Abstract
The challenges of colonialism and Christian missionaries were responded by many socio-religious organizations established by all the religious communities of Punjab including Hindus, Muslims and the Sikhs. These anjumans (societies) were organized on modern lines and in many ways imitated the organizational structures of the institutions of missionaries. However, many of them carried on local traditions of effective dissemination of their message in language and style that was deemed popular in Indian social environment. Poetry had historically been popular in India which was further patronized and popularized during later Mughal period. To effectively inculcate Muslim consciousness in the Punjab, the Anjuman Himayat-i-Islam (established. 1884) encouraged poetry that eulogized the past glory of Muslim civilizations and lamented on their contemporary decline in India and abroad. This poetry used to be heavily tinged with emotionalism and the need for re-assertion of Islam was stressed in it. The most famous Muslim poet of colonial Punjab, Allama Muhammad Iqbal, started public recitation of his poetry on the platform of Anjuman Himayat-i-Islam Lahore. The introduction and initial popularity of his poetry owed much to the Anjuman because its annual sessions used to be huge gatherings participated by people from all corners of Indian subcontinent. This paper is an endeavor to analyze the contents and message of poetry read on the podium of Anjuman and investigate the manner in which it contributed in sharpening Muslim identity in British Punjab. The Anjuman Himayat-i-Islam was working in colonial milieu where religious contestations were going on between Muslims and Christians on the one hand and Muslims and Hindus on the other. The Hindu preachers stressed that the Indian Muslims were converts from Hinduism so they should be brought back to their original faith and a sheer campaign termed as Shuddhi (lit. re-conversion) was started for this purpose. Besides, threats of conversion from Christianity and Hinduism, the Muslim community was lagging behind from others in educational and economic spheres. The main theme of poetry of Anjuman was making Muslims realize their vulnerable socio-economic status and how they could improve and strengthen themselves through education and Muslim community consciousness. A large number of educational institutions were established by Anjuman to cater to the needs of Muslims of the British Punjab. Another bold step of Anjuman in which it even surpassed its contemporary Aligarh movement was in the arena of female education. It not only advocated for the right of female education but established some female educational institutions as well. It started publishing books and literature at its own printing press.
