the three empires and the islamic phoenix 309thinkers during the ebb and tide of the politics of Islam. The answer
has very often become the same: the return to Islamic values. An
important figure who contributed to answering this question in the
Indian subcontinent was the flùfìthinker Shah Walli-Allah.
In his religio-political vision, Qutb al-Dìn Abd al-Rahman, known
as Shah Wali-Allah, of Delhi continued the vision of Ahmad Sirhindì
(d. 1625) before him, and indeed those before Sirhindìsuch as ibn-
Taymìya (1263–1328). Like his predecessors, Shah Wali-Allah empha-
sized that the reason for the weakness in Muslims was the diversion
from the path of the Sharì"ah, and the way to restore Islamic iden-
tity and dignity was to return to the Sharì"ah. But Shah Wali-Allah
did not hesitate to divert from the thoughts of Sirhindì when he
found it necessary to do so. He saw that the political situation in
India had radically changed since the time of Sirhindìand he pro-
pounded a system that would be congenial to the spiritual environment
of the Indian subcontinent, and at the same time calculated to regen-
erate Islamic forces (Fazlur Rahman, 1970). For example, he went
a step further by emphasizing that the Sharì"ah should be “adapted”
to suit the prevailing conditions of life in the subcontinent. Adaptation
would imply innovation in ijtihàd, the self exertion in reaching a reli-
gious rule based on reasoning, to accommodate new socio-economic
and religio-political situations. This view would certainly be in con-
trast with the views of another reformer Muœammad ibn-Abdel-
Wahhàb who appeared in al-Hijaz in the late eighteen century calling
for the return to the Sharì"ah but condemning any innovation in it
through ijtihàdas being anti-religious, ‘bida"h’. Furthermore, in his
endeavour to consolidate all religious forces, Shah Wali-Allah was
in favour of accepting flùfìs and their rituals in the new movement
for reform rather than rejecting them.
The socio-economic issues were of a particular concern to Wali-
Allah as we will see in his writing shortly. He attacked the social
and economic injustice in society, criticized the heavy taxes to which
the peasantry was subjected, and called upon the Muslims to build
a territorial state which might be integrated into an international
Muslim super-state (ibid.). He emphasized other factors such as the
need for Muslims to unite in facing their enemies, both from within
and outside, and to mend their sectarian differences. Muslims should
aim in his view to have the upper hand politically and military and
this can be achieved through return and unity; return to Islamic
rules as in the Sharì"ah and unity with one another despite sectarian