The Khilafat Movement

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Qazi Mohammad Adeel Abbasi was born to a devout Muslim family in eastern Uttar Pradesh and brought up in a scholarly tradition. Possessing a literary bent of mind, he aspired to become a journalist and a writer. In 1921, at a very young age, he became the Chief Editor of the daily Zamindar. Lahore's leading nationalist Urdu paper. He soon plunged into nationalist politics, was imprisoned by the British, and never looked back. He had an eventful legislative career in the UP Assembly during 1936-56. He wrote on a variety of subjects in an inimitable style and almost always without the help of recorded notes. He has written in Urdu a study of the poet Iqbal, whom he knew intimately during his days in Lahore. This work was hailed by literary critics as a landmark treatment of the topic. He also wrote a history of the Khilafat Movement in the Urdu book Tahreek-e-Khilafat, of which this book is an English translation.

When it was suggested to me that I write a series of articles on the "Khilafat Movement" in a weekly journal. I readily agreed and, as an introduction, even wrote a few parts under the title "A Cursory Glance at the History of Turkey The thought was that after that. I would just write offhand. I was under the impression that I would have no difficulty since I had participated in that movement and heard many eye-witness accounts. But I became busy with other things and when I suddenly remembered one day that I needed to fulfill that commitment and started collecting my thoughts and studying books, I realized how difficult the task was.

The purpose of lifting a pen to write about the Khilafat Movement was to examine the whys and wherefores of the graceful elegance of ancient times and the sunrise of the modern age. In a far-flung place like Basti, neither books nor journals were available for such a study, nor did I have the time to set out on a journey to look for them. That is why I had to settle for whatever little was available to me there.

As far as the history of the Khilafat Movement is concerned, it has been observed that authors and compilers often gave it only a perfunctory treatment, and those who did write did not include the history of all its relevant years.

The fundamental difference between human beings and animals is the capacity for speech and consciousness. These two God-given capabilities have not only given humans the noblest status of all creatures but also acquainted them with those mysteries of symbols and codes of the universe which could take his mental and spiritual advancement to lofty heights. Awareness of the hidden factors of life and universe is what is known as knowledge. Knowledge has two basic branches: intrinsic and extrinsic. Intrinsic knowledge has been concerned with the inner world of humans and its civilization and catharsis. In addition to Holy Prophets, the efforts made by pious elders, true Sufis and saints, and thoughtful poets to embellish and beautify the intrinsic are different links in the same chain of knowledge. Extrinsic knowledge is concerned with the external world of humans and its formation and construction. History and philosophy, politics and economics, sociology and science, etc. are such areas of knowledge. Whether knowledge is internal or external, language has played a foundational role in its protection and promotion. Whether it is the spoken word or written word, language has been the most effective means of transferring knowledge from one generation to another. The written word is older than the spoken word.

**Contents and Sample Pages**