Aurangzeb Aalamgeer (Rahimahullah)

[ummtaalib]

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Of all the Muslim rulers who ruled vast territories of India from 712 to 1857 CE, probably no one has received as much condemnation from Western and Hindu writers as Aurangzeb. (Dr. Habib Siddiqui)

 

 

 

What do Muslim Scholars say about Aurangzeb Aalamgeer (RA)?

 

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If one wants to read more about Sultan Aurangzeb Alamgir, read what was written by his contemporaries and not by Hindu historians and orientalists centuries later. They have tried their best to portray him as a villain and murderer.

 

Shaykh Abdul Hassan 'Ali Nadwi has mentioned that if it was not for 4 personalities, today there would be no practicging Muslims in the sub-Continent. Those are:

1. Imam Mujaddid Alf-i-Sani
 

2. Sultan Aurangzaib Alamgir
 

3. Imam Shah Waliullah
 

4. Sayyid Ahmed Shaheed

Sultan Aurangzaib was also a faqih and a sufi. Fatawa Alamgiri was compiled under his supervision, and whenever the scholars working on it would disagree on a particular issue, they would refer to Sultan Aurangzaib for the solution.

Once sultan wrote to Khawaja Masum , [son of Mujaddid Alf-i-Sani ] that he should bay't him and instruct him in Tasawwuf. So Khawaja Masum sent his son to Aurangzaib, who was his teacher in Tasawwuf.

(Brother Saad on sunniforum.com)

 

 

 

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Aurangzeb Aalamgeer (RA) was born on the 15th of Dhul Qa’dah in the year 1027 A.H. He was the third son of the king Shah Jahaan, born from his wife Arjumand Banu (Mumtaz Mahal).

 

He received his elementary education from Sheikh Abul Waa’idh Hargaami and further education and etiquette from Molwi Sayyid Muhammad Qanuji (RA). He then became an accomplished scholar of Deen under the tutelage of various other teachers. He also memorised the Qur'aan in a year.

 

He loved the Ulema, revered them greatly, and would sit attentively in their gatherings wherever he travelled, showering them with exquisite gifts afterwards. He acquired knowledge of Tasawwuf from Khwaja Muhammad Ma’soom (RA) and his son Sayfud Deen (RA). It was his practice to awaken before dawn to perform the Tahajjud Salaah and then wait for the Fajr Salaah in the Masjid as he sat facing the Qibla. He would then perform his Sunnah Rakaahs immediately after the Adhaan and then engage in recitation of the Qur'aan and study of the Ahadeeth after performing the Fajr Salaah in Jamaa'ah. After performing the Chaast Salaah he would remain in seclusion for a while. He always remained in the state of Wudhu and recited the Kalimah and other forms of Dhikr in abundance. He fasted every Monday, Thursday, and Friday and would participate in the Dhikr gatherings of the saints.

 

Aurangzeb Aalamgeer (RA) was amongst the most intelligent members of the Timori family. He was a courageous, just, and a most capable leader. When he ascended to the throne in the year 1068 A.H., he waived all the taxes owed to the government the previous year and distributed 2.5 million Rupees amongst the poor. He also sent 630,000 Rupees as a gift for Makkah and Madinah and had a Masjid of marble erected in a fortress, which cost approximately 160,000 Rupees. His empire stretched from the port of Karachi to the easternmost limits of Aasaam and from the Indian ocean in the south to the Himalaya mountains in the north. He banned intoxicants, dancing, music and other activities that conflicted with the laws of the Shari'ah. He secured the roads against robbers. He fixed an annual amount of 140,000 Rupees for the poor and did not allow the demolition of any religious site. The adherents of every religion lived in peace and were free to practice their religion. He listened to the young and old and would not compromise on the truth for anyone.

 

Madrasah in Just 5 Minutes

Mufti A.H.Elias-May Allaah protect him

 

 

 

Fataawaa Aalamgeeri

 

 

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Abul Muzaffar Muhi-ud-Din Muhammad Aurangzeb commonly known as Aurangzeb Alamgir was a famous Muslim Mughal Emperor who ruled over most of the Indian subcontinent from 1658 till his death in 1707. Some historians present him as a devoted, religious-minded sultan who was a just ruler. While others regard him to be a cruel emperor who restricted Hindus and Sikhs from their freedom.

 

Nevertheless, Aurangzeb Alamgir is known to have lived a very simple life and was regarded to be very pious. He was the first ruler/emperor who established Islamic Law in a Non-Muslim country. His strict adherence to Islamic Law led him to compile Fatawaa Hindiyya (also known as Fatawaa Alamgiri) which is considered one of the most essential books in the Hanafi Fiqh (Jurisprudence) today

 

Checked and Approved by,
Mufti Ebrahim Desai

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Question: Fiqh of Hanafi School of thought was not established in the first three centuries.  If it was already established then why did the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb Aalamgeer hire about 500 Ulamaa in the 12th century to write the book of Fiqh called Fataawaa Aalamgeeri?

 

Answer:

The Hanafi Fiqh (jurisprudence) was established in the second century. Imam Abu Hanifah (R.A) passed away in 150 A.H. and he completed his Fiqh during his lifetime. Thereafter his famous student Imam Muhammad (R.A.) compiled all the Masaail in many books in this era. He passed away in 189 A.H. In every centaury the Fuqahaa-e-Ahnaaf wrote lengthy books comprising of all the Masaail e.g. Allamah Sakhaawi who passed away in 483 A.H., compiled a book which is now in 30 volumes.

 

The Mughal King Aurang Zaib (R.A.) organized a team of Ulamaa and ordered them to compile a book in which should be gathered the Masaail of the books of the previous Ulamaa. This group of Ulamaa did not pen down Masaail of their own, rather they compiled a book containing Masaail taken from reliable books of the great Fuqahaa.

 

Mufti Muhammad Ashraf

Darul Iftaa

Jameah Mahmoodiyah

 

 

 

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Aurangzeb Aalamgeer (RA) had a special attachment with the knowledge of the Shari'ah and rendered tremendous services to the Deen and Deeni education. He had many Deeni books printed. Amongst the important books that he had printed was Radd Shi’ah by Allaama Hasan (RA) and Najmul Furqaan by Moulana Muhammad Mustafa (RA) which is an index of the words of the Qur'aan. He instructed a panel of Ulema from India to compile a book of Masaa’il from all the books of Fiqh, which would encompass all the aspects of Fiqh. He appointed Sheikh Nizaamud Deen (RA) as head of the panel and the result of their efforts after eight years was Fataawaa Aalamgeeri Shaahi. A total of 200,000 Rupees were spent on the project. It was the practice of Aalamgeer (RA) to have Sheikh Nizaamud Deen (RA) read him a page of the book every day, ponder over it and then record what the consensus of the Ulema was on the issue. This was an effort which really freed the Ulema and students from having to refer to other books. When the Arab Ulema saw the book, they were impressed and had it published under the name Fataawaa Hindiyyah.

 

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Mufti A.H.Elias-May Allaah protect him

 

[ummtaalib]

What do non Muslim writers say about Aurangzeb Aalamgeer (RA)?

 

Notes on Aurangzib

[ummtaalib]

Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb: Bad Ruler or Bad History?

By Dr. Habib Siddiqui
 

 

Of all the Muslim rulers who ruled vast territories of India from 712 to 1857 CE, probably no one has received as much condemnation from Western and Hindu writers as Aurangzeb. He has been castigated as a religious Muslim who was anti-Hindu, who taxed them, who tried to convert them, who discriminated against them in awarding high administrative positions, and who interfered in their religious matters. This view has been heavily promoted in the government approved textbooks in schools and colleges across post-partition India (i.e., after 1947). These are fabrications against one of the best rulers of India who was pious, scholarly, saintly, un-biased, liberal, magnanimous, tolerant, competent, and far-sighted.

 

Fortunately, in recent years quite a few Hindu historians have come out in the open disputing those allegations. For example, historian Babu Nagendranath Banerjee rejected the accusation of forced conversion of Hindus by Muslim rulers by stating that if that was their intention then in India today there would not be nearly four times as many Hindus compared to Muslims, despite the fact that Muslims had ruled for nearly a thousand years. Banerjee challenged the Hindu hypothesis that Aurangzeb was anti-Hindu by reasoning that if the latter were truly guilty of such bigotry, how could he appoint a Hindu as his military commander-in-chief? Surely, he could have afforded to appoint a competent Muslim general in that position. Banerjee further stated: "No one should accuse Aurangzeb of being communal minded. In his administration, the state policy was formulated by Hindus. Two Hindus held the highest position in the State Treasury. Some prejudiced Muslims even questioned the merit of his decision to appoint non-Muslims to such high offices. The Emperor refuted that by stating that he had been following the dictates of the Shariah (Islamic Law) which demands appointing right persons in right positions." During Aurangzeb's long reign of fifty years, many Hindus, notably Jaswant Singh, Raja Rajrup, Kabir Singh, Arghanath Singh, Prem Dev Singh, Dilip Roy, and Rasik Lal Crory, held very high administrative positions. Two of the highest ranked generals in Aurangzeb's administration, Jaswant Singh and Jaya Singh, were Hindus. Other notable Hindu generals who commanded a garrison of two to five thousand soldiers were Raja Vim Singh of Udaypur, Indra Singh, Achalaji and Arjuji. One wonders if Aurangzeb was hostile to Hindus, why would he position all these Hindus to high positions of authority, especially in the military, who could have mutinied against him and removed him from his throne?

 

Most Hindus like Akbar over Aurangzeb for his multi-ethnic court where Hindus were favored. Historian Shri Sharma states that while Emperor Akbar had fourteen Hindu Mansabdars (high officials) in his court, Aurangzeb actually had 148 Hindu high officials in his court. (Ref: Mughal Government) But this fact is somewhat less known.

 

Some of the Hindu historians have accused Aurangzeb of demolishing Hindu Temples. How factual is this accusation against a man, who has been known to be a saintly man, a strict adherent of Islam? The Qur'an prohibits any Muslim to impose his will on a non-Muslim by stating that "There is no compulsion in religion." (surah al-Baqarah 2:256). The surah al-Kafirun clearly states: "To you is your religion and to me is mine." It would be totally unbecoming of a learned scholar of Islam of his caliber, as Aurangzeb was known to be, to do things that are contrary to the dictates of the Qur'an.

 

Interestingly, the 1946 edition of the history textbook Etihash Parichaya (Introduction to History) used in Bengal for the 5th and 6th graders states: "If Aurangzeb had the intention of demolishing temples to make way for mosques, there would not have been a single temple standing erect in India. On the contrary, Aurangzeb donated huge estates for use as Temple sites and support thereof in Benares, Kashmir and elsewhere. The official documentations for these land grants are still extant."

 

A stone inscription in the historic Balaji or Vishnu Temple, located north of Chitrakut Balaghat, still shows that it was commissioned by the Emperor himself. The proof of Aurangzeb's land grant for famous Hindu religious sites in Kasi, Varanasi can easily be verified from the deed records extant at those sites. The same textbook reads: "During the fifty year reign of Aurangzeb, not a single Hindu was forced to embrace Islam. He did not interfere with any Hindu religious activities." (p. 138) Alexander Hamilton, a British historian, toured India towards the end of Aurangzeb's fifty year reign and observed that every one was free to serve and worship God in his own way.

 

Now let us deal with Aurangzeb's imposition ofthe jizya tax which had drawn severe criticism from many Hindu historians. It is true that jizya was lifted during the reign of Akbar and Jahangir and that Aurangzeb later reinstated this. Before I delve into the subject of Aurangzeb's jizya tax, or taxing the non-Muslims, it is worthwhile to point out that jizya is nothing more than a war tax which was collected only from able-bodied young non-Muslim male citizens living in a Muslim country who did not want to volunteer for the defense of the country. That is, no such tax was collected from non-Muslims who volunteered to defend the country. This tax was not collected from women, and neither from immature males nor from disabled or old male citizens. For payment of such taxes, it became incumbent upon the Muslim government to protect the life, property and wealth of its non-Muslim citizens. If for any reason the government failed to protect its citizens, especially during a war, the taxable amount was returned.

 

It should be pointed out here that zakat (2.5% of savings) and ‘ushr (10% of agricultural products) were collected from all Muslims, who owned some wealth (beyond a certain minimum, called nisab). They also paid sadaqah, fitrah, and khums. None of these were collected from any non-Muslim. As a matter of fact, the per capita collection from Muslims was several fold that of non-Muslims. Further to Auranzeb's credit is his abolition of a lot of taxes, although this fact is not usually mentioned. In his book Mughal Administration, Sir Jadunath Sarkar, foremost historian on the Mughal dynasty, mentions that during Aurangzeb's reign in power, nearly sixty-five types of taxes were abolished, which resulted in a yearly revenue loss of fifty million rupees from the state treasury.

 

While some Hindu historians are retracting the lies, the textbooks and historic accounts in Western countries have yet to admit their error and set the record straight.

Al-Balagh

[ummtaalib]

Mughal Emperor Sultan Alamgir Aurangzeb

 

All through my school life it was built in my mind that Mughal Emperor Sultan Alamgir Aurangzeb was a cruel man.. tyrant.. etc.. thanks to bigoted history books.. their writers.. and the teachers who taught these lessons of injustice..

While a Marathi (non Muslim) tuition teacher would say that although he was cruel.. destroyed temples.. but still never enjoyed at the expense of his subjects.. that he earned his living by sewing caps and making copies of Qur'an..

(Alhamdulillah.. I have seen a hand written copy at the colossal library of Madrassa Mazahir ul uloom (wakf) Saharanpur, U.P. India)

The reality was unfolded only after reading Saviours of Islamic Spirit By Hazrat Maulana Syed Abul Hasan Ali Nadwi which lifted the veils off many historical inaccuracies that was taught in school before.

 

 

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