Aurangzeb, the tyrannical Mughal ruler who slaughtered innumerable Hindus and non-Muslims, ordered the demolition of temples, including the hallowed Kashi Vishwanath temple and commissioned the construction of a mosque over it, is regarded as a respectable figure among Islamist circles. Despite savagery inflicted by him on fellow Indians, Aurangzeb remains a hero to a legion of radical Muslims who hail him as a loyal Islamic warrior who was dutifully committed to fulfilling the Islamic prophecy of Ghazwa-e-Hind, a fantasy that refers to the complete conquest of India by invading Islamic forces.
How Aurangzeb and other Islamic invaders of the medieval era continue to inspire contemporary Islamists
Earlier yesterday, AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi responded to former Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis’ remarks over his younger brother Akbaruddin Owaisi’s visit to Aurangzeb’s tomb. Speaking to news agency ANI, Owaisi responded to Fadnavis’ attacks against Akbaruddin Owaisi, stating, “I don’t respond to such Tom, Dick and Harry…Aurangzeb grave is a protected monument and It’s the PM’s responsibility to protect it.”
Owaisi was also visibly miffed with the Varanasi court order that sealed the Gyanvapi structure after a Shivling was found from the mosque’s Wuzukhana, where Muslims wash their hands and feet, gargle and clean themselves before offering namaz. Dismissing that it was a Shivling, Owaisi said the structure was a fountain and dog-whistled Muslims to not lose the disputed structure.
“When I was 19-21, the Babri Masjid was snatched away from me. But we will never lose a Masjid again in front of the 19-20-year-olds. Do you take an oath that we will not lose any more mosques?” he asked a frenzied crowd.
Amidst chants of ‘Naara-e-Takbeer’ and ‘Allahu Akbar’, his supporters vowed to protect the disputed structure of the Gyanvapi mosque. “They must know that we will not lose any more of our mosques. We know all your tactics,” Owaisi remarked.
Later on Aaj Tak, the AIMIM chief leaned on the Places of Worship Act, 1991, to defend his stance and rail against the court order, stating that the place could not be sealed as per the aforementioned Act. Moreover, he asserted that Muslims should be allowed to continue offering their prayers in the mosque despite reports suggesting that a Shivling was found in its wuzukhana. Defending the Gyanvapi mosque, where a Hindu temple was reportedly destroyed and converted into a mosque by Mughal tyrant Aurangzeb, Owaisi said the Places of Worship Act, 1991, provided security to monuments and religious places that existed at the time of India’s independence.
However, he conveniently missed out on listing down the exemptions stated in the Act. The law exempts any place of worship, which is an ancient and historical monument or an archaeological site covered by the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act, 1958. When asked as he seems to be a conscientious upholder of the law, will he accept the Ram Temple at the Ayodhya after the Supreme Court verdict? Owaisi said he will continue to treat the site as Babri Masjid even though the apex court had ordered the site to be handed over to Hindus for building a Ram Temple.
Owaisi is not an outlier in his veneration of Mughal tyrants and in his defence of Islamic marauders and plunderers who destroyed Hindu temples and structures and built mosques over them to humiliate the indigenous natives. There are several others, including eminent individuals, who share a similar enthusiasm for defending and exalting Mughal ruler Aurangzeb.
In response to Fadnavis’ critical remarks against Owaisi’s visit to Aurangzeb’s tomb, Srinagar Mayor Junaid Mattoo posted a eulogising tweet to Aurangzeb, who had been infamous for committing unspeakable atrocities on the Hindu community. “May Allah (SWT)’s mercy and blessings be upon Hafiz-e-Quran, Shahenshah Hazrat Muhi-ud-Din Muhammad Aurangzeb (R.A.) and his grave,” Mattoo tweeted.
Besides Mattoo and Asaduddin Owaisi, there are several other Muslim clerics who have made no bones about their respect and admiration for Mughal ruler Aurangzeb. For Islamists, Aurangzeb and other Islamic rulers, who killed Hindus, destroyed idols, and constructed mosques atop the ruins of Hindu temples, remain a source of undying inspiration and “heroes” who expanded the frontiers of the Islamic empire.
Amidst the survey of the contested Gyanvapi structure, an Islamist discussing in favour of the mosque hailed Aurangzeb and described him as his ancestor.
Three years back, Maulana Ansar Raza of Gareeb Nawaz Foundation, one of the influential voices among the Muslim cleric community, hailed Mughal ruler Aurangzeb on live television. In a news debate hosted by late Rohit Sardana, Raza said he is proud of being a follower of Aurangzeb and that the Mughal emperor should be praised instead of being denigrated as a plunderer and traitor.
A few years back, Maulana Ansar Raza had refused to denounce Mohammed Ibn Qasim, a Muslim ruler responsible for carrying out large-scale slaughter of Hindus. In a debate with Tarek Fatah on Zee News, Raza not only refused to decry Ibn Qasim, but he even hailed Mahmood Ghaznavi as his hero. Ghaznavi or Mahmud of Ghazni is infamous for raiding the Somnath temple 17 times and destroying its revered idol into four pieces, an affront meant to show Hindus their place and establish the might of Islam.
The reason why none of them feels a modicum of guilt or remorse over the atrocities committed by Aurangzeb or for that matter anyone from Muhammad Bin Qasim to Tipu Sultan is that these despots are seen as faithful servants fulfilling the prophecy of Ghazwa-e-Hind—an Islamic supremacist fantasy of turning India into a Muslim caliphate.
Ghazwa-e-Hind: An Islamist doctrine forecasting the dominance of Islam over India
The term Ghazwa-e-Hind or a holy raid of India has been used by the Pakistani terrorists and Islamic zealots against India for decades. The concept of Ghazwa-e-hind roots in several works of Islamic literature named Hadiths. The doctrine predicts an onslaught upon citizens of India by Islamist forces and its take over by them. The doctrine prophesizes a pitched battle between Hindus and Muslims before (qayamat), resulting in a decisive victory of Muslims over Hindu India.
As per the prediction, the battle to the end will start in modern-day Syria, with forces marching toward India. Islamic armies carrying black flags will supposedly come from Khorasan and conquer India to turn it into an Islamic state.
Thus, for the likes of Owaisi, Mattoo and scores of Muslim fundamentalists, Aurangzeb, Bin Qasim, Ghazni and other Muslim rulers were not plunderers and pillagers who wreaked havoc on the lives of non-Muslims, particularly Hindus, but they were steadfast devotees of Prophet Muhammad who took upon themselves the “noble task” of spreading Islam and bringing the land of “kaafirs” under Islamic rule.
However, ironically and unfortunately, sympathisers of the Islamists dismiss the prophecy as a contrived paranoia concocted with the aim to stoke fears against Muslims. Many others downplay the supremacist fantasy as a relic of the past. An article published in leftist rag ThePrint argued that fears surrounding the clarion call of Ghazwa-e-Hind, which is popular among Islamists, are unfounded as it has already happened, during the medieval times when a large part of India was ruled by successive Muslim rulers.
However, this is a grossly mistaken assumption because the prophecy talks about India being conquered in its entirety and subsumed in the global Islamic caliphate, with the overwhelming population of the country being turned into adherents of Islam. Apparently, this prophecy has gained currency among a large section of Pakistanis, including cricketer Shoaib Akhtar, and Pak-based terror organisations, the Pakistan Army, who regard it as their religious duty to wage an armed ‘jihad’ against India to fulfil the prophecy stated in their Hadiths.
Whether it is the indoctrinated Pakistanis or rabid Islamists in India, they consider Ghazwa-e-Hind an unfinished project, an incomplete crusade led by characters like Aurangzeb, the Mahmud of Ghazni, Qutub-ud-din Aibak and others for its completion. It is this conviction that Muslim invaders of India were on a religious duty to fulfil the Islamic prophecy of Ghazwa-e-Hind that fuels the contemporary veneration for the Muslim tyrants and engenders a poignant longing for the medieval times among the present-day Islamists.
