RETREAT AND RAGE

16. Yogendra Singh, Modernization of Indian Tradition, Tomson Press, Delhi, 1973.

     

17. Ibid., p.79.

     

18. Ibid.

     

19. Sayyid Ahmed Barelvi is a critical figure in the history of Indian Islam. He was a disciple of Abdul Aziz, the son of Shah Waliullah, father of the revivalist movement in the early eighteenth century. As such, he was a product of the Indian Islamic environment. But while Abdul Aziz declared India dar-ul-harb (land of war) and sought to purify Islam by purging it of Hindu practices, he did not institute jihad (holy war). Jihad was Barelvi's contribution. That is one reason why his followers are known as Wahhabis. To begin with, jihad was limited to the Sikh durbar on the ground, according to some Muslims writers, that while the British allowed Muslims freedom to practise their religion, the Sikhs did not. Others disagree and hold that Sayyid Ahmed limited the jihad to the Sikh durbar in the first instance because, in his view, it was the weaker of two and therefore easier to dispose of.

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