islamic-jihad-legacy-of-forced-conversion-imperialism-slavery

Islamic Jihadsake of Allah and inspired by a sense of honor for protecting the din of the Prophet of God.’’ 263 However, incase of an impossible situation, he advised, ‘‘…if total extirpation of idolatry is not possible owing to the firmroots of kufr and the large number of kafirs and mushriks, the kings should at least strive to disgrace,dishonor and defame the mushriks and idol-worshipping Hindus, who are the worst enemies of God and HisProphet.’’ 264Although condemned by modern historians, these Sufi saints were highly popular in their days,respected by the Ulema and especially in ruling circles, thereby wielding critical influence on the formulationof state-policies. Sufi masters Bahauddin Zakaria and Nuruddin Mubarak held the highest Islamic epithet—the Shaykh al-Islam, normally bestowed upon the most learned scholars of Islam. Without going into furtherdetail of the views of those popular but more orthodox Sufis, let us now examine the role, Sufis played, in thepropagation of Islam.Sufis in the propagation of Islam: Sufis have been credited with converting large masses of infidels to Islamthrough peaceful missionary activity. But this claim comes with little supporting evidence. Two points mustbe taken into consideration beforehand in this discussion. First, Sufis became an organized and acceptedcommunity in the thirteenth and early fourteenth century. By this time, the peoples of the Middle East, Persia,Egypt and North Africa had become largely Muslim. The Sufis could not have played significant roles in theirconversion. In agreement, says Francis Robinson, Sufis played a leading part in ‘the remarkable spread ofIslam from the thirteenth century onwards.’ 265 Second, the Sufis almost invariably needed the power andterror of the sword to create the dominance of Islam first before their alleged peaceful mission of propagatingIslam could proceed.The attitude and mindset of the greatest Sufi saints of medieval India, discussed above, were hardlydifferent from those of the orthodox, who advocated for the use of unconditional force in accordance with theQuran, the Sunnah and the Sharia for converting the infidels. The famous Sufis of India invariably supportedviolent Jihad for making Islam victorious. India’s greatest Sufi saints—Nizamuddin Auliya and MoinuddinChisti—themselves came to India to participate in holy war against the infidels, which they both did. Auliyahad also sent forth Shaykh Shah Jalal, the greatest Sufi saint of Bengal, with 360 disciples to take part in aholy war against King Gaur Govinda of Sylhet (see below). The renowned Sufis of Bijapur also came there asholy warriors for slaughtering the infidels and establishing Islamic rule (noted already).Conversion by Sufis in Bengal: The claim that Sufis peacefully converted the non-Muslims to Islamin large numbers is not supported by historical records. Furthermore, most Sufis were intolerant, of violentJihadi mindset, and even, were themselves Jihadis. While discussing these issues in a friendly conversationwith two learned secular Bangladeshi scholars, they informed me that, at least in Bangladesh, Sufis hadpropagated Islam through peaceful means. This agrees with Nehemia Levtzion’s assertion that ‘Sufis wereparticularly important in achieving the almost total conversion in eastern Bengal.’ 266An investigation of two greatest Sufi saints of Bengal outlined below will give us an inkling of theroles Sufis played in the proselytization and how peaceful it was. Two Jalaluddins, Shaykh Jalaluddin Tabrizi(d. 1226 or 1244) and Shaykh Shah Jalal (d. 1347), were the greatest Sufi saints of Bengal. Shaykh JalaluddinTabrizi came to Bengal after Bakhtiyar Khilji conquered Bengal defeating the Hindu King Lakshman Sena in1205. He settled in Devtala near Pandua (Maldah, West Bengal). He is said to have "converted large numberof Kafirs" to Islam but the method of his conversions is unknown. According to Syed Athar Abbas Rizvi, ‘akafir (Hindu or Buddhist) had erected a large temple and a well (at Devtala). The Shaikh demolished the263. Ibid, p. 179264. bid, p. 183265. Robinson F (2000) Islam and Muslim History in South Asia, Oxford University Press, New Delhi, p. 31–32266. Levtzion N (1979) Toward a Comparative Study of Islamization, in Conversion to Islam, p. 1893