Change

Its strange. Just writing a few lines out of what i feel. Its been a while since i have written something of my own accord. I am nothing and no one. My words are not even worthy of being read. All i know and want to say is that we have strayed far far away. Far away from the teachings of Quran and Sunnah. Far away from the love of Allah subhana wa taAla and His beloved Rasulullah salallahu alayhe Wassalam. We have abondoned haq(truth), not only in feeling but also in speech. In our homes, in our gatherings and in our society. Its filthy, every single thing stinks. I smell the foul smell emitting from the prestige given to opulence and the one who is associated to it. Wealth equals respect, truth equals fool. They mock, and laugh and joke at those who speak the truth. Laugh my friend laugh, let me increase in my forbearance while you increase in your foolishness. I pity your state for your ignorance of Haq(truth). And i pity my state for my lack of being on Haq(truth.) I wish to live for that day. The day i see the poor praising the ruler. The day i see the poor praising the ruler. the day i see the poor praising the ruler. There is an ocean in my heart, an ocean that wants to change. Wants to change the inner core of my being. Changing the system is the talk of the town, a few lines of poetry and i too want to change it. I, a spec barely noticable among a crowd of three. I hope to live to see the change.....One day.....

Musa And Safurah; a Courtship , a Romance

by Hena Zuberi
I am from Generation X. Raised on ‘Pretty in Pink’ and Sweet Dreams romance novels, some of my friends read Mills and Boons, others raved about the unattainable love in the Thorn birds; but I preferred the grand passion of Wuthering Heights. That was my idea of a romance – filling each other completely, a religion of love.
It also came from Indian movies; rich girl falls for poor guy, they dance around trees in the rain, then drama ensues from the family, enter Prem Chopra character, the guy runs off with girl, the end. Sometimes, he would dash in with a monologue and take her away while she was getting married to someone else. How many girls are still waiting for their Sir Salman/Saif/Shahrukh Khan to take them away on a white horse in a red lehnga?
When in love, according to Freud, “against all the evidence of  her/his senses, a wo/man who is in love declares ‘I’ and ‘you’ are one, and is prepared to behave as if it were a fact.” This love is so destructive, so impossible; based on these notions, I have nursed many a heartbroken friend. I remember being in ER after she burnt herself with a cigarette because she wasn’t allowed to see him; another time helping to hide another’s bruises under makeup, where he punched her for talking to his buddy. My own quest was less for the pain, more for the eternal flutter in my heart. What were we thinking? Allah made us; He put these feelings in our heart, so why didn’t we ever think of turning to His book to see how ‘boy meets girl’ really works? It’s all in there.
I read of a great courtship, a love story that is so romantic it’s divine. The setting – Madyan, the land of frankincense, I can almost smell it lingering in the air. Historian Abdulla Al-Wohaibi writes that Madyan was “a flourishing ancient town with numerous wells and permanently flowing springs whose water had good taste. There were farms, gardens and groves of palm trees.”
Here we meet Safurah, the daughter of Shuyab `alayhi assalam (peace be upon him) at the side of a gushing spring, ‘keeping back, stopping her sheep from drinking with the sheep of the shepherds.’ And Musa (as), a fugitive on the run for eight days, crossing the burning desert sands from Egypt, feeding off nothing but tree leaves.
Their meeting is a beautiful example of chivalry; a perfect model of what it means to be a man and a woman. This was her daily routine and she waited out of her sense of modesty. She and her sister were strong women, after all herding their father’s flock wasn’t easy work. They were surrounded by rowdy men, reminding me of scenes from Liberty market in Lahore, Cairo’s Khan Khaleeli or the Westfield mall in Generic town, U.S.A. where rowdy boys hang out – men yelling, pushing, with little dignity or sense of composure. He, however, was a gentleman amongst the uncouth.
She didn’t need his help, she could have waited until all of the other men were done and then watered her flock, but that’s what makes it so special – that he still stood up to help her. Musa (as) was thirsty too but his sense of doing the right thing was stronger than his fatigue or his hunger. He was honorable – he could have ignored the sisters, could have said “I’m too tired, too important.” He had no relationship with these women. He didn’t know what family or religion they were from. All he saw was someone was being treated unfairly and for the sake of Allah, he was ready to help.
Sisters, a man like that will get you far in life. He will be just with your children, your parents and his parents. He will help you in your faith, your home and your life. As for the ones pushing each other to get the water from the well, they are the same brothers who will keep fighting for the dunya. They will keep working away for the next promotion and you will be left on the side like the two sisters from Madyan.
When Musa (as) approached the water, he saw that the shepherds had placed an immense rock, that could only be moved by ten men, over the mouth of the spring. ‘Musa embraced the rock and lifted it out of the spring’s mouth, the veins of his neck and hands standing out as he did so.’ He let their sheep drink and then put the rock back in its place.
After Musa (as) did this kind act, he went back in the shade of the tree and made du`a’. Unlike some MSA brothers who like to walk the sisters to their apartments and then ask them if they have food in the fridge, he didn’t ask the girls “Hey! I did you a favor, can you help me out now?”
No, he lies down on Allah’s green earth and makes this beautiful du`a’:

“So he watered (their flocks) for them, then he turned back to shade, and said: ‘My Lord! I am truly in need of whatever good that You bestow on me!’” (Qur’an, 28:24)

`Ata’ bin As-Sa’ib said in Tafsir ibn Kathir: “When Musa made that du`a’ the women heard him.”  What a beautiful du`a’ to make for all of us who are looking for a good partner or bliss in our married lives. This one du`a’ to Allah gave Musa (as) a job, a house and a family all at once. When you have nothing left except Allah, than you find that Allah is always enough for you.
The two sisters came home with the well-fed sheep, surprising their father Shuyab (as). He asked them what had happened and they told him what Musa (as) had done. So he sent one of them to call him to meet her father.
She said: “My father is inviting you so that he may reward you for watering our sheep.” In Tafsir ibn Kathir it states:
there came to him one of them, walking shyly, meaning she was walking like a free woman. Narrates `Umar ibn-Khattab, may Allah be pleased with him: “She was covering herself from them (Musa) with the folds of her garment.”
Safurah is intelligent and intuitive. Abdullah bin Masud praised three people’s intuition: Abu Bakr Siddiq (ra) about `Umar ibn-Khattab, Yousuf ‘s (as) companion, and Safurah’s when she asked her father to hire Musa (as). “Verily, the best of men for you to hire is the strong, the trustworthy.” Her father said to her, ”What do you know about that?” She said to him, “He lifted a rock which could only be lifted by ten men, and when I came back with him, I walked ahead of him, but he said to me, walk behind me, and if I get confused about the route, throw a pebble so that I will know which way to go.”
He didn’t follow her, looking at her from behind – subhan’Allah. Imagine the scenario: he was a prince who must have had women throwing themselves at him but he ‘lowers his gaze’, which is the hukum for all Muslim men, but how many really adhere to that? Here Musa (as) is not Safurah’s husband yet, so he asks her to walk behind him, knowing very well that he doesn’t know the way but she does. It wasn’t a matter of ego or superiority; he was concerned about her honor as she was alone, without her sister; this way he was protecting her. Look at their society too – if all the men were such boors, could you put it past those people to gossip about her walking with him?
I often wonder how Musa (as) grew up to be this way? He came from such privilege, so much corruption existed in the court of Pharoah; he could have had any woman he wanted. But he learnt how to honor women from his pious foster mother, `Aasiya (ra); and continued this respect even hundreds of miles from his mother’s eyes. Mothers can be shields for their sons – even if the fathers are Pharoah.
Back to our courtship: Musa (as) takes Safurah’s ‘lead’ by making her throw stones to direct the route. Brothers, there’s a lesson for you here: it’s ok to ask for directions and consulting with a woman. Such a man’s bravado would be insulted today; he would be considered crazy or sexist for asking a woman to walk in his shadow and then make her do all the work! Armed with our liberal arts education, we often undervalue a man’s masculinity. Such hoopla is made over where the husband walks, in front, side by side, behind you. My husband is a foot and some taller than me, so big deal if he sometimes walks faster than me, he’s got longer legs. Other times he walks behind me especially in crowds and he is often there by my side. It doesn’t define us. Shouldn’t it matter more whether he is ahead, behind or by my side spiritually?
Safurah then hired Musa (as) and chooses to marry him under her father’s guidance. There was no long engagement and no endless conversations – no promises of unending love. How many times do we pass up great partners because we haven’t clicked? What did she like about him in those short meetings? First of all, she sees he is not a wimp, he stood up for her when they were strangers, imagine what he would do for her when she becomes his wife.
He complements her life; she needs a man in her household, to help her run her business (we see the same theme in the blessed union of Prophet Muhammad ﷺ and our mother, Khadijah (ra). This story reinforces in me the reason why my husband is always going to be the leader of my family. He leads well so that I may willingly follow.
Musa (as) agrees to the terms Safurah’s family sets for their marriage. She admires his trust in Allah, his ability to problem solve, his strength and his manners. If women looked for his four characteristics in a man, instead of the countless other things we focus on, will we not find our own beautiful Musa?
Further, if we are consumed by the love we have for our spouse, will there be space in our hearts for Allah? Heathcliff and Catherine of Wuthering Heights had replaced God for each other. They needed to fuse their identities and thought they had attained heaven. Bronte’s mysticism notwithstanding, love like theirs is asocial, amoral and irresponsible. After reading Musa and Safurah’s love story though, I learned to love my husband for the right reasons: for his support, his strengths, and his sense of responsibility for the sake of Allah. After ten years, he still makes my heart flutter; but he doesn’t need to complete me. It’s enough that he complements me. And it is this evolving courtship that will inshaAllah knock the tunes out of every Indian movie.


References:
Abdulla Al-Wohabi, The Northern Hijaz In The Writings of The Arab Geographers 800-1150 B.C., p. 142
Emily Bronte, Imelani. Religion, Metaphysics and Mysticism.

Free but Not Quite by Sumoud Karaja

23, from Saffa, Occupied West Bank, Palestine. 3^rd year student in Al-Quds University studying social services.  Middle child of six siblings. Recently freed following the prisoner deal between Hamas and Zionist government, but not before she was silenced by being forced to sign a downward “treaty”, thereby sacrificing her “freedom of speech” for her “freedom”*.

Labeled “Terrorist”.

Sumoud Karraja was imprisoned in October of 2009 in AlDamun prison following an attack on an IOF officer at the Qalandiya checkpoint. While under interrogations, Sumoud repeatedly denied her accusation. Nonetheless she was given a life sentence, which with extreme lawyer efforts was reduced to a serving of 20 years.

Sumoud’s lifelong dream was to visit the off-bound city of Jerusalem. She got her wish, however along with the sweet came the sour-she was blindfolded and bled from the plastic handcuffs placed on her as she was being interrogated in AlMaskubiyeh Interrogation Facility in Jerusalem.

She repeatedly denied her accusations. Out of frustration, the Israeli “Justice” System attempted to pin on her many pathetic charges in order for her to serve her 20 years.

2 years in prison

She was placed in solitary confinement for a total of 25 days. She was then placed in a 3 meter by 3 meter room along with 7 other prisoners. In her 2 years, she learned Hebrew and hand crafts. Inmates prior to her coming learned from inmates prior to their coming many issues concerning politics and passed their teachings onto her.

Fridays in prison were, she describes sarcastically, “Eid” [holiday]. The Friday meal consisted of a piece of chicken thigh, topped with feathers. Many inmates had no choice but to remove bits of skin and feathers from their chicken thigh and eat it. Gilad Shalit was given a meal of stuffed chicken every Friday while captured.

In her 2 years served, Sumoud saw her family a total of 3 times. The first time her family visited her, after 6 months of her arrest, her family was allowed a visit, a rare opportunity given to families of prisoners. Her little sister Baghdad, who was 5 at the time, wanted to present her sister with red flowers she had picked from the Karmel mountains of Haifa. Zionist prisoner guards did not allow the flowers in, and forcefully took them from Baghdad, despite her tears. An everyday example of the attempts to suppress innocence and humanity. As Palestinians, we have come to the bitter realization of Zionists’ idea of psychological manipulation that is far greater than forcefully taking flowers from a 5 year old child. It goes to mock prisoners’ intelligence by denying them basics acts of innocence and beauty.

Sumoud, along with 3 other prisoners, Linan Abu Ghulma, Du’a Jayyousi, and Woroud Qasim all took part in the Palestinian Prisoners Hunger Strike. Sumoud was on hunger strike for 9 days before she found out she was to be released, all part of the prisoner exchange deal. She explains how she got the news.

“The prison warden was reading names off a list. Linan and Du’a’s names were stated, and then mine was. I thought there was a mistake. I thought they had intended to call out Woroud’s and got mixed up. I had only served 2 years; surely they had mistaken my name!”

Books

An oppressor’s duty is to keep the oppressed from becoming cultivated. We live in our minds, and minds are always free. Novels in prison are disguised as petty books like cooking books and hidden away from the random searches that take place within. After Sumoud was arrested, around 20 military jeeps raided her room and took many personal belongings. Books and diaries were the prime targets. Education is not granted in prison, following the Shalit Law passed by Knesset in May 23rd of 2010. These are all major attempts to stifle the power of thought, attempting to keep our minds locked in ignorance.

“My dreams have no limits”

Out of prison, Sumoud is haste to pick up where she left off. She intends to finish her university studies, all the way to obtaining a PhD. She plans to establish an organization for children all over Palestine, especially those with special needs. When asked if she would continue to resist the occupation, she replies, “To resist does not necessarily mean to brandish a weapon in the face of an IOF soldier. I plan to resist using my education.”

Childhood memories

Sumoud’s father was not able to be present on the birthday of his first daughter, since he was jailed by IOF on accusations of stone-throwing and taking part in demonstrations, keeping in mind Sumoud was born in 1988, a year after the first Intifada [uprising] began in Palestine. She recalls all her maternal and paternal uncles placed in jails for similar reasons. She remembers how they had absolutely no income, and her mother was forced to become the primary financial provider of the family, literally overnight. Her mother was forced to begin work as a seamstress in order to provide her children with the basic necessities of life. Sumoud recalls fondly of how villagers would provide her mother with red, black, green and white pieces of fabric in order to be sown together to form a Palestinian flag. This was done in secret, since any affiliation with resistance is viewed as a form of terrorism by the enemy.

Today, Sumoud, who was released from AlDamun prison days ago, still compares life in prison with life outside with every little action she performs. She is not allowed to move outside the West Bank without acquiring permission which has a less than zero chance of happening. If she does acquire permission, she faces the threat of being exiled.

No freedom of speech. No freedom of mobilization. No freedom of expression. No freedom of choice. And yet somehow Sumoud Karaja manages to find freedom in the four pillars of her home in the village of Saffa, on the borders of ’67 in the occupied West Bank in occupied Falasteen.

*Sumoud is not allowed to openly speak of the events that triggered her to attack an IOF soldier for fear of being placed back in jail and serve the remainder of her sentence. She is not allowed to openly speak about politics in general.

http://written-resistance.blogspot.com/

Supplication

سمجھتا ہے خدا کو صرف جو حاجت روا اپنا ۔

وہ غیر اللہ کے در کا کبھی سائل نہیں ہوتا ۔

“Who understands Allah alone as one’s Hajat Rawa*,
will never be a suppliant at the doors of Ghairullah.”

* Hajat Rawa = The One who fulfills needs.

The Day Of Increase

And if you ask about the Day of Increase (in reward) and the visit of the all-Mighty, all-Wise, and the sight of His Face - free from any resemblance or likeness to anything - as you see the Sun in the middle of the day and the full Moon on a cloudless night, then listen on the day that the caller will call: 'O People of Paradise! Your Lord - Blessed and Exalted - requests you to visit Him, so come to visit Him!' So they will say: 'We hear and obey!'

Until, when they finally reach the wide valley where they will all meet - and none of them will turn down the request of the caller - the Lord - Blessed and Exalted - will order His Chair to be brought there. Then, pulpits of light will emerge, as well as pulpits of pearls, gemstone, gold, and silver. The lowest of them in rank will sit on sheets of musk, and will not see what those who are on the chairs above them are given. When they are comfortable where they are sitting and are secure in their places, and the caller calls: 'O People of Paradise! You have an appointment with Allaah in which He wishes to reward you!' So they will say: 'And what is that reward? Has He not already made our faces bright, made our scales heavy, entered us into Paradise, and pushed us away from the Fire?'

And when they are like that, all of a sudden a light shines that encompasses all of Paradise. So, they raise their heads, and, behold: the Compeller - Exalted is He, and Holy are His Names - has come to them from above them and majestified them and said: 'O People of Paradise! Peace be upon you!' So, this greeting will not be responded to with anything better than: 'O Allaah! You are Peace, and from You is Peace! Blessed are You, O possessor of Majesty and Honor!' So the Lord - Blessed and Exalted - will laugh to them and say: 'O People of Paradise! Where are those who used to obey Me without having ever seen Me? This is the Day of Increase!'

So, they will all give the same response: 'We are pleased, so be pleased with us!' So, He will say: 'O People of Paradise! If I were not pleased with you, I would not have made you inhabitants of My Paradise! So, ask of Me!' So, they will all give the same response: 'Show us your Face so that we may look at it!' So, the Lord - Mighty and Majestic - will remove his covering and will majestify them and will cover them with His Light, which, if Allaah - the Exalted - had not Willed not to burn them, would have burned them.

And there will not remain a single person in this gathering except that his Lord - the Exalted - will speak to him and say: 'Do you remember the day that you did this and that?' and He will remind him of some of his bad deeds in the Worldy life, so he will say: 'O Lord! Will you not forgive me?' So, He will say: 'Of course! You have not reached this position of yours (in Paradise) except by my forgiveness.'

So, how sweet is this speech to the ears, and how cooled are the righteous eyes by the glance at His Noble Face in the Afterlife...

{Some faces that Day will be shining and radiant, looking at their Lord...} (al-Qiyaamah:22-3)

*~*~*SubhanAllah*~*~*

May we all InshaAllah be from among the people of paradise with our faces shining like the moon and the books of our deeds given to us in our right hands. Ameen summa ameen!

Physical Descriptions Of the Four Imams

Collected from Imam Dhahabi’s Siyar A’lam an-Nubala
Abu Hanifah an-Nu’man bin Thabit:
Abu Yusuf said: “Abu Hanifah was well-formed, was from the best of people in appearance, the most eloquent of them in speech, the sweetest in tone, and the clearest of them in expressing what he felt.”
Hamad bin Abi Hanifah said: “My father was very handsome, dark, had good posture, would wear a lot of perfume, was tall, would not speak except in reply to what someone else had said, and he – may Allah have Mercy upon him – would not involve himself in what did not concern him.”
[6/535]


Abu ‘Abdillah Malik bin Anas:
‘Isa bin ‘Umar said: “I never saw anything white or red that was more beautiful than the face of Malik, or any clothes whiter than Malik’s.”
And a number of people relate that he was tall, firm, serious, blond, had a white beard and hair, had a large beard, was balding, and would not shave his moustache, as he considered this to be a form of mutilation.
It is said that he had blue eyes, and some of this was narrated by Ibn Sa’d from Mutarraf bin ‘Abdillah.
Muhammad bin ad-Dahhak al-Hizami said: “Malik’s clothes were clean and soft, and he would constantly wear different clothes.”
al-Walid bin Muslim said: “Malik would wear white clothes, and I saw he and al-Awza’i wearing black and green caps.”
Ashhab said: “When Malik would wear a turban, he would wrap part of it under his chin and would leave the ends of it hanging between his shoulders.”
Khalid bin Khidash said: “I saw Malik wearing a cap, and I saw him wearing woven clothes.”
Ashhab said: “If Malik would wear kohl for a necessity, he would remain in his house.”
Mus’ab said: “Malik would wear ‘Adani clothes, and he would wear perfume.”
Abu ‘Asim said: “I never saw a Muhaddith with a more handsome face than Malik’s.”
It is said: “He was so light colored that he was blond. He had wide eyes, a raised, pointed nose, and he would let his moustache grow long based on ‘Umar’s curling of his moustache.”
Ibn Wahb said: “I saw Malik dying his hair with henna once.”
Abu Mus’ab said: “Malik had the most handsome face of the people, the widest of eyes, the whitest skin, and was the greatest of them in height – all in the strongest body.”
al-Waqidi said: “He was well-formed, would not dye his hair, and would not enter the public baths.”
Bishr bin al-Harith said: “I entered upon Malik and saw him wearing a cap that was worth about 500 dirhams.”
Ashhab said: “When Malik would wear a turban, he would wrap part of it under his chin and would leave the ends of it behind his back, and he would scent himself with musk and other scents.”
[7/396-397]


Abu ‘Abdillah Muhammad bin Idris ash-Shafi’i:
Ibrahim bin Buranah said: “ash-Shafi’i was serious, tall, and noble.”
[8/391]
az-Za’farani said: “ash-Shafi’i visited us in Baghdad in the year 95. He stayed with us for a few months, then left. He would dye his hair with henna, and he had thin cheeks.”
Ahmad bin Sinan said: “I saw him with a red beard and hair – i.e. he used to dye them.”
[8/415]


Abu ‘Abdillah Ahmad bin Hambal:
Ibn Dharih al-’Ukbari said: “I requested to see Ahmad bin Hambal. So, I greeted him, and he was an old man who dyed his hair. He was tall and extremely dark.”
Muhammad bin ‘Abbas an-Nahwi said: “I saw Ahmad bin Hambal with a handsome face, well-formed, and dyeing his hair with henna that was not too dark. He had black hairs in his beard, and I saw his clothes extremely white. When I saw him, he was wearing a turban and an izar.”
[9/438]
‘Abd al-Malik al-Maymuni said: “I do not know that I have ever seen anyone who wore cleaner clothes, was more attentive to trimming his moustache and grooming the hair on his head and body, or wore purer and whiter garments than Ahmad bin Hambal.”
[9/454]
One man said: “In Khurasan, they did not think that Ahmad resembled a human being. They thought that he resembled the Angels.”
[9/456]
al-Fadl bin Ziyad said: “I saw Abi ‘Abdillah in the winter, and he was wearing two shirts with a colored vest between them, and maybe he was wearing a shirt with a heavy sweater. And I saw him with a turban over a hood and heavy outer garment. So, I heard Aba ‘Imran al-Warkani saying to him: “O Aba ‘Abdillah! All of these clothes?” So, he laughed and said: “I cannot stand the cold,” and he would also wear the hood without a turban.”
al-Fadl bin Ziyad said: “I saw Abi ‘Abdillah in the summer wearing a shirt, trousers, and robe.”
[9/461]

Courtesy of Abu Sabaya of iskandrani

(ilmgate.org)

Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb: Bad Ruler or Bad History?

By Dr. Habib Siddiqui
9 Jamad-ul-awwal 1427, 5 June 2006
Of all the Muslim rulers who ruled vast territories of India from 712 to 1857 CE, probably no one has received as much condemnation from Western and Hindu writers as Aurangzeb. He has been castigated as a religious Muslim who was anti-Hindu, who taxed them, who tried to convert them, who discriminated against them in awarding high administrative positions, and who interfered in their religious matters. This view has been heavily promoted in the government approved textbooks in schools and colleges across post-partition India (i.e., after 1947). These are fabrications against one of the best rulers of India who was pious, scholarly, saintly, unbiased, liberal, magnanimous, tolerant, competent, and far-sighted.
Fortunately, in recent years quite a few Hindu historians have come out in the open disputing those allegations. For example, historian Babu Nagendranath Banerjee rejected the accusation of forced conversion of Hindus by Muslim rulers by stating that if that was their intention then in India today there would not be nearly four times as many Hindus compared to Muslims, despite the fact that Muslims had ruled for nearly a thousand years. Banerjee challenged the Hindu hypothesis that Aurangzeb was anti-Hindu by reasoning that if the latter were truly guilty of such bigotry, how could he appoint a Hindu as his military commander-in-chief? Surely, he could have afforded to appoint a competent Muslim general in that position. Banerjee further stated: “No one should accuse Aurangzeb of being communal minded. In his administration, the state policy was formulated by Hindus. Two Hindus held the highest position in the State Treasury. Some prejudiced Muslims even questioned the merit of his decision to appoint non-Muslims to such high offices. The Emperor refuted that by stating that he had been following the dictates of the Shariah (Islamic Law) which demands appointing right persons in right positions.” During Aurangzeb’s long reign of fifty years, many Hindus, notably Jaswant Singh, Raja Rajrup, Kabir Singh, Arghanath Singh, Prem Dev Singh, Dilip Roy, and Rasik Lal Crory, held very high administrative positions. Two of the highest ranked generals in Aurangzeb’s administration, Jaswant Singh and Jaya Singh, were Hindus. Other notable Hindu generals who commanded a garrison of two to five thousand soldiers were Raja Vim Singh of Udaypur, Indra Singh, Achalaji and Arjuji. One wonders if Aurangzeb was hostile to Hindus, why would he position all these Hindus to high positions of authority, especially in the military, who could have mutinied against him and removed him from his throne?
Most Hindus like Akbar over Aurangzeb for his multi-ethnic court where Hindus were favored. Historian Shri Sharma states that while Emperor Akbar had fourteen Hindu Mansabdars (high officials) in his court, Aurangzeb actually had 148 Hindu high officials in his court. (Ref: Mughal Government) But this fact is somewhat less known.
Some of the Hindu historians have accused Aurangzeb of demolishing Hindu Temples. How factual is this accusation against a man, who has been known to be a saintly man, a strict adherent of Islam? The Qur’an prohibits any Muslim to impose his will on a non-Muslim by stating that “There is no compulsion in religion.” (surah al-Baqarah 2:256). The surah al-Kafirun clearly states: “To you is your religion and to me is mine.” It would be totally unbecoming of a learned scholar of Islam of his caliber, as Aurangzeb was known to be, to do things that are contrary to the dictates of the Qur’an.
Interestingly, the 1946 edition of the history textbook Etihash Parichaya (Introduction to History) used in Bengal for the 5th and 6th graders states: “If Aurangzeb had the intention of demolishing temples to make way for mosques, there would not have been a single temple standing erect in India. On the contrary, Aurangzeb donated huge estates for use as Temple sites and support thereof in Benares, Kashmir and elsewhere. The official documentations for these land grants are still extant.”
A stone inscription in the historic Balaji or Vishnu Temple, located north of Chitrakut Balaghat, still shows that it was commissioned by the Emperor himself. The proof of Aurangzeb’s land grant for famous Hindu religious sites in Kasi, Varanasi can easily be verified from the deed records extant at those sites. The same textbook reads: “During the fifty year reign of Aurangzeb, not a single Hindu was forced to embrace Islam. He did not interfere with any Hindu religious activities.” (p. 138) Alexander Hamilton, a British historian, toured India towards the end of Aurangzeb’s fifty year reign and observed that every one was free to serve and worship God in his own way.
Now let us deal with Aurangzeb’s imposition of the jizya tax which had drawn severe criticism from many Hindu historians. It is true that jizya was lifted during the reign of Akbar and Jahangir and that Aurangzeb later reinstated this. Before I delve into the subject of Aurangzeb’s jizya tax, or taxing the non-Muslims, it is worthwhile to point out that jizya is nothing more than a war tax which was collected only from able-bodied young non-Muslim male citizens living in a Muslim country who did not want to volunteer for the defense of the country. That is, no such tax was collected from non-Muslims who volunteered to defend the country. This tax was not collected from women, and neither from immature males nor from disabled or old male citizens. For payment of such taxes, it became incumbent upon the Muslim government to protect the life, property and wealth of its non-Muslim citizens. If for any reason the government failed to protect its citizens, especially during a war, the taxable amount was returned.
It should be pointed out here that zakat (2.5% of savings) and ‘ushr (10% of agricultural products) were collected from all Muslims, who owned some wealth (beyond a certain minimum, called nisab). They also paid sadaqah, fitrah, and khums. None of these were collected from any non-Muslim. As a matter of fact, the per capita collection from Muslims was several fold that of non-Muslims. Further to Auranzeb’s credit is his abolition of a lot of taxes, although this fact is not usually mentioned. In his book Mughal Administration, Sir Jadunath Sarkar, foremost historian on the Mughal dynasty, mentions that during Aurangzeb’s reign in power, nearly sixty-five types of taxes were abolished, which resulted in a yearly revenue loss of fifty million rupees from the state treasury.
While some Hindu historians are retracting the lies, the textbooks and historic accounts in Western countries have yet to admit their error and set the record straight.

Courtesy of alBalagh.net
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