Monthly Al-Islah, although a purely academic journal departing from the conventional path, never gained much popularity among the general public. Therefore, some friends advised Maulana Islahi to include writings of general interest in it as well. However, he never made any compromise on the objectives of the journal. He mentioned such a suggestion in one of his notes and responded to it in the following way:
“People generally complain about Al-Islah being too serious and religious in tone, and they look for the spice of novels and short stories. Since they don’t find such things in it, they don’t want to waste their money on it. If public desire is followed, it is possible that its readership may increase somewhat, but this is something we cannot understand. We are not unaware of the consequences, but we place our trust in the help of Allah.” (May 1937)
However, while it may not have been popular at the public level, Al-Islah was greatly valued and appreciated in scholarly circles of the time. The primary reason for this was that it published all of the Urdu writings of Imam Hamiduddin Farahi. Furthermore, the Urdu translation of his Quranic exegesis Nizam al-Quran was also being published from the pen of Maulana Islahi. Alongside this, essays by contemporary scholars were also published. Even if the editor disagreed with the scholarly opinion expressed, as long as the submitted article met the academic standard and engaged meaningfully with the subject, it was published. For instance, articles by Ghulam Ahmad Parvez and Aslam Jairajpuri were also published. Even certain writings of Orientalists were included.
The principle in mind was that any piece of writing was publishable if it departed from traditionalist thinking, was based purely on the Quran and Sunnah, and presented a noteworthy academic insight.
Due to this open editorial policy, submissions were also sent that did not meet academic standards in any way. Likewise, books were presented for review that had no scholarly foundation. In the name of freedom of thought, such pseudo-academic efforts were sharply critiqued by Maulana. As an example, we present below his commentary on one such tafsir:
Khajah Ahmad-uddin Amritsari authored a four-volume Arabic tafsir titled Bayan li al-Nas. He was the teacher of the well-known writer Aslam Jairajpuri and the famous poet Sufi Ghulam Mustafa Tabassum. He regarded only the Quran as the source of Islam and rejected Sunnah and Hadith as sources of religion. Maulana Islahi, as editor of Al-Islah, commented on his tafsir as follows:
“As for Khajah’s (Bayan li al-Nas), it reminds me time and again of an anecdote shared by a certain elder, and today, albeit reluctantly, we wish to share it with our friends as well.
An elder used to eat at the shop of a cook who was careless and sloppy. Every day, two or three dead flies would be found in the curry. The poor elder would get upset and return the dish. This became a daily occurrence. One day he saw that the entire bowl of curry was filled with dead flies. He quietly accepted it.
The cook asked: ‘Sir, when there were only a couple of flies, you used to get upset and return the bowl. And today, when it’s entirely full of flies, you said nothing. Why is that?’
He replied: ‘When there were just a few flies, I got upset in the hope that you might take notice and exercise caution. But now that you’ve brought me an entire stew of flies, what expectation and what complaint can one have of you?’
Our respected friends Arshi and Shafi should believe that this is exactly the situation we find ourselves in. If there are only a few mistakes, then by all means point them out and criticize. Neither the existence of mistakes is unexpected, nor is criticism and fault-finding a sin. But when someone makes errors their entire stock and substance, what is there to argue about? Thus, Khajah’s tafsir is not credible. It is a ‘stew of flies’ which, upon reaching an educated reader, has made him sit with his head in his hands, praying: ‘May Allah forgive Khajah and grant you all the good sense to abandon tafsir-writing and pursue some other occupation.’” (Monthly Al-Islah, February 1938)
During the publication of Al-Islah, when prominent intellectual and literary figures passed away, remarkable articles were published in their memory. Among such personalities, the most prominent were Allama Muhammad Iqbal and Maulana Shawkat Ali. The entire piece written about Iqbal is excellent, but here we reproduce only the concluding paragraph:
“When despair surrounded us, we saw in Iqbal’s verses a sign of hope. When darkness enveloped us, Iqbal shone for us like a beacon of guidance. He stirred the soul and moved hearts. From his tongue, we heard the cries of the East’s conscience.
In his Indian melodies, the cadence of Hijaz throbbed. He belonged to the earth, yet his flight reached the heavens. He was a poet, but the spirit of prophetic knowledge animated his poetry. In the garb of a man of the world, he was a qalander (spiritual wanderer); in the guise of a madman, a sage of mysteries.
O Lord! Where is our poet gone? May your endless mercy and blessings descend upon his soul.” (May 1938)
Correction of a Misunderstanding
It is generally assumed that Maulana Islahi launched the monthly journal Al-Islah in 1936 under the auspices of the Dairah-e-Hamidiyah, and that it continued until November 1938. However, this is an incomplete account. The complete version is that, after an interval of about a year and a quarter, he took it upon himself to resume its publication. But now it was no longer a monthly— it had become a quarterly. Its name was also changed from Al-Islah to just Islah. In a note in the first issue of this quarterly, Maulana writes:
“After a full year and a quarter, this quarterly (journal) comes before the sympathizers of the Madrasah, well-wishers of the Dairah-e-Hamidiyah, and admirers of the late Al-Islah. It is not Al-Islah, but just Islah—that is, the academic and Arabic burden which Al-Islah carried has now been unloaded. Al-Islah was published for the educated class of the country, and hence it carried writings suited to their taste and interest. This journal is for the general public. Therefore, it will not contain anything burdensome for minds of limited capacity. It will contain simple, straightforward matters that anyone can read, understand, and—if they wish—benefit from.”
The publication of this quarterly suggests that Maulana, in addition to the scholarly guidance of Muslims in those turbulent times, also held some practical proposals. He expressed this in the first issue of Islah in the following words:
“Our goal is to bring about such a revolution among Muslims that the Quran becomes the center of all their thought and action. We do not merely understand, but we are seeing with full certainty that a mental and intellectual battle is underway. In this battle, Muslims find themselves weak, and the reason for this weakness is that they are not fighting with the weapon (the Quran) that Allah has granted them—the only weapon capable of winning this war. And if any servant of God dares to take this weapon in hand, then after a long period of neglect and distance, Muslims have become so unfamiliar with its use that instead of harming the enemy, they only add to their own ruin. Thus, their holding fast to the Book becomes even more harmful than others’ abandonment of the Book. Therefore, our aim is that Muslims come to recognize the true value of the Noble Quran and begin to employ it in all aspects of their intellectual and practical lives in the way an expert warrior uses a well-tested weapon.
There is a specific scheme to bring this intention into action, a few parts of which are already in operation:
First of all, there is Madrassat al-Islah… 1. Then there is the Dairah-e-Hamidiyah, under whose administration books on Quranic and Islamic sciences are being published in Arabic and Urdu. 2.
Announcement of the Discontinuation of Islah
At the end of 1941, the final issue of Islah was published. In its editorial note, Maulana wrote:
“The journal Islah was launched with a few specific objectives in view. In our opinion, those objectives were of such significance that we were willing to sustain it even at financial loss. But over the past few months, the price of paper has increased so much—and continues to rise—that it now seems very difficult for the Madrasah to bear this burden, especially in the current circumstances (note: this was during World War II, and the entire world was feeling its effects). Even if this difficulty is somehow resolved, the shortage—rather, unavailability—of paper presents an unsolvable challenge. Paper for this very issue was procured with great difficulty. In these conditions, we cannot say whether the next issue of Islah will be published or not. In any case, as far as it is within our power, we will make every effort to arrange for paper, and if we succeed, the next issue will be published on time. Otherwise, readers should consider us helpless and should not await the next issue.
We know that those who have an association with Islah will find this news disheartening. But what can be done? When circumstances spiral completely out of control, what can we do? We assure our readers that if, God forbid, we are forced by circumstances to decide to close Islah, that decision will remain only as long as those compelling circumstances persist. Whenever there is any improvement or relief in the situation, God willing, the journal will be resumed.”
The fear that Maulana expressed materialized, and the opportunity to publish the next issue never came. Thus, this chapter too came to a permanent end. Not only did the publication of Islah cease, but a major turning point also arrived in Maulana’s life: his departure from Madrassat al- Islah and his entry into Jamaat-i Islami. Dr. Sharafuddin Islahi has given a different spin to this decision of Maulana, which is completely contrary to reality. In criticizing Maulana’s decision, he writes:
“After journalism, politics entered the life of Maulana Islahi. Its reflection can be seen in the pages of Al-Islah as well. Had Maulana Farahi been alive, he would have, despite a natural inclination, restrained him from turning elsewhere. Like the divine way on the earth (sunnat Allah fi al-ard), circumstances and events have their own workings. Maulana Maududi came to Sarae Mir. Maulana Islahi attended the early gatherings of Jamaat-i Islami. Then, he joined the party. After some time, leaving his teacher’s legacy behind, he moved to Pathankot with his children. His first wife had passed away long ago. Maulana Maududi arranged his second marriage in a noble family of Pathankot. When the Partition of the subcontinent occurred, he was in Pathankot. Along with the Jamaat, which was established under Maulana Maududi’s leadership, he also migrated to Pakistan, after which he became even more distant from his past and so cut off from the memories he left behind that there remained no hope of reunion.” (Dhikr- e-Farahi, 515)
Thirdly, through this journal, we want to bring the general Muslims closer to these efforts. 1.
The efforts of the Madrasah and the Dairah-e-Hamidiyah are both aimed at cultivating a correct Islamic mindset, and in this way, their connection with the general public is indirect. This journal, however, will address the public directly and, in their own language, inform them of the real needs and responsibilities of their lives.”
3.
Dr. Sharafuddin Islahi’s statement is highly misleading due to several misunderstandings and incomplete information.
[To be continued]