Fazl-e-Haq Khairabadi

2022-06-01T09:14:43Z

103.52.135.63:

{{Short description|Indian independence movement activist, jurist, theologian, philosopher and poet (1796–1861)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2018}}
{{Use Indian English|date=May 2016}}
{{Infobox religious biography|religion= Islam
| name = Fazl-e-Haq Khairabadi
| birth_date = 1796 or 1797
| death_date = {{death date and age |df=y|1861|08|19|1796}}
| death_place = [[Andaman Islands]], [[British India]]
| birth_place = [[Khairabad, Sitapur|Khairabad]], [[Awadh State|Awadh]]
| occupation = Poet, scholar, jurist
| notable_works = ''Sawratul Hindia''
}}
'''Fazl-e-Haq Khairabadi''' (1796/1797 – 19 August 1861) was a [[Hanafi]] [[jurist]], rationalist scholar, [[Maturidi]] [[theologian]], philosopher and poet. He was an activist of the [[Indian independence movement]] and campaigned against British occupation. He issued an early religious edict in favour of doing military [[jihad]] against British colonialism during 1857 and inspired various others to participate in the [[1857 rebellion]]. He wrote ''Taḥqīqulfatvá fī ibt̤āl al-t̤ug̲h̲vá'' in refutation of [[Shah Ismail Dehlvi| Ismail Dehlvi]]'s ''Taqwiyat al-Imān'' and authored books such as ''al-S̲aurah al-Hindiyah''.

==Life==
Fazl-e-Haq was born into a family of Indian Muslims. He was born in 1796 or 1797 in [[Khairabad, Sitapur]].{{#tag:ref|His birth year is given as 1796 by the [[Indian History Congress]], but as 1797 by different sources including [[Asir Adrawi]].<ref name="asir"/>|group="a"}}<ref name="asir"/><ref name="Fazle Haq of Khairabad">{{Cite journal|last=HUSAIN|first=IQBAL|date=1987|title=Fazle Haq of Khairabad—A Scholarly Rebel of 1857|journal=Proceedings of the Indian History Congress|volume=48|pages=355–365|jstor=44141709|issn=2249-1937}}</ref> His father was ''sadr-ul-sadur,'' the chief advisor to the Mughals regarding religious matters. He became a teacher by the age of 13. In 1828, he was appointed to the position of [[mufti]] in the Department of Qaza.<ref name="Fazle Haq of Khairabad" />

Besides being a scholar of Islamic studies and theology, he was also a [[literary persona]], especially of Urdu, Arabic and Persian literature. More than 4,00 couplets in Arabic are attributed to him. He edited the first ''[[Diwan (poetry)|diwan]]'' of [[Mirza Ghalib]] on his request.{{citation needed|date=June 2021}} He followed the [[Hanafi]] school of thought and was a theologian of the [[Maturidi]] school. He was also a poet.<ref>{{cite book|last=Khairabadi|first=Fazl-e-Haq|title=Al-Rawdh al-Mucawwad|publisher=Mufeed Al Islam|pages=3}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Khan|first=Siddiq Hasan|title=Abjad Al-Ulum|date=2002|publisher=Dar Ibn Hazm|pages=714}}</ref>

He had a phenomenal memory and memorized the Qur'an in a little over four months. He has also completed the curriculum in Arabic, Persian and religious studies by the age of thirteen.{{citation needed|date=June 2021}}

On account of his deep knowledge and erudition, he was called "[[Allamah|Allama]]" and later was venerated as a great [[Sufi]]. He was also bestowed with the title imam hikmat and kalaam (The imam of logic, philosophy and literature). He was considered by scholars, the final authority on issuing fatwas or religious rulings.<ref name="Sehgal2001">{{cite book|author=Anil Sehgal|title=Ali Sardar Jafri|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kl08TgBBxHIC&pg=PA213|year=2001|publisher=Bharatiya Jnanpith|isbn=978-81-263-0671-8|pages=213–}}</ref>

He possessed a great presence of mind and was very witty. There are many stories about his repartee with Mirza Ghalib and other contemporary eminent poets, writers and intellectuals. He and his son Abdul al-Haq Khairabadi established Madrasa Khairabad in northern India, where many scholars got educated. He wrote ''Risala-e-Sauratul Hindia'' in Arabic language and wrote an account of the rebellion called ''As-Saurat al Hindiya''.<ref name="Fazle Haq of Khairabad" />

===Fatwas against Wahhabi/ Deobandi theories===
Khairabadi, in his career, had written various [[Masnavi|Masnavis]] against Wahhabis.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Mujeeb.|first=Ashraf|url=http://worldcat.org/oclc/1203516311|title=Muslim attitudes towards British rule and Western culture in India : in the first half of the nineteenth century|date=1982|publisher=Idarah-i Adabiyat-i Delli|oclc=1203516311}}</ref> In 1825, Khairabadi issued ''fatwas'' against [[Shah Ismail Dehlvi|Ismail Dehlvi]] for his doctrine of God's alleged ability to lie (Imkan-e-Kizb).<ref>{{Cite book|last=Khair Abadi|first=Fazl e Haq|title=''Taḥqīqulfatvá fī ibt̤āl al-t̤ug̲h̲vá''|publisher=[['Abd al-Haqq al-Dehlawi| Shah Abd al-Haqq Muhaddith e -Dehlawi]] Academy|year=1825}} </ref> Ismail is considered as an intellectual ancestor of Deobandis.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Jamal|first=Malik|url=http://worldcat.org/oclc/759884386|title=Madrasas in South Asia : teaching terror?|date=2008|publisher=Routhledge|isbn=978-0-415-44247-3|oclc=759884386}}</ref> Darul Uloom Deoband, founder [[Rashid Ahmad Gangohi]] later accepted Dehlvi's doctrines of Imkan e kizb by stating that God has the ability to lie.<ref name="rag">{{citation |url=https://www.academia.edu/282790 |title=Suﬁs, Scholars and Scapegoats: Rashid Ahmad Gangohi(d. 1905) and the Deobandi Critique of Suﬁsm |first1=Brannon D. |last1=Ingram |journal=The Muslim World |volume=99 |issue=3 |publisher=Blackwell Publishing |page=484}}</ref> This doctrine is called ''Imkan-i Kizb''.<ref name="kizb"/><ref name="rag"/> According to this doctrine, because God is omnipotent, God is capable of lying.<ref name="kizb">{{citation|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GOVvDwAAQBAJ&q=Imkan-i+Kizb|title=Revival from Below: The Deoband Movement and Global Islam|pages=7, 64, 100, 241|first1=Brannon D. |last1=Ingram|publisher=University of California Press|isbn=9780520298002|date=21 November 2018}}</ref> Gangohi supported the doctrine that God has the ability to make additional prophets after Muhammad (''Imkan-i Nazir'') and other prophets equal to Muhammad.<ref name="kizb"/><ref name="rag"/>

Allama Fazle Haq Khairabadi refuted these theories and wrote that, according to the [[Qur’an]] and [[Hadith]], the prophet Muhammad is the final prophet, and there can be no other prophet or "messenger" after him. To believe that there can be another Muhammad would necessitate that Allah did something apart from what he has stated in the Qur’an, that is, that Allah has lied. Lying is a flaw and it is impossible for Allah to have a flaw.<ref name="Iyer2012"/> This reflects his deep insight into the political, social and religious environment which was emerging with the growing influence of Englishmen and at last capture of Delhi by them.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://sufinama.org/ebooks/qaed-e-inqilab-allama-fazl-e-haq-khairabadi-yaseen-akhtar-misbahi-ebooks|title=Qaed-e-Inqilab Allama Fazl-e-Haq Khairabadi|website=Sufinama}}</ref>

===Jihad against British governance===
As the Indians started to struggle against British occupation, Khairabadi conducted several private meetings with the Mughal emperor [[Bahadur Shah Zafar]], which continued until May 1857. On June 26th, 1857, when General Bakht Khan along with his army of 14000, reached Delhi from Bareilly, Khairabadi gave a [[Friday sermon]], attended by a plethora of Muslim scholars and issued a religious edict supporting [[jihad]] against the colonial government. The [[fatwa]] was signed by Sadruddin Aazurda, Abdul Qadir, Faizullah Dehelvi, Faiz Ahmed Badayuni, Wazir Khan, and Syed Mubarak Shah Rampuri. Through this edict, he inspired people to participate in [[1857 rebellion]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.dnaindia.com/analysis/column-andaman-s-cellular-jail-holds-lessons-for-the-current-indian-polity-2430535|title=Andaman's Cellular jail holds lessons for the current Indian polity|first=Jawhar|last=Sircar|date=8 May 2017|website=DNA India}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://www.google.co.in/books/edition/Ali_Sardar_Jafri/kl08TgBBxHIC?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PA213&printsec=frontcover|isbn = 9788126306718|title = Ali Sardar Jafri|year = 2001|publisher = Bharatiya Jnanpith}}</ref> Subsequently, the Britishers deployed an army of some 90,000 around Delhi to protect its interests and to curb spread of [[jihad]], following the issuance of Khairabadi's edict.<ref name="auto">{{Cite web|url=https://nation.com.pk/23-Jan-2021/allama-fazle-haq-khairabadi-the-scholarly-rebel-of-1857|title=Allama Fazle Haq Khairabadi – the scholarly rebel of 1857|date=23 January 2021|website=The Nation}}</ref><ref name="auto2">{{Cite web|url=https://www.jagran.com/uttar-pradesh/lucknow-city-independence-day-special-maulana-fazle-haq-khairabadi-contribution-of-freedom-fight-19488148.html|title=Independence Day Special: अल्लामा फजले हक को फातवा देने पर मिली थी काला पानी की सजा Lucknow News|website=Dainik Jagran}}</ref> Later, he was sent into exile to [[Cellular Jail|Kalapani]] jail in the [[Andaman and Nicobar Islands]].<ref>{{cite news |title=Seminar on Allama Fazle Haq Khairabadi held in Bhiwandi |url=http://twocircles.net/2012feb01/seminar_allamafazlehaqkhairabadi_held_bhiwandi.html |access-date=14 July 2020 |work=TwoCircles.net |date=1 February 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |first1=Ali |last1= Sher |title=The role of muslims in the pre independence politics in India: a historical study |date=5 November 2014 |publisher=Faculty of Fine Arts, Shri Jagdishprasad Jhabarmal Tibarewala University |location=Jhunjhunu, Rajasthan |page=125 |url=https://shodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in/bitstream/10603/27559/9/09_chapter%204.pdf |access-date=14 July 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |journal=The American Journal of Islamic Social Sciences |date=2008 |volume=25 |issue=1–3 |page=150 |title= The Role of Popular Muslim Movements|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=R9QMAQAAMAAJ&q=Khairabadi |access-date=14 July 2020 |publisher=Jointly published by the Association of Muslim Social Scientists; International Institute of Islamic Thought |location=Indiana University |language=en}}</ref><ref name="Iyer2012">{{cite book|author=Vivek Iyer|title=Ghalib, Gandhi and the Gita|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PLO8mq8aSBkC&pg=PA43|year=2012|publisher=Polyglot Publications London|isbn=978-0-9550628-3-4|pages=43–}}</ref>

He was arrested by the British authorities on January 30th, 1859 at [[Khairabad, Sitapur|Khairabad]] for inciting violence.<ref name="Anderson">Anderson, C (2007) The Indian Uprising of 1857–8: prisons, prisoners, and 'Jihad', Anthem Press, London P17</ref> He was tried and found guilty of encouraging murder and role in the 'jihad'.<ref name="Anderson" /> The authorities considered him "extraordinary intelligence and acumen who should be reckoned as the most dangerous threat to the British presence in India, and therefore must be evicted from the Indian main soil. He was accused of being the major force behind the mutiny, persuading masses to rise in revolt against the authority of the Company, campaigning and motivating masses to join the mutiny by calling it war of independence and Issuing Fatwas, inciting violence and making instigating speeches.<ref name="auto"/><ref name="auto2"/>

He had chosen to be his own counsel and defended himself utilising arguments and a manner in which he defended his case that was so convincing that the presiding magistrate was writing a judgement to exonerate him, when he confessed to giving the fatwa, declaring that he could not lie. He was sentenced to life in prison in [[Cellular Jail|Kalapani]] ([[Cellular Jail]]) on Andaman Island, and his property was confiscated by the judicial commissioner of [[Awadh]] court. He reached Andaman Island on October 8th, 1859 aboard the steam frigate "Fire Queen". He would remain imprisoned there until his death in 1861.
One of the major reason for the outbreak of war was the fear among the people that the Christian British government was going to destroy their religion and convert Indians to Christianity.<ref name="auto"/>

==Literary works==
Khairabadi wrote ''Taḥqīqulfatvá fī ibt̤āl al-t̤ug̲h̲vá'' refuting [[Shah Ismail Dehlvi|Ismail Dehlvi]]'s ''Taqwiyat al-Imān''.<ref name="wc">{{cite web |title=Faz̤l Ḥaq K̲h̲airābādī 1797-1861 |url=https://www.worldcat.org/identities/lccn-no00039238/ |publisher=[[WorldCat]] |access-date=31 August 2021}}</ref> His other works include:<ref name="wc"/>
* ''al-H̲adiyat al-saʻīdīya''
* ''Alroẓ al-majūd : masʼlah-yi vaḥdat al-vajūd kī buland pāyah tak̲h̲līq''
* ''al-Ḥāshiyah lil-Mawlawī Faḍlḥaq al-Khayrābādī ʻalá Sharḥ al-Sallam lil-Qāḍī Mubārak''
* ''al-S̲aurah al-Hindiyah''

==Personal life==
He was [[Farooqui]]. His father was Imam Fazl-e-Iman. One of his sons, Abdul Haque, was also a leading and respected scholar and was given the title of Shamsul Ulema. His grandson was [[Muztar Khairabadi]]. Renowned poet and lyricist[[Jan Nisar Akhtar]] was his great-grandson and [[Javed Akhtar]], [[Farhan Akhtar]] and [[Zoya Akhtar]] all are his descendants.<ref name="auto1">{{Cite web|url=https://www.hindustantimes.com/bollywood/farhan-akhtar-wants-to-trace-his-roots-back-to-uttar-pradesh/story-Dkcj9w6Etq9FSo3VWsc4dO.html|title=Farhan Akhtar wants to trace his roots, back to Uttar Pradesh|date=10 January 2017|website=Hindustan Times}}</ref>

Among his sons, Abdul Haq Khairabadi was a rational scholar and a teacher of [[Majid Ali Jaunpuri]].<ref name="MahbubRizwi">{{cite book |title=Tarikh Darul Uloom Deoband|trans-title=History of The Dar al-Ulum (Volume 2)|author=Syed Mehboob Rizwi|author-link=Syed Mehboob Rizwi|translator = Murtaz Husain F Quraishi |publisher=Idara-e-Ehtemam, Dar al-Ulum Deoband |page=55}}</ref><ref name="asiradrawi">{{Cite book|title=Tazkirah Mashāhīr-e-Hind: Karwān-e-Rafta|author=Asir Adrawi|author-link=Asir Adrawi|chapter=Mawlāna Abdul Haq Khairabadi|pages= 157|location=[[Deoband]]|publisher= Darul Moallifeen |language=ur |edition = 2 April 2016}}</ref>

==Death==
He stayed for 22 months in captivity at Andaman, Allama wrote a number of eyewitness accounts in the form of verses in Arabic (Qaseeda), apart from a book Alsoorat-ul- Hindia which is a critical analysis of the war and events of 1857. This is also the first ever book on the events of 1857.<ref name="auto"/>
Fazl-e-Haq Khairabadi died on August 19th, 1861 in exile on the [[Andaman Islands]].<ref name="asir">{{Cite book|title=Tazkirah Mashāhīr-e-Hind: Karwān-e-Rafta|author=[[Asir Adrawi]]|chapter=Mawlāna Fazl-e-Haq Khairabadi|pages= 210–211|location=[[Deoband]]|publisher= Darul Moallifeen |language=Urdu |edition = 2nd |date= April 2016}}</ref>

==Notes==
{{reflist|group="a"}}

==See also==
*[[Islam in India]]
*[[Shah Abdur Rahim]]
*[[Shah Waliullah Dehlawi]]
*[[Muntakhib al-Haqq]]
*[[Ahmadullah Shah]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
* {{cite journal|last1=Bates|first1=Crispin|last2=Carter|first2=Marina|title=Religion and Retribution in the Indian Rebellion of 1857|journal=Leidschrif. Empire and Resistance. Religious Beliefs Versus the Ruling Power|volume=24|number=1|year=2009|pages=51–68}}
* {{cite journal|last=Malik|first=Jamal|title=Letters, prison sketches and autobiographical literature: The case of Fadl-e Haqq Khairabadi in the Andaman Penal Colony|journal=Indian Economic and Social History Review|year=2006|volume=43|number=77|doi=10.1177/001946460504300104|s2cid=145540286}}
{{Hanafi scholars}}
{{Maturidi}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Khariabadi, Fazl-E-Haq}}
[[Category:19th-century Muslim scholars of Islam]]
[[Category:Indian Sufi religious leaders]]
[[Category:Sunni Sufis]]
[[Category:Indian Sufis]]
[[Category:1797 births]]
[[Category:1861 deaths]]
[[Category:Indian people who died in prison custody]]
[[Category:Prisoners and detainees of British India]]
[[Category:Revolutionaries of the Indian Rebellion of 1857]]
[[Category:19th-century Indian judges]]
[[Category:Indian independence activists from Uttar Pradesh]]
[[Category:Indian Sunni Muslim scholars of Islam]]
[[Category:Hanafis]]
[[Category:Maturidis]]
[[Category:People from Sitapur district]]

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Fazl-e-Haq Khairabadi