Rama-Janmabhumi Temple Muslim Testimony Harsh Narain All relevant
British government records followed by the District Gazetteer Faizabad compiled
and published by the Congress government in 1960 declare with one voice that
the so-called Babari mosque at Ayodhya is standing on the debris of a
Ramjanmasthan temple demolished by the order of Babar in 1528. Syed
Shahabuddin, JNU historians, and. self-styled secular scholars and leaders are
hotly contesting that the existence and demolition of such a temple is a myth
floated by the British in pursuance of their policy of divide and rule.
Syed Shahabuddin and many Muslim divines go a step further and
assert that neither Babar nor any other Muslim for that matter would take into
his head to erect a mosque by displacing a temple, for, they argue, such a
mosque would not be a mosque in the eye of the Shariah and would be liable to
demolition by the Muslims themselves. With this idea in mind, Syed Shahabuddin
is going about proclaiming that, if it is shown independently of the British
sources that the Babari mosque has displaced a temple, he would pull it down
with his own hands and hand it over to the Hindus. The challenge is worth
taking, and I hereby do it with good grace, on behalf of those who place truth
above politics.
Important Note and Disclaimer: - This content is extracted and presented as it is from the book "HINDU TEMPLES WHAT HAPPENED TO THEM? VOLUMES 1 AND 2"
A Preliminary Survey by
ARUN SHOURIE,HARSH NARAIN,JAY DUBASHI,RAM SWARUP,SITA RAM GOEL
Direct download link provided at the end of the page.
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Well, granting for the nonce that the Babari mosque cannot be
shown to have displaced a temple, there are certain other mosques which can
indisputably be shown to have done so. Is Syed Shahabuddin prepared to keep his
word in the case of such mosques? It is common knowledge that most of the
mosques built by the Muslim invaders stand on land grabbed or extorted from the
Kafirs.
And what about the Kaabah itself? Sayyid Shahabuddin Abdur Rahman, the well known
Muslim historian who died in an accident recently, modifies the stand of the
Muslim divines thus: It is also thinkable that some mosque was erected close to
or at a short distance from a temple demolished for some special reason, but
never was a mosque built on the site of a temple anywhere.(See hisBabri Masjid,
3rd print, Azamgarh: Darul Musannifin Shibli Academy, 1987, p. 19.)
As regards the verdict of the Shariah, it is true that there are
theologico-juristic rulings to the effect that no mosque can be built on land
grabbed or illegally/illegitimately acquired. See for example the great
Fatawa-i Alamgiri, Vol. 16, p 214. But the question is, Do they hold true for
land acquired in Jihad as well? The answer has to be an emphatic No.
The Prophet has made it clear that all land belongs to God or the
Prophet (Alamu annl-arza lillah-i wa rasul-i-hi), and, obviously, through the
Prophet to the Muslims (Bukhari, II, Kitab al-Jibad was- Siyar, Hadith 406).
Iqbal puts the following words, in a Persian verse, into the mouth of Tariq,
the great conqueror of Spain : Har mulk mulk-i mast ki mulk-i Khuda-i mast.
That is, all land belongs to the Muslims, because it belongs to their God. Ibn
Taymiyyah, the 14th century theologian and jurist, argues that Jihad simply
restores lands to the Muslims, to whom they rightly belong. This serves to
vouchsafe to them the moral right to extort lands in Jihad from others. Thus,
the argument from the Shariah has no leg to stand upon. Now, I proceed to cite
certain purely Muslim sources beyond the sphere of British influence to show
that the Babari mosque has displaced a Hindu temple-the Ramjanmasthan temple,
to be precise-wholly or partly. First, an indirect evidence. In an application
dated November 30, 1858, filed by one Muhammad Ashghar, Khatib and Muazzin, Babari
Masjid, to initiate legal proceedings against Bairagiyan-i Janmasthan, the
Babari mosque has been called masjid-i Janmasthan and the courtyard near the
arch and the pulpit within the boundary of the mosque, maqam Janmasthan ka. The
Bairagis had raised a platform in the courtyard which the applicant wanted to
be dismantled. He has mentioned that the place of Janmasthan had been lying
unkempt/in disorder (parishan) for hundreds of years and that the Hindus
performed worship there (maqam Janmasthan ka sad-ha baras se parishan para
rahta tha. Ahl-i Hunud puja karte they). See Sayyid Shahabuddin Abdur Rahman,
op, cit., pp. 29-30. Well, if the Babari mosque is the Janmasthan mosque, its
courtyard is the Janmasthan, and the Hindus had all along been carrying out
their worship, all that implies that there must have been some construction
there as part of a (Janmasthan) temple, which Mir Baqi partly demolished and
partly converted into the existing Babari mosque, with or without Babars
approval. And the Hindus had no alternative but to make do with the temple-less
courtyard. Otherwise, it is simply unthinkable that they might have been
performing worship for such a long time and on such a sacred place without a
proper temple.
Failure of Jihad
My second document is the Hadiqah-i Shuhada by one Mirza Jan, an
eyewitness as well as active participant in the Jihad led by Amir Ali Amethawi
during Wajid Ali Shahs regime in 1855 for recapture of Hanuman Garhi (a few
hundred yards from the Babari mosque) from the Hindus. The book was ready just
after the failure of the Jihad and saw the light of day in the following year,
viz. in 1856, at Lucknow. Rais Ahmad Jafari has included it as chapter IX in
his book entitled Wajid Ali Shah aur Un-ka Ahd (Lucknow: Kitab Manzil, 1957),
after, however, omitting what he considered unnecessary but without adding a
word from his side.
Now, let us see what information we gather from it, germane to our
enquiry. Mirza Jan states that wherever they found magnificent temples of the
Hindus ever since the establishment of Sayyid Salar Masud Ghazis rule, the
Muslim rulers in India built mosques, monasteries, and inns, appointed muazzins,
teachers, and store-stewards, spread Islam vigorously, and vanquished the
Kafirs. Likewise, they cleared up Faizabad and Avadh, too, from the filth of
reprobation (infidelity), because it was a great centre of worship and capital
of Rama’s father. Where there stood the great temple (of Ramjanmasthan), there
they built a big mosque, and, where there was a small mandap (pavilion), there
they erected a camp mosque (masjid-i mukhtasar-i qanati).
The Janmasthan temple is the principal place of Ramas incarnation,
adjacent to which is the Sita ki Rasoi. Hence, what a lofty mosque was built
there by king Babar in 923 A. H. (1528 A.D.), under the patronage of Musa
Ashiqan! The mosque is still known far and wide as the Sita ki Rasoi mosque.
And that temple is extant by its side (aur pahlu mein wah dair baqi hai) (p.
247). It must be borne in mind that Mirza Jan claims to write all this on the
basis of older records (kutub-i sabiqah) and contemporary accounts. My third
document is a chapter of the Muraqqah-i Khusrawi, otherwise known as the
Tarikh-i Avadh, by Shykh Azamat Ali Kakorawi Nami (1811-1893), who happened to
be an eyewitness to much that happened during Wajid Ali Shahs regime. The work
was completed in 1869 but could Pot see the light of day for over a century.
Only one manuscript of it is extant and that is in the Tagore Library of
Lucknow University.
A press copy of it was prepared by Dr. Zaki Kakorawi for
publication with the financial assistance of the Fakhruddin Ali Ahmad Memorial
Committee, U.P., Lucknow. The committee vetoed the publication of its chapter
dealing with the Jihad led by Amir Ali Amethawi for recapture of Hanuman Garhi
from the Bairagis, from its funds, on the ground that its publication would not
be opportune in view of the prevailing political situation, with the result
that Dr. Kakorawi had to publish the book minus that chapter in 1986, for the
first time.
Later, however, lie published the chapter separately, and
independently of any financial or other assistance from the committee in 1987
from the Markaz-i Adab-i Urdu 137, Shahganj, Lucknow-3, under the title Amir
Ali Shahid aur Markah-i Hanuman Garhi. It is a pity that, thanks to our
thoughtless secularism and waning sense of history, such primary sources of
medieval Indian history are presently in danger of suppression or total
extinction.
Dr. Kakorawi himself laments that suppression of any part of any
old composition or compilation like this can create difficulties and
misunderstandings for future historians and researchers (p. 3). Well, what
light does our author, Shykh Muhammad Azamat Ali Kakorawi Nami, have to throw
on the issue of demolition versus non-existence of the Janmasthan temple? The
opening paragraph of his book is akin to the passage quoted above from Mirza
Jans Hadiqah-i Shuhada. I give below the paragraph in the authors own words,
omitting very few details: According to old records, it has been a rule with
the Muslim rulers from the first to build mosques, monasteries, and inns,
spread Islam, and put (a stop to) nonIslamic practices, wherever they found
prominence (of kufr). Accordingly, even as they cleared up Mathura, Bindraban,
etc., from the rubbish of non-Islamic practices, the Babari mosque was built up
in 923(?) A.H. under the patronage of Sayyid Musa Ashiqan in the Janmasthan
temple (butkhane Janmasthan mein) in Faizabad-Avadh, which was a great place of
(worship) and capital of Ramas father (p. 9).
Among the Hindus it was known as Sita ki Rasoi (p. 10). The
passage has certain gaps, thanks to the wretched condition of the manuscript,
which I have tried to fill within brackets. Dr. Kakorawi has appended to the
book an excerpt from the Fasanah-i Ibrat by the great early Urdu novelist.
Mirza Rajab Ali Beg Surur (1787-1867), which constitutes our
fourth document. It says that a great mosque was built on the spot where Sita
ki Rasoi is situated. During the regime of Babar, the Hindus had no guts to be
a match for the Muslims. The mosque was built in 923(?) A.H. under the
patronage of Sayyid Mir Ashiqan Aurangzeb built a mosque on the Hanuman Garhi
The Bairagis effaced the mosque and erected a temple in its place. Then idols
began to be worshipped openly in the Babari mosque where the Sita ki Rasoi is
situated, (pp. 71-72).
The author adds that formerly, it is Shykh Ali Hazins observation
which held good and quotes the following Persian couplet of the Shykh: Bi-bin
karamat-i butkhanah-i mara aiy Shaikh! Ki chun kharab shawad khanah-i Khuda
garded Which means: O Shykh! just witness the miracle of my house of idols,
which, when desecrated, or demolished, becomes the house of God (a mosque). So,
purporting to mean that formerly temples were demolished for construction of
mosques, the author, Surur, laments that the times have so changed that now the
mosque was demolished for construction of a temple (on the Hanuman Garhi) (p.
72).
Clinching the Issue
The forming four-fold documentary evidence leads us to certain
incontrovertible conclusions, which can be stated as under:
1. That, in their zeal to hit Hinduism and spread Islam, the
Muslim rulers had the knack of desecrating or demolishing Hindu temples and
erecting mosques, etc., in their place-bigger mosques in place of bigger
temples and smaller mosques in place of smaller temples.
2. That there did exist a temple called the temple of Janmasthan
at Ayodhya, where Rama is believed to have incarnated and that adjacent to it
was what is called Sita ki Rasoi, which might originally have been part of it.
3. That, like Muslim rulers who desecrated Mathura, Vrindavana,
etc., Babar chose Ayodhya for spread of Islam and replacement of temples by
mosques, thanks to its supreme importance as a holy place of the Hindus, and in
1528, under the patronage of Sayyid Mir Musa Ashiqan, got the so-called Babari
mosque erected in displacement of the Rama Janmasthan temple, certain relics of
which appear to have persisted at least till 1855.
4. That the Babari mosque was also called masjid-i Janmasthan and
masjid-i Sita ki Rasoi from long before 1855.
5. That the Hindus had long been carrying on worship at the Rama
Janmasthan even after the replacement of the Janmasthan temple by the Babari
mosque.
6. That the foregoing facts are yielded by authentic Muslim
records and have not been fabricated by the much-maligned British to divide and
rule. These conclusions are irresistible and should clinch the issue of
demolition versus non-existence of the Ramjanmasthan temple.
Indian Express,
February 26, 1990
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