Mecca Masjid: a socio-political, religious and anti-colonial sanctuary

For centuries, the Mecca Masjid, with its lofty 75-foot ceiling, sprawling courtyard, and the canopy under which members of the Asafiya dynasty are buried, has borne witness to the shifting tides of socio-political fortunes. One of the largest mosques in India, it has long served as a socio-political and religious centre. In the princely State of Hyderabad, the masjid played a pivotal role as a platform advocating the country’s freedom from British colonial rule, culminating in the Turrabaz Khan-led attack on the British Residency. Post-1948, following the annexation of Hyderabad and its subsequent merger with the Indian Union, it remained a crucial space for affirming the political agency of Hyderabad’s Muslims. It sought to instil confidence among them through Youm-ul-Quran, a series of public meetings held on every Friday during Ramzan.

The year was 1958. Nearly a decade after Operation Polo, Abdul Wahed Owaisi, a lawyer, took over the reins of the Ittehadul Muslimeen. Dubbed a revival, and later, foundation, of the Majlis, Owaisi transformed the organisation into an entity that actively participated in electoral politics, and aligned itself with constitutional principles. It was during this period that Youm-ul-Quran at the Mecca Masjid began to take shape.

“The idea was to give Muslims the confidence they lacked, as they were still feeling the effects Police Action (meaning Operation Polo),” says Syed Ahmed Pasha Qadri, general secretary of the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen, and a former legislator from Charminar and Yakutpura. “Muslims at that time were anxious and afraid. Abdul Wahed Owaisi, father of Salahuddin Owaisi, used the Quran and Hadith (traditions of Prophet Muhammad) to explain what to do in the current context. And to tell people that the Constitution grants us the rights of equal, respectable citizens of India. Now, AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi continues this tradition,” he says.

At the time, the Mecca Masjid was under the administration of the Endowments Department. It was only in the 1990s that the Minorities Welfare Department took over its maintenance and administration.

One of the largest mosques in India, the Mecca Masjid in Hyderabad has long served as a socio-political and religious centre.
| Photo Credit:
SIDDHANT THAKUR

“All Jalsa Youm-ul-Quran meetings are organised only after obtaining permission from the authorities,” Mr Qadri explains.

For over six decades, speeches have been delivered from a white marble-clad a pulpita stepped platform, before thousands who gather under a pandal installed in the courtyard.

With changing times came political dissent. Aman Ullah Khan, a prominent leader of the AIMIM, fell out with party supremo and then-Hyderabad parliamentarian Salahuddin Owaisi. Breaking away, he formed the Majlis Bachao Tehreek (MBT), contested from the Chandrayangutta Assembly segment, and won. With this, he too staked claim to a speaker’s slot at Youm-ul-Quran on behalf of his party.

“The MBT was formed in April 1992, and Aman Ullah Khan sahab applied for permission to deliver the Youm-ul-Quran address that same year,” says Amjed Ullah Khan, MBT spokesperson and a former Assembly candidate from Yakutpura. “He was also concerned with presenting the right image of Islam and Muslims to people of other religions. Additionally, he sought to familiarise the youth with Islamic scriptures.”

While discussions at Youm-ul-Quran have included encouragement of interfaith harmony, the importance of fulfilling familial and social responsibilities, respecting women, and becoming better sons, and open condemnation of terrorist organisations such as the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), now known simply as the Islamic State, the event has also served as a platform for launching political attacks on rivals.

The Jalsa Youm-ul-Quran is now spread over a network of smaller masjids as well.

Anti-colonial activity

While an ally of the Crown, Hyderabad on multiple occasions served as a fertile ground for anti-colonial activity. While Mubariz-ud-Dowlah, the brother of the sixth Nizam Nasir-ud-Dowlah was an avowed anti-British, the first War of Independence of 1857 broke out about a week before the latter’s death. A feeling of “jihad” against the British pervaded Hyderabad. Records show that pamphlets and slogans began to appear and speeches against the British were delivered in masjids, the Mecca Masjid being a hub.

“The Muslims have been informed to take their own course. They should gather on Friday, 25th Shawwal 1273, at the Mecca Masjid, and start their agitation from there…” a reproduction of poster reads.

Mohammed Ayub Ali Khan, a Canada-based researcher of Hyderabad, points out that being the central mosque of the city, Mecca Masjid had always served as a site of reassurance and confidence for Hyderabadi Muslims.

“The mimbar is exclusively used for religious preaching, whereas the courtyard is used to discuss both spiritual and temporal matters. 1857 was an important year when the ‘rebels’ rallied the faithful by interrupting the khutba (Friday sermon),” he says.

Records show that Moulvi Akbar, a prominent preacher was stopped from delivering the sermon. Other records also indicate that “standards of faith” and religious slogans directed against the British were raised in the masjid. Newspaper reports from those days recorded that another disturbance connected to the unrest broke out in the masjid but was put down by Salar Jung’s men.