Attaullah Shah Bukhari

Early life:

Hazrat Ameer Shariyat, Attuallah Shah Bukhari was born in Patna, India, on September 23, 1892. His father’s name was Hafiz Syed Ziauddin. He belongs to the Syed family.

He was the descendant of Abdul Qadir Jillani. Qadir Jillani was the descendant of Hazrat Hassan.

Early Education:

Hazrat Attaullah Shah Bukhari got his early education from Gujarat. He received a traditional education. He learned the holy Quran from his father, Hafiz Syed Ziauddin when he was 10 years old. He completed his early education in Gujrat. He remained associated with Deohbond School in Saharanpur. Attaullah Shah and his father believed in the traditional educational system because they considered that Islamic education is important for Muslims rather than any other education system. He was against the English educational system. He considered the teaching of English as against the religion; a commonly held view amongst the then Muslims. He learned Islamic education with great devotion. One thing was very surprising and exceptional about his educational life; he had never become a regular student of any Madressah. Nor he had been to any prominent teacher of his time. He got the Fiqh education from Maulana Mustafa Kasmi and Hadith education from Mufti Hassan Amritsari.

Oath:

Bukhari had taken his first oath at the hands of Peer Meher Ali Shah, and second oath at the hands of Maulana Abdul Kalam Azad. He has attached himself with Deoband’s school of thought.

Religious and Political Career:

Attallah Shah Bukhari started his career as a religious person. He started to teach Islamic education. He started his religious life in 1916, in a small Mosque in Amritsar and taught the Quran for the next forty years of his life. These things show that he had great love and devotion to religion. He was a regular reader of the Holy Quran. When he used to recite the Quran everyone becomes silent and listening to the Holy Quran. Most often people insisted he recites Quran on different occasions. The people were greatly impressed by the style of his recitation of the holy book. He was a true preacher of the Holy Quran.

Attaullah Shah Bukhari shared his ideas and thoughts with other people who belong to a different school of thought. He also had friendships with socialists and communists but he never got any influence from them. As Quran was the sole guidance for him. He wants Muslims to be active and striving all time because he was a strong believer in romantic socialism. He had studied Bukhari Shareef when he had been imprisoned for an anti-government religious speech.

Attaullah Shah Bukhari started his political career in 1916. The accident of Jallianwallah Bagh had cast great impact upon him, that’s why he started his politics.

His biographer Shorish Kashmiri write about him, Bukhari was the strong anti-British antagonist. He was against British and British policies, he always opposed the British policies and hate them. Bukhari’s greatest contribution was that he had created anti-British sentiments in the hearts of the local people.

He delivered a great speech at Khilafat Conference held at Amritsar, 1919.

He joined the INC in 1921 in Calcutta. He delivered a very impressive and passionate speech there. Soon his popularity turned him into a leader, though he was arrested on 27 March 1921 because of that speech.

Bukhari believed in attaining independence through non-violent and constitutional means.

INC member toured the country. He combined his politics with a vision of Islam and followed the injunctions of the Quran throughout his life. He became an eyesore to administration.

In 1923, he initiated a movement against the Shudi Sangthan movement.

In 1924, he participated in the unity conference held in Dehli.

In 1925, he signed on the document which was made against the Mirzai sect. Bukhari was fully against the newly born Qadiyani movement; he was totally against Mirza Ahmed Qadiyani, he stated that Ahmed Qadiyani was a liar having loose character, ill-mannered, and never abide by his deeds. Bukhari had been to prison several times.

He was a central figure in the Khatm-e-Nabuwat Movement of 1953, which demanded from government of Pakistan to declare the Ahmadis as non-Muslims.

Another great work of Attaullah Bakhari was Majlis-I-Ahrarar Islam. Some religious political movements emerged from Punjab during the first half of the 20^th century. MAI was founded in 1929 in Lahore.MAI in collaboration with other religious parties worked against the Ahmadis. This group was then divided into two parties. One group has following members: Malik Laal Khan, Muhammad Alam, Maulana Abdul Qadri, and Maulana Zafar Ali Khan. The other group was led by Fazal Haq, decided to play an active part from the platform of Majlis Ahrar-i-Islam. Fazal Haq was the chief of the new party.

Syed Attaullah Shah Bukhari participated in the meeting convened by these parties. He was a member of the INC and JUH. He had started his speech after dinner and continues the entire night till morning prayers. The audience in the meeting listened to him with full attention. “According to WC Smith, he would have claimed to be India’s most effective demagogue.” With his oratory, he would hold an audience of thousands inspired and attentive for hours. He was a prize asset of the MAI. He was religious and anti-British.

When the MAI evolved from an idea into an organization on March 30, 1930, it held the first meeting at Islamia College Lahore under the presidency of Fazal Haq. By addressing this meeting, Attaullah Shah Bukhari urged the youth to come forward and fight for the Independence of their country.

The MAI stood for equal distribution of wealth, eradication of corruption, respect for every religion, and freedom to live according to Sharia. Ataullah Shah Bukhari, in his presidential address at the session, invited the Muslim masses to cooperate with MAI in its struggle to safeguard the rights of the Muslims, through a separate electorate and the medium of a separate religious organization. The MAI attracted several groups to its rank, drawn mainly from the educated lower and middle classes, small shopkeepers, and urban Muslim youth.

Prof. Khalid Ahmed Shabir has stated that Bukhari was among one of the three persons who had already revealed the reasons for the downfall of Muslims and proposed the solution to the dilemma.

Molana Johar rightly stated about his oratory abilities that “he was not only enthusiastic in his speeches but spiritual”. His words can easily mold the heart of the listener and could easily force the listener towards the tasks he wants to be accomplished by his listener.

Oratory:

Bukhari was known in India for his matchless oratory. His speeches were full of amusing stories from Arabic, Persian, Urdu, Punjabi, and Multani. He had command of these languages. His graphics portrayed the sorrows and suffering of the poor. He said to people during his speeches, your suffering will have got an end when the British rule will end in India. He spreads his message all over India. His speeches had a great impact on the minds of the people.

Death:

Bukhari died at the age of 69. A large number of people had participated in his funeral prayer in Multan.