A View of modern Thatta City where Mulla Ahmad was Born?
Dr.Mazhar Naqvi
Mir Hajji Mulla Ahmad Nasr Allah Thattavi is yet another martyr
whose contribution to propagation of Imami faith in India remains
unknown to Azadar World. The blogger has never seen or heard any Zakir-E-Ahlebait
(Orator) recalling his martyrdom in their discourses. Similarly, no article has
ever been probably written on him in the magazines or special issues brought
out by various outfits on the occasion of Muharram. It is a grave injustice to the
Mulla Thattavi, for he suffered much during his life time for propagating Imami
faith and his body was burnt by fanatics after his death. His opponents were so
over zealot that they fully ignored the intimate relation between Mulla and
Emperor Akbar, exhumed his body and burnt it in Lahore.
Mulla Thattavi was born
in Thattha, a district in Sindh province
of Pakistan. His father was a Qazi and a Hanafi by faith. Mulla showed
great interest towards studies from his early age and visited important centers
of learning such as Mashed, Qum, Tabriz and Shiraz in pursuit of higher
education and spiritual improvement. As a young scholar, he happened to study Al-Kashshaaf 'an Haqa'iq at-Tanzil, popularly
known as Al-Kashshaaf ("the Revealer", al-Kashāf).This seminal Tafsir-commentary on the Holy Quran written in 12th
century by Al-Zamakhshari changed his overall attitude towards his faith. Al- Kashshaaf’s deep linguistic
analysis, demonstrations of the supremacy of declamation of the Quran, and the
representation of the method the Quran uses to convey meaning through literary
elements and figurative speech impressed him so much that he embraced Imami
faith. He also attained proficiency in Turkish,
Persian, Arabic and Sindhi to convey his message in their own language.
He made propagation
of Imami faith as the sole mission of his life. A large number of people
attracted towards him in view of his vast knowledge and persuasive skills
backed by reasoning and logic. Akbar received him favorably when he entered his
court in 1583.The Emperor also entrusted him with the responsibility of composing
the history of the first
1000 years of Islam, Entitled as Tareek-E-Alfi,
the main contribution of Mulla to the work was compilation iof the chapters beginning
from the 36th year after the death of the Islamic Prophet Hazrat Muhammad to
the time of Ghazan (d.704 AH/1304 AD).. However, Mulla
never saw the work completed. His ceaseless propagation of Imami faith was not
relished by a large number of orthodox nobles and courtiers. Among them the
most fanatic was Mirza Faulad who had served as ambassador of Akbar in the
court of Abdullah Khan Uzbek. He attacked Mullah on December 31,1585 while he
was busy propagating the teachings of Masoomeen. Akbar became so enraged upon
coming to know about the assault that he ordered the execution of Mirza Faulad.
The assailant was tied with one of the legs of an elephant, paraded throughout
the city in the same condition before his
head was crushed by the foot of the elephant. The severe punishment given to Mirza Faulad
irked the orthodox group. Mulla Badayuni criticized severely and blamed Imamis
for the execution in the most abusive manner. As an outcome of his writings, Akbar
deployed soldiers to protect the grave of Mulla Thattavi. But the moments they
were withdrawn, some fanatics dug out his grave and burnt his body. Since then,
he is awaiting his acknowledgement as a martyr who laid down his life for Imami
faith in an unfriendly environment.(reference available on request)
No comments:
Post a Comment