Imam Shah Waliullah Muhaddis Dehlawi, “R.H” (Part 5)
Sources of thinking of Shah Waliullah
The center of the philosophical thinking of “Shah Wali Allah” is religion; Because according to him, religion is the only source of power and strength for Muslims, and their decline was a direct result of neglecting religion. Therefore, his main interest was for Muslims to return to the teachings of Islam, he had a firm belief in the strength and power of Islamic ideology and believed that if this ideology is fully accepted and implemented honestly, there is hope for progress with peace and prosperity of human society in it. Lies; As a result, Imam Shah Waliullah directed both himself and others to protect Islamic ideals from all unhealthy influences and to provide a new rational ground to deal with the struggles and challenges of the times.
Professor Shah Waliullah talked about the huge difference between the model of life, as stated in the Qur’an and the Sunnah, and the model of life that Muslims built for themselves, as well as the difference between the social and political institutions that Islam had provided the framework for, and the institutions that Muslims He was fully aware of the course of history they had evolved and established for themselves, however “Shah Sahib” knew very well that the wheel of history could not be turned back; Therefore, it was not wise to think that Muslims can live with the same model that was recognized as valid in the past, with the illusion that that model will be valid in future times as well.
In this way, in order to study the thoughts of Imam Shah Wali Allah in detail, one must first have a historical perspective, and without referring to the intellectual environment that inspired him, it is not an easy task to understand the essence of his spiritual reserves, intellectual and mystical experiences; Even a cursory look at this matter reveals that the first and strongest influence that left the most permanent mark on his mind came from his father, who was in his father’s presence and learned the Holy Qur’an and the Sunnah, and the kind of noble guidance that these entail. They were, he understood well; Therefore, it can be acknowledged that the Holy Qur’an and its traditions formed the solid foundation on which he built his intellectual system.
Shah Waliullah was greatly influenced by Imam al-Ghazali al-Khattabat and Shaykh al-Islam Izz al-Din ibn Abd al-Salam. He learned the rational interpretation of various aspects of Islam from these scholars of art, and in his introduction to “Hujjatullah al-Balagha” he mentioned them with respect. apparently, he was also interested in Abul Hasan Ash’ari, Abu Mansur Matridi, Ibn Taymiyyah and Imam Fakhr al-Din Razi, and in the field of Sufism, he was influenced by both Ibn Arabi and Sheikh Ahmad Sarhandi.
