Shaykh Zulqad Ali – 'Mujaddid’ of Assamese muslims | Author: Muhammad Talha Amin Baruah

Shaykh Zulqad Ali – 'Mujaddid’ of Assamese muslims

By Muhammad Talha Amin Baruah

Shaykh Abdul Jalal Zulqad Ali was born in the year 1796 A.D in Sivsagar, Ahom Kingdom. He was the son of Muhammad Sufi (also known as Forzand Gaonburah), an employee of the Ahom king Suklingphaa or Kamaleshwar Singha. When the Burmese war broke out and the Ahom kings were defeated, Zulqad along with his brother Tekhenjar & other members of his family settled in Guwahati in 1820. From there, Zulqad went to Jaunpur and entered into the discipleship of Maulana Keramat Ali Jaunpuri. Later, Zulqad became a student of the world famous scholar and the great indian freedom fighter Haji Iumdadullah Muhajir Makki, who permitted him to initiate people in all the four orders namely – Chishtiya, Suhrawardiya, Qadiriya and Naqshbandiya. Having returned to Guwahati in 1880, Shaykh Zulqad Ali started his missionary activity at Kamrup, Darrang and Nowgong districts.

Muslims in Assam in those days live a life of ignorance. Though they prayed five times a day, they still didn’t know to read the holy Quran. They used to shave, used to do certain innovations, recite mantras of hindu text and even worship idols of Phuralung deities. In order to show the right path to these people, Zulqad made speeches, wrote books and pamphlets and advised people to lead simple and pure life like the Prophet Muhammad s.a.w. Zulqad had led a crusade against evil practices and innovations like the observing of the Muharram festival and taking out tazia. He forcibly stopped the mourning procession as well. Zulqad vowed to establish a true Islamic model for the people to build up a new society based solely on Islamic traditions. Namaz, Roza, Haj and Zakat were encouraged and the people were advised to keep away from abuses, hypocrisy and other evil practices.

Assamese Muslims soon began to Islamise themselves. With time, they completely changed themselves, they started to keep beards, stopped the worship of idols, defied innovations and started building mosques. They could now read the Quran too. Zulqad Ali himself established a mosque and an islamic seminary at Mangaldai, which propagated Islam in it’s purest form in Assam in those days. In the year 1891, Zulqad Ali sadly passed away at the age of 95.

Shaykh Zulqad Ali’s reform can still be seen in the Assamese muslim society. Without him there was no existence of Assamese muslim, we could still have been praying to deities if not for him. Zulqad Ali’s views were inclined towards the modern day Deobandi school of thought, since he was a student of Haji Imdadullah Muhajir Makki. Today, the majority of Assam’s Muslims are part of the Tablighi movement (which means to go door to door in order to remind Muslim brothers that their true success relies in following the commandments of Allah and living life as per the sunnah of the Prophet s.a.w).

Apart from these, Zulqad Ali has also contributed to Assamese literature. His book ‘Tariqul Haq Fi Bayane Nurul Haq’ is the first Assamese book written using the Arabic script. His book is one of the oldest works in modern Assamese prose.

It Is a shame that Shaykh Zulqad Ali is barely known by the Assamese Muslims. Such a great revivalist personality should be remembered and revered for his contributions. But instead, Zulqad Ali’s history is fading, not just from our minds, but from literature unduly. Everything mentioned above is all that could be gathered.

Sources :

1. ‘Biographical encyclopedia of Sufis South Asia’ by N. Hanif, page 401-402

2. ‘Assam district gazetteer Darrang’ by B.C Allen, Volume V page 100-101

3. ‘Itihakhor sah-puhorot Goria-Moria-Deshi’ by Mukut Sarma, page 323, 326