The Ulama in the Age of Colonialism

The Ulama in the Age of Colonialism marred by political clashes and uprisings throughout this period. Despite all this, the educational and scientific services rendered by the Ulama and the Muslim scholars during the same period are astonishingly remarkable. The reason was again the same; the Ulama and the Muslim scholars kept themselves aloof from the political strife, focusing, instead, on their intellectual and other related tasks. Sadly, in the age of European colonialism, most of the Ulama abandoned their primary task—of the intellectual development of people along constructive lines. Instead, they became involved in useless political conflicts, which they termed ‘jihad’. However, in the same period, some Ulama realised that they could not waste their energies in such conflicts. Instead, they believed they must remain aloof from politics and focus on intellectual development and training along constrictive lines. However, these Ulama were in such a small minority that they proved ineffective in bringing any significant change in the state of affairs. In 1857, many Indian Ulama declared what they regarded as ‘jihad through the sword’ against the British. There was a noted alim in Deoband, Maulana Shaikh Muhammad, whose opinion opposed that of the Ulama who favoured jihad. He claimed that, far