Ghazi Ilm Deen Shaheed also written as Ilm Din (4 December 1908 – 31 October 1929) was an Indian Muslim

carpenter Carpentry is a skilled trade and a craft in which the primary work performed is the cutting, shaping and installation of building materials during the construction of buildings, Shipbuilding, ships, timber bridges, concrete formwork, etc. ...

who assassinated a book publisher named Mahashe Rajpal for publishing the book ''

Rangila Rasul Rangina Rasul or Rangeela Rasool (Urdu: رنگیلا رسول, Devanagari: रंगीला रसूल, english: ''Colourful Prophet'': "These opening lines of the provocative Rangila Rasul he Colourful Prophet a slim volume published in 1 ...

'', which was considered derogatory towards the Islamic prophet,

Muhammad Muhammad ( ar, مُحَمَّد; 570 – 8 June 632 Common Era, CE) was an Arab religious, social, and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to Muhammad in Islam, Islamic doctrine, he was a prophet Divine inspiration, di ...

, by Muslims. He was executed for this crime but became a

martyr A martyr (, ''mártys'', "witness", or , ''marturia'', stem , ''martyr-'') is someone who suffers persecution and death for advocating, renouncing, or refusing to renounce or advocate, a religious belief or other cause as demanded by an externa ...

and "national hero" for a large part of Pakistan's population, especially those who subscribe to an Islamist perspective such as the

Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (; TLP) is a far-right Islamic extremist political party in Pakistan. The party was founded by Khadim Hussain Rizvi in August 2015. It became the fifth largest party at the 2018 Pakistani general election, but fa ...

and others who want to maintain the country's

blasphemy law A blasphemy law is a law prohibiting blasphemy, which is the act of insulting or showing contempt or lack of reverence to a deity, or sacred objects, or toward something considered sacred or inviolable. According to Pew Research Center, abou ...

, seeing for example in

Mumtaz Qadri Malik Mumtaz Hussain Qadri (1985 – 29 February 2016), better known as Mumtaz Qadri (, ur, ), was the assassin of Salmaan Taseer, Governor of Punjab. Qadri was a commando of the Elite Police and, at the time of the assassination, a member ...

, the assassin of

Salman Taseer Salman Taseer ( Punjabi and ur, ); ( 4 January 2011) was a Pakistani businessman and politician, who served as the 26th Governor of Punjab from 2008 until his assassination in 2011. A member of the Pakistan Peoples Party since the 1980s, ...

, a new Ilm Din.

Background

Mahashe Rajpal published an anonymous pamphlet in 1923 titled ''

'', which contained a reexamination of the hadiths of

Sahih al-Bukhari Sahih al-Bukhari ( ar, صحيح البخاري, translit=Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī), group=note is a ''hadith'' collection and a book of '' sunnah'' compiled by the Persian scholar Muḥammad ibn Ismā‘īl al-Bukhārī (810–870) around 846. Al ...

, among other sources, along with an allegedly salacious commentary. ''Rangila Rasul'' had a surface appearance of a lyrical and laudatory work on

and his teachings and called Muhammad "a widely experienced" person who was best symbolized by his many wives. Various sections of the Indian Muslim community started a movement demanding that the book be banned. In 1927, the administration of the

British Raj The British Raj (; from Hindi ''rāj'': kingdom, realm, state, or empire) was the rule of the British Crown on the Indian subcontinent; * * it is also called Crown rule in India, * * * * or Direct rule in India, * Quote: "Mill, who was himsel ...

enacted a law prohibiting insults aimed at founders and leaders of religious communities.

Murder

Ilm Deen decided to kill the publisher. On April 6, 1929, he set out for the

bazaar A bazaar () or souk (; also transliterated as souq) is a marketplace consisting of multiple small Market stall, stalls or shops, especially in the Middle East, the Balkans, North Africa and India. However, temporary open markets elsewhere, suc ...

and purchased a

dagger A dagger is a fighting knife with a very sharp point and usually two sharp edges, typically designed or capable of being used as a thrusting or stabbing weapon.State v. Martin, 633 S.W.2d 80 (Mo. 1982): This is the dictionary or popular-use de ...

for one rupee. He hid the dagger in his pants and waited for Rajpal at some distance from Rajpal's shop. Rajpal had not arrived yet. Ilm Deen did not know what Rajpal looked like. He tried to find out where Rajpal was through people that were around. Rajpal entered the shop and Ilm Deen did not notice him but soon someone alerted him that Rajpal was inside. The young man entered the shop, lunged forward and attacked him. He stabbed his dagger into the chest of Rajpal. He fell to the ground and died instantly. The police arrested Ilm Deen and took him to Lahori Gate Police Station. Later Ilm Deen was shifted to

Central Jail Mianwali Central Jail Mianwali is an old and historical jail in Mianwali, Punjab, Pakistan located on Rawalpindi road nearly 8 kilometers away from Mianwali city. It is noted for housing a number of prominent prisoners, the most notable of these b ...

. The murder caused considerable religious tension in Punjab and beyond.

Trial and execution

The trial lawyer for Ilm Deen was Farrukh Hussain. Two witnesses from the prosecution side claimed that he was guilty.

Muhammad Ali Jinnah Muhammad Ali Jinnah (, ; born Mahomedali Jinnahbhai; 25 December 1876 – 11 September 1948) was a barrister, politician, and the founder of Pakistan. Jinnah served as the leader of the All-India Muslim League from 1913 until the ...

, then a prominent Indian lawyer, and later the founder of Pakistan, was then sought out to appear in the appeal hearing at the

Lahore High Court The Lahore High Court () is based in Lahore, Pakistan. It was established as a high court on 21 March 1882. The Lahore High Court has jurisdiction over Punjab (Pakistan). The High Court's principal seat is in Lahore, but there are benches in th ...

. Jinnah appealed on the grounds of extenuating circumstances, saying that Ilm Deen was only 19 or 20. He asked for the death sentence to be commuted to imprisonment for life. This contention was rejected by the court. Ilm Deen was convicted and given the death penalty according to the

Indian Penal Code The Indian Penal Code (IPC) is the official criminal code of India. It is a comprehensive code intended to cover all substantive aspects of criminal law. The code was drafted on the recommendations of first law commission of India established in ...

, and subsequently executed.

In popular culture

Ilm Deen enjoys a certain popularity among some

Islamists Islamism (also often called political Islam or Islamic fundamentalism) is a political ideology which posits that modern states and regions should be reconstituted in constitutional, economic and judicial terms, in accordance with what is c ...

, who perceive them as a defender of the faith who has unjustly been executed and thus became a

, so many positive books and movies have been made as a way to commemorate him.

Books

Films

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ilm-Ud-Din 1908 births 1929 deaths Punjabi people Indian people convicted of murder Indian assassins Carpenters 20th-century executions by British India People executed by British India by hanging Burials at Miani Sahib Graveyard Indian Islamists