FIRST WORLD WAR:

CALLS FOR “JIHAD” IN MAURITIUS.

Religious and/or racial profiling is today a buzzworld .This is not a new phenomenon. It has been
practiced in many earlier historical contexts. Of course religious and/or racial profiling is closely linked
to the “pseudo-scientific theories of racial difference that were the bedrock of colonial race relations
and racialised capitalism during the colonial era itself”( Noor.F).In colonial Mauritius,the imperial
government closely monitored the loyalties and attachments of the various ethnic groups.During the
nineteenth century ,various governors commented on the affinities of the local White
populationtowards France.This brief piece explores some of the reasons for the religious profiling of the
Indian Muslim population during the First World War.The outset of the Great War posed Indian Muslims
throughout the British empire a major problem: can one be a loyal colonial subject and a Muslim?It also
explores new meanings attached to the Islamic concept of jihad in new set up –the emergence of
Ahmadism in Mauritius.

The first call for jihad.

The term jihad is derived from the Arabic root j h a and its etymological meaning is intense effort or
struggle in a holistic “ sense – intellectual,religious,physical,spiritual,moral,economical and
psychological- that promotes the public good”(Mavani.H2011).During the early days of Islam, the
Prophet Muhammad ( PSW) preached for the greater jihad( al-jihad al-akbar) as a moral and spiritual
combat against the moral vices and evil tendencies of oneself.Later jihad evolved to include offensive
actions .Over the years ,various Muslim leaders and exegetes, under the threat of non Muslims people,
harped on the more violent aspects of jihad.

During the early twentieth century ,the whole of the Middle East and Arabia formed part of the
Ottoman (Turk) empire.The sultan of Turkey held the Caliphate, in other words he was the symbolic
head of the Muslim umma( world community) and most importantly the guardian of the holy cities of
Mecca and Madina.As such most Muslims used to invoke the blessings of the All mighty after the
Jummah ( Friday)prayers; a practice which started since 1580 from Muslims of North Africa to Central
China.In India the Ottoman Turks were considered as a bulwark of Muslim power following the collapse
of the Mogul rule in the 1850s.The feelings of nationalism were running high in late nineteenth
century ,especially in the Balkans which formed part of the Ottoman Turk empire.France and Britain
were stealthily supporting the nations of the Balkans; most importantly Greece.The Germans showed
their sympathy to the Turks through the official visit of the Kaiser William in 1898 to Istanbul
,Turkey..During his visit , the Kaiser praised Islam while meditating on the grave of Salaudin. (Dijk .v Kees
2009)The Italo- Turkish war in Lybia in 1911-12 and the subsequent war in the Balkans in 1913 which
led to the independence of Greece weakened the Ottomans.It was during these wars that Goolam . M
.Issac collected money from Muslims in Mauritius for the Turkish Red Crescent.Dawoojee Vayid and
G.M.Issac were decorated by the Sultan.
 During the First World War ,the Turks entered the war on 29 Octoder 1914 on the side of the Central
Powers( Germany,Austria-Hungary and Italy) against the Entente Powers(Britain,France and
Russia).Sultan Mehmet ( Five)and Shayk –al -Islam Urguphu Hayri issued five fatwas for the world
Muslims to unite and support the caliphate and promising the faith of martyr if Muslims were to fall in
battle against the Entente forces.(Jihad) In India Maulana Muhammad Ali Jouhar called on the Indian
Muslims to rise up i.e jihad against the Ferangis( British) to contain the slow destruction of the
caliphate.Later an All India Caliphate Committee was set up by Muslim clerics and intellectuals with
Maulana Abdul Kalam Azad as one of its most active member.These ideas filtered down to Indian
Muslims in Mauritius who found it difficult to ignore this rallying call as well as a dilemma that was
impossible to resolve.The situation was far more complicated on the island as a result of the advent of
Ahmadism from 1914.

Background to the call for jihad in Mauritius.

From 1914 onwards the Muslim community in Mauritius was under close surveillance by the local Police
,especially in Port Louis ,RoseHill ,Camp Diable and other villages as revealed by Colonial Office papers
.Various personalities such as politicians Goolam.M. Issac, the Piperdys,merchants Ajum Goolam
Hossen,Noor Mohamed Osman,Abou Baker Taher,local mosque leaders-Maulana Abdul Rashid
Nawab ,,Mamode Issackjee a dukanwallah( shop keeper)from Barbodhan,Gujarat( my maternal
grandfather),Ahlaman Suhawan ,planter from the south and others were regularly reported
upon.Confidential despatches quoted Police records of the activities of these individuals.Police
informants attended Friday ‘s Khut-bas(sermons) and reported to the Police the content of the talk.The
community felt harassed and persecuted. Several Muslims were deported;2 from Rose Hill and 7or 8
from Port Louis . In November 1914, Golam.M .Issac, member of the Municipal Council,wrote a lengthy
letter in the press to reassure the colonial government of the loyalties of the Muslim population.Both
the administrators of the Port Louis Jummah mosque and Sunnee Surtee Musulman Society met the
Colonial Secretary to validate their allegiance to the crown and their position regarding Ahmadism.

In mid 1916 the Ahmadis led by N.Noorooya ,the first Mauritian Ahmadi and Amode .I.Atchia ( Major ),
who had converted to Ahmadism, occupied the Rose Hill Sunnee Mosque.This action was made easy by
the fact that Major’s father was the main benefactor of the mosque and the mutawalli( the head).The
Sunnees led by sardar Dowlut and Mamode Issackjee had to seek out another prayer place on Hugnin
road on the outskirt of Rose Hill.Further most Muslims had a very slight understanding of Islam ,which
was “ rooted in…….. miracles, intercessors and saintly shrines “and the conversion rate to Ahmadism
was spurred on by the presence of an Ahmadi missionary.Mamode Issack jee took the initial lead to
contain this Ahmadi onslaught. He was helped by Molvis( theologians) Ibrahim Mall Assenjee and
Ayatoolah who were subsequently deported by the British authorities.The Muslim community in
Mauritius was under close monitoring as the regular Police reports attached to secret dispatches to the
Colonial office showed. The civil rights of the Muslims were violated as they were not allowed to
assemble without government permission to discuss religious issues.The denouncement of Muslims
prevailed.The link between Ahmadis and the colonial administration was fairly well
established.Noorooya.N,the secretary of the movement carried a sustained correspondence with
Governor Hesketh Bell( vide enclosure).Atchia.A.I had always had the sympathetic ears of the governors
since his electricity project at Reduit and he used to threaten Sunnee Muslims with deportation as
revealed by several witnesses at the Sunnee Mosque Court case ( Naudeer p76 onwards).The colonial
authorities became more wary about the Muslims in Mauritius following the problems they had in
Singapore in July 1925 from Muslim protests against the Ahmadis.

The abhorrence of Muslims to Ahmadism is based on the fundamentals of Islam .Mirza Gulam Ahmad,
(1935-1908)” a Punjabi visionary”( Green N.S 2003)and the founder of the Ahmadism
‘sect’(Lavan.S,Marzia Balzani,Friedman Y and Naudeer) did not have a madressa education but was
educated at home.He wrote 88 books in Urdu. He was a native of Quadian in Punjab and he started
preaching in 1882.He based his teachings on the “Kashmiri tradition of the burial of Jesus in Srinagar”
( Green op cit ) and that he was “ the Promised Messiah” ( Naudeer p 8- 10)It must be said that the
annexation of Punjab province in 1847 by the East India Company and its subsequent inclusion in the
empire following the first Indian War for Independence in1856 referred to as the Mutiny by the British
gave rise to a lot of resistance from the Sikhs and Pathans ,the dominant populations of the
province.The North West of India was an area where the resistance to British rule was led by a large
number of mullahs as noted by Winston Churchill in the 1890s;”As July advanced the bazaar at
Malakand became full of tales of Mad Fakir.A great day for Islam was at hand .A mighty man had arisen
to lead them” ( Churchill W.S 1898) about Mullah Mastan, the mad fakir of Swat.Of course the colonial
power exploited the division between the Pathans and Sikhs .It was the opening up of this province in
the late 1870s to Protestant missionary fervor and proselytism and the activities of the Arya Sama
towards reconversion of converted Muslims to Hinduism that gave rise to Islamic revivalist
movements .It was in this context that Ahmadism emerged and adopted the techniques used by the
Protestants in proselytization such as the use of the print media to propagate their ideas. On the other
hand, traditional Muslim clerics had recourse to the oral tradition over the written one and personal
communication as a medium for religious revival.Their messages were in conformity with traditional
Islamic teachings and values.Mirza .G. Ahmad claimed that prophecy did not end with the death of the
Holy prophet Muhammad (SWL) and he declared himself to be “ the Promised Messiah of the Muslim
line” (Naudeer p198) . The Sunnee Muslims found these two main claims to be heretical and persons
adhering to these claims as apostates.Mirza Ahmad emulated the Protestant missionary methods to
revitalize traditional Islam (Friedman.Y). The attempts to “modernize Is lam “ dated back to Sayyid
Ahmad Khan’s movement of the 1860s and at the dawn of the twentieth century there were several
‘revivalist ‘Muslim clerics.

Further as revealed by the testimonies of several deponents for the Ahmadi defendants at the Court
case –“The difference between Ahmadists and non Ahmadists is the Jehad affair.”( Naudeer p158).The
then leader of the Ahmadi community did not subscribe to the call for jihad pronounced by the
Sultan,the caliphate of Islam.In fact the leader of the Ahmadi community proclaimed himself caliph and
declared a ‘jihad of the pen’.As such the Ahmadi community enjoyed the protection of the colonial
authorities.

The second call for jihad

 In Rose Hill, where the epicenter of the Ahmadi sect was located ,the local Sunnee imams were a
curious group of men in an uncommon sitation.There is no indication of any of them had advanced
learning from the great centers of Islamic education such as Mecca or Deoband,India.Most of them
were self employed and carried the job of imams as part timers.Some of them converted to
Ahmadism .Further Amode .I. Atchia the main follower was also the principal entrepreneur of the
newly declared town and a good many people were his employees and his control of the mosque
through his father Hajee Ibrahim .S.Atchia was absolute. The latter who held the title of hajee-
somebody who had made the pilgrimage to Mecca- a marker of religious authority became an
Ahmadi ,some Muslims followed him .He subsequently returned to Islam and died as a
Muslim.Meetings were held regularly in Cinema Hall of Rose Hill to preach Ahmadism to the
population.

As already hinted at during the war ( 1941-1919 ) the Mauritian Muslim community was at bay
;activities at most mosques were noted by the local police and converts to Ahmadism were suspected
as acting as “informants”.

In Rose Hill ,the Muslim community led by Mamode Issackjee and other Gujarati dukanwallahs and ex
indentured Dowlut and Ibrahim Janee sardars and others decided to temporize waiting for the war to
end.But the spread of Ahmadism was gaining ground. M.Essackjee together with some members of the
Rose Hill Muslim community sought help from the Sunnee Surtee Musulman Society(SSMS) and the
Abdul Rashid Nawab a theologian trained in Mecca and a Hakim (doctor) came as the main imam of
Jummah Mosque. He was closely followed by a Molvi, who was sponsored by SSMS,who was well versed
in rebutting the Ahmadis .In not so many words these two and other learned Muslims in the
community made the Mauritian Muslims undertook a “jihad” towards the proper understanding of the
teaching of Islam.Most villages were visited and the true meanings of Islam were delivered.Issakjee.M
,Goolam M.Issac and the merchants of Port Louis started a money subscription through out the island to
enter a court case against the Ahmadis to regain the Rose Hill Sunnee Mosque.Indeed in 1916, Essakjee
.M ,I.I Hassenjee,I.H.Adia,A.Issop Atchia sought the Supreme Court ‘s ruling against Ahmode.I.Atchia
and others.This was one of the longest case in the Supreme Court history.In November 1920 chief judge
Sir A. Herchenroder Kt:K.C ruled that Ahmadis “are not entitled to and may not offer prayers in the
RoseHill Mosque”and the second judge T.E.Roseby concurred on the same line.The Muslims of Rose Hill
took back the control of the mosque with Dawoojee Vayid as mutawalli.Amode . I .Atchia bought a plot
of land opposite the residence of Mamode Issackjee at the corner of Remono and Edward V11 streets
,Rose Hill to build the Ahmadi prayer hall.

The aftermath

During the Great War,the imperial government aimed at monitoring the allegiances of all ethnic and
cultural groups.Muslims in Mauritius, despite the persecutions and fear of deportation to India or any
other penal settlement , felt that they had a contractual obligation to maintain the social order.The
jihad as proclaimed by the Sultan of Turkey had minimal effect,while the other jihad of containing the
spread of Ahmadism had an everlasting effect on the community.Muslims ,especially the ex-
indentured Indians from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh who formed the bulk of the Muslim population ,were
up to now “not properly educated In Islam”( Jahangeer –Chojoo.A 2004) though a fair number were
Quadris followers of the Sufi mystic Abdul Qader Jilani( 1077-1166). As part of the campaign to re-
educate the local Muslim population,efforts were made by the various Muslim societies to reach out to
them.They were exposed to the basic tenets of Islam as the alims such as Maulana Abdul Rashid
Nawad and other learned clerics moved from Port Louis to villages on the island rebutting the
arguments of the Ahmadists.This” jihad” led to an Islamic revival and the census for 1921 showed an
increase of about 5% over the1911 figures which the census commissioner attributed to conversion to
Islam. .The newly formed ideas of” the mystic –theologician” Maulana Asraf’Ali Thanawi of India(1863-
1943) about Huquq Al Islam ( Islamic system of rights) were introduced to the Muslim
community..Thanawi ‘s religious aura placed most emphasis on not only the rights of others but also
respect for the elderly, reverence for the religious elite ,politeness in speech, cleanliness and other
aspect of social living.Later this Deobandi alim ‘s Bihisti Zwar _Heavenly Ornaments published in the
1930s was to be a companion to most Muslim wives.(Mian A&Potter .N 2009) i

First and foremost this revival influenced the identity- construction of Muslims; they began to see
themselves as Other .This in no way disturbed their relationship with the other communities including
the Ahmadis of the island. From the religious point of view the curriculum of madressas -Quranic school
– was reviewed and in the late 1920s Maulana Nawad with the help of SSMS opened the Muslim High
School in Port Louis to implement further changes in the curricula of Islamic education. The training of
Mudaris -teachers of medressas- was undertaken.The peripatetic visits of learned clerics from South
East Asia –foremost among them was Maulana Abdul Alim Siddiqui- kept Muslims in Mauritius well
informed in Islamic practices.The performances of Muharram in the villages and on the plantations
were discontinued .Muslims learned to live together separately in the collapsing space of plantation
Mauritius.
i
My main source of reference is my deceased mother Hawan Bibi Patel (1916 -1993) the daughter of Mamode Issackjee.I
am ever grateful to her.
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Churchill.W.S The story of Malakand and Field Forces Whitefish .Mont.Kessinger Publishing2004 (1898) quoted by Green
Nile Colonial India: Sepoy religion in the Service of Empire Camb .Uni Press 2004
Dijk van Klees Religion and the Understanding of British Rule during the Great War-Islamic connections-2009
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Lavan Spencer The Ahmadiya Movement: a History and Perspective -Manohar Delhi 1974.
Mavani Hamid Tension between the Qu’ran and the Hadith:the case of Offensive jihad Jrl of Shia Islamic Stud Nov 2011
Mian Altaf.A&Potter Nyquist .Invoking Islamic Rights in British India:Maulana Asraf ali Thanawi’s Huquq al Islam The
Muslim World Blackwell Oxf 2009.
Naudeer .H.K Record of Proceedings No 32452 Mamode Issackjee & Ors versus A.I.Atchia &Ors Rose Hill 1921.
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Said Edward Covering Islam -New York Vintages Books1997
AbdoolCader Kalla-ackalla41@yahoo.com
December 2014