Literature
Indo-Muslim scholarship made significant contributions to both religious and secular literature. The religious literature is broadly divided into Qur’anic (pertaining to the Qur’an, exegesis, syntax and so on), hadith (collections of the sayings of the Prophet and principles of their critique),jiqh (jurisprudence), tasawwuf (mysticism) andi/m-i Kalam (scholasticism).
Shah Waliullah’s (d. 1762) translation of the Qur’an into Persian made it intellectually accessible to a large number of people. Qazi Thanaullah Panipati’s (d. 1810) Tafsir i Mazhari runs into several large volumes and is perhaps one of the most comprehensive works on exegesis produced in the sub-continent. In the light of the exigencies of the time, scholars adopted different approaches in their study of the Qur’an. Sir Syed (d. 1898), in his commentary, attempted to resolve the conflict between religion and science; Abul Kalam Azad’s (d. 1958) Tarjuman al-Qur’an is characterised by the subtle influence of humanistic and utilitarian trends in Western thought; and Abul Ala Mawdudi’s (d. 1979) Tafhim al-Qur’an endeavours to emphasise the indivisibility of religion and politics and in some ways attempts to meet the challenge of Marxist ideas.Shaykh Abdul Haq Muhaddith (d. 1642) and Shah Waliullah (d. 1762) made significant contributions to the study of hadith by incorporating various collections of Traditions of the Prophet in the syllabus of the time. Shaykh Abdul Haq concentrated mainly on the Mishkat and wrote commentaries on it in Arabic and Persian. Shah Waliullah selected Muwatta and also wrote commentaries on it in both the languages. During the last hundred years large numbers of works on the study of hadith have been produced in Urdu.
The two most productive periods for juristic literature in India were the fourteenth and seventeenth centuries. Firuz Shah Tughluq (1351-88) and Aurangzeb (d.
1707) were keenly interested in Islamic jurisprudence and as a result many scholars turned their attention to fiqh. During the time of Firuz Shah, the Fatawa-i Tatar Khaniyah was compiled; Aurangzeb himself supervised the compilation of Fatawa-i-Alamgiri. Both these works received recognition outside the sub-continent. It is surprising that in the juristic literature produced in the sub-continent there is almost total absence of any discussion of the position of the Hindus. The books take the non-Indian milieu into consideration but completely ignore the Indian situation.The sub-continent’s contribution in the sphere of mystic literature is next only to that of Iran. The art of compiling day-to-day conversations of mystic teachers was introduced in India during the time of Shaykh Nizamuddin Auliya (d. 1325) whose conversations, compiled under the rubric Fawaid al-Fuad, laid the foundation of malfuz literature in the sub-continent. In the centuries that followed, enormous malfuz literature was produced by the Chishti, Suhrawardi, Firdausi, Shattari, Qadiri and Naqsh- bandi saints. This literature gives us a glimpse into the problems of the common man. Under Maulana Ashraf Ali Thanvi (d. 1943) malfuz writing became an essential part of the khanqah routine. The earliest Persian work on mystic ideas and ideals was produced in India during the eleventh century by Shaykh AH Hajweri at Lahore. It is known as Kashf al-mahjub (Light for the eyes of the blind) and Shaykh Nizamuddin Auliya regarded it as the best guide for one who was without a teacher. The letters of Shaykh Ahmad Sirhindi (d. 1624), known as Maktubat-i Imam Rabbani, are a major contribution to the evolution of Islamic religious thought in India. These letters contain criticism of Ibn al-Arabi’s pantheistic philosophy and have been translated into Arabic and Turkish.
The Hujjatullah al Baligha of Shah Waliullah ranks pre-eminent in the scholastic literature produced in the sub-continent. It deals with the basic principles of faith and the fundamental laws of Shari1 a in the light of the spiritual, moral, biological and psychological needs of society and does not even ignore the economic background of human institutions.
The secular or non-religious literature produced by the Muslims in India covers poetry, history, epistolatory collections, stories, philosophical treatises, books on mathematics, medicine and the art of government. The earliest work on the art of warfare—Adah al harb wa shujaat—was written by Fakhr-i Mudabbir in Persian during the thirteenth century.Among the Persian poets who flourished in India and gained recognition outside the sub-continent as well were Amir Khusrau (d. 1325), Faizi (d. 1595), Urfi (d. 1590) and Bedil (d. 1720). Khusrau wrote a rejoinder to the famous Persian poet Nizami; Faizi’s qasidahs (panegyrics) raised him to a pre-eminent position; Urfi spoke about the dignity of man and his egocentric approach gave a new turn to panegyric writing in Mogul India. Abdul Qadir Bedil’s verses with their philosophic content and deep pathos became famous in the Persian-speaking lands. Asadullah Ghalib (1797-1869) gained a formidable reputation for his Persian and Urdu poetry and continues to be popular today.
The Indo-Muslim period was characterised by the production of an enormous historical literature. Ziyauddin Barani’s Tarikh-i Firuz Shahi, which contains an account of the Delhi Sultans from Balban to Firuz Shah Tughluq, is one of the most fascinating historical accounts of medieval society and culture. Abul Fazl (d. 1602) has supplied in his Akbar Namah and Ain-i Akbari interesting historical details and statistical data about the administrative measures of Akbar and the life of the court and the common man.
Anecdotal literature of the period is also varied and interesting. The Tuti namah and the Gulriz of Ziyauddin Nakhshabi are valuable. In the Tuti namah birds have been used as a medium for communicating ethical and didactic lessons.
As a result of interaction between the local population and Muslims, a new language, Urdu, grew up. Grammatically based on north Indian dialect, its vocabulary and metaphors are drawn from Persian. Muslim religious and literary activity found expression in the Urdu language. Urdu poetry—particularlyghazal—became a powerful vehicle for the expression of romantic ideas.
Indo-Muslim culture developed in harmony with local cultures and brought about a synthesis between Islamic and Indian traditions. The growth of regional languages in Bengal, Gujarat and the Deccan was helped by the efforts of the Muslim elite and mystics. Important
Arabic and Persian classics were rendered into regional languages, especially in Bengal and the Deccan.