Imam-e-Inqilab[1] Maulana Ubaidullah Sindhi | |
|---|---|
 Maulana Ubaidullah Sindhi | |
| Home Minister of theProvisional Government of India | |
| In office 1 December 1915 – January 1919 | |
| Preceded by | Position established |
| Succeeded by | Position abolished |
| Personal life | |
| Born | (1872-03-10)10 March 1872 |
| Died | 21 August 1944(1944-08-21) (aged 72)[2] |
| Occupation | Political activist/Islamic philosopher/scholar |
| Religious life | |
| Religion | Islam |
| Denomination | Sunni |
| Jurisprudence | Hanafi |
| Creed | Maturidi[3] |
| Movement | Deobandi |
Ubaidullah Sindhi (10 March 1872 – 21 August 1944) was a political activist of theIndian independence movement and one of its vigorous leaders. According toDawn, Karachi, Maulana Ubaidullah Sindhi struggled for the independence of British India and for an exploitation-free society in India.[4] He was also Home Minister of first Provisional Government of India established in Afghanistan in 1915.[5]
Ubaidullah Sindhi was the Life Member ofJamia Millia Islamia, A Central University inNew Delhi,India. He served theJamia Millia Islamia for a long period of time on a very low salary. A boys' hostel in Dr. Zakir Husain Hall of Boys' Residence inJamia Millia Islamia has been named after him.
Ubaidullah was born on 10 March 1872[2] in aSikh Jatt family in the district ofSialkot,Punjab, British India as Buta Singh Uppal. His father died four months before Ubaidullah was born, and the child was raised for two years by his paternal grandfather. Following the paternal grandfather's death, he was taken by his mother to the care of her father, at his maternal grandfather's house. Later, young Buta Singh was entrusted to the care of his uncle atJampur Tehsil,Punjab, British India, when his maternal grandfather died. Buta Singh Uppal converted toIslam at age 15 and chose "Ubaidullah Sindhi" as his new name, and later enrolled in theDarul Uloom Deoband, where he was, at various times, associated with other noted Islamic scholars of the time, including MaulanaRashid Ahmad Gangohi and MaulanaMahmud Hasan Deobandi. Maulana Sindhi returned to theDarul Uloom Deoband in 1909, and gradually involved himself in thePan-Islamic movement. DuringWorld War I, he was among the leaders of the Deoband School, who, led by Maulana Mahmud Hasan Deobandi, leftIndia to seek support among other nations of the world for a Pan-Islamic revolution in India in what came to be known as theSilk Letter Conspiracy.[2]
Ubaidullah had reachedKabul during the war to rally theAfghan Amir Habibullah Khan, and after a brief period there, he offered his support to Raja Mahendra Pratap's plans for revolution inBritish India withGerman support. He joined theProvisional Government of India formed in Kabul in December 1915, and remained inAfghanistan until the end ofWorld War I, and then left forRussia. He subsequently spent two years inTurkey and, passing through many countries, eventually reachedHijaz (Saudi Arabia) where he spent about 14 years learning and pondering over the philosophy ofIslam especially in the light ofShah Waliullah Dehlawi's works. In his career, he was a Pan-Islamic thinker.[2][4]
When he was at school, a Hindu friend gave him the bookTufatul Hind to read.[6] It was written by a converted scholar Maulana Ubaidullah ofMalerkotla. After reading this book and some other books likeTaqwiyatul Eeman andAhwaal ul Aakhira, Ubaidullah's interest in Islam grew, leading eventually to his conversion to Islam. In 1887, the year of his conversion, he moved from Punjab toSindh area where he was taken as a student byHafiz Muhammad Siddique of Chawinda (Bhar Chandi Shareef). He subsequently studied atDeen Pur Shareef (a village near Khanpur, Distt Rahim Yar Khan) under Maulana Ghulam Muhammad, Where he delved deeper into Islamic education and training in the mystical order. In 1888, Ubaidullah was admitted toDarul Uloom Deoband, where he studied various Islamic disciplines in depth under the tutelage of noted Islamic scholars of the time including Maulana Abu Siraj, MaulanaRashid Ahmad Gangohi and MaulanaMahmud Hasan Deobandi. He took lessons inSahih al-Bukhari andTirmidhi from Maulana Nazeer Husain Dehalvi and read logic and philosophy with Maulana Ahmad Hasan Cawnpuri.
In 1891, Ubaidullah graduated from the Deoband school. In 1899, he left forSukkur area in Sindh province.[6] In 1909, at the request of Mahmud Hasan Deobandi, he returned to Deoband School inUttar Pradesh. Here, he accomplished much for the student body, Jamiatul Ansaar.[6] Ubaidullah was now very active in covert anti-British propaganda activities, which led to him alienating a large number of the Deoband School leaders. Subsequently, Ubaidullah moved his work toDelhi at Mahmud Hasan Deobandi's request. At Delhi, he worked withHakim Ajmal Khan and Dr. Ansari. In 1912, he established amadrassah, Nazzaaratul Ma'arif to propagate Islam among the people.[6]
With the onset ofWorld War I in 1914, efforts were made by the Darul Uloom Deoband to forward the cause of Pan-Islam in British India with the help of the other sympathetic nations of the world. Led by Mahmud Hasan Deobandi, plans were sketched out for an insurrection beginning in the tribal belt ofNorth-West Frontier Province of British India.[7][8] Mahmud Hasan Deobandi, left India to seek the help of Galib Pasha, the Turkish governor ofHijaz, while at Hasan's directions, Ubaidullah proceeded toKabul to seekEmir Habibullah's support there. Initial plans were to raise an Islamic army (Hizb Allah) headquartered atMedina, with an Indian contingent at Kabul. Maulana Hasan was to be the General-in-Chief of this army.[8] Some of Ubaidullah's students went to Kabul to explore things before Ubaidullah arrived there. While at Kabul, Ubaidullah came to the conclusion that focusing on theIndian Freedom Movement would best serve the pan-Islamic cause.[9] Ubaidullah had proposed to the Afghan Emir that he declare war against British India.[10][11]Maulana Abul Kalam Azad is known to have been involved in the movement prior to his arrest in 1916.[7][2]
Maulana Ubaidullah Sindhi and Mahmud Hasan Deobandi (principal of theDarul Uloom Deoband) had proceeded to Kabul in October 1915 with plans to initiate a Muslim insurrection in the tribal belt of British India. For this purpose, Ubaid Allah was to propose that theAmir of Afghanistan declare war againstBritain while Mahmud Hasan Deobandi sought German and Turkish help. Hasan proceeded to Hijaz. Ubaidullah, in the meantime, was able to establish friendly relations with Emir Habibullah of Afghanistan. At Kabul, Ubaidullah along with some of his students, were to make their way toTurkey to join theCaliph's "Jihad" against Britain. But it was eventually decided that the pan-Islamic cause was to be best served by focusing on theIndian Freedom Movement.[9]
In late 1915, Sindhi was met in Kabul by the 'Niedermayer-Hentig Expedition' sent by theIndian Independence Committee inBerlin and the German war ministry. Nominally led by the exiled Indian princeRaja Mahendra Pratap, it had among its members the Islamic scholarAbdul Hafiz Mohamed Barakatullah, and the German officersWerner Otto von Hentig andOskar Niedermayer, as well as a number of other notable individuals. The expedition tried to rally Emir Habibullah's support, and through him, begin a campaign into British India. It was hoped that it would initiate a rebellion in British India. On 1 December 1915, theProvisional Government of India was founded at Emir Habibullah's 'Bagh-e-Babur Palace' in the presence of the Indian, German, and Turkish members of the expedition. It was declared a 'revolutionary government-in-exile' which was to take charge of independent India when British authority was overthrown.[12] Mahendra Pratap was proclaimed its president, Barkatullah the Prime minister, Ubaidullah Sindhi the Minister for India, another Deobandi leaderMoulavi Bashir its War Minister, andChampakaran Pillai was to be the Foreign Minister.[13][6] The Provisional Government of India obtained support from Galib Pasha and proclaimed Jihad against Britain. Recognition was sought from theRussian Empire,Republican China andJapan.[14] This provisional government later attempted to obtain support fromSoviet leadership. After theFebruary Revolution in Russia in 1917, Pratap's government corresponded with the nascent Soviet government. In 1918, Mahendra Pratap metTrotsky inPetrograd before meeting theKaiser in Berlin, urging both to mobilise against British India.[15][16]
However, these plans faltered, Emir Habibullah remained steadfastly neutral while he awaited a concrete indication where the war was headed, even as his advisory council and family members indicated their support against Britain. The Germans withdrew their support in 1917, but the 'Provisional Government of India' stayed behind at Kabul. In 1919, this government was ultimately dissolved under British diplomatic pressure on Afghanistan. Ubaidullah had stayed in Kabul for nearly seven years. He even encouraged the young KingAmanullah Khan, who took power in Afghanistan after Habibullah's assassination, in theThird Anglo-Afghan War. The conclusion of the war ultimately, forced Ubaidullah Sindhi to leave Afghanistan as King Amanullah came under pressure from Britain.[17]
Ubaidullah then proceeded from Afghanistan to Russia, where he spent seven months at the invitation of the Soviet leadership, and was officially treated as a guest of the state. During this period, he studied the ideology ofsocialism. According to an article in a major newspaper of Pakistan, titled 'Of socialism and Islam', "Islam showed not only deep sympathy for the poor and downtrodden but also condemned strongly the concentration of wealth in a number of Makkan surahs. Makkah, as an important centre of international trade, was home to the very rich (tribal chiefs) and the extremely poor."[17] In Russia, however, he was unable to meetLenin, who was severely ill at the time. Some people at that time thought, incorrectly, that Sindhi was impressed by Communist ideals during his stay in Russia.[18] In 1923, Ubaidullah left Russia forTurkey where he initiated the third phase of the 'Shah Waliullah Movement' in 1924. He issued the 'Charter for the Independence of India' fromIstanbul. Ubaidullah then left forMecca, Arabia in 1927 and remained there until 1929. During this period, he brought the message of the rights of Muslims and other important religious issues to the people of Arabia. During his stay in Russia, he was not impressed by the Communist ideas but rather, after the Soviet revolution, he presented his belief to the Soviet government that: "Communism is not a natural law system but rather is a reaction to oppression, the natural law is offered by Islam".[This quote needs a citation] He attempted to convince them, but could not answer when asked to provide an example of a state run according to the laws of Islam.
Among his famous books are:
In 1936, theIndian National Congress requested his return to India, and the British Raj subsequently gave its permission. He landed at the port ofKarachi from Saudi Arabia in 1938.[6] He then went toDelhi, where he began a programme teaching Shah Waliullah'sHujjatullahil Baalighah book to MaulanaSaeed Ahmad Akbarabadi, who would then write anexegesis in his own words.Opposed to the partition of India, Ubaidullah led a conference supporting a united India in June 1941 atKumbakonam.[21] Right after his return to India, he started meeting Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose and planned his movement to Germany and Japan. They met several times and are supposed to have discussed a plan similar to the one carried out by Ubaidullah, Raja Mahendra Pratap and Maulana Barkatullah during the First World War.[22] He was opposed to the Pakistan plan of Mohammad Ali Jinnah and Muslim League. In his view Muslims and Hindus of India were one civilization and he was against the idea of foreign help in Indian affairs.[23] Ubaidullah left forRahim Yar Khan to visit his daughter in 1944. At the village 'Deen Pur' nearKhanpur town inRahim Yar Khan District, he was taken seriously ill, and died on 21 August 1944.[2] He was buried in the graveyard adjacent to the grave of his mentors.
| Background |  | |
|---|---|---|
| Ghadar | ||
| Berlin Committee | ||
| Indian figures | ||
| German figures | ||
| Conspiracy | ||
| Counter-intelligence | ||
| Related topics | ||
| International | |
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| National | |
| People | |
| Other | |
