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The Original Afghan Mujahidin |
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Written by JD Johannes
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Saturday, 13 December 2008 |
Sayyid Ahmad Shah is the original modern Mujahidin leader.(1)
Born Ahmad Brelwi in the tumble-down village of Bareli, he was, in teenage years, a follower of the notorious War Lord Amir Khan.
When Amir Khan's forces broke up after the war, Ahmad adopted the title 'Sayyid' which means he is descended from the Muslim prophet Mohammed.
The newly identified Sayyid Ahmad Brelwi's fervent religious beliefs, piety and charisma gained him a following. He denounced many supposedly corrupt forms of worship in Islam and urged a return to the Quran.
Sayyid Ahmad then went on the pligrimage to Mecca, the Haj, and spent four years studying at the Hejaz where his thoughts were reinforced by the Arabian Wahibi school of thought.
He returned after his sojourn and called upon the faithful to wage war against kufars--the non-muslims.
He visited his old War Lord leader, then journeyed through Khandahar, Ghalji and eventually found his largest body of loyal followers in the Yusufzai and Khatak.
The Yusufzai and Khataks, ablaze with tribal pride that demands the expulsion of foreigners and a large dose of religious zeal, followed their new leader who took the name Sayyid Ahmad Shah.
This was the first modern Mujahidin movement. The foreigners were not Americans, or NATO troops, or the Soviets or even the British.
The foreign unbelivers to be expelled and exterminated were Sihks of the Kingdom of Ranjit Singh. The year was 1828.
One hundred and eighty years ago, in what are now known as the Federally Administrated Tribal Areas of Pakistan, the banner of Jihad, the Mujahidin, was raised.
I was reminded of Sayyid Ahmad Shah by the semi-coherent ramblings of the 'New Thought Movement' guru Deepak Chopra and his son Gotham Chopra as they sought to explain the root causes of Islamic terrorism.
Gotham cannot see past the CIA's involvement in the Soviet/Afghan war of the 1980's. Deepak cannot go past the partition of India and creation of Pakistan in 1947.
This rather shallow view of history is convinient for many as it allows them to ignore the fact that violence under the banner of Islam is nothing new and not caused by anything Western.
For more than 1400 years, Muslim warriors have been offering the same bargain orginally made to the Persians and Romans by Khalid bin al Wahid:
"Now then, embrace Islam so that you may be safe, or else make a treaty of protection for yourself and your people and agree to pay the jizyah. Otherwise, do not blame anyone but yourself, for I have brought you a people who love death as you love life." (2)
Khalid was not waging war through Mesopotamia and the Levant in response to poverty and lack of educational opportunities in Dar al Islam.
Sayyid Ahmad Shah was not waging a battle against Western Imperialism. His service under the War Lord Amir Khan was as a mercenary paid for by the British.
Sayyid Ahmad, as a Mujahidin, rallied the faithful "against the tyrant [Ranjit Singh] who was represented as an unbelieving idolator." (1)
The only difference between the Taliban and Sayyid Ahmad's 'Hindustan Fanatics' and Khalid's armies and Al Qaida is weaponry. The AK-47 has replaced the matchlock and the bomb has replaced the sword.
The root cause of Islamic violence is and always has been Islam.
(1) Caroe, Sir Olaf 'The Pathans'
(2) al-Tabari 'The History of al-Tabari Volume XI: Challenge to the Empires'
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