Strengthening of the Faith

At a time when the general milieu in the subcontinent of India was overwhelmed by the powers of darkness, and the soundness of Faith was reeling under the potentially threatening squalls and the blinding forages of superstitions and paganism, Allah the Almighty, by dint of His special blessing, sent a personality, who, by the strength of his Faith, knowledge and rhetoric, dissipated the redoubtable forces of depravity and smashed the self-made idols of Shirk (polytheism) and Bid'ah (innovations in religion) and established the base of pure Tauhid (Islamic Monotheism). This great personality was Shah Ismail Muhaddith Dehlawi {May Allah have mercy on him}, who was the grandson of Shah Waliullah Dehlawi, a man of profound knowledge and great name to be reckoned with in terms of his authentic scholarship among the most qualified and famous celebrities of his time. The services which he has rendered for the reformation of Ummah and his undertaking the task of Da'wah (the mission of propagating Islam); especially after the previous works of Shaikhul-Islam Imam Ibn Taimiyah and Muhammad bin AbdulWahhab, are absolutely unforgettable and shall always be cherished in our minds. His status is specially far more prominent and elevated due to the fact that he not only carried on with his struggle on the strength of his pen and tongue, but he practically joined Tahreek-ul-Mujahidin (the first Islamic Mujahid movement) under the inspiring leadership of Saiyid Ahmad Shaheed and achieved martyrdom in his armed struggle against the Sikhs at Balakot and hence set an ideal example for the weak, incapacitated and oppressed Muslims of India. The age of Shah Ismail Shaheed was infested and contaminated with the poisonous atmosphere of Shirk and innovations. The Indian Muslims, under the influence of the Hindu mythological faith, had entered such rituals and beliefs in Islam that they even surpassed the ones observed during the pre-Islamic period (in terms of their polytheistic rituals).