The myth of Ghazwa-tul-Hind
Religion has quite frequently been used as an excuse for military motives. Talking specifically about Islam, hadees has been used as a tool to invent excuses for political motivations and military interventions/attacks as and when required.
There has been enormous hue and cry over Ghazwa-tul-Hind for years. This was probably first used by self-styled Jihadi activists in Pakistan for getting public support in Pakistan and raising funds to be used in their attacks in Kashmir with the aim of conquering India and creating what they call dar-ul-Islam. It is very interesting to note that neither Arabs nor the Mujahideen of Afghanistan made use of these ahadees to wage a war against India. Pakistan Army, ISI and the local Jihadis have a monopoly over Ghazwa-tul-Hind for now, although they don’t talk specifically about Green Pakistani Jihadis waging the war.
Ghazwa-tul-Hind: Pakistani flag hoisted at Red Fort, Delhi, India. This image was created and circulated by the Brasstacks.biz (ISI mouth-piece Zaid Hamid's organization) team.
Islamists and right-wing-military-apologists have fallen to the propaganda of Pakistan Army and ISI when they propagate waging a war against the neighboring country India, finding excuses for ding so through hadees. Zaid Hamid, the mouth-piece of ISI and Pakistan Army has been making use of Ghazwa-tul-Hind (6 hadees in total), promoting hatred against Hindus and war hysteria. These hadees are available here.
Are they authentic ?
- Just a brief look at these will make it clear that none of these five ahadees are found in Sihah-e-Sitta. Two of these appear to be in the collections of ahadees by Imam Nisai but not in Sunan an-Nisai al Sughra, the book considered to be among the Sihah-e-Sitta, the six books considered most reliable by main-stream Muslims.
- The others are not even found in the reliable collections of respected muhadiseen.
- Note that Imam Nisai died in 915. The years of death of other respected muhadiseen to whom Sihah-e-Sitta are attributed to: Imam Bukhari in 870, Imam Muslim in 875, Abu Daud in 888, al-Tirmizi in 892, Imam Malik in 796, Ibn Maja in 886. All of them died before Imam Nisai. It does not make much sense that we have these ahadees being narrated through Imam Nisai but not through any of the other respected muhadiseen who lived before him.
- They are narrated through a single chain. Reported only once through one companion of the Prophet.
- Considering the reward for participating in this war and the importance of it, as these ahadees tell, they should have been narrated by more companions of the Prophet and should have been there in more books of ahadees.
- It is very important to note that none of these are found in any of the collections of ahadees which the Shia Muslims consider authentic. This raises the question if they were invented by the Ummayads/Abbasids considering their expansionist designs? This is also to be noted that Ummayads did reach Sindh, a part of Hind back then.
- One must also note the fact that we don’t have any history report telling us about the use of these ahadees in the past by Muslim rulers or conquerors, even those who did invade India or waged a war on it. If they were respected and authentic ahadees, we should have such history reports.
Fourthly, it must be remembered that it would have been very easy for Muslim conquerors of India in the past, men like Mahmud of Ghazni, Shihabuddin Ghori, Timur, Nadir Shah and so on, to present the hadith about the ghazwat ul-hind and wield it as a weapon to justify their attacks on the country. The corrupt ulema associated with their courts could well have suggested this to them had they wished. However, no such mention is made about this in history books. In the eighteenth century, the well-known Islamic scholar Shah Waliullah of Delhi invited the Afghan warlord Ahmad Shah Abdali to invade India and dispel the Marathas, which he accepted, but yet Shah Waliullah, too, did not use this hadith as a pretext for this. [1]
What if they are authentic ?
It is also pertinent to examine how some well-known contemporary Indian ulema look at this hadith report.
- Maulana Abdul Hamid Numani, a leading figure of the Jamiat ul-Ulema-i Hind, opines that this hadith was fulfilled at the time of the ‘Four Righteous Caliphs’ of the Sunnis, soon after the demise of the Prophet Muhammad, when several companions of the Prophet came to India, mainly in order to spread Islam. [1]
- Mufti Sajid Qasmi, who teaches at the Dar ul-Uloom in Deoband, is also of the same opinion, although he believes that it might also refer to the invasion of Sindh by the Arabs under Muhammad bin Qasim in the eighth century. [1]
- On the other hand, Maulana Mufti Mushtaq Tijarvi of the Jamaat-i Islami Hind believes that it is possible that this hadith report is not genuine at all and that it might have been fabricated at the time of Muhammad bin Qasim’s invasion of Sindh in order to justify it. [1]
- On the other hand, if this hadith report is indeed genuine—which it might well be—in my view, the battle against India that it predicted was fulfilled in the early Islamic period itself, and is not something that will happen in the future. This, in fact, is the opinion of the majority of the ulema, qualified Islamic scholars. And this view accords with reason as well. [1]
- It is quite likely that the ghazwat ul-hind that this report predicted took the form of the attack by an Arab Muslim force on Thana and Bharuch, in coastal western India , in the 15th year or the Islamic calendar in the reign of the Caliph Umar. [1]
- Equally possibly, it could have been fulfilled in the form of the missionary efforts of some of the Prophet’s companions soon after, in the reign of the Caliphs Uthman and Ali, in Sindh and Gujarat .[1]
- Some other ulema consider this hadith to have been fulfilled in the form of the attack and occupation of Sindh by Arab Muslims led by Muhammad bin Qasim in the 93rd year of the Islamic calendar, which then facilitated the spread of Islam in the country. [1]
- This might well be the case, for the hadith report about the ghazwat ul-hind contained in the Masnad of Ahmad ibn Hanbal, a well-known collection of Hadith narratives attributed to the Prophet, mentions that the Muslim army that would attack India would be sent in the direction of Sindh and Hind. [1]
Opinion of the religious scholars
I inquired about the authenticity of these ahadees from a few religious scholars and would like to share their opinion in this regard:
Such things exist in the hadith collections, which are often either placed or mounted on a symbolic meaning, or they talk about something historic which has happened in the context of what we believe in self-defense. Further, the hadith in question can be doubted about their autenticity as they are not found in any reliable and agreed upon source. The chain of narrators is weak to be considered authentic.In this day and age what would govern the relations of Muslims and followers of other religions, are the international treaties and covenants that ensure the state security, peace and freedom of belief for all human beings.These treaties are binding on Muslims, especially as they are consistent with the approach of Islam declared in the Qur’an about the obligation to respect the religions and the freedom and security of other peoples.Hence, the use of such hadith for political or military motives is discouraged.The Office of the referenda for Religious AuthorityGrand Ayatollah Mohammed Hussein Fadlallah
Research Wing, Al-Mawrid Institue
assalaam o alaykumI have tried to find out the sources of these traditions. None of these traditions is found in reliable soruces like Bukhari, Muslim, Mu’atta etc. If we suppose them to be reliable they talk about an even that has happened already. They do not talk about Pakistanis fighting Indians. They talk about Arabs on an expedition to India and conquering it.Tariq Mahmood HashmiAssociate Editor
SalaamAll these ahadith refer to troops going from Palestine and Syria and returning to those regions. Even if these ahadith were authentic, and they are indeed found in reliable books, they have nothing to do with any possibility of an Indo-Pak war.The other important thing to note is that Abu Huraira, the companion-narrator is suggesting that it was something that was about to happen during his lifetime. it is quite likely that Muhammad Bin Qasim’s conquest of Sind was being prophesied in these ahadith.
The third important matter to note is that a message as important as the one mentioned in these narratives is described in all different versions through only one companion. Clearly, if the message was important, there should have been several narrators mentioning it.
This message therefore cannot be employed as an excuse to fight against India. We can fight against India or any other nation only if conditions of Jihad are satisfied, which are: it should be declared by a Muslim ruler, Muslims should be at least half as militarily strong as their enemies, and the enemy should be guilty of blatant injustice against a group of people. Any individual or group of people cannot declare Jihad on their own against anyone; if they do, they will be guilty of creating fasaad fil ‘ard (mischief on earth). [2]
Information on the ahadees available at http://www.ghazwatulhind.com/
Good Work..(y)
Look who's writing… a hardcore Shiite
Good to know that Zaid Hamid is hitting you where it hurts the most
Tsk tsk, pity u and NFP
[...] from Ale’s blog (Thanks to Pakistani intelligence agencies for their illegal Denial of
[...] this for one post [...]
Yea, Zaid Hamid is a remarkable offense to one's reason and sensibility, apart from vocal aesthetics. We'll need all your pity and more to keep up the good work! So keep reading.
"Look who's writing… a hardcore Shiite
"
Yeah, I am a Sunni and I totally get your point, remember the Hadith that says that if a Shia is saying something you shouldn't listen even if the person might be right, you should close your ears and run?
You're right, Aamer. That person isn't worth wasting a single – but sadly many of our friends and acquaintances have been mesmerized by his delusions. It is for them that one feel responsible enough to put up a fight against stupidity and hatred.
[...] this for one post [...]
Insanity, my dear, has no bounds.
You all are thanking to that so called liberal who removed his critics from the list as he has a tiny heart who can't listen to others views.
Ala's you all (who praising this article) have very less knowledge of Islam.
pity u
keep whining bitches
Nouman,
If you knew anything about Islam, you would not have been a Zaid Hamid fan. We may have little knowledge but you have none.
And u, pity u, what a poor thing u, copy-pasting links to your blog on Mr. H's fanpage @ FB just because no one bothers to give ur fucking blog any hits, lolz, pathetic! Such cheapsters
And look at you people who have started Denial of Service Attacks on Ale's blog because you can't stand the truth. I hope that you will reply after you are free of copy and pasting youtube links to Zaid Hamid and conspiracy theorists.
What if your beliefs are just a delusion? What if your perceived notions of dignity and honor is nothing but an absurdity? What if you were not born a 'Pakistani' but an 'Indian' or maybe an 'Israelite'? Would you have used the same pseudonym to hide your identity? Wouldn't you rather be whom you fanatically condemn?
I don't expect an answer because all this is nothing more than rhetoric and also because my superciliousness assumes you are not capable of arguing reasonably which is quite evident from your contributions so far. Yet, I want you to think, even if for a moment by trespassing your bigoted boundaries. To think like a newborn naked under the shining sun on a nameless piece of land, without the dogs of society, culture, state, ideology or religion barking at you, intimidating you, coercing you and your dumb wit. Can you imagine such, if so, only then my friend, you may glimpse your self for the first time.
Yakeen Kijyee, ye sab bakwas hay.
Please visit my aastaana at http://hazratzaidhamid.blogspot.com.
shias always talk like this. they are against islam. what the author is saying is complete hatred of islam and muslims. he is against hadith… i know many members of brasstacks volunteers and they are very good muslims.. they are not mullahs .. they are modern muslims young educated people.. there is no issue of ghazawa tul hind… this land is for us muslims and we will get it anyways
[...] point for the youth to follow but rather than idiotic
What a sick article
Zaid Hamid is hitting you where it hurts the most
whats up with u… u call urself a pakistani and a muslim… when has pakistan ever been interested in waging a war against india.. or any1…. on the contrary we all see alot of enemies of pakistan and islam…. dont u have any shame…??? how could u write so about ur countries noble people…. have some shame mate…. had there not been pakistan u would have been shredded in india rite now… those people even violates there lower caste… they would hav completly squashed u
well Ale Natiq ……u have been exposed ….there are sahi hadiths relating to Ghazwa-e-Hind …..u r join pleasing ur Hindu, Jew, and Christian Zionist ….bcoz u r receiving dollars for them
People like u in the face of muslims have harmed Islan……u can not stop the conquest of India…..!!!
May Allah curse u….for this type of propaganda!!!
What advantage did u gain after writing this much bakwaas?
The Myth of Ale Natiq
Ali Bhai i am really sorry..what u have done was not expected by you..its better to be idiot than be educated like u..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VAQ3uO2mP0c
Well MR. Ale I think we have found a clue why you hate Pakistan, its Army and everything good about Pakistan so much
….. i guess you must be answering why you made FAKE zaid hamid page and did all the things 
i mean ur the CHAMPION of SECULARISM and stuff 
so u must also be addressing this issue
Strange, you need the name and email address of the person who wants to comment. On the other hand you are hiding behind a fake name as concerned Pakistani. Shame on you. Come out and face the people. Stop writing the blogs like cowards. If you do not dare to put your name on your product, better stay home and shut your mouth.
You dont in any way seem muslim or even Paksitani…have you any sense that you are favouring a nation that has constantly been engaged in war against Pakistan…??? and who said there are no hadiths regarding Ghazwa e hind??? i think you have not carefully checked for them and have just plunged up to a stupid conclusion about paksitan, ISI, and Islam rather you know what we know who is funding you to write all this rubbish so its over,,,next time come up with something sensible if you have the guts!!!
and Zaid Hamid is certainly hitting you and your filthy masters where it hurts the most..well said Paksitani!!!
As usual, your “product” rules the roost – effective, poignant, and hits at naiveté where it hurts the most (I really like this latter expression).
And so, as usual, you are doing a great favor to Muslims and to Pakistanis across the world.
I’ve been following the groups at facebook on Zaid Hamid. Specially the group http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=197788883468 which is named WE PROTEST BAN ON SYED ZAID ZAMAN HAMID’S FANPAGE (OFFICIAL).
I can see that there is a group of people, a very few, who are managing a propaganda campaign to get anyone blocked or disabled at facebook who does not agree to their ideology or is against zaid hamid. Is Zaid Hamif God ? why can people not criticize him ? I agree is not always wrong, sometimes he is right, but his fans, god, idiots.
i am shocked to see people inciting hatred to these guys who are against zaid hamid’s ideology. they are sharing their personal details and planning to attack them, abuse them.
i have a feeling that all this is a made up episode by these fans.
i was a huge fan of zaid hamid but now i think how wrong i was … i must thank a lot of people who helped me see the world in a better way … 1st thank u zaid sahib for giving me a platform to think… its u who made me think and when i thought, i found better ways… thanks zaki khalid and BT team for telling me about this blog .. otherwise i would not have read this post … thank u all the allama sahibs quoted there… thank u ale expressed for this good post ..and for the links and references… also i got lot of material available online… i listeded to iqbal ahmed who was posted at the fake group and i should thank whoever the admin was… iqbal is a good man… can anyone tell me where can i find more books of him ? i feel sorry today that i was wrong… i was begin emotionally driven…. everyone is recommended to read zahid hussain frontline pakistan … that helped me this week…
Khayyam,
Though Eqbal Ahmad did not write a book, there are a few collections of his articles that were published in newspapers and journals.
‘The Selected Writings of Eqbal Ahmad’ is a collection of his essays. The google book previews allow the users to read a number of his essays. You can access it here:
http://books.google.com.pk/boo.....mp;f=false
There is another collection of his interviews ‘Eqbal Ahmad: Confronting Empire’
http://books.google.com.pk/boo.....mp;f=false
One of the best online archives for his work is hosted here:
http://www.bitsonline.net/eqbal/
Due to some technical issues, the articles could not be accessed at the above link. There is workaround by accessing it through archived pages:
http://web.archive.org/web/200.....net/eqbal/
Finally, his essays are also translated in Urdu and available for free download at Mashal website:
http://www.mashalbooks.com/index1.html
There are other good translation available freely at that site. I think that you would like them.
I watched the video of Zaid Hamid. One prediction made by Zahid Hamid is going to be completed i.e. deployment of US soldiers in Afghanistan.
I think that he is only warning us so that we should be prepared to face any war if it comes.
When I first heard MR. Zaid Hamid, most of the things he said were not new to me, but rather It was a relief to hear a person finally saying those things out loud. One thing which was completely new to me was the aspect of “Ghazwa e Hind”. I am not sure if the hadith is authentic or not. If it is true, then the question arises. Hasn’t this hadith already come to past when the Muslim conquered Hind? I believe this is the same question the Muslims asked them selves when they conquered Hindh. Doubt and fitnah would have build in their hearts regarding faith. Thats where Shah Naimtullah Wali comes in. He was a Muslim saint who prophesied the coming events in Hind till the arrival of Prophet Isa (Peace be Upon Him). This would have ended any doubt or fitnah and restored faith. If we suppose Ghazwa e Hind is not true. It doesn’t matter, because we have fought 3 wars with Hindustan, we are eventually gonna fight a 4th one any way. As for people who believe he is a conspiracy theorist because he tells us, America wants to destroy Pakistan into pieces and capture its Nukes,India is supporting insurgencies to destroy Pakistan in order to build greater India, Israel wants to see Pakistan destroyed (Allah forbid that). Need a reality check. Those things are not conspiracies. They are a reality at work. One thing which is the most unique in MR. Zaid Hamid, is that he uses “Quran and Sunnah” to analysis History, Current Affairs, Geo Politics. Economics and so on. People who might be ,weak in faith, or might not like what they read in the Quran and Sunnah, will probably find his analysis absurd. For those who read the Quran and Sunnah and use it as “social laws” by which they study humanity, will likely find Mr. Zaid Hamid analysis logical. For those Muslims who still believe Hindus are our well wishers after separating East Pakistan from us, and believe in establishing friendly relationship with jews who feed Palestinians uranium, ought to be ashamed of them selves.
Sallam.
I am not jumping to any conclusions, but this is surely good research work!
Whether these Ahadees are true or not,But i will be in favour of attacking India..Why do we not aim to rule it???
They broke us apart,although there were our mistakes too,but India had a major hand in conspiring the segregation of Bangladesh..
I am not in favour of this idea that we live in the darkness that India is not doing anything in our country..It’s wrong!!!It’s illogical..!!
well i dont believe in this article because it is written by a shiite , who are always with enimies of pakistan and islam .
Interesting to see all comments. One fundamental thing everyone is forgetting is what is happening these days? A muslim would never wage a war against anyone that is guaranteed. A comment above Muslim Ameer declaring Jihad is complete Bollocks it is just like some Iraqi brothers I knew in London saying that WE DO NOT OFFER JUMMA AS THERE IS NO AMEER OF MUSLIMS THESE DAYS. I do not think an Ameer like Zardari is going to declare Jihad. The Habibullah SHA said “Jihad is going to continue as long as rain is dropping from the sky”. You guys need to read the Book of Fitan by Imam ibn Katheer RA.
India is going to wage a war on us the way they have done it in the past. The present day situation is a proof for this. These are the times of Dajjal system so watch out. We have MUSLIMS living here in the WEST still with an off the boat mentality, no idea about their own religion let alone how to perform salat. We have muslims today who play Golf on a Friday than going to the masjid, we have muslims who would drop ten dollars on a jumma thinking they have done the best and inshauallah Allah will forgive them…..The Ummah needs to wake up guys……..We have left the coolness of eyes which is Salat and yet we have the guts to blame a brother like Zaid or like him who are atleast trying to do something for the only country which has been a thorn in enemy’s eyes.
We live lavishly in the west here and Allah has blessed most of us here hamdolillah. I suggest, rather pin pointing others fault make dua for the brothers who are striving for good in whatever way. As an ummah we are one body so we have to stick to each other.
Yaad rakhna Allah will question us on our well being in this world and how did we utilise our time here. Help your brother in Islam and Help and pray for whoever is taking sincere steps for Pakistan, the last fort of Islam.
Yours in Islam
Abu Subaih aka FORSA
reading the comments is just as enlightening as the blogpost itself. the amount of self righteous delusion is nerve wracking at the very least. my favorite part is where instead of addressing the question at hand people tend to give rhetorical gibberish or even slander as responses- eg shias are against pakistan (forgetting that jinnah was ismaili by birth and a convert to asna ashari- the twelver shias) , that pakistan has always been attacked by outside forces ( remember operation gibraltar) and that pakistan is a bastion of islam (genocides in bangladesh, balochistan,karachi).
Paki’s are big delusional bitches.
They are being raped by Taleban and fucked by USA and someday Indians will insert a big shivalinga in their mouth….:)
such pathetic people….
good article.On one side we have such myths and on other we have initiatives like Aman ki Asha. koi faida nahi!
Whoever wrote this article has gone through a through and detailed research which is very encouraging and impressive. My greetings to the author of this article who is not only providing the real message but also exposing the mentally corrupted individuals like Zaid Hamid who use false notion of patriotism and religious bigotry in propagating their false and hate filled message.
Are you sure, what you people are talking about. Does Allah wrote in the Quran to kill all the Hindus and Christians?
But why does he hate us?
I did not do any mistake. I love all religions.
[...] don’t generate interest for the youth which has been fed emotional taka-tak of religion, nationalism, chauvinism and false history. Since YouTube (or forwarded emails) is the only place [...]
zaid hamid is a KGB + RAW agent deployed to cause instability in pakistan and make pakistan a pariah state similar to iran, north korea and etc… and to protect russian interests….(in central Asia)
He lived in iran during shiah era and helped toppled the regime and set off the Iranian revolution
he is not from pakistan nor turkey, he in fact is a white person and propaganda agent of the KGB….
zaid hamid is a KGB + RAW agent deployed to cause instability in pakistan and make pakistan a pariah state similar to iran, north korea and etc… to protect russian interests….(in central Asia)
He lived in iran during shiah era and helped toppled the regime and set off the Iranian revolution
he is not from pakistan nor turkey, he in fact is a white person and propaganda agent of the KGB….
divisions, divisions, divisions…
when will we all ever learn? Hindu v/s muslim, shitite v/s sunni
Crap man..
Thanks! for a detailed scholarly analysis of the ahadith of ghazwat-ul-hind see plz:
http://www.understanding-islam.....scatid=336
even if u say that zaid hamid is a secret agent working for the secret agena let me tell u the prophecies of muslims and christian both tells us that there would rise a black flag army from the area of united states of islam(khurasan). so dehli would falls soon. see america had powered up taliban of afghanistan with the help of pakistani ISI but see whats happening now it is in the worst financial crisis ever so this doesnt matter even if some one is conspiring the destiny is written. PAKISTAN ZINDABAD. PAKISTAN will never ever perish from the face of the world there are divine plans with this state of PAKISTAN. it will expand…….
PAKISTAN ZINDABAD
Do you really think its a myth? It has already started to happen. Delhi is already part of Pakistan:
http://zaidonists.wordpress.co.....of-inside/
Hahaha!
[...] The myth of Ghazwa-e-Hind [...]
[...] The myth of Ghazwa-e-Hind [...]
Ale, look at this site: http://zaidonists.wordpress.com
[...] http://blog.ale.com.pk/?p=1124 [...]
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