Grade 8 – History INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL LAHORE Topic: Reformers

Name: Raahim gaba

Sec: 8c Date: 17th

Sep, 2021

Shah Waliullah Marks: 20

Q1. Explain the importance of Shah Waliullah's contribution towards Islamic

revival.
Answer: He worked to bring together Shiites and Sunnis and Ulema and Sufis. He
proposed ways like Ijtihad in Islam and denounced blind Taqlid. He believed in
grooming of Muslims as a society and educated them to live up as a society in
which economic and social justice would prevail. He educated Muslims of India to
emancipate Muslim society from economic injustices and social biases. He wrote
almost 50 books on various subjects he trained a group of Ulemma to spread the
true knowledge of Islam. He opened many branches of his school in Delhi to
spread his school of thought. His versatility was his main asset; he worked on
every prospective field which could raise the standard of Muslims as a nation or
individual entity. He laid the foundations of all political, religious, and intellectual
movements which would initiate in the Indian sub-continent by Muslims in future.
He was an authentic theologian and scholar of Islam; he had great understanding
of Quran and Hadith. He also gave many economic theories which gave reasons
which became the cause of the decline of Muslims. Politically, Shah Walliullah was
a vibrant personality. He ran an indigenous political movement of its kind in India.
He tried to unite Muslims as a single entity. His main political agenda was to retain
the Mughal Empire; he became the cause to invite Ahmad Shah Abdali to India in
order to fight Marathas who were undermining Mughal rule at that time. Thought
his efforts to maintain Muslim rule in India did not capitalize but it would provide
an insight for future political, intellectual and religious movements in India.
Q2. Why did Shah Wali Ullah translate the Holy Quran into Persian
language? State
four reasons and fully explain them.
Answer:He worked hard to ensure that he was a role model for every Muslim. He
translated the Quran into Persian because many people were unfamiliar with
Arabic. Later his sons, Shah Abdul Qader and Shah Rafi, translated the Quran into
Grade 8 – History INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL LAHORE Topic: Reformers
Urdu. He wrote fifty one books in Persian and Arabic. Amongst the most famous
were Hujjatullah-ul-Baligha and Izalat-Akhfa. He also wrote an account of the first
four caliphs of Islam in a way that was acceptable to both Shias and Sunnis. In
economics he emphasised the need for social justice and for peasants and
craftsmen to be truly valued for their contribution to the economy. His most
important contributions to the Muslim community was his organization of
opposition to the Marathas, who were threatening to over-run the Mughal Empire
from the south. It was to call together the divinities among Muslims and unite
them for Jihad. He wrote a letter to Afghan King Ahmad Shah Abdali and joined
local forces with local Muslim leaders and defeated the Marathas in the Battle of
Panipat in 1761. However, despite encouragement from Shah Wali Ullah, the
Muslim leaders did not unite to take advantage of the defeat of the Marathas.
Perhaps if they had done so, the Muslims would not have soon found themselves
under Non-Muslim rule. Shah Waliullah believed that many of the problems the
Muslims faced were due to ignoring the principles of Islam. He felt that an
emphasis on Quranic teachings would improve their knowledge and reduce
sectarian differences and create a feeling of solidarity. As Arabic was not widely
understood by the muslims of the subcontinent he switched to Persian. By this the
teachings of Quran were more accessible to muslims. Shah Waliullah recognized
that the tenets of Islam could not be followed properly unless the Holy Quran itself
was understood. In order to spread the teachings of Islam he translated the Holy
Quran into Persian the main language of educated Muslims at that time in the
Sub-Continent.