The History of Salafist Thought in the Indian Peninsula from the Twelfth to the Thirteenth Century AH

Although historic evidence indicates that some disciples of Ibn Taymiyyah entered India from the eighth century AH, they failed to institutionalize Salafist thoughts in that land. Salafism emerged as a thought movement in Shah Waliullah Dehlawi’s period. Dehlawi travelled to Hejaz and after meeting some Salafist figures there, through them, he became familiar with Ibn Taymiyyah Harrani’s thoughts and opinions and took them to India. They benefited from Ibn Taymiyyah’s thoughts in Shah Waliullah Dehlawi School. After Shah Waliullah, his sons and disciples continued promoting his school of thought to the extent that in the thirteenth century AH, his thoughts were so developed that they abandoned imitation from the Four Imams and practically called themselves non-imitators and Salafi. Moreover, in this century we witness introduction of the Zeidi-Salafi movement into the Indian Peninsula by Seddigh Hasan Khan and its dissemination across the peninsula.