Aurangzeb and the Ta‘ziya Custom

Question

(1) Did the ta‘ziya custom (processions with replicas of Imam Husayn’s tomb in Muharram) exist already in the time of Hazrat Aurangzeb ‘Alamgir ﵀? If it did, why did he not put a stop to it? And where did the ta‘ziya custom begin, and who invented it? (2) Zayd says: the ulama of Deoband forbid building mausoleums (marqad) and domes over graves. If it is forbidden, then why is a dome built over the blessed grave of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ?

Answer

(1) Aurangzeb ‘Alamgir ﵀ had the Fatawa ‘Alamgiri compiled, selected five hundred scholars for it, and included among them also Hazrat Shah ‘Abd al-Rahim ﵀, the venerable father of Hazrat Shah Waliullah Muhaddith Dihlawi. In that book the Rafidis are severely refuted and a stern ruling is passed on them, as is found in Kitab al-Siyar.

Source: Fatawa Mahmudiyya

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