The Conclusive Argument from God: Shah Wali Allah of Delhi's Ḥujjat Allah Al-Baligha [v25] 9004444769, 9789004444768

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The Conclusive Argument from God Shāh Walī Allāh of Delhi's Ḥujjat Allāh al-Bāligha Translated by

Marcia K. Hermansen

BRILL leiden | boston

This paperback was originally published in hardback as Volume 25 in the series Islamic Philosophy, Theology and Science. Texts and Studies. Cover illustration: Drawing of the Jāmiʿ Masjid in Delhi in the 19th century, Germany 2019, unknown artist. The Library of Congress has cataloged the hardcover edition as follows: Walī Allāh al-Dihlawī, 1702 or 3-1762 or 3. [Ḥujjat Allāh al-bālighah. English] The conclusive argument from God = Shāh Walī Allāh of Delhi’s Ḥujjat Allāh al-bāligha / translated by Marcia K. Hermansen. p. cm. — (Islamic philosophy, theology, and science, ISSN 0169-8729 ; v. 25) Includes bibliographical references (p. ) and indexes. ISBN 900410298 1 (cloth : alk. paper) I. Islam—Early works to 1800. I. Hermansen, Marcia K. II. Title. III. Series. BP160.W313 1995 297’.2—dc20

95-22093 CIP

Typeface for the Latin, Greek, and Cyrillic scripts: “Brill”. See and download: brill.com/brill-typeface. ISBN 978-90-04-44477-5 (paperback, 2021) ISBN 978-90-04-10298-9 (hardback, 1996) ISBN 978-90-04-44476-8 (e-book, 2021) Copyright 1996 by Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands. Koninklijke Brill NV incorporates the imprints Brill, Brill Hes & De Graaf, Brill Nijhoff, Brill Rodopi, Brill Sense, Hotei Publishing, mentis Verlag, Verlag Ferdinand Schöningh and Wilhelm Fink Verlag. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, translated, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior written permission from the publisher. Requests for re-use and/or translations must be addressed to Koninklijke Brill NV via brill.com or copyright.com. This book is printed on acid-free paper and produced in a sustainable manner.

This translation is dedicated to Fazlur Rahman, an inspiring teacher who wanted Shah Wali Allah's thought to be more widely known.

CONTENTS Acknowledgments ...................................................................... Translator's Introduction...........................................................

xiii xv

The Conclusive Argument from God. lfujjat Allah al-Baligha VOLUME I The General Principles from Which Are Derived the Beneficial Purposes Considered in the Rulings of the Divine Law Shah Wali Allah's Preface ....................................................... Shah Wali Allah's Introduction ...............................................

3 11

BOOK I The First Investigation: The Causes of Religious Obligations and Requital ......................

31

I. Absolute Origination, Creation of the Material World and Divine Management ................................................... 2. The World of Images ('Alam al-Mithiil) ........................ 3. The Highest Council.......................................................... 4. God's Customary Way of Acting (Sunna) ................................................................................ 5. The True Nature of the Spirit (Rul;,,) .............................•. 6. The Inner Dimension of the Imposition of Religious Obligations ............................................................ .............. 7. How Religious Obligation is Derived from What is Divinely Decreed........................................................... 8. Why Religious Obligation Necessitates Requital .......... 9. The Variations in the Natural Dispositions of People.. 10. The Causes of the Thoughts Which Motivate Actions ................................................................................ 11. The Adhering of Acts to the Soul and Its Being Held Accountable for Them....................................................... 12. The Connection of Actions to Psychological Attitudes ........................................................ ...................... 13. The Causes for Requital ...................................................

33 37 43 49 53 57 60 69 73 78 80 84 87

viii

BOOK II

CONTENTS

The Second Investigation: The Manner of Requital during Life and after Death..................

14. Punishment for Acts in This Life.................................... 15. The True Nature of Death................................................ 16. The Variation of the States of People in the Intermediary World............................................................ 17. Concerning Some of the Secrets of the Events of the Day of Assembly ...................................................

BOOK III The Third Investigation: The Supports of ....... . Civilization (The Irtifiiqat) .................................. 18. The Manner of Discovering the lrtifiiqat ....................... 19. The First lrtifiiq ................................................................. 20. The Art of the Proper Manner of Livelihood (The Second Irtifiiq) .......................................................... 21. The Management of the Household ................................ 22. The Art of Economic Transactions (Mu'amaliit) ........... 23. The Governing of the City-State (the Third lrtifaq)..... 24. The Conduct of Kings....................................................... 25. The Policy towards Assistants......................................... 26. The Fourth lrtifiiq (the Caliphate)................................... 27. The Agreement of People on the Principles of the / rtifiiqiit .. ..... .... ..... ...... ... ... .. .. .... .... .. .. .. .. ... .... ...... ... .. ..... .. 28. The Conventions Current Among People....................... BOOK IV The Fourth Investigation: Human Felicity ........ .. ........................................... 29. Concerning the True Nature of Felicity......................... 30. The Ditferences among People in Felicity ................. .... 31. The Divisions among People in their Manner of Obtaining This Felicity..................................................... 32. The Principles to Which the Attainment of the Second Way Goes Back.................................................... 33. The Way of Acquiring These Qualities.......................... 34. The Veils Preventing the Manifestation of the Sound Original Nature (Fifra) ..................................................... 35. The Way of Removing These Veils................................

91 93 97 101 106 113 115 119 121 123 127 129 132 134 137 140 142 145 147 151 153 156 161 165 168

CONTENTS

BOOK V The Fifth Investigation: Piety and Sin ........... ...................... ..... ....................

ix 171

36. Preface: Concerning the True Nature of Piety and Sin................................................................................ 37. The Unity of God (Tau!J,id) .............................................. 38. Concerning the True Nature of Associationism (Shirk) 39. The Categories of Associationism (Shirk)...................... 40. Belief in the Divine Attributes ........................................ 41. Belief in Predestination ............. ............... ......................... 42. Belief that Worship is the Right of God, May He be Exalted .. ............. .... .. .................. ................ ........ .... .. 43. Honoring the Emblems of Allah, May He be Exalted..................................................................... 44. The Inner Meanings of the Ablution and Full Bath..... 45. The Inner Dimensions of Prayer...................................... 46. The Inner Meanings of the Zakiit ............. ..... .................. 47. The Inner Dimensions of the Fast................................... 48. The Inner Dimensions of the Pilgrimage ....................... 49. The Inner Meanings of Various Types of Pious Actions...................................................................... 50. The Ranks of Sin............................................................... 51. The Harmful Influences of Sins....................................... 52. The Acts of Disobedience of a Person which Have an Impact on Himself ............................................. 53. The Sins which are Between a Person and Other People .. .. ... ...... .... ............ ..... ...... ...... ..... .... ........... .... .

241

BOOK VI The Sixth Investigation: The Regulation of Religion.................................

245

54. The Need for the Guides to the Paths and the Founders of Religions....................................................... 55. The True Nature of Prophecy and Its Characteristics ...... ......... .... .... ..... ...... ... ............. ... .. ......... .... 56. The Explanation of the Fact that the Basis of Religion (Din) is One and the Religious Laws (Shara'i') and Codes (Maniihij) Vary ............................. 57. The Causes of the Revelation of the Divine Laws Relating to One Age Rather than Another, and to One People Rather than Another ... ..... ...... ...... .... ......... ....

173 175 179 184 190 197 203 210 214 218 221 224 227 229 232 236 238

247 250

257

262

X

CONTENTS

58. The Causes for Being Held Accountable for the Codes (ManiihiJ) .•............................................................... 59. The Secrets of the Ruling (/fukm) and the Reason for Legislation ('Illa) ......................................................... 60. The Beneficial Interests (Ma~iili/J) which Require the Obligatory Religious Acts, the Pillars, the Proper Behaviors, and Their Like ................................................ 61. The Inner Meanings of the (Appointed) Times ............. 62. The Inner Meanings of the Numbers and the Fixed Quantities ............................................................................ 63. The Inner Meanings of Making Up (Qa(jii') (for Missed Religious Obligations) or Receiving Dispensations (Rukh~a) (to Diminish Them) ................. 64. The Establishment of the Supports of Civilization (lrtifiiqiit) and the Reformation of Conventions ............ 65. Rules which Bring into Effect Other Rules ................... 66. Rendering the Ambiguous Precise, Solving the Problematic, and Deriving Rulings from All-Embracing Principles and So On ........................................................ 67. The Facilitation (of Religious Duties - Taisir) ............. 68. The Inner Meanings of Encouragement (to Righteousness) and Deterrence (from Sin) .............. 69. The Ranks of the Community with Regard to Arriving at the Desired Perfection or Its Opposite ....... 70. The Need for a Religion which Abrogates the Other Religions .................................................................. 71. Fortifying the Religion Against Distortion ..................... 72. The Causes for the Differing of the Religion of Our Prophet, from the Religion of the Jews and Christians ..................................................................... The Causes of Abrogation ................................................ 73. 74. The Explanation of What Had Been the Condition of the People of the Jahiliyya which the Prophet Reformed ............................................................................. The Seventh Investigation: The Derivation of the Shari'a Laws from the Reports of the Prophet..................................... 75. The Explanation of the Categories of the Prophet's Knowledge ..........................................................................

271 275

280 287 292

299 303 310

316 322 327 334 340 346

353 357

361

BOOK VII

371 373

CONTENTS

xi

76. The Difference Between the Beneficial Purposes (Ma~iilil.1) and the Religious Laws................................... 77. The Way the Community Received the Divine Law from the Prophet ....................................................... 78. The Ranks of the Books on Hadith ................................ 79. The Manner of Understanding What is Meant by the Utterance (Kaliim) .............................................................. 80. The Manner of Understanding the Legal (Shar'i) Meanings From the Qur'an and the Sunna .................... 81. Judging Among Divergent Hadiths ................................. 82. The Causes of the Disagreement of the Companions and the Successors Concerning Applied Jurisprudence...................................................................... 83. The Causes for Disagreement Among the Schools of the Jurists....................................................................... 84. The Difference Between the People of the Hadith and Those Who Exercise Personal Opinion ................... 85. An Account of the Condition of People Before the Fourth Century and After ..... .... ..................... ...................

451

Bibliography .............................................................................. .

479

Indices ....................................................................................... .

483

. Q ur ,-ante

c·1tat1ons .

376 383 387 396 400 405

414 427 437

................................................................ .

483

Hadith Citations-English ..................................................... ..

488

Subjects and Terms .............................................................. .

496

Proper Names ....................................................................... .

503

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

In a work which has seen this long to come to fruition, there is naturally a long list of persons and institutions who have contributed to the effort materially, intellectually, or morally over the years. Among those whom I will mention here are Dr. Fazlur Rahman, who first suggested the need for this translation and to whom it is dedicated. The University of Chicago and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada both of which supported my graduate study. Among friends and colleagues Alan and Sylvia Godlas, Barbara von Schlegell, Hoda Boyer, J.M.S. Baljon, Bernard Weiss, Clemens and Judy Roothaan, and Michael Sells; in Montreal, Farrukh Amin, Aftab Ahmad, Wael Hallaq and Salwa Farahian and many other friends and colleagues in Chicago, Canada and San Diego who contributed in various ways. Any faults and errors which may remain, however, are my responsibility. It is my sincere hope that this translation lives on as a tribute to Dr. Rahman and as a contribution to the study of Islamic thought and its challenges in the contemporary period.

TRANSLATOR'S INTRODUCTION

The importance of the l:lujjat Allah al-Baligha and its situation in the Islamic intellectual tradition. /Jujjat Allah al-Baligha (The Conclusive Argument from God) is considered the master work of the eighteenth century Indian scholar, Shah Wali Allah of Delhi (1703-1762). Drawing on his wide erudition, the author brings together in this work the intellectual and spiritual disciplines of the Islamic heritage in his age in order to elucidate the wisdom and inner meanings behind the interpretation of the hadith reports of the Prophet Muhammad. In his preface Shah Wali cites the Qur'anic verse, "Indeed, the conclusive argument is from God," (Qur'an 6: 149), from which the title of this work is derived. The word "}:,ujjat" conveys the sense that one party to a debate or argument has presented the peremptory or convincing proof, argument, or formulation. 1 This argument, according to Shah Wali Allah, "refers to the inner meaning of religious obligation and requital and the inner dimensions of the divine laws revealed for mercy and guidance. " 2 He explains that he has bestowed this title, IJujjat Allah al-Baligha (The Conclusive Argument from God), since his book is like a branch spreading out from this conclusive argument. In IJujjat Allah al-Baligha, Shah Wali Allah attempts to elucidate the deeper levels of meaning of traditional symbols and practices while integrating mystical, intellectual, and traditional textual approaches to their interpretation. He understood his mission to be the integration of the increasingly fragmented and disparate articulations of the Islamic intellectual tradition in his own lifetime and thus he sought for a mode of 1 In the Qur'iinic reference the phrase is set in the context of God's proof or argument in response to the unbelievers who declare that if God had willed He could have guided everyone. A number of commentators on the Qur'iin understand this verse as referring to the assertion of the omniscience and omnipotence of God, which at the same time entails moral responsibility on the part of humans. 2 lfujjat Allah al Btiligha translation, IO.

xvi

TRANSLATOR'S INTRODUCTION

expression which would simultaneously draw on the tools of demonstrative proof of the philosophers and theologians, Sufi mystical insight into the higher realities of things, and the authority of the words of the transmitted textual sources of the Qur'an and the hadith. 3 The first volume of the }Jujjat Allah al-Biiligha lays out the theoretical foundations for the interpretation and application of the corpus of prophetic sayings, the hadith, against the background of human purposefulness. In the earlier chapters of the work a metaphysical structure is elaborated which is based on the internal dynamics within systems of experience. This internal dynamic is presented by Shah Wali Allah in the form of levels or systems which are initially understood to be composed of parts in conflict. This conflict must be resolved or harmonized toward a higher purpose through achieving or restoring harmony and balance within the system. Once balance is achieved the inherent perfection of the ideal form implicit in the person, species, society, and so on, is fulfilled, and this leads to the entire form or system expanding or moving up to a new, higher, order. Shah Wali Allah's theory of these systems is thus simultaneously one of a conflict of forces, whether two or many; and of one great force that is a drive towards the greatest perfection according to the highest salutary purpose (ma$lal_,,a kulliyya). This one great purpose that guides the entire universe toward progress through attaining harmony makes conflict intelligible and gives overcoming it a religious significance. The concept of ma$lal_,,a (beneficial purpose) is central to Shah Wali Allah's thought as the point of integration of the benefits arising due to the natural order of things, and the salutary outcomes which religious (sharian was revealed basing inheritance on a relationship of "brotherhood." God explained the benefit of this when He said, "If you don't do it there will be sedition on

' Muslim, Haid 82 • The Prophet created a special relationship of "brotherhood (ikhii') between the immigrants from Mecca (muhiijirun) and the Medinans (An,Yiir) whereby each An~ari gave half of his property to a Meccan (Muhiijir).

THE REGULATION OF RELIGION

359

the earth and a great evil. " 7 Then when Islam became strong, and the immigrants were reunited with those related to them, the command was revoked in favor of the previous inheritance by kinship. Or it may be that a thing did not have a beneficial purpose in the prophetic mission which had not included the caliphate as was the condition before the Prophet, may the peace and blessings of God be upon him, and as was the case in his time before the emigration to Medina; although the beneficial purpose came to be found in the Prophetic mission including the Caliphate. An example is that God, may He be exalted, did not make taking booty lawful to those before us, but permitted it to us, and this is justified in the hadith reports from two aspects: the first is that God saw our weakness and permitted us booty, and the second is due to God's esteeming our Prophet above the rest of the prophets and his community above other communities. The explanation of these two aspects is that prophets before the Prophet, may the peace and blessings of God be upon him, were sent to their particular nations, and these people were of limited numbers. Sometimes the duration of the Jihad among them was a year or two and so on, and their peoples were strong and able to combine the Jihad with trades such as agriculture and commerce so that they did not have a need for booty. God, may He be exalted, wanted that a worldly intention should not to be mixed with their actions so that the people would get the fullest rewards for them. He sent our Prophet, however, to all people, and they are uncountable and the duration of the Jihad against them is not limited. The Muslims were not able to combine the Jihad with occupations such as agriculture and trade, so they had a need for the permission to take booty. The Prophet's community, due to the universality of his call, included people of weak intentions, and concerning them is reported the hadith, "Indeed God will support this religion even by a profligate man. " 8 These people would only fight for a worldly goal, and God's mercy in the matter of the Jihad encompassed them mightily, and God's anger was directed against their enemies most strongly. This is the Prophet's saying, "God looked at the people of the earth, and loathed the Arabs and the non-Arabs among them."9 This required the termination of the 7 Qur'an 8:73. • Bukhari Jihad 182, Qadar 5, Maghazi 38, Muslim, Darimi, lbn l:fanbal. • Muslim Jannat 63, lbn l:fanbal.

360

BOOK VI

safeguarding of their property and lives in the most complete way, and the galling of their hearts by the disposal of their wealth as when the Prophet of God bestowed upon the Sacred Precincts (to be sacrificed) the camel of Abii Jahl 10 with a silver ring in its nose, so that this galled the unbelievers, 11 and when he ordered the cutting down of the date palms and burning them, this galled their owners. 12 Therefore the Qur,an revealed the permissibility of booty for this community. Another example is that fighting the unbelievers was not forbidden to this community at first, but at that time there was no army, neither was there a Caliphate. Then when the Prophet emigrated, and the Muslims collected and the Caliphate 13 appeared, and the Jihad with the enemies of God became possible, God, may He be exalted, revealed, "Permission is given to those who fought because they have been wronged; and Allah is able to give them victory." 14 About this division (of abrogation) is God's, may He be exalted, saying, "We do not abrogate any verse or make it forgotten, but that we bring a better one or one like it." 15 His saying, "A better one" refers to the Prophetic mission containing the Caliphate and His saying, "or one like it," refers to the changing of the ruling according to the variation of the anticipated sources, and God knows better.

10 Abii Jahl was the Prophet's uncle and one of his leading opponents. This incident of the sacrifice of a camel occurred after the battle of al-l:ludaybiyya. 11 The hadith may be found in Abii Diiwiid Maniisik II: 145. lbn I:Ianbal. 12 This refers to the cutting down and burning of palm trees of the Jewish tribe, the Bani Na