“Sufi Defense” from India in Mecca in the Early Twentieth Century

Abstract

In presenting Ahmad Raza Khan (1856–1921) as a global figure of ‘Sufi Defense’ against polemical critiques of Sufi beliefs and practices from Deobandis and Ahl-i Hadith in India, this paper closely analyzes Khan’s work al-Dawlat al-Makkiyyah bi al-Mādat al-Ghaybiyyah (The Meccan Treasure on the Subject of the Unseen, published in 1905). In this work, Khan responds to queries received from India when he was in Mecca in 1905. The Meccan scholars appreciated Khan’s arguments in defense of the notion of the Prophet’s knowledge of the unseen. Khan uses the Quran and juridical, poetic, and theological sources from the Islamic tradition to justify his defense and to prove his opponents wrong. The attached taqārīẓ (written endorsements) at the end of the text show Khan’s transnational appreciation by Meccan, Medinan, and Damascus scholars.