Ilm Deen, also written as Alimuddin (4 December 1908 – 31 October 1929), was an Indian Muslim carpenter who assassinated a book publisher named Mahashe Rajpal Malhotra for publishing the book Rangila Rasul, which was deemed derogatory towards the Islamic prophet Muhammad by Muslims. He was executed for this crime.

In Pakistan, a full-length feature film has been produced on the life of Alimuddin and screened on television worldwide., page 47.

Background Mahashe Rajpal published an anonymous pamphlet in 1923 titled Rangila Rasul, which contained a discourteous interpretation of the hadiths of Sahih al-Bukhari, among other sources, along with a salacious commentary. The book was considered highly controversial due to its satire of the marital life of 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."

Various sections of the Indian Muslim community started a movement demanding that the book be banned. In 1927, the administration of the British Raj enacted a law prohibiting insults aimed at founders and leaders of religious communities.: " 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."

Murder Ilm Deen decided to kill the publisher. On April 6, 1929, he set out for the bazaar and purchased a dagger 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. 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, 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. 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, and subsequently executed.

In popular culture Ilm Deen enjoys popularity among some of Pakistan's Islamists, who perceive him as a defender of the faith who has unjustly been executed and thus became a martyr, leading to many apologetic books and movies being made as a way to commemorate him.

Books +YearTitleAuthorPublisherLanguage1929Shahīd-i Islām Janāb G̲ẖāzī ʻIlmuddīn ShahīdMuhammad Ismaʻil Munshī Naṣīr Aḥmad, LahorePunjabi1972ʻĀshiq-i rasūl-i maqbūl G̲h̲āzī ʻIlm Dīn shahīdMiyān̲ Muḥammad AbūlfatḥMaktaban Merī Library, LahoreUrdu1982G̲h̲āzī ʻIlmuddīn ShahīdRā'e Muḥammad KamālKaram Publications, Lahore1990G̲h̲āzī ʻIlmuddīn shahīdẒafar Iqbāl NagīnahJang Publications, Lahore2004Naʻt-i ʻishq-i Muḥammad : barāʼe G̲h̲āzī ʻIlmuddīn ShahīdSayyid Ṣādiq Shāh Zawiya Publishers, LahorePunjabi2007G̲h̲āzī ʻIlmuddīn shahīd : Shahīd-i nāmūs-i risālat K̲h̲ūlah MatīnʻIlm va ʻIrfān Publishers, LahoreUrduG̲h̲āzī ʻIlmuddīn Shahīd raḥmatulláh alaihSayyid Muḥammad ʻUsmānNūrī Kutub K̲h̲ānah, Lahore2008G̲h̲āzī ʻIlmuddīn shahīdFarḥān ZulfiqārḤamzah Buks, Lahore

Films +YearTitleDirectorProducerActor who portrayed Ilm Deen Language1978Ghazi Ilmuddin ShaheedHaidarHaidarHaidarPunjabi2002Rasheed DogarRiaz & Shehzad GujjarMoammar RanaUrdu

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