Rangila Rasul or Rangeela Rasool (: "These opening lines of the provocative Rangila Rasul [The Colourful Prophet], a slim volume published in 1924 in colonial north India, masqueraded as an innocuous ‘celebration’ of the ‘Prophet of Many Wives’. [...] the anonymous author listed the wide-ranging ‘qualities’ of the Rasul [Prophet], most notably his prodigious capacity for marriage.") is a book published anonymously in Urdu in 1924.
The book was considered highly controversial due to its satire of the marital life of the Islamic prophet Muhammad.: "Some of the most serious of these outrages were perpetrated in connection with the agitation relating to Rangila Rasul and Risala Vartman two publications containing a most scurrilous attack on the Prophet Muhammed [...] whose pamphlet "Rangila Rasul", containing a scurrilous attack on the Prophet of Islam": "Hindu–Muslim relations in the Punjab had reached a new low with the publication of the bigoted pamphlet ‘Rangila Rasul’ in 1924." Its publication led to reforms in India's penal code that made blasphemy illegal: " The ensuing tension abated only with the passage of the Criminal Law Amendment Act XXV that made it a cognizable crime to insult the founders and leaders of any religious community.": "The colonial authorities were surprised when Chief Justice of the Lahore High Court, Sir Shadi Lal, chose Singh, who was a Christian convert from Hinduism, to hear the case. They were even more surprised at Rajpal’s acquittal and Singh’s reasoning for it. They moved swiftly to do damage control by trying to ensure an authoritative judgment in a similar case involving Arya Samaj. They hoped the judgement, in what was known as the Risala-i-Vartman case, would supersede Singh’s judgment. Ultimately, however, they decided that the Vartman judgment was insufficient and a new law was required." and may have contributed to promote the partition of India.
Background In the decade of 1920, the British Raj experienced episodes of violence between the Muslim and Hindu communities.: "Beginning with the year 1920 there occurred in that year in Malabar what is known as the Hindu Hatred filled Mopla terrorism. [...] In the year 1921-22 communal jealousies did not subside. [...] There was never a peaceful time the relations between the two communities were strained. [...] But even after settlement had been reached and evacuees had returned to Kohat there was no peace and throughout 1924-25 the tension between the Hindu and Musalman masses in various parts of the country increased to a lamentable extent. [...] The year 1926-27 was one continuous period of communal riots. [...] By far the most serious riot reported during the year was that which took place in Lahore between the 4th and 7th of May 1927."
In 1921 and 1922, there was the Malabar rebellion, also known as the Mopla or Mappila rebellion, as the Malabar Muslims are known.: "The Mappillas, the Muslims of Malabar, traditionally trace their origins to the ninth century. [...] By 1921, the Mappillas (or Moplahs) constituted the largest and the fastest growing community in Malabar."
The Muslims of Malabar rebelled against the British authorities, while simultaneously engaging in pogroms targeting Malabari Hindu communities due to religious sentiments. : "With each day came new accounts of Hindus who had been massacred by frenzied Mappillas. Landlords Nambuduris and Nairswere were principal victims of the attacks, but reports on incidents occurring during the first weeks of the rebellion frequently implicated Hindus in the rioting, and arrests often included Hindus taken along with the Mappilla rebels." Native Hindu communities suffered from massacres, and fled for fear of death or forced conversions at the hands of the Mappilas.: "Many Hindus fled in fear of death or forced conversion before the advancing army and the even more terrifying bands of marauding Mappillas who in the areas of Ernad and Walluvanad had become a law unto themselves": "The Hindus were visited by a dire fate at the hands of the Moplas. Massacres forcible conversions, descration of temples, foul outrages upon women, such as ripping open pregnant women, pillage, arson and destruction in short, all the accompaniments of brutal and unrestrained barbarism, were perpetrated freely by the Moplas upon the Hindus until such time as troops could be hurried to the task of restoring order through a difficult and extensive tract of the country. This was not a Hindu-Moslem riot. This was just a Bartholomew. The number of Hindus who were killed, wounded or converted is not known. But the number must have been enormous."
Between April and September 1927 there were at least 25 riots spread across Mumbai, Punjab, Bengal, Bihar, Odisha and other regions, leaving over a hundred dead (103) and over a thousand injured (1084).: "Coming to the year 1927-28 the following facts stare us in the face. Between the beginning of April and the end of September 1927, no fewer than 25 riots were reported. Of these 10 occurred in the United Provinces, six in the Bombay Presidency, to 2 each in the Punjab, the Central Provinces, Bengal, and Bihar and Orissa, and one in Delhi. The majority of these riots occurred during the celebration of a religious festival by one or other of the two communities, whilst some arose out of the playing of music by Hindus in the neighbourhood of mosques or out of the slaughter of cows by Muhammadans. The total casualties resulting from the above disorders were approximately 103 persons killed and 1,084 wounded."
In the Punjab region, these hostilities were accompanied by texts published by members of a religious community with the intention of criticizing or offending other religious communities.: "Late nineteenth–early twentieth century Punjab has been commonly regarded as a space for ‘competitive communalism’ whereby each of the province’s major religious communities participated in activities that increased hostilities between the communities. Such an assertion has been substantiated with reference to an increasing number of publications that were quickly deemed offensive to one or the other religious community of the Punjab and then banned."
Rangila Rasul was published by members of the Hindu community in response to a pamphlet entitled "Sitaka Chinala" published by members of the Muslim community and that depicted the Hindu goddess Sita (wife of Rama, the hero of the Ramayana) as a prostitute.: "Rangila Rasul was written in reply to Sitaka Chinala a pamphlet written by a Musalman alleging that Sita wife of Rama, the hero of Ramayana was a prostitute."
Publication Rangila Rasul was published in May 1924 and its copies sold out in a matter of a few weeks.: "All copies of the book were reported to have been sold within few weeks."
Originally published in Urdu and later translated into Hindi, it was written by a member of the Hindu reformist Arya Samaj sect: "Its anonymous author, now known to be one Pandit Champovati (a committed Arya Samajist) seemed to be well-versed with Islamic literature." by the name of Pandit Chamupati: "This meant that the publisher would take all the responsibility of writing and publishing this book on himself and would never divulge the name of the real author, Pandit Chamupati, who was afraid of the wrath of the extremists." (or Champovati).
The Publisher Its publisher was Mahashe Rajpal (also known as Mahashay), a journalist: "Rajpal and Sons was founded in 1912 in Lahore (now in Pakistan) by Shri Rajpal Malhotra, a journalist-turned-publisher." who founded his publishing house 'Rajpal & Sons' in 1912. Rajpal published the book anonymously, without disclosing or making public the name of the author (Chamupati) despite public pressure and threats,: "Rajpal was threatened and asked to reveal the name of the author. He was offered by the fundamentalists that if he came out with the name of the real author, his life would be spared. But because he was courageous, because he defended freedom to publish even before such a concept really existed, because he dared to publish, he did not do such a thing. Thus, the whole burden, the entire agitation was directed against the publisher. Let’s face it: Late Shri Rajpal gave his life to save the author’s life, and to uphold the sacred principle of Freedom to Publish." for which Rajpal bore the subsequent legal consequences.
As a publisher Rajpal became recognized in various social circles in Lahore,: "He had a humble beginning, but by the work done by him, he was admired by all the social circles in Lahore and throughout Punjab. Late Shri Rajpal was a fearless publisher." as he was committed to freedom of expression: "An ardent champion of the freedom of expression, Rajpal won a bitterly fought legal battle in 1928 in the Punjab High Court in defence of an author's right to express his opinion." and did not shy from controversial issues, even publishing a Hindi translation of Marie Stopes "Married Love" in 1925 under the title of "Vivahit Prem": "11. Santram B.A., Vivahit Prem (Married Love) (Lahore: Rajpal, 1925)." and an illustrated text on family planning and contraception in 1926,: "12. Santram B.A., Santan Sankhya ka Seema-Bandhan, Arthat Dampati Mitra (Limiting the Number of Children, Meaning Friend of the Couple) (Lahore: Rajpal, 1926). [...] Figure 6 (a–c). Birth control devices. Source: Santram B.A., Santan Sankhya ka Seema-Bandhan, Arthat Dampati Mitra (Lahore: Rajpal, 1926), pp. 44, 46, 49, respectively." both written by B. A. Santram, a scholar and social reformer member of the labor caste.: "Santram B.A. (1887–1998) was a learned, radical Shudra caste reformer from Punjab, and founder of the Jat-Pat Torak Mandal (Organisation to Break Caste). [...] At the same time, he wrote several articles and books on sex and birth control, including translations into Hindi of some of the Sanskrit sex classics, and for the first time of Mary Stopes’ most celebrated books like Married Love, Contraception and Enduring Passion."
Content The book deals with the marriages of Muhammad and his predisposition to take wives.
Being a satire, Rangila Rasul had a surface appearance of a lyrical and laudatory work on Muhammad and his teachings, while the marital life of the prophet is treated in a praising tone, in the style of a bhakti: "Mimicking the style of bhakti or devotion for a saintly object of intimate affection in the Hindu religious-literary tradition, the anonymous author listed the wide-ranging ‘qualities’ of the Rasul [Prophet], most notably his prodigious capacity for marriage." (that is, a show of devotion to a god or saint in the Hindu tradition), and some of the controversial points of the book are in fact faithful to what the Islamic tradition indicates about the life of Muhammad.: "As the entire material in the book was based on facts, it could not be challenged, according to the High Court." This was because the author was familiar with Islamic literature.
In one part, the author cites characteristics of the prophet, highlighting his ability to marry, which included "a widow, a virgin, an old woman, a young woman... even a budding girl", and insists on how the active sexuality of marriage is more compatible with the common man in contrast with lifelong celibacy of Hindu saints or the asceticism of other prophets.: "There was more to learn from the Rasul's 'experiences' in his marriages 'to a widow, a virgin, an old woman, a young woman... even a budding girl', the author insisted, than from other saints and prophets of yore – the celibate Dayanand, virgin Christ, or the renouncing Buddha – whose lives offered little by way of practical example to the everyman." In fact, the text opens with the following lines:
The Bengali daily Amrita Bazar Patrika referred the book as follows:
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