Govt.

Zamindar Graduate College, Gujrat

Submitted by
Muhammad Usman
Roll No
581
Submitted to
Sir Rashid Masood
Topic
Philosophy of Shah Wali Ullah
Class
BS English 3rd Term
Dated
5 March, 2024
 Hazrat Shah Wali Ullah
After the death of Aurangzeb in 18th century, the Muslim society faced some serious problems.
The Moghal empire had fallen into the hands of most incapable successors of Aurangzeb who
could not withhold the supremacy of Muslim rule because they indulged into the luxurious life.
The un-Islamic trends and practices were flourishing and a general ignorance of Islam, Quran
and Hadith had created anguish amongst the religious saints. The time and situation was ripe for
the reformers and revivers to emerge to purge Muslim society of these trends. Consequently, an
era of religious regeneration began with the emergence of Shah Wali Ullah, a great Muslim
thinker, reformer and Muhadis.

Introduction

Imam Ul Hind Hazrat Shah Wali Ullah, a great saint, scholar and reformer is one of those great
personalities of Islam, who, with his dedicated services had brought the Muslim society together
on the stable foundations.

He was born in a pious family of Delhi on 21st February 1703, four years before the death of
Aurangzeb. His real name was Qutub-ud-Din and later on came to be known as Shah Wali Ullah
for his pious habits. His genealogy can be traced back to the family of second Caliph of Islam,
Hazrat Umar Farooq (R.A.). It is difficult to ascertain the exact time when his forefathers left
Arabia and settled down in India, but the circumstantial evidence indicates that it was about three
hundred years after the great Migration (Hijrah). His grandfather Sheikh Wajihuddin was a
military officer in the army of Shah Jahan and a deep lover of the Quran . The historical records
speak eloquently of the prominent position which Shah Wali Allah’s grandfather occupied in the
Mughul Court. It has been narrated that he played an important role in the struggle for power
amongst the sons of Shah Jahan, and that he fought bravely against the Marathas of the Deccan.
His father Shah Abdul Rahim was well known for his piety and profound knowledge. Shah
Abdul Rahim was Sufi and theologian. He was engaged in the compilation of Fatawa-i-
Alamgiri by the emperor Aurangezeb. He established a school in Delhi known as Madrassa
Rahmania, the forerunner of present Darul-ulum Deoband.
In his booklet al-Juz al-Latif fi Tarjamat al-Abd al-Daif, Shah Wali Allah gives an account of
his brilliant educational career. Even a cursory reading of this booklet shows that Shah Wali
Allah was precocious as a child. He soon mastered the different branches of learning, and so
great was his command over them that even at the tender age of fifteen he could teach all these
with confidence to others.

He received his early education in spiritualism and mysticism from his father. He memorized the
Quran in his childhood. He received education in Tafsir, Hadith and acquired spiritual discipline
from his great father. He also studied metaphysics, logic and Ilm-ul-Kalam.
Shah Wali Ullah excelled in every discipline of learning. He completed his studies in the age of
fifteen years in all the prevalent customs and traditions of his country. He studied Sahih-i-
Bukhari and often attended his father during the reading of the Holy Quran. Shah Wali Ullah also
acquired knowledge of various branches of jurisprudence (Fiqah). He studied Sharh-i-Waqaya,
Hidaya some branches of Usul-i-Fiqah.

Shah Wali Ullah did not confine his appetite for knowledge to the field theology but was equally
well versed in the humanities branch of knowledge as well. He studied Mujizal Qanun of
Hikmat and Sharh-i-Hidaya-i-Hikmat in the field of medicine and Tib.

He went to Arabia for higher education and performing Haj. He received education under the
most capable teachers of Makkah and Medina. He received education from Sheikh Abu Tahir
Bin Ibrahim of Medina. He obtained the Sanad in Hadis from Sheikh Abu Tahir Bin Ibrahim.

Shah Abdul Rahim, his father, died at the age of 77 when Shah Wali Ullah was just 17 years old.
He transferred the Ba'ia’ (authority in Sufism) and Irshad (spiritual education) to Shah Wali Ullah
at his death bed and said, “his hand is my hand”. After the death of his, Shah Wali Ullah began
teaching at Madrassa Rahmaniya of Delhi where he taught for 12 years. During this period of
about twelve years, he penetrated deeply into the teachings of Islam and pondered seriously over
the future of Muslims in India.

The range of his works is varied and wide covering all aspects of knowledge: economic,
political, social, meta-physical, as well as purely theological. Whether one agrees or disagrees
either with Shah Wali Allah’s theses or his conclusions, one has to admit that the book represents
the first brilliant attempt to rethink the entire system of Islam in a spirit of scientific objectivity.
He was died in 1763 during the reign of Shah Alam.

Sources of Shah Wali Ullah’s Thoughts

The pivotal point on which revolves the philosophical thought of Shah Wali Allah is religion.
Since it is religion alone that, according to him, had been the source of strength and power for
the Muslims, their decline was the direct result of their apathy towards it. His chief concern,
therefore, was to call the Muslims back to the teachings of Islam.
He had a strong faith in the force and strength of Islamic ideology in which, he believed, if
accepted fully and applied honestly, lay the hope for peaceful and prosperous development of the
human race. Shah Wali Allah consequently bent all his energies towards purifying Islamic ideals
of all unhealthy influences and providing them a fresh intellectual ground to meet the challenge
of the time.

Shah Wali Allah was also greatly influenced by Imam Ghazali, Khatabi, and Shaikh al-Islam Izz
al-Din bin Abd al-Salam. From them he learnt the art of rational interpretation of the different
aspects of Islam. In his intro-duction to Hujjat Allah al-Balighah he mentions these names with
great respect. He also seems to be interested in abu al-Hasan al-Ashari, abu al--Mansur Maturidi,
ibn Taimiyyah, and Imam Fakhr al-Din Razi.
In mysticism he was influenced by both ibn Arabi and Shaikh Ahmad Sirhindi. One may,
however, find from the study of his mystical thought that though he received inspiration from
both of them, yet his ideas were closer to the views of ibn Arabi than to those of the Mujaddid.

Shah Wali Ullah’s Some famous works

Shah Wali Ullah wrote many books, fifty in all, on mysticism and other branches of Islamic
learnings which deal with religious, economic and political problems. His outstanding work is
the translation of the Holy Quran into Persian language which was the literary language of his
days. He produced this masterpiece of literature in 1737-38 which invited great criticism from
the orthodox Ulama who threatened him even with death. Shah Wali Ullah's translation was an
exceptional act as there had never been a translation of the Holy Quran in a foreign language.
His translation brought the knowledge of the Holy Quran within the reach of an average literate
person who found is easier to read and understand the Holy Quran in a language other than
Arabic. After Shah Wali Ullah his two sons Shah Rafi-ud-Din and Shah Abdul Qadir prepared
Urdu versions of the Holy Quran.

Hujjat ul Baligha is another famous work of Shah Wali Ullah. In this Book Shah Wali Allah
discusses matters of belief to social structure, from politics and statecraft to economy, from legal
and juristic concepts to philosophical and metaphysical ideas. He addressed himself to the needs
of this world but at the same time did not forget to respond to the requirements of ultimate
success in the life Hereafter.

In his time the Shias and Sunnis were aggressively hostile to each other and their rivalry was
damaging the Muslim unity. Shah Wali Ullah wrote "Izalat-al-Akhifa' and "Khilafat-al-
Khulafa' in order to remove misunderstanding between Shias and the Sunnis He refused to
denounce Shias as heretics. Shah Wali Ullah adopted an analytical and balanced approach
towards the four schools of thought of mysticism. In order to create balance between the four
schools, i.e. Hanafi, Hambali, Shafii and Malaki, he wrote (Al Insaf fi Bayan Sahab al
Ikhtilaf) in which he traced their historical background.
In Fuyuz-al-Haramain, Shah Wali Ullah depicts one of his dreams during his stay in Arabia. He
describes that the God Almighty chose him as an intermediary to establish a new order in his
time.

Besides the above-mentioned works Shah Wali Ullah wrote many other books on different
topics. These include Tha'vilul Ahadih, Faizul Kabir, Budur al Bazigha, al-Nawadar-Min-al-
Hadis, Aqad-al-Jaiyad-fi-Ahkam- al-Ijithad wa-al-Taqlid, Tafhimat-i-Ilahiya. These works
and all of Shah Wali Ullah's writings are produced in Arabic and Persian languages.

His Madrassa and other institutions founded by him, imparted education in the light of his works.
A bunch of religious nationalist was prepared by these schools who interpreted Islam according
to his doctrines. Shah Abdul Aziz, the eldest son of Shah Wali Ullah led these religious
nationalists to wage jehad for the liberation of Muslim.
Socio Economic and Political Thoughts

Shah Wali Allah made quite a serious attempt to find out the relationship between social, ethical,
and economic systems. According to him, spirituality has two aspects: first, it is a personal
relation of man to God, secondly, it is man’s relation to his fellow-beings. No man is fully
spiritual who seeks only his own personal salvation in isolation from society. It is only in the
social set-up that the spirituality of an individual is expressed.

Islam, therefore, seldom deals with the individual as an individual; it always envisages him as a
member of a family or a community. Thus, the achievement of social justice is a prerequisite for
the development of the individual. How this ideal of social justice can be formulated and realized
is a question that Shah Wali Allah has taken up in great detail in his famous work Hujjat Allah al-
Balighah.

Adalah (justice or balance), according to him, is the essential feature for the harmonious
development of the human race. Its manifestations may be numerous, but it is the one golden
thread that runs into the web and woof of the variegated patterns of human life. When it
expresses itself in dress, manners, and mores, it goes by the name of adab (etiquette). In matters
relating to income and expenditure, we call it economy, and in the affairs of the State it is named
politics.

Under the head Irtifaqat, Shah Wali Allah discusses the problem of human relations. He starts
with the fact that man has innumerable wants that urge him to action. The satisfaction of human
wants, involving as it does the interdependence of individuals, leads to the origination of a
society and its mores. When human beings join hands for collective safety and security, the
government is formed, and when they come into contact with one another for the satisfaction of
their material needs, the economic system is established. . He illustrated four Irtifaq to
demonstrate the socio-political evolution of man. The first Irtifaq places human beings in
accordance with what Wali Ullah calls a madhab al tabi‟I (natural law). The second relates to the
organization of the family. The third describes the political institutions which form city (Al-
Madinah). Under fourth Irtifaq man learns to regulate devices and rules to overcome the conflicts
and rivalry between the cities.

Shah Wali Allah then briefly deals with some of the basic aspects of a social system as a dynamic
process. He starts with language and points out that it is not only a vehicle of expression, but is
also an important factor for the development of culture and civilization. Then comes agriculture
which provides food for the people. In this process man learns the art of irrigation; he also
domesticates the animals and is benefited by them in hundred and one ways. Then the houses are
built in order to safeguard the human race against the inclemency of weather and seasons. All
further development depends on the establishment of a State. The more uncultured a social group
is, the more does it stand in need of a coercive power to exercise a proper check.
State, according to him, should not restrict the sphere of its activities only to the safety and
security of the individuals, but should also devise ways and means for the happiness and progress
of society as a whole. It is, therefore, within the functions of the State to eradicate all sorts of
social evils, e.g., gambling, adultery, usury, bribery, etc.

A careful check should be exercised upon the traders to ensure that they do not indulge in
malpractices. The State should also see that the energies of the people are made to flow into
profitable channels, by maintaining, for example, the proper distribution of people in different
occupations. Shah Wali Allah points out: “When the occupations are not fairly distributed
amongst the different sections of a society, its culture receives a set-back”.

Shah Wali Allah believes that a sound economic system based on social justice can contribute to
the happiness of society. If and when a State fails to develop or retain such a system, its decline
becomes inevitable. He con-cludes his deliberations on this problem, as it existed in his own
times as follows: “After a careful analysis I have come to the conclusion that there are two main
factors responsible for the decline of the Muslim culture. First, many people have abandoned
their own occupations and have become parasites on the government. They are a great burden on
the public exchequer. Some of these are soldiers; some claim themselves to be men of great
learning and, thus, deem it their birthright to get regular financial help from the State. There are
not a few who get regular donations, gifts, and rewards from the Court as a matter of past
custom, such as, for example, poets and clowns. Many of the people belonging to these groups
do not contribute anything to the welfare of society, yet they are allowed to suck its blood. The
sooner the State gets rid of these parasites, the better.

Secondly, the government has levied an exorbitant rate of tax on the agriculturists, cultivators,
and traders. Added to this is the cruel treatment meted out to the taxpayers by government
officials at the time of collecting the taxes. The people groan under the heavy weight of taxes
while their economic position deteriorates at an alarming speed. This ishow the country has come
to ruin.”

In this connection Shah Wali Allah points out also a great misconception that is common among
the Muslims. Most of them believe that poverty is loved by God and hence no good Muslim
should make an effort to become rich. Such a view is erroneous. The simple living that comes
from self-contentment is fundamentally different from the object poverty to which the weaker
groups are often subjected by the ruling classes.

Shah Wali Allah agrees with Aristotle that a State exists to promote “good life.” By “good life”
he means life possessed of goodness as enunciated by Islam. For him the State is a means to an
end and not an end-in-itself. Therefore, he holds that the possession of coercive power cannot be
defended regardless of the ends to which it is devoted.

In his book Izalat al-Khifa an Khilafat al-Khulafa Shah Wali Allah lays down in very, clear terms
the duty of an Islamic State (Khilafat). “Khilafat in general terms is a form of State which is
established for the enforcement of the Laws of Shariah in accordance with the will of the Holy
Prophet (S).

The foremost functions of the Khilafat are the revival of Islamic teachings and their translation in
practical life, preparing the mullahs for endeavour (jihad), and carefully suppressing all those
evils which arise from the misuse of its functions.”

Philosophy of History

Shah Wali Allah as a historian tried in his own peculiar way to acquaint us with that
“something.” It is noteworthy that he has also offered us an explanation for the differences in the
social codes of the various prophets.

In his book Tawil al-Ahadith, he proves with the help of actual facts of history that man is not
“an Ixion bound for ever to his wheel nor a Sisyphus for ever rolling his stone to the summit of
the same mountain and helplessly watching it roll down again.” Humanity is ever-growing and,
thus, faces new problems at every step”.

In his book Tawil al-Ahadith, Shah Wali Allah traces the development of society right from
Adam (as) down to the last of the prophets (S) and discusses in detail the peculiarities of each
age. Amongst the Muslim thinkers Shah Wali Allah is the first to compile a systematic history of
the prophets and to explain that the social codes offered by the prophets can be reasonably
interpreted in the light of the needs of their respective times.

In his book Fauz al-Kabir, Shah Wali Allah says: “Every nation is accustomed to a certain mode
of worship, and has a political and social pattern of its own. When a prophet (as) is sent to the
people by God, he does not replace the old order by an absolutely new one. He, on the other
hand, allows those customs to continue which do not contravene the will of God and effects
necessary changes in all those patterns where these alterations are essential.”
In his work Hujjat Allah al-Balighah, Shah Wali Allah particularly emphasizes the, essential
unity of all religions by saying, “Remember, the real faith is one. This alone was preached by all
the prophets (as) of God and it is this alone that should be followed by the whole of humanity.

Differences, if any, are only in their superstructures and details, rather than in their fundamentals.
All prophets (as) have unanimously preached the gospel of divine unity.” At another place he
reiterates: “Just as articles of faith are the same in all reli-gions, similarly the basic virtues
preached by them are necessarily the same.”

The unity of faiths and moral values is due to the fact that human nature has essentially remained
the same through the march of time. The human race has not altered physically and very little
intellectually during the thousands of years of recorded history. The passions, pleasures,
heartaches, and the political and domestic problems of the people of bygone ages were, in all
likelihood, much the same as ours.
Shah Wali Allah completely agrees with ibn Khaldun on this pointand considers history
“remembrance of the days of God,” to be a key to the study of the Holy Quran. It is one of the
remarkable doctrines of the Quran that nations are judged collectively and suffer for their
misdeeds here and now.

In order to establish this, the Quran constantly cites historical instances and urges upon the
reader to reflect on the past and the present experience of mankind: “Of old did We send Moses
with Our signs; and said to him: ‘Bring forth thy people from darkness to light, and remind them
of the days of God.’ Verily in this are signs for patient and grateful persons”; “Already, before
your time, have precedents been made. Traverse the earth then, and see what hath been the end of
those who falsified the signs of God.”

In his Izalat al-Khifa, Shah Wali Allah points out that the love of material wealth leads the
nation to moral depravity that brings in its wake its down-fall. “Remember,” says he with a note
of grim warning, “that sensual qualities like selfishness, greed, etc., develop in unbalanced
personalities. The abundance of riches brings these brutal qualities into action.”

Metaphysics

Doctrines of Wahdat al-Wajud and Wahdat al-Shuhud

Like all great Muslim thinkers, Shah Wali Allah penetrated deeply into the metaphysical
problems raised by the teachings of the Quran and the Sunnah. His approach in this as in other
matters was to bring about a creative synthesis by reconciling the opposite movements of
thought.

He tried, for example, to reconcile the views of ibn Arabi and those of Mujaddid Alf Thani. In
order fully to appreciate this effort of Shah Wali Allah, it will be necessary to outline here briefly
the views of ibn Arabi and those of the Mujaddid with regard to the problem of Being.
There are two different senses in which the term “Being” may be understood. First, it may be
taken epistemologically as the cognized form or idea of existence and, secondly, it may be taken
ontologically to stand for that which exists or subsists and not for the idea of it. Tauhid or the
unity of Being may, there-fore, mean either the unity of the mystically cognized existence or
existence per se.

The term “Absolute Being” (al-wujud al-mutlaq) or “Universal Being” (al-wujud al-kulli)
explained by ibn Arabi’s school is Reality as the ultimate ground of all that exists. This
expression may be taken in either of the above two senses.

From the writings of ibn Arabi, which are, however, at places highly subtle and sometimes
equally ambiguous, it may be gathered that when he says that all Being is One which is an
Absolute Unity, he does not mean that all individual beings, past, present, or future, are
essentially One Being, nor does he mean that Being in its abstract and most universal sense
comprises all forms of Being in all possible universes of discourse.
When he says that all existence is one, he means that all existence is at source one, that is to say,
that God is the one source and cause of all that has being (existence or subsistence). It is only for
the sake of convenience that ibn Arabi compares God’s “Being” to a “universal” (say, colour)
and the being of any other existent (or subsistent) to a particular “mode” or manifestation of that
“universal” (say, red).

Were it not for the all-pervasiveness of God, by virtue of His form in all existents, the world
would have no existence, just as, were it not for the intelligible universal realities (al-haqaiq al-
maqulat al-kulliyah), no predications (ahkam) of external objects would have been possible.
To express the whole matter in modern terminology, there is an identity of God and universe on
the basis of the identity of His “existence and essence” (dhat-o sifat) or substance and attribute,
the world being only a tajalli or manifestation of His attributes. In other words, the creation of
the world is a form of emanation. Ibn Arabi believes that the act of creation by the word “Be”
(kun) is nothing but the descent of the Creator into the being of things. There are, however, five
stages of this descent or determination. “The first two are ilmi or cognitive and the last three are
khariji or existential.

In the first descent, Unity becomes conscious of itself as pure Being, and the consciousness of
attributes is only implicit and general (sifat-i ijmali). In the second descent, it becomes conscious
of itself as presenting the attributes explicitly and in detail (sifat-i tafsili). These two descents
seem to be conceived by ibn Arabi as conceptual rather than actual; they are supra temporal, and
the distinction between existence and essence in their case is only logical.

The real distinctions begin with the third descent, which consists in the determination of spirits
(taayyun-i ruhi) when Unity breaks itself into so many spirits, e.g., angels. The fourth descent is
ideal determination (taayyun-i mithali), whereby the world of ideas comes into being. And the
fifth descent is physical determination (taayyun-i jasadi): it yields the phenomenal or physical
beings.”

This shows that for ibn Arabi “Being” (dhat) of God is identical with His attributes (sifat), and
these attributes express themselves in manifestations (tajalliyat) as modes that are objects and
events of this world. It is, thus, clear that, according to ibn Arabi, ontologically there is only one
reality. It has two aspects: (1) a reality transcending the phenomenal world and (2) a multiplicity
of subjectivities that find their ultimate ground and explanation in the essential unity of the Real.

Thus, the world as it looks and the multiplicity that we find in it is nothing but the multiplicity of
the modes of the Unity; it has no existence of its own. Ibn Arabi proclaims that “existent things
have not the slightest touch of reality about them.” He explains this statement through the
metaphor of the “mirror” and the “image.” The phenomenal world is the mirror image, i.e., the
shadow of the real object beyond. The whole world is like a shadow play.

At another place ibn Arabi uses the metaphors of permeation and “spiritual food.” The many
permeate the One in the sense in which qualities (say, colours) permeate substance. The One, on
the other hand, permeates the many as the nutriment permeates the body; God is our sustaining
spiritual “food,” because He is our essence. He is also the spiritual food of the phenomenal world
and it is thus that God is endowed with attributes.

We can, thus, sum up ibn Arabi’s whole philosophical thought in the two propositions: (1) in God
existence and essence or being and attributes are identical; (2) the world is nothing but a pale
reflection or emanation, or mode of His attributes only.

Mujaddid Alf Thani, Shaikh Ahmad Sirhindi, vehemently criticizes the philosophy of ibn Arabi.
He says that it is wrong to believe that the attributes are identical with Being. The Quran says:
“Verily God is wholly sufficient unto Himself - He needs none of the world.” According to him,
this verse is clearly indicative of the fact that God is not dependent upon the world for His
unfoldment. The attributes by which He turns to the world and creates it are other than His Self.

The Mujaddid also finds no valid basis for the theory of ibn Arabi that the world is the emanation
(tajalli) of the attributes of God. For, if the world is merely the emanation of God’s attributes, it
would have been identical with them, but the attributes of God are perfect, while the world is full
of imperfections, for example, human knowledge has no resemblance to God’s knowledge, so the
former cannot be called to be the tajalli of the latter.

Just as we cannot call the shadow of man his being on the existence of which his very existence
depends, similarly it is wrong to conclude that God depends upon the creation for His own
unfoldment. There is no reciprocity between the One and the many as understood by ibn Arabi.
God is an objective Reality, independent of the existence of created worlds.

Thus, there is no likeness whatsoever between the divine and the human attributes. The verse
“Thy Lord is nobler than the qualities which they ascribe to Him” clearly points to this.

So, while ibn Arabi bases his theory of wahdat al-wujud on the identity of asl and zill, i.e., the
thing and its adumbration, the Mujaddid insists that the zill of a thing can never be identical with
its asl or being. Thus, according to him, there is absolutely no identity between the unique
Creator and the world created by Him.
He also believes that mystic experience, however valuable and perfect it might be, has no
objective validity with regard to Being and attributes. It is through prophetic revelation alone that
we can understand Reality.

Moreover, the finite beings cannot apprehend the Infinite through mystical experiences.
Consequently, the faith in the unseen is unavoidable. Such faith alone is valid in the case of God,
because it is in keeping with our limitations and His inaccessibility or beyondness.

Shaikh Ahmad also bitterly criticizes the doctrine of determinism that is a natural corollary of the
doctrine of wahdat al-wujud. He believes that man has been afforded opportunity by God to
exercise his freedom in a sphere of life where he may accept or reject a certain line of action
according to his own choice. Should he be a mere puppet, as he is according to the inherent logic
of ibn Arabi’s pantheism, he cannot be justifiably rewarded or punished for his good and evil
deeds. The idea of reward and punishment presupposes a world of free and responsible moral
agents who can adopt or reject a certain course of action.

These are, in short, some basic differences between the metaphysical thought of ibn Arabi and
that of Shaikh Ahmad Sirhindi. The Mujaddid’s criticism of the philosophy of wahdat al-wujud
was very severe, and few had the courage to oppose him. It was Shah Wali Allah who for the first
time tried to bridge the gulf that yawned between the views of these two great thinkers of Islam.
Shah Wali Allah professed that God had granted him the special gift of creative synthesis or
reconciliation.

According to Shah Wali Allah, there is no substantial difference between the philosophy of
wahdat al-wujud and that of wahdat al-shuhud and the difference if any is nothing but an illusion.
The world is not an attribute or emanation of attributes but consists of non-emanative modes of
attributes in the mirror of non-existence. These modes look real, but in truth their reality lies only
in Being.

He resolves this difference with the help of an example. He says, “Let us make a horse, a donkey,
and a man out of wax. This wax is common to all of them although their forms differ from one
another. We call these forms, moulded out of wax, a horse, a donkey, and a man. If we reflect
deeply we find that these forms are only modes of their being and their being is nothing but the
wax.”

Shah Wali Allah contends, however, that if we leave simile and metaphor aside, there is no
essential difference between the doctrines of ibn Arabi and those of the Mujaddid. To say that the
essence of the contingent beings are the names and attributes of the necessary being
differentiated the conceptual, as ibn Arabi holds, or to say that the contingent beings are the
asma-o sifat of the Necessary Being reflected in their adam al--mutaqabilah or non-being as the
Mujaddid maintains, is practically the same.

If there is any difference between the two positions, it is quite insignificant. The Mujaddid and
ibn Arabi relate the same fact in two different languages but the shortsighted critics look upon
these as matters of vital difference.

The Spiritual World and The Material World

Shah Wali Allah believes that in between the material world and its Creator, there is a spiritual
world in which the planning will of God is first reflected and then materialized into different
forms. Thus, there is a close relationship between the two. All beings and happenings of this
world are first reflected in the spiritual world or, as Shah Wali Allah names it, the alam al-mithal,
then these are transmuted into material forms.

He elucidates this point by the example of a clairvoyant dream. The coming events are first
visualized in the forms of shadows which have no material existence but which later may
actualize into tangible existents. A true dream is, thus, an instance of the alam al-mithal. The
things found in the spiritual world appear to a layman to be immaterial, but to the prophets (as)
they are tangible and concrete.

For example, the Prophet (S) once after having offered his prayer said to his Companions, “I saw
heaven and hell before me.” Once in the midst of his prayer, he is reported to have heaved a deep
sigh as if he were actually feeling the heat of hell. Shah Wali Allah, quoting numerous examples
in support of his contention, concludes, “It is an established fact that the prophets (as) could not
see all these phenomena with their physical eyes. Heaven and hell are too large to be
comprehended physical-ly. Had these been matters of common sight they would have been
visible to the Companions also who were by his side at such occasions.”

Conclusion

Shah Wali Allah’s influence was quite widespread and penetrating. He revolutionized the
philosophical, political, social, and economic ideas within the framework of Islam. Like an
experienced surgeon he analysed and examined the various components of Islamic mysticism
and Fiqh and rearranged them in an order that made them highly beneficial to the Muslim
society. According to Iqbal, he was the first Muslim to feel the urge for rethinking the whole
system of Islam without in any way breaking away from its past.

Shah Wali Allah aimed at presenting Islamic thought in as coherent and logical form as any
theologico-philosophical system could be. His style has all the philosophical subtlety and
penetration about it and his doctrines have a logical cogency and consistency surpassing those of
many Muslim theologians.

His philosophical endeavour consisted in explaining and resolving satisfactorily the apparent
contradictions and dichotomies between the eternal values and the changing conditions, the unity
of God and the multiplicity within the universe, etc. In this he was the precursor of Iqbal; anyone
delving deep into Iqbal’s Reconstruction of Religious Thought in Islam will find the spirit of
Shah Wali Allah pervading this work from beginning to end.