Majlis-e-Ahrar-ul-Islam

Majlis-e Ahrar-e Islam (Urdu: مجلس احرارلأسلام‎), also known in short as Ahrar, is a religious Muslim political party in the Indian subcontinent that was formed during the British Raj (prior to the Partition of India) on 29 December 1929 at Lahore.[2]

Majlis-e-Ahrar-e-Islam

مجلسِ احرارِ اسلام
LeaderSyed Ata Ullah Shah Bukhari, Syed Faiz-ul Hassan Shah, Chaudhry Afzal Haq
PresidentSyed Ata-ul-Muhaimin Bukhari
Secretary-GeneralAbdul Latif Khalid Cheema[1]
Central & Senior Vice-PresidentProfessor Khalid Shabbir Ahmad, Malik Muhammad Yousuf
Central preacherMaulana Muhammad Mugheera
Central Information SecretaryMian Muhammad Awais
Senior leader'sMaulana Abid Masood Dogar, Dr. Omer Farooq, Qari Muhammad Yousuf Ahrar, Mufti Ata-ur-Rehman Qureshi, Maulana Zia Ullah Hashmi,
Founded29 December 1929 (1929-12-29)
HeadquartersAhrar Central Secretariat. 69-C, New Muslim Town, Wahdat Road, Lahore, Pakistan
Student wingTehreek-e Talaba-e-Islam
IdeologyFinality of Prophethood
Hukumat-e Ilahiyya
Pakistani nationalism
ReligionIslam
ColorsRed
SloganJustice, Humanity, Islam, Hukumat-e Ilahiyya
Vice PresidentSyed Muhammad Kafeel Bukhari
Website
ahrarindia.com
www.ahrar.org.pk
Part of a series on
Deobandism
Ideology and influences
Founders and key figures
Notable institutions
Darul ulooms and madrasas
Centres (markaz) of Tablighi Jamaat
Associated organizations

The group became composed of Indian Muslims disillusioned by the Khilafat Movement, which cleaved closer to the Congress Party.[3] The party is based in Punjab and gathered support from the urban lower-middle class. Chaudhry Afzal Haq, Maulana Habib-ur-Rehman Ludhianvi and Syed Ata Ullah Shah Bukhari were the leaders of the party.[4]

Religious leaders from all sects Sunni Barelvi, Deobandi, Ahle Hadith, Shia Progressive and politically Communists were the members of Majlis-e-Ahrar. Chaudhry Afzal Haq, Syed Ata Ullah Shah Bukhari, Habib-ur-Rehman Ludhianvi, Mazhar Ali Azhar, Maulana Zafar Ali Khan and Dawood Ghaznavi were the founders of the party.[5] The Ahrar was composed of Indian Muslims by the Khilafat Movement, which cleaved closer to the Congress Party.[3]

The party, being a member of the All India Azad Muslim Conference, is associated with opposition to Muhammad Ali Jinnah and establishment of an independent Pakistan.[6][7].Syed Faiz-ul Hassan Shah was the only ahrari leader who participated activly in the pakistan independence movemente.

After 1947, it separated into the Majlis-E-Ahrar Islam Hind (مجلس احرارلأسلام ہند) , based in Ludhiana and led by descendants of Maulana Habib-ur-Rehman Ludhianvi, as well as the Majlis-e-Ahrar-e-Islam (مجلس احرارلأسلام اسلام), based in Lahore and led by descendants of Syed Ata Ullah Shah Bukhari.

History and activities

Ideology and philosophy

Majlis-e-Ahrar-ul-Islam or simply called 'Ahrars' had an anti-imperialist, anti-feudal and Indian nationalist ideology. It worked to free India from the British rule. This party, before fading away, was highly active in Punjab Province (British India) and left an impact on major cities of Punjab like Amritsar, Lahore, Sialkot, Multan, Ludhiana and Gurdaspur.[2]

The Majlis-e-Ahrar-e-Islam,[8] was originally part of the failed Khilafat movement and emerged as a religio-political party after the Jallianwala Bagh massacre of 1919 and the disintegration of the Khilafat movement in 1922.[2]

Syed Ata Ullah Shah Bukhari presided over the meeting and Maulana Mazhar Ali Azhar delivered the manifesto of an All India Majlis-e-Ahrar-e-Islam. It became first line offending party against Ahmadi Muslims by declaring that their objectives were to guide the Muslims of India on matters of nationalism as well as religion. Ahrar spearheaded the movement to have Ahmadi Muslims officially declared as non-Muslims.[9]

By the early 1930s, the Majlis-e-Ahrar-e-Islam (hereafter called Ahrars) had become an important political party of Muslims in the Punjab. The activists' agitation centered on the princely states, and was predicated on mobilisation around socio-religious issues. Besides these campaigns, the Ahrar also participated in the mainstream political developments of British India between 1931 and 1947. Its political career can be divided into two parts; the AHRAR’s response to political and constitutional issues, and its performance in electoral politics.[10]

The Majlis-e-Ahrar-ul-Islam stood strongly against the partition of India, with its leader Afzal Haq stating that the “Partition of India is, in fact, the cry of upper classes …. It is not a communal demand as some people think but a stunt in order that the poor classes may not concentrate their thought and energies on all important questions of social and economic justice.”[6] It was a member of the All India Azad Muslim Conference, which gathered to show support for a united India.[7]

Activism in Pakistan

In November 2012, the Government of Pakistan banned Abdul Latif Khalid Cheema, leader of Tehreek-e-Khatme Nabuwwat and Secretary General of Majlis-e-Ahrar-e-Islam, from delivering a speech in the Chichawatni and district Sahiwal area due to the security situation in Muharram. The president of Majlis-e-Ahrar Syed Ata-ul-Muhaimin Bukhari was also banned from delivering any speeches for three months in Multan.

In Pakistan, the party opposed the Ahmadiyya Movement.[11][12] This culminated in the 1953 Lahore riots; in 1954 Majlis-e-Ahrar was banned. The associated Islamist religious movement Tehreek-e-Khatme Nabuwwat remains.

List of party leaders

Notable members and leaders

Presidents

Secretary Generals

Other

References
  1. Pakistan: Militant group TKN (Tehreek-e-Khatm-e-Nabuwwat) demands government sanction extra-judicial killing of Ahmadis The Times of Ahmad (newspaper), Published 21 March 2012, Retrieved 19 December 2018
  2. "Ahrar: a chapter in Indian Muslim history". The Milli Gazette (newspaper). 14 February 2012. Retrieved 16 December 2018.
  3. Christophe Jaffrelot. A history of Pakistan and its origins. Anthem Press, 2004. ISBN 1-84331-149-6, ISBN 978-1-84331-149-2
  4. Ahmad, Syed N. Origins of Muslim consciousness in India: a world-system perspective. New York u.a: Greenwood Press, 1991. p. 175
  5. Ahmad, Syed N. Origins of Muslim consciousness in India: a world-system perspective. New York u.a: Greenwood Press, 1991. p. 175
  6. Ali, Afsar (17 July 2017). "Partition of India and Patriotism of Indian Muslims". The Milli Gazette.
  7. Qasmi, Ali Usman; Robb, Megan Eaton (2017). Muslims against the Muslim League: Critiques of the Idea of Pakistan. Cambridge University Press. p. 2. ISBN 9781108621236.
  8. Samina Awan, Political islam in colonial Punjab Majlis-e-Ahrar 1929-1949 , P.153, Politics of Islamic symbolism, The MAI: Politics of Personalities, Oxford university Press
  9. Samina Awan, Political Islam in colonial Punjab Majlis-e-Ahrar 1929-1949 , P.27, Politics of Islamic symbolism, The MAI: Politics of Personalities, Oxford university Press
  10. Samina Awan, Political Islam in colonial Punjab Majlis-e-Ahrar 1929-1949 , P.67, Politics of Islamic symbolism, The MAI: Politics of Personalities, Oxford university Press
  11. Bahadur, Kalim (1998). Democracy in Pakistan: crises and conflicts. Har Anand Publications. p. 176.
  12. The early champions of anti-Ahmadi cause Herald (Dawn Group of Newspapers), Published 3 November 2018, Retrieved 19 December 2018
  13. Majlis-e-Ahrar-e-Islam, History, Introduction, Achievements, published from Multan edited by Syed Kafeel Bukhari editor of Naqeeb-e-Khatme Nabuwwat
  14. Khatm-e-Nabuwwat oath: Religious parties flay govt for challenging verdict The News International (newspaper), Published 14 July 2018, Retrieved 19 December 2018

Further reading
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