Life and times of Maulana Mohammad Ali, Shaukat Ali
January 05, 2013
In the chequered history of South Asia the last two centuries, nineteenth and twentieth, have been more eventful than any other period. This segment for instance, witnessed the violent collapse of the great Mughal Empire and its unpopular replacement by the rising British Raj.
Most importantly the above-mentioned period of history watched the unprecedented growth of colonialism and later on the widespread Afro-Asian struggle to liberate their homelands from the clutches of foreign rule.
Maulana Mohammad Ali and his courageous brother Shaukat Ali lived and worked in the last quarter of nineteenth and first three decades of the twentieth centuries. Mission of their lives were to win freedom from British rule.
For all practical purpose, the politics of first quarter of twentieth century in India belonged to Mohammad Ali. He, supported by his brother, literally shaped the history of India in the above-mentioned period. More than that, he awakened the Muslim community to the need of the hour, and successfully dispelled the fear of British power from the Muslim mind.
Regrettably not much has been written about the teamwork of Ali brothers. Whatever is available on the subject leaves much to be desired. In this dismal situation, Khalid Ali’s book ‘Ali Brothers’, should be welcomed by all students of Indo-Pak history. Spread over more than nine hundred pages, it covers everything pertaining to the religious, political and bleak educational life of the Muslims of India. Author of the book is grandson of both Shaukat and Mohammed Ali. He has gone to the same university (Aligarh Muslim University), which his grandfathers did and like them he participated in the freedom struggle of the Indian Muslims.
From a distance, Mohammad Ali’s political activities appear to be contradictory but examined from a close quarter, as Khalid has shown, Mohammad Ali remains logical and had the courage enough to speak out the truth. For instance in the early period he stood with the Indian National Congress but at the same time he supported the proceedings and outcome of the Simla deputation.
Mohammad Ali, as the book shows, operated in several fields i.e. religion, struggle for independence, nationalist but champion of Muslim minority rights, education, and Turkish wars of liberation. It is surprising to note that how ably he had handled the contradiction in his commitments.
At one point, discussing his thesis on national unity Mohammad Ali said, “The division was not provincial or territorial but denominational. A working unity between the Hindus and Muslims is both desirable and possible. But it could not be achieved by dismissing Muslim grievances and pursuing Hindu interests under the garb of Indian nationalism.”
For many in South Asia, Maulana is identified with Khilafat Movement. His work on Hindu-Muslim unity and other related areas such as fight for freedom, reviving the political consciousness of the Muslim community goes unnoticed. Raising voice from the international platform and asking for justice to Turkey after the world War-I.
In the contemporary times Muslim modernists try to ridicule the conservative forces of Khilafat era by dubbing them as rightwing reactionary. It is not properly understood or realized that Khilafat movement was simply a protest against the British imperialism. More than that it was an attempt to mobilise the Muslim community for the ultimate fight against forces of exploitation, be at home or abroad. Those who believe that Mohammad Ali was nothing beyond Khilafat are totally mislead. They need to revise their history lesson. In any event Khalid Ali has discussed the question threadbare and no room is left for the distortion of the history.
As noted earlier, Khalid Ali’s book has superbly filled the gaps in the writings on Mohammad Ali besides providing readers many fresh discoveries about the life and work of the Muslim leader.
Another trend visible in the writings on Ali Brothers is the allegation that instead of devoting his energy on the revival of Khilafat, an unreal pursuit, they should have worked for hastening the departure of British from India. True for sometime Mohammad Ali’s activities were dominated by the Khilafat question, but at no time did he ignore the interest of Indian Muslims. This is abundantly made clear in Khalid’s book.
The chapter of the book on “Delhi proposals to Nehru report,” amply demonstrates the fact that Ali was as much a freedom fighter as anyone could be. But he was also concerned about Hindu-Muslim unity. In his view the unity of the two largest communities was also a prerequisite for the freedom of India. His words proved true when they were uttered, and continued to be true during climax of the struggle for independence.
In his last public speech made at the roundtable conference in London, Maulana Mohammad Ali said, “The one purpose for which I came is this that I want to go back with the substance of freedom in my hand. Otherwise, I will not go back to a slave country. I would even prefer to die in a foreign country so long as it is a free country, and if you do not give us freedom in India, you will have to give me a greave here.”
These were no empty words. The 52-year-old patriot died a month and a half later in London. Mohammad Ali’s heroic struggle made a deep impact in India. Arthur Moore, the editor of the Statesman, called it “a supreme finish of a good life.”
— Hamid Alvi
Most importantly the above-mentioned period of history watched the unprecedented growth of colonialism and later on the widespread Afro-Asian struggle to liberate their homelands from the clutches of foreign rule.
Maulana Mohammad Ali and his courageous brother Shaukat Ali lived and worked in the last quarter of nineteenth and first three decades of the twentieth centuries. Mission of their lives were to win freedom from British rule.
For all practical purpose, the politics of first quarter of twentieth century in India belonged to Mohammad Ali. He, supported by his brother, literally shaped the history of India in the above-mentioned period. More than that, he awakened the Muslim community to the need of the hour, and successfully dispelled the fear of British power from the Muslim mind.
Regrettably not much has been written about the teamwork of Ali brothers. Whatever is available on the subject leaves much to be desired. In this dismal situation, Khalid Ali’s book ‘Ali Brothers’, should be welcomed by all students of Indo-Pak history. Spread over more than nine hundred pages, it covers everything pertaining to the religious, political and bleak educational life of the Muslims of India. Author of the book is grandson of both Shaukat and Mohammed Ali. He has gone to the same university (Aligarh Muslim University), which his grandfathers did and like them he participated in the freedom struggle of the Indian Muslims.
From a distance, Mohammad Ali’s political activities appear to be contradictory but examined from a close quarter, as Khalid has shown, Mohammad Ali remains logical and had the courage enough to speak out the truth. For instance in the early period he stood with the Indian National Congress but at the same time he supported the proceedings and outcome of the Simla deputation.
Mohammad Ali, as the book shows, operated in several fields i.e. religion, struggle for independence, nationalist but champion of Muslim minority rights, education, and Turkish wars of liberation. It is surprising to note that how ably he had handled the contradiction in his commitments.
At one point, discussing his thesis on national unity Mohammad Ali said, “The division was not provincial or territorial but denominational. A working unity between the Hindus and Muslims is both desirable and possible. But it could not be achieved by dismissing Muslim grievances and pursuing Hindu interests under the garb of Indian nationalism.”
For many in South Asia, Maulana is identified with Khilafat Movement. His work on Hindu-Muslim unity and other related areas such as fight for freedom, reviving the political consciousness of the Muslim community goes unnoticed. Raising voice from the international platform and asking for justice to Turkey after the world War-I.
In the contemporary times Muslim modernists try to ridicule the conservative forces of Khilafat era by dubbing them as rightwing reactionary. It is not properly understood or realized that Khilafat movement was simply a protest against the British imperialism. More than that it was an attempt to mobilise the Muslim community for the ultimate fight against forces of exploitation, be at home or abroad. Those who believe that Mohammad Ali was nothing beyond Khilafat are totally mislead. They need to revise their history lesson. In any event Khalid Ali has discussed the question threadbare and no room is left for the distortion of the history.
As noted earlier, Khalid Ali’s book has superbly filled the gaps in the writings on Mohammad Ali besides providing readers many fresh discoveries about the life and work of the Muslim leader.
Another trend visible in the writings on Ali Brothers is the allegation that instead of devoting his energy on the revival of Khilafat, an unreal pursuit, they should have worked for hastening the departure of British from India. True for sometime Mohammad Ali’s activities were dominated by the Khilafat question, but at no time did he ignore the interest of Indian Muslims. This is abundantly made clear in Khalid’s book.
The chapter of the book on “Delhi proposals to Nehru report,” amply demonstrates the fact that Ali was as much a freedom fighter as anyone could be. But he was also concerned about Hindu-Muslim unity. In his view the unity of the two largest communities was also a prerequisite for the freedom of India. His words proved true when they were uttered, and continued to be true during climax of the struggle for independence.
In his last public speech made at the roundtable conference in London, Maulana Mohammad Ali said, “The one purpose for which I came is this that I want to go back with the substance of freedom in my hand. Otherwise, I will not go back to a slave country. I would even prefer to die in a foreign country so long as it is a free country, and if you do not give us freedom in India, you will have to give me a greave here.”
These were no empty words. The 52-year-old patriot died a month and a half later in London. Mohammad Ali’s heroic struggle made a deep impact in India. Arthur Moore, the editor of the Statesman, called it “a supreme finish of a good life.”
— Hamid Alvi
