For anyone in this world who desires to not just theoretically know but rather imbibe the understanding of Islamic fundamentalism and the severity and dynamics of its threat to mankind with all its wide encompassing consequences, hard to fathom mechanisms, nuances and perplexing intricacies, then studying and understanding Bharat (India), both its history and present as a civilizational entity and not just merely the depressing geopolitical entity which it is today, is of utmost importance.

There are numerous reasons and factors due to which I say this, but for the purpose of being congruent for this article I’ll enlist only these three :

1. Bharat has been constantly engaged with the forces of Islamic jihad from as early as the Rashidun Caliphate. There’s no other example in the world wherein an entity has been continuously engaged with the forces of Islam for this long, with continuation in the present as well, like Bharat.

2. Bharat has had both, severe losses as well as magnificent victories, in it’s war with Islam. Where one can say that the Bharat which once existed till the eastern borders of present day Iran has now been minimized to the eastern ends of the regions of Gilgit, Punjab and Sindh, but this is also true that even after 1400 years of continuous persecution and aggression there are over 1 billion Hindus i.e. ‘mushriks‘ presently in existence. Hence, one can learn from both the victories as well as defeats of Bharat.

3. Stemming from the first point itself since, the jihad has been so long and continuous it has been ever evolving and dynamic in its approach towards achieving its agenda; hence, all the possible permutations and combinations that Islamic jihad can take have already occurred in one manner or other in Bharat.

And, among those very specific individuals who are key to develop the understanding of all this is notably, Shah Waliullah Dehlavi (Dehlawi). If the nexus and movement of Jihad as a systematic socio-religious institution needs to be given a starting point in its modern phase in Bharat, then it can be attributed to this one individual.

“I saw myself in a dream that I am Qaem al-Zaman (master of the age). Which means that when God Almighty wanted to establish a system of goodness and benevolence, then He made me a tool and medium for the fulfillment of this noble cause. And I saw that the king of the infidels took over the land of the Muslims and looted their property. He enslaved their women and children and in the city of Ajmer he declared the rites of disbelief. He eradicated the rites of Islam. Then after that I saw that the Almighty became angry and very angry with the people of the earth. And I witnessed the embodiment of the wrath of the Almighty in the heavens. And then dripping from there, divine wrath descended on me. Then I found myself angry. And this wrath which was filled in me, was blown into me by Almighty. Then I proceeded towards a city, destroying it and killing its inhabitants. Other people followed me. Thus, destroying one city after another, we finally reached Ajmer. And there we killed the disbelievers. Then I saw the king of the infidels walking with the king of Islam, surrounded by a group of Muslims. In the meantime, the king of Islam ordered the king of the infidels to be slaughtered. People grabbed him and slaughtered him with knives. When I saw blood gushing out of the veins of his neck, I said: now blessing has descended”- Shah Waliullah on Maratha Hindus

“Strict orders should be issued in all Islamic towns forbidding religious ceremonies publicly practiced by non-Muslims (such as the performance of Holi and ritual bathing in the Ganges). On the tenth of Muharram, Rawafid should not be allowed to go beyond the bounds of moderation, neither should they be rude nor repeat stupid things (that is recite tabarra, or curse the first three successors of the Prophet Muhammad) in the streets or bazars.”  – Shah Waliullah on religious festivals of Hindus and Shia Muslims.

“Muslims, no matter where they live, wherever they spend their youthful days, they should in any case be completely separated from the natives of that country in their culture, traditions and mannerisms. And wherever they are, they must be immersed in their Arabic splendor and Arabic trends” – Shah Waliullah on superiority and imposition of Arab culture on Indian Muslims.

Shah Waliullah was born on 21 February 1703 to Shah Abdur Rahim (he was among the Islamic clerics who helped wrote Fatwa-e-Alamgiri, regarded as the principal document for the administration of Sharia in India by Sunni Muslims), a prominent Islamic scholar of Delhi. He was known as Shah Waliullah because of his piety. He memorized the Qur’an by the age of seven. Soon thereafter, he mastered Arabic and Persian letters. He was married at fourteen. By sixteen he had completed the standard curriculum of Hanafi law, theology, geometry, arithmetic and logic. He is also regarded as a ‘Mujaddid’ (renewer of Islam) of his time.

Shah Waliullah’s letters to Islamic rulers and nobles show that he was very keen in rejuvenating Islamic supremacy in Delhi, which had started to loosen its grip over the sub-continent immediately after Aurangzeb’s death. Among all such letters, the most notorious was the one he wrote to Ahmad Shah Abdali, the ruler of Afghanistan:

“After prayers and wishes to God (Allah) I am writing these few words, may He carry them to the blessed ears (of Ahmadshah Abdali). Existence of an Islamic Emperor is a favour (of Allah). It should be understood that Hindustan (region north of Narmada river) is a vast country. Earlier Emperors have toiled very hard for a long time and through multiple attempts have managed to win over this country.

‘Apart from Delhi, which has been the residence of (Mughal) Emperors, other regions were under the control of various rulers, for example, Gujarat Ahmadabad was controlled by a different ruler, Tatta (Sindh) was under the control of Raja Dahir, Bengal was ruled by another ruler, Awadh was controlled by some other person known as the eastern Emperor. Deccan region was collectively controlled by these principalities – 1. Burhanpur 2. Berar 3. Aurangabad 4. Hyderabad 5. Bijapur. Each of these five regions had a separate King. Malwa was also ruled by a different ruler.

Other kingdoms also had a King who had his own army and treasury. Each of these had established Masjids and Madarssas in their region. Muslims from Arabia and Iran (Arb wa Azm) migrated here and became the reason for propagating Islam. Till today, their descendants have been faithfully following the ways and practices of Islam. There is another region which almost came under the control of Islamic Emperor but continued to follow non-Islamic practices.

Though it did happen that the Emperor started collecting Kharaj (tribute) from those regions. The region being mentioned here is Rajputana, spread across forty stages, from the border of Tatta (Sindh) and upto the border of Bengal and Bihar, and from the borders of Delhi and Agra upto Gujarat and Ujjain over twenty stages. This is the vast extended region which did not become the dwelling of Islam. In short, Mughal Emperors formed a pact with Rajputs and assuming that this courage was inferior and that they would be secure and protected from this resistance, they gave up war …

… There is a non-Muslim clan known as Marathas led by a General. This clan has raised its head from the districts of Deccan and has spread its influence all over Hindustan. Later Mughal Emperors, out of lack of foresight, negligence and fear of retaliation, gave away Gujarat province to the Marathas and due to same carelessness and fear gave away Malwa province and made them Subhedars of the region. Eventually Marathas gained strength and many times Islamic regions came under their control. Marathas started exacting tribute from both Hindus and Muslims and called it Chauth.

Marathas could not gain supremacy over Delhi because it was inhabited by nobles who are descendants of previous Emperors, princes and nobility. Compelled by this situation, the Marathas treated them with respect and signed a pact with them. By establishing good relations with these nobles and by gaining their trust, they tactfully separated the Delhites. Late Nizam-ul-mulk’s son prevented these Marathas from gaining control over Deccan by his policy of creating dissent within Maratha ranks or sometimes by aligning with the British. In this way, Nizam-ul-mulk’s son established his control over big cities like Burhanpur, Aurangabad and Bijapur but the surrounding regions were left to the Marathas.

In short, apart from key areas of Delhi and Deccan, the Marathas have overall control. It is not difficult to defeat the Marathas if the Ghazis of Islam make a strong resolve. Actually the Maratha army is insignificant but is held together by a General. If even one of their groups is distracted, the army will disintegrate and this defeat itself will make them weak. As this clan will assume bigger proportions, a similar sized army will be required (to counter) which will be numerous than ants and locusts, and courageous and will have ample provisions of war. In short, the uprising of Marathas is the biggest in Hindustan.

May Allah bless the person who will crush this uprising. Another non-Muslim clan is of Jats who reside around the areas of Delhi and Agra. Both these cities had residences for the Emperor. At one point in time, Mughal Emperor resided in Agra and their fear spread as far as Rajputana. Sometimes they stayed in Delhi and their name and fame spread to Sarhind and its environs.

Jats used to engage in clashes in areas between Delhi and Agra. During Shahjahan’s time, they were ordered to not to mount on horses, not to carry guns and not to build any fortifications for themselves. Later Emperors did not pay much attention to them and using this carelessness as a boon, this clan built many forts, collected guns and started looting people. At that time, Aurangzeb was busy fighting for Bijapur and Hyderabad. He sent an army from Deccan under the leadership of his grandson to quash Jats. But the nobles from Rajputana opposed this Prince and a discord was caused in the army. The Mughal army returned after a little bit pleading from the Jats.”

Shah Waliullah’s pleadings to Ahmad Shah Abdali to uphold his religious duty as a Muslim of attacking and invading the kafirs was accepted by Abdali, and that’s how the third battle of Panipat happened. Afghan and Indian Muslims versus the Maratha Hindus. Its important to mention here that the Maratha Empire was the de facto Bharatiya state at that time.

The Marathas, though they displayed exemplary courage, were unfortunately defeated – the result of which was slaughtering of tens of thousands of Hindu men as well as enslavement of tens of thousands of Hindu women and children. In this battle of ‘deen vs shirk’, the Indian Muslims acted as a fifth column and provided internal support to Abdali. His four main allies within Bharat were Baloch of Kalat, Nawab of Oudh (Awadh), Pashtun Rohillas of Rohilkhand (today’s western Uttar Pradesh) and of course, the residual elements of Mughal empire.

Shah Waliullah is also believed to have been associated with Muhammad ibn abd al Wahab , the eponymous founder of the Wahhabi movement .

Shah Waliullah Dehlawi saw that the Mughal Empire was its precipice ( practically at the mercy of Marathas) and the Marathas had steadily attained the de facto position of rulers of Bharat; plus, the rising power of the Sikhs was equivalent to a death sentence for the rampage of Islam in Bharat. On the one hand the ‘kafirs’ were regaining their long-lost strength, whereas the Islamic polity had just lost its military and administrative might of a large and unified Islamic state in the form of Mughal empire.

Thus, Shah Waliullah realized that for the Islamic cause of ghazwat-ul-Hind to see the light of day anytime in future, there needs to be reinvigoration of Islamic radicalisation through Sufi reformism and renaissance among Muslims, and especially among the ulemas (the clerical class). Since he was largely dissatisfied with the ruling class, he didn’t just invite Muslim rulers from abroad to invade Bharat, he also translated Qur’an from Arabic to Persian (Arabic being the liturgical language i.e. the language of clerical class, and Persian being the language of the elite administrative class) and his theological works like ‘Hujjat Allah Al Balighah’, his narratives, his teachings through the Islamic seminary of Madarsa-i-Rahimiya (founded by his father) all produced a long line of preachers and jihadis in many subsequent generations influenced by him as well as through his companions and disciples, leading up to this era and the creation of Pakistan.

His influence was such that every Islamic movement in India whether Barelvi, Deobandi, Tablighi or Ahl-e-Hadees etc. were founded by people who were either influenced by him or were in direct unbroken line of  succession of his ‘taqlid‘ (denoting the conformity of Islamic teachings of another person).

He set certain teachings and actions in motion which resulted in jihad against Britishers, organization of Pashtun militias to attack Sikhs, the Silk Letter conspiracy to invite Muslim rulers like Emir of Afghanistan and Ottoman Caliph to re-invade British-ruled Bharat; ethnic cleansing of Hindus in East Bengal, North West Frontier Province and West Punjab; establishment of Islamic seminaries in an interlinked manner from today’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to Bangladesh via entire North India which were once used for waging jihad against Sikhs, Marathas and Britishers, and now their routes and institutional establishments are being used to run the world’s largest money laundering chain of network which enables Muslims to exercise influence in West and run their militancy operations in Middle East; creation of Pakistan, the Haqqani network and Taliban, and of course, 9/11.