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Muslim Endowments and Communal Politics in Colonial India

Saadia Sumbal

Abstract

This article examines the debates within the Punjabi judiciary, bureaucracy and civil society about the Muslim Waqf (endowment) Registration Act 1923, which was presented to the Bengal legislature at a time of heightened communal tension. The demands in the Act for reform, registration and management of Muslim endowments were backed by Muslim civil society whose concern was that British government officials oversee these endowments rather than those who had traditionally done so. In this article, I argue that the principle of communal representation by the British government, the protected share of power for Muslims, and growing Pan-Islamism forged ground for communally oriented Muslim associations and the vernacular press to act as a central political force to assert Muslim demands for economic and educational regeneration. For anjumans (associations), establishing control over Muslim endowments was seen as a way to facilitate the transition to a new economic, societal and political culture and to empower the Muslim community in British India, but this led to tensions with the traditional hierarchical system of mediation.

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Author’s notes

“Author declares that there is no conflict of interest.”

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  • 1 Waqf” is a derivative of the Arabic root word “waqafa,” which means to halt, detain, stop, or rest (...)
  • 2 Abul Kasem Fazl-ul-Haq was born into a landed aristocratic family in Barisal (eastern Bengal), he w (...)

1This article examines the Muslim Waqf1 Registration Act 1923 that was presented by Abul Kasem Fazl-ul-Haq2 in the Bengal legislature during a time of heightened communal tension and was widely discussed in official circles throughout India. The article highlights the debates on the Registration Act within the judiciary, bureaucracy, and civil society of colonial Punjab, a northwest province of British India, which shows how politics, and education increasingly shaped Muslim identity during the colonial period. The demands in the Act for the reform, registration, and management of Muslim endowments were supported by Muslim civil society, including the political elite, legal activists, and urban sociopolitical associations. They were in favor of British government officials overseeing these endowments, rather than the traditional caretakers. However, it is important to note that this led to tensions with the traditional intermediaries/caretakers and to debates in the press.

2Existing research on Muslim endowments in British India suggests that the reform and control of endowments were meant to construct Islamic identity and to enforce a purer form of Islamic Law. However, based on previously unexplored archival sources, I argue in this article that it was not just about forging a distinct Islamic identity but also about undertaking a straightforward modernizing measure championed by new elites versus old elites. Control over Muslim endowments, which were significant financial assets, was seen as a way to facilitate the transition to a new socioeconomic culture and to integrate Muslims more fully in the representative political process.

3The focus of the article is on the early twentieth century, a time when urban institutions and associations, such as Anjuman-i-Islam of Bombay, Anjuman-i-Islamia Amritsar, Anjuman-i-Punjab, and Anjuman-i-Himayat-i-Islam, along with the press and various publications in English and in vernacular languages, played a role in communalizing politics and enabling newly educated classes to form their religious organization and to forge an identity (Veer and Lehmann 2001:56). The British government’s concessions to Muslims, such as proportional representation on municipal and district boards, seats in educational institutions, and consistent proportional representation in provincial assemblies, in accordance with the Minto-Morley Reforms of 1909, and the Montagu-Chelmsford Reforms of 1919, strengthened Muslim politics in British India (Robinson 1993:134). The Khilafat agitation and the ideological influence of Pan-Islamism further increased the political influence of religious ideologues.

4With regard to the legislation of Muslim endowments and the enforcement of Islamic law, Gregory Kozlowski argues that the growing participation of Indians in legislative councils bolstered legal activism, bringing the issue of endowments into the political domain (Kozlowski 1985:246). Beverley endorses Kozlowski’s stand, contending that legal activism was pivotal in reshaping colonial legal culture and creating opportunities for Indians to pursue their agendas (Beverley 2011:155–82). Robert Ivermee and Asad Ahmad maintain that the application of Muslim law was meant to construct a distinct Muslim identity, based on modernist conceptions of Muslim community law (Ivermee 2021:121; Ahmad 2006:89). In support of their argument, Gilmartin went further to declare that compliance with sharia (Islamic law) was a matter of defining the cultural foundations for the state and the integration of society as a whole, given that the championing of sharia was a key dimension of Muslim urban politics in Punjab toward the end of the nineteenth century (Gilmartin 1988:58). Scholars like George Rankin, Mathew Nelson, and Abbasi, in their work on Islamic law and endowments, argue that the British judicial system opened up avenues for legal developments in Islamic law: debates about the sharia were conducted within the context of the colonial legal system, which in turn attributed an official role to sharia (Rankin 1939:89–118; Nelson 2011:146–48; Abassi 2014:325–49).

5These scholarly works are key to understanding the various contours of emerging legislative politics of British India and Punjab. However, they focus on the idea that essentially links the application of Muslim law and waqf to the construction of a distinct Muslim identity, without considering other important sociopolitical dimensions. This article sets out to add a new layer to the history of waqf in colonial Punjab by examining its connection with Muslim community empowerment, modernization, and the complex interplay of education, politics, and religion. It argues that the management of waqf was also inspired by the ideologically driven idea of economic and educational rejuvenation of the Muslim community. The ideological drive for economic and educational advancement was crucial for increasing Muslim political representation, which in turn benefited their participation in legislative affairs. The use of Islam as a religious symbol situated the issue of Muslim education within a religious context, aligning it with political and communal priorities.

6My argument is based on a thorough analysis of a controversial debate in official circles, among Muslim political elites, surrounding the Muslim waqf. I have used source material that is usually overlooked, such as periodicals, colonial records of the Punjab Home Department and Judicial proceedings concerning Sir Abul Kasem Fazl-ul-Haq’s 1923 Waqf Act which is available at the Punjab Archive, Civil Secretariat Lahore, Pakistan. The documents include the opinion discussed in official letters and reports of colonial bureaucracy, of district and session judges, of legal remembrancers, and the proceedings of the Anjuman Himayat-i-Islam, Anjuman-i-Islamia of Lahore and Amritsar, Anjuman-i-Punjab, Anjuman-i-Lahore, the Punjab Muslim League, and local vernacular newspapers. The debates that took place in bureaucratic circles and sociopolitical organizations mentioned in these archival documents have not formerly been discussed in existing scholarly work on Muslim waqf endowments.

THE CONTEXT UNDERLYING THE ABUL KASEM WAQF REGISTRATION ACT (1923)

7In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, various social and political organizations represented the Muslim community of India and advocated for their rights. In 1894, they petitioned the government to counter the Privy Council’s decision regarding family endowments, and in particular the Wakfaala al awlaud (family Waqf) system (Kozlowski 1985:204; Ivermee 2021:117–38; Brass 1970:173–77). The British government offered Indians’ extended involvement in legislative bodies under the Morley-Minto reforms of 1909 to address this issue (Gould 1971:370–76). Muhammad Ali Jinnah consequently introduced the Mussalman Waqf Validating Act (1913) to restore the right to private ownership of Islamic endowments (Malik 1996:12; Powers 1989:535–71). It was not until the 1920s, when Muslims enjoyed more representation in Indian legislatures, that reform-minded politicians began examining the management of waqf and the distribution of endowment’ incomes to finance “modern” education (Malik 1995:293–323; Rashiduzzaman 2020:79–82).

8Modern education was an essential motive for legislating on endowments in order to reallocate resources, which was backed by Hindu reformers. Abul Kasem Fazl-ul-Haq, a “Man of New Light” (Kozlowski 1995:355–70) from Bengal, believed that endowment incomes should be used to finance modern education (Bhattacharjee 2017:37–39), emphasizing the need to address the challenges faced by the Muslim community in British India. The colonial education system based on unequal opportunities had widened the social and intellectual gulf between Muslim farmers and upper-caste Hindus and had therefore excluded Bengali Muslims from the Western education system (Adam 1941:357; Rahim 1992:309–21). By the turn of the century, Muslim public opinion had turned against Hindu domination over the education system in Bengal. Bengali Muslims resented the prescribed textbooks and the dominance of the Sanskritized Bengali language. They recommended instruction in English, Bengali, and Urdu, and especially in the latter since it facilitated the study of the Koran. As held by Fazlur Rahman, a Punjabi politician and representative of Dacca University, “The Hindu boys cannot take kindly to the Muslim boys. The education policy in Bengal has completely ignored the distinct cultural and educational needs of the Muslims.” (Acharya 1989:81–90).

9The government of India, in a letter to the Secretary to the government of Bengal, also stated that “The poverty of the community, the linguistic difficulty, want of Muhammadan representatives on the governing bodies of educational institutions retarded the spread of secondary education among the Muhammadans” (Acharya 1989:81–90). Bengali Muslims, who were economically and politically weak, and proportionally less represented on the Council where benefits could be procured thanks to reforms, clamored for concessions and safeguards. William W. Hunter wrote, in his A Statistical Account of Bengal that Muslims refused to attend government schools in Bengal: only 14,000 Muslims attended schools compared to 110,000 Hindus. He maintained that the failure of Muslims to go to government schools in Bengal was the root cause of Wahhabism in the area (Robinson 1993:103; Hunter 1876:141–43; Hunter 1973:78–79). They did not want to be taught in Bengali or by Hindus because the entire Muslim community hated them, but wanted to learn Persian and Arabic. Hunter asserted, “Our system of public instruction is opposed to the traditions and hateful to the religion of the Muslims. We must have some provisions made for their religious education. Moreover, the British administrative policy in Bengal had dried up the sources of Muslim wealth, the Permanent Settlement had seriously reduced their income from land, and opportunities in government service and the professions had almost ended” (Robinson 1993:104).

10Fazl-ul-Haq was a strong advocate for Muslim education and introduced the Primary Education Bill in the Bengal Legislative Assembly to make primary education free and compulsory. He also played a significant role in establishing various educational institutions in Bengal, including Calcutta’s Islamia College, Lady Brabourne College, Wajid Memorial Girls’ High School, and Chakhar College. He also founded the Islamic College in Calcutta, Adina Fazl-ul-Haq College in Rajshahi, Dhaka Eden Girls College, Medical College Hostel, Engineering College Hostel, and Fazl-ul-Haq Hall of Dhaka University (Bandyopadhyay 2004:445–46). After the Muslim League and Congress had split on the question of participation in the legislative council elections from December 1920–January 1921, Haq resigned from the parties in November 1923, and contested council elections from the Congress-Khilafat-Swarajya Party platform. When Swarajya refused to form the ministry, Fazl-ul-Haq, along with his eight Muslim followers, left the Swarajya Party, joined the “Ministerial Party,” and accepted the office of Minister of Education (Salahuddin, 2004:83–84). He believed that by staying in the government he could exert his influence over educational reforms. As education minister, Haq pressed upon the government to allocate funds for Muslim educational institutions. As a result of his efforts, the Islamia College in Calcutta, madrasas (seminary), and several primary schools were set up, which raised the total number of Muslim students from 880,374 to 1,139,949 (a 29.4% increase) at primary level (Minault 1982:112–13; Robinson 1993:136–38). The same year he moved the Muslim Waqf Registration Act.

11The waqf Registration Act required the registration of waqf estates and a proper rendering of accounts by the mutawallis (caretakers of the trust) in the legislative assembly. A proposal was made whereby the Act should apply to the whole of British India. There was a growing sense among the Muhammadan community that the endowments were being wasted or systematically misappropriated by mutawallis who, as caretakers of the trust, treated waqf property as their private property. The bill proposed that there be a system of compulsory registration of the waqf and that the mutawallis be made accountable to the central committee (Home Department proceedings 1923:6). It also stipulated that the ex-officio collector of the district and president of the district committees be appointed to oversee these trusts and that the mutawallis be required to submit the statement to the collector every year by June 30. This statement was to include a brief description of the properties subject to waqf gross annual income, gross annual collection every five years, amount of revenue or rent payable every year, and the amount set aside by the waqf for the salary of the mutawallis for purely religious and charitable purposes (Punjab Home Dept. Proceedings 1924:12–15; Malik 1996:56). The collector was granted authority to delegate his powers to any trustworthy Muslim officer at district headquarters—a desirable benefit for the Muslim community (Punjab Home Dept. Proceedings 1924:12–15; Malik 1996:56). The bill was circulated among politicians, civil servants, and members of the judiciary in all the provinces. The major objection to this bill was that it departed from the government’s general policy of keeping its officials entirely free from any connection with the management of religious trusts. British officials had long been wary of attempting to direct “native religious establishments.” British civil servants, nevertheless, became involved in both Hindu and Muslim establishments, in a rather haphazard fashion (Tonkinson 1921:12).

COMMUNALISM WAS REVITALIZED TO MEET SOCIOECONOMIC ENDS

12Communal politics accompanied by the growing pride of Islamic identity was a hallmark of many provinces, including Punjab, in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The increase in British encroachment in law, politics and socioeconomic issues created insecurities for Muslims and Hindus. Cross-communal alliances having collapsed by the end of the Khilafat movement, the Muslims found themselves a minority with poor electoral representation, which was primarily due to poverty and a low standard of education (Robinson 1993:81). In the early 1900s, Muslim politics was divided between the “Young party” and the “Old party” with no strong Muslim political base (Robinson 1993:343). Prominent politicians among the “Young” were Shaukat Ali, Hakim Ajmal Khan, Aziz Ansari, Sakhawat Ali Alvi, Raja Muhammad Ali Mahmudabad, Khaliquzzaman Chaudhry, and so on, mostly professionals in government office, with a political leaning toward Congress (Robinson 1993:358). The “Old party” included Mohsinul Mulk, Viqarul Mulk, Hosein Bilgrami, Syed Agha Haider, Ross Masud, and so on, usually from a landholder position, advocating separatist politics (Robinson 1993:390). Muslims began to use religious idioms in their political discourse, which provided critical leverage for meeting their socioeconomic ends. The striking feature of 1921 and 1922 was the ulema (religious scholar) who dominated Muslim politics and maintained Muslim agitation. Reformist religious leaders and politicians sought funding and a platform for propagating their views, often opposing large endowments (Giunchi 2010:119–42; Hassan 2019:78). They claimed that large public endowments were sufficient to uplift the Muslim community from an educational and economic point of view. Given that the waqf tradition impeded economic progress, politicians were increasingly keen on taking control over large endowments (Hussain 2021:166–68; Rashiduzzaman 2020:69).

  • 3 Fazl-e-Hussain resigned from Congress in April 1920 due to the issue of non-cooperation. In Novembe (...)

13From the 1870s onward, reformist groups in Punjab took on the task of reform and revival (Rai 1984:4). They focused on educational projects, such as managing and supporting the Islamia College in Lahore and various Islamic high schools, as well as promoting education and communal ideology (Ballard 2009:22–24; Scragg 1984:148). This benefited Muslim political leaders and social reformers, as well as socioreligious associations in accordance with the political elite (Kozlowski 1985:293–323; Kozlowski 1996:355–70). Fazl-i-Hussain,3 a prominent politician from Punjab, transformed a rural party into the Punjab National Unionist Party in 1923. Like his Bengali contemporary Fazl-ul-Haq, he supported and revitalized communalism to protect the Muslim community’s educational interests. As a loyalist Unionist whose real source of power emanated from the rural mediatory system, he moved a resolution in support of the Waqf Registration Act and encouraged the Muslim community to set up an elected committee to manage endowments (Latifi 1921:14). This was primarily because of the significance of the role of Islam in Punjabi politics which Fazl-i-Hussain and Unionists could not ignore. The former therefore gained a reputation in the 1920s and 1930s as one of India’s most important spokesmen for Muslim interests. As minister of education and local self-government, he used his powerful Unionist block on the council to increase Muslim representation in public services, municipal committees, in educational institutions, and in government offices. This led Muslims to turn to communal organizations and to label Fazl-i-Hussain a communal politician (Barrier 1968:523–39; Singh 2011:706–13).

BARELWI REACTION AGAINST THE CONTROL OVER WAQF

14Politics in rural Punjab was structured around an imperial hierarchical system of mediation, with mutawallis and sajjada nishins (caretakers of shrines), identified with the Barelwi denomination (Sunni Muslim sect) and Sikh mahants (Sikh religious ideologues), and serving as intermediaries between the power of the state and rural hierarchies of mediation (Gilmartin 1988:46; Talbot 1989:26). This system was initially challenged by the Sikh Akali party, which sought to contest the control of hereditary gurdwara (place of Sikh worship) custodians due to its dissatisfaction with the religious conduct of Sikh mahants (White 2006:497–527; Gilmartin 1988:154–55). The resulting Sikh Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee, established in 1920, was tasked with administering all gurdwara and managing the Sikh community’s funds. This initiative set a precedent for community-based management of religious institutions in Punjab, supported by endowments (Rai 1984:158).

15The gurdwara movement provided a context for mobilization around the Muslim Waqf Registration Act in Punjab, which some viewed as a further challenge to the system of mediation (Mehta 2014:536–45; Awan 2019:1–18), the first challenge being the Muslim Waqf Registration Act that questioned the authority of sajjada nishins. The replacement of mutawallis or sajjada nishins with officials from elected district boards did not mean implementing Islamic Law. Instead, it aimed at earmarking finances for the uplift of the Muslim community while indirectly challenging the existing hierarchical system of mediation (Hassan 1980:1397–98; Jones 1990:22–23). The educated Muslim elite and ulema believed that controlling religious endowments could substantially reduce poverty, and they therefore advocated for an activist modern state to legislate on social and religious matters and to oversee mutawallis’ conduct (Haq 1922:8).

16Fazl-e-Hussain warned the government that failure to adopt such measures would lead the Muslim masses to follow the path of the Sikh movement (Hussain 1923:3). Sir Sikandar Hayat Khan, the Unionist leader, expressed concern about the potential impact of the bill on Barelwi mutawallis/sajjada nishins with waqf land and property, highlighting the financial interests at stake (Khan 1922:11).The shrines at Ajmer Sharif, Nizamuddin Auliya in Delhi, “Piran Kalliar” near Roorkee, Pakpattan Sharif in Montgomery, Data Ganj Bukhsh, and several others with waqf land, endowed by the Mughal emperors and later by well-to-do Muhammadans, were controlled by mutawallis. Endowments (amounting to thousands of rupees) were still being made in the name of the saints buried there (Khan, Hussain 1922:15) The money was intended for charitable purposes, but went into the pockets of the mutawallis, which was increasingly criticized.

17The Muslim Opinion a daily newspaper published in the English language, in its May 21, 1924 issue for instance, forcefully condemned the mutawallis/sajjada nishins for their practice of selling land associated with Pir Makki (a shrine) and other shrines in Lahore and endowed properties. Two petitioners, Haji Miran Bukhsh from Masjid Wazir Khan, Lahore, and the other petitioner from Ajmer, demanded that local governments exercise their power to remove mutawallis accused of corruption and misconduct. The Ministry of Education accepted most of their demands (The Muslim Opinion 1924:17). The Muslim Outlook, another English-language newspaper commented, “Mutawallis who have been entrusted with the charge of properties dedicated to God, treat them as ancestral property and play ducks and drakes with money which belongs to Muslims at large. They are wasting public money in extravagance and debauchery.” Muslims were filled with indignation (The Muslim Outlook 1924:8).

18On the other hand, the Barelwi sajjada nishins who held official titles in government, for example Pir Akbar Ali was designated as pleader, M.L.C. Punjab and maulvi Abdul Rahim, who served as honorary magistrate of Ludhiana, tried to counter the attack and to politicize the issue, calling the government impolitic for meddling in popular religious affairs. They emphasized that the “time selected for the proposal of this measure is unsuitable after World War One, Muslim masses were highly indignant over defiling the holy places of Islam with the dismantling of Khilafat and establishment of British sovereignty, Waqf proposal will add fuel to fire” (Ali 1922:15). In reaction to this situation, The Union Gazette of Bareilly, a newspaper published from Bareilly claimed that “mutawallis were not self-seeking or extravagant.” Even if they did occasionally misuse funds, would their critics do any better? They had no proof that their system was an improvement (The Union Gazette of Bareilly 1924:23). Criticizing the Muslim elite, the editor wrote, “The men of the new light were not so much interested in improvement as they were in diverting the money to suit their tastes. If the present system was not perfect, at least it was free from interference from the British government” (The Union Gazette of Bareilly 1924:23).

19The secretary of the Anjuman Himayat-i-Islam, in Dera Ghazi Khan, supported the idea that waqf affairs should be controlled and managed by the Muslim community itself (Himayat-i-Islam 1922:9). The secretary of the Anjuman-e-Islamia in Muzaffargarh district also opposed the control of funds by a central district committee because it might waste waqf funds by incurring unnecessary expenses (Ali 1922:11; Chand 1922:10; Muhammad 1922:10).

BUREAUCRATIC PROTECTION FOR THE COLONIAL SYSTEM OF MEDIATION

20Colonial bureaucracy developed a nexus of old-fashioned feudal barons, the Barelwi sajjada nishins who acted as colonial collaborators. In order to protect the system of mediation and to avoid the reaction of mutawallis, the deputy commissioner of Muzaffargarh declared that any interference with ancestral inheritance, a privilege for the custodians of shrines, would be bitterly resented. If any legislation on Mussalman waqf was undertaken, land owned within the shrines should not be placed under waqf control. (Sirajuddin 1922:18). Several deputy commissioners, such as Syed Ali Haider Shah, member of the legislative council, zaildar (village administrator) and honorary magistrate of Rawalpindi, M. L. Currie, Deputy Commissioner of Mianwali, H.P. Tollinton, Commissioner of Rawalpindi and R.H. Crump, Deputy Commissioner of Lyallpur warned the government of the reaction from mutawallis and sajjada nishins, who exercised influence over ignorant people who were largely unaware of the agitational politics but who could be mobilized (Dobson 1922. Currie 1922; Shah 1922:14; Crump 1922; Tollinton 1922:16). They remarked that “the sajjada nishins will misuse their influence in delivering sermons to magnify imaginary wrongs, secret discourses will be resorted to for making the present situation more intense by raising the cry of ‘Islam in danger’” (Dobson 1922. Currie 1922; Shah 1922:14; Crump 1922; Tollinton 1922:16). Some Muslim bureaucrats, such as Ghazanfar Ali, extra assistant commissioner, demanded that the requirements for registering waqf be applied to other faith groups because they also possessed endowments (Ali 1922; Kazilbash 1922:15)

  • 4 Daoodi Bohras were key players in the commercial world of the northwest coast of the subcontinent a (...)

21The only exemption from the Waqf Registration Bill was granted to the Dawoodi Bohra (Shia Muslim sect) community.4 The status of Dai-al-Mutlaq, spiritual leader of Dawoodi Bohra (Shia Muslim sect) community also came under attack by the Mussalman Waqf Registration Act because the Bohra community considered their spiritual leader Syedna Taher Saifuddin, to be the sole master of waqf properties (Moumtaz 2018:37–77; Steinberg 2011:4–6). Khan Bahadur Seth Adamji Mamoonji, honorary magistrate in Rawalpindi, was foremost in opposing government intervention in the management of waqf property (Mamoonji 1922:17). The community was divided between the reform-minded Bohras led by Amiruddin Tayebji, who used lawsuits under newly introduced legislation by the colonial state to pressure Saifuddin to “modernize” the community, the traditionalists made up of community elders, the Bombay elite, members of Bombay Municipal Council, and Legislative Councils who opposed the act (Mustafa 2011:58; Anderson 1999:65–91). Reform-minded Bohras and Sunni Muslim reformists developed a consensus on using endowment funds for the educational uplift of the Muslim community. According to official figures, the Dawoodi Bohra community possessed waqf properties valued at 20 crores, yielding annual revenues of 15 lakh rupees, with 348 mosques across India (Khan 2004:52–58; Grondelle 2009:36–37). To keep these lucrative sources of revenue under control, Taher Saifuddin gave his consent to use resources for promoting the education of the community via numerous mosque-building initiatives across India (Contractor 1980:21). Maulvi Rafiuddin Ahmad Daoodi Bohra (branch of Shiites), minister of education at the Secretariat in Bombay, appealed to Governor-General Sir Leslie Wilson, for an exemption from this Act for the Bohra community (Home Department proceedings 1929:18). The exemption was a temporary measure, granted for only three years due to concerns about divisions within the community.

VERNACULAR NEWSPAPERS AS THE CENTER OF POWER

22In the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, the influence of individuals controlling the vernacular press heightened communal politics. The Urdu press, particularly the Paisa Akhbar, the first Urdu daily newspaper with mass circulation, became a political force among Muslims in Lahore in the 1880s. Maulana Zafar Ali Khan, editor of the Urdu daily newspaper Zamindar, vigorously defended Muslim cultural symbols against other religious communities and the British (Gilmartin 1989:156; Khan 1923:23). By the 1920s, editors of vernacular papers used Islamic symbols for Muslim political identification, which the British saw as a threat to their authority. This led to the emergence of a new form of communal consciousness that changed urban politics and gave religious communities a newfound public voice (Smith 1966:34).

23According to the Waqf Act, regular accounts of receipts and disbursements were to be published annually under the supervision of central committees (Home Department 1921:7). The income of all waqf estates was to be determined by the local government. Statements were to be published in an English-language and an Urdu-language daily newspaper selected by the court, with a wide circulation among Muslims in Punjab (Home Department 1921:7). The vernacular press strongly opposed this provision and recommended that statements be published in journals run by Muslim associations. The daily newspaper Paisa Akhbar of Lahore argued that this would create a monopoly for some newspapers (Paisa 1924:18). Lahore’s newspaper Watan suggested publishing the statements in a local newspaper and notably in the Risala of the Anjuman-i-Himayat-i-Islam, as this was the most widely circulated newspaper among Muslims with a keen interest in the protection of waqf properties. Islamic newspapers and associations were requested to send their opinions to Fazl-i-Hussain by registered mail (Watan 1924:19).

  • 5 Anjuman-i-Ham-i-Auqaf: it was suggested by The Muslim Opinion that an organization with the title “ (...)

24In the ensuing debate, Sheikh Abdul Aziz, secretary of Anjuman-i-Himayat-i-Islam, proposed a resolution at a private meeting in Lahore on June 12, 1924, stating that local governments could not order these statements. The resolution, seconded by maulvi Fazlud-Din, lawyer and senior vice-president of the Anjuman-i-Himayat-i-Islam, stipulated that local government only had the power to frame rules regarding the publication of the statement of accounts and that any hard-and-fast rule to publish statements in selected newspapers would result in influential weekly newspapers and monthly Muslim periodicals not being taken into consideration, causing general unrest among Muslims (Watan 1924:19). Mian Saadat Ali Khan suggested that statements be printed in journals published by Muslim associations at the government’s expense. Copies should be sent to local associations and every petition should be marked with a judicial stamp of India (Khan 1924:16; Fauque 1924:18). The Muslim Opinion highlighted the need for an association like the Anjuman Hami-i-Auqaf5 throughout Punjab to monitor waqf income (Muslim Opinion 1924:9). The editor of the Daily Pioneer backed the immediate enforcement of waqf registration before mutawallis could devise ingenious schemes for circumventing the act (Khan 1924:10).

25After a lengthy debate in the legislative council, the Act was nonetheless passed in 1934.

CONCLUSION

26During the nineteenth century, a notable characteristic of newly educated Punjabis was their inclination to identify with a religious community rather than with the Western-educated class. After the annexation of Punjab, Hindus, Sikhs, and Muslims responded to various forms of pressure by organizing and joining communal associations. Hindus often joined forces with the Arya Samaj,6 advocating for social reform and education; Muslims formed societies or associations that sponsored cultural activities and social improvement projects; and Sikhs belonged to the Singh Sabhas (Barrier 1968:523–39). These organizations provided a structured forum within the context of state culture, for public expression of Muslim identity. The growth of communalism was fundamentally related to structural changes in the polity and the uneven development of various communities in British India. Political changes initiated by the 1909 Morley-Minto reforms, the 1919 Montagu-Chelmsford Act, the expansion of legislative councils, the broadening of franchise (right to vote) and the extension of the scope, and activities of local bodies and communal electorates contributed to the growth of communal awareness, heightened existing cleavages between Hindus and Muslims, and fostered a spirit of political exclusivism (Hassan 1980:1395). These developments were clearly evident from 1921 to 1926.

27Urban Muslim political elites, such as Fazl-i-Hussain, used religious symbols in their political battles and thought it fitting not only to comply with the communalism trend, but also to revitalize it in order to achieve their own political and economic ends. Until the late nineteenth century, Muslims who had some influence over the British Government devoted themselves to the defense of “family” waqf. However, in the 1920s, significant economic and political changes shifted their focus to using endowment funds to finance “modern” education. Many mutawalli-administered mosques and Barelwi ulema, linked to Punjab’s pirs and shrine-based structures of mediation, were located in urban environments and opposed the project of constructing an Islamic identity and of educational reform. The distinct Muslim identity challenged the mutawallis’ intermediary authority on which the imperial administration was based, and was incompatible with the cultural standard for leadership which the Muslim urban elite had defined. The response of Punjabi urban Muslim leaders to communal politics was ambivalent. They adapted the political identification of Muslims using Islamic symbols only to the extent that it helped to define Muslim claims to political power within the broader structure of British imperial order.

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Notes

1 Waqf” is a derivative of the Arabic root word “waqafa,” which means to halt, detain, stop, or restrain. Waqf is an Islamic concept of dedicating property to religious and welfare activities. It means that the property in question is detained for the implied ownership of God and cannot be alienated to a third person. See Malik (1996).

2 Abul Kasem Fazl-ul-Haq was born into a landed aristocratic family in Barisal (eastern Bengal), he was a successful lawyer-cum-politician. In 1913, Fazl-ul-Haq was elected member of the Bengal Legislative Council, but also remained the secretary of the Bengal Provincial Muslim League and joint secretary of the All-India Muslim League. He later served as president of the All-India Muslim League from 1916 to 1921, and served as joint secretary of the Indian National Congress (INC) from 1918 to 1919. See Kozlowski (1995).

3 Fazl-e-Hussain resigned from Congress in April 1920 due to the issue of non-cooperation. In November 1920, he was elected to the Punjab Council, and appointed as minister of education. In 1923, he was re-elected within the same constituency and sat on the Council as leader of the Punjab National Unionist Party. As minister of education, he took a keen interest in promoting the cause of education amongst Muslims. He gave generous grants to the already-existing Muslim schools and colleges, and encouraged the creation of new ones. In November 1924, he allocated a grant for setting up three new intermediate colleges in Lyallpur, Gujarat, and Campbellpur for the benefit of the large Muslim population in western Punjab. See Hassan (1980).

4 Daoodi Bohras were key players in the commercial world of the northwest coast of the subcontinent and had distinctive inheritance practices suited to their mercantile involvement. See Asani (1987).

5 Anjuman-i-Ham-i-Auqaf: it was suggested by The Muslim Opinion that an organization with the title “Anjuman-i-Ham-i-Auqaf should be setup on the pattern of Aligarh trust (established for the same purpose) to monitor the endowment funds.

6 Arya Samaj, a vigorous reform movement of modern Hinduism, founded in 1875 by Dayananda Sarasvati, whose aim was to reestablish the Vedas, the earliest Hindu scriptures, as revealed truth. He rejected all later accretions to the Vedas as degenerate but, in his own interpretation, included much post-Vedic thought. For Arya Samaj, see Jones (1994).

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References

Electronic reference

Saadia Sumbal, Muslim Endowments and Communal Politics in Colonial IndiaSouth Asia Multidisciplinary Academic Journal [Online], 34 | 2025, Online since 24 July 2025, connection on 21 January 2026. URL: http://journals.openedition.org/samaj/10152; DOI: https://doi.org/10.4000/14cam

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About the author

Saadia Sumbal

Forman Christian College University, Lahore (Pakistan)

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