TURNING POINTS IN ISLAMIC HISTORY SULTAN MUHAMMED AL-FATEH – THE YEAR 2020 HERALDING ANOTHER ICONIC STEP FOR MUSLIM UMMA

The parable is true. Let the hibernating bears sleep, otherwise havoc can be created. The English coined the same as “Let the sleeping dog lie”. Our past heroes have said, “Musulmano ko lalkara no karo, yeh na ho apke tabai na lay ayan”. That is, “Do not provoke the Muslims, they may bring your destruction”. The rallying point is the Quran and the shout which brings Muslims together is the simple words, “Allah o Akbar”. It opens the hearts of the Muslims to unbridled comradeship with Al-Mighty Allah. A state where life and death has no meaning, implementing the Laws of Allah the focal point. If the world is full of Muslim stooges, do not think that even a stooge cannot be awakened. It requires icons, like Hazrat Umar, Salahuddin Ayubi. Tariq bin Zayed, Sultan Muhammed Fateh, Aurangzeb Alamgeer, Tipu Sultan, and Field Marshal Ayub Khan. The present Military leadership is no exception. It has seen pangs of victories of Islam in the past. The end is rise of Islamic civilization in the future. The euphoria has already begun.

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The prediction morons are always there to confuse things. Refuse to see things as they are. Just totally fatalistic idiots. When it comes to actual fight, Muslims do not run away. They face the music. The love of Allah and his Prophet (PBUH) inflames them all the more.  Do not ignite the button with foolish under estimates of us. We fight to the end, for we believe in the next world. Not born again as lower beings, but as warriors of our faith. Allah has mercy on us!

YOU HAVE HEARD POLITICAL CHANGES ARE PLANNED IN LONDON – DO YOU KNOW CULTURAL CHANGES ARE ALSO LONDON PLANNED! – ART DEVOID OF ISLAM AND PAKISTAN, CONFESSED MR G.M. BUTCHER

The allergy to Islam and Islamic Civilization of the Western world is well understood. But definite interference sometimes forgotten. It took Quaid-e-Azam his life to make Pakistan. And lobbies were ready to undermine the Ideology of the country. Schools and Universities were created before Pakistan to undermine such concepts, but this became more latent after Pakistan came into being. The Ideology of Pakistan was a threat word to outside lobbies. 

The famous Keeper at the British Museum, Basil Gray, was our guest here in 1977, and at a period post retirement, in a jovial mood to spill the beans. Of all the lobbies, he talked of British Intelligence. He said he was sent to India in 1946 to disappear the art treasures and he was successful at most places. The only person be could not seduce in his official venture was Chughtai artist, who refused to part with his art treasures. He was amused that Chughtai artist survived the ideological crisis generated by the same sources.

The very first onslaught against our Islamic character was the term of 5000 years of Pakistan civilization. Is that what the Quaid-e-Azam was fighting for? 5000 years. 1400 years of Islam generated phobia in these bigoted scholars who rewrote our history. And that did not end then. A modern lady scholar bemoaned my statement that the National spirit was in the blood of Chughtai Sahib. She said that is what we are trying to remove all the time. By giving scholarship to those who would toe their lines, they generate a new idiom of art in Pakistan. And that is what they did in 1958, by devising a Pakistan Arts Group, which would toe their lines. Read this in the language of the person, who started it all. In their own words:

Five Pakistani artists, at present in London, who have formed the “Pakistan Group”, held their first composite exhibition at the Woodstock Gallery, London (November 10-22). It was formally opened by the British High Commissioner in UK, Mr M. Ikramullah.The following critical appreciation of the work of these painters is from a student of Indo-Pakistani painting at the Oxford University, Mr. G. M. Butcher, who is at present doing a thesis on the same subject. He observed “Although it is reasonable to think of the various idioms of the modern movement in painting as having an international character, it is also the case that artists frequently do come together along national lines for group undertakings. The rather sudden emergence of the Pakistan Group in London is a case in point. And even though individually the five members of the Group might perfectly well fit in elsewhere, many visitors to the present exhibition, will be curious to try to discover whatever it is that gives the Pakistan Group, as a Group, its special identity. “As it happens, these five painters are among the dozen or so in all of Pakistan, who are leading the way in an attempt to make painting an integral reflection of the real life of their country today. They are interested neither to take part in the self-conscious revival of traditional forms, nor to copy, as such, the methods and the problems of European painting, old or new. But, equally, as they are on the edge of the de facto frontiers of their particular cultural situation, there are no rules for them to follow. Each step forward implies a dozen steps wasted. And, as the present exhibition is the first of its kind ever to have been organized in Europe, we may well be witness to some of those wasted steps; but we are also certain to find tendencies towards the future of painting, not only in Pakistan, but throughout the newly emerging countries of Islam from Morocco to Indonesia. “Now it is a curious thing, that when questioned, not one of these five painters seemed conscious of anything particularly reflective in his work of either Islam or of Pakistan. This is partly attributable, of course, to the ‘evolve’ background of these particular artists as individuals. All of them have been exposed to the very Western modes of thought which dominated the schools and universities of British India, and all of them have lived for varying periods in London itself. Nevertheless, to myself as an interested outsider, there seem certain definite characteristics which these painters hold in common, and which are in some way interpretable in terms of the many incursions of Islam into Greater India.

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A WAVE OF PAKISTANI PAINTERS WHO JUMPED ON TO THE BAND WAGON OF THE WEST FOR REASONS – CAN SUCH IMITATION EVER PRODUCE GREAT ART? | Chughtai’s Art Blog

Shakir Ali Shemza. In Giza Egypt various mummies of Pharaohs are studied every day. Newer and newer research is done. But the mummies are dead. Their art keeps interest in them alive.

Read for yourself how the outside lobbies work. This is not our sentences, these are sentences from outside. Crushing our Ideology their aim of life!

A QURANIC SCHOLAR OF KOCHA CHABUK SAWARAN – ABDULLAH CHAKRALAVI AND CHUGHTAI BROTHERS

Not much is written about Kocha Chabuk Sawaran, and even more little is known, or even written. But   very important people belonged to this area and left their mark on the intellectual history of this region and beyond. This is not the time to list all those people, and we will try to do a list of them eventually. At this moment we will talk about a revolutionary Quranic Scholar of the area, who was Imam of the Chinay wali  Masjid for eight years. 

The strangest part is that this person migrated to Lahore from the village of Chakrala near Mian walli, and captured the intellectual spirit of Lahore. He was not a very healthy man, and the Chughtai brothers recall, that most of the time, he used to be lying on his  charpai in the mosque, teaching students the Quran and its values, and answering their mundane questions all the time. As this mosque was frequented by Mian Kareem Baksh Mimar all the time, he put his sons in the mosque, first, leaving the other centers aside. So both Abdur Rahman Chughtai and Abdullah Chaghatai received their initial Quranic education from this remarkable man. Not many patronized him,  but there was a shoe maker, with a factory nearby in the mosque (still there after ages), who found solace in the thinking of this scholar. His name was Muhammed Chittu Patoli and he not only funded the publication of his many books, a journal issued fortnightly, and even offered his own house in Bazaar Sirianwala for the Quranic education. A request was made to convert his house into a mosque but Mr Tapp, the Municipal administrator came on a horse, and there was a vast crowd of other sects who did not want this to happen. Permission for converting the house into a mosque was refused. But this did not stop the tenacity of Abdullah Chakralavi nor his follower Muhammed Chittu, and they continued their mission. 

Books published hundred years ago or more, are not considered worthy of publication again. But the subject of Abdullah Chakralavi was “Quran”, so a kind hearted group published, Syed Research Academy has published two of his major books. The research undertaken by Ali Usman Qasimi of LUMS is an issue that his monumental book is out of print and not printed again. So people are catching up with the works of this man and his sincerity cannot be doubted. The issue remains, is the Quran final authority or the Hadees (which are plenty) can overturn the Quran. Even erase its portions as ‘mansooq’. One cannot even imagine this kind of situation but a cabal insists on casting doubts about Quranic decisions as a conspiracy against Islam itself.

All solid scholars recall that on the death of the Prophet (PBUH), Hazrat Umar said, “The Prophet (PBUH) as a man is dead, but he has left us the Quran. For us the Quran is enough.” There can be no second thoughts on the subject after this affirmation. We sent a representative to Chakrala near Mian walli, and we found an empty house there, being swept by a maid servant. She told us the family is in Rawalpindi and one person’s name is ‘Yusuf’. If they come across this, it is requested that they contact us so that we can go further on our research efforts. Till then cheers for the heroic step of this Quranic thinker!P.S.Masjid Mulla Ghous is literally next door to Chinay wali masjid and still stands there. If a photograph of Mulla Ghous is there, photograph of Abdullah Chakralavi must be there somewhere open to our research. 

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LOVE OF THE MONGOL QUEEN FOR HER THREE SONS – THE ANA SHAH KHATUN OF TABRIZ EAST AZERBAIJAN

Ana Khatun is a village in Esperan Rural district, in the Central District of Tabriz County, East Azerbaijan Province, in Iran. It is about 332 miles north west of Teheran, and its entire population is merely 2052, belonging to just 527 families. There can be no doubt that it is name of a Mongol Queen, and literally means a lady who is in position sky high. The air going up to the sky in importance. More probably the village is named after this important lady, who must have founded this place long ago.

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Chughtai Museum has in its archives a manuscript of Ana Khatun from Tabriz area, with an introduction in verse and three risalahs written for her three sons, namely Saifuddin Abdul Wahab, Muhammed Qasim and Abdul Salam. She styles herself as Ana Shah Khatun, which clearly shows a Royal status. We know that the Mongols settled in Tabriz and Azarbaijan area and styled themselves as Al-Khanids. More on them later.

A TIME IN IRAQ BEFORE SADDAM AND THE PRESENT ANARCHY – VISIT OF IRAQI PRINCE TO PAKISTAN AND CHUGHTAIS PAINTING.

Little is known about King Faisal of Iraq and this can be understood:
“Faisal II (Arabic: الملك فيصل الثاني‎ Al-Malik Fayṣal Ath-thānī) (2 May 1935 – 14 July 1958) was the last King of Iraq. He reigned from 4 April 1939 until July 1958, when he was executed during the 14 July Revolution together with numerous members of his family. This regicide marked the end of the thirty-seven-year-old Hashemite monarchy in Iraq, which then became a republic. “

He was cousin of King Hussain of Jordan, and belonged to the prestigious Hashemite kingdom of Islam. He was always accompanied by his uncle Prince Abdullah, who was his regent. Prince visited Pakistan and was presented with a Chughtais painting. A version of his famous painting “Morning Star”. Most probably the painting destroyed in the regicide against his rule, but one does not know. We have a photograph of the Prince with his uncle Prince Abdullah, and our own famous diplomat Pitras Bokhari receiving him in state. Little known facts are on record with us.

The tragic end is on record:
 The monarchy’s end was quite similar to the regicide of the Russian Tsarist autocracy in 1917. On July 14, 1958, a coup d’état, orchestrated by officers who called themselves the “Free Officers” (inspired by the Egyptian Free Officers who overthrew the Egyptian Monarchy in 1952), raided the Qasr al-Zuhur (Palace of Roses) and directed the royal family to the courtyard, under the pretense that a helicopter would pick them up. Instead, they were lined up, facing the palace walls, and machine-gunned. Among the dead were Faisal; Abdul Ilah; Princess Nafeesa, Abdul Ilah’s mother; Princess Abadiya, Faisal’s aunt; and Princess Hiyam, Abdul Ilah’s wife. Mob mentality ensued and took over Baghdad; Faisal and Abdul Ilah’s bodies were dragged through the streets and hung outside the Ministry of Defense as evidence that Iraq had been liberated from its Western ties.
And these people were the custodians of Holy places from times immemorial, the famous Hashims of Khana Kaaba. 

THE VARIOUS THESIS ALTERNATIVES OF TAJ MAHAL – CREATION OF ESTEEMED DR ABDULLAH CHAGHATAI

The famous but rare thesis done in Paris on Taj Mahal. Versions many. Well here they are for the first time at one place:

The thesis on Taj Mahal presented in Paris with his signatures on it. Dated 1937.

The printed thesis on Taj Mahal printed in Brussels in 1938. Very few copies printed and hardly ten brought to Lahore. Some presented here and there. The edition in Brussels lost during the World war. Chughtai Museum has a copy. There is a copy in the National library, Islamabad, formerly in the library of Dr Abdullah Chaghatai himself. Perhaps on or two in India. Rarest of rare books. Hardly quoted anywhere. Written in Urdu and translated into French. The speculation is that his friend Dr Hameedullah did that in Paris. Details not known. He never shared this with others.

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The Urdu edition of the Taj Mahal printed in Lahore in 1963. A 1000 copies printed, never printed again. Rarely available but exists here and there.

The English edition planned to be printed. Translated under his guidance with the help of Ahad Chughtai, his architect son. It is very unfortunate that it never got printed and the manuscript lost in issues pertaining his home after his death. It should be printed, even with some lapses pertaining to his character. He wanted to be one to discover Ustad Ahmad Mimar and it was not his luck, that the Diwan of Lutufullah Muhandis reached the writer Mazhmud Bangloree, before he could do so. Something he knew at home, and became second place in his research. His deep resentment against Mahmud Bangaloree rechedc in his tirade against Lutufullah himself.

We will be covering a lot on Dr Abdullah Chaghatai very soon. To reveal the special inside story on him. Well done!

THE MALIGNANT ESTRANGEMENT BETWEEN DARA SHIKOH AND MIAN SAADULLAH – FANTASTIC INFORMATION GIVEN BY FRANCOIS BERNIER AND NICHOLAS MANNUCI.

The Western world as well as the Hindu world are so fond of quoting foreign travelers to the region of Hindustan. They rest not on peace as they go on telling us what these people saw here. But what is not in their interest, they erase from their memories and studies at will. One is the statement made by both Francois Bernier and Nicholas Mannuci, that Dara Shikoh felt threat from the closeness of Emperor Shah Jahan to his Prime Minister Nawab Saadullah Khan, and secretly poisoned the intellectual of Shah Jahani’s age, out of existence.

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There is no doubt that the phenomenal rise of Saadullah Khan from an ordinary immigrant to the city of Lahore to the post of Prime Minister of the country, disturbed the existing hierarchy. Dara Shikoh was disturbed most, as he felt that Saadullah favoured Shah Shuja as a worthy inheritor of the kingship.  So Dara Shikoh started making complaints to the Emperor about the honesty of the Nawab. After thorough investigation, it was found that it was just a foolish blame, as Saadullah  was scrupulously honest in his job. This did not stop Dara Shikoh from further intrigue. He continued to fill his father’s mind with notions against the Prime Minister. This went to the extent that Shah Jahan took Dara Shikoh with him to inquire about the health of the sick Nawab to dispel such an impression. But that was not to go. Shah Jahan understood the foolish gesture of his son Dara Shikoh well. But could do nothing. Both Bernier and Manucci say that the Emperor knew of this poisoning bid of Dara Shikoh on the life of the great man of this region. Arrogance and foolishness swept away by Hindu Pandits carried him to hell himself. His end was exactly according to Allah’s Law of Mukafat. So the two bit scholars who talk of objectivity lose the same even in the short run.  No money in telling the truth!

ANTI AESTHETIC PRIESTS DESTROYING OUR CULTURE ONE BY ONE –
SAD END OF AN ICONIC MOSQUE OF LAHORE, MASJID IFRAZ KHAN

Kocha Chabuk Sawaran is our traditional mohalla in Lahore city. Documents in our possession prove that if nothing else, we were in our traditional house, at least from 1759 to 1938, if not more. Our stay in city as citizens of Lahore is something in excess of 450 years. We have documents to prove our point. This mosque was wall to wall with the famous Havelli Mian Khan, that is Havelli of Lutufullah Khan (often confused with Hafeezullah Khan) son of Saadullah Khan. But the many inscriptions on the mosque, point to the fact that IFRAZ KHAN was perhaps not in any way attached to the court, but was a private person of Lahore. Perhaps an architect himself, who made this mosque as a gift to Lahore. It is also possible that the mosque was made by the third son of Saadullah Khan, that is Inayatullah Khan, who had various titles in his life time. Possibly the title of Ifraz Khan not recorded in the official Maaseray Alamgeeri, although some other titles are recorded. We are checking them out. The mosque started in 1079 AH, got near completion in 1080 AH and was finally completed in 1082 AH.  All three dates are confirmed by inscriptions on the mosque, destroyed by moronic priests. Look at our preserved record.  Vow to our official hierarchy, who did nothing to stop the destruction of a mosque which was in aesthetic league with the Wazeer Khan mosque itself. In fact it had some points, which no other mosque has, and that is its plan of construction. Superior to all that was done before this construction. 
Laws are made and not implemented. Beautiful mosques even today are being destroyed to be replaced by monstrocities of concrete and steel. Allah saves us from uneducated morons of the world!

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HISTORY OF LAHORE IS TALES OF WAR AND PEACE – AMAZING ATISH-HUKAS (GRENADES) OF LAHORE

History has left us remnants of various times in Lahore. There are clear cut things and there are matters of speculation. We find objects related to war all the time. Broken swords, bows and arrows, personal armour, daggers, huge axes and fancy war things. The most unrecognized things are the concept of Atish hukas, or the grenades of Lahore. These are not just limited to Lahore, but we find such remnants in Rawalpindi and Peshawar areas. Not that these are also found in Afghanistan, which shows the origin of these Atish hukas. Probably Ghazni and Ghor are responsible for them. Their use obvious in battle.

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Top on the walls of the fort to discourage warriors trying to breach the fort. Outside warriors trying to breach the fort gates. Or even horse riders discouraging advancing troops. Symbols of it being dangerous there too, like an elliptical figure. All that is possible. It is basically a very thick-walled pottery piece, with scales on it so that it does not slip from the hands. A cotton wick dripped in oil is put in it and then it is filled with gun powder or even some flammable liquid. The wick is lighted manually and within a given discourse of time, the thing thrown at the enemy for results. At times it fires, at times it does not, and perhaps at times explode at the wrong time,  injuring those not meant to be hurt. The usual material is black clay, so hardened by some process to be like iron in strength. But the amazing part is still there.

]Atish hukas for common soldiers, and beautiful Atish hukas for those in power, like the Generals or the Kings themselves. We have a sample of one of these, shaped like a fish. It is a work of pure art. Various armies used these in ancient times, but none as pretty as the Sultani Atish huka of Lahore. Well done Lahore in aesthetics!

THE ROYAL CHAMAR SWEEPERS OF SHAHJAHANABAD RED FORT – REAL OWNERS OF PROPERTIES INTERMINGLING WITH MUGHALS – A SMALL STEP TOWARDS RACIAL INTEGRATION IN THE REGION.

We normally talk of people with nobility background, and rarely see the big picture through the eyes of ordinary people. A stack of documents related to Shahjahanabad and dated variously, with an average of 1824, 1827, 1841, 1846, 1853, 1854, 1859, 1861, 1868, 1869, 1877, 1888, and 1898. The property ownership is basically with Mirza Awaiz Baig, Risaldar in Mughal regiment. Various people styled as Chamars and Changars are not only his tenants, but also owners of portions of the havellis mentioned in same. Documents exist under the seal of Mufti Kamal ud din of Shahjahanabad. The regiment is attached to some French army people. It may interest people to know that there was even a Chamar regiment made by the British in India.

There were large houses in Lahore which were occupied by the Sweepers of Lahore, but basically we hear about them in terms of being tenants to the house owners. Not much ownership here at all. Some of these houses were near the mosque of Mai Moran in Papar Mandi, Lahore. But being financially okay was not in the luck of Lahori sweepers. Then how did the Royal Sweepers of Shahjahanabad made it, where elsewhere it was not possible. The strangest thing was told to me by a resident of Shahjahanabad, who migrated to Karachi, after independence. His name Muhammed Yusuf. A very interesting and informed man, he was a very old man, when we communicated last. Not known if he is alive or not today. He told me that the Mughals in the Red Fort, regularly ate gold, with their meals. This was usually in the form of kushtas, as well as marabas. The marabas were eaten with hammer beaten gold as warqs on the same. This gold warq was used in manuscripts as well as miniatures, but here it was also food for the Mughals. The Sweepers knew this very well, and what they did was to collect the crap of the Mughals, pan it and took the gold out. This was easy as all the crap went through channels to singular places, here it was washed and gold separated from the rest. Even in today’s medicine world gold is recommended for many illness. It was fortunate that the attendants of Maharaja Ranjit Singh saved the Kohinoor from perishing, as Maharaja was advised by some hakeems to crush the Kohinoor (reputed largest diamond in the world) and as a remedy for his illness, for the Maharajah to eat the same. This is hundred percent fact, and not any illusion.

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Men do the strangest  things possible in times of crisis.
Chamars were basically people who worked in the leather industry, and as their work was such, that the profession entailed lots of obnoxious smells. Chamar is from Chamara workers. The name was given to all racial groupings which entailed bad smells in their work, and the shit cleaners smelled the worst. In 5000 years of Indian history, the segment of society ostracized from the rest. Massive conversions took place with the Christian missionaries patronizing them. At the turn of century many such people also embraced Islam under the Imam of Badshahi Mosque Lahore and there are registers of such conversions. We also possess some registers like like that.There was a complete record of various conversions done by the Imam of the Badshahi Mosque Lahore. A regular record was created, in which a form of conversion was given to the converted person, with the record of his old name, as well as the new one. On the back of the duplicate receipt was either the signature of the converted, or the thumb impressions, as well as a certificate of the Imam himself. Of the various record lost, the record for the year 1908 is still preserved with us. A total of 187 conversions at least in that year, with full record of them. We publish an image of one of these conversions. We will do more in future. It is one of the strangest record of all times.

Racial prejudice is all over the world. Islam came with the idea of total egalitarianism. But even the so called greatest democracies of the world have not honoured. The idea that BLACK LIVES MATTER is not enough. All lives matter. It is greed and capitalism which makes for distinction between races. With an economic programme to benefit all, racial prejudices will end too. That is the message of Allah! These are flesh and blood people, deserving love and respect. Let us give it to them.