Reconsidering Islam in a South Asian Context Social Sciences in Asia
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
Reconsidering Islam in a South Asian Context Social Sciences in Asia Edited by Vineeta Sinha Syed Farid Alatas Chan Kwok-bun VOLUME 25 Reconsidering Islam in a South Asian Context By M. Reza Pirbhai LEIDEN • BOSTON 2009 Cover illustration: Mughal Tomb in Makli Necropolis, Pakistan (Pirbhai, 2000). Th is book is printed on acid-free paper. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Pirbhai, M. Reza. Reconsidering Islam in a South Asian context / by M. Reza Pirbhai. p. cm. — (Social sciences in Asia ; v. 25) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-90-04-17758-1 (pbk. : alk. paper) 1. Islam—South Asia—History. 2. Islamic renewal—South Asia—History. 3. Muslims—South Asia—History. I. Title. II. Series. BP63.A37P57 2009 297.0954—dc22 2009022847 ISSN 1567-2794 ISBN 978 90 04 17758 1 Copyright 2009 by Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, Th e Netherlands. Koninklijke Brill NV incorporates the imprints Brill, Hotei Publishing, IDC Publishers, Martinus Nijhoff Publishers and VSP. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, translated, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior written permission from the publisher. Authorization to photocopy items for internal or personal use is granted by Koninklijke Brill NV provided that the appropriate fees are paid directly to Th e Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Suite 910, Danvers, MA 01923, USA. Fees are subject to change. printed in the netherlands Dedicated to Qamar Iqbal Pirbhai (1944–2005) CONTENTS Acknowledgements ............................................................................ ix Translation and Transliteration Note ............................................ xi Maps ..................................................................................................... xiii Chronology of Major Muslim States, Relations with the English East India Company and British Raj in South Asia, 570–1947 ......................................................................................... xvii Introduction ........................................................................................ 1 PART ONE FOUNDATIONS: ISLAM AND THE MUGHALS Chapter One: Th e Categories of Doctrinal Islam ........................ 19 I. Al-Ghazali and al-Hujwiri: Categorising Islamic Th ought ................................................................................... 22 II. Th e World of Reason ............................................................ 30 III. Th e Other-World of Intuition ............................................. 53 Conclusion: Th e Fallacy in Paradigms of ‘Intrusive’ Islam ... 62 Chapter Two: Indicism, Intoxication and Sobriety among the ‘Great Mughals’ .............................................................................. 67 I. Jalal al-Din Akbar and the Intoxicated Way .................... 71 II. Muhi al-Din Awrangzib and the Sober Path .................... 91 Conclusion: Th e Trouble with ‘Unbounded’ Indicism ........... 114 PART TWO TRANSFORMATIONS: ISLAM AND COLONIALISM Chapter Th ree: Codifi cation and a ‘New’ Sober Path ................ 119 I. Shah Wali Allah and Pre-Colonial Trends in the Sober Path: 1707–1765 .......................................................... 133 viii contents II. Shah Muhammad Isma‘il and the Tariqa Muhammadiyya: 1765–1857 ................................................ 148 III. Deoband and Company: 1857–1947 .................................. 161 Conclusion: A ‘New’ Sober Path ................................................ 173 Chapter Four: Anglicisation and the ‘Old Islam’ ........................ 177 I. Islam in a Textual Context .................................................. 186 II. Islam in an Oral Context ..................................................... 206 Conclusion: Out with the ‘Old,’ In with the ‘New’ ................. 218 Chapter Five: Objectifi cation and a ‘New’ Intoxicated Way ..... 223 I. Sayyid Ahmad Khan’s ‘Nature’ ........................................... 232 II. Mirza Ghulam Ahmad’s ‘Messiah’ ..................................... 248 III. Muhammad Iqbal’s ‘Self’ ...................................................... 257 Conclusion: A ‘New’ Intoxicated Way ...................................... 266 Chapter Six: Nationalism and the ‘New Islam’ ........................... 269 I. Th e ‘Inner’ Domain: Th e ‘New Islam,’ Gender and Community ............................................................................. 273 II. Th e ‘Outer’ Domain: Umma, Qawm and Nation ............ 291 Conclusion: From Sultanates to Nations .................................. 332 Conclusion: Towards a ‘Post-Orientalist’ History ...................... 337 Selected Bibliography ........................................................................ 345 Glossary ............................................................................................... 359 Index of Persons ................................................................................ 361 Index of Subjects ................................................................................ 365 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This book could not have been written without the liberality and support of a number of individuals and institutions over many years. Interest in the subject fi rst germinated when I was a doctoral candidate in the stimulating environment at the University of Toronto. I must therefore begin by thanking Milton Israel, Linda Northrup and Paul Rutherford, my mentors and guides through the trials of graduate school, for encouraging me to pursue the very subject of this book, and for laying the scholastic foundations necessary to translate fl ighty interests into a focused work. Just as beginning a book requires inspiration and assistance, so does bringing the project to a satisfactory end. I am indebted to many for completing this work, but none more so than my colleagues at Louisiana State University. In particular, Gaines Foster, Chair of the Department of History, has extended every facility to smooth the writing process, John Henderson and David Lindenfeld have read and tendered invaluable advice on the work in progress, and Suzanne Marchand has off ered sagacious counsel on everything from research to publication. I must also thank Cliff ord Duplechin and Mary Lee Eggart of the Department of Geography and Anthropology for their fi ne work on my maps. Gratitude is also due the Offi ce of the Dean (Arts and Sciences) and the Offi ce of Research for their aid over the years. And fi nally, I must cite the Louisiana Board of Regents through the Board of Regents Support Fund (Contract # LEQSF (2008–09)-RD-ATL-06), for the generous fi nancial support without which this book could not have been fi nished. Many will have to forgive me for not mentioning them, but I could not forgive myself if I did not acknowledge the one constant through the writing process and in my life more generally. My wife and colleague, Reem Meshal, has gift ed me the expertise in Islamic Studies that keeps my work honest, the home that makes work possible and the child that gives all this work meaning. I would also be remiss not to thank my sisters for putting up with my lectures, while stimulating me with their own personal and professional views on the world. My father must be recognized for supporting any and all of my pursuits, and my mother x acknowledgements for bequeathing the sense of self that makes these endeavours possible in the fi rst place. Finally, I would like to thank Lee Kiat Jin, Nandita Sinha and the Social Sciences of Asia series editors at E.J. Brill Publishers, for all their eff orts in bringing this work to fruition. TRANSLATION AND TRANSLITERATION NOTE Th is work’s considerable reliance on Arabic, Persian and Urdu sources is both advantageous and problematic for transliteration. All three lan- guages not only utilise a variant of the Arabic script, but Persian includes a great stock of Arabic terms and the larger part of Urdu vocabulary is Arabic and/or Persian. Th e advantages of this linguistic relationship may be evident, but problems stem from grammatical and phonetic diff erences less immediately apparent. For example, phonetic diff erences oft en lead the same word to be transliterated diff erently from language to language, as in the case of the Arabic ‘wahy’ and the Persian/Urdu ‘vahy’. As well, diff erences in conjugation can render the same word unrecognisable, as in the Arabic ‘aqwam’ and the Urdu ‘qawmun’. Given that this study’s readers may not be familiar with all three languages, the above diff erences may result in confusion. Th us, all shared terms mentioned are transliterated in the Arabic form. Where diff erences of the latter variety occur, the Arabic singular is given with the English ‘s’ to denote plurality. Of course, terms particular to a given language are given in the corresponding form. As well, the Persian/Urdu ‘izafat’ is given as ‘-i’. Th e transliteration system utilised for all three languages is that of the International Journal of Middle East Studies. As the majority of terms transliterated are by no means obscure to those familiar with either Arabic, Persian or Urdu, diacritical markings are only included in the Glossary. Map 1 Map 2 Map 3 Map 4 CHRONOLOGY OF MAJOR MUSLIM STATES, RELATIONS WITH THE ENGLISH EAST INDIA COMPANY AND BRITISH RAJ IN SOUTH ASIA, 5701947 570–632: Muhammad establishes the fi rst Muslim state in the Hijaz (Western Arabia). 632–661: ‘Elected’