DICHOTOMY AND CONTROVERSIES OF 20TH CENTURY ORIENTALISTS ON SĪRAH (An Analytical Study) (Ph.D. Thesis) Prepared by: Supervised by: Muhammad Khaqan Name: Prof. Dr. Muhammad Sultan Shah Roll No. 05 Designation: Professor/ Chairperson Class: Ph.D. (Evening) Department: Arabic and Islamic Studies Institution: GC University Lahore Department of Islamic Studies Faculty of Shariah and Islamic Studies MINHAJ UNIVERSITY LAHORE (Session: 2009-2012) 2 Preface Orientalism is a branch of knowledge created by the western scholars. Some of the narrow-minded people in the community of Jews and Christians launched a useless struggle against the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him). They were against the spread of Islam in the west. Through conspiracy and negative propaganda they raised negative objections against the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) and tried to change the minds of Western people and made them against the Prophet’s (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) and his teachings. To turndown these fake ideas and teachings of these scholars, it was necessary for researchers of righteous block to highlight the dichotomy and controversies of these conspirators and brought it into the knowledge of readers. In this way the wrong information spread in the society could be eliminated from the minds of innocent readers, because dishonesty of conspirators has shown its effect and set in the minds and hearts of readers. If the readers have had the real knowledge and be informed about these dishonest writers who have been spreading the fake ideas. Afterwards in the books or in other publications which were written by their own hands they refused the first information spread against the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him). The readers will come near the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) and embrace Islam. In this direction, some of the Muslim scholars like Sir 3 Sayyed Ahmed Khan (1817-1898), Dr. Shaykh Inayat Ullah (n.d.), Justice Pīr Muhammad Karam Shah al-Azharī (1918-1998), Prof. Zafar ‘Alī Qureshī, Dr. Muhammad Hamidullah (1908-2002), Dr. Muhammad Arif ‘Umar, Dr. Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri (b. Feb 19, 1951), Prof. Dr. Muhammad Akhtar (1955) and Maulana Abdul Aziz Manon (n.d.) etc. had done the research, but they have not written about the dichotomy and the controversies of the orientalists on Sīrah. Therefore, this research work has been done against the work of William Muir (1819-1905), D. S. Margoliouth (1858-1940), H. A. R. Gibb (1895-1971), Reynold A. Nicholson (1868-1945), George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950) Annemare Schimmel (1922-2003), Karen Armstrong (1944) and some other orientalists’ blasphemic activities through which they had spread misconceptions and disinformations about the personality and Teachings of Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) in the western world in particular and all over the world in general. Through this research we want to convey true information about the Prophet to the western world. 4 Abstract ‘Dichotomy and Controversies of 20th Century Orientalists on Sīrah’ is an untouched topic. The researcher has discussed it in seven chapters. The first chapter consists of the Introduction to the Holy Prophet of Islam (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him). The controversies and dichotomy of the orientalists with respect to Prophet’s ancestors, childhood and prophethood, are highlighted in the first chapter. Objections raised by the orientalists are narrated in the second chapter. The rejection of the objections of the orientalists by Eastern Christians, Jews, Hindus and Sikhs are also mentioned here. After the proclamation of Prophethood, the Muslims were forced to migrate to Abyssinia. Some orientalists raised some questions on the migration to Abyssinia due to adverse circumstances but some other Western scholars rejected accusations leveled against emigrants, in the third chapter. The fourth chapter comprises the Holy Prophet’s (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) stature as a statesman. The Charter of Madina, Brotherhood between the Emigrants and Helpers, Treaties with the Jews, Christians and Idolaters, were the constitutional infrastructure of the city state of Madina. Objections were raised by a band of orientalists but another band alluded that no malafide intentions have been found against the Prophet given system. In chapter five war strategy of Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) has been discussed. Orientalists recognize the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) as a successful commander, services of the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) were free of cost. War strategy was for creating peace in the state and outside in the entire world. Orientalists objected that Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) was trying to 5 get power and pelf by the use of sword. It was an aggression against non- Muslims. After objections, rejection is clear against these objections. In rejection the orientalists say that no aggression has been made on the part of the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him). Great tolerance has been shown by the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him). Crucial enmity changed into tolerance and brotherhood. No massacre has been made by the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) and his companions during the course of the conquest of Makkah. Chapter six is on conjugal system of Islam. Polygamy has been discussed in the light of the Holy Qur’ān and Hadīth. The Orientalists raised objections on the plural marriages of the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him). These objections have been repudiated vehemently. Some orientalists eulogized the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him). In the end, the eulogy of the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) by orientalists has been discussed who recognized him as a man of sublime character and one with whom there was no complaint of his family women. Chapter seven consists of conclusion of the research work. Gist of the thesis has been complied respectively as compared to the summary of the work. It is one of the short story of the research work for the kind perusal of the readers thereof. 6 Introduction and Importance of the Topic In the twentieth century (A.D), many Muslim scholars worked on orientalism. Their research has been examined and discussed in the following paragraphs: Sir Sayyed Ahmed Khan (1817-1898) has worked a little in response to the book written by William Muir “The Life of Mahomet” but no dichotomy has been found in this work. Dr. Shykh Inayat Ullah has also attended the international orientalists’ congress in 1938. He did not give any good information about the orientalists work on dichotomy. Justice Pīr Muhammad Karam Shah al-Azhari (1918-1998) has talked about the orientalists. In the last volume of his book on Sīrah, the conspiracies of the orientalists have been discussed but no dichotomy has been mentioned in this work. Prof. Zafar Ali Qureshi has written many books on Islam and orientalism. The books are: ‘Reason for Orientalist Hostility Towards Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), ‘Watt on Sīrah’ etc. but he does not touch the topic of dichotomy. Dr. Muhammad Hamidullah (1908-2002) worked on the literature of Orientalists. He was an expert of Arabic language. Most of his life time was spent in research of Islamic literature but no book on dichotomy is available in his publications. He wrote “Orientalists on the Quran”. It is a critical study. No information about dichotomy has been found in his work. 7 Dr. Muhammad Arif Umar’s work is very famous on the orientalist scholar ‘Noldeke’s Translation of Holy Qur’ān’ but he did not work on dichotomy and controversies of the orientalists on Sīrah the biography of the Prophet of Islam (peace and greetings of Allah be upon him). The following two books on orientalism have been authored by Dr. Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri: (1) ‘Orientalists want to Debunk Islamic Civilization’ published in 2009. (2) ‘Orientalists Spread Disinformation About Islam’ published in 2010. No matter on dichotomy of the orientalists has been found in these works. Prof. Dr. Muhammad Akhtar (1955) wrote a book in May 2012. “Due to the Influence of the Orientalists Who Study Islam from the Western Point of View”. No reference about the dichotomy of the orientalists has been noted in this work. Maulana Ziauddin Islahi wrote some books against the work of orientalists. The book on Noldeke ‘Nobel Quran’. ‘Waywardness and Contradictory Reporting on Analysis and Debate by Orientalists’. No matter has been found about dichotomy of the orientalists in this work. Maulana Shah Mohyuddin Ahmed Nadvi has written an Article on the topic of “Orientalists in Holand”. Apart from this information there is no direct research work on the topic of dichotomy and controversies of the 20th century orientalists on Sīrah. 8 Maulana Abdul Aziz Memon has written a book on Orientalism. “Mistakes of European Orientalists Regarding Abu’l-A‘la Ma’ari”. No reference about this research has been found in it. Maulana Muhammad Owais Nadvi wrote a book against Orientalists. “Islam, Orientalists and Muslim Scholars”. It is a valuable struggle but under discussion topic has not been touched in it. As far as Maulana Abul Kalam Azad is concerned, he was born in 1883 and died 1958. He wrote a book “Scientific and Artistic Treasure of Islam and the Orientalists.” In this book no matter has been found about the dichotomy and controversies of the Orientalists of the 20th century on Sīrah.