THE MORAL WORLD OF SHĀH WALĪ ALLĀH AL-DIHLAWĪ; SITUATING ETHICS IN ḤUJJAT ALLĀH AL-BĀLIGHA

Abstract

Shāh Walī Allāh al-Dihlawī is considered one of the most influential Muslim scholars from the Indian Subcontinent. He was a profound thinker, an encyclopaedic scholar and a prolific writer. Troubled by the intellectual and moral decline of Muslims of India in his time, he dedicated his life to address the same. He wrote across disciplines, creating a philosophy of religion which was best expressed in his magnum opus Ḥujjat Allāh al-Bāligha (The Conclusive Argument from God). The book presents Islam as a coherent and comprehensive system, discussing everything from metaphysics to politics and Islamic scripture to the principles of deducing rulings from them, by harmonising the various Islamic sciences developed over centuries. Our main argument in this thesis is that the most central concept of the book - and by consequence his overall philosophy- that pervades and binds it- is that of ethics. Religion, for al-Dihlawī, aims at guiding people to refine their character, so that they can remove their soul from being inclined to its animalistic nature to face the angelic realm and actualise their potentialities, creating new ones. This is what the specific form of their species demands and what leads to ultimate felicity. This is also the natural disposition of human beings, which is covered over time by different veils and can only be removed by following the true religion of God. We will discuss, first and foremost, the life and works of al-Dihlawī to understand his intellectual project. To uncover the centrality of ethics in Ḥujjat Allāh, we will provide a thematic textual analysis of the book. These themes will help us locate the ethical component of different parts of the book and their interconnectedness. Finally, we will examine al-Dihlawī’s moral framework, which draws upon discursive, analytical, religious, and narrative modes of reasoning. This framework reflects an interplay of philosophical, fiqh-based, spiritual, adab-based, and scriptural ethics. Despite these diverse influences, al-Dihlawī constructs a moral framework that is highly sophisticated and systematic, and unique and original in its own sense, covering all aspects from the nature of the actor and action to its effects and consequences.

Date of Award	2025
Original language	American English
Awarding Institution	HBKU College of Islamic Studies