Maulana Obaidullah Sindhi || History

                      MAULANA OBAIDULLAH SINDHI 

Life history of Maulana obaidullah sindhi

(1872-1944)

The Sikhs were quite a power in the Punjab at the beginning of the nineteenth century, and many Sikh families were profitably employed in the administrative machinery as officers that ran the Government of the Punjab. Gulab Rai was one such Sikh officer, and he and his family lived a life of com- fort and contentment. It was good to have a job with a good salary, and which also gave one a certain amount of power and authority. Gulab Rai, in order to ensure the financial security of his family, secured a good and lucrative post for his son, Jaspat Rai. With the decline of the Sikh power, those that depended on Government service had to seek employment elsewhere, and Ram Singh, the son of Jaspat Rai, came to settle in Sialkot, where he set himself up as a goldsmith, while his other relatives either found some petty Government jobs or started business on a modest scale. The business of Ram Sing prospered, and he married a girl from the Sikh community of Sialkot. Their first child was a girl, whom they named Jiwani, and on 10th March, ( 1872 ), was born in Chianwali village in Sialkot district their second child, a son, who was later on to become famous as Maulana Obaidullah Sindhi.

Ram Sing died four months after the birth of his son, and thereafter his wife and two children went to live with Jaspat Rai. They had hardly lived there for about twenty months, when Jaspat Rai also died. The young mother, with her two children, decided it would be best to go and seek shelter under the roof of her own father, who was happy to receive his daughter and his two grandchildren. After some time, when the old man died, the young mother thought of her two brothers, who were Patwaris in Jampur in District Dera Ghazi Khan. They only too willing to accommodate their sister and her two children. At the age of six, the young orphaned boy entered an Urdu School at Jampur, and in ( 1887 ) he entered the Middle School in the third tandard.The young lad had proved to be an exceptionally brilliant student and was at the top in his class. While in the middle school, an Arya Samaji boy gave him a book, Tuhfat-ul-Hind, which he read avidly and was greatly influenced by it.

While in the  third standard, the boy developed a liking for Islam and began to read whatever book on Islam he could lay his hands on. Suddenly he decided he would become a Muslim convert. Knowing that this would annoy his mother, his sister and his uncles, he ran away from home and settled in another village in Sialkot District. Here some of his school friends gave him a copy of the book, Taqwiat-ul-Iman by Maulana Ismail Shahid, which proved to be another milestone in his conver sion to Islam. "On reading this, I was convinced of the Truth of God's Unity, as taught by Islam." He showed unmistakable signs of being a at that young age, a mind that dared to chalk out its own course on its voyage through life, even though it be at the risk of offending his own family. "Now I began to offer Namaz regularly, and I took the name of Obaidullah after the name of the author of Tauhfat-ul Hind". He now declared publicly that he had embraced Islam. He later wrote that he had at first learnt Islam from a Hindu scholar, who called himself Pandit Maulvi.

"On 15th August, ( 1887 ), invoking the help of God, I became a Muslim. A friend of mine, Abdul Qadir, was with me. Along with me another student of the Arabic Madresah, we reached Kotla Rahem Shah in District Muzafar Shah. On 9th Zilhajj ( 1304 A.H ). I was circumcised. After a few days, as my relatives were annoyed, we left for Sind, and on the way I learnt Arabic from this student".The Maulana continues in his autobiographical reminiscences that it was his good luck that in Sind he became a pupil of Hazrat Hafiz Mohamed Sidiq of Barchundi Sheriff, who said in a gathering of his followers, "Obaidullah has left his family and his relatives for the sake of Islam. From now on I am his father and his mother". The Maulana became so devoted to Hazrat Barchundi Saheb that "I made Sind my home, or it became my home. I took lessons under Hazrat Saheb in the Qadri Rashdi tariqa". In order to prosecute his Islamic studies further, he took leave of Hazrat Saheb. "It was because of his blessings that I became ultimately a pupil of Shaikhul Hind." He began studying Arabic in a mosque situated in the rural area of Bahawalpur. At the age of 17, he enrolled himself as a student in Darul Uloom, Deoband,  and there made a deep study of the Quran, Hadith, Philosophy  and Logic. "While at Deoband, I saw in my dream a vision of the Holy Prophet and also of Imam Abu Hanifa". At  Deoband, the Maulana also studied under Shaikhul Hind and was profoundly impressed by his personality, and that influence on his outlook persisted throughout his life.

 

He  completed his course at Deoband, securing a high place in the examination, and with the permission of Shaikh-ul-Hind, he left Deoband for Gangoha to study under Maulana Rashid Ahmad. But his stay at Gangoha was short-lived, as he fell sick and was compelled to go to Delhi for treatment. He had barely recovered from his sickness, when he was stunned to hear of the death of Barchundi Sheriff. He hastened to Barchundi in Sukkur District, reaching that place on the 20th of Jamadi-ul-Sani,  1308 A.H  While at Sukkur, the Maulana married the daughter of Master Mahomed Azim Khan, a teacher in the Islamia School in that city. The Maulana had sent an invitation to his mother, requesting her to come to Sukkur for the wedding. The  mother, aggrieved at long separation from her beloved son, agreed and participated in the happy celebration, and began to stay thereafter with her son, Obaidullah. Even after his marriage, the Maulana continued to look upon himself as a student, visiting most of the famous public and private libraries all over Sind in search of knowledge. Reading extensively, the Maulana was on the way to himself becoming a great alim. The writings of Shah Waliullah particularly impressed him, whom he accepted from now on as his Imam, and the Maulana writes, "And I became capable of understanding the true philosophy of Islam"

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His habit of extensive reading led him to study the philosophy and political theories of Maulana Ismail Shahid. Revolutionary by nature, the life and teachings of Maulana Ismail Shahid fascinated him, "I took a particular chapter from the writings of Maulana Ismail Shaheed, which was both Islamic and Revolutionary. And I made it the basis of my political life and programme".He returned to Deoband in 1315 A.H., and started writing articles on Hadith and Fiqah, which were greatly appreciated by the ulema teaching theology at Deoband. But he did not stay long at Deoband, as he felt within him a strong urge to return to Sind, which he believed was his real place of work and service. He came back to Amrot, and started collecting rare books and manuscripts in Sindhi and Arabic, hoping to start a school of his own, where he would organise a course of studies and discipline according to his own ideals. Often such dreams of idealists have floundered on the rocks for lack of financial resources, and so was it in the case with Maulana Obaidullah's dream of founding a school after his heart's desire. But by ( 1319 A.H ).Hazrat Maulana Rasdullah Saheb had built a Madresah at Amrot, and Maulana Obaidullah Sindhi taught there for about seven years, at the end of which period he received a summons from Shaikh-ul-Hind Mahmood Hasan -Deobandi to return to Deoband.

 

The Maulana obediently responded, and was asked to teach in Jamiat-ul-busar at Deoband. Along with Maulana Mahomed Sadiq Sindhi, he taught there for four years, and his reputation was very high among the students that learnt under him. In ( 1331 A.H ), under the orders of Shaikh-ul Hind, the Maulana was transferred to Delhi, as the former desired that the Maulana should also come into contact with young Muslim intellectuals in Delhi, who were in the forefront of the struggle for Muslim emancipation in India. In Delhi, he made friends with such political stalwarts as Maulana Mahomed Ali, Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, Dr. Ansari, and Nawab Waqar-ul-Mulk. "This way, I came into close contact with top Muslim political leaders of India".The Maulana started religious classes in the Fatehpuri mosque in Delhi, where young Muslims enrolled in large numbers. He also went on disseminating his political views among them. The police, coming to know of this, kept the Maulana under strict watch. On a trumped up charge, the Maulana was arrested and his school was closed. For over thirty years Maluana Obaidullah Sindhi had spent his days at first in learning and then in teaching various aspects of Islamic theology, and his nights in meditating and planning for the political regeneration of the Muslims of India. He found his country and his co-religionists in a state of unrest and in political ferment, and he read in the papers of conditions bordering on political bondage in so many Muslim countries, Western colonialism being at that time at the zenith of its power. The echoes of his revolutionary ideas had reached the ears of a watchful intelligence force that safeguards the interests of an alien imperialism, and he was already a marked man in the eyes of the police.

He was profoundly distressed at the state of affairs in the political life of India, and influenced by such great revolutionary thinkers as Shah Waliullah and Maulana Mohamed Ismail Shaheed, his mind  was beginning to dream of a time when the hated foreigner would leave his country for good, so that his countrymen may be enabled to become an independent and sovereign nation. Just when he was trying to chalk out a political path for himself, he recei- ved orders from Shaikh-ul-Hind to proceed to Kabul. "I received no instructions as to what was to be my programme of work in Kabul. I was, therefore, not enthusiastic about this order to seek voluntary exile. God, however, made it possible for my way to be cleared of all obstacles, and I was able to leave India and reach Afghanistan. I did not inform my political friends in Delhi of my hasty contemplated visit to Kabul".From this it is clear that the Maulana was apprehensive that if his intention came to be known to the police, he would be prevented from going to Afghanistan. Shaikh-ul-Hind seems to have sent secret information of the impending visit of Maulana Obaidullah in advance, with the result that he was well received in Afghanistan. "With  the cooperation of  the Government of Kabul, I was able to pursue my work that I had left half done in India......In ( 1916 ) I was ordered by Amir Habibullah to carry on my political work in cooperation with the Hindus...... I, therefore, enrolled myself as a member of the All-India National Congress, and became one of its propagandists.

In ( 1922 ), during the reign of Amir Amanullah Khan, I set up a branch of the Congress in Kabul, and with the help of Dr. Ansari this branch was affiliated with the Head Office of the All-India National Congress, this decision having been taken at its Gaya session. This was the first branch of the Congress outside the boundaries of the British Empire, and I am proud to say that I was its first President".1 About a year after setting up a Congress Committee in Kabul, he left for Moscow, where he stayed for seven months. The Government of Russia, knowing of the anti-imperialist attitude of the Maulana, gave him a fitting welcome and provided him with all facilities to study socialism. "It is not true that I met Comrade Lenin at this time. He was so sick that he would not meet even his closest associates.. Although I was under the influence of socialism, it was because of my belief in the teachings of Shah Waliullah that I was able to keep my own political beliefs free from other isms". During his stay in Moscow, he became acquainted with the Turkish Ambassador to Russia and through his good offices, the Maulana received permission to visit Turkey, and secret arrangements were made by the Turkish Government for his journey. "The British intelligence agents could not get any prior information about my impending visit to Turkey". From this it is clear that the Maulana, already considered a dangerous man by the British, was being shadowed by their agents.

Away from home, and having incurred the displeasure of the powerful British Government, the Maulana, undaunted, carried on his crusade for the independence of India. Indeed, he lived dangerously throughout his life, and he was quite at home with the danger that surrounded him. The Maulana stayed for three years in Turkey, formulating plans for the freedom of India, and encouraging the Muslims of other countries to face boldly Western imperialism, which was playing havoc with the sovereignty of Muslim nations. The world of Islam was in a state of ferment, especially due  to the clandestine work of a select band of revolutionaries that secretly spread the gospel of independence from Western colonialism. As an indirect consequence of this, there was to be held in ( 1344 A.H. )a World Muslim Congress in Mecca, where representatives of most Muslim countries were to gather. The Maulana thought it was a good opportunity for him to profit by the experience of other Muslim leaders and to share his experience with them, and so he decided to leave Turkey for Mecca via Italy. But now he was being carefully watched by the British intelligence, and its agents put all sorts of official obstacles in the way of Maulana Obaidullah reaching Mecca in time. Their machinations succeeded, and delay dogged him at every step, as a result of which the Maulana reached Mecca in (1345 A.H. ), when the Congress had already met and dispersed.

But the Maulana met and discussed with such of the Muslim leaders who had prolonged their stay in Mecca and were still there, enabling him thus to widen his contacts with the world of Islam. He utilised his stay in Mecca by visiting the private libraries of some of his friends, and enlarging the scope of his knowledge by systematic studies. Mecca is the centre where Muslims gather from all parts of the world, and this was instrumental in helping Maulana Obaidullah Sindhi to meet many Muslim leaders and learn from them firsthand of the political conditions of the Muslims in their countries.The Government of India Act, ( 1935 ), had been published, and it was expected that for the first time popular ministries would rule the provinces and the centre. There was a spectacular political awakening among the Muslims and the Hindus, and the British were learning their first lessons of being responsive, though tardily, to popular demands. In ( 1936 ) the All-India National Congress made an open demand that the ban on the entry of Maulana Obaidullah Sindhi into India should be lifted, a demand that was backed by all. In the beginning of ( 1937 ) provincial autonomy had started functioning, and the Governments of some provinces recommended to the British Government to give an Indian passport to the Maulana, so that he could come back to the country of his birth.

The British yielded, haltingly, and on 1st November, ( 1937 ), the Maulana was informed that he was now free to come back to India. On 1st January, ( 1938 ), he was given an Indian passport. He was already making plans for his political programme and political activities after his return to India. although advanced in years, he was young at heart, and he was visualising a day when India would be free from British domination. He reached Karachi in March ( 1939 ) after an exile of twenty four years, having left India when he was 43, and returning when he was 67. He lost no time on his return, and political activities once again absorbed him. He started giving lectures, writing magazine articles and books, the sum and substance of which were, "The British do not want that Muslim young men should be taught the dynamic message of Islam.... The Muslims must hold fast the rope of God and return to the Holy Prophet of Islam. It is not through material prosperity alone that all our evils and our problems will come to an end". Presiding over the conference of Bengal ulema held at Calcutta on 3rd June, ( 1939 ), the Maulana said, "I had intended not to return to India, while it was still under British occupation.... Since my arrival in India, I have had no rest and I am not in good health.

If we understand well and truly the message of Shah Waliullah, then alone will the Jamiat-ul-Ulema-e-Hind be able to propagate revolutionary ideals like Europe has done in the recent past.... I want that the standard of living of your peasants and workers should not be lower than that of their counterparts in Europe...... I want our country to be regarded as a sovereign independent State in the comity of nations". Addressing the open session of the Sind District Congress Committee at Tatta on 12th July, ( 1940 ), he said, "I love Sind, which is the country of the birth of my spiritual father. I have made it my home for the last fifty years.... You will be surprised to know that a Hindu Pandit taught me Islam......When I wrote a letter to Lala Lajpat Rai from Istanbul, he came from the Punjab to meet me in Turkey....After returning from Europe, I find that among the Muslims the Deoband and the Aligarh schools are at daggers drawn with one another.... These differences have been widened by the Indian National Congress, instead of diminishing them." Although he was addressing a gathering of Congressmen, yet it was clear that the Maulana was a true Muslim patriot, and he wanted the political emancipation and freedom of the Muslims.

The Maulana had not travelled abroad extensively in vain, nor had the lesson of revolutionary political achievement in Europe been lost on him. His message to Indians was that they should catch up with the West, both in material prosperity and in political freedom that the Europeans enjoyed. He made no secret of his disagreement with Gandhi on many issues of fundamental importance. "Gandhiji wongly believes that he can take India back thousands of years. He forgets that there lives in India since the last 800 years another nation, with another language, a new culture, a new way of thinking, and this nation has as much right in India as the nation of Gandhiji has." The Maulana had now started a new political party, known as Jumna, Narbada, Sind Sagar Party, with  offices at Karachi, Lahore and Delhi. One of the aims of the Party was "My programme is not for the day alone. It is a long-term programme.... India should not be considered as one country, but, like Europe, it should be divided on linguistic and cultural lines". He gave to the party a very elaborate and progressive socio-economic programme, but he had left his most active days far behind. He was almost sick and bed- ridden. An active and dynamic life that is necessary to make a political party find firm roots was not possible for him at that period of his life.

On one of his visits to Karachi, the Maulana was staying at the Royal Hotel on MacLeod Road. Mahomed Amin Khosa, a friend of mine, and a member of the Sind Legislative Assembly, often took me to meet the Maulana in his hotel. I invariably found the Maulana lying in bed, while we youngsters sat on chairs nearby. As I looked upon his wrinkled face, which was often in agony due to physical pain. I felt as if I was in the presence of a precious relic of an ancient age. He had a dominating attitude in his conversation with others giving one the impression that he thought he had scaled the highest peaks of experience and, therefore, what he said must be believed and accepted as the one and only solution to a given problem. Once I had the audacity to differ from an opinion expressed by the Maulana on a topical political issue. The Maulana lost his patience, his anger was roused, and his feeble voice gathered strength and he thundered, "What do you boys know. Listen to people like us, who have greyed our hair in the heat of political battles". There was no room left for any more arguments thereafter. I found that the Maulana had the habit of suddenly quo- ting from Shah Waliullah. "There are two central figures in the Russian Revolution, Karl Marx and Lenin. For the Revolution that I have in mind, I have also studied the lives and teachings of two personalities, Imam Waliullah and Imam Mahomed Qasim.... Revolution does not triumph in one day. it is continuous process Hazrat Maulana Shaikh-ul-Hind  has explained that Jihad is Revolution...... Ihave found a Party to carry on Jihad, a war of liberation.... At Deoband we taught students the message of Jehad." His body had been weakened by age, but his mind was alert, only it sometimes rambled from one subject to another. Here was an Indian revolutionary whom Jawaharlal Nehru has praised so much in his autobiography, an Indian revolutionary who had  been for the longest time in exile.

The Maulana was on a tour of Sind, and he was addressing a conference of Sind Muslim students. During the course of this address he said, "At this time I want to tell the students to learn English and Western science and knowledge, so that you come to know of the type of revolution that is going on in Europe. You must get ready for a similar revolution in India". In the midst of his address, he felt weak and giddy. But undaunted by physical weakness, he managed to read out his full address. He was advised complete rest, which advice he disdainfully rejected. There was so much work to do, and how could he rest ? Accompanied by a friend, he undertook an  extensive tour of Sind meeting and lecturing gatherings of students. His friend watched with undisguised anxiety the fast deteriorating condition of the Maulana's health, as he saw him grow weaker and weaker every day. His friend advised him to stop his tour, and to return to Karachi for treatment. At first the Maulana refused, but ultimately he was persuaded to come back to Karachi, so that his health could be looked after by competent doctors.

The doctors were rather pessimistic about his complete recovery. The Maulana was often in a state of unconsciousness, but when he returned to consciousness, he would fumble for words about the address that he had promised to give to a gathering of students at Shahdadkot on 4th August, ( 1944 ), when he was also to perform the opening ceremony of a Madressah. He would also frequently ask for the train timings from Karachi to Shahdadkot. Towards the end of July, his health showed signs of considerable improvement, and he would sit up in bed, for long spells. He started writing his presidential address, which he sent through a student to be read at the opening ceremony of Mahomed Qasim Waliullah Theological School at Shahdadkot in Larkana District. In the course of his address; he traced the history of the rise and fall of the Moghul empire, and said that no emperor in India had made an impact on international affairs during his time.  "As against this, from the days of Napolean, Europe made its national culture into an international one. Delhi came to be defeated by Europe."

The Maulana was touring Sind once again, and the oppressive heat of the summer, coupled with the poor state of his health, confined him to bed. The doctors were in attendance. It was obvious even the Maulana realised that his end was near. He expressed a wish that he should be taken to Pir Jhande Jo Goth, a place which had much spiritual significance for him. But his daughter and grand-daughter were frantically pleading that he should go for treatment and rest at Dinpur in Bahawalpur District. The Maulana reluctantly agreed to comply with the wishes of the only two close surviving members of his family. There he breathed his last on 22nd August, 1944.