Hindu–Muslim unity is a religiopolitical concept in theIndian subcontinent which stresses members of the two largest faith groups there,Hindus andMuslims, working together for the common good. The concept was championed by various persons, such as leaders in theIndian independence movement, namelyMahatma Gandhi andKhan Abdul Ghaffar Khan,[1] as well as by political parties and movements inBritish India, such as theIndian National Congress,Khudai Khidmatgar andAll India Azad Muslim Conference.[2] Those whoopposed the partition of India often adhered to the doctrine ofcomposite nationalism.[3]
In Mughal India, the emperorAkbar advocated for Hindu–Muslim unity, appointing both Hindus and Muslims as officials in his court.[4] Akbar participated and promoted festivals of both Hinduism and Islam.[5] He also created feasts, such asPhool Walon Ki Sair (although this festival is said to have been started much later in the nineteenth century underAkbar II) to be celebrated by citizens of all faiths.[6] During the Mughal era,Indian art and culture thrived, with the construction of grand monuments such as theTaj Mahal and theRed Fort. The Mughals fostered religious harmony and cultural advancements and nurtured Hindu scholars, poets, and artists, facilitating a dynamic cultural interchange that enriched both Islamic and Hindu traditions.[7]
Chhatrapati Shivaji also promoted Hindu–Muslim unity. MarathaHindavi Swarajya had many Muslims in high posts. Shivaji's personal security, his most trusted courtiers, were Muslims. A Muslim general had led the Maratha troops in thethird battle of Panipat and sacrificed for the cause.
Sayyid Jamal al-Din al-Afghani Asadabadi advocated for Hindu–Muslim unity, maintaining that it would help the Indian independence movement in their goal to establish an independent India.[8][9]
During the 17th to 19th centuries, India was ruled by theBritish, who introduced a policy ofdivide and rule to maintain their control over the country.[10][11] In theIndian Rebellion of 1857, many Hindus and Muslims of India mobilized together to fight against theEast India Company.[12] Reflecting on this in 2007,Manmohan Singh stated that these events "stood as a great testimony to the traditions of Hindu–Muslim unity that held out as an example for subsequent generations".[12]
TheLucknow Pact of 1916 was seen as an "important step forward in achieving Hindu–Muslim unity" during the era of theIndian independence movement.[13]Muhammad Ali Jinnah advocated Hindu–Muslim unity in early years of his political career.[14]Gopal Krishna Gokhale stated that Jinnah "has true stuff in him, and that freedom from all sectarian prejudice which will make him the best ambassador of Hindu–Muslim Unity".[15]
Ram Prasad Bismil andAshfaqulla Khan emphasized the importance of Hindu-Muslim unity for India's progress and independence. Bismil urged Indians to rise above religious and communal divisions, recognizing unity as the foundation for building a strong and free nation. His vision highlighted the need for collective harmony to achieve the common goal of liberation and prosperity for all communities. Hindu-Muslim unity and amity were last wishes ofKakori martyrs.[16][17]
Muslim scholars of theDeoband school of thought, such asQari Muhammad Tayyib andKifayatullah Dihlawi, championed Hindu–Muslim unity,composite nationalism, andcalled for a united India.[18]Maulana Sayyid Hussain Ahmad Madani, the leader of theJamiat Ulema-e-Hind, stated:[19]
Hindu-Muslim unity is a prerequisite for freedom of India. It is the religious and political duty of the Muslims that they should work for the freedom of India and continue this struggle until the Government accedes to their demand. It is their duty, which they must do with or without companions, it is the order of the Almighty. If non-Muslims extend to you the hand of friendship, you too must extend yours, for compromising for the right cause will establish you as true believers in Allah.[19]
Malik Khizar Hayat Tiwana, thePremier of Punjab in colonial India, advocated for amity between the religious communities of undivided India, proclaiming 1 March as Communal Harmony Day and aiding in the establishment of a Communal Harmony Committee in Lahore, in which Raja Narendra Nath served as president and Maulvi Mahomed Ilyas as secretary.[20]
In 1940,Maghfoor Ahmad Ajazi established theAll-India Jamhur Muslim League to support a united India and to counter theTwo nation theory. He served as the first General Secretary of the All India Jamhur Muslim League.[21]
Both Pakistani-American historianAyesha Jalal and Indian Army officer and politicianJaswant Singh have noted thatMuhammad Ali Jinnah did not want the partition of India and instead favored a united India. However, certain political factors, including the strategies ofJawaharlal Nehru, compelled him to accept partition. Jinnah used the demand for Pakistan as a "bargaining chip" to secure rights for Muslims in Hindu-dominated, British-ruled India, where Muslims feared oppression and felt a sense of marginalization (especially after the conflicts likeHindi-Urdu controversy, which occurred in 1867, just a decade after the1857 independence war, in which both Muslims and Hindus fought against the British colonialism). TheLahore Resolution, later referred to as the "Pakistan Resolution," did not explicitly demand a separate state, according to Jalal.[22][23] The term 'Pakistan Resolution' is used for the Lahore Resolution, mostly in Pakistani studies textbooks, which have taught that it was the resolution that passed the demand for Pakistan as a separate state. However, this is not entirely true.
In theIndian Rebellion of 1857, many Hindus and Muslims in India joined together as Indians to fight against theBritish East India Company.[24] The British introduced a system of separate electorates, which exacerbated the divide between the Hindu and Muslim communities.[25][26] The British government became concerned about this rise in Indian nationalism therefore; according to some writers, they tried to stir up communalistic feelings among Hindus and Muslims so that they might not again unite to try and overthrow crown rule.[24] For example,Theodore Beck, the principal ofMuhammadan Anglo-Oriental College, had toldSyed Ahmad Khan that Muslims should have no sympathy with the objectives of theIndian National Congress and that "Anglo-Muslim unity was possible, but Hindu–Muslim unity was impossible".[24]
The author ofComposite Nationalism and Islam,Hussain Ahmad Madani, a Deobandi Muslim scholar and proponent of a united India, argued that the British government were attempting to "scare Muslims into imagining that in a free India, Muslims would lose their separate identity, and be absorbed into the Hindu fold", a threat that "aim[ed] at depoliticizing the Muslims, weaning them away from struggle for independence."[24] In the eyes of Madani, support for atwo-nation theory resulted in the entrenchment of British imperialism.[24]
In the same vein, Kashmiri Indian politician and Supreme Court judgeMarkandey Katju wrote inThe Nation:[26]
Up to 1857, there were no communal problems in India; all communal riots and animosity began after 1857. No doubt even before 1857, there were differences between Hindus and Muslims, the Hindus going to temples and the Muslims going to mosques, but there was no animosity. In fact, the Hindus and Muslims used to help each other; Hindus used to participate in Eid celebrations, and Muslims in Holi and Diwali. The Muslim rulers like the Mughals, Nawab of Awadh and Murshidabad, Tipu Sultan, etc were totally secular; they organised Ramlilas, participated in Holi, Diwali, etc. Ghalib’s affectionate letters to his Hindu friends like Munshi Shiv Naraln Aram, Har Gopal Tofta, etc attest to the affection between Hindus and Muslims at that time. In 1857, the ‘Great Mutiny’ broke out in which the Hindus and Muslims jointly fought against the British. This shocked the British government so much that after suppressing the Mutiny, they decided to start the policy of divide and rule (see online “History in the Service of Imperialism” by B.N. Pande). All communal riots in India began after 1857, artificially engineered by the British authorities. The British collector would secretly call the Hindu Pandit, pay him money, and tell him to speak against Muslims, and similarly he would secretly call the Maulvi, pay him money, and tell him to speak against Hindus. This communal poison was injected into our body politic year after year and decade after decade.[26]
The Jamiya-i-ulama-Hind founded in 1919, strongly opposed partition in the 1940s and was committed to composite nationalism.
In Hyderabad 1880-81 Afḡānī published six Persian articles in the journal Moʿallem-e šafīq, which were reprinted in Urdu and Persian in various editions of Maqālāt-e Jamālīya. The three major themes of these articles are: 1. advocacy of linguistic or territorial nationalism, with an emphasis upon the unity of Indian Muslims and Hindus, not of Indian Muslims and foreign Muslims; 2. the benefits of philosophy and modern science; and 3. attacks on Sayyed Aḥmad Khan for being pro-British. On nationalism, he writes in "The Philosophy of National Unity and the Truth about Unity of Language" that linguistic ties are stronger and more durable than religious ones (he was to make exactly the opposite point in the pan-Islamic al-ʿOrwat al-woṯqā a few years later). In India he felt the best anti-imperialist policy was Hindu-Muslim unity, while in Europe he felt it was pan-Islam.
Much before Madani, Jamaluddin Afghani argued that Hindus and Muslims must come together to overthrow the British. Husain Ahmad would argue the same thing after five decades.
An important step forward in achieving Hindu–Muslim unity was the Lucknow Pact, 1916.