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Brelwi) (1786–1831) militant religious revivalist leader in North India

Sayyid Ahmad Barelwi was born to a prominent family of sayyids (descendants of mUhammad) in

Awadh province in northern india. After moving

to delhi, where he studied with the son of the

Muslim reformer Shah Wali Allah (d. 1762), he served in the cavalry of a Muslim ruler in central India for seven years (1811–18). In 1822, Sayyid Ahmad went on the haJJ to mecca. When he

returned to India, he combined reformist Islamic ideas with his military experience to launch a movement that quickly migrated from Delhi to Bengal and ultimately to aFghanistan, Kashmir,

and the Punjab in northwest India.

At a time when the Mughal Empire was in its death throes, Sayyid Ahmad and his disciples sought to bring Muslims back to what he thought was the true Islam and lead them to greatness by way of a Jihad against the British, who were

becoming more and more powerful at this time. In his teachings, he called upon Muslims to give up un-Islamic idolatrous practices and return to the simple monotheism of the qUran and Muham-

mad. He condemned Muslim participation in Hindu social and religious practices, worship at saint shrines, and Shii veneration of the imams. He and his followers thought of themselves as following the path of the first Muslims under Muhammad’s leadership, and many believed that Sayyid Ahmad was the “renewer” (mujaddid) of the age. Some even considered him to be the awaited mahdi (Muslim messiah). Sayyid Ahmad’s

opponents labeled him a “Wahhabi,” a follower of the puritanical Saudi form of Islam, but he did not consider himself as such. He was more a follower of the teachings of Shah Wali Allah of Delhi than Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab (d. 1792), the founder of the so-called Wahhabi movement in Arabia during the 18th century.

Sayyid Ahmad decided to mount his jihad against the British from a base in northwest India. In 1826, after gathering recruits from the region K  92  Barelwi, Sayyid Ahmad

of what is now Afghanistan and Baluchistan, he set out for the Punjab, where the population was a mixture of Muslims, Hindus, and Sikhs. There he attempted to displace the local Sikh governor, Sher Singh (d. 1843), and after several battles and skirmishes he was killed at Balakot (near Kash- mir) in 1831. His movement was put into disarray, but it reorganized itself and became a nonjihadist reform movement known as the Path of Muham- mad, based in Patna. Sayyid Ahmad is still remem- bered by many Pakistani and Indian Muslims as a martyr (shahid), and his shrine still stands in the town of Balakot, Pakistan, along with memorials to those who died in battle with him.

The movement launched by Sayyid Ahmad in the early 19th century is distinct from a movement the emerged later in the 1880s called the Barelwi Movement, under the leadership of Ahmad Riza Khan (1856–1921) of Barelwi, a scholar of the sharia. Members of this movement

strongly believed that they were the Indian heirs of Muhammad and his companions in medina,

and they opposed the reformist ideas of sayyid

ahmad khan (d. 1898) and abU al-kalam azad

(d. 1958). Instead they espoused a combination of Sufi devotionalism and pilgrimage to saint shrines with a reformist attitude toward the sharia. Their

understanding of Islam was also at odds with that of Sayyid Ahmad’s “Wahhabi” movement and the conservative school based in deoband. Although

the Barelwi Movement began in rural areas, it has since gained a strong following among educated Muslims in urban areas of India and Pakistan.

See also hindUismand islam; mUghaldynasty; reneWalandreFormmovements; Wahhabism.

Further reading: Mohiuddin Ahmad, Saiyid Ahmad Sha-

hid: His Life and Mission (Lucknow: Academy of Islamic

Research and Publications, 1975); Ghulam Mohammad Jaffar, “Teachings of Shah Wali Allah and the Movement of Sayyid Ahmad Shahid of Bareilly.” Hamdard Islamicus 16, no. 4 (1993): 69–80; Barbara D. Metcalf, Islamic

Revival in British India: Deoband, 1860–1900 (Princeton,

N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1982).

Basmachi

Basmachi, a Turkic word translated as “bandit,” was a derogatory term used by Bolshevik and Soviet authorities to refer to almost all forms of violent indigenous Central Asia resistance to Russian power following the Russian Revolu- tions of 1917. This resistance grew in response to the economic and social dislocation resulting from Russian campaigns of land confiscation and looting. The largest movement labeled Bas- machi was led by Enver Pasha (d. 1922), one of a number of former Turkish military officers who fought in the region under the banner of pan- Turkism (a nationalist movement among Turkic peoples). Although he commanded 15,000 to 20,000 troops by spring 1922, he and the other Turkish officers were seen as outsiders, and they failed to gain a real following among the popu- lation. The Soviets made effective use of their greater military force, and in 1923, the govern- ment offered amnesty to those rebels who would give up the fight and surrender their weapons. Revolts continued, however, with one large Basmachi group holding out for seven months in 1924.

Numerous so-called Basmachi revolts con- tinued into the 1930s with varying intensity in Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and Turkmenistan. These revolts were different from those of the 1920s, as they were unorganized, peasant-based move- ments with less of a coherent ideology. Soviet collectivization of agricUltUre, their campaign

to root out “class enemies” in the countryside, as well as an escalated struggle against Islam caused the number of these uprisings to increase. Most of the fighting men came from the peasantry, and their leaders were village elders, tribal heads, and Sufi shaykhs. Basmachi revolts were firmly rooted in local communities, so that organizationally and objectively they could never coalesce into a mass uprising large enough to dislodge the Soviets. The revolts also remained immune to calls to join the larger national or pan-Turkic struggle. By the late 1930s, through military force and political and

economic concessions, Basmachi-style revolts had been quashed.

See also bUkhara; tUrkey.

David Reeves Further reading: Edward Allworth, The Modern Uzbeks

from the Fourteenth Century to the Present (Stanford,

Calif.: Hoover Institution Press, 1990); Shoshana Keller,

To Moscow, Not Mecca: The Soviet Campaign against Islam in Central Asia, 1917–1941 (Westport, Conn.:

Praeger, 2001).

basmala

The basmala, also known as the tasmiya, is an Arabic word for the phrase bi-smillah ir-rahman ir-rahim, “In the name of God most compassion- ate, most merciful.” This is the first verse of the qUran; it begins all of its chapters but one (Q

9), and it is recited before reading any part of the Quran. According to religious authorities, people should pronounce it before any worthwhile activ- ity, such as a formal speech, a meal, taking medi- cine, using the toilet, slaughtering an animal for

food, sexual intercourse with one’s spouse, and traveling. Many recite it when they awake each day and before going to sleep. It is believed that whoever repeats the basmala will be granted his or her wishes, and it is also supposed to keep satan away. Important documents and religious

books begin with the basmala, and Muslim stu- dents write it at the beginning of their homework and exams. Also, Quran inscriptions on the walls of mosqUes and other buildings begin with this

phrase. Indeed, it is perhaps the most frequently used verse in Arabic calligraphy, where it is writ-

ten in many styles and forms. According to the

hadith, “Whoever writes the basmala beautifully

will obtain many blessings” or “enter paradise.”

Because its words are believed to be so powerful and beneficial, it is frequently used in amulets to help people obtain a blessing or protect them from harm. Car bumper stickers and decals often

feature it or its numerical equivalent, 786, which is popular in india, pakistan, and bangladesh.

The basmala has been accorded special status in Islamic stories and commentaries, too. For example, it is said that gabriel once told Adam,

the first human being, that the basmala was “the word whereby the heavens and the earth came to be, by which the water was set in motion, by which the mountains were established steadfast and the earth made firm, and whereby the hearts of all creatures were strengthened” (Jeffrey, 556). Sunni Quran commentaries mention that the basmala contains all of the sharia in it, because

in it God gives both his essence and attributes. The Shia respect a hadith which says that all of the Quran is contained in the basmala and that Ali represents the dot under the Arabic letter b in that word, meaning that Ali, the first Shii Imam, embodies not only the basmala, but the entire Quran.

See also allah; baraka; names oF god; sUnn- ism; travel.

Further reading: Arthur Jeffrey, A Reader on Islam (The

Hague: Mouton & Co., 1962); Moshe Piamenta, Islam

in Everyday Arabic Speech (Leiden: E.J. Brill, 1979).

batin

The idea of an inner or secret truth is one that has intrigued religious thinkers and mystics in many different religious traditions. In islam, this

idea is captured by the term al-batin. It is particu- larly important in relation to the interpretation of scripture. Sunnis are known for being in favor of interpreting the qUran to bring forth its con-

ventional, outward (zahir) meanings, a procedure called tafsir. Many Shii scholars, on the other

hand, have contended that although the Quran has outward meanings that change with the pas- sage of time, it also has inward (batin), esoteric ones that contain eternal truths. Indeed, they have supported key doctrines in their understanding of Islam by a process of scriptural interpretation K  94  basmala

they call tawil, which allows them to extract the Quran’s inward, symbolic meanings.

In their debates over the Quran’s outward and inward meanings, Muslims have invoked the fol- lowing verse:

(God) sent down upon you this book in which are some clear verses—they are the mother of the book—and others that are ambiguous. Those whose hearts are devious follow what is ambiguous in it to cause dis- cord when they interpret it. Only God knows how to interpret it and those who are firm in knowledge, they say: “We believe in it; all comes from our lord.” (Q 3:7)

Sunnis say that only God and Sunni religious scholars are qualified to interpret the Quran, especially the clear verses, while other interpreta- tions are troublesome. The Shia maintain that, to the contrary, God endowed the infallible Shii imams with the gift of interpreting both the clear

and ambiguous verses to extract their inward meaning. They teach that verses referring to the “straight path” (Q 1:6), the “light of God” (Q 64:8), and the “truthful ones” (Q 9:119) are secret references to their Imams. Even the Sun and the moon, mentioned in Q 91:1–4, are interpreted to represent Muhammad and Ali, while “day” stands for the imams and “night” for the enemies of the imams. Moreover, the Shia see the story of Abra- ham’s sacrifice (Q 37:100–110) as a secret prefigu- ration of Husayn’s martyrdom at karbala in 680.

Most Sunnis would reject such interpretations. The Ismailis, or Seven-Imam Shia, were the first major Shii sect to propagate the idea of inward meanings of the Quran, starting in the eighth century. They maintained that Muham- mad, as the prophet of Islam, was sent to transmit the outward meanings of the Quran, and that the Imams were charged with transmitting its inward meanings. Most branches of the Ismailis accepted the coexistence of the two kinds of interpretation, as did the Twelve-Imam Shia. They also required

that members become knowledgeable about the Quran’s outward meanings before delving into its hidden ones. Ismailis maintained that there were ascending levels of inward meanings that students had to comprehend in order to arrive at the supreme truth. Sufis also have sought to elicit the inward meanings of the Quran, but they do so with the guidance provided by divine inspira- tion or a Sufi master (shaykh or pir), rather than

an Imam.

See also haqiqa; ismaili shiism; tWelve-imam

shiism.

Further reading: Moojan Momen, An Introduction to

Shii Islam (New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press,

1985); David Pinault, The Shiites: Ritual and Popular

Piety in a Muslim Community (New York: St. Martin’s

Press, 1992).