Birth
Shah Waliyullah was born in 1703 AC four years before the death of Aurangazeb. His grandfather, Sheikh Wajihuddin, was an important officer in the army of Shah Jahan who supported Prince Aurangazeb in the war of succession. His father, Shah Abdur Rahim, a Sufi and an eminent scholar assisted in the compilation of Fatwa-i-Alamgiri -the voluminous code of Islamic law.
Education
Shah Waliyullah received his early education from his illustrious father, who was his teacher as well as his spiritual guide. Being a precocious child with a retentive memory he committed the Holy Quran to memory at an early age of 7 years. On the death of his father in I 13 I A.H. when he was hardly 17 years old he started teaching in his father’s Madrassa Rahimiya and carried on the work for I 2 years when he left for Arabia for higher studies. He was a brilliant scholar; during fourteen months’ stay in Makkah and Madina he came into contact with the outstanding teachers al Hijaz. His favorite teacher was Sheikh Abu Tahir bin Ibrahim of Madina, from whom he obtained his Sanad (Degree) in Hadith (Tradition). The Sheikh was an erudite scholar, possessing encyclopedic knowledge. Shah Waliyullah benefited much from him too and speaks highly of his piety, independence of Judgment and scholarly talents.
Stay at Makkah
During his stay at Makkah, Shah Waliyullah had a dream in which the Holy Prophet commanded him to work for the organization and emancipation of the Muslim community in the subcontinent. He, therefore, returned to Delhi on July 9, 1732 and started his work in real earnest. His was an uphill task in a period when Muslim India was passing through the most critical phase of its history and its entire social, political, economic and spiritual fabric was torn to pieces. On his arrival in Delhi, he started training pupils in diverse branches of Islamic learning and entrusted them with the missionary work of enlightening people with the true nature of Islam. He embarked upon the task of producing standard works on Islamic learning and, before his death in 1762, completed a large number of outstanding works on Islam.
He rose to be a great scholar of Islamic studies, endowed with saintly qualities. So great was his dedication to work that, according to his talented son Shah Abdul Azeez, “he was rarely ill and once he sat down to work after ‘ishraq’ (post-sunrise prayers) he would not change his posture, till midday”. He was a real genius, an intellectual giant who set himself to the mission of educating the misguided Muslim masses with the true spirit of Islam.
posted Oct 19, 2007
