Al-Islah (Khaksar Tehrik weekly)
Encyclopedia
Al-Islah was the weekly newspaper
Newspaper
A newspaper is a scheduled publication containing news of current events, informative articles, diverse features and advertising. It usually is printed on relatively inexpensive, low-grade paper such as newsprint. By 2007, there were 6580 daily newspapers in the world selling 395 million copies a...

 of the Khaksar Tehrik movement. It was started in 1934 by the founder of the Khaksar Tehrik, Allama Mashriqi. It was printed and distributed from Lahore
Lahore
Lahore is the capital of the Pakistani province of Punjab and the second largest city in the country. With a rich and fabulous history dating back to over a thousand years ago, Lahore is no doubt Pakistan's cultural capital. One of the most densely populated cities in the world, Lahore remains a...

, India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

, and contained Mashriqi’s speeches as well as articles that reflected the philosophy and message of the Khaksar Tehrik. Ultimately, it played an important role in bringing uprise among the Indians to free themselves from British imperial rule.

"Al-Islah" (Khaksar Tehrik weekly)

Allama Mashriqi’s grandson, Nasim Yousaf
Nasim Yousaf
Nasim Yousaf is a scholar, historian and intellectual. He comes from a famous family of the Indian sub-continent and is a grandson of the pre-eminent Allama Mashriqi . He is also a nephew of globally recognized social scientist Dr. Akhtar Hameed Khan Nasim Yousaf is a scholar, historian and...

, has completed a massive undertaking to compile historic copies of the Khaksar Tehrik’s weekly newspaper, “Al-Islah,” into a digital format. Prior to this effort, “Al-Islah” had not seen the light of day since 1947 for political reasons. This publication is extremely important in understanding not only the history of the freedom movement of the Indian sub-continent, but also the true driving force behind the British transfer of power in 1947. By painstakingly compiling a digital version of the newspaper, Mr. Yousaf has taken an important step towards making the publication accessible to a wide audience.

“Al-Islah” was originally founded in 1934 by Allama Mashriqi (founder of the Khaksar Tehrik) and launched from Lahore. It quickly established a large following, including subscribers in British India, England, Bahrain, Egypt, Nigeria, South Africa, and Saudi Arabia. “Al-Islah” played a key role in spreading Allama Mashriqi and the Khaksar Tehrik’s ideology and helped Mashriqi raise a well-disciplined private army of 5 million. In addition, “Al-Islah” inspired other Muslim as well as non-Muslim organizations to follow the Khaksar Tehrik and form similar organizations. The newspaper is essential to a complete understanding of the freedom movement because it describes the critical role played by the Khaksar Movement in bringing independence to the nation; without access to this publication, there would remain a large gap in the knowledge of the freedom movement. Thus, the digital compilation of “Al-Islah” is indeed momentous, as it will enable professors, students, researchers, historians and others to further study Allama Mashriqi’s role in the struggle for the freedom of British India and emergence of Pakistan and India as two separate countries.

In addition to compiling “Al-Islah,” scholar and historian Mr. Yousaf has so far written nine books (five primarily focusing on Allama Mashriqi and the Khaksar Tehrik and four on import and export of consumer products such as rugs, apparel, and textiles). He has presented papers at U.S. scholarly conferences and written many articles and books. In 2007, he presented at the New York Conference on Asian Studies on the military-style activities of the uniformed Khaksars; this is believed to be the first time anyone had presented a paper and slide show on the Khaksar Tehrik to an academic audience in the USA. Mr. Yousaf has also contributed articles to the “Harvard Asia Quarterly” and the “World History Encyclopedia (USA).” His forthcoming book entitled “Mahatma Gandhi & My Grandfather, Allama Mashriqi” uncovers many hidden realities behind the freedom of British India.

External links

  • http://www.allamamashraqi.com
  • http://www.allamamashriqi.info
  • http://allama-mashriqi.8m.com
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