of tawhid

209 Pages·2006·4.04 MB·English

THE
MUJADDID'S CONCEPTION
OF TAWHID

Imam-i-RabbaniMujaddid-i-Alf-i-Tham
ShaikhAhmadSirhindi'sConceptionofTawhid
OR
THE 'MU ADDID'S
J
CONCEPTION OF TAWHID
By
BURHAN AHMAD FARUQI, MA, Ph.D
AligarhMuslimUniversity.Ahgarh
Withaforewordby
SYED ZAFARUL HASAN
MA
(Alig),D Phil (Oxon),Dr Phil (Erl)
SH. MUHAMMAD ASHRAF
KASHMIRI BAZAR - LAHORE (INDIA)
First published
October 1940
PublishedbySh MuhammadA^hraf
Kashmiri Bazar. Lahore
PrintedattheRiponPrinting Press, BullRoad, Lahore
bvMirzaMohammadSadiq
Dedicated
to
myreveredteacher
Dr. SyedZafarul Hasan
who watchedmy life withpaternal concern
and
atwhosefeet I learnt to understand
the fundamental problems
in
Philosophy andReligion

FOREWORD
IN this treatise Dr. Burhan Ahmad Faruqi has
drawn our attentionto a centr^alpoint of reli-
gion, mysticismandphilosophy. ev- affirmed
>y*.) O^x^whichtherebybecameawidelyaccepted
doctrine amongst Islamic sufis. ***s^* $> firmly
and solemnly denied it,and persisted in hisdenial
throughout his career and he based his denial,
;
not on extraneous considerations, but on mystic
experience itself. Dr. Burhan has formulated and
clarified the issue betweenthesetwogreatmystics
with a care and perspicuity which deserves
praise ; and he has brought religion and philoso-
phy to bear on it. In this connection his dis-
course on the distinction of Religious Conscious-
ness from mystic consciousness and speculative
consciousness is indeed illuminating; while the
logic of his contention and the cogency of his
arguments seem to leave little to desire. Now
8 Mujaddid's Conception of Tawhid
after the relapse of Islamic mysticism again into-
>**-) ^^j, it was high time that an earnest study
of this kind should have been undertaken and
pursued with the thoroughness characteristic of
Dr. Burhan Ahmad'swork. -
Another conspicuous service of Dr. Burhan
Ahmad's book is that it has brought the great
Mujaddid and his far-reaching movement within
the purview of western orientalists. Certainly it
is most interesting to note how deeply has this
unique personalityinfluenced the nerve ofIslamic
thought, specially in India, throughout the last
three and a half centuries. The inquiryif pursued
further and still more in detail will, I believe'
repay the time and labour bestowed uponit.
It has been my privilege to watch the growth
of this valuable treatise at every stage of its
development. I can confidently recommend it to
all Muslim scholars and western orientalists for
sympathetic study and careful scrutiny.
Aligarh S. Z. HASAN
30-9-40
CONTENTS
Foreword ... ... ... . vn
Abbreviations ... ... .. . xi
PRELIMINARY ... ... .. ... 1
(a) Biographical sketch ... ... . 7
(fe) liis Times ... ... ... 12
(c) His Achievements .. ... . 28
(eO His Influence ... . ... 31
INTRODUCTION Unityofthe World-Principle ... 45
CHAPTER I The Mujaddid's Conception of Tawhid 85
1. Ibn Arabi's Wahdat-i-Wujud or Unityism
and the Mujaddid's Crit^icism ofit 86
2. The Mujaddid'sTawhid . ... 117
CHAPTER II The Reception of the Mujaddid's
Conceptionof Tawhid ... .. 141
1 ShahWali-Ullah ..145
2. Khwaja MirNasirand Khwaja Mir Dard... 149
3. Mawlwi Ghulam Yahya ... ..157
4. ShahRafi-uddin ... ... ..163
5. ShahSayyidAhmad Barelwi ... ... 164
THE CONCLUSION .. ... .. ... 171
INDEX .. 189