Book: Devotional Islam and Politics in British India

Author: Usha Sanyal
Publisher:

Devotional Islam and Politics in British India: Ahmad Riza Khan Barelwi and His Movement, 1870-1920

It is the best available study to date in the English language on the life and times of this great Sunni scholar, mujaddid, Sufi and wali. The book is extremely-well researched and although in a very few places which deal with theological nuances she falls into the trap of the Orientalist--after all she is a non-Muslim writing about Islam--of misunderstanding the Urdu poetry--overall the book is fair and extremely well balanced.

The book begins with a look at the ancestors of Ala Hazrat and how they came to settle in Bareilly and their family history. It also develops the political history of the situation in British India at the time and the different responses to the British Raj by the Muslim ulama and intelligentsia. It thus situates Ala Hazrat in his historical and cultural context which is very important for a full understanding. The book then gives a fairly detailed biography of Imam Ahmad Riza Khan, his education, teachers, initiation into Sufi tariqas, his own development as a scholar, his beginning as a mufti an d so forth. Then the book looks at different aspects of his teachings and especially at his fatawa vis-a-vis the Deobandis and Wahabis and also his attitude to the British and his role in the major political movements of the time (eg the Khilafat Movement). Another section looks at his poetry and some of the major themes therein. Then there is a section on his role as a spiritual and religious guide to Sunni Muslims, his interactions with other Muslim groups, his efforts at Islamic revivalism and also a look at his major students and khalifas and their role in the Independence movement after his death.

It gives a `neutral` view on the Deobandi-Barelwi conflict too and also absolves Ala Hazrat Imam Ahmad Riza Khan rahmatullah alayhi of charges against him made by, for example, some 'Salafis' of today and some Deobandis, that he was a Shia or pro-British. It details his deep learning, piety, fairness, moderation and his general attitudes to the politics of his time . It also has a good section on how his followers developed after he passed onto Allah Ta`ala. The style is somewhat dry and academic but that is to be expected in an academic study which is what this is after all. Despite this stylistic aspect one thing that still comes through is the intense and devotional love which Ala Hazrat had for the Beloved Prophet (sal Allahu alayhi wa alihi wa sallam).

It is a very good book indeed and highly recommended to all those who would like to know the major facts of the life of Ala Hazrat Imam Ahmad Rida Khan radhi Allahu anhu, free from both the demonising of his opponents and the exaggeration of some of his more ardent followers.