At the recently concluded JUD jalsa in Lahore, the portly figure of international terrorist Hafiz Saeed sitting on a horse would have been comical except for the seriousness of his proclamation - Ghazwa-e-Hind is inevitable, Kashmir will be freed, 1971 will be avenged and Ahmedabad Gujarat victims will get justice.
What is the Ghazwa-e-Hind, also known as Ghazwa-tul-Hind?
Literally translated, it means 'prophetic battle for India'.
The likes of Hafiz Saeed quote from an alleged Hadith narrated by Hazrat Abu Huraira (R.A.) that claims that the Holy Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) had predicted that one day India would be conquered by their Mujahideen and all idol-worshippers will be wiped out for ever. Those who participated in this bloody war against infidels will be granted free and faster entry to paradise as compared to ordinary Muslims.
I am no Islamic scholar. The following is based on my academic research into this topic.
The proponents of Ghazwa -e-Hind quote 4 Ahadith in its support. The most popular Hadith is of Hazrat Abu Huraira (R.A).
The other three as quoted by "Islam ke Sipahi" (http://islamkesipahi.wordpress.com/ghazwa-e-hind/) are:
Thawban (RA) narrated that the Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace be upon him) said, "Two groups of my Ummah Allah has protected from the Hellfire - a group that will conquer India and a group that will be with 'Esa son of Maryam (AS)." - Sunan Nasai.
Abu Huraira (RA) said, "The Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace be upon him) promised us the conquest of India. If I was to come across that event, I will spend my soul and wealth. If I am killed then I am among the best of martyrs. And if I return then I am Abu Huraira (RA) who has been freed from the fire of hell." - Sunan Nasai,
Na'im, son of Hammad in al-Fitan reports that, Abu Huraira said that the Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace be upon him) mentioned India and said, "A group of you will conquer India, Allah will open for them (India) until they come with its kings chained - Allah having forgiven their sins - when they return back (from India), they will find Esa son of Maryam in Syria." - Kitab Al Fitan
There are several problems with these so-called Ahadith.
First, none of the so-called Ghazwa-e-Hind Ahadith find a mention in the Sihah-e-Sittah, which is a compilation of six authenticated Hadith collections that have been meticulously scrutinized by Hadith experts and considered to be the most reliable.
Second, two of the Ahadith do find a mention in an unauthenticated Hadith collection of Imam Nasai but not in the Sunan an-Nasai al Sughra, which is among the six books counted among the Sihah-e-Sittah. The other two Ahadith do not find a mention in any compilation of Ahaditth.
Third, even the two Ahadith mentioned in the unauthenticated collection of Imam Nasai have difficulties. Imam Nasai died in 915, many years after the compilation of Sihah-e-Sittah. This obviously raises the question as to why Imam Nasai mentioned a Hadith that his predecessors had not mentioned at all. If there was any truth in the Gazwa-e-Hind, would all his predecessors have missed it totally, especially one as important as this that promised a direct entry to paradise?
Fourth, all these four Ahadith are narrated through a single chain, that is, only through one companion of the Prophet (peace be upon him). This technicality is enough to reject the Hadith.
Fifth, it is surprising that such a Hadith has come to prominence only in the last decade or two. If it was authentic, surely invaders like Mahmud Ghazni, Ghori and so on would have claimed resort to it to motivate their soldiers. The fact that none did for over a thousand years throws doubts about its authenticity.
Sixth, Shah Waliullah, the 18th century Islamic scholar who invited Ahmad Shah Abdali to invade India and fight against the Marathas, made no reference to this Hadith. A scholar of his standing would surely have known about this Hadith and so couched his invitation accordingly if there had been one such.
Finally, none of these Ahadith finds a mention in the Shia Hadith collections. Contrarily, the Shias believe that Abu Huraira actually demonised the Prophet and vulgarised Islam through his dubious collection of Ahadith. Given Abu Huraira's profile, he seems to be an apt choice for Hafiz Saeed and his ilk.
The above narration clearly shows that the Ghazwa-e-Hind lacks credibility and in fact, is a concoction. This being so, the question arises, why is such a stratagem being used that lacks authenticity and credibility?
The answer is the desperate attempt of the ISI-backed Jihadis to get support, funding and recruits for terrorist actions in India by appealing to their religious sentiments. Apparently, the cry of Jihad did not seem to be enough given the large population of Muslims living peacefully in India and so the resort to a Hadith that promised speedy entry into paradise.
The problem is that rabble-rousers like Hafiz Saeed are able to distort Islam in such a manner as to mislead youth and to use them as cannon fodder for the ISI's notorious plans against India.
This is compounded by educated and informed Pakistani Muslims, who do not contradict such misuse of Islam. It is only when the Muslims themselves call for putting an end to such distortions, that the likes of Hafiz Saeed would be put in their place.
But I suspect it will be quite a while before that happens.
The views expressed in the above article are that of Mr Salim Haq.
