‘We can leave neither’: Mohamed Ali, Islam and Nationalism in colonial India

Abstract

This essay explores how the ideals of nationalism and Islam intersect by looking at the life and career of Mohamed Ali, a leading Muslim political figure, scholar, journalist and poet of the early twentieth-century India. Mohamed Ali, one of the leaders of the Khilafat movement, has often been seen as someone given to passionate politics and religious rhetoric. He was undoubtedly different from many of his contemporaries since he refused to act in a unilinear, ‘politically correct’ fashion in the pursuit of the idea of a nation. Yet, a close study of Mohamed Ali's career reveals that contexts and circumstances defined most of his politics, ranging from his association with Gandhi during the Khilafat movement to his political uproar over the issue of separate electorates. Through his public career, he constantly juggled his claims to best represent Muslim interests while simultaneously also proclaiming his love for the nation, although mostly in the form of anti-colonialism. These associations were often presented in a variety of subtle combinations rather than in the form of clear either–or choices. This essay examines Mohamed Ali's attempts at reconciling Islam with nationalism and how he ultimately defined his political preferences, refusing to align himself with either pole in favour of a more conciliatory path.