Abstract
The North West Frontier Province remained different among all the eleven
provinces of British India. The religious passion, the Pashtuns ethnicity and the
strong ethos of Pashtun’s culture (Pashtunwali) had distinctive features during the
colonial rule in South Asia. Muslim Sharia Laws and British customary laws
under Custom (Rewaj Act) have had the conflicting characteristics in British
Indian constitutional system. After the British occupation, they consented on Riwaj
to civil affairs in the NWFP and replaced it with Sharia which had been in
practiced since the establishment of Sultanat-i-Delhi in the 13th century. NWFP
since its separation from Punjab 1901 could not get constitutional development
and political reforms until 1932 as other provinces within India got. Jamiat Ulama
Hind the affiliates of which were much active in the politics of NWFP demanded
for political reforms in the province in its Annual session in Peshawar in 1927.
The Ulama demanded that Sharia Law be implemented in the province for
regulating the Muslim Personal life. Ulama prepared a Bill known as Sharia Bill
and presented it in the Provincial Legislative Council. The Bill was passed by the
Provincial Council but could not get the consent of the central Legislative council.
It had far reaching consequences for the people and politics of the province. This
study analyzes the process of Shariatization and the involvement of the Ulama in
the politics of the frontier. The work is based on the Police Intelligence Abstracts,
CID Files and debates of the Legislative Council of NWFP/K.P archives, India
Office Record of the British Library, personal collections of Ulama diaries and
interviews of the religious leaders. The paper will help in tracing the historical
roots of the process of Islamization of laws in the modern times
Muhammad Tariq , Wajid Mehmood. (2019) Islamization in Colonial India, An Analysis Of The Sharia Bill 1934 In The North West Frontier Province, Journal of the Punjab University Historical Society, Volume 32, Issue 2.
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