Partisans of Allah

Title: Partisans of Allah – Jihad in South Asia

Author: Ayesha Jalal

Publisher: Permanent Black, 2008 (First)

ISBN: 9788178242316

Pages: 373

Many parts of the world we live in are awash in jihadi violence where a group of ultra-orthodox Muslims kill people of their own religion as well as others. The concept of jihad is sanctified by the Koran and enjoined as a duty of every Muslim believer. But what exactly is jihad? The gory pattern we see enacted in the Middle East is a violent one in which its perpetrators believe it to be their religious obligation to kill non-believers and Muslims themselves who don’t subscribe to their brand of orthodoxy. Apologists of Islam denounce the terrorists on the basis of religious precepts enshrined in the Koran. They maintain that there are two kinds of jihad, the greater one (jihad al-akbar) which focuses on the moral uplift of the individual and the lesser one (jihad al-asghar) which sanctions violence in rare, specified instances. Unfortunately, the voice of the pacifists is submerged in the din of carnage orchestrated by jihadis who nurture hopes of usurping worldly power as part of the package. This book dwells on the religious significance of jihad, its origins in South Asia in the eighteenth century, its growth in the intervening period and the takeover of Pakistan by extremist outfits in the 2000s. Ayesha Jalal is the grandniece of the renowned Pakistani fictionist Saadat Hasan Manto and is the Mary Richardson Professor of History at Tufts University. She is the author of many books on Islamic history and the dogmatic underpinnings of jihad.

The literal meaning of ‘jihad’ is the ‘striving for a worthy and ennobling cause’, which has over the years turned into holy war against non-Muslims. Even though apologists studiously argue that jihad as killing people (qittal) is not approved in Islam’s holy traditions, the sad fact is that pious Muslims in all ages looked upon it as a sacred duty. Even in the first century of Islam, the Kharajite sect defined jihad as legitimate violence against the enemies of Islam (p.8). Muslim legists defined jihad as armed struggle to legitimize the wars of conquest fought by the Umayyad (661 – 750 CE) and Abbasid (750 – 1258 CE) caliphs. All these cases of religious violence make the readers wonder whether it is indeed sanctioned in scriptures as claimed by the terrorists. Otherwise, why do people living in widely varying topographies as Indonesia and Egypt and in as diverse a time spanning fourteen centuries stumble upon the same idea of jihad as violence to subjugate people of other religions? Jalal bends over backwards to justify jihad to mollify modern sensibilities. This appears as nothing more than the butcher’s assistant caressing the animal to be slaughtered while the butcher sharpens his knife. She claims that the concept of a ‘dharma yuddha’ (just war) in Hinduism and similar constructs in Judeo-Christian tradition is akin to jihad. But the acknowledged point remains that although all Muslims are not terrorists, all terrorists are Muslims.

That jihad, probably in its less violent incarnation, is supported by a leading intellectual of his times such as Mohammed Iqbal is galling for us. The poet and philosopher who is also the spiritual founder of Pakistan penned a poem titled ‘jihad’ in which he impelled his compatriots to rise up against British colonialism in a jihad. Unfortunately, most such jihads against the British invariably turned against hapless Hindus and Sikhs once the jihadis get to experience a taste of British weapons. Jalal extols the virtues of the Islamic system which grants followers of other religions the status of zimmis upon payment of a tax called jizya. This is claimed to be a ‘substantial improvement’ over slavery! The Hanafi code which consecrates this barbarity is termed ‘liberal’. Those unfortunate people ending up as zimmis silently suffer under the yoke of Islamic domination. They are not allowed to join the armed forces of the country, their testimony is discounted in a court of law, and are forever doomed to be second-rate citizens. Their voice is not allowed to rise outside their own homes. Jalal’s brazen upholding of Hanafi jurisprudence as ‘relatively broadminded’ is disgusting when she points out that it protects the property of non-Muslim people in an Islamic state, but goes on to add that their womenfolk would be treated as war booty just in the same way as jewels and money (p.34). Civilized society should pose here a moment to reflect on the moral corrosion in an Islamic society in which a western-educated author – that too, a woman – sanitizes such savage doctrines and repackage it as wisdom of the forefathers of Islam.

The book’s greatest significance is its crystal clear narration of the growth of jihadism in India. The Mughal Empire started disintegrating right at the death of the bigoted emperor Aurangzeb’s death. Hindu states of Marathas and Rajputs began to extract their revenge for centuries of oppression. A religious scholar, Shah Waliullah became incensed at this slight and exhorted his disciples to wage jihad against the infidels. He advised them to avoid the company of non-Muslims of devilish composition, proposed harsh measures against the Hindus and Shias, suggested banning of Holi and Muharram festivals and urged rulers to confiscate Hindu wealth. He tempted Ahmed Shah Abdali of Afghanistan to invade India and destroy its infidels. He assured god’s recompense to the invader in the hereafter, at the same time offering incalculable booty by pillaging his own countrymen. Waliullah was a proponent of Wahabism and believed steadfastly in its core principles. He had enthusiastic followers in India. Sayyid Ahmed Barelvi, Shah Ismail and 600 of his followers embarked on a jihad against Punjab’s Sikh kingdom in a bid to compel ‘Ranjit Singh to turn Muslim or cut off his head’ (p. 90). Both of them were killed in the battle at Balakote in 1831, but their tombs still continue to inspire suicide bombers operating in Afghanistan and Kashmir. The jihadi leaders preached strange ideologies. Sayyid Ahmed Barelvi insisted that any girl continuing unmarried for twelve days after attaining puberty would become the property of the mujahideen (jihadi fighters) (p.102). Maulana Ahmed Raza Khan gave out a ruling that presented with the choice of giving water to a thirsty infidel or a dog, a believer should make the offering to the dog (p.146).

The book exposes the true colours of Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, who passed off as a secular leader of the Indian National Congress but harboured notions of jihad. The author herself is surprised at his being mistaken as secular, whereas he was a proponent of Islamic universalism. As per this ideology, Muslims are part of an Ummah, which is a conglomeration of believers cutting across national boundaries. Azad’s logic was that Indian Muslims should take offense at the ill-treatment of his coreligionists in Egypt or in the Balkans. When India reeled in the aftermath of the First World War, Azad and his cronies advocated for an assault against the British for their unseating of the Sultan of Turkey! This solves another puzzle in Indian history. The Jalianwala Bagh massacre occurred in response to a popular uprising against the Rowlatt Act which curtailed freedom of expression. But why should the British impose such a draconian law in India after the war in which India wholeheartedly sided with them and Gandhi in fact participated in the war effort? The hidden reason was the revolutionary activities of the jihadis who plotted to subvert British power. Their underground operations forced the government to put forward harsh measures that ended in the brutal genocide at Jalianwala Bagh in which none of the jihadis were killed. They would shed blood only for religion. However, there were some among them who exhibited compassion and mercy to their brethren among other religions. Maulana Fazl-i-Haq Khairabadi was one such personality. Maulvi Chiragh Ali maintained that Islam was being judged by the standards of Sharia created by men rather than the ethical principles of Koran. Sharia had not been held sacred or unchangeable by enlightened Mohammedans in any age since its compilation in the fourth century of Hejira.

Ayesha Jalal’ style is not amenable to easy reading, but offers some elegant contemporary prose. A glossary given at the end is redundant as she clarifies each new term as and when it is first encountered. Detailed notes are compiled after the main text, but don’t include a bibliography. A good index also accompanies the text which covers the entire range of jihadis from Shah Waliullah in the eighteenth century to Hafiz Mohammed Saeed of the twenty-first.

The book is recommended.

Rating: 3 Star