Deobandi Elders Displeased with Blasphemous Book Taqwiyat ul Iman

 

بِسۡمِ اللّٰہِ الرَّحۡمٰنِ الرَّحِیۡمِ

In the Name of Allah, the Rahman, the Merciful

All praise belongs to Allah, Lord of the worlds

Peace and benedictions upon you, my Master, Apostle of Allah

While the Deobandi school has generally criticized Ibn Abd ul-Wahhab and Wahhabism, their attitude toward Shah Isma’il of Delhi is much more positive. Shah Isma’il is the author of Taqwiyat ul-Iman, a book which spread some of the Wahhabi idealogy in the Indian subcontinent. In fact, it is a book that contains some blasphemous statements that are disrespectful to the Holy Prophet Muhammad صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم for instance his statement:

ہر مخلوق بڑی ہو یا چھوٹی وہ اللہ کی شان کے آگے چمار سے بھی زیادہ ذلیل ہے

Every creation, big or small, is more humiliated than the Chamar before Allah (Taqwiyat ul-Iman, p.30)

Chamar is a caste of leather workers and cobblers in the Indian subcontinent that is generally considered lowly and despised. For Shah Isma’il to say that every creation, including the Prophet Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم the other Prophets عليهم السلام and the Angels عليهم السلام are more humiliated than the Chamar before Allah is certainly blasphemous. The attribution of humiliation worse than that of the Chamar to the Prophets and Angels is unacceptable. On the contrary, Allah سبحانه وتعالى has honored His Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم

عَسٰۤی اَنۡ یَّبۡعَثَکَ رَبُّکَ مَقَامًا مَّحۡمُوۡدًا

It may be that your Lord shall raise you to a praiseworthy station

(Surah 17, Ayah 79)

Indeed, the Prophet Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم possesses nothing but honor in the sight of Allah, and he is honored with Him. It is not right to say that he is more disgraced than the Chamar in comparison to Allah. For that and other blasphemous statements, senior Sunni Ulama like Mawlana Fadl Rasul Badayuni and Mawlana Fadl Haq Khairabadi رحمة الله عليهما condemned Shah Isma’il of Delhi. But even some of the elders of the Deobandi school have criticized the book Taqwiyat ul-Iman due to its severe language which is disrespectful and blasphemous toward the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم

Hence, Anwar Shah Kashmiri said:

وكتابه تقوية الإيمان فيه شدة فَقَلَّ نفعه

His book Taqwiyat ul-Iman has severity in it and is of little benefit (Faid ul-Bari, v.1, p.252)

اور میں تقویۃ الایمان سے ‌زیادہ راضی نہیں ہوں

I am not very pleased with Taqwiyat ul-Iman (Malfuzat Muhaddith Kashmiri, p.178)

Anwar Shah Kashmir also explained that the founder of Dar ul-Ulum Deoband, namely, Muhammad Qasim Nanautawi was also displeased with this controversial book (ibid)