Today is our topic of discussion Maulana Mohammad Akram Khan .
Maulana Mohammad Akram Khan
With an exceptional life span of a century Maulana Mohammad Akram Khan had a wide and varied career in politics and profession. He was born on 7 June, 1868 in Hakimpur, a district of the 24 Parganas in West Bengal, 1 Born only after a decade of the sepoy Mutiny (1857) his life was foreshadowed by it and the Wahabi Trials (1863-1870) .
Akram Khan’s father, Maulana Abdul Bari participated in the Mutiny and was a follower of the Ahl-I-Hadith religious sect of Islam 3 Akram Khan inherited religious belief from his father.
4 Akram Khan followed Ahl-i-Hadith and strictly advocated the purging of all un-Islamic practices which he believed had “corrupted” the purity of Islam. He believed in maintaining the pristine quality of Islam as set by the rules of the Hadith (sayings of the Prophet Muhammad) and the Quran. He discarded any interpretation of Islamic laws other than the Shariah (the law of Islam),
It is mentioned that Akram Khan’s anscestors came from Jessore- Khulna region of Eastern Bengal and were converted from Hinduism.3 This must have been a psychological factor that directed him to a strong opposition to all indigenous elements and Hindu religious practices which were followed widely by the Muslims in Bengal.
Mohammad Akram Khan was at times dogmatic about his belief and made it a mission of his life to purge Islam of all influences of Hinduism, Sufl-ism, Pir-ism and other practices considered un-Islamic. Throughout his long career as a journalist, essayist, translator and a politician Akram Khan was resolute to protect Islam and to safeguard the interests of the Muslims.
After completing primary education Mohammad Akram Khan went to a madrassah (religious school) in Burdwan and then to an English medium school at Calcutta. He disliked English education and left the school. He preferred to learn Arabic and got himself admitted to the Calcutta Madrassah in 1896. There he studied till 1901. While studying at the Calcutta Madrassah he pointed out to the madrassah authority that Bengali must be taught at the institution.
He made an organised effort with the students of the madrassah to demand that Bengali must be included in the madrassah curriculum. The madrassah authority did, however, introduce Bengali at the primary level.
While still a student at the Calcutta Madrassah Akram Khan got involved in journalism. Journalism in those days was limited to writing of articles and translating news from different newspapers and journals from abroad or from the different provinces of India.
In Bengal the Muslims did not yet have a daily newspaper and those involved in journalism were not yet used to reporting of news. Akram Khan first worked with the Ahl-i- Hadith.7 and then he joined the Mohammadi Akbar 8 in which his translated versions of Urdu and Bengali articles and pieces of news were published.
His articles in the Mohammadi Akbar expressed anti-Christian feelings which was strong among the orthodox Muslims of the time. Preachings of Christian missionaries in Bengal had increased in the later half of the nineteenth century. Attempts were made by them to convert both Muslims and Hindus. Anti-Christian feeling among Muslims in Bengal can be traced from the works of Mohammad Meherullah (1861-1907).
Muslims getting converted to Christianity also existed.9 From 1903 onwards, Akram Khan began to work as the editor of the Mohammadi 10 Around 1908 he bought the proprietorship of the journal and then on got permanently involved in editing and publishing journals, 11 Akram Khan also edited the Al-Eslam, a monthly religious journal, published between 1915 and 1921. 12 He brought out the Zamana 13 and the Sebak 14 in the 1920’s.
Later, from October 1936 he began to publish the Azad, the only Bengali daily during that time which contributed greatly to generate a mass support for the Muslim League in Bengal in the 1930’s and the 1940’s.
Mohammad Akram Khan’s political career started with his participation in the anti-partition agitation in Bengal in 1905. He was one of the few Muslims in Bengal who opposed the partition of Bengal 15 Although in the early phase of his political life Mohammad Akram Khan supported the Indian National Congress his prime concern was the safeguard of the interests and rights of the Muslims in Bengal.
He, therefore, actively participated in the formation of the Muslim League in 1906,16 Later, in 1914 he attended the Peasants’ Conference at Kamariar Char in Jamalpur sub-division in Mymensingh where he spoke against the oppressions of Zamindars over the peasants. 17 There was, however, little ideological reason behind this.
Majority of the Muslims in Bengal were peasants. Muslim politicians in Bengal were beginning to take up the peasant’s grievances as political issues which they believed would give them popularity and a broad support. From 1918 to 1924, Akram Khan was involved in the Khilafat movement.
He was present at the Khilafat Conference at Ahsan Manzil in Dhaka in 1920. The conference was attended among others by Maulana Abul Kalam Azad (1885-1958), Maulana Moniruzzaman Islamabadi (1875-1950) and Maulana Mujibur Rahman (1873-1924) 18 Akram Khan was associated with them during the Khilafat and the non-co-operation movement.
He was elected Secretary of the Khilafat Committee and was given the responsibility to collect funds for the Ottoman Caliphate in Turkey. Although these attempts proved unrealistic and impractical, religious belief in the Caliphate and in Pan-Islamism made Akram Khan an enthusiastic supporter of the Khilafat and the non-co- operation movement.
He organized large meetings in different parts of Bengal. The Al-Eslam and the Mohammadi, both edited by Mohammad Akram Khan propagated the cause of the Khilafat and the non-co-operation movement during 1920-23. 19 He had been the secretary of the Anjuman-l- Ulama in Bengal and used the association to gear up the Khilafat movement 20 Akram Khan was imprisoned in 1922 for about a year for writing an editorial in the Sebak in favour of the non-co-operation movement.
Around this time, in December, 1922 C.R. Das formed the Swaraj Party in Calcutta and declared his preference for Council entry. Akram Khan was in the Bengal Provincial Congress Committee. He supported C.R. Das in this respect. He also co-operated with him to form the Bengal Pact in 1923. Under this pact the Muslims would get jobs according to the percentage of their population in Bengal.
The pact also provided 80% of the new jobs for Muslims in government offices and self-governed bodies like the Calcutta Corporation, municipalities and district and Local Boards until they got 54% of the jobs, 22 In 1924 Akram Khan was elected Chairman of the Bengal Provincial Conference at Sirajganj where he spoke in favour of the Pact. In a well-written speech he advoated Hindu-Muslim unity and succeeded in convincing those present at the conference.
The pact was accepted almost unanimously, 23
Communal not in Calcutta and Dhaka in 1926-1927 shook Akram Khan’s faith in such a unity. C.R. Das, the working spirit behind the pact had died in June 1925. Akram Khan gave up the hope for Hindu-Muslim unity but was still then a member of the Congress. It was around December 1928 that he left the party over the issue of the Nehru Report.
The Nehru Report had discarded the provisions for separate communal electorates and demanded Dominion Status for India. It was on the question of share of jobs for Muslims that Akram Khan broke up with the Congress 24 In 1929 Akram Khan, together with Sir Abdur Rahim (1867-1952) formed the Nikhil Banga Praja Samiti (All-Bengal Tenants’ Association).
Akram Khan was the secretary of this first non-communal and completely regional party formed by the Muslim leaders in Bengal. The party constituted mostly of the upper-middle class who intended to safeguard particularly the interests of the well-off and the rich peasants. Behind this was, however, the political intention to create a power base in rural Bengal. Although non-communal, majority of its members were Muslims.
Some of the members of the Congress with anti-zaminder feeling did not join the Praja Samiti,they joined the Krishak Sabha and the Kishan Sabha. It so happended in Bengal that the Muslim leaders stood in favour of the landlords 25 Coming out of the Congress, Akram Khan joined the party whose interest went against wishes of many Congress leaders. But, taking up peasants’ demands on a political platform did not mean that Akram Khan was inclined to socialistic ideas or communism.
In fact, he was opposed to communism and with a background of religious fundamentalism it was natural for him to be so, During the years between 1929 and 1936 Akram Khan’s association with A.K. Fazlul Huq (1873-1962), Abdul Karim (1861-1943), Shamsuddin Ahmed (1889-1969) and Tamizuddin Khan (1889-1963) was a marked shift in his political career. But by 1934 there was a rift between Akram Khan and these leaders over the contest for the post of presidentship of the party.
Fazlul Huq was elected president. Shamsuddin Ahmed replaced Akram Khan as Secretary. Fazlul Huq changed the name of the party to Krishak Praja Party (Peasants’ and Tenants’ Party) to make it more popular with the peasants. The party now demanded abolition of the zamidari and came up with slogans like “Land to the tillers” and “Dal-Bhat”26 for everyone. These were in fact the slogans of the more radical members of the Krishak Praja Party.
The leadership did not actually intend to introduce these but did not object to such slogans because they served well as pre-election gestures. The peasantry of Bengal thus came under the leadership of Fazlul Huq. Akram Khan predicted that the above commitments of the Krishak Praja Party would never be materialized.
While in the Nikhil Banga Praja Samiti Akram Khan had supported with other members of the party the abolition of the landlord’s fee on transfers of land, reduction of rent, relief from indebtedness, abolition of illegal exactions from peasants etc. Clash with Fazlul Huq on the question of leadership and ideology led him to join the Muslim League in June, 1936.
The greatest contribution Akram Khan made to the Muslim League was by bringing out the Azad in October, 1936. The paper was brought out as a daily and in Bengali and acted as a mouthpiece of the Muslim League.
It was on the eve of the election (to be held in February, 1937) and the Azad created an upsurge of emotion in favour of the Muslim League in Bengal. It came out with the sole intention to speak in favour of the Muslim League and the Muslims of Bengal. In its first issue it declared that its purpose was to serve the community.
It wrote that the Azad would free the Muslims of Bengal from all kinds of evils encompassing them and act as a “fearless guide” in their struggle for independence 27 The Azad, contributed greatly to the making of a consensus among Muslims in Bengal in favour the Muslim League. Akram Khan was now the Vice-President of the Bengal Provincial Muslim League.
He spoke in the Azad in favour of the Calcutta- based leadership and, therefore, supported Khwaja Nazimuddin as against Fazlul Huq who was more popular as a leader from Eastern Bengal. Anti- Huq and anti-Krishak Praja Party feeling was strong in Akram Khan.
In 1941-1942 Akram Khan with Khwaja Nazimuddin, H.S. Suhrawardy and Tamizuddin Khan mobilized Muslim opinion in order to bring the downfall of Huq ministry 28 Akram Khan supported Khawja Nazimuddin’s ministry as it did not include any member of the Krishak Praja Party.
In fact, Akram Khan had always supported Khwaja Nazimuddin. Although Akram Khan was strongly anti-British he was cautious neither to go too far to earn disfavour of the British nor to go beyond the wishes of the All-India Muslim League leadership.
Akram Khan believed that the demand for a separate homeland for the Muslims of India was justified. When in 1946 the elections for the Central Legislature were held on the issue of creation of a separate sovereign state called “Pakistan”, Akram Khan gave full support to it. His poems Hum Larke Lenge Pakistan and Pakistan Nama composed around 1946 became very popular among the Muslims,29 The Azad was now dedicated to support the crusade for Pakistan.
Although himself a Bengali Muslim he did not believe in the idea of a separate regional and linguistic identity of the Bengali Muslims. He considered himself a Muslim first and was determined to establish the communal identity of the Muslims of India and the raison d’etre behind the demand for Pakistan was his desire to preserve Islamic values 31 He, however, hated to see Bengal divided.
During May-June, 1947 Akram Khan strongly opposed any move for an independent sovereign Bengal but at the same time he oppossed the partitition of the province. He wanted the whole of Bengal to be included in Pakistan. He had, however, in 1905, objected to the partitition of Bengal and had joined the anti-partition agitation, 32 After the partition of Bengal in 1947 he came to live in Dhaka.
The shift from Akram Khan’s early political career to his later allegiance to the Muslim League exposes a contradiction and an inconsistency in him. All through his life he had been a staunch supporter of religious fundamentalism. In the early phase he wanted to accomodate with the Hindus. He was a member of the Indian National Congress and had.The Morning News, 15 June, 1969 in M. Haider, Appendx 1. “Larke Lenge Pakistan” was a popular slogan of the Indian Muslims before partition of India.
operated with C.R.Das in the formation of the Bengal Pact in 1923. He was then a prominent leader among those Muslims in Bengal who supported the Congress. During those years Akram Khan followed the principles of the Jamiat-ul-Ulama-i-Hind33 (Association of the Indian ulama) to protect Islam and the Muslim community but at the same time to maintain a good relation with the non-Muslims.
Being a member of the Jamiat-ul-ulama-i- Hind he followed the Deoband school which maintained a strict fundamentalism in religious matters but a flexible approach to politics. Following such principles Akram Khan had supported the Congress, the Khilafat movement, the Swaraj and the non-co-operation movement. Like the Deoband followers he was strongly anti-British.
The paradox in the Deoband principle was present in him in the early phase of his political career, he was a fundamentalist but non-communal. But the 1926-1927 communal riots had disillusioned him about a communal amity between the Hindus and the Muslims. The demands of the rising Muslim middle class and the consequent clash of interests with the Hindus had made such a rapprochement impossible.
By 1928 he was further confirmed that Congress attitude towards Muslim community was unjust in the sense that the Nehru Report had discarded the constitutional safeguards for Muslims like the provisions of separate electorates, reservation of seats and the fixed share of jobs for Muslims in Bengal. From a secular stand in politics in the earlier years he got involved in communal politics in the later years.
Unlike those of the Aligarh followers, the Deobandis were strongly anti-British and had opposed the demand for Pakistan. They did not support the arguments behind the two-nation theory of the Muslim League leaders. Most of the leaders of the Muslim League were English-educated, generally non-fundamentalists in religious matters and secular. They were closer to the Aligarh school of thought.
Mohammad Akram Khan hated English education and did not have western education. He was also anti-modernist both in religious and social matters. Although a Pan-Islamist and a follower of the Jamiat-ul-ulama-i-Hind Akram Khan was unlike other Pan-Islamists and Deobandis like Husain Ahmad Madani (1879-1957) and Maulana Abul Kalam Azad (1888-1958) on the question of the partition of India. Madani and Abul Kalam Azad believed that India was a united and an “indivisable whole”.
They believed that the goal of the Muslims in India was to achieve “complete independence along with the protection of their religious and communal rights” 34 They believed that cultural and religious differences did not interfere with their association with homeland just as personal traits, colour and stature did not affect their common humanness 35 They.
therefore, opposed the “two-nation” theory. They argued that partition of India would split the Muslim community in three regions and make them a smaller and weaker minority.
However, the Deoband ulama failed to convince the Muslims of India to accept their idea of secular nationalism because the separatist sentiment was too strong in them. From the mid- nineteen thirties,
Akram Khan supported the Muslim League demands and believed that the demand for a separate homeland for the Muslims of India was justifiable. Mohammad Akram Khan supported the separatist movement from an extra-territorial feeling which he retained from his earlier involvement in the Khilafat movement.
The Deobandis and the Jamiat-ul- ulama-i-Hind had also joined the Khilafat movement and had supported the cause of the Caliphate but after 1924, when the Caliphate was abolished they took a more realistic approach to defend the interests of the Indian Muslims 36 They stressed on the spirit of humanism and tolerance and kept open the possibility of Muslims living as citizens in a non-Muslim state.
Although the creation of Pakistan signified the triumph of the modern idea of territorial nationalism it was based on religion which proved unrealistic in the long run. The emergence of Bangladesh in 1971 repudiated such religion-based nationalism.
On other political and social issues Akram Khan’s opinions were expressed in the Mohammadi and the Azad, both edited by him. In a long article in the Mohammadi in 1931 he expressed his views against separate electorates in Bengal 38 He believed that since Muslims were a majority in Bengal joint electorates was good for their interest.
In Akram Khan’s opinion separate electorates in Bengal was not only “unnecessary” but also “extremely harmful”, 39 Akram Khan had previously supported the provisions made by the Lucknow Pact in 1916 regarding separate electorates and weightage 40 By the 1930’s, however, Akram Khan wrote that it was foolish on the part of the Muslims of Bengal to accept separate electorates and weightage.
The Bengal Provincial Muslim League had also demanded joint electorates around 1932. Akram Khan was one of those who demanded that the electorate for the Bengal Legislative Assembly was to be based on adult franchise.
Akram Khan pointed out in the same article that factionalism among the political leaders in Bengal had increased on the issue of separate versus joint electorates 42 Besides, he wrote that it was hoped that the introduction of separate electorates would lure those Muslim politicians who had joined the Congress but commented at the same time that leaders like Syed Jalaluddin Hashemy(1890-1947) or Syed Nausher Ali (1890-1972) would never be lured by such provisions.
Akram Khan warned the Muslims of Bengal that separate electorate was a temporary arrangement and they must not depend on it. They must not lose the spirit of self-reliance and competition. The monthly Mohammadi also expressed Akram Khan’s views on the pursuit of music and painting by Muslims and on the acceptance of “riba” (interests on savings in banks).
His views on these issues showed an attempt to combine basic principles of Islam with a certain extent of modernization. It had been common in the Muslim society to look at fine arts from a negative point of view. But, Akram Khan attempted to ease such inhibitions by pointing out that the pursuit of music and painting was never prohibited in the Quran or the Islamic shariah.46 He, however, objected to the excess of music practised by the Suffs and the mystics.
On the issue of the use of Bengali language as the mother tongue of the Bengalis Akram Khan had always supported it. While a student of the Calcutta Madrassah Akram Khan had persuaded the Madrassah authority to introduce Bengali in its curriculum 48 In his speech at the Third Conference of the Bangiya Musalman Sahitya Samity (Bengali Muslim Literary Association) in 1918 he said, There are many strange questions in the world.
The strangest of all is to ask “what would be the mother- tongue of the Bengali Muslims? Urdu or Bengali ?…” From the earliest time of Muslim history in Bengal, Bengali has been used in writing and in speaking as the mother-tongue and it will continue to be so in future.
The Azad was published in Bengali to serve the Muslim community in Bengal by upholding its political interests. Bengal was the centre of the largest Muslim population in India.
The 30 million Muslims of Bengal and Assam had numerous social and economic problems and political demands. Akram Khan felt that in the midst of continuous process of change, the Muslims of Bengal needed to express their views and grievances 50 The Azad expressed views against the Communal Award (1932), against the Krishak Praja Party, against Huq ministry (1937-1943) and fostered the idea of a separate homeland for the Muslims of India.
In respect of social thought Akram Khan was strongly opposed to the un-Islamic practices prevalent for centuries among Muslims in Bengal. His book, Muslim Banglar Shamajik Itihas gives an idea of his religious and social views.
Being a product of the Wahabi, Faraizi and the Tariquah-i-Muhammadiah movements he was a religious reformist and stressed on maintaining a separate cultural identify of the Muslims in India 52 Islam was never in pure form in India and particularly in Bengal Islamic customs and rituals blended with those of the Hindus since the thirteenth century. Influences of Sufi and Hindu mysticism also mingled with Islamic practices.
This syncretism took place in Bengal particularly because of the conversion of local people to Islam. Local customs, practices and rituals continued to be practiced by them. As a result a form of folk or indigenous Islam emerged in Bengal. The reform movements took place with attempts to eradicate Islam from those indigneous practices which were considered shirk.
According to Akram Khan Bengal came in contact with Islam politically with the invasion of Bengal by Bakhtiyar Khalji in 1201 AD 53 Akram Khan divided the years from 1201 A.D. to 1767 A.D.
into three phases. The first phase was from 1202 A.D. to 1340 A.D., the second from 1340 A.D. to 1576 A.D. and the third from 1576 A.D. to 1767 A.D. He commented that except the first phase the later two contributed to the downfall of the Muslims in Bengal 54. He believed that during those years Muslim society in Bengal was in danger from within itself.
There was not a single translation of the Quran and not a single emperor in the Islamic world to guide and inspire the Muslims. Moreover, the influence of the Turks, Tartars, Afgans and Iranians on the one hand, and of the Buddhists and low-caste Hindus on the other, contributed to the problem for the Muslims of Bengal of choosing a language of their own 55 The Muslims in Bengal faced a crisis of a linguistic identity in the later years.
Persian became popular in Bengal and Akram Khan wrote that this had a negative impact on the Muslim society in Bengal, 56 Popularity of Persian language prevented the Muslims from learning Bengali. He pointed out that there was not a single ruler in the Muslim world who in ideology or in religious belief was a true Muslim.
When the Hindus had been experiencing a revival of their religion and culture no Muslim ruler patronized or took the initiative for a similar revival among Muslims in Bengal. Muslims in this region were in the midst of un-Islamic influences of the Hindus and the Buddhists, 57 The Muslims used to participate in various pujas (worship of Hindu dicties and saints) and observed other pagan and mythical rituals.
Most literature during this period was influenced by Hindu and Suff mysticism 58 Akram Khan also mentioned the negative effect of the puthi 59 literature which portrayed Hindu gods and goddesses as Muslim saints and had misguided the Muslims of Bengal,
Akram Khan was critical of Husain Shah, the ruler of Bengal in the years 1494 to 1538, for his sympathies with Chaitanya-ism 61 He wrote that during Husain Shah’s reign there was the growth of the cult of pir (religious saint).
Akram Khan made Husain Shah responsible for the introduction of the practice of worshipping Satyapir 63 Numerous poems and puthis were written on the cult of Satyapir and other Hindu and Muslim saints. Medieval Bengal was influenced by both Sufi-ism and Chaitanya-ism. Akram Khan was of opinion that Sri Chaitanya actually hated the comtemporary Muslim society.
He quoted a verse where Sri Chaitanya referred to the Muslims as jabon which was a derogatory term used for Muslims by the Hindus.64 Akram Khan was convinced that it was a conspiracy on the part of Husain Shah to make Bengal free from Islamic influences 65 As a result, he pointed out that a reaction against those un- Islamic influences had also started during this period by the reformist Muslims.
Recapitulating the history of the past glory of the Muslims in India in “Muslim Banglar Charam Biparjoykal” Akram Khan pointed out how they had fallen into degeneration 67 He noted that the assassination of the third Caliph, Hazrat Osman (644-655 A.D.) was the symbolic act indicating the process of degeneration of the Muslims.
Later, the killings at the battle of Karbala (680 A.D.) confirmed such degeneration which reached an extreme state in India during the reign of the Mughal emperor Akbar (1556-1605),68 Akram Khan believed that Akbar gave recognition to the un-Islamic practices that were prevalent among Muslims in India 69 Akram Khan was aware of the fact that Akbar was credited for his syncretic approach in an attempt to unite all religions and cultures in India but he pointed out that this appreciation came mostly from non-Muslim historians.
He did not agree with those scholars who praised Akbar.70 Akram Khan criticized Akbar’s Din-i-Ilahi, promulgated in 1582, and the principle of religious eclecticism behind it. In fact, he held the opinion that Akbar introduced a perilous “sin” in the Muslim society in India which completed the process of degeneration 71 Hinduism and Islam merged syncretically in Akbar’s Din-l- Ilahi.
Akbar wanted to earn the favour of both the Hindus and the Muslims in India. But Akram Khan saw it as an attempt to move away from Islam. Akram Khan believed that Akbar’s religious policy was aimed at ruining Islam in India. Akram Khan was equally critical of Dara Shikoh (1615- 1659) who, too, upheld syncretism and even translated the Upanishad in Persian around (1656-1657). To Akram Khan such pursuit of the syncretistic trend was also a threat to Islam.
Akram Khan was a believer of fundamentalist Islam. He believed in the rule of the shariah. He, therefore, praised Aurangzeb (1618-1707) who believed in conformist orthodoxy and led a crusade against the syncretistic trend of Akbar and Dara Shikoh. Aurangzeb did not hesitate to execute his elder brother Dara Shikoh for his heterodoxical ideas.
The legacies of Akbar and Aurangzeb have remained as two permanent and conflicting trends in the social and religious thought of the Muslims in Bengal since the sixteenth century. Both trends had been integral parts of Indian Islam.
Akram Khan, fundamentalist and non-syncretic in his socio-religious belief, looked upon the Muslims as a separate identity. It was from this attitude that he supported the partition of India. Separatist trend in Indian politics developed originally from the anti-syncretic attitude of the fundamentalist Muslims.
Of course, not all fundamentalists were separatists but they were anti-syncretic in their attitude to non-Islamic religious cultures and practices. Akram Khan did not believe in secularism in his later life. He stressed that Muslims in India should maintain a separate cultural entity.
Akram Khan was a controversial personality during his time. His religious intolerance and demand for Pakistan branded him as a communalist. Inconsistencies in political beliefs and social ideas earned him criticisms both from the ulama, the modernists and those who believed in progressive ideas.
See more: