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The myth of Ghazwa-tul-Hind

Religion has quite frequently been used as an excuse for military motives. Talking specifically

about Islam, hadees has been used as a tool to invent excuses for political motivations andmilitary interventions/attacks as and when required.

There has been enormous hue and cry over Ghazwa-tul-Hind  for years. This was probably first

used by self-styled Jihadi activists in Pakistan for getting public support in Pakistan and raising

funds to be used in their attacks in Kashmir with the aim of conquering India and creating what

they call dar-ul-Islam. It is very interesting to note that neither Arabs nor the Mujahideen of 

Afghanistan made use of these ahadees to wage a war against India. Pakistan Army, ISI and the

local Jihadis have a monopoly over Ghazwa-tul-Hind  for now, although they don’t talk 

specifically about Green Pakistani Jihadis waging the war.

Ghazwa-tul-Hind: Pakistani flag hoisted at Red Fort, Delhi, India. This image was created and

circulated by the Brasstacks.biz (ISI mouth-piece Zaid Hamid's organization) team.

Islamists and right-wing-military-apologists have fallen to the propaganda of Pakistan Army and

ISI when they propagate waging a war against the neighboring country India, finding excuses for

ding so throughhadees. Zaid Hamid, the mouth-piece of ISI and Pakistan Army has been makinguse of Ghazwa-tul-Hind (6 hadees in total), promoting hatred against Hindus and war hysteria.

These hadees are available here. 

Are they authentic ? 

1.  Just a brief look at these will make it clear that none of these five ahadees are found

in Sihah-e-Sitta. Two of these appear to be in the collections of ahadees by Imam Nisai but

not in Sunan an-Nisai al Sughra, the book considered to be among the Sihah-e-Sitta, the six

books considered most reliable by main-stream Muslims.

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2.  The others are not even found in the reliable collections of respected muhadiseen.

3.  Note that  Imam Nisaidied in 915. The years of death of other respected muhadiseen to

whom Sihah-e-Sitta are attributed to:  Imam Bukhariin 870,  Imam Muslimin 875, Abu

 Daud in 888, al-Tirmizi in 892,  Imam Malik in 796,  Ibn Majain 886. All of them died

before Imam Nisai. It does not make much sense that we have these ahadees being narrated

through Imam Nisai but not through any of the other respected muhadiseen who lived beforehim.

4.  They are narrated through a single chain. Reported only once through one companion of the

Prophet.

5.  Considering the reward for participating in this war and the importance of it, as

these ahadees tell, they should have been narrated by more companions of the Prophet and

should have been there in more books of ahadees.

6.  It is very important to note that none of these are found in any of the collections

of ahadees which theShia Muslims consider authentic. This raises the question if they were

invented by the Ummayads/Abbasids considering their expansionist designs? This is also to

be noted that Ummayads did reach Sindh, a part of Hind back then.

7.  One must also note the fact that we don’t have any history report telling us about the use of theseahadees in the past by Muslim rulers or conquerors, even those who did invade India or

waged a war on it. If they were respected and authentic ahadees, we should have such

history reports.

Fourthly, it must be remembered that it would have been very easy for Muslim conquerors of 

India in the past, men like Mahmud of Ghazni, Shihabuddin Ghori, Timur, Nadir Shah and so on,

to present the hadith about the ghazwat ul-hind and wield it as a weapon to justify their attacks

on the country. The corrupt ulema associated with their courts could well have suggested this to

them had they wished. However, no such mention is made about this in history books. In the

eighteenth century, the well-known Islamic scholar Shah Waliullah of Delhi invited the Afghanwarlord Ahmad Shah Abdali to invade India and dispel the Marathas, which he accepted, but yet

Shah Waliullah, too, did not use this hadith as a pretext for this. [1]

What if they are authentic ? 

It is also pertinent to examine how some well-known contemporary Indian ulema look at this

hadith report.

1.  Maulana Abdul Hamid Numani, a leading figure of the Jamiat ul-Ulema-i Hind, opines

that this hadith was fulfilled at the time of the ‘Four Righteous Caliphs’ of the Sunnis , soon

after the demise of the Prophet Muhammad, when several companions of the Prophet came

to India, mainly in order to spread Islam. [1]

2.  Mufti Sajid Qasmi, who teaches at the Dar ul-Uloom in Deoband, is also of the same

opinion, although he believes that it might also refer to the invasion of Sindh by the Arabs

under Muhammad bin Qasimin the eighth century. [1]

3.  On the other hand, Maulana Mufti Mushtaq Tijarvi of the Jamaat-i Islami Hind believes that

it is possible that this hadith report is not genuine at all and that it might have been fabricated

at the time of Muhammad bin Qasim’s invasion of Sindh in order to justify it. [1]

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Scholars and historians argue that even if they are considered as authentic, it might be the case

that they talk about an event which has already happened.

1.  On the other hand, if this hadith report is indeed genuine — which it might well be — in my

view, the battle against India that it predicted was fulfilled in the early Islamic period itself,

and is not something that will happen in the future. This, in fact, is the opinion of themajority of the ulema, qualified Islamic scholars. And this view accords with reason as well.

[1]

2.  It is quite likely that the ghazwat ul-hind that this report predicted took the form of the attack 

by an Arab Muslim force on Thana and Bharuch, in coastal western India , in the 15th year

or the Islamic calendar in the reign of the Caliph Umar. [1]

3.  Equally possibly, it could have been fulfilled in the form of the missionary efforts of some of 

the Prophet’s companions soon after, in the reign of the Caliphs Uthman and Ali, in Sindh

and Gujarat .[1]

4.  Some other ulema consider this hadith to have been fulfilled in the form of the attack and

occupation of Sindh by Arab Muslims led by Muhammad bin Qasim in the 93rd year of the

Islamic calendar, which then facilitated the spread of Islam in the country. [1]

5.  This might well be the case, for the hadith report about the ghazwat ul-hind contained in the

Masnad of Ahmad ibn Hanbal, a well-known collection of Hadith narratives attributed to the

Prophet, mentions that the Muslim army that would attack India would be sent in the

direction of Sindh and Hind. [1]

Opinion of the religious scholars 

I inquired about the authenticity of these ahadees from a few religious scholars and would like toshare their opinion in this regard:

Ayotullah Fadlallah, Lebanon 

Such things exist in the hadith collections, which are often either placed or mounted on a

symbolic meaning, or they talk about something historic which has happened in the context of 

what we believe in self-defense. Further, the hadith in question can be doubted about their

autenticity as they are not found in any reliable and agreed upon source. The chain of narrators is

weak to be considered authentic.

In this day and age what would govern the relations of Muslims and followers of other religions,

are the international treaties and covenants that ensure the state security, peace and freedom of 

belief for all human beings.

These treaties are binding on Muslims, especially as they are consistent with the approach of 

Islam declared in the Qur’an about the obligation to respect the religions and the freedom and

security of other peoples.

Hence, the use of such hadith for political or military motives is discouraged.

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The Office of the referenda for Religious Authority

Grand Ayatollah Mohammed Hussein Fadlallah

Research Wing, Al-Mawrid Institue 

assalaam o alaykum

I have tried to find out the sources of these traditions. None of these traditions is found in reliable

soruces like Bukhari, Muslim, Mu’atta etc. If we suppose them to be reliable they talk about an

even that has happened already. They do not talk about Pakistanis fighting Indians. They talk 

about Arabs on an expedition to India and conquering it.

Tariq Mahmood Hashmi

Associate Editor

Khalid Zaheer, Al-Mawrid, Lahore, Pakistan 

SalaamAll these ahadith refer to troops going from Palestine and Syria and returning to those

regions. Even if these ahadith were authentic, and they are indeed found in reliable books, theyhave nothing to do with any possibility of an Indo-Pak war.

The other important thing to note is that Abu Huraira, the companion-narrator is suggesting that

it was something that was about to happen during his lifetime. it is quite likely that Muhammad

Bin Qasim’s conquest of Sind was being prophesied in these ahadith. 

The third important matter to note is that a message as important as the one mentioned in these

narratives is described in all different versions through only one companion. Clearly, if the

message was important, there should have been several narrators mentioning it.

This message therefore cannot be employed as an excuse to fight against India. We can fight

against India or any other nation only if conditions of Jihad are satisfied, which are: it should be

declared by a Muslim ruler, Muslims should be at least half as militarily strong as their enemies,

and the enemy should be guilty of blatant injustice against a group of people. Any individual or

group of people cannot declare Jihad on their own against anyone; if they do, they will be guilty

of creating fasaad fil ‘ard (mischief on earth). [2]

Information on the ahadees available at http://www.ghazwatulhind.com/  

Hadees No. 1

Important References Provided : Masnad of Ahmed Ibn Hanbal, Sunan al-Mujtababa and Sunanaal-Kubra of Imam Nisai

Hadees No. 2

Important References Provided : Masnad of Ahmed Ibn Hanbal, Sunan-al-Kubra of Imam Nisai

Hadees No. 3

Important References Provided : Naeem bin Hammad in Kitab-al-Fattan

Hadees No. 4

Important References Provided : Naeem bin Hammad in Kitab-al-Fattan

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(The name of one of the ravi is missing from the chain of narrators, hence this is to be ignored

technically)

Hadees No. 5

Important References Provided : Naeem bin Hammad in Kitab-al-Fattan

Sources: 

[1] http://madrasareforms.blogspot.com/2009/01/maulana-waris-mazhari-countering.html  Maulana Waris Mazhari, a graduate of the Dar ul-Uloom at Deoband, is the editor of the Delhi-

 based ‘Tarjuman Dar ul-Uloom’, the official organ of the Deoband Graduates’ Association. He

can be contacted on w.mazhari@gmail.com

[2] http://www.khalidzaheer.com/qa/399  

Dr Khalid Zaheer is the Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences of University of Central

Punjab since July 1, 2009. Prior to joining UCP, he was the Director Education, Al-Mawrid,

which is an NGO established to promote research and education on Islam. Prior to joining Al-

Mawrid in September 2006, he was an Associate Professor of Islamic Studies and Ethics at

Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS). He has a teaching experience of more than

20 years.