Friday, December 1, 2006

Role of Fatwa in India’s First War of Independence

Fatwa today is increasingly being seen with negative connotations. However, there was a time when fatwas were issued in public interest with an aim at nation building. Most ironically, role of fatwa can be traced even in India’s first war of Independence of 1857.
It was a fatwa issued by the chief cleric of Awadh, Mujtahid Sayyad Muhammad Nasirabadi of the famous Khandan-e-Ijtihaad along with a similar fatwa by the senior most Ulema from Firangi Mahal that armed Nawab Wajid Ali Shah with the power to confront Maulvi Ameer Ali, hell-bent on building a mosque in between the Hanumangarhi complex of Hindu temples at Ayodhya.
Not only this, Begum Hazrat Mahal sought the silent nod of the same cleric, Mujtahid Sayyad Muhammad Nasirabadi, before unleashing her sword against the British. Wajid Ali Shah’s popularity and the feeling that he was wronged by the British were still afresh. This brought all the Muslims together with the Hindus and they waged the fiercest of all wars, whose remnants can still be seen in the ruins of Residency in Lucknow.

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