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The author of Asrar-i Shari'at, Maulavi Muhammad Fadl Khan (1867-1937), was a native of Changa Bangial in Rawalpindi district (Pakistan). He was a scion of a respectable Rajput landowner family with no particular academic traditions. His preceptor and religious guide was his maternal uncle Maulavi Muhammad Umar Bakhsh (died 1887), a naqshbandi-mujaddadi Sufi of repute and an author of numerous books on religious subjects, under whose guidance he completed the traditional course Dars- i Nizami. By the age of 17 he had a fair knowledge of the religious sciences and a good command on Arabic, Persian and Urdu. His desire to acquire also modern education was fulfilled, when he was admitted in 1885 at a rather late age in the Mission School in Rawalpindi. He completed his academic courses within the short span of three years acquiring thereby good working knowledge of the English language. lt was during this period that he was exposed to the natural sciences as wall as confronted with the Christian mission. After leaving school he took the job of a private preceptor with the formar royal fami1y of Afghanistan, parts of which were residing in Rawalpindi. He was in intimate contact with the Sufi circles of the town and in fact took the oath of allegiance (bai'a) at the hand of Khwaja Faqir Muhammad Tirahi.

In those days a weekly meeting was held at the Mission School, where scholars of Christianity, Hinduism and Islam used to confront one another in an open dabate. The speakers would generally try to present the teachings of their respective religions and compare them favourably with other creeds. The manner in which these debates were conducted was seemingly polite, but the missionary zeal at the core of the whole exercise was responsible for harsh attacks on beliefs and practices of other religions. Those were the days, when the Christian missionaries were out to convert the whole of India to Christianity. The Hinduisrn had brought forth the Brahmu Samaj in an effort to invigorate the Hindu faith and to be able to compete with the monotheistic religions, Islam and Christianity. And the Arya Samj, which denied the right of existence for alien creeds on the Indian soil, was born as a result of emboldened Hinduism.

The weakest response to the mounting challange came from the Muslim side. On the whole the Muslims were reluctant to adjust themselves to the changing environments. The age of discoveries was rapidly widening the horizon of human knowledge and in cases shaking the very foundations of the old beliefs. The so-called Wissenschaftsgläubigkeit, which is roughly a blind trust in natural sciences, was fast gaining ground. All that had been taken on trust previously was now being tested on the touchstone of reason and human experience. The so-called Naturalists had almost abjured everything supranatural and were seeking plausible reasons for all kinds of phenomena. In fact the challange was common to all religions, but the response was different in every case. The Indian Muslims were the most indifferent to the challange of the sciences. The majority of the Muslim divines was either ignorant of the age of discoveries, or they was diligently closing eyes on the hard realities of life and were otherwise being oblivious of the Zeitgeist.

The weekly meetings at the Mission School in Rawalpindi impressed the Young Muhammad Fadl Khan profoundly. The representation of the Muslims was mostly inadequate and in cases the Muslim scholars refrained from attending the meetings. They were more often than not unable to defend the teachings of Islam in the face of a combined Hindu-Christian onslaught. In the absence of a Muslim senior scholar in one such meeting, the young Muhammad Fadl Khan had to shoulder the responsibility of responding to the attacks of an Arya Samaji on Islam. He absolved himself of the responsibility very competently. That night he went home with the resolve to write a whole compendium about the teachings of Islam from the rationalistic point of view.

In fact the main thrust of the attacks was to prove that the teachings of Islam were illogical and Irrational. For example it was said that Islam preached against the worship of Goddesses and sculptures made of stone, but the Muslims bowed their heads five times daily in the direction of the Ka'ba, which was built of stones and contained the most revered black corner stone. In another case an Arys Smaji said that the Muslim Fiqh, which also regulates the ceremonial washings, was a strange code baring all common sense and ignoring human experience. Muslims were stricktly advised to perform ritual washings (wudu) , if something comes forth from the holes in the lower part of their body. But in case of the holes in the upper part of the body, ritual washings were not compulsory.

The author of Asrar-i Shari’at made it a point since his encounter with the Arya Samajis to delve deep into the Muslim literature in order to understand the rationale of the teachings of Islam. lt took him almost two decades to compile the book, of which the first volume was published some time after 1909. On page 228 of the first volume the author relates that a certain hadith became clear to him on 23rd of May 1909, the day on which he wrote that particular passage. I could not consult the first print, whereas the second print of 1913 and a later imprint were available to me. The second edition of the first volume contains a list of contents of the second and the third volumes which according to a note on the title page had already been published. Therefore the second and the third volumes at my disposal might have been the second and probably revised imprints. lt is stated on page 107 of the second volume that at the time of writing a year had passed since the World war had had started on 4th of August 1914. The date of publication of the third volume is given at the end of the book on page 492 as I8th dhi’l-hajj 1330. That the author was rendering his book also in Arabic is borne out by an announcement in the third volum, where it is stated that he intended to get the Arabic edition published from an Arab country. lt is not known, if the intended Arabic edition could be pub1ished as planned. Any way the first volume was published in Arabic in 1923 on the lower part of Nahj al-Musalli, another book of the author.

The cardinal question in connectien with the rationalistic explanation of the teachings of Islam was, whether or not human intellect had the ability of judging divine commandments. In author's opinion, the Islamic Shari’a addresses itself directly to human intellect. God had plainly stated in the Qur'an that no human being is burdened intellectually or otherwise with anything which is beyond his/her ability or comprehension. Again it is said that there is no compulsion in religious matters which also denotes that Islam appeals to the intellect and free will of the mankind. At another place the Qur'an refers to those, who were being punished in hell, and quotes them lamenting their laxity and indifference to God’s commandments. They said: ,,Had we heeded to the advice or applied our wisdom, we could have saved ourselves from being dwellers of hell”¹. Ibn Arabi has said in Futuhat Makkiya: ,,Islamic Shari’a is acceptable both to intellect and faith and that there are ways of measuring and assessing of the Shari’a. God's endowed knowledge is best comprehensibe to a wise person with strong intellectual capabilities"².

But what is the touchstone of wisdom? The existance of divergent religions and spiritual systems, all of whom claim to be in exclusive possession of divine guidance, shows that intellect alone cannot choose right from wrong. There must be something else to guide the intellect. And this maxim was, in the opinion of the author, divine revelation, namely the Qur'an and the Hadith³. The second maxim was that there can be no contradiction between the words of God and His deeds, which means that nothing in the Qur'an and the Hadith stands in contrast to the laws of nature⁴.

In this regard he comes very close to Sir Sayyid Ahmad Khan's position, who probably originally formulated this maxim. But the difference between their respective positions in this regard was quite significant. Whereas Sir Sayyid Ahmad Khan had almost renounced prophetic miracles altogether, Maulavi Muhammad Fadl Khan was convinced that they were perfectly in accord with the laws of nature, which no human being could claim to know in their entirty. Therefere, he thougt, one should not deny the existance of prophetic miracles. They were nothing else but a natural phenemenon, which the opponant of the prophets were not capable of performing under identical conditions. The Qur'an was an example of such a miracle, the like of which the adversaries of Islam wers unable to produce. Prophet Muhammad’s other miracle, in which the moon was rendered into two parts and then reunited, belongs to hitherto unexplainable phenamena. But a day will come, when a physical explaination for it will be found⁵.

Unlike Sir Sayyid Ahmad Khan, who had renounced the common Muslim belief regarding the fatherless birth af Jesus Christ, Maulavi Muhmmad Fadl Khan was convinced on the authority of the Qur'an that this phenomenon was neither unique, as the birth of the Prophet Yahya was also miraculous, nor was it medically improbable ⁶. As ragards Prophet Muhammad's ascensien to heavens (mi’raj), both of them thought it to be a spiritual journy in a state of dream⁷. But in the question of prayers (du’a) their respective positions were diametrically opposit. Sir Sayyid Ahmad Khan firmly believed that medicine and not prayers could cure the sick and that belief in du’a belonged to the realm ef superstition. Maulavi Muhammad Fadl Khan on the other hand was of the opinion that prayers effected human psyche very strongly. But at the same time he advised not to neglect the use of medicine. Prayers, he thought, worked in a more global way⁸.

The first volume of Asrar-i Shari'at comprises on three parts: 1) kitab al-tahara (The book of ritual washings), 2) kitab al-salat (The book of prayers), 3) kitab al-zakat (The book of Zakat). In each case important aspects of the respective subject matters are discussed with reference to the wisdom of the specific rulings. For example in the case of wudu (ritual washings) the prevalent sequence of washing (face, hands, head and feet) is defended ,,being the most natural", as the author puts it. The eyes behold and inform the heart, which in its turn alarms the brain, where the deliberation takes place. The face has a kind of natural prefrence over other parts of the body. The feelings are expressed by the face and then comes the turn of the hands to carry out the orders of the brain. The washing of the feet in the end is not to belittle their importance.

The author very often refers to medical findings as well as to general human experience. Why, for example, a cloth should be washed thoroughly if it is wetted by the urine of a girl, but may be cleaned locally, when wetted by the urine of a boy? The reason, he thinks, lies in the difference of the composition of urine of the male and the female infants¹⁰. Why women have been ordained to substitute the fast of the Ramadan, if it falls during their menstruation period, but the substitution of the daily prayers has been waived? The reason, he states, is that the Ramadan commences only once in a year and moreover the substitution of a limited number of fasts does not constitute any particular burden. The prayers are performed daily and could therefore be foregone¹¹. Why the mourning period has been limited for women to three days in the case of the death of their parents, but has been extended to four months and ten days in the case of their spouses? As a general rule, said the author, Islam abhors the observation of extended mourning periods. But in the case of the death of a husband, it is important to wait for the prescribed period to ascentain, whether or not the woman was pragnant of her deceased spouse. Only after this period she may remarry¹².

These and a host of other questions - same times they are pertinent and at times of marginal value - are raised in the book. The answers are at times convincing, even accarding to our todays' standards. But occasionally the reader is left wondering about the logic of the argumentation. In the chapter of azan (call for prayer) the author discusses the reason for calling azan in the ears of the newly born baby. After recounting three reasons: a) the first voice leaves a permanant impression on the mind of the infant; b) the call for prayer belongs to the distinctive features of Islam, therefore the child of a Muslim must be acquainted with it right from birth; c) the Satan has a horror of the azan and alongwith him also the Jinnis ran away, he surprisingly also mentions that the infant is immunized through azan against infant mortality¹³. Unconvincing is likewise his discussion about zakat (wealth tax) on camels, which is lavied already on five camels, whereas any number of horses, asses and mules are exempted from it. He argues that they are develish animals and the act of paying zakat purifies them. Horses and other beasts of burden are utilized for jihad (war) and are dedicated to the cause of God. Therefore they are exempted from zakat¹⁴.

The second volume of Asrar-i Shari’t consists on: a) kitab al-saum (The book of fasting), b) kitab al-hajj (The book of pilgramage), c) kitab al-nikah (The book of matrimony), d) kitab al-riqq (The book of slavery), e) kitab al-buyu’ (The book of trading,), f) kitab at-akl wa'l-shurb (The book of eating and drinking), g) kitab al-janayat wa'1-hudud (The book of personal code), h) kitab al-fara’id (The book of inheritance, i) kitab falsfat al-islam (The book of the philosophy of Islam).

In this volume there is one interesting ijtihad of the author, to which special attention must be drawn. lt in about dispensation from fasting for people living on the poles, where the days and nights extend up to six rnonths. The author notes that the Muslims have been ordained to observe the fasting month, when they are witness to the month of Ramadan. On the poles the situation is abnormal, as the year is divided into a day and a night, both extending to six months each. In such a case a Muslim can neither observe the five daily prayers, as they are tied to different stages of the sun in a day, nor can there be any fasting, which also needs shorter division of days and nights, as well as the division of the year into months. Where there is no month of Ramadan, there can be no fasting either¹⁵. This argumentation in a bit strange in the presence of time measuring devices, which are being very well utilized on both poles for every day life. Also months are counted there in the same manner, as anywhere else in the world.

The third volume is entirely devoted to dogmatic theology. Therefore, this volume is methodologically completely different. In this part, for example, questions pertaining to revelation are discussed and whether or not God still addresses unto human beings. After giving a long discourse about divine revelation, the author concludes that God still blesses human beings with divine revelations. Inevitably the next question was, whether or not the prophethood had come to an end with Prophet Muhammad, whom the Qur'an had addressed as the last of the prophets (khatam al-nabiyyin). The author thinks that Islam was the culmination of divine law and Prophet Muhammad was the last law-giving prophet, after whom there was no place for a new prophet and a new divine law¹⁷.Then he goes on to discuss the nature of the angels and whether or not it was God's design to misguide the humanity by creating the Satan¹⁸. Very interessting are his discourses about the nature of the Jinnis and the mystery of Dajjal¹⁹. The author is perhaps at his best when he ventures to answer questions pertaining to death, the bridge sirat, which everybody must cross to reach his/her ultimate destination, heaven or hell²⁰. And finally the day of judgement is devoted a lenghty discourse ²¹.

On the whole Asrar-i Shari’at is an interessting book both theologically as well as historically. Its theological importance lies in its bold attempt to interpret Islamic teachings from rationalistic view-point in a period of the Muslim history, when Islam seemed to be on the defensive on the Indian Subcontinent.

A new edition of this interesting book is under production and hopefully will be available by 2003. Readers interested in acquring a copy of the new edition of Asrar-i Shari’at may kindly contact me by sending me an e-mail. They might also like to read my paper “Maulavi Muhammad Fadl: A forgotten Indian Muslim author” which is being added to this Web site.

Footnotes:

1) Asrar-i Shari’at. Changa Bangial. 1913. 2nd ed. Part I. pp. 9-10.
2) Ibid. Part I. p. 250.
3) Ibid. Part I. pp. 101-102.
4) Ibid. Part II. pp. 5-6.
5) Ibid. Part III. pp. 186-193.
6) Ibid. Part III. pp. 265-267.
7) Ibid. Part III. pp. 261-264.
8) Ibid. Part I. pp. 244-249.
9) Ibid. Part I. pp. 32-36.
10) Ibid. Part I. pp. 77-78.
11) Ibid. Part I. pp. 217.218.
12) Ibid. Part I. p. 255.
13) Ibid. Part I. pp. 144-145.
14) Ibid. Part I. pp. 298-299; 302-303.
15) Ibid. Part II. pp. 43-44.
16) Ibid. Part III. pp. 73-87.
17) Ibid. Part III. pp. 87-98.
18) Ibid. Part III. pp. 111.121.
19) Ibid. Part III. pp. 127-129.
20) Ibid. Part III. pp. 396 ff.; 430.
21) Ibid. Part III. pp. 419 ff.
 

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