Haji Shariatullah and the Faraizi Movement

This handout covers Haji Shariatullah and the Faraizi Movement in East Bengal, the work of his son Dudu Mian and of Titu Mir, and ends with a comparison of the three religious reformers. It belongs to Section 1 of the syllabus: the cultural and historical background to the Pakistan Movement.

Key dates

Date	Event
1781	Haji Shariatullah is born in Faridpur district, East Bengal
1799	Travels to Arabia for Hajj and stays for many years to study
About 1818	Returns to Bengal and begins the Faraizi Movement
1831	Titu Mir is killed when British troops destroy his bamboo fort at Narkelbaria
1840	Haji Shariatullah dies; his son Mohsin-ud-Din (Dudu Mian) takes over the movement
1840s and 1850s	Dudu Mian organises the Faraizis and leads resistance to landlords; he is arrested several times
1862	Dudu Mian dies; the movement declines

Background: Muslims in East Bengal

Bengal was the first large province to come under the East India Company (EIC), after the Battle of Plassey in 1757. By the early nineteenth century the Muslims of East Bengal, most of whom were poor peasant farmers, were in a very weak position.

• Most of the land was held by Hindu zamindars (landlords), who collected rents and extra taxes from Muslim tenants. European indigo planters also forced peasants to grow indigo on poor terms.
• Muslims had lost the positions they had held under the Mughals and had little education or influence under the British.
• Living closely with Hindu neighbours for generations, many Muslims had taken up Hindu customs and ceremonies and were neglecting their own religious duties.

Haji Shariatullah

Haji Shariatullah was born in 1781 in Faridpur district. In 1799 he went to Arabia for Hajj and remained there for about nineteen years. During this time he was influenced by the reforming ideas of Sheikh Muhammad Abdul Wahhab, who taught that Muslims must return to the original, simple teachings of Islam. When he returned to Bengal he was shocked by the condition of the Muslims and began to preach among them.

The Faraizi Movement: beliefs and aims

1. A return to religious duties. The name comes from faraiz, the obligatory duties of Islam, such as prayer, fasting, zakat and Hajj. He taught that Muslims had fallen into difficulty because they had given up these duties, and that they must perform them faithfully.
2. Removing un-Islamic practices. He told Muslims to give up Hindu customs and ceremonies and practices that had no basis in the Quran and Sunnah. Followers were asked to repent of past sins and promise to live by the teachings of Islam.
3. Dar-ul-Harb. He declared that India under non-Muslim rule was Dar-ul-Harb, a land where Islamic law was not in force. For this reason he taught that Friday and Eid congregational prayers should not be held there.
4. Protecting the peasants. He wanted to restore the pride of Muslim peasants and encouraged them to stand together against the unfair treatment of the zamindars.

The movement spread quickly among the poor Muslims of East Bengal. The Hindu landlords were alarmed. They did not want their tenants to become united and confident, and they objected to his teaching. They made accusations against him to the authorities and he was driven out of the area where he was preaching. He returned to Faridpur and continued his work until his death in 1840.

Dudu Mian

Haji Shariatullah's son Mohsin-ud-Din, known as Dudu Mian, led the movement from 1840. He turned it from a mainly religious movement into a well organised one that also fought for the economic rights of the peasants.

• He divided East Bengal into areas called circles and appointed a khalifa (deputy) to each. The khalifas looked after the religious and social welfare of the Faraizis in their circle and kept Dudu Mian informed.
• He declared that the land belonged to Allah, so the landlords had no right to charge taxes on it. He told his followers not to pay the extra taxes demanded by the zamindars, some of which were collected for Hindu festivals.
• He organised groups of followers to defend the peasants against the landlords and the indigo planters.

The landlords and planters opposed him strongly. Cases were brought against him and he was arrested and imprisoned several times. After his death in 1862 the movement lost its strength, although it did not disappear completely.

Titu Mir

Mir Nisar Ali, known as Titu Mir, led a separate movement in West Bengal at about the same time. He had met Syed Ahmad Shaheed Barelvi and was influenced by his ideas. He preached the purification of Islam among Muslim peasants and defended them against the zamindars.

When a Hindu landlord, Krishna Deva Rai, imposed a tax on Muslims who kept beards, Titu Mir led resistance to it. He gathered a force of peasants, built a fort of bamboo at Narkelbaria and defeated forces sent by the landlords. In 1831 the British sent troops with artillery. The bamboo fort was destroyed and Titu Mir was killed in the fighting.

Results of the Faraizi Movement

• It brought a religious revival among the Muslims of East Bengal. Many gave up Hindu customs and returned to the regular practice of Islam.
• It gave poor Muslim peasants confidence and a sense of unity. They became aware of their rights and were more willing to resist unfair treatment.
• It made the Muslims of Bengal more conscious of their separate identity as a community.
• It did not end the power of the zamindars or of the British. The landlords, the planters and the courts were too strong, and the movement weakened after Dudu Mian's death.

How important was the Faraizi Movement?

Its importance. The movement reached the poorest and least educated Muslims, the group that earlier reformers had found hardest to reach. It joined religious reform to a struggle for economic and social justice, which gave it wide support. It encouraged Muslims in Bengal to see themselves as a community with its own interests. Some historians see this as preparing the ground for later political activity by the Muslims of East Bengal, where the Muslim League was founded in 1906.

Its limits. It was confined to one region and had little effect on Muslims elsewhere in India. It did not change the system of landholding. Its ruling against Friday and Eid prayers was not accepted by many other Muslims. It depended heavily on its two leaders and faded after 1862.

Judgement. The Faraizi Movement did not achieve lasting political or economic change, but it was successful as a movement of religious and social revival among the Muslims of East Bengal. Its long-term importance lies in the awareness and unity it created.

Comparing the three reformers

Reformer	Where and when	Main method	Main result
Shah Waliullah	Delhi, 1703 to 1762	Scholarship: translating the Quran into Persian, writing books, teaching	Lasting religious influence; did not stop political decline
Syed Ahmad Shaheed Barelvi	Punjab and the frontier, 1820s to 1831	Armed jihad against Sikh rule	Defeated at Balakot; inspired later generations
Haji Shariatullah	East Bengal, from about 1818 to 1840	Preaching to peasants; return to religious duties	Religious revival and unity among Bengali Muslims; no lasting political change

All three believed that Muslims had declined because they had moved away from true Islam, and all three wanted to remove un-Islamic practices. They differed in method and audience. Shah Waliullah worked through learning and reached the educated. Syed Ahmad took up arms and drew volunteers from many regions. Haji Shariatullah worked among the poor of one province and linked faith to their daily hardships. When asked who was most important, many answers choose Shah Waliullah, because his ideas came first and influenced the others, but a case can be made for each.

Key terms and people

• Faraiz: the obligatory religious duties of a Muslim.
• Faraizi Movement: the reform movement begun by Haji Shariatullah in East Bengal.
• Dar-ul-Harb: a land not under Islamic rule.
• Zamindar: a landlord who collected rent and taxes from peasant tenants.
• Dudu Mian (Mohsin-ud-Din): son of Haji Shariatullah, who organised the movement after 1840.
• Khalifa: a deputy in charge of one of Dudu Mian's circles.
• Titu Mir (Mir Nisar Ali): leader of Muslim peasants in West Bengal, killed in 1831.

Exam practice

1. Describe the work of Dudu Mian. [4]
2. Why did Haji Shariatullah start the Faraizi Movement? [7]
3. "Haji Shariatullah made a more important contribution to the revival of Islam in the subcontinent than Shah Waliullah or Syed Ahmad Shaheed Barelvi." How far do you agree? Explain your answer. [14]

Outline answers

Question 1 (4 marks): Dudu Mian was the son of Haji Shariatullah and led the Faraizi Movement after 1840. He divided East Bengal into circles, each under a khalifa. He told followers not to pay the landlords' extra taxes, saying the land belonged to Allah. He was arrested and imprisoned several times because of opposition from landlords and planters.

Question 2 (7 marks): Three explained reasons. (1) Muslims in East Bengal had adopted Hindu customs and neglected their religious duties; he wanted them to return to the faraiz. (2) Muslim peasants were oppressed by Hindu zamindars and had lost their status under British rule; he wanted to restore their pride and unity. (3) He believed India had become Dar-ul-Harb and that Muslims needed to recognise this and reform their lives according to the pure teachings of Islam he had studied in Arabia.

Question 3 (14 marks): For Haji Shariatullah: revived religious practice among the poorest Muslims; united peasants against landlords; with Dudu Mian, created an organised movement and a sense of Muslim identity in Bengal. For Shah Waliullah: Persian translation of the Quran; 51 books; Madrassa Rahimiya; his ideas influenced the other two. For Syed Ahmad: first armed movement to free Muslims from non-Muslim rule; united Muslims of different regions; an inspiration despite defeat. Judgement: Haji Shariatullah's work was important but regional; Shah Waliullah's influence was the widest and longest lasting, so he can be judged the most important, though the answer must be supported by the comparison.