Shah Ismail Shahid’s Religious Thought and His impact on the Subsequent Islamic Tradition

Abstract

Shah Ismail Shahid, the grandson of Shah Waliullah Dihlavi, is a well-known  figure in the South Asian Islam because of his various socio-religious  endeavours. One of his works titled “Taqviyat-ul-Iman” is considered the most  influential book of his times which paved the way of the present day “Ahl-i  Hadith” school of thought on the one hand. On the other, he was criticized on  the same degree by his coreligionists among the sunnis, because of his several  religious opinions expressed particularly in the same book. Despite of his  various social, religious and political contributions in the British India, he  remained a controversial Islamic figure to an extent. This paper attempts to  analyze impartially the circumstances under which Shah Ismail lived and  played his role, in order to understand the grounds of the said controversy.