Movement of Shah Waliullah
Shah Waliullah's name was Qutubuddin but due to his spiritual virtues he was called waliullah.he was born in a village near Delhi on 21st February 1703.His father,Shah Abdul Rahim was a well-known scholar and a religious leader.At the early age of 15.Shah Waliullah mastered the major branches of Islamic learning.He succeeded his father as the Shaikh of the Madrassah when he was just 17 years of old.
Soon after the death of Emperor Aurangzeb Alamgir in March 1707 a wave of religious and moral degradation swept the Muslims of the sub-continent.Shah Waliullah very minutely analyzed the factors for the downfall and concluded that it was due to the increasing influence of the non-Muslims.The Military strengthof the Muslims had collapsed and they were at the mercy of the tribal might at JATS and MARATHAS.Shah Waliullah realizedthat if Muslims did not abide by Islam,they would gradually lose their status.In these circumstances,he planned to revive islamic teachings and values in the sub-continent.
Shah Waliullah wrote letters to the then Mughal Emperor,the Nizam of Hyderabad Deccan,Rohila Sardar Hafizul Mulk and Najibuddula.he warned them about the declining state of the Muslim society in the sub-continent.He also wrote to the ruler of Afghanistan,Ahmed Shah Abdali to save the Muslims of India from the atrocities of Marathas.Thereupon,Ahmed Shah Abdali,in 1761,inflicted a crushing defeat on the Marathas at the Third battle of Panipat,from which the Marathas never recovered.
Shah Waliullah's meritorious work was the Persion translation of the Holy Qur'an.This helped the people in understanding the Holy Qur'an .Later,it was translated into Urdu by his sons and others.He also wrote books on Hadith,Islamic Jurisprudence (Fiqh) and Tafseer (Exegesis).the most popular among these in his work hujjat-ul-La-Hul-Baligha.the message of this work is that Islam is the universal religion.It guarantees progress and prosperity for the whole mankind Shah Waliullah died on 10th August 1762.His son and successor Shah Abdul Aziz continued his mission at Madrassah Rahimiya in Delhi.