About 135 Kilometer from India's capital city, New Delhi, at a distance of 135 minutes, lies the historic city of Phulat, the birthplace of Shah Waliullah, one of the most outstanding non-Arab Islamic scholars. Phulat village is in Khatauli Tehsil of Muzaffarnagar district in Uttar Pradesh, India. It is 6 km away from Phulat, which is both district & sub-district headquarter of the village. As per 2009 stats, Phulat village is also a gram panchayat.
The total geographical area of the village is 434.69 hectares and has a total population of 7,023 people. There are about 1,058 houses in Phulat village.
At the entrance is the Islamic University known as Jamia Imam Shah Waliullah. It is not far from the house where the great Muslim scholar of India was born on February 21, 1703. The small room, now empty, reminds the visitors of the humble beginning of the most influential thinker of all time in India and the first translator of the Quran in the Persian language..
A few years ago, I visited Phulat with my family to become acquainted with the Shah Sahib's birthplace. We walked the streets of the small village, imagining how the scholar would have strolled in the streets. Finally, we touched the Quran, handwritten on Riq (deerskin) that was the asset of Shah Sahib.
The forgotten village came alive when Maulana Kaleem Siddiqi, a great Islamic preacher, opened the university specializing in Islamic sciences in the name of Shah Sahib.
Most of its students come from low-income families all over India. The Maulana and his friends devote their resources to educate them in all branches of knowledge. It is an inspiring place as thousands of people from all over India join the Maulana during the month of Ramadan, studying and celebrating fasting.
On September 21, the Uttar Pradesh police arrested Maulana Siddiqi and four other scholars and his driver when they returned home from Meerut after attending a religious function. The arrest came at the instruction of the state Chief Minister, who is trying to make anti-Islam and anti-Muslim his main election issue for the forthcoming election in 2022.
The Hindu fascist organization, BJP leader, has painted Islamic institutions as anti-national and anti-Hindu and blamed them for working for foreign interests.
The Indian constitution allows Muslims and other religious minorities to establish their religious institutions. However, Muslims and others view the arrest as a slap on the Indian legal system.
Before Maulana Kaleem Siddiqi, the UP police targeted Malauna Gautam, an Islamic worker working among the poor society. States under Hindu organizations, the BJP, and the RSS have a defined plan to turn Christian and Muslim minorities into second-class citizens. The two organizations receive massive funding from Hindu Americans, who send millions to turn India into a Hindu state.