20-Mark Answer Outline (quick structure)

1. Intro — why reform movements emerged (Mughal decline + colonial rule)
2. Pre-colonial reformers: Sirhindi → Shah Waliullah → Shah Abdul Aziz → Syed Ahmad Barelvi
3. Post-1857 reformers: Sir Syed, Deoband, Nadwa, Anjuman
4. Bengal-specific: Faraizi Movement, Titu Mir
5. Significance — chain from religious reform to political Pakistan Movement

Why Reform Movements Emerged

• Wave 1 (pre-colonial, 16th–19th c.): response to Mughal syncretism (Akbar's Din-e-Ilahi) and later Mughal political decline
• Wave 2 (post-1857): response to British colonial dominance, Muslim socio-economic marginalization
• Common thread: reformers sought to purify religious practice + restore Muslim political/social standing

WAVE 1: Pre-Colonial / Early Reformers

Sheikh Ahmad Sirhindi — "Mujaddid Alf-i-Sani" (1564–1624)

• Naqshbandi Sufi scholar, born/died in Sirhind, Punjab
• Title: "Mujaddid Alf-i-Sani" = "Reviver of the Second Islamic Millennium"
• Opposed Akbar's Din-e-Ilahi and syncretic policies (sulh-i-kul, abolition of jizya 1579)
• Argued for supremacy of Sharia over Tariqa (law over pure mysticism)
• Rejected Ibn al-Arabi's Wahdat-ul-Wujud ("Unity of Being")
• Proposed his own Wahdat-ul-Shuhud ("Unity of Witness") — pushed Sufism back toward orthodoxy