stood in the western part of Bareilly, amid many closely jutted houses. One of the ladies of the house was pregnant and, thus, fervent prayers were being offered for the well-being of the would-be mother. She was the wife of Raza Ali’s son, Maulana Naqi Ali Khan. It was the month of June and the couple prayed for a son. This preference for a male offspring, prevalent among most communities to this day, remains a stark contrast to the time-honoured matriarchal order and ways observed by tribal societies in India.

It is said that shortly before the baby’s birth, Maulana Naqi Ali had a vision that left him astounded and curious. He confided in his father, who interpreted the vision as a sign that Naqi Ali would become the father of a child, a boy, who would grow up to be pious and knowledgeable and whose name would shine from the East to the West. On 14 June 1856, a Monday, amid great rejoicing, a son was born to Naqi Ali. Mohammed was the name given to the child at birth, along with the name al-Mukhtar—corresponding to the year of his birth. But the overjoyed grandfather, Raza Ali, soon changed the name of the child to Ahmad Raza. With time, he came to be known as Ahmad Raza Khan Barelvi as the name of the town of his birth got appended to his name. He became so renowned that his last name became a sobriquet of sorts for over half of South Asia’s Muslim population, who continue to follow his teachings to this day.

Ahmad Raza had a long and illustrious trail of forefathers but only he could leave his indelible mark on the country his ancestors chose to call home. Sometime around the 17th century, his Baraich (Rohilla) Afghan forefather, Saeed-ullah Khan, migrated from Kandahar to Lahore, and then to Delhi. His descendants finally settled down in Bareilly where the family could attain social repute through their reasonably high level of wealth. They remained affluent zamindars until 1854. An array of impressive lineage beginning from Saeed-ullah Khan, a gifted warrior who accompanied Nadir Shah to Delhi, reached down to Saadat Hasan Yaar to Mohammed Azam Khan to Hafiz Kazim Ali Khan to Raza Ali Khan to Naqi Ali Khan and, finally, to Ahmad Raza Khan.

It was Hafiz Kazim Ali Khan who had first settled in Bareilly and founded a lasting wealth preserve for the family. The family’s history runs so deep that not only does it continue the legacy of the illustrious Barelvi narrative but its study uncovers a legend that is spread much beyond the town of Bareilly, across India and into the neighbouring Pakistan. The family had followed its martial tradition until Hafiz Kazim Ali who received a grant of land for his military service. For a brief while, he even worked in the service of Asif-ud-Daula, the Nawab of Awadh. The generous Nawab granted him two revenue-free properties, which remained under the family’s ownership for over a century or so.

Breaking away from the family tradition of military service, Raza Ali turned to fiqah, or Islamic jurisprudence, and Sufi gnosticism under the Qadiri order. In a sense, this break was an indication of the changing times and in tune with the new reality brought in by the onslaught of the British rule. There was little scope for the employment of Ali’s soldiers in British India. Large numbers of soldiers were being disbanded everywhere in northern India and Rohilkhand was no exception. The majority of the North Indian Muslim princely states were unable to employ them any further and neither was the British East India Company able to employ all of them. Thus, it seems, Raza Ali abandoned his military profession, in keeping with the changing times, for a life of scholasticism and spartan ways that bordered on saintliness. This was to put him ahead of his times and see his family through the vicissitudes that accompanied those uncertain days. He became particularly distinguished as an alim for his skill in fiqah that eventually became the main occupation for the family. His biography is peppered with accounts and tales that are characteristic of lives of the pious saints. There are stories of him redirecting a wayward courtesan to the right path, and of him miraculously restraining a young man from dabbling in sinful merriment at brothels.

A startling incident, recounted by Ahmad Raza Khan’s disciple and biographer, Zafaruddin Bihari, deals, in great detail, with how Ahmad Raza’s grandfather, Raza Ali Khan, became invisible to the British forces that were combing through the countryside in their hunt for mutineers and their cohorts in the aftermath of the 1857 revolt. Raza Ali was in no way involved in the revolt but his well-wishers advised him to stay out of the way in case the British, in a knee-jerk reaction to the revolt, failed to distinguish between friend and foe. However, Raza Ali refused. He punctually offered prayers five times a day in the town’s mosque. He was at prayer when a platoon of British soldiers descended on Bareilly. Chaos betook the city as the rampaging troops ransacked houses, beat up people and arrested anyone they could lay their hands upon. Not content with this, the soldiers surrounded the mosque and ordered the people inside to step out. Calmly, Raza Ali kept praying. The British troops soon entered the mosque but only an eerie silence greeted them. All that the British saw was an empty mosque. After looking around in vain, they withdrew. Zafaruddin asserts that the angels of God protected Raza by throwing a veil around him and rendering him invisible to the blood-baying British troops.

Raza Ali delivered his first lecture at the age of six. He stood on a pulpit and delievered the lecture before a large gathering which also included ulema. His lecture continued for about two hours, as he spoke on the birth of the Prophet. Earlier, he had exhibited his brilliance as a student. He was so gifted and intelligent that there was no need for him to study beyond the fourth book under the tutorship of any of his teachers. He studied the remaining books by himself.

There are several accounts of Raza Ali’s piety and his spiritual impact on those around him. He never saved money for himself; whatever came his way, he took no time to distribute it among the poor, needy and deserving. Once he remarked, ‘I never gave away a single penny in zakat (mandatory alms) because I could never save enough till the end of year that could warrant an obligation like zakat on me.’ For the folks of Bareilly and its countryside, he was a venerable figure. The followers of Ahmad Raza could relate to the sagacious instances of his grandfather’s deeds. Unfortunately, only a few such accounts have been recorded and a lot more are lost to posterity.

Legend has it that once, during Holi, Raza Ali was walking along a lane in Bareilly’s Koocha Sitaram neighbourhood which was dotted with houses of courtesans and nautch girls. A somewhat impudent and coquettish young courtesan, standing on a first-floor balcony, was watching Raza Ali as he made his way towards the other end of the lane. As he neared the balcony, she emptied a pail of coloured water on the maulana. The locals were aghast. Raza Ali was a well-known venerable personality of the city and never, even on Holi, had anyone dared to throw colour at him or take such liberties. There stood the maulana, his clothes soiled, water dripping from his beard. Cursing the courtesan, the locals ran towards him to apologise for her audacious prank. An incensed Muslim man drew his sword to kill the courtesan. Raza Ali ordered him to stop, saying, ‘Spare her ... she will be punished anyway. One day, God will colour her in His own shades.’ Overwhelmed, the courtesan came to him and fell at his feet, begging him to allow her to enter the fold of Islam.

Similarly, there was the case of a youth named Waris, for whom Raza Ali always had great sympathy. Waris lived in Mohalla Saudagaraan in Bareilly. Owing to his profligate habits and spendthrift nature, he suffered incessant financial problems. All of this was known to Raza Ali. When Waris sought a loan from Raza Ali, he obliged him on the condition that he would not waste away the borrowed sum. Waris promised not to but, the moment he got the money, he hastened to the house of a courtesan. Full of plans of an evening of merriment and revelry, he climbed the steps of a brothel. On reaching the landing, he was shocked as he saw Raza Ali’s walking stick at the entrance to the courtesan’s sitting room! Waris wheeled back in his tracks and hastened towards the house of another courtesan. To his amazement, there too, he found Raza Ali’s cane propped against the door. Baffled, sweating and quite nervous, he tried several bordellos one after another. Everywhere he found Raza Ali’s cane. At last, Waris realised that Raza Ali was following him through his supernal ways to ensure that he did not give in to temptations. Penitently, he retraced his steps and confessed to Raza Ali, swearing not to ever sin again.

Some Urdu biographers portray Raza Ali as someone who fought alongside a general called Bakht Khan against the British in 1834 but no confirmation of this is available from the records of those times. It is certain that neither before 1857 nor thereafter did the British persecute the family or confiscate its property.

During and after the events of 1857, the Pathans of Rohilkhand were either angry or apprehensive of the new colonial power. Some, like the Nawabs of Rampur and Chhatari, thought it fit to throw their lots with the British. Convinced that it was a case of adapt or perish, others, like Sir Syed Ahmed Khan, favoured the adoption of a westernised and yet Islamic mode of life. Rebels like Khan Bahadur Khan bothered only about their unfettered authority over what used to be their domain, and dreamt of ruling Rohilkhand some day. Most of the ulema favoured a return to pursuit of knowledge and impartation of religious instructions to the younger generations. In doing so, they also advocated a policy of societal reform and revival of religion. They believed that a gradual return to political power was possible only through purification of mind and heart, and a consequent renewal and refurbishing of faith.

One man, however, had his own notions about this. Twenty-five-year-old Naqi Ali, son of Raza Ali Khan, ever practical and with one sharp ear to the ground, had no illusions as to which way the tide would turn. Steeped in the scholarly tradition, founded and established by his father Raza Ali, this last scion of a warriors’ family had avowedly taken to a life of learning, religiosity and Sufi mysticism. Yet, he retained a pragmatic and practical approach to matters all his life. Shown by all accounts, Naqi Ali balanced his religious and social life quite judiciously. He successfully managed the family property and ensured that prosperity marked the household. Students and followers were treated well and taken care of. A prolific writer, he had the abundance of energy to keep everything in his life under control. His sense of logic never forsook him and a steadfastness of will characterised his actions. Besides these, he had the sage counsel of Raza Ali to bank upon.

Naqi Ali seems to have been a man who believed in management by objectives. Living in a politically unstable time, he did not antagonise the colonial power. Dependent on the goodwill of non-Muslims who worked on his land, he did not alienate them either. Nor could he afford to take any radical stance within his own community. In the strained circumstances of his times, the best course was neutrality, a policy impressed upon him by his father, the shrewd Raza Ali. Equally sagacious and even more practical than his father was Naqi Ali who left a deep impression on young Ahmad Raza’s mind and heart. It was he who shaped Ahmad Raza’s personality.

From the start, Naqi Ali painstakingly oversaw Ahmad Raza’s intellectual development. In tending to his son’s education, nothing was too small or insignificant to merit his attention. Surprisingly, Ahmad Raza never studied in any madrasa although there was one in Bareilly and another not far away in Rampur. Why Ahmad Raza Khan studied at home and not at a madrasa is not clear. Perhaps, it was dictated by Raza Ali Khan who doted on his grandson and did not want him to be away from home. Maybe, it was Naqi Ali Khan’s choice. It could also well have been at Ahmad Raza’s mother’s insistence. Little is known about his mother or grandmother, mostly because of the Muslim tradition of purdah and the segregation of women from public view. In the Urdu biographies, neither of the women is mentioned in keeping with the traditions of the period. All in all, despite Naqi Ali Khan’s attention to Ahmad Raza, it cannot be denied that, busy as the father always was with his temporal and spiritual duties, Ahmad Raza had been close to his mother too. This is the conclusion that emerges from the hazy references to the women of the household.

Perhaps, under his father’s wings, it was Ahmad Raza’s education at home that helped the son escape the assault of mediocrity on his intellect and thought. What the grandfather, Raza Ali, had sown in spiritual and intellectual terms, and what was carefully nurtured and made to flourish by his father, Naqi Ali, came to Ahmad Raza Khan as a powerful legacy. Sadly, when Naqi Ali was 38 years old and Ahmad Raza only 10, Raza Ali passed away in 1866. Yet, Ahmad Raza had shown signs of having great wisdom during the lifetime of Raza Ali. He lived upto the prophecy that Raza Ali had made days before the birth of his grandson. As for the values and ethos built through generations at Raza Ali’s house, an overpowering scholarly sobriety always hung over it. A profusion of books and a collection of devoted followers—all influences upon Ahmad Raza’s personal style and temperament—marked the sprawling house of his ancestors. He had a liking for solitude and modelled his life on the Prophet’s sunnat, as he interpreted it. He was extremely finicky about details of deportment, dress and etiquette.

Early on, Ahmad Raza’s teachers realised that he was more than a match for them. Many of the issues that later engaged him were already introduced in Naqi Ali’s writings, which seem to have been derived in turn from the inclinations of Raza Ali. Author of some 50 books, including the acclaimed Suroor-ul-quloob fi zikri maulud-ul-Mahboob, Naqi Ali was well known for his intellectual endeavours and his opposition to the revivalists. In the aforementioned work, he condemned the internal as well as external enemies of Islam. In impressing his views, Naqi Ali seems to have passed on to Ahmad Raza a predilection for denouncing those opposed to his views. He was an arch-opponent of Shah Muhammad Ismail Dehlavi, a Wahhabi alim. In 1876, Naqi Ali published his refutation of the Taqwiyatul Iman, a book written by Ismail Dehlavi. Thus, from an early age, Ahmad Raza was exposed to strong positional propensities especially against the opposition posed by the Wahhabi ideologue, propagated by revivalists.

A Pathan by descent, Hanafi by religious mores, Qadiri by disposition and Barelvi by nativity, Ahmad Raza Khan was a worthy heir to his rare heritage. True to his sun sign—gemini—Ahmad Raza was a mental gymnast par excellence since early childhood. People who came in contact with him never ceased to be amazed by the extraordinary aptitude and intellect that backed his rare ability to grasp the essence of any argument, theory or premise, however intricate or sublime.

By the time Ahmad Raza’s education began, his family had already established a reputation for its scholarly legacy. Influenced by the Badayuni and Khairabadi ulema, specialists in rationalist studies, logic and fiqah, Ahmad Raza’s family followed the course their family tradition had charted and laid out for them. This was in contrast to the Hadith (prophetic traditions) scholarship of the ulema of Delhi, especially by the descendants of Shah Waliullah. By the second half of the 19th century, the Badayun and Bareilly ulema, which Ahmad Raza’s teachers followed, had gradually distanced themselves from the Delhi ulema. Fazl-e-Rasul Badayuni infused into Ahmad Raza Khan an antipathy towards the Wahhabis. From his father, Ahmad Raza imbibed an attitude of opposition to Sayyid Ahmed Barelvi (a native of Raebareli in eastern Uttar Pradesh) and others of the Tariqa-e-Muhammadiya.

Except for Naqi Ali Khan and Mirza Ghulam Qadir Baig of Bareilly, not much is known about Ahmad Raza Khan’s other teachers, though Urdu biographies provide a list of their names. He was able to learn from Shah Ale Rasul for no more than two years, due to the latter’s death. Among his other teachers, the names that figure are Shah Abul Hassan Ahmed (Noori Miyan), Maulana Abdul Rampuri, Shaikh Ahmad bin Zain e-Dahlaan Makki, Shaikh Abdur Rahman Makki and Shaikh Hussain bin Saleh Makki.

The incidents of Ahmad Raza’s childhood are mind-boggling and veritable eye-openers to his extraordinary intellect, forthrightness and fortitude. At the age of four, he amazed people by speaking chaste Arabic though he had never studied the language before. By the time he was six, he recited a poem in praise of the Prophet on the occasion of Id Milad-un-Nabi, or the anniversary that marks both the birth and death of the Prophet. Speaking before a large audience, Ahmad Raza impressed