The Tradition of Deoband and the Pragmatism of Ubaid Allah Sindhi
NASEER AHMAD HABIB
At the dawn of the nineteenth century the Muslim community
was confronted with the challenge of Western domination. This
challenge reached its culmination in 1857. Passing through this
challenge the Muslim community lost its comprehensiveness and
intellectual integration. As a result, one of the disciples of
Maulana Mumluke Ali brought the Arabic part of Delhi College to
Deoband and another pupil, Sir Syed Ahmad Khan, took its
English section to Aligarh. In fact, the establishment of Deoband
was an important event in the history of Indian Muslims. It not
only linked them with their own past but also provided them a
bastion to cope with the new world order. Deoband was not only
a madrassa or school, but a movement. It can be said that
Deoband was only one expression of that movement which has
been mentioned by Metcalf as a movement of ‘interiorization’,
which started in the early eighteenth century in the Islamic
world. Religious clergy, under pressure, seems to have found its
solution in the religious realm. A particular response was given
and particular mode was adopted. ‘This mode which traverses
Islamic history is defined in terms of such themes as the need
to abide by the Quran and Sunnah, return to origins, revival of
Ijtihad and Hadith studies, rejection of innovation and imitation
(taqlid) in matters of law, and rejection of Sufiism.’1 ‘These
various eighteenth-century movements assumed varying forms
depending on local conditions and the personalities of the
leaders.2 Shah Wali Allah( who had been a guiding light for the
founders of Deoband) was also moved by the current of thought
and stood for reformation but adopted the method best suited
to his genius. He was in favour of ijtihad. However, as time
passed, and especially under the severe challenge of
imperialism, the Muslim clergy abandoned the methodology of
Shah Wali Allah. In fact debacle of Delhi was similar to the sack
of Baghdad.This shock was so overwhelming that Ashraf (elite)
started thinking about migration. Some like Haji Imdad Ullah
actually migrated to Hijaz (Land of The Holy Prophet). The
Ahmad Dallal, ‘The Origins and Objectives of Islamic Revivalist Thought, 1750-1850,’ Journal of American
Oriental Society, 113.3, 1993.
2
John Voll, ‘Muhammad Hayya ul Sindhi and Muhammad Ibn-Al- Wahab’,Bulletin of the School of Oriental
and African Studies, University of London, Vol.38, 1975, p. 152.
1
success of Deoband lies in this fact that it directed the thinking
of physical migration into intellectual migration towards basic
sources and to the Personality of The Holy Prophet. Therefore
Hadith gained extra-ordinary importance. Deoband proved a
springboard for the subsequent Islamic movement. It can be
said that Mawlana Mawdudi’s Jamaat-e-Islami and Tablighi
Jamaat were indebted to Deoband. Interestingly Mawlana
Mawdudi’s Jamaat Islami seems to have adopted Holy Prophet’s
Madina period as a role model where as Tablighi Jamaat seems
to have taken recourse to Makkah period.Apart from that some
individual, like Shabir Ahmad Uthmani and Hussain Ahmad
Madni, opted for different political line of action with keeping
their Deobandi characteristic intact. In this way Deobandi strand
is able to adjust with motley approaches. Shah Wali Allah’s
addressee was elite class Sayyid Ahmad Shahid organised
middle class but under Deoband movement, this worldly
approach and revivalist zeal have percolated into lower classes
and under its impact ‘high Islamic tradition is steadily eating into
local custom-centred tradition.’ Those western educated
elements are continuously swelling its rank that have been
disenchanted with the performance of secular leadership due to
its moral bankruptcy.
Deoband and Public life
But when Deobandi strand walked into the dynamics of modern
age, it seems to have faltered. It depends on their perception
about the changes. Ulama of Deoband bureaucratised the
institution. They used the print media and brought about
revolution in the availability of Islamic knowledge. They did
perform all things but to save their cherished heritage not to
develop basis from the inside sources to adjust new
institutions.According
to their perception it was transitional
period. They were thinking when the deluge of British
imperialism receded they would be able to implement their old
legal and social system with all its concomitants.According to
them nothing was changeable in theirsystem. Mostly Ulama are
interested in creating an island within a modern state rather than
to invoke Ijtihad. In this regard “ W. Montgomery Watt lists five
features of the Islamic self –Image that he argues need to be
changed if Muslims are to become part of the one world instead
of secluding themselves in medieval fortress mentality. The First
is the belief that the world is unchanging and static, or rather
that human society has not advanced since the time of
Muhammad .In essential, there can be no new problems –and
by implication –no new solution …Next, this unchanging of
human nature justifies the Muslim scholar in asserting the
finality of the rules and laws for human conduct contained in the
Quran and Sunnah. Third, Islam is entirely self sufficient…it
works against Muslim’s ability to learn from the West in areas
other than the purely technological Fourth The majority of
Muslim lack historical awareness, …Most continue to expect that
Islam should expand to include the whole human race, and they
continue to view the world through the prism of the dichotomy
between Darul Islam and Darul-Harb, That is, most Muslim
continue to see the Non- Muslim world as inherently hostile to
Islam…Finally…Muslim have some times wrongly understood the
Quran, and are idealizing not the earliest Islam as it really
was ,but as it was alleged to have been by later scholar ,…he
(Watt) …discusses economic policy ,the right of women ,and
human rights as areas in which the idealization of early Islam
and the failure to implement Islamic principles rationally have
resulted in severe injustices.3We don’t think that these
suggestions should be adopted without any scrutiny and
modification, however some pertinent problems have been
mentioned which must be resolved for the peaceful co-existence
of Islamic World as viable part of the polity of nations. For this
purpose it is necessary to deconstruct that legal and social super
structure which was built on the basis of Islam in medieval period
and which has now become redundant in modern age. It is
interesting to note that unconsciously reformers and revivalists
seem to have moved towards this direction. W C Smith
mentioned about Sir Syed Ahmad that he was interested in
moral aspect of Islam rather than its legal aspect.”4 And among
the revivalists some like Tablighi Jamaat seem to have
concentrated on Makkah period as a role model. Under the
influence of same dynamics Islamic thinkers like Abul Husan
Authors (s) of Review Valerie J. Hoffman –Ladd Review works (s) Montgomery Watt, Islamic
Fundamentalism and Modernity ,London and New York ,1988, International Journal of Middle East
Studies >vol.23 No ,3(August),1991.p-414-417
4
Wilfred Cantwell Smith, Modern Islam in India, publisher Minerva Book shop Anarkali, 1943, Lahore, page
17
3
Nadwi seem to have perceived Islam not as system but as a
message. But is there any one who has taken this venture
seriously? With this end in view when we turn to the Deoband
milieu, we find that it has not disappointed usaltogether.
The Pragmatism of Ubaid Allah Sindhi
Maulana Ubaid Allah Sindhi (1872-1944) emerged more like
unexpected thunder than a shower of forecasted rain on the
intellectual horizon of Indian Muslims. His emergence is a proof
of the fact that the old system of education, with its integrated
worldview, has the potential to produce creative and original
thinkers. Maulana Sindhi’s guiding light was Shah Wali Allah.Why
did Shah Wali Allah attract him? Because Shah Wali Allah was
given special training by his father, Shah Abdul Rahim, in order
to harmonize the injunction of Sharia with principles of
rationality.5 Shah Wali Allah inherited this tradition and having
written the Hujjat Allah Baligha, contributed substantially in
inspiring later scholars and thinkers. Muhammad Qasim at
Deoband instilled this tradition of rationality and Mawlana Sindhi
also inherited this tradition through his teacher, Sheikh ul Hind.
In 1905 the leadership of Deoband passed to Sheikh ul Hind.
From 1905 to 1915 when he moved to Hijaz, was a very critical
time in the life of the Muslim community. In 1908 Sheikh ul Hind
appointed Maulana Sindhi to organise Jamiat ul Ansar. Maulana
Sindhi became very active at that time. But some elements at
Deoband were watching these activities with suspicion. They not
only informed the imperial authorities but also hatched a
conspiracy to lay Maulana Sindhi off. Therefore Maulana Sindhi
in accordance with the instruction of Sheikh ul Hind went to Delhi
where he established an institution named Nazarat ul Moarif in
1912.The purpose of starting this institution was to acquaint the
western educated youth with the philosophy of the teaching of
the Holy Quran.
In the mean time the First World War broke out. Sheikh ul
Hind wanted to seize this opportunity and sent Maulana Sindhi
to Kabul in order to provoke Afghan King Habib Ullah Khan to
Maulana Ubaidullah Sindhi ,Imam Wali Allah Dehlwi Ki Hikmut Ka Ijmali Tu’arif , Muktaba Irfan
Bareili ,Date not mentioned.
5
attack India. Maulana Sindhi went on struggling for seven years.
Having realized his motives, the Afghan King Amanullah Khan
stopped Maulana Sindhi from continuing his activities. Maulana
Sindhi realized how amorphous were the basis of pan-Islamism.
Since the times of Sayyid Ahmad Bareilvi pan-Islamism had been
the springboard of Indian Muslim where they kept on rallying
and routing. Maalana Sindhi decided to move away from this
romanticism. In fact, Maulana Sindhi passed through state of
shock. As a result of it he went through phase of interiorization.
He carried on study of Hujjat Allah Baligha (written by Shah Wali
Allah) in order to come out of this quagmire. Maulana Sindhi had
to move towards Moscow.
Maulana Sindhi’s Intellectual venture
Maulana Sindhi’s migration from Kabul to Moscow was actually
of a fundamental nature. It was a shift from pan-Islamism to
nationalism, from nostalgia to pragmatism, from exclusivism to
inclusivism. In this venture Maulana Sindhi almost followed the
same pattern, with little variations, that had been adopted by
the revivalists and reformers alike so far. The Pattern consisted
of:
1. Negation or refusal to accept existing Islam as true Islam;
2. Selection or disowning some practices or portions of
Islamic history as true Islam, as a reformer or revivalist
goes for selecting some beliefs or period of Islamic history
as the embodiment and manifestation of true Islam; and
3. Extension or reconstructing sacred history into
contemporary history. Almost every reformer or revivalist
has followed this pattern with some variation.
When Maulana Sindhi was forced to leave Kabul, it was
a most difficult time for him. But when he reached Russia and
observed the zeal of the Russian people he was amazed at how
quickly the efforts of organising the people on the basis of
socialist ideology were met with success. When he compared the
Russian revolution with the hey days of Islam when Islam had
brought about a revolution by destroying the imperial power of
Iran and Rome, he came to the conclusion there must have been
some similarities in the objectives of the two revolutions.
Maulana Sindhi says, ‘I came to understand that Islam in its
early period had brought about a similar revolution as the one in
which the Russians were now engaged. And the Holy Quran is
the book of an identical revolution of the history of mankind.6I
was fortunate enough in finding Shah Wali Allah, by whom I had
been greatly inspired, offering similar exposition of the Holy
Quran.’7 In the light of his reading he started denying what
existed in the name of Islam. He says, ‘The toy houses you have
built and which you consider sky-high cannot withstand the
challenge of the time. Your civilization, society, thought and
politics have become spineless. You call it Islamic civilization;
but it does not contain an iota of Islam.’8
Having denied existing Islam as true Islam, he entered the
phase of selection. Here he exhibits an idiosyncrasy of approach
in the process of selection. While Iqbal held non-Arab and
classical approach responsible for this defection and wanted to
go back to the pristine period of Islam and according to
Muhammad Qasim, founder of Deoband, the world had
dramatically declined from the time of the Holy Prophet and
while some modern Iranian thinkers held the Umayyad period
responsible for this defection, Maulana Sindhi had a different
view. He says,
‘To do so is tantamount to negating the Islamic history.
During the Umayyad period Muslim civilization and society
was considerably influenced by the elements of Syrian,
Christian and Jewish thought. During the Abbasid period,
Iranian civilization and literature and Greek philosophy and
logic greatly influenced Muslim society. Through these
sources Muslim mysticism, scholasticism and philosophy
were nourished. And in this way non-Arabs rendered great
services to Islam. In India Hindu thought greatly whetted
Muslim philosophy and culture. It is strange that the Arab
period of Islamic history has been considered sacred while
Iranian, Turkish and Indian periods have been taken for the
times of degeneration, whereas in view of the universal
revolution of Islam all these periods are successive stages of
6
Sarwar Muhammad, Ifadat-o-Malfuzat, Sindh Sagar Academy, Lahore,1972, p 206
Ibid , p. 205
8
Ibid, p.18
7
the onward march of Islam. To adopt the complexion of
nationalism at certain stages of Islamic revolution was a
natural phenomenon. Unfortunately Iqbal could not realize
successive natural stages of evolution of Islamic history.’9
Here Maulana Sindhi seems to have recognised Islam as an
assimilative force and wanted to rehabilitate that assimilative
character of Islam in order to incorporate the idea of nationalism
into the existing Islamic paradigm. Having been exposed to the
dynamics of international politics he was able to discern the
fallacy of the idea of Pan-Islamism. He came to the conclusion
that new changes should be welcomed. He says, ‘We should
accept our defeat and should chalk out a new strategy to cope
with the present situation. Now the dream that we had been
cherishing all along to establish Muslim rule in India with help of
the Turkish Khilafat has obviously come to nothing. It is the age
of establishing national government. Now we should lay the
foundation of a new society and in order to realize this end we
should look for new avenues in accordance with prevailing
situation. Now instead of religion the state should be organised
on the basis of nationalism.’10
When he found some Indian students were being influenced
by socialist ideology in Russia he concluded that this ideology
was bound to prevail in future. He became active and keeping in
view the assimilative characteristic of Islam he quickly started
the intellectual spadework in order to incorporate the socialist
economic programme into Islamic system of thought. He found
Shah Wali Allah pointing out certain evils prevalent in the
Byzantium and Persian imperialistic societies as he (Maulana
Sindhi) had heard about contemporary Russian imperialism at
the time of the Tsars. And he read that according to Shah Wali
Allah one of the objectives of the advent of Holy Prophet was to
emancipate the working classes from the exploitation of
Byzantium and Persian imperialism. He studied the works of
Shah Wali Allah and found some basis for his venture. Wali
Allah’s views on Islam as a universal religion and law are
interesting. When God wanted to raise the Final Prophet, the
9
Ibid, p. 425
Ibid, p.344
10
central region of the earth was occupied by the two tottering and
morally spent empires of Byzantium and Persia. The destruction
of these two empires was the necessary and logical end and
fulfilment of Muhammad’s mission.11
It was precisely due to this kind of progressive tinge in his
views that Shah Wali had become a guiding light for Maulana
Sindhi. Addressing the meeting of ulama of Bengal on 3 June
1946, he said, ‘In my opinion, among the Hindu, Muslim and
Sikh communities there is no dearth of such scholars who can
justifiably develop a correlation between the spirit of their
respective religions and European economy. In this way, they
will be able to awaken the masses quickly. But introducing the
religious symbolism in the fabric of the national movement, even
if it has good intentions at its back, will not save the country
from devastation.’12
In this background there were two
problems Maulana Sindhi was confronted with. How could be the
socialist programme included into the Islamic system of thought
with out compromising on the fundamental postulate of faith?
And how could be the basis developed within the Islamic
tradition in order to welcome not only socialist programme but
also its concomitants? Shah Wali Allah gave him some clue to
come out of this quicksand. Shah Wali Allah considered social
institution the basis of man’s spiritual growth and as long as
these social institutions are not properly organised and
economic, political and social affairs are not adequately
managed it is impossible for man to attain the higher stages in
the spiritual realm.’13
From this Maulana Sindhi infers that one of the objectives of
the advent of Islam was to emancipate the oppressed classes
from the clutches of tyrannical rule. This principle became the
focal point of his activity and around which he tried to build his
social and economic system of thought in order to assimilate
socialist ideology. Apart from that Maulana Sindhi was also
Fazlur Rahman, ‘’Islamic Thought in the Indo-Pakistan Subcontinent and The Middle East’, Journal of Near
Eastern Studies, date (Jan,1973), volume,32,No,1/2 p 199
12
Muhammad Sarwar, Ifadatu Malfuzat, op cit., p. 93
13
Shah Wali Allah, Hujjat al Baligha, Translated by Abu Muhammad Abdul Haq Haqqani, Published by Noor
Muhammad, Assah- al- Mutaba ,Karachi, Date not mentioned, p.224-227
11
aware of the fact that the injunctions of Sharia would be
irrelevant in modern age. Fazlur Rahman, who seems to have
been impressed by Maulana Sindhi, discussed this problem in
these words, “The new forces have an ethic of their own and
simply return to past is certainly no way to solve this problem –
unless we want to delude ourselves. But recourse to the Quran
and Sunnah in order to get there from an understanding of, and
guidance for, solving out new problems will undoubtedly meet
the situation. This is because the Quran and the Prophet’s
activity guided and were actually involved in society building.
Besides, therefore, certain general principles that lie enunciated
in the Quran and certain Prophetic precepts, their actual
handling of social situations is fraught with meaning for us. But
the meaning is not that we should repeat that very situation now,
which is an absurd task, but rather to draw lessons from this
concrete historic paradigm.’14
According to Shah Wali Allah the Holy Prophet has two
aspects of his teaching,
permanent and temporary. The basic thing which is important is
the fundamental Islamic principles not their particular
application. What was unique in Shah Wali Allah and which had
inspired Mawlana Sindhi was his perception that the prophet had
not been entirely inconsistent with the tradition and custom of
the society in which he was born.15 Shah Wali Allah took
revolutionary step and said, “ Besides it that injunctions should
not be strictly imposed on coming generation.”16
Mawlana Sindhi’s pragmatic mind was attracted towards this
and he suggested a reasonable and practical way, “ I consider
the penal injunction laid down by the Holy Quran and the Way
with which certain administrative, social and economic matter
have been defined and determined are not final and unalterable.
They are just practical modes since the general and all
embracing guidance of the Holy Quran could be manifested only
in that manner at time and it did. Now they are the legal
precedence for us and keeping them in view and in the light of
the everlasting and universal wisdom of the Holy Quran, we can
14
Fazlur Rahman, Islamic Methodology In History, op cit.
Shah Wali Allah, Hujjut Allah Baligha,translated by Abu Muhammad Abdul Huq Haqqani, Noor Muhammad
Press, Assha-ul-Matuba, Karachi, date not mentioned, p. 223-224
16
Ibid
15
form new law in every age. In fact, according to Maulana Sindhi,
‘We are entering into the industrial age and we have no recourse
other than to join the march. We cannot survive as straggler.
We have to give up enmity of the west. We should learn and take
benefit from the intellectual treasure house of the west.’17
Subsequent events have proved the rational of Maulana Sindhi’s
vision. Muslim world has assimilated the West but it did not do
so
as
an
active
force but as a passive entity due to its irrational approach and
intransigent behaviour. In fact this is the illusion, which Muslim
world has been harbouring for a long time that West is incapable
of solving her moral and social problems.
A few scholars in the Islamic world have been able to
appreciate the view that has been referred to by Toynbee
regarding the moral superiority of the West.18 Muslim revivalists
don’t seem to have realized this fact. It is a dangerous trend
because in the Muslim world secular forces are giving ground to
Islamic fundamentalists. Therefore clash can be imminent. But
the problem is rooted in the tradition of exclusivism. Now we see
what solution Maulana Sindhi does offer forthis problem in order
to make the Muslim world as a viable part of the polity of nations.
Maulana Sindhi addressing the meeting of Jamiyat al Ulamia
Hind (Bengal) on 3 June 1939 said, ‘We should take much benefit
from the prevalent British System of Government by discarding
the enmity of the West… We have stopped our way of progress
due to our hateful attitude towards the West… This should be
ended… We need a social revolution so that our country can play
a role in the international movements…’19 Having passed through
the two phases ‘negation’ and ‘selection’ Maulana Sindhi entered
into the third phase of extension that means to extend and
reconstruct sacred history into the contemporary history. Having
accepted the emancipation of humanity from the clutches of
tyrannical rule as one of the objectives of Islam Maulana Sindhi
changed the terminology about Kufro-Islam (being Muslim or
non-Muslim). He says, ‘Therefore the people who are fighting
against imperialism along with us, irrespective of their religious
17
Muhammad Sarwar, Ifadat-u Malfuzat, op cit., p. 74
Arnold J. Toynbee, Civilization on Trial,publisher Oxford University Press, place, Great Britain. year,1948
page 187
19
Muhammad Sarwar, Ifada-u Malfuzat, op cit, p.74
18
affiliation they will be considered our comrade and will not be
labelled as infidel by us and those who give their support to
imperialism, even if they are Muslims, we will not be ready to
call them Muslims. And those are not adherents of any religion
but are fighting against imperialism side-by-side with us will be
our comrades.’20 In this way Maulana Sindhi wants to include
those people in the realm of Islam who are ready to co-operate
with Muslims for a noble cause irrespective of their religious
affiliation. It is a bold and enlightened -step. According to
Maulana Sindhi only those people can be labelled as irreligious
who have not got any noble ideals before them to realize, who
don’t believe in any moral value, and who simply live to satisfy
their carnal and material desires.21 According to Maulana Sindhi,
the Quran declares only those persons as infidel (kafir) who take
life as a sport and they have no serious objectives before them.
It is interesting to note modern Iranian reformers almost
followed the same line as Maulana Sindhi did. They also passed
through the phase of negation and selection.
Whereas Iranian revivalists remained successful, as they
were able to redefine their role model but Maulana Sindhi could
not do so. It might be the drawback of the Sunni world that
considers seizure of political authority by a usurper a rightful act.
Mawlana Sindhi remained busy in supplying basis from the inside
Islamic sources for modern institutions. Mawlana Sindhi’s
preoccupation with this venture shows that he was more aware
than Iqbal regarding the dynamic of the modern capitalist
society. According to him traditional Islam could not withstand
the flux of modern age. Once he said to Dr. Zakir Hussain, Vice
Chancellor of Jamia Millia Islamia, ‘Dr. Sahib, I want to make it
clear…in my opinion if fifty percent European thought comes
anywhere our traditional Islam does not remain effective
there.’22On the other hand Iqbal used to present his ideas with
out keeping in view the dynamic of capitalist society. As W.C
Smith mentioned about Iqbal, ‘of Iqbal we can say that he
himself was unable to see the full implications of his thought
partly because he was not an economist and partly because his
20
Ibid, pp. 220-221
Ibid, p. 202
22
Ibid, p. 443
21
natural prejudice in favour of the traditional Platonic Ideas’.23
But Maulana Sindhi’s involvement with intellectual work led him
to make same mistake as committed by Al-Farabi and Ibn Sina.
As Fazlur Rahman mentioned, ‘They do not realize that religiomoral experience, although it certainly has a cognitive element,
radically differs from other forms of cognition in the sense that
it is full of authority, meaning and imperiousness for the subject
whereas ordinary form of cognition is simply informative.’24
Neither could Maulana Sindhi, like Sir Syed Ahmad Khan, win the
support of masses with his intellectual wonder nor was he able
to redefine the role models to motivate the masses. It had been
a major flaw in his programme. Therefore we can say that how
redundant Maulana Mawdudi’s and Tablighi Jamaat’s programme
may be in this modern age but as far as their influence is
concerned in the Muslim world it is more profound as compared
to Maulana Sindhi’s influence. However, Maulana Sindhi does not
stand as an iconic tower separated from the main intellectual
building which is being built on the basis of moral principles of
Islam in order to meet with the challenges of modern age rather
he is a part of that process. He has left deep impression on
Fazlur Rahman, Hafiz ur Rahman Sihwarwi, Jafar Shah Phulwari
and Ghulam Ahmad Pervez. He was a torch- bearer of that
movement which was initiated by Shah Wali Allah in order to
remove disparity between rationality and revelation. Shah Wali
Allah also considered social justice a prerequisite for the
establishment of spiritual society. Maulana Sindhi adopted this
approach and considered the establishment of society based on
social justice as a fundamental objective of Islam. Maulana
Sindhi passed on this tradition to the coming generation.
Therefore we find echo of Maulana Sindhi’s thought in the works
of Fazlur Rahman. He (Fazlur Rahman) says, ‘We have seen that
the supreme value in the Islamic social message is adequate
social justice. When violation of this value occurs to the extent
that these very individual freedoms become inoperative and
dead, then the principle of social justice and interference in
private wealth must take over.’25 Maulana Sindhi wanted to
initiate the process of ijtihad and ijma. According to him the
intentions and objectives of Islam are described in the verses of
23
W.C. Smith, Modern Islam in India, op cit., p 154
Fazlur Rahman, Islamic Methodology In History, Islamic Research Institute, Islamabad, 1964, 124.
25
Fazlur Rahman, Islam and Social Justice, Pakistan Form, Vol.1,No,7, Oct, Nov,1970, p..5
24
the Quran that were revealed in the Meccan period and these
intentions are formulated in the Madinah period. Therefore,
keeping in view these intentions and meaning we can formulate
new laws according to the needs and demands of our time.’26
Fazlur Rahman picked up Maulana Sindhi’s point of view. In
fact Maulana Sindhi’s work did serve as a steppingstone for
Fazlur Rahman’s neo-modernism, ‘In which all the specific cases
in Quran and the Sunnah would be in effect converted into moral
principles. The specific cases would be studied in the light of their
context to see what moral principles they exemplify and it is
these principles that would be considered authoritative.’27 The
way that has been suggested by Fuzlar Rahman is the most
suitable to rehabilitate the Islamic history in modern world. By
restoring proper Islamic motivation we can cope with the factor
of that moral flaw in the Muslim World, which led sociologists
and economists -- generally Western -- to an awareness that the
intangible human element with its moral factors may be
important.28In this way we can build basis for the modern
institutions. When Maududi and Khumayni proposed to vest
Islamic head of state or Islamic state with extra-ordinary power
at the same time they must have been aware of the demands
and dynamics of the modern age. But the methodology of
Maulana Sindhi and Fazlur Rahman seems more plausible. W.
Montgomery Watt, in his book Islamic Fundamentalism and
Modernity discusses the ideas of two contemporary thinkers
whose work demonstrates mature approach to the need to
reform and rethink the Islamic world view the late Fazlur
Rahman…and Mohammad Arkoun.29 It is a tribute to Ubaid Allah
Sindhi and Deoband. In the approach of Maulana Sindhi the arc
of Deoband, passing through its ordeal, seems to land on the
safest shore. And Muslim community seems to discover its
comprehensive soul that was lost in the debacle of 1857.
26
Muhammad Sarwar, Ifadatu Mulfuzat, op cit, 125.
William E. Shepared, ‘Islam and Ideology’, International Journal of Middle East Studies, place Printed in the
United State of America 19, 1987, p. 312.
28
Fazlur Rahman, ‘Islamic Modernism’ , International Journal of Middle East Studies, America, Vol,
1,No,4(Oct1970) page 317
29
Montgomery Watt, Islamic , Fundamentalism and Modernity ,London and New York ,1988, page no 158
27