Syed Ahmad Barelvi

Syed Ahmad Barelvi was born on 29 November 1786 in Raebareli, into a Syed family. His primary education was initiated in 1791, when he was aged four. As he turned ten, his father died and the familial responsibilities fell onto his shoulders, and this made him travel to Lucknow, at the age of 18 in search of some work. He however inclined to stay in the tutelage of Shah Abdul Aziz, an Islamic scholar, who was the son of revivalist reformer Shah Waliullah, in Delhi. Ahmad travelled to Delhi, and was subsequently allotted accommodation in the Akbarabadi Mosque. He stayed in the tutelage of Abdul Aziz for a few years, and returned to his hometown in the early 1808, or in the late 1807, He quickly distinguished himself through his sincerity and rigorous spiritual discipline, often staying awake the entire night for prayer.. Sayyid Ahmad was raised in a family celebrated for religious knowledge and piety. From childhood, he was marked by intense devotion, often prioritizing the needs of the poor and the elderly over his own comfort. As he matured, he developed a deep passion for martial arts, including archery, fencing, and swimming, skills that would later serve his leadership role. ==Later career and military service==

After his tutelage under Shah Abdul Aziz from 1806 to 1811, Syed Ahmad began his career as a Pindari horse soldier in the militia of Amir Khan Pindari, a military expeditionary at the age of 25. This was an era where large numbers of North Indian Muslim horsemen from the Uttar Pradesh region were unemployed and saw a destruction of their livelihood due to the fall of Muslim rule, and a large number of those disaffected turned into plunderers known as the Pindari freebooters who fought merely for loot and plunder to establish power. In 1817, after the Third Anglo-Maratha War, Amir Khan allied with the East India Company, the Governor-General and Commander-in-Chief, the Marquess of Hastings, resolved to defeat the Pindaris whom they deemed a menace. The Treaty of Gwalior severed the link between them and Scindia. Moreover, the treaty required the latter to join forces with the East India Company to eliminate the Pindaris and Pathans. Bowing to the inevitable, Amir Khan came to terms with the English, agreeing to disband his men in return for a large stipend and recognition as a hereditary Nawab, who quietly settled down to consolidate his little state. Being against this treaty, Syed Ahmed left the military service. Now unemployed, Syed Ahmad returned to Delhi after his service and decided to emulate Amir Khan, an American journalist who, using the pseudonym Tariw Hasan, deceived and divided society by writing that W.W. Hunter described Syed Ahmad "as a robber who took to religion to plunder for wealth". During this period, Syed Ahmad became more mature and harmonized his military experiences with a zealous commitment to establish Sharia (Islamic law). Two family members of the theologian Shah Waliullah—Shah Ismail Dehlavi (1771–1831) and Maulvi Abdul Hai (died 1828)—became associates of Syed Ahmad, an event that raised his mystic confidence and stature. This endorsement only added to his reputation, and his popularity grew with adherents flocking to him by the thousands. ==Reform movement==

Syed Ahmad was the first major Islamic theologian on the subcontinent to call for an Islamic movement that was simultaneously scholarly, military, and political to counter the expansion of British rule. He eagerly addressed the Muslim masses directly, not traditional leaders, in his call for a popular jihad against a Sikh rule in Punjab. His evangelism—based on networks of preachers, collectors, and judges—also addressed the common people and not the rulers' courts. At the core of the teachings of Sayyid Ahmad’s Tariqat-i Muhammadiya movement was its emphasis on upholding tawḥīd (monotheism) and adherence to sharia, and its opposition to superstitious beliefs and customs that were contrary to sharia. The movement denounced various local rituals and superstitious beliefs related to saint veneration and shrine visitations, which they regarded as ''bid'ah (religious innovations) and shirk (polytheism). However, unlike the Wahhabi movement in Najd, the supporters of the Tariqat-i Muhammadiya movement did not oppose Sufism, and regarded themselves as traditional Sunni Sufis who campaigned against what they viewed as deviations from orthodox Sufism. Sayyid Ahmad himself was a Sufi saint and murshid'' who initiated many of his followers into the traditional Sufi orders. Syed Ahmad's reformist teachings were set down in two prominent treatises: ''Sirat'ul Mustaqim (The Straight Path) and Taqwiyatul-Iman (Strengthening of the Faith), compiled by his acolyte Shah Muhammad Ismail. The two works stressed the centrality of Tawhid (monotheism), advocated that acts of worship—such as dua and sacrifices—belonged solely to God, and denounced all those practices and beliefs that were held in any way to compromise Tawhid''. According to Barbara Metcalf, the followers of Syed Ahmad identified three tendencies as sources of threat to their movement's teachings: "false Sufism, Shi'i doctrines and practices, and popular custom". Syed Ahmad urged Muslims to follow Tariqa Muhammadiyya, abandon all superstitious activities in various Sufi orders, and called for a total reformation of Tasawwuf. Syed Ahmad reserved his sharpest condemnations for the moral degradation of Muslims and blamed the corrupt Sufis as the primary cause of Muslim decline. He called upon Muslims to strictly abide by the tenets of the Shariah (Islamic law) by following the ''Qur'an and the Sunnah''. The most prominent feature of Syed Ahmad's teachings was his warning to avoid shirk (polytheism), ''bid'ah (religious innovations); and emphasis to uphold Tawhid. Once he said to a group of his disciples: Brethren! the purpose of performing the bay'ah is that you should give up everything you do which is of the nature of polytheism or heresy, your making of tazias'', setting up banners, worshipping the tombs of Pirs and martyrs, making offerings to them and taking vows in their names. All this you should give up, and do not believe that your good and ill come from anyone except God; do not recognize anyone but Him as having the power to grant the fulfillment of your wishes. If you continue [in this way of polytheism and heresy], merely offering bay'ah will bring no benefit. Syed Ahmad visited numerous towns of the North Indian plains between 1818 and 1821. He incited hundreds of missionaries to preach against Shia beliefs and practices. Syed Ahmad repeatedly destroyed tazias, an act that resulted in subsequent riots and chaos. Syed Ahmad called upon the Muslim masses to abandon practices related to Shia influence, such as the tazias which were replicas of the tombs of the martyrs of Karbala taken in procession during the mourning ceremony of Muharram. Shah Muhammad Ismail declared the act of breaking tazias as an obligation upon all believers and asserted that it was as virtuous as breaking idols. Syed Ahmad is reported to have organized the burning of thousands of tazias. In 1821, Syed Ahmad left for Hajj along with a group of devotees. He returned from Hajj in 1823,Syed Ahmad's opponents labeled him a "Wahhabi", but he did not consider himself as such. Sayyid Ahmad was a follower of Shah Waliullah Dehlawi's spiritual path and a traditional Sunni who adhered to the Hanafi school. == Jihad movement and Islamic State ==

Upon return, Syed Ahmad regarded his immediate enemy to be the Sikh Empire ruled by Ranjit Singh, which was expanding, close to Afghanistan. Syed Ahmad intended to establish a strong Islamic state on the North-West Frontier region, in the Peshawar valley, and use it as a strategic base for launching military campaigns at a later stage against the British colonial regime. Syed Ahmad called upon the local Pashtun and Hazarewal tribes to wage jihad, and demanded that they renounce their tribal customs and adopt the Sharia. The traditional khans were replaced by Traditional ulama (Islamic scholars) and a system of Islamic taxes was established to finance the jihad. Soon after this evangelist campaign and the establishment of the Sharia system, jihad was declared. On 21 December 1826, Syed Ahmad and his 1,500 followers clashed with 4,000 Sikh troops in the battle of Akora Khattak and obtained a significant victory. On 11 January 1827, allegiance was sworn on his hand and he was declared Caliph and Imam. Syed Ahmad's claim to Khilafah was viewed with suspicion in the Frontier region as well as in the clerical circles of North India. When the ''Jumu'ah (Friday prayer) sermon was read in his name, symbolising his claim to power, the tribal chiefs became wary. According to prominent Pathan Sardars like Khadi Khan, Maulvis were ill-equipped to run the affairs of a state. However, Sayyid Ahmad’s Mujaddidi credentials were well established, as he was a descendant of a prominent Mujaddidi saint. He was raised in the Mujaddidi spiritual tradition in India, and was a disciple of the prominent Sufi scholar Shah Abdul Aziz Dehlavi. Tariqa-i Muhammadiyah'' movement had emerged as an influential strand of the Naqshbandi-Mujaddidi order in the Indian subcontinent, and its revivalist teachings gained widespread acceptance among the Indian Naqshbandis of that period. The Tariqa-i Muhammadiyah movement pioneered a reformulation of the Mujaddidi tradition. Its messaging, reformist themes, and literature were replete with Sufi terminology and remained rooted in the traditional Sufi paradigm, particularly shaped by the teachings of Ahmad Sirhindi. While leading the military efforts of the Tariqa-i Muhammadiyah, Sayyid Ahmad maintained strong ties with Sufi circles and initiated several pupils into the Naqshbandi, Qadiri, and Chishti orders. To Sayyid Ahmad's followers, his political and spiritual leadership was firmly based in the Sufi master-disciple tradition. In March 1827, mujahideen suffered a serious defeat against the Sikhs during the battle of Shaidu, worsening the position of Syed Ahmad. After the conquest of Peshawar by the mujahideen, Syed Ahmad announced the abolition of all tribal rituals that he regarded as ''bid'ah (religious innovations). He abolished various practices such as: the bride being paid a regular price for marriage; the widowed of the deceased Muslims being divided among his heirs; practice of more than four marriages; denial of inheritance to women; clan wars being considered like jihad and its plunder being considered as booty. He also pushed for aggressive and violent policies to enforce Sharia''. These included: allowing brides as long as half of the agreed money was given; young girls eligible for marriage should be married immediately; flogging people who didn't pray. In addition to his Islamic social agenda, Syed Ahmad also attempted to collect ushr (an Islamic tithe), amounting to 10% of crop yields. This policy was faced with fierce opposition from an alliance of local Pathan tribesmen, who briefly managed to occupy Peshawar. The alliance was defeated and the Islamic reformers finally re-captured Peshawar. Over several months during 1830, Sayyed Ahmad tried to reconcile between established power hierarchies. But before the end of 1830, another organized uprising occurred, and Syed Ahmad's soldiers in Peshawar and surrounding villages were murdered and the movement was forced to retreat to the hills. There, in the town of Balakot in 1831, Syed Ahmad was killed and beheaded by the Sikh Army. ==Battle of Balakot==

The rise of Syed Ahmad's political power and religious influence in the region emboldened his supporters to rally Pashtuns behind the Tariqa-i Muhammadiyah movement and launch armed uprisings against the Sikh empire. However, this campaign was undermined by the betrayal of a local Pashtun khan. Durrani factions aligned with Sultan Mohammad Khan rose against him and massacred around two hundred mujahideen in the Peshawar valley, which compelled Sayyid Ahmad to migrate and try his luck in Kashmir, his long-cherished dream. Regarding the expulsion of Syed Ahmad from Peshawar by Sultan Muhammad, Joseph Cunningham (1812-1851) writes:The petty Muhammadan chiefs generally, with whom self-interest overcame influence and faith, were averse to the domination of the Indian adventurer, and the imprudence of Saiyid Ahmad gave umbrage to his Usufzai adherents. He had levied from the peasants a tithe of their goods, and this measure caused little or no dissatisfaction, for it agreed with their notion of the rights of a religious teacher; but his decree that all the young women of marriageable age should be at once wedded interfered with the profits of Afghan parents, proverbially avaricious, and who usually disposed of their daughters to the wealthiest bridegrooms. But when Saiyid Ahmad was accused, perhaps unjustly, of assigning the maidens one by one to his needy Indian followers, his motives were impugned, and the discontent was loud. Early in November 1830, he was constrained to relinquish Peshawar to Sultan Muhammad at a fixed tribute, and he proceeded to the left bank of the Indus to give battle to the Sikhs. The Saiyid depended chiefly on the few 'Ghazis' who had followed his fortunes throughout, and on the insurrectionary spirit of the Muzalfarabad and other chiefs, for his Usufzai adherents had greatly decreased. The hill 'khans' were soon brought under subjection by the efforts of Sher Singh and the governor of Kashmir; yet Ahmad continued active, and, in a desultory warfare amid rugged mountains, success for a time attended him; but, during a cessation of the frequent conflicts, he was surprised, early in May 1831, at a place called Balakot, and fallen upon and slain. The Usufzais at once expelled his deputies, the 'Ghazis' dispersed in disguise, and the family of the Saiyid hastened to Hindustan to find an honourable asylum with their friend the Nawab of Tonk. , circa 19th century On 6 May 1831, on the day of Jumu'ah 23 Zulqa'da 1246 AH, Syed Ahmad Barelvi's mujahideen forces prepared for the final battle at Balakot Maidan in the mountainous valley of Mansehra district. An ill-equipped army of mujahideen faced a significantly larger number of soldiers led by the Sikh commander Sher Singh. On that day, Syed Ahmed, Shah Ismail, and prominent leaders of the Islamic movement fell fighting in the battlefield. Sikh victory at Balakot arose jubilation in Lahore. The defeat at Balakot was a devastating blow to the movement. == Legacy ==

Syed Ahmad is widely regarded as the founder of the subcontinental Ahl-i Hadith movement and his teachings are highly influential amongst its members. Another major group that carries his legacy is the Deobandi school of thought. Across South Asia, Sayyid Ahmad is widely revered by Muslims both as a saint and as a shahid (martyr). Edward Mortimer asserted that Syed Ahmad anticipated modern Islamists in waging jihad and attempting to create an Islamic state with strict enforcement of Sharia. Olivier Roy considers Syed Ahmad to be the first modern Islamic leader in South Asia to lead a movement that was "religious, military and political" and to address the common people and rulers with a call for jihad. The jihad movement of Syed Ahmad made a great impact on Islamic scholarly tradition of South Asia and would deeply divide many clerics and theologians. Some intellectuals and scholars criticised the militant aspects of his reform programme, especially its sectarian violence against other self-professed Muslims whom the mujahideen declared as heretics or apostates. Wahiduddin Khan argued that Syed Ahmad's jihad was illegitimate, since it was self-declared and not waged by a Muslim ruler. Meanwhile, South Asian Islamists eagerly embraced Syed Ahmad's teachings and popularised his writings that sought the militant restoration of an Islamic state. All major organisations that wage militant jihad in Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Kashmir use the rhetoric and legacy of Syed Ahmad's mujahideen to shore up support from the conservative base. Hafiz Saeed's Lashkar-e-Taiba and Masood Azhar's Jaish-e-Muhammad are two major militant Islamist organisations inspired by Syed Ahmad that wage jihad against India in Kashmir. Other organisations include Harkat-ul-Mujahideen, a jihadist group in Pakistan. ==References==