By Abu Tariq Hijazi

Edited by IlmGate

Mawlana Hifz al-Rahmān Seohārvi is a prominent name on the religio-political horizon of the Asian subcontinent for the last several decades. He was a multifaceted personality who lived mainly during the first half of the last century.

The shaykh was not only a freedom fighter but an Islamic scholar, a historian, a prolific writer and a religious and political leader of repute commanding respect from within India as well as Pakistan. He fought against British rule for a quarter century (1922-1947) and spent eight years in jail.

In post-Independent India, Mawlana Seohārvi played a crucial role in charting a road map for the Muslims in India. As a member of the Constituent Assembly, he played his part in claiming a rightful place for Muslims in the constitution of India, making the country a secular one, and thus rendering a dignified status to the Muslim community in the country that had suffered partition in the name of Islam.

Mawlana Hifz al-Rahmān Seohārvi served on several community organizations in different capacities like the Nadwat al-Musannifīn as patron, and Jamīat al-Ulama as its national secretary.

His Monumental Work

The Mawlana was known for his prolific writing through which he primarily aimed to reform the Muslim society by inculcating the values and ethics of Islam inspired by the Qur’an and Hadith.

His Qasas al-Qur’an, which is mainly based on the stories from the Holy Qur’an, in this respect comes first in mind to mention about as this ultimately proved to be his most popular and monumental work.
The author’s main aim is to draw the attention of the readers toward the moral of the stories, so as to enable Muslims to adopt a right path (Islamic way of life) for the great success in both the worlds.
These stories of the Qur’an were mentioned in the old scriptures too, but were adulterated by their communities with vested interest. They defamed Virgin Mary, blamed Prophet David and raised Prophet Jesus Christ (peace be upon both of them) to divinity.

The Holy Qur’an defied all these corruptions and reinstated the original and authentic versions. The Orientalists in the later period of the 19th century again tried to cast doubts about the truth revealed in the Holy Qur’an.

In this backdrop the Mawlana took it upon himself as an essential duty to refute these allegations and purify the minds of readers. Thus accepting the challenge Mawlana Hifz al-Rahmān Seohārvi engaged into bringing forth his marvelous monumental work that ran into staggering 1784 pages.

An effort in this direction was earlier made by ‘Allāmah Abd al-Wahhāb Najjār of Egypt who published a book with the same title – Qasas al-Qur’an – in Arabic, which were based on a series of his lectures that he had delivered at Al-Azhar University, Cairo, in 1930. But Allāmah Najjār confined himself to mainly dealing with the stories of the Prophets. He did not touch upon the Qur’an in citing similar many other stories. Mawlana Hifz al-Rahmān covered all important stories establishing them in the true form.

It is very heartening to note that this huge work of Mawlana Hifz al-Rahmān Seohārvi has been translated into English by Shakir Rizwani and Khalid Mahmood and was published in 2006 in two volumes by Idara Islamiat Lahore, Pakistan. The work, covering 1360 pages, has been divided into four parts that are basically based on the three main subjects that the Holy Qur’an deals with: Tawhīd (Oneness of Allah), Risālah (Prophethood), and Ākhirah (the Hereafter).

These subjects have been well elucidated and supported by narratives of various stories of the past Prophets (peace be upon them all) who were all preaching the Oneness of Almighty Allah and the promised gifts of the Hereafter.

• Part 1, containing 410 pages, covers the stories of 13 Prophets including Adam, Nūh, Idrīs, Hūd, Sālih, Ibrāhīm, Ismāīl, Ishāq, Lūt, Ya’qūb, Yūsuf, Shu’aib and Mūsa (peace be upon them all).

• Part 2, 204 pages, has 12 Prophets: Yūsha’, Hizkīl, Ilyās, al-Yasa’a, Shamwīl, Dawūd, Sulaimān, Ayyūb, Yūnus, Dhu al-Kifl, Uzair and Zakariyya (peace be upon them all).

• Part 3, 348 pages, covers 12 different stories from the Holy Qur’an about Ashāb al-Kahf, Ashāb al-Fīl, Ashāb al-Sabt, Ashāb al-Rass, Ashāb al-Ukhdūd, Flood of Iram, Hakīm Luqmān, Dhu al-Qarnain and Al-Quds.

• Part 4, 396 pages, is fully devoted to the detailed study of Prophet Jesus Christ and Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon both of them).

This removes all doubts and allegations about Virgin Mary and her son Prophet Jesus, proving that they were both true worshippers of Almighty Allah like Prophet Mohammad (peace be upon him them all).
Commenting about the colossal book, Bahjat Najmi, the secretary of the Mawlana Hifz al-Rahmān Academy, which is active in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, for many years, said, “Qasas al-Qur’an is the only authentic work on stories on the Prophets of Islam in the Asian subcontinent. Even those, who might differ with the ideology of the Mawlana, agree that this work of his is a truly genuine and worth reading.”

Najmi was all praise for the Idara Islamiyat of Lahore for consistently publishing these works of cultural importance, mainly the Qasas al-Qur’an, all these years.

“This is significant given the backdrop of a persistent indifference toward such rare works of our past ulema that has become customary of the Muslim society in general, and which is unfortunate,” he said.

The academy secretary also mentioned about other works of Mawlana on various subjects in Urdu: Islam ka Iqtisādi Nizām (The Economic System of Islam), Akhlāq & Falsafa-i-Akhlāq (Morality and its Philosophy); Balāgh Al-Mubīn (Evident Approach); and Nūr al-Bashar fi Sīrat Khair al-Bashar (Sīrah of Holy Prophet). Out of these, a research work on his Islam ka Iqtisādi Nizām is going on in the King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, he said.

Courtesy of Arab News (February 22, 2013)

Note: This article was edited for spelling, style, and grammar, in addition to a new title.

By Shaykh Abu ‘l-Hasan ‘Ali al-Nadwi
11th Rabi al-Awwal, 1378 AH

Edited by Faraz Abdul Moid

Preface

Towards the end of December 1957, and in the beginning of January 1958, an International Islamic Colloquium was held in Lahore under the auspices of the Punjab University in which a large- number of distinguished and noted scholars of the Muslim world and Western countries took part. Quite a few outstanding `Ulama representing Middle Eastern countries were there. Despite having received an invitation to participate, the writer was unable to reach Lahore until after the colloquium had ended. The points that had been raised during the colloquium continued to be debated by many people.

The scholars who had come from Egypt, Syria and Iraq to participate in the conference showed considerable keenness to collect correct information about the fundamental beliefs and doctrines of Qadianism, the well-known religious movement of India and Pakistan. This curiosity on their part was justified and natural. For, it was in this part of the world that Qadianism was born and developed. Hence, from here alone authentic material and information could be procured. The Pakistani and Indian friends of these guests felt the existence of a serious lacuna: the absence of any book on the subject in present-day Arabic which could be presented to them. It was owing to this feeling that, when the writer reached Lahore, he was ordered by his spiritual teacher and guide, Hazrat Mawlana ‘Abd al-Qadir Raipuri, to write a book on this subject in Arabic.

During his trips to the Middle East and his stay in Egypt and Syria, the writer had himself felt the need of such a work, but the subject had failed to capture his imagination. The subject was on the whole out of tune with his temperament. Despite his repeated efforts the writer did not succeed in forcing himself to study any of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad Qadiani’s writings. Hence, when he undertook the task, he had little familiarity with the subject. But the demand had been made from a personage the compliance of whose wish was a matter of deepest spiritual satisfaction to the writer and this enabled him to devote himself to a thorough study of Qadianism. Within a few days the room where the writer was staying at Lahore changed into a full-fledged library on Qadianism. The work then started in earnest and for one month the writer remained so deeply immersed in the subject that he lost almost all touch with the outside world and had his mind free for no other subject.

The writer’s mental framework being that of a student of history, he launched upon his intellectual journey from the very beginning of the movement surveying every stage in its progress and development. The writer’s observations, therefore, moved along the lines through which Qadianism had passed during its course of development. This approach helped the writer to grasp the real nature of the Qadiani movement, its gradual evolution, and its motivating factors. This approach uncovered a number of aspects which might have remained hidden otherwise. The writer delved deep into the writings of the founder of this movement, Mirza Ghulam Ahmad Qadiani, and it is through this first hand source that he has tried to arrive at unprejudiced conclusions, trying to maintain the detachment of a historian in respect of the message, the movement, and the practical achievements of Qadianism. The result of this study has been published in the form of al-Qadiyani wa al-Qadiyaniyyah in Arabic.

After the book had been prepared, Hazrat Mawlana ‘Abd al-Qadir Raipuri ordered its translation into Urdu. Since actual excerpts in Urdu were required for the Urdu edition, an entire library of books available only in Lahore was required once again. Another trip was made, after which this book was rendered into Urdu. This Urdu edition could better be regarded as an independent work because a number of valuable additions and modifications have been made during the process of its preparation. For some time literature on controversial religious subjects has had a peculiar language and style, so much so that this language and style have come to be regarded as part and parcel of religious writings. This writer has not considered himself bound by this polemical tradition. This book has been written with historical objectivity rather than the bigoted zeal of a debater. This will perhaps disappoint those who have been used to polemical writings. For this the writer offers no apology. The class of people for whom it has been written and the purpose which actuated its writing did not warrant any other style of expression.

The writer thanks all those friends and well-wishers who have been a source of guidance in the study of the subject, who provided him with the material needed for writing this book and for facilitating the completion of the work. If this book serves Islam in any way, all such people share its reward.

The writer wishes to impress on his readers one thing: wisdom requires that a person should refrain from risking even as trivial a thing as one’s monetary savings, and one should be careful in choosing the people to whom these should be entrusted. If wisdom demands such precaution in worldly affairs, it should not be difficult to guess what a tremendous amount of precaution should be exercised in the matter of faith on which depends a person’s salvation and his felicity in the eternal life of the Hereafter. It is evident that in such a matter one should exercise extreme precaution; one should try to use one’s discretion to the utmost, and to divest oneself of all emotional predilections, worldly attachments and material interests. This book, through its authentic and systematically arranged information obtained from the statements and writings of the founder of Qadianism himself and through authentic historical information about the movement can prove of help to many a person to arrive at an intelligent appreciation of Qadianism.

Muslim India in the Nineteenth Century

The nineteenth century is a period of unique importance in modern history. It is the century in which intellectual unrest and various kinds of conflicts and tensions found in the Muslim world reached the climax. India was one of the main centers of this unrest and tension. Here, the conflicts and tensions between the Western and the Eastern cultures, between the old and the new systems of education, in fact, between the old and the new worldviews, and between Islam and Christianity were mounting. The forces concerned were locked in a fierce struggle for survival.

The movement began at a time when the well-known struggle of 1857 for the country’s independence had been suppressed. This had shocked the Muslims to the core; their hearts were bleeding, and their minds paralyzed. They were confronted with the danger of double enslavement: political as well as cultural. On the one hand, the victorious power, the British, had launched upon a vigorous campaign to spread a new culture and civilization in India. On the other hand, Christian missionaries were scattered all over India bent upon active proselytization. To be able to shake the confidence of Muslims in their own beliefs and to make them skeptical as to the bases of the shari’ah, even though they might not be converted to Christianity, was deemed by them an important enough achievement. The new generations of Muslims, which had not been thoroughly grounded in Islam, were their main target. The schools and colleges which were introduced along the foreign pattern were the main fields of their activity directed at spreading intellectual confusion. The efforts were not altogether unsuccessful and even incidents of conversion to Christianity began to take place in India. But the main danger of that period was not apostasy (in the sense of ostensible conversion from Islam to Christianity), but skepticism and atheism. Religious debates between Muslim ‘ulama and Christian missionaries took place frequently, leading in general to the victory of the ‘ulama of Islam. This established the intellectual superiority and greater vitality of Islam against Christianity. Nevertheless, intellectual unrest, skepticism, and weakness of faith grew apace.

This was one aspect of the situation: the situation vis-a-vis the external menace. Looked at internally, the situation was even worse. Mutual disagreements between Muslim sects had assumed frightful proportions. Each sect was busy denouncing the other. Sectarian polemics were the order of the day, leading often to violent clashes, even to bloodshed to litigation over controversial sectarian issues. The whole of India was in the grip of what might be termed a sectarian civil war. This too had given birth to mental confusion and created breaches in the Muslim society and disgust in the people and had considerably damaged the prestige of the Muslim ‘ulama and of Islam.

On the other hand, immature sufis and ignorant pretenders of spiritual excellence had reduced the sufi orders to a plaything. They gave wide publicity to their trance utterances and inspired pronouncements. One found people everywhere making overly extravagant claims and going about proclaiming their ability to perform astounding miracles and to receive messages from the High. The result of all this was that the Muslim masses had developed an uncommon relish for things esoteric, for miracles, for supernatural performances, for inspired dreams and prophesies. The more a person had to offer people by way of these things, the greater was his popularity. Such people became the center of popular veneration. Hypocritical dervishes and cunning traders of religion took full advantage of the situation. People had developed such a liking for esoterics that they were readily prepared to accept every new fantasy, to support every new movement, and to believe in every esoteric claim however baseless and imaginary.

Muslims were generally in the grip of frustration and had fallen prey to defeatism. The failure of the struggle of 1857 and of a number of other recent religious and militant movements was fresh in their memory. Many of them had despaired, therefore, of bringing about any change and reform through normal processes and a large number of people had begun to await the advent of some charismatic personality, some divinely appointed leader. At places one heard that at the turn of the century the Promised Messiah would make his appearance. In religious gatherings people commonly referred to the numerous forms of misguidance and evil which were to appear on the eve of the Doomsday. Prophesies and esoteric statements such as those of Shah Ni’mat Allah Kashmiri helped people to forget the bitterness of the current situation and strengthened their morale. Dreams, prophesies, and other esoteric pronouncements had magnetic appeal and kept their spirits high.

The province of Punjab, in particular, was the center of mental confusion and unrest, superstitions and religious ignorance. This province had suffered for eighty years under the yoke of the Sikh Raj, an overbearing military tyranny. During this period the religious belief and devotion of Muslims had weakened considerably. True Islamic education had been almost non-existent for long. The foundations of Islamic life and Islamic society had been shaken. Their minds were seriously in the grip of confusion and perplexity. In brief, to borrow the words of Iqbal:

The Khalsa (Sikhs) took away both the Qur’an and the sword,

In their realm, Islam was just dead.

This situation had paved the ground in the Punjab for the rise of a new religious movement based on novel interpretations and esoteric doctrines. The temperament of a good number of people of the region where this movement arose has been portrayed by Iqbal in these words:

In religion, he is fond of the latest,

He stays not for long at a place; he keeps on moving;

In learning and research he does not participate,

But to the game of Mentors and Disciples, he readily succumbs;

If the trap of explanation anyone lays,

He walks into it quickly from the branch of his nest.

It was towards the end of the nineteenth century that Mirza Ghulam Ahmad appeared on the scene with his unique message and movement. For the spread of his message and for the fulfillment of his ambitions, Mirza Ghulam Ahmad found a fertile ground and a congenial period of time. He had numerous factors to his advantage: the general unrest in the minds of people, the exotic-loving temperament of the people, the general despair with regard to the efficacy of moderate and normal means of reform and revolution, the decline in the prestige of and confidence in the ‘ulama, the popularity of religious debates which had vulgarized the religious curiosities and propensities of the people and made them, to a large extent, free-thinkers. Furthermore, the British rulers (who had a bitter experience with the mujahidin movement and felt, therefore, considerable consternation for the spirit of jihad and the religious enthusiasm of Muslims), warmly welcomed this new religious movement which pledged loyalty to the British government and even made this loyalty an article of faith, and whose founder had a long and close association with the government. All these factors provided the congenial atmosphere in which Qadianism came into existence, won converts, and developed into an independent sect and religion.

Mirza Ghulam Ahmad Qadiani

(This chapter, purporting to lay down the biographical outlines of the founder’s life, is based chiefly on the statements and writings of the Mirza himself, supplemented by the work of his son Mirza Bashir Ahmad, Sirat al-Mahdi, and other standard works of the Qadianis.)

Family Background

Genealogically Mirza Ghulam Ahmad belonged to the Barlas branch of the Moghuls. (Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, Kitab al-Bariyah, p. 134 n.) But after some time, he came to know by means of “inspiration” that he was, in fact, of Persian origin. To quote his own words:

“The revelation (ilham) about me is that: Were it that faith was hanging from the Pleiades it would still have been seized by the man from Persia. (This tradition occurs in the Sihah hadith works with a little variation of words. In some reports there occurs the phrase ‘rijal min faris‘ [men from Persia] instead of rajul [a man]. The ‘ulama interpret this hadith to refer to Salman al-Farisi and other ‘ulama and holy men of Persia famous for their devotion and service to the cause of faith, including the Imam Abu Hanifah, who was also of Persian origin.) And then, there is also a third revelation about me: Verily, those who disbelieved in the man from Persia disproved their religions. God is thankful for his endeavor. All these “revelations” show that our forefathers were Persian. And the truth is what Allah has made manifest.” (Kitab at-Bariyah, p. 135 n.)

In one of his works he writes:

“It should be remembered that apparently the family of this humble one is that of the Moghuls. No record has been seen in the history of our family, showing that the family was Persian. What has been seen in certain records is that some of our grandmothers were of noble and noted sayyid families. Now it has come to be known through the word of God that ours is a Persian family. We believe in this with all our conviction since the reality, in respect of genealogies, is known to none the way it is known to Allah the Exalted. It is His knowledge alone which is true and sure and that of all others is doubtful and conjectural.” (Arabain, vol. 11, p. 17 n.)

Mirza Gul Mohammad, the great grandfather of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, owned considerable property. In Punjab he had a good-sized estate. Mirza Ghulam Ahmad had mentioned in detail the aristocratic pomp and splendor of this ancestor of his, his habit to feed a large number of people at his table, and his religious influence. (Kitab al-Bariyah, pp. 136-42 n.)

After his death, his estate declined and the Sikhs confiscated the villages of that estate. This decline continued to such -an extent that no other land remained in the ownership of his grandfather, Mirza Ata Mohammad, except Qadian. Later on, the Sikhs occupied even that and drove the Mirza’s family out of Qadian. During the last years of Ranjit Singh’s rule, Mirza Ghulam Murtaza, the father of the Mirza, returned to Qadian and the Mirza later received five villages out of the landed property of his father. (ibid, pp. 142-44 n.)

The Mirza ‘s family maintained very loyal and cordial relations with the recently established British power in the Punjab. Several members of the family had shown great enthusiasm in consolidating the new government and had come to its rescue on several critical occasions. To cite the words of the Mirza himself:

“I come from a family which is out and out loyal to this government. My father, Murtaza, who was considered its well-wisher, used to be granted a chair in the Governor’s Durbar and has been mentioned by Mr. Griffin in his History of the Princes of Punjab. In 1857 he helped the British Government beyond his power, that is, he procured cavaliers and horses right during the time of Mutiny. He was considered by the Government to be its loyal supporter and well-wisher. A number of testimonials of appreciation received by him from the officers have unfortunately been lost. Copies of three of them, however, which had been published a long time ago, are reproduced on the margin. Then, after the death of my grandfather, my elder brother Mirza Ghulam Qadir continually occupied himself with service to the Government and when the evil-doers encountered the forces of the British Government on the highway of Tammun, he participated in the battle on the side of the British Government.”‘

Birth, Education, Upbringing

The Mirza was born during the last phase of the Sikh rule in the year 1839 or 1840 at Qadian in Gurdaspur District. His own writings show that at the time of the struggle of Independence in 1857, he was sixteen or seventeen years old.” (Kitab al-Bariyah, p. 146, n.) Mirza Bashjruddin Mahmood, in his Address to the British Crown Prince in 1922, has mentioned the year of his birth to be 1837 (p. 35). According to this, in 1857, his age would be 21. This alteration seems to have been made in order to vindicate the Mirza’s prophecy which has been mentioned by him as a Divine inspiration in the following words: “We shall cause you to live a good life for eighty years or close to that” (Arabain, Vol. 111, p. 39).

The Mirza received his education up to the middle-class at home. He studied books on grammar, logic, and philosophy under the guidance of Mawlawi Fazl-i-Ilahi, Mawlawi Fazl-i-Ahmad, and Mawlawi Gul ‘Ali Shah. He studied medicine from his father who was an experienced physician. During his student life, the Mirza was very studious. To quote his own words:

“During those days I was so thoroughly engrossed in books as if I was not present in the world. My father used to instruct me repeatedly to curtail my reading, for, out of sympathy for me he feared that this might affect my health.”

This, however, did not continue for long. Under the insistent pressure of his father, the Mirza had to engage himself in the endeavour to get back his ancestral land property which subsequently led to litigation in law courts. He writes:

“I feel sorry that a lot of my valuable time was spent in these squabbles and at the same time my respected father made me supervise the affair of landlordship. I was not a man of this nature and temperament.”

The Mirza later took employment with the Deputy Commissioner of Sialkot for a small salary. He remained for four years in this service, that is, from 1864 to 1868. During this period he also read one or two books of English. More over, he also took the examination of Mukhtar but flopped. In 1868 he resigned this job and came to Qadian and began to look after his land property. But most of his time was spent on reflecting on the Holy Qur’an and studying works of Tafsir and Traditions.

Moral Disposition

From his very childhood, the Mirza was very simple. He was unaware of worldly matters and appeared to be a little absent minded. He did not even know how to wind a watch. When he had to know time, he took out the watch from his pocket and began to count, starting from one. And even then, while he counted with his finger he also kept on counting the figures aloud lest he should forget. He could not just look at the watch and find out what time it was. Due to absent mindedness, it was difficult for him to differentiate between the shoes of the left and the right feet. Mirza Bashir Ahmad writes:

“Once some one brought for him gurgabi (a type of shoe used in Punjab). He put them on, but could not distinguish between the right and the left. Often he used to wear them on the wrong feet, and then feel uncomfortable. Sometimes when he would be hurt by the use of the wrong shoe, he would get irritated and say that nothing of those people was good. Mother said that she had inscribed signs indicating right and left on the shoes for the sake of his convenience and yet he used to put the shoes on the wrong feet. Hence she later removed the signs.”

Due to very frequent micturition the Mirza used to keep earthen marbles in his pockets. He also carried [clumps] of gur [a type of raw sugar] for he was excessively fond of sweets.

Mirza’s Physical Health

In his youth, the Mirza was so afflicted with hysteria that sometimes he used to fall down unconscious as a result of hysteric fits. The Mirza used to interpret these fits variously as hysteric and melancholia. He also suffered from diabetes and copious urination. Mentioning at one place that “I am a permanently sick person,” he adds:

“Headache, giddiness, insomnia, and palpitation of the heart come by fits and the lingering ailment in the lower part of my body is that of diabetes. Often I urinate up to a hundred times during the day or night. And all the other disorders of debility and exhaustion which are the natural results of such excessive urination have also fallen to my lot.”

In his youth, the Mirza engaged himself in vigorous spiritual exercises and courses of rigid self-discipline. He also fasted continuously for long periods of time. In one of his long spells of spiritual exertion, he fasted continuously for six months. In 1886, he passed another period of exclusive worship and prayer at Hoshiarpur. Later on, due to ill health and debility, he had to give these up. On March 31, 1891 he wrote to Nuruddin: “Now my health can no longer bear the rigours of supererogatory devotion and even a little bit of severe devotion and meditation or contemplation causes illness.”

Economic Condition

The Mirza began his life in ordinary circumstances: a life of hardship and poverty. But as his mission spread and he became the spiritual head of a prosperous sect, he grew prosperous and began to lead a comfortable life. He, too, was conscious of this change in his state: the ostensible difference between his earlier and later periods of life. In 1907, he wrote:

“Our living and our well-being had depended solely on the meager income of our father. Among outsiders, none knew me. I was an unknown person, living in the desolate village of Qadian, lying in a corner of anonymity. Then, God, according to His prophecy, turned a whole world towards me and helped us by such continuous victories that I have no words to express my thanks. Considering my own position, I did not hope to receive even ten rupees a month. But the Exalted Allah, who raises the poor from dust and brings the arrogant down to the earth, helped me to such an extent that up till now I have received about three hundred thousand rupees or, maybe, even more.”

In the footnote, he adds:

“Although thousands of rupees have come by means of money orders, yet more have been passed on to me directly by sincere friends as gifts, or in the shape of currency notes enclosed with letters. Some sincere people have sent currency notes or gold anonymously and I do not even know what their names are.”

Marriage and Children

The Mirza’s first marriage took place in 1852 or 1853 with one of his own relatives. This wife gave birth to two sons: Mirza Sultan Ahmad and Mirza Fazal Ahmad. In 1891, he divorced the lady. In 1884 he took another wife, the daughter of Nawab Nasir of Delhi. The rest of the offsprings of the Mirza were all from this wife. Three sons were born from her: Mirza Bashiruddin Mahmood, Mirza Bashir Ahmad (author of Sirat al-Mahdi), and Mirza Sharif Ahmad.

Death

When in 1891 the Mirza declared that he was the Promised Messiah, and later on in 1910 that he was a prophet of God, the Muslim `Ulama began to refute and oppose him. Among those prominent in opposing him was Mawlana Thana’ullah Amritsari, the editor of Ahl-i-Hadith. On April 5, 1907, Mirza Ghulam Ahmad issued an announcement in which, while addressing the said Mawlana, he wrote:

“If I am such a big liar and impostor as you portray me in each issue of your magazine, then I will die in your lifetime, for I know that the life period of a mischief-maker and liar is not very long and ultimately he dies an unsuccessful man during the life of his greatest enemies and in a state of humiliation and grief. And if I am not a liar and impostor and have been honoured by God’s communication and address to me, and if I am the Promised Messiah, then I hope that, with the grace of God and in accordance with God’s practice, you will not escape the punishment of the rejecters (of Truth). Thus, if that punishment which is not in man’s but in God’s hand, that is, fatal diseases like plague and cholera, do not afflict you during my lifetime, then I am not from God.”

One year after the publication of this announcement, on May 25, 1908, the Mirza fell ill, being afflicted with diarrhea at Lahore. Along with loose motions, he also had vomiting. He was put under treatment at once, but weakness increased and his condition became critical. The next day, on May 26, he breathed his last in the forenoon. About his death, his father-in-law [Mir Nawab Nasir] has stated:

“The night on which Hazrat Mirza Sahib fell ill, I was asleep at my place. When he felt very uncomfortable, I was awakened. When I went to Hazrat Sahib he addressed me and said, ‘Mir Sahib, I am ill with cholera’. After this, in my opinion, he did not speak a clear word till he died the next day after ten o’clock.” ( Hayat-i-Nasir, ed. Shaykh Yaqub Ali Irfani.)

The dead body was carried to Qadian. On May 27, 1908 the burial took place and Hakim Nuruddin became his successor, the first Khalifah of the Qadiani movement.

Hakim Nuruddin: The Qadiani Saint Paul

Hakim (Hakim means a physician practicing the traditional system of Greek-Arabian medicine) Nuruddin Bhairawl occupies a position of unique importance in the history of Qadianism, second only to that of its founder. In fact, some observers are of the view that the said Hakim was the real brain behind the movement, that the intellectual currents of this movement sprang from his mind.

Birth and Early Education

Hakim Nuruddin was born in. 1258 AH (1841 AD) in Bhaira, District Sargodha (Punjab). (These are based on Akbar Shah Khan Najibabidi’s Mirqt al-raqzn Hayat Nuruddin. Najibabadi was a pupil of the Hakim. These biographical details were related to him by the Hakim himself at the time when Najibabadi was his student as well as a devout follower.) Thus in 1857 he was 16 years of age, and was younger than the Mirza by just one or two years. His father, Hafiz Ghulam Rasul, was an Imam in a mosque in Bhaira, and was a Faruqi by lineage.

The Hakim’s early education took place in his home village. He read books on Fiqh in Punjabi language under the guidance of his mother. Then he went to Lahore. He was taught Persian by Munshi Qasim Kashmiri and learnt calligraphy from Mirza Irhim Dayrawi. But neither of the two attracted him. Both his teachers were Shias. In 1855 AD (1272 AH) he returned home and remained for some time studying under Mir Haji Sharafuddin. It is around this time that he began to learn the Arabic language systematically.

Under the influence of a bookseller who belonged to the movement of Sayyid Ahmad Shahid, there arose in him the urge to translate the Holy Qur’an, and he anxiously read Taqwiyat al-Iman and Mashziriq-al-Anwar. A little later, he returned to Lahore and acquired some knowledge of Medicine. While his education was at a very advanced stage, he took employment with the Normal School, Rawalpindi. There he taught Persian and at the same time learned arithmetic and geography from another teacher. After passing a tahsil examination, he became headmaster in Pindi Dandan Khan and once more resumed the study of Arabic. After four years, he ceased to remain in service and began to devote all his time to his own studies. For some time, he studied under Mawlawi Ahmaduddin (who was known as Buggiwale Qazi Sahib). Then, his love for knowledge made him travel to several parts of India. In Rampur he resumed his studies, studied Mishkat al-Masabih under Mawlana Hasan Shah, Sharh al-Wiqayah under Mawlawi Azizullah Afghani, Usul al-Shashi and Maibazi under Mawlawi Irshid Husain; the Diwan al-Mutanabbi under Mawlawi Sa’dullah; Sadra, etc., under Mawlawi ‘Abd al-‘Ali, and the higher books on logic like Mir Zahid Riaalah and Mir Zahid Mulla Falal half-heartedly. At this time, he enthusiastically supported Isma’il Shahid and sometimes used to speak to his teachers with great boldness.

From Rampur he went to Lucknow and began to study medicine under a famous physician, Hakim ‘Ali Husain. When ‘Ali Husain went to Rampur on invitation from Nawab Kalb-i-Ali Khan of Rampur, Nuruddin accompanied him. During his stay in Rampur he further studied literature under Mufti Sa’dullah. On the whole he remained with Hakim ‘Ali Husain for a period of two years and then went to Bhopal in order to complete his education in Arabic and to study Hadith. Bhopal, in those days, had become a great center of learning. The fgovernmental patronage of knowledge and learning had attracted a good number of scholars. In Bhopal he stayed with and was patronized by Munshi Jamaluddin Khan, the Chief Minister. During his stay, Nuruddin took lessons in Bukhari and Hidayah from Mawlawi Abd al-Qayyum (the son of Mawlana Abdul Hai Burhanwat, who was a Khalifah of Hazrat Sayyid Ahmad Shahid). From Bhopal he went on a visit to the Holy cities of Mecca and Medina in order to complete his education and also in order to attain other worldly felicity. An interesting anecdote is related in this connection, which was narrated by Nuruddin himself. While leaving for the Holy cities, he asked Mawlana Abd al-Qayyum to tender him some advice. He said, “Never become God or Prophet.” Abd al-Qayyum explained that by “not becoming God” what he had meant was that if any of his desires were frustrated, he should not feel greatly dejected, for to be able to do what one likes is the attribute of God alone. By “not becoming the Prophet” he meant that if people rejected his fatwas, he should not deem them to be condemned to hell, for it is the disobedience of the Prophet sallallahu `alayhi wa sallam alone which condemns one to hell (Mirqat al-Yaqin, p. 79).

In Mecca, he studied Abu Dawud under Shaykh Muhammad Khazraji, Sahih Muslim under Sayyid Husain, and began to study Musallam al-Thubut under Mawlana Rahmatullah Kayranawl, the author of Izhar al-Haq. Sometimes, he had heated discussions with his teachers and showed trends towards non-conformity and exaggerated confidence in the soundness of his own views and intelligence. (Mirqat al-Yaqin, p. 95-97.)

At Mecca be finished his study of Abu Dawud and Ibn Majah under Shaykh Muhammad Khazraji. In the meantime Shah ‘Abd al-Ghani Mujaddidi had arrived in Mecca. Later on when Shah Mujaddidi returned to Medina, the Hakim joined him and after taking an oath of allegiance to him remained as his student for six months.

Occupation

After pilgrimage and visit to the Holy places, Nuruddin returned to his native place, Bhaira, and stayed there for some time. During his stay be debated with people as to whether the current customs and usages conformed to the teachings embodied in the collections of Hadith, which turned some people against him. This led him to realise the ignorance and stagnation of the common people and his own superiority and intellectual excellence. He also went to Delhi during the Durbar of Lord Lytton and there met Munshi Jamaluddin Khan, the Chief Minister of Bhopal, who brought him to Bhopal. After a short stay at Bhopal, Nuruddin once more went back to Bhaira and started practising medicine there. Soon his reputation as a successful physician spread and he was invited by the Maharaja of Jammu to serve him as his personal physician. For a considerable period of time he served the ruler of Jammu, Poonch, and Kashmir and gained considerable influence there by dint of his ability as a physician and his eloquence, knowledge, and wit. He had become a very close confidant of the Maharaja and thus quite powerful.

An Ardent Follower of Mirza

There were many similarities of character and temperament between Hakim Nuruddin and Mirza Ghulam Ahmad. It is difficult to say how they came into contact with each other. Their first meeting, however, took place at Qadian in 1885. When the Mirza wrote Barahin-i-Ahmadiyya, Nuruddin wrote a book supporting it. His admiration for the Mirza increased so much so that he took an oath of allegiance at his hands and accepted him as his spiritual guide, his leader, and pledged to follow him. The following letter of Nuruddin shows the depth of his attachment to the Mirza:

“My master, my guide, my leader: Assalam-o-Alaykum wa Rahmat ullah,

It is my prayer to be ever present before you and to learn from you all that for which the Imam of the age has been made the Mujaddid. If it is permitted, I would resign my job and spend day and night in your exalted service; or if it is ordered, I would give up my present engagements and go around the whole world, summoning people towards the true religion and would lay down my life in this cause. I am a martyr in your cause: whatever I have is not mine; it is yours. Respected guide and mentor, with utmost sincerity I say that if all my wealth and belongings are sacrificed in the cause of religious preaching, I will have achieved my purpose. If the buyers of Barahin in advance are uneasy at the delay in the publication of the book, please permit me to render the humble service of paying them all their dues from my pocket.

“Respected pir and guide: this worthless one, ashamed of himself, says that if this offer is accepted it would be a pleasure for him. What I mean is that I may be permitted to bear the entire cost of printing Barahin and that whatever proceeds there might be from its sale should be spent on your needs. My relationship with you is the same as that of Faruq (with the Prophet sallallahu `alayhi wa sallam) and I am prepared to sacrifice all in this path. Please pray that the end of my life be like that of Siddiqs (the truthful ones).”

Nuruddin’s faith in the Mirza was very deep indeed. It so happened that when the Mirza wrote Fath-i-Islam and Tawdih al-Maram someone asked Nuruddin – before he had seen these books – if any other Prophet could come after the Holy Prophet sallallahu `alayhi wa sallam. “No”, he replied. “And if someone claims to be a Prophet?” he was asked. Nuruddin replied that if someone did claim so, it would be seen whether he was truthful or not; and that his claim would be accepted if he was truthful. After narrating this incident, Nuruddin himself adds:

“This was just the case of prophetbood. My faith is that even if the Promised Messiah were to proclaim himself to be the bearer of a Shari`ah and abrogate the Qur’anic Shari`ah, I will not reject that claim. For, when we have accepted him (i.e. the Mirza) to be truthful and to have been commissioned by God, then whatever he will say will of necessity be true and we will have to think that the (Qur’anic) verse in respect of khaatim an-nabiyyin (the last of the Prophets) has a different meaning.” (Sirat al-Mahdi;, pp. 96-99.)

During Disassociation with the Court of Jammu, Nuruddin wrote Fasl-ul-Khitab in four volumes under the guidance of the Mirza in which he refuted Christianity. He kept on contributing very magnanimously to the publication of the works of the Mirza and quite often the Mirza took large sums of money as loans from him and praised him for his religious enthusiasm, his readiness to help the religious cause, and his large-hearted generosity. The famous couplet of the Mirza about Nuruddin is:

“How good would it be, were every one – in the Ummat a Nuruddin;

That would be so, if the light of faith burnt in the heart of everyone.”

For several reasons, particularly , the intrigues of the courtiers, the Maharaja’s attitude towards Nuruddin subsequently changed. In 1893 or 1894, his service with the Maharaja was terminated and Nuruddin returned to Bhaira. After a brief stay and practice of medicine there he moved to Qadian permanently and dedicated his life to supporting the Mirza and spreading his movement.

Accession to Khilafat

On the Mirza’s death on May 26, 1908, he became his first Khalifah. The followers of the Mirza paid their allegiance to him and be was proclaimed to be the “Khalifah of the Promised Messiah”, and “Nuruddin the Great.” For quite some time Nuruddin remained hesitant whether he should consider those who did not believe in the Mirza’s prophethood to be unbelievers. Later, he was converted to the view that they were unbelievers. There was some controversy about his nomination as the Khalifah. Some people strongly opposed it. On one such occasion he said:

“I say by God that it is God Himself who had made me the Khalifah. So, who now has the power to snatch from me the robe (literally the covering sheet) of this Caliphate? It was the Will of God Himself, and was in the light of His Own wise consideration, to make me your Imam and Khalifah. You can attribute to me a thousand short-comings. They, in fact, will be attributable not to me, but to God Himself who appointed me the Khatifah.” (Review of Religions, Qadian, V61.14 No 6, p. 234 [cited from Ilyas Barni’s Qadiyani Mazhab].) On another occasion he said:

“God has made me the Khalifah. Now, neither can I be dismissed (from Caliphate) by your biddance nor has anyone the power to remove me. If you force me any further, bear in mind that I have at my disposal many Khalid bin Walid who will punish you as (Khalid bin Waild had punished) the apostates. (Tashkhiz at-Azhan, Vol. 9 No. 11 cited by Barni)

Nuruddin remained the Khalifah of the Qadiani movement for six years. In 1914 he fell from a horse and died on March 13, 1914. A few days before his death, his tongue had ceased to be functional. (The Daily Al-Fadhl, Qadian, 23 Februlry, 1932, [cited from Qadiani Mazhab],) He nominated Mirza Bashiruddin Mahmood, the eldest son of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, to be his successor and Khalifah.

Temperament

A study of Nuruddin’s life shows that he possessed a mercurial nature and remained a prey to mental conflicts during the greater period of his life. From the very beginning he had a bent towards “free-thinking”. First of all, he freed himself from the bonds of the four Muslim schools of jurisprudence and carried his non-conformism to an extreme. Then he came under the influence of Sir Sayyid Ahmad Khan’s literature and assimilated his way of thinking. This was the time when some elementary knowledge of physical sciences was finding its way to India and the rationalists among Indian Muslims were becoming deeply impressed by it. Those who had a religious inclination attempted to harmonize Qur’anic teachings with scientific knowledge. If this harmonisation presented any difficulty, they tried to overcome it by offering far-fetched interpretations of Qur’anic verses and the Quranic terminology. Nuruddin’s teaching of Tafsir was representative of this intellectual trend. (A good example of his way of thinking is found in the Tafsir of his pupil Mawlawi Muhammad Ali Lahori. His Tafsir is found in English as well as Urdu.)

In Sirat al-Mahdi, Mirza Bashir Ahmad writes:

“In the beginning, Hazrat Nuruddin, the first Khalifah, was deeply under the influence of the way of thinking and the work of Sir Sayyid. But, subsequently, due to contact with Hazrat Sahib, this influence gradually wore off.” (Sirat al-Mahdi, Vol. 1, p. 159.)

But a study of his ideas as well as those of his disciples makes it evident that either because of the influence of Sir Sayyid’s ideas or because of his own predilection he remained the same all his life. His mind [had] been moulded into a rigid frame and his mental attitudes had become too hardened to change.

A more careful study of his life reveals that along with his enlightenment and rationalism, there was a strong superstitious element in his personality. Despite all his non-conformism and rationalism he attached great importance to dreams and “inspirations”. It has been observed that not infrequently people who stand for intellectual freedom, in fact, for intellectual revolt, also have an inherent trait of superstitiousness. Their frame of mind is basically apologetic. Such people keep on raising the banner of revolt all their lives against certain institutions or personalities, but, at the same time, when they submit before someone, their power of free-thinking and independent judgement-is totally paralysed. Man’s life is a strange combination of action and reaction; and his personality a complex of divergent, even mutually conflicting, elements. Nothing is more difficult to understand and analyse than the driving urges of a man’s personality.

Mirza as Champion of Islam

We have covered so far a part of the life of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, his life in his township in district Gurdaspur, where we saw him immersed in the study of religious books. His works published after 1880 indicate that the main subjects of his study were different religions, particularly Christianity and Indian religions such as Sanatan Dharma and Arya Samaj.

This period is known for the religious polemics. The educated people of the time had a relish for religious debates and controversies. We have already seen that Christian missionaries were busy propagating Christianity and refuting Islam. The British Government, which was officially the defender or the Christian Faith, patronised these activities, considering India a gift of Jesus Christ. On the other hand were the preachers of the Arya Samaj movement who were enthusiastically trying to undermine Islam. The British who were aware of the dangerous possibility of inter-communal concord in India, a manifestation of which was the struggle for Indian independence of 1857, found it expedient to encourage religious controversies. The British political interest was served by these controversies in so far as they led to mutual hatred, intellectual bewilderment, and moral chaos in the country so that the religious communities of India might be disposed at least to tolerate a government which sought to protect all of them and under whose shadow all could carry on their holy debates. In such an atmosphere, anyone who arose to defend Islam and falsify other religions naturally attracted the attention of all Muslims.

The ambitious and far-sighted Mirza chose this field for his adventures. He undertook to produce a voluminous work to demonstrate the truth of Islam, the Divine origin of the Qur’an, and the Prophethood of the Messenger of Allah صلى الله عليه و سلم by rational arguments on one hand, and to refute Christianity, Sangtan Dharma, Arya Samaj, and Brahmo Samaj etc. on the other hand. He named this book Barahin-i-Ahmadiyyah.

The Barahin and the Mirza’s Challenge

The writing of Barahin started in l879. (Sirat at-Mahdi, Vol. 11, p. 157.) The author undertook to put forward one hundred arguments in support of Islam. In this undertaking the Mirza also had correspondence with other learned people whom he requested to communicate to him their views in order to help him in this venture. Those who complied with his request included Mawlawi Chiragh Ali who was a noted colleague of Sir Sayyid Ahmad Khan. The Mirza included some of his articles and researches in his work. At long last this work, which was anxiously awaited by hundreds of people, did break into print in four volumes. Along with this book, its author also published an announcement in Urdu and English and sent it to rulers and ministers of States, to Christian clergymen, and to Hindu Pundits. In this book the Mirza announced for the first time that he had been appointed by God to demonstrate the truth of Islam and that he was prepared to satisfy the followers of other religions about his religion. The announcement categorically stated:

“This humble slave (the author of Barahin-i-Ahmadiyyah) has been appointed by the Glorious Almighty to strive for the reform of God’s creatures and to show to the ignorant the straight path (which leads to true salvation and by following which the light of heavenly existence and of Divine pleasure and graciousness can be experienced even in this world) in the manner of the Israelite Prophet of Nazareth (Messiah) with utmost humility and self-denial, self-abasement and gentleness. It is for this purpose that Barahin-i-Ahmadiyyah has been written, of which thirty-seven is to be found in parts have been published. Its summary the announcement enclosed with this letter. But since the publication of the whole book would require a long time, it has been decided that this letter along with the English announcement should be published and one copy of each sent to the honorable priests of Punjab, India and England and other countries wherever possible.” (Supplement to Barahin-i-Ahmadiyyah, Vol.1 by Merajuddin Umar, p. 82)

The Mirza challenged the world to come forward with any book parallel to this one, and invited the representatives of other religions to prove the truth of their religions by the same or even lesser number of arguments than he had put forward. He wrote:

“I, the author of this book, Barahin-i-Ahmadiyyah, make this announcement with the promise to make a reward of 10,000 rupees to the followers of all faiths and religions who deny the truth of the Glorious Qur’an and the Prophethood of Hazrat Muhammad Mustafa صلى الله عليه و سلم (God’s benediction and salutation be on him) and in support of it I commit myself to a formal legal undertaking and a Shar`i pledge that if any of these deniers can show that their scriptures have as many and as sound arguments as found in the Holy Qur’an and which we have mentioned herein to demonstrate the truth of the Glorious Message and the veracity of the Apostleship of the Khatim-al-Ambiya صلى الله عليه و سلم (God’s benediction and salutation be upon him) which have been derived from the Sacred Book (Qur’an) itself; or if they cannot come forward with an equal number of arguments, then half, or a third, or a fourth, or fifth of the number of our arguments; or if they find that impossible, then at least to refute our arguments one by one; then, in either of these cases, provided three authors accepted by both the parties unanimously express the view that the condition has been fulfilled in the manner it should have been fulfilled, the announcer (of this announcement) shall hand over to such a respondent without an excuse or hesitation the occupancy and ownership of his property valued at Rs. 10,000. (Barahin-i-Ahmadiyyah, Vol.1, pp. 17-22.)

The Mirza called upon the Muslims to make monetary contributions to this great service which he wanted to render to the cause of Islam and to participate in it generously. It seems that the response of Muslims to this call was not as enthusiastic as the Mirza had expected. In the later volumes of Barahin he has mourned their lack of enthusiasm. The announcements which formed the preface of the book are significant. In them we find some indications of the driving forces of the Mirza’s personality. In them we notice his habit of boastfulness and self-adulation and his confidence in “heavenly signs” as means of establishing his claims and persuading people. Along with all that, the statements unmistakably smack of his commercial mentality. (Barahin, Vol. 1.)

Preaching and Politics

In the third and fourth volumes of Barahin-i-Ahmadiyyah, the Mirza openly praised the British government and enumerated at length its acts of benevolence towards Muslims in the sections entitled, An Important Appeal to Islamic Associations: The Precarious Condition of Muslims and the English Government. In this appeal he urged all Islamic Associations to prepare a joint memorandum and send it to the government with signatures from all prominent Muslims. He also reiterated the services rendered by his family to the British and stressed the impermissibility of jihad.

Thus we find that even the first work of the Mirza was not free from panegyrics to the British government or from political admonitions to the Muslims to remain loyal to the British.

The Magnum Opus

The Mirza worked on this book from 1880 to 1884. After the publication of the fourth volume there came a long period of gap and the fifth and the last volume appeared in 1905, that is, full twenty-five years after the commencement of the work. In the fifth volume the author mentioned that the publication of the last volume had remained in suspension for twenty-three years. During this period a large number of people who had paid in advance for all the five volumes but had received only four volumes had passed away. Several other people who had paid in advance had expressed their disapproval and resentment at not receiving the promised volume for which the Mirza apologized in the fifth volume. In this volume he has also mentioned that previously he had in mind to bring forward 300 arguments to prove the truth of Islam, but later he gave up the idea. In the same way, instead of fifty, be would bring out only five volumes. The reason for this change of mind was that the difference between the two figures was merely that of a zero. In his own words:

“Earlier I had thought of writing 50 volumes, but now I have confined myself to writing five since the difference between the figures fifty and five is just that of one dot (that is zero). Thus the promise has been fulfilled by the publication of five volumes.” (Preface of Barahin-i-Ahmadiyyah, Vol.5, P. 7.)

In Sirat al-Mahdi, Mirza Bashir Ahmad writes:

“Now that four volumes of Barahin-i-Ahmadiyyah have come out in print, its preface and notes all relate to the time of publication and it contains very little of the original work, that is, not more than a few pages. This can be gauged from the fact that out of the 300 arguments which he had written, the Barahin-i-Ahmadiyyah contains only one argument and that too not in a complete form.” (Sirat al-Mahdi, Vol. 1, p.7.)

Anyone who studies Barahin-i-Ahmadiyyah is bound to be impressed by the author’s prolificity, perseverance, and diligence. These virtues, at best, could stand him in good stead as a successful debater and an able writer on religious polemics with Christians and Arya Samajis. In this huge work, however, one does not find any worthwhile research. Nor does one find that familiarity with the sources of Christianity, its ancient literature, its doctrines and history, and the grasp of its fundamental concepts as one finds, for example, in the works of Mawlana Rahmatullah Kairanwi (d. 1309 A.H. /1891 A.D.), the author of lzhar al-Haqq and Izalat al-Awham. Nor does one find that sweetness and elegance of expression, and that originality and brilliance of argument that one finds in works such as those of Mawlana Muhammad Qasim Nanotwi’s (d. 1297 A.H./ 1879 A.D.) Taqrir Dilpazir and Hujjat al-Islam.

Inspirations and Bragging

The reader also frequently encounters in the Mirza’s book references to his Divinely inspired revelations, to miracles, and to Divine communications and prophecies, and last but not the least, his boastfulness. All this leaves an unpleasant taste in the mouth and transforms the book, which claims to embody a sober academic discussion and a dignified religious debate, into a work of personal bragging – a work in which, again and again, the author stoops to self-advertisement and self-glorification.

The central theme of the book is that Divine inspiration had not ceased and should not cease. This inspiration itself is the most powerful proof of the validity of any claim and the truth of religion and faith. Whoever will follow the Holy Prophet صلى الله عليه و سلم perfectly will be endowed with the external and internal knowledge which had been granted originally to the Prophets, and the person will, therefore, become possessed of sure, categorical knowledge. The intuitive knowledge of such people would resemble the knowledge of the Prophets. It is these people who have been called Amthat in Hadith and Siddiq in the Qur’an. The time of their advent would resemble the time of the advent of the Prophets. It is such people who will establish the truth of Islam and their inspiration will be of a categorical nature. (Barahin-i-Ahmadiyyah, Vol.3, p. 231 and 244)

In trying to prove the continuity of this inspiration, he cites his own inspirations and writes:

“We have several examples of this inspiration before us. But in the one which took place just now at the time of writing these notes, on March 1882, it has been revealed as a prophecy that through this book and on becoming informed of its contents, the opponents will ultimately be defeated; that seekers of Truth will find true guidance; perversion of belief will be uprooted; and people will help and turn their attention and come around (me) etc., since God will put this into their hearts and direct them to it. (Barahin-i-Ahmadiyyah, Vol.3, p. 238.)

This has been followed by a more recent lengthy inspiration which is almost an entirely incoherent collection of different Qur’anic verses. This inspiration embraces about forty lines of the Barahin and contains about fifty-three or fifty-four Qur’anic verses, interspersed with a few Traditions of the Prophet صلى الله عليه و سلم. Besides, there are a few sentences by the Mirza himself which are an example of what might be termed as poor Indian-ized Arabic. The last lines of the inspiration which contain a comparatively smaller proportion of Qur’anic verses read as follows:

“Live in the world like a stranger or traveller. Become one of the righteous and the truthful. Bid whatever is good and forbid whatever is bad and send your salutations to Muhammad صلى الله عليه و سلم and his progeny. Prayer alone brings man up. Verily I will raise thee towards Myself and I have put love from Me (in the hearts of people). There is no god but Allah. So, write and let it be published and sent to the world. Grasp Unity (of God), Unity (of God), O people of Iran and give glad tidings to those who believed that they have a standing with their Lord. And read out to them what has been revealed to thee from thy Lord And do not swell thy face for the creatures of God and do not get tired of people. The people of al-Suffah? And who are the people of al-Suffah? Thou shalt see their eyes wet with tears and they will send their salutations to thee. O Lord of ours! We heard a herald calling towards belief, a summoner towards Allah, and a bright lamp. Be of hope! (Barahin-i-Ahmadiyyah, Vol. 3, p. 242.)

In the same way, an inspiration has been reproduced in the fourth volume of the same book. This inspiration too is an incoherent conglomeration of Qur’anic verses and Qur’anic expressions. It also contains some very obvious errors of Arabic language and grammar (which have been indicated by us by question marks):

“And when it is said to them believe as men believed they say: Should we believe as they believe who are stupid? Beware! it is they who are stupid, but they know not, and wish that you should compromise with them (?) Say: Unbelievers! I worship not that which you worship. It was said to you: turn to god but you turn not; and it was said to you, subdue your souls, but you subdue them not. Does thou seek of them any reward that feel burdened (in accepting your message). No, we brought Truth to them (gratuitously) and it is Truth to which they are averse. God is pure and free from whatever they attribute to Him. Do people think that they would be left by merely saying: We believed, and they would not he put to a trial ? These people love to be praised for deeds which they have not performed, while nothing is hidden from God and nothing is good which God does not make good and no one can restore him to His favours who has fallen from His grace.” (Barahin-i-Ahmadiyyah, Vol.4, p. 509.)

Apart from these revelations in the Arabic language there are two revelations in English as well. (Ibid, pp. 554 and 556.)

Mirza’s Beliefs in the Barahin

In the four volumes of Barahin (published 1880-1884), the Mirza expressed merely the view that ilham (Divine inspiration) had not ceased and would not cease, and that the legacy of the Prophets continues in respect of inspired comprehension of things in respect of the illumination of faith and categorical knowledge. In this book he has also frequently mentioned that be had been commissioned by God to reform the world and spread the message of Islam; that he was mujaddid (renovator) for the present age, and that he bore resemblance to Jesus (peace be on him).” (Sirat at-Mahdi, Vol. 1, p. 39. ) In this book he also adheres to the notion of the ascension of Jesus to the heaven and that he would return to the earth. In the appendix to his book, Nuzul al-Masih, published in 1902, and in volume 5 of Barahin, which came out in 1905, the Mirza has admitted that he used to subscribe to the above view and has even expressed his surprise at his having believed in the ascension and return of Jesus. In Barahin he had also strongly rejected the idea of any fresh revelation and of the advent of any new Prophet. The reason for this belief was that the Qur’an and its teachings were in no danger of being distorted nor was there any danger of Muslims reverting to pre-Islamic ignorance and paganism. On the contrary, he admitted that the attitude of the polytheists, owing to contact with the monotheists, is gradually tending towards monotheism. This being the case – that the main dangers which revelation and prophethood seek to avert were no longer real – there was no need for any new Shari`ah, or any fresh ilham (inspiration). This also established the termination of prophethood with the advent of the Holy Prophet صلى الله عليه و سلم:

“Now, since it is rationally impossible and inconceivable that the true teachings of the Glorious Furqan will be distorded or changed, or the darkness of polytheism and worship of God’s creatures would predominate again, it is also rationally inconceivable that there should be a new Shari`ah, or the sending down of a new inspiration (ilham). For that which leads to impossibility is itself also impossible. Thus, it is proved that the Holy Prophet صلى الله عليه و سلم was in reality the last of the prophets. (Barahin, Vol.4, p. III n.)

Reception of the Book

It seems that the book was enthusiastically welcomed in the religious and academic circles of the country. Indeed the publication of this work was very well-timed and the Mirza as well as his friends publicised it with great zest. The secret of the success of the book seems to lie in the fact that it challenged other religions and, instead of apologising on behalf of Islam, it took the offensive against them. Noted among those who appreciated and enthusiastically supported this book was Mawlana Muhammad Husain Batalawi. In his magazine Isha’at al- Sunnah, he wrote a long review eulogising the book in six issues of the magazine. (Vol.8, 684nos., 6-11. ) In this review the book was lavishly praised and commended as a great academic achievement of the time, a masterpiece of research and authorship. Not much later, the Mawlana felt alarmed at the big claims and “inspiration” of the Mirza and, subsequently, became one of his staunch opponents. On the other hand, there were many who were alarmed even by his first book and who began to feel that its author had set himself on a path which would lead him, in the near future, to claim prophethood for himself. Among these far-sighted people were the two sons of the late Mawlana Abdul Qadir Ludhianawi, Maulana Muhammad and Maulana Abdul Aziz. The Ahl-e-Hadith scholars of Amritsar and some scholars of the Ghaznawi family opposed him from the very beginning and denounced his inspirations as fantasies.” (See Isha’at al-Sunnah, June, 1884. Vol. Vil, No. 6)

This book brought the Mirza out of obscurity and put him on the stage of public renown so that countless eyes were turned towards him. In Sirat at-Mahdi, Mirza Bashir Ahmad has aptly observed how this book brought the Mirza to the limelight:

“Before writing Barahin, the Promised Messiah spent a life of anonymity and in this isolation his was the life of a darwish. Before Barahin he had become known to some extent as a result of his having written a series of articles in some newspapers but all this was very meagre. In fact, it is the announcement of Barahin-i-Ahmadiyyah which, for the first time and for good, placed him before the country and introduced him to those interested in academic and religious matters. The eyes of the people began to turn in amazement towards this anonymous villager who had promised to write a great book about the truth of Islam in such a challenging manner and with the promise of a huge sum of money as reward (to anyone who could refute his arguments). Thus the sun of guidance which had already appeared on the horizon now began to rise higher. Later the publication of Barahin-i-Ahmadiyyah created an extraordinary stir in the religious circles of the country. In general, the Muslims welcomed him as a great Mujaddid. As for the opponents of Islam, this book came to them as a bomb- shell and created great turbulence in their camp. (Sirat al-Mahdi, Vol 1, pp. 103-104. )

The Mirza himself says the following about his life before the publication of Barahin:

“This was the time when nobody knew me; when nobody was either in favour of or opposed to me, for, at that time, I was a non-entity; I was just one among the people, hidden in the corner of anonymity. (Tatimmah Haqiqat al-Wahy, pp. 27-28.)

He adds:

“All the people of this town (i.e. Qadian) and thousands of other people are aware that at this period of time I was, in fact, like a dead body which had been buried in the grave for centuries and no one even knew whose grave it was. (lbid, p. 28. )

Debates with Arya Samajis

In 1886, the Mirza had a debate with Murli Dhar of Arya Samij in Hoshiarpur. He has written a full-fledged book about this debate, Surmah-i-Chashm-i-Arya (Kohl for the Eye of the Arya). This is the second of his polemics on religions and religious sects.

The topic of the first day’s debate was the rational and historical proof of the miracle of cleaving the moon. The Mirza not only strongly affirmed this miracle but the miracles of other prophets as well. He showed that the occurrence of miracles and supernatural incidents was rationally possible. He took the position that because of the inherent limitations of man’s intellect, knowledge, and experience, he had no right to deny miracles and thus make the claim to comprehend this vast universe in its entirety. He repeatedly stressed that the knowledge of man was very limited and the range of possibilities very wide. (Surma-i-Chashm-i-Arya, pp. 557) (so that the notion that man’s knowledge could be comprehensive was untenable). He also stressed that in religious matters, faith in the unseen was essential and that this was not in conflict with reason, for the latter could not be all comprehensive in its range. In fact, whatever rational objections the Mirza pointed out to the belief regarding the ascension of Jesus to the heavens and his descent in future and his stay in the heaven for several centuries and the so-called ‘rationalist’ trend in his later writings can best be refuted by the arguments that he himself advanced in this book. The personality of the author in this book is quite different from the one in his later writings.

These two books made the Mirza excessively self-appreciative; he became aware of his ability as a writer and debater and became confident that he was capable of initiating a new movement and influencing his environment. It seems that this discovery proved to be the turning-point in his life. Henceforth, instead of debating with Christians and Arya Samajis he turned towards Muslims and began to challenge them to debate with him.

By Mawlana Zameelur Rahman

Imam Abu Hanifah (80 – 150 H) was from the generation of the Tabi’in as he was alive during the era of the Sahabah and he saw Anas ibn Malik (d. 93 H), although it is not authentic that he narrated from him or any other Sahabi. Imam al-Suyuti mentions in Tabyid al-Sahifah (Mahmud Muhammad Mahmud Hasan Nassar ed. p. 34) that Ibn Hajar al-’Asqalani said, “Ibn Sa’d narrated with a sanad in which there is no harm that Abu Hanifah saw Anas.” Ibn Hajar goes on to mention that this distinguishes Abu Hanifah from all the other Imams of the major towns from his contemporaries like al-Awza’i, Hammad ibn Zayd, Hammad ibn Salamah, al-Thawri, Malik, Muslim ibn Khalid and al-Layth ibn Sa’d.

CONTENTS

• The Status of Imam Abu Hanifah as a Narrator of Hadith
• An Example of a Hadith Transmission from Imam Abu Hanifah
• Narrations of Imam Abu Hanifah from Sharh Mushkil al-Athar
• Narrations of Imam Abu Hanifah from the Musannaf of Ibn Abi Shaybah
• The Scholarly Acceptance of Imam Abu Hanifah’s Pronouncements on al-Jarh wa al-Ta’dil

The Status of Imam Abu Hanifah as a Narrator of Hadith

Imam Abu Hanifah’s authority in fiqh is accepted by all from the Ahl al-Sunnah, both his supporters and his detractors. However, some still insist on casting doubt on his reliaibility in the narration of hadith. Imam Abu Hanifah did not narrate many hadiths as his preoccupation was fiqh and recording its masa’il, but his dependence on hadith and athar is apparent from his rulings and in this sense he is from the mukthirin – those who narrated large amounts of hadith (see Abu Hanifah wa Ashabuhu l-Muhaddithun, pp. 19-23).

Al-Khatib al-Baghdadi narrated in his Tarikh Baghdad (Dr. Bashshar ‘Awwad Ma’ruf ed. 15:473) with an authentic chain of narration [in which all the narrators, al-Khallal, al-Hariri, al-Nakha’i and Muhammad ibn Isma’il al-Farisi are thiqat (trustworthy)] from Makki ibn Ibrahim (126 – 214 H), a narrator from Abu Hanifah and one of the oldest shaykhs of Imam Bukhari and a narrator of the six famous collections of hadith described by Ibn Hajar as “thiqah thabt” in al-Taqrib one of the loftiest grades of reliability, that he said about Abu Hanifah,

“Knowledge” (‘ilm) in that time was knowledge of Qur’an and Sunnah, showing Abu Hanifah had vast knowledge of hadiths, but he would not be preoccupied with narration. Imam al-Dhahabi wrote:

Imam Abu Hanifah’s trustworthiness in narrating hadith has been transmitted from the following five Imams of al-Jarh wa l-Ta’dil:

1. Abu Dawud al-Sijistani (202 – 275 H), the author of the Sunan

Abu ‘Umar ibn ‘Abd al-Barr (368 – 463 H) narrates in his al-Intiqa fi Fada’il al-A’immati l-Thalathat al-Fuqaha (Abd al-Fattah Abu Ghuddah ed. pp. 66-67): ‘Abd Allah ibn Muhammad ibn ‘Abd al-Mu’min ibn Yahya (al-Qurtubi), Allah have mercy on him, narrated to us: Abu Bakr Muhammad ibn Bakr ibn ‘Abd al-Razzaq, known as Ibn Dasah, narrated to us: I heard Abu Dawud Sulayman ibn al-Ash‘ath ibn Ishaq al-Sijistani, Allah have mercy on him, say:

‘Abd Allah ibn Muhammad ibn ‘Abd al-Mu’min al-Qurtubi is reliable (saduq) as mentioned in Lisan al-Mizan (4:587) which also states that “he is from the oldest of Abu ‘Umar (Ibn ‘Abd al-Barr)’s shaykhs.” Ibn Dasah (d. 346) is trustworthy (thiqah) and a narrator of the Sunan from Abu Dawud al-Sijistani (Siyar A‘lam al-Nubala). The isnad is therefore sound (hasan).

“Imam” has different meanings, but when used in the context of hadith science and narrator-criticism, it is on par with “trustworthy” (thiqah) and “proof” (hujjah) and “firm” (thabt), as mentioned by al-Sakhawi in his Sharh Alfiyyat al-’Iraqi (al-Raf’ wa l-Takmil, p. 75-6). Hafiz Ibn Hajar al-’Asqalani also sufficed with “Imam” when grading Imam Abu Hanifah’s reliability in Taqrib al-Tahdhib, indicating this term is sufficient to establish trustworthiness.

2. Ali ibn ‘Abd Allah al-Madini (161 – 235 H), the great Imam of al-Jarh wa l-Ta’dil

Muhammad ibn al-Husayn ibn Ahmad ibn al-Husayn Abu l-Fath al-Azdi al-Mawsili (d. 374) mentioned in his book, al-Du‘afa, (quoted in Ibn ‘Abd al-Barr’s Jami‘ Bayan al-‘Ilm wa Fadlih, Abu al-Ashbal al-Zuhayri ed., p. 1083) ‘Ali ibn al-Madini said:

Abu l-Fath al-Azdi narrated it without chain but his manner of narration (using sighat al-jazm) indicates it is authentic according to him.

3. Shu’bah ibn al-Hajjaj (85 – 160 H), the creator of the science of al-Jarh wa l-Ta’dil

Ibn ‘Abd al-Barr narrated (Al-Intiqa fi Fada’il al-A’immat al-Thalathat al-Fuqaha) from Hakam ibn al-Mundhir from Abu Ya‘qub Yusuf ibn Ahmad ibn Yusuf Ibn al-Dakhil from Ahmad ibn al-Hasan al-Hafiz from ‘Abd Allah ibn Ahmad ibn Ibrahim al-Dawraqi: Yahya ibn Ma‘in was asked about Abu Hanifah while I listened. He said:

Al-Dawraqi is trustworthy (thiqah) according to al-Daraqutni and reliable (saduq) according to Ibn Abi Hatim (Misbah al-Arib 2:133). The rest of the narrators are known as huffaz and muhaddithin but their reliability is unknown. This narration is therefore either weak (da’if) or sound (hasan), depending on the principles used.

Shu’bah ibn al-Hajjaj would only narrate from trustworthy narrators, so if the above narration is sound, this would amount to Shu’bah declaring Abu Hanifah trustworthy.

4. Yahya ibn Ma’in (158 – 233 H), the great scholar of al-Jarh wa l-Ta’dil

Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn al-Qasim ibn Muhriz, a student of Ibn Ma’in, narrated in his transmission of Ma’rifat al-Rijal of Ibn Ma’in from Yahya ibn Ma‘in that he said:

And he said once:

Ma’rifat al-Rijal, Muhammad Kamil al-Qassar ed., vol. 1, no. 230; also al-Khatib with his chain in Tarikh Baghdad 15:580

Ibn Muhriz’s reliability is unknown (he is majhul al-hal) but his narrations from Ibn Ma’in on the narrators of hadith have generally been accepted by the scholars of Rijal, and this transmission from him is corroborated by other narrations (mentioned below). It is well-known that Ibn Ma’in’s statement “there is no harm in him” is equivalent to his statement “trustworthy” (thiqah), as mentioned in Tadrib al-Rawi. This narration, therefore, proves Imam Abu Hanifah is trustworthy according to Ibn Ma’in.

Al-Khatib al-Baghdadi narrates: (Abu l-Hasan Muhammad ibn Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Ahmad) ibn Rizq (325 – 412) narrated to us: Ahmad ibn ‘Ali ibn ‘Umar ibn Hubaysh al-Razi narrated to us: I heard Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn ‘Isam (d. 313) say: I heard Muhammad ibn Sa‘d al-‘Awfi say: I heard Yahya ibn Ma‘in say:

Ibn Rizq is trustworthy according to al-Khatib and al-Barqani. Ahmad ibn Ali ibn ‘Umar ibn Hubaysh is trustworthy (Tarikh Baghdad 5:510). Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn ‘Isam’s reliability is unknown. He is mentioned in Tarikh Asbahan of Abu Nu‘aym. Muhammad ibn Sa‘d al-‘Awfi is weak (layyin) according to al-Khatib but according to al-Daraqutni “there is no harm in him.” The narration is therefore weak (da’if) or sound (hasan), but more probably the latter as it is supported by similar statements from Ibn Ma’in like the two narrations mentioned above.

Hafiz al-Mizzi (654 – 742), the teacher of al-Dhahabi, writes in the introduction to his major work on narrators Tahdhib al-Kamal,

Tahdhib al-Kamal, Bashshar ‘Awwad Ma‘ruf ed., 1:153

In his biography of Abu Hanifah in Tahdhib al-Kamal, he mentions the two narrations above without isnad, and also a third:

Salih ibn Muhammad ibn ‘Amr ibn Habib al-Asadi (d. 293) is trustworthy as mentioned by al-Daraqutni, al-Khatib and others (Misbah al-Arib, 2:93). Hence, this narration is authentic according to al-Mizzi.

There were other narrations from Ibn Ma’in declaring Abu Hanifah trustworthy as mentioned in Tarikh Baghdad but they have weaknesses in them.

Based on these aforementioned four narrations (from al-Dawraqi, Ibn Muhriz, Salih ibn Muhammad al-Asadi and al-’Awfi), the later scholars have agreed the preserved (mahfuz) opinion of Yahya ibn Ma’in is Abu Hanifah is trustworthy. This is clear from al-Mizzi’s relation of only the three above-mentioned narrations in his Tahdhib al-Kamal, followed by al-Dhahabi in his Siyar and al-’Asqalani in Tahdhib al-Tahdhib. Dr. Bashshar Awwad also mentions in his footnotes to Tarikh Baghdad the preserved (mahfuz) opinion of Yahya ibn Ma’in is that Abu Hanifah is trustworthy. None of the later scholars like Mizzi, Dhahabi and ‘Asqalani mentioned any criticism from Ibn Ma’in of Abu Hanifah, indicating they believed the criticism narrated from him is inauthentic or unreliable.

There is however a narration with an authentic chain to Ibn Ma‘in, as narrated by Ibn ‘Adi in his al-Kamil fi Du’afa al-Rijal from ‘Ali ibn Ahmad ibn Sulayman (227 – 317) who is thiqah according to Ibn Yunus (Siyar A‘lam al-Nubala) from Ahmad ibn Sa‘d ibn Abi Maryam (d. 253) who is saduq according to Ibn Hajar in al-Taqrib: “I asked Yahya ibn Ma‘in about Abu Hanifah and he said: “His hadiths are not written.”” This narration is also found in Tarikh Baghdad. Criticising this narration because of Ahmad ibn Sa’d ibn Abi Maryam as was done by Imam al-Kawthari in his Ta’nib al-Khatib is incorrect, as is clear from the biographical notices on Ahmad ibn Sa’d ibn Abi Maryam. While the phrase “his hadiths are not written” does not necessarily indicate weakness in Ibn Ma‘in’s usage, if it is accepted as a weakening (tad’if), it would contradict the above-mentioned more reliable and more numerous narrations, and would thus be shadhdh (an anomaly) and thus rejected when compared to the mahfuz narrations from Ibn Ma’in. There is another narration narrated in Tarikh Baghdad (15:581) from Ibn Ma’in saying Abu Hanifah “was weakened” but this is undoubtedly fabricated due to a particular narrator (Uthman ibn Muhammad ibn Abi Shaybah) in the chain.

5. Abu ‘Abd Allah al-Hakim al-Naysaburi (321 – 405 H), the author of al-Mustadrak

Abu ‘Abd Allah al-Hakim al-Naysaburi (321 – 405 H) , one of the first to write on the subject of ‘Ulum al-Hadith, wrote in his seminal work Ma’rifatu ‘Ulum al-Hadith in “Type 49 of the sciences of Hadith” (p. 642) that, “This type of science is knowledge of the well-known trustworthy imams (al-a’immat al-thiqat al-mashhurin) from the Tabi’in and their successors [i.e. the second and third generations] of those whose hadiths are gathered for memorisation, revision and seeking blessing through them. We will list them, from the east to the west.” (p. 642) While listing the “famous trustworthy imams” from Kufa, he mentions “Abu Hanifah al-Nu’man ibn Thabit al-Taymi” (p. 649).

Conclusion

In brief, therefore, it is established from Yahya ibn Ma’in, Abu Dawud al-Sijistani and al-Hakim that they believed Abu Hanifah was trustworthy and reliable in narrating hadith. The narration from Shu’bah is not as strongly established, while the narration from Ibn al-Madini is sound according to Abu l-Fath al-Azdi. Once it is established from the reliable scholars of al-Jarh wa l-Ta’dil that a narrator is trustworthy (thiqah) as is the case here, any unexplained criticism (jarh mubham) will not be accepted, based on the accepted principles of this science. Hence, al-Bukhari’s statement “they abandoned him” (“sakatu ‘anhu” which for al-Bukhari is equivalent to “tarakuhu“), al-Nasa’i’s “he is not strong” (laysa bi l-qawi), Muslim’s assessment in his al-Kuna wa l-Asma (no. 963 ed. ‘Abd al-Rahim Muhammad Ahmad al-Qashqari) that he is “confused in hadith” (mudtarib al-hadith) and al-Daraqutni’s “da’if” will not be accepted as they are unexplained. The explained criticism mentioned in the printed version of Mizan al-I’tidal by al-Dhahabi in which it mentions “al-Nasa’i and others weakened him due to his memory,” this is an insertion by a later scribe as is established by internal evidence (al-Dhahabi said he would not mention the biographies of the four imams of fiqh) and external evidence (al-’Asqalani did not mention it in Lisan al-Mizan which is an expansion of al-Dhahabi’s work; and the earliest manuscripts of Mizan al-I’tidal do not contain a biography of Abu Hanifah). This was detailed by Abu Ghuddah in his footnotes to al-Raf’ wa l-Takmil.

Ibn Ma’in, in fact, also provides us with an explanation of the reason for other muhaddithun’s criticism of Abu Hanifah. Ibn ‘Abd al-Barr narrates: ‘Abd al Rahman ibn Yahya narrated to us: Ahmad ibn Sa‘id narrated to us: Abu Sa‘id ibn al-A‘rabi narrated to is: ‘Abbas ibn Muhammad al-Duri narrated to us: I heard Yahya ibn Ma‘in say: “Our companions have gone overboard in [their bias] against Abu Hanifah and his companions.” It was said to him: “Would Abu Hanifah lie?” He said “He was nobler than that.” (Jami‘ Bayan al-‘Ilm wa Fadlih, Abu al-Ashbal al-Zuhayri ed., p. 1081) The editor Abu al-Ashbal al-Zuhayri says “It’s isnad is sahih.” This indicates the muhaddithun had a bias against Abu Hanifah and his students due to what they perceived as excessive issuance of rulings based on opinion, so their criticism should be taken with precaution. Hafiz Ibn ‘Abd al-Barr (d. 463 H) wrote: “Those who narrated from Abu Hanifah, and declared him trustworthy, and praised him, are more than those who criticised him; and those who criticised him from the scholars of hadith, most of what they blamed him for is immersion in juristic opinion, analogy and irja’ [all of which are invalid criticisms].” (Jami‘ Bayan al-‘Ilm wa Fadlih, quoted in the footnotes to al-Intiqa’ fi Fada’il al-A’immat al-Thalathah, p. 185)

Explained criticism (jarh mufassar), however, has precedence over accreditation (ta’dil). Some scholars of al-Jarh wa l-Ta’dil did explain their criticism of Abu Hanifah.  Ibn Abi Dawud (230 – 316) said as narrated by al-Khatib (Tarikh Baghdad 15:576) that Abu Hanifah narrated 150 hadiths and erred in half of them. However, it is known that there were individuals who fabricated narrations with chains through Abu Hanifah, and it was probably these narrations that these scholars criticised. This is known to have been the case with Ibn ‘Adi who narrated narrations from Abu Hanifah through Abba ibn Ja‘far al-Najirami who was active in the third century Hijri and would narrate fabricated hadiths through Abu Hanifah (Lisan al-Mizan 1:231). Many of his false hadiths are included in Musnad Abi Hanifah by Abu Muhammad al-Harithi (257 – 340). Al-Najirami was probably the reason why Ibn Abi Dawud believed Abu Hanifah would make mistakes and confused his narrations. Furthermore, there is some question over the integrity of Ibn Abi Dawud himself as mentioned in Lisan al-Mizan.

There is, however, another narration from Ibn al-Madini as narrated by al-Khatib in Tarikh Baghdad (15:581): ‘Ali ibn Muhammad (ibn al-Hasan) al-Maliki informed me: ‘Abd Allah ibn ‘Uthman al-Saffar reported to us: Muhammad ibn ‘Imran al-Sayrafi reported to us: ‘Abd Allah ibn ‘Ali ibn ‘Abd Allah al-Madini narrated to us: “I asked my father about Abu Hanifah, the champion of opinion, and he weakened him severely and said: “Were he in front of me, I would not ask him about anything. He narrated fifty hadiths in which he erred.”” This is an explained criticism as it states the weakening is due to the errors found in his narrations. All the narrators are trustworthy, besides al-Khatib’sshaykh, Ali ibn Muhammad ibn al-Hasan al-Maliki (350 – 437 H) who is reliable (saduq) as mentioned in Tarikh Baghdad (13:584), and besides the son of Ibn al-Madini whose reliability is unknown. The narration therefore has a questionable chain. Moreover, it is contradicted by the narration mentioned above from Ibn al-Madini that Abu Hanifah is trustworthy in hadith. It is also contradicted by the narration from Yahya ibn Ma’in mentioned above in which he said “I have not heard anyone weakening him,” as Ibn al-Madini was a contemporary. This narration from Ibn al-Madini is therefore objectionable (munkar) with respect to its matn (text), particularly since the later specialists in the field of narrator-criticism who had full knowledge of Abu Hanifah’s available hadith narrations in the Masanid, Kitab al-Athar and other works, like Imams al-Mizzi, al-Dhahabi, Ibn Kathir and Ibn Hajar al-’Asqalani, had only praise of him and assessed him to be strong in hadith; and if they found a large number of errors in his hadiths when compared to the hadiths of other narrators, they would not have made such an assessment.

The above is a detailed analysis of the bulk of the authentic information from the early scholars explicitly relating to Abu Hanifah’s reliability in narrating hadith. There are of course many other narrations relating to Imam Abu Hanifah’s piety and knowledge, and others criticising him in relation to fiqh and religion, but these have little relevance when it comes to his reliability in hadith. However, many evidences with respect to Abu Hanifah’s knowledge, honesty and memory support the conclusion that he was trustworthy in hadith.

In sum, it is established Abu Hanifah is trustworthy according to Yahya ibn Ma’in, Abu Dawud and al-Hakim, and probably Shu’bah ibn al-Hajjaj and Ibn al-Madini, so the ambiguous criticism of some muhaddithun will not be accepted based on the principle that an unexplained criticism is rejected in light of accreditation, while the authentic statements of Ibn Abi Dawud and Ibn ‘Adi explaining the criticism of Abu Hanifah that he erred when narrating hadiths can be explained by the deliberate fabrications made against Abu Hanifah circulating at that time. There is no doubt that the later pre-modern great scholars who had full access to all the primary sources and used them in their works, like al-Mizzi (in Tahdhib al-Kamal), al-Dhahabi (in Siyar A’lam al-Nubala and Tadhkirat al-Huffaz) and al-’Asqalani (in Tahdhib al-Tahdhib), all believed Abu Hanifah was trustworthy in hadith, based on a complete analysis of the evidence. It should therefore be accepted that Abu Hanifah was trustworthy in narrating hadith. Modern detractors of Abu Hanifah like al-Albani dug up statements criticising Abu Hanifah after the ummah agreed to reject them and with no apparent knowledge of the principles of al-Jarh wa l-Ta’dil, they present them as conclusive evidence of Abu Hanifah being weak in narrating hadith. Fair analyses, taking into account all the evidence and the principles outlined by the scholars of al-Jarh wa l-Ta’dil, and devoid of bias in favour of Abu Hanifah or against him, clearly show he was a reliable transmitter of hadith.

An Example of a Hadith Transmission from Imam Abu Hanifah

In Bab al-Mustahadatu kayfa Tatatahharu li al-Salah (Chapter on how the Woman in Post-Menstrual Bleeding Purifies Herself for Salah), Imam al-Tahawi narrates:

حدثنا صالح بن عبد الرحمن قال ثنا عبد الله بن يزيد المقرىء قال ثنا أبو حنيفة رحمه الله ح وحدثنا فهد قال ثنا أبو نعيم قال ثنا أبو حنيفة رحمه الله عن هشام بن عروة عن أبيه عن عائشة رضي الله عنها أن فاطمة بنت أبي حبيش أتت النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم فقالت إني أحيض الشهر والشهرين فقال رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم إن ذلك ليس بحيض وإنما ذلك عرق من دمك فإذا أقبل الحيض فدعي الصلاة وإذا أدبر فاغتسلي لطهرك ثم توضئي عند كل صلاة

Translation

Salih ibn ‘Abd al-Rahman narrated to us: He said: ‘Abd Allah ibn Yazid al-Muqri’ narrated to us: He said: Abu Hanifah narrated to us – ha [a sign for the start of a new chain] – and Fahd narrated to us: He said: Abu Nu’aym narrated to us: He said: Abu Hanifah narrated to us from Hisham ibn ‘Urwah from his father from ‘A’ishah (Allah be pleased with her) that Fatimah bint Abi Hubaysh came to the Prophet (Allah bless him and grant him peace) and she said: “I was menstruating for a month or two months.” The Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and grant him peace) said: “That is not menstruation, but that is a [ruptured] vessel of your blood. Therefore, when the menstruation comes, leave Salah, and when it leaves [and post-menstrual bleeding begins], then bathe for your purification and then perform wudu for every Salah.” (Amani al-Ahbar fi Sharh Ma’ani al-Athar, Idaratu Ta’lifat Ashrafiyya, 2:91-2)

Brief Analysis of the Chain

Imam al-Tahawi transmits this hadith from Abu Hanifah through two routes, both containing two narrators between him and Abu Hanifah. After that the chain is the same, through the famous link of “Hisham from his father from ‘A’ishah.” Salih ibn ‘Abd al-Rahman, the first shaykh of al-Tahawi, was declared truthful by Ibn Abi Hatim in al-Jarh wa al-Ta’dil (ibid. 1:33). Fahd ibn Sulayman, the second shaykh, was declared “thiqah thabt” by Ibn Yunus (Misbah al-Arib, 2:491), one of the highest grades of reliability.

The two narrators from Imam Abu Hanifah are eminent narrators found in all six of the famous collections of hadith (Bukhari, Muslim, Tirmidhi, Abu Dawud, Nasa’i and Ibn Majah). Abu ‘Abd al-Rahman ‘Abd Allah ibn Yazid al-Muqri’ (120 – 213) was a famous scholar of hadith and readings of the Qur’an (qira’at). Abu Nu’aym al-Fadl ibn Dukayn (130 – 219) was a direct teacher of Imam al-Bukhari, and he narrates many of his hadiths in the Sahih.

The teacher of Abu Hanifah, Hisham ibn ‘Urwah (61 – 146), was a major narrator from the generation of the Tabi’in who heard and narrated from the Sahabah. His narrations, particularly through the route of his father from ‘A’ishah which is found here, are common in the six books of hadith.

(Al-Tahawi also narrated this hadith with the same two chains in his later unparalleled work Sharh Mushkil al-Athar (no. 2732, 7:157, Shu’ayb al-Arna’ut ed.))

This is one amongst many examples which illustrate the eminence of both those who took from Imam Abu Hanifah and those he took from, and puts to rest the claim that hadiths were alien to Abu Hanifah and his fiqh.

Narrations of Imam Abu Hanifah from Sharh Mushkil al-Athar

Imam Abu Ja’far al-Tahawi (239 – 321) narrated several hadiths in his masterpiece work, Sharh Mushkil al-Athar, containing Imam Abu Hanifah in its chain. One of them is referenced above. I will quote another five below, and another in a later post inshaAllah when discussing Imam al-Nasa’i’s narration from Abu Hanifah. All references are based on Shu’ayb al-Arna’ut’s excellent edition of the work available for download here. The second and fourth narrations in this list are examples of Imam Abu Hanifah’s thuna’iyyat (two-narrator chains).

1. Al-Tahawi narrates: Ibrahim ibn Abi Dawud narrated to us: He said: Muhammad ibn al-Muthanna narrated to us: He said: Ishaq ibn Yusuf al-Azraq narrated to us from Abu Hanifah from ‘Alqamah ibn Marthad from Sulayman ibn Buraydah from his father: He said: the Prophet (Allah bless him and grant him peace) said:

The shaykh of Imam al-Tahawi, Ibrahim ibn Abi Dawud, is Ibrahim ibn Sulayman ibn Dawud al-Barallusi al-Suri (d. 270). Al-Tahawi narrated many hadiths from him. Al-Dhahabi described him as a “proficient master” (al-hafiz al-mutqin) and Abu Sa‘id ‘Abd al-Rahman ibn Ahmad ibn Yunus (d. 347), the biographer of Egyptian narrators and a student of Imam al-Tahawi, said: “He was one of the memorisers, proficient Qur’an-reciters, trustworthy and firm narrators.” (Siyar A‘lam al-Nubala, al-Arna’ut ed. 12:612-3) The rest of the narrators in the chain are trustworthy hadith transmitters found in all six of the famous collections of hadith.

The narrator from Abu Hanifah, Ishaq ibn Yusuf (117 – 195 H), better known as al-Azraq, was declared thiqah by Ahmad ibn Hanbal, Ibn Ma‘in, al-‘Ijli, Ibn Sa‘d, al-Bazzar and al-Khatib al-Baghdadi (Tahdhib al-Tahdhib 1:257-8). The shaykh of Abu Hanifah in this chain is ‘Alqamah ibn Marthad al-Hadrami (d. 126), a Kufan narrator of hadith. Al-Mizzi lists Abu Hanifah amongst those who narrated from him (Tahdhib al-Kamal 20:310).

This hadith was narrated through the same chain by Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal (d. 241) in his Musnad (no. 23027, vol. 38:132, Shu’ayb al-Arna’ut ed.) from al-Azraq who narrated from Abu Hanifah from ‘Alqamah.

2. Al-Tahawi narrates: Ahmad ibn Dawud narrated to us: He said: Isma’il ibn Salim narrated to us: He said: Muhammad ibn al-Hasan narrated to us: He said: Abu Hanifah narrated to us: He said: ‘Ata’ ibn Abi Rabah narrated to us from Abu Hurayrah (Allah be pleased with him): He said: Allah’s Messenger (Allah bless him and grant him peace) said:

The shaykh of Imam al-Tahawi is Ahmad ibn Dawud ibn Musa al-Makki (d. 282), declared thiqah by Ibn Yunus (Misbah al-Arib no. 1593). Isma’il ibn Salim Abu Yahya al-Kufi is a narrator found in the collections of Muslim, Abu Dawud and al-Nasa’i, and was declared thiqah by Ibn Ma’in, Ahmad, Ibn Sa’d and others. Muhammad ibn al-Hasan al-Shaybani (132 – 189 H) is a mujtahid Imam, from the foremost students of Imam Abu Hanifah. Al-Dhahabi said: “[He is] strong in [his narrations from Imam] Malik,” ‘Ali ibn al-Madini said he is “reliable” (saduq), and al-Daraqutni said: “He does not deserve rejection.” (Lisan al-Mizan, Abu Ghuddah ed. 7:60-3) Al-Daraqutni also counted him amongst “the trustworthy masters [of hadith].” (Nasb al-Rayah, Muhammad ‘Awwamah ed. 1:409) His transmission of the Muwatta’ of Imam Malik which includes approximately a thousand narrations was well-received by the ‘ulama which is a strong indication of his strength and credibility in hadith science. The strong criticism of him from some authorities was a result of methodological differences and is of no consequence. ‘Ata ibn Abi Rabah (ca. 27 – 115) was the greatest of Imam Abu Hanifah’s teachers as he himself mentioned (see further down below), and he has many narrations found in all six of the famous collections of hadith. One of the scholars said: “‘Ata’ was black, blind in one-eye, snub-nosed, lame and limp and then he became blind after this, yet he was trustworthy [in transmitting hadith], a jurist and a scholar possessing many hadiths!” (Tahdhib al-Kamal, 20:76) He met 200 companions of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), and he would issue fatwa in the presence of the companions, such that Ibn ‘Abbas would say to questioners: “O people of Makkah! Do you gather your questions to me, when Ibn Abi Rabah is amongst you?!” (ibid. 20:77)

(For an elucidation of the meaning of this hadith, see Imam al-Tahawi’s commentary that follows after narrating it)

3. Al-Tahawi narrates: Rawh ibn al-Faraj narrated to us: He said: Yusuf ibn ‘Adi narrated to us: He said: ‘Abd al-Rahim ibn Sulayman al-Razi narrated to us from al-Nu’man ibn Thabit Abi Hanifah from Hammad [ibn Abi Sulayman] from Sa’id ibn Jubayr from Ibn ‘Abbas (Allah be pleased with them): He said:

Al-Tahawi’s shaykh, Rawh ibn al-Faraj Abu al-Zinba’ (d. 282), was a Maliki jurist and also the one who taught Imam al-Tahawi the science of qira’ah according to his transmission from the founder of one of the seven readings, ‘Asim ibn Bahdalah. He was thiqah as mentioned by al-’Asqalani inTaqrib al-Tahdhib. Yusuf ibn ‘Adi ibn Zurayq (d. 232) is a narrator found in the collections of al-Bukhari and al-Nasa’i, and he was thiqah (Tahrir al-Taqrib no. 7872). The narrator from Abu Hanifah, ‘Abd al-Rahim ibn Sulayman al-Kinani (d. 187), is a narrator found in all six collections of hadith, and was declared thiqah by a number of authorities. Hammad ibn Abi Sulayman (d. 120) was the primary teacher of Abu Hanifah in fiqh, and he was a mujtahid Imam, the greatest of the students of Ibrahim al-Nakha’i as he himself expressed. Hammad’s narrations are found in all six collections of hadith, although in Sahih al-Bukhari there is only one narration narrated as mu’allaq(i.e. where Imam al-Bukhari does not cite his chain to Hammad). For the scholars’ praise of his knowledge and reliability, see Tahdhib al-Kamal (7:269-79).

4. Al-Tahawi narrates: Yazid narrated to us: Abu Qatan narrated to us: Abu Hanifah narrated to us from ‘Atiyyah from Abu Sa’id [al-Khudri] from Allah’s Messenger (Allah bless him and grant him peace), then he mentioned the equivalent of it [i.e. the words:

The shaykh of al-Tahawi, Yazid ibn Sinan ibn Yazid al-Qazzaz (178 – 264), is also one of theshaykhs of al-Nasa’i in his Sunan. (Imam al-Tahawi in fact shares some shuyukh with all the collectors of the six books of hadith besides al-Bukhari.) He was declared thiqah by al-Nasa’i, Ibn Yunus and Ibn Abi Hatim (Tahdhib al-Kamal 32:152-5). The narrator from Imam Abu Hanifah Abu Qatan ‘Amr ibn al-Haytham (121 – 198) is a narrator found in all six of the famous collections of hadith besides Sahih al-Bukhari, and was declared thiqah by al-Shafi’i, Yahya ibn Ma’in, ‘Ali ibn al-Madini (Tahdhib al-Kamal 22:280-5). The shaykh of Imam Abu Hanifah is ‘Atiyyah ibn Sa’id ibn Junadah al-’Awfi (d. 111), a narrator found in the collections of Abu Dawud, al-Tirmidhi and Ibn Majah, and also in al-Bukhari’s al-Adab al-Mufrad. It was reported from Yahya ibn Ma’in that he said he is “acceptable” (salih) and “there is no harm in him,” and Ibn Sa’d said “he is thiqah if Allah wills,” although it is also reported from Ibn Ma’in that he considered him weak and this was reported from a number of other authorities also (Tahdhib al-Kamal 20:145-9). The text of the hadith itself, however, is of unquestionable authority, and is probably the most authentic hadith in existence.

5. Al-Tahawi narrates: Ahmad ibn Dawud narrated to us: He said: Isma’il ibn Salim al-Sa’ighnarrated to us : He said: Abu Mu’awiyah narrated to us: al-Nu’man ibn Thabit reported to me from ‘Alqamah ibn Marthad from Ibn Buraydah from his father: He said:

The chain is the same as the second narration mentioned above, except for the narrator from Abu Hanifah, Abu Mu’awiyah Muhammad ibn Khazim (113 – 195), whose narrations are found in all six collections of hadith, and he was declared thiqah by the major authorities of narrator-criticism. This hadith is well-known and is found with different chains of transmission in many books of hadith.

Narrations of Imam Abu Hanifah from the Musannaf of Ibn Abi Shaybah

Abu Bakr ibn Abi Shaybah has over forty reports in his renowned al-Musannaf with Abu Hanifah in their chains. There is always only one narrator between him and Abu Hanifah, and these single intermediaries give us an excellent insight into those who would narrate hadiths from Abu Hanifah. The number and calibre of hadith scholars who narrate from a shaykh after hearing from him is an indication of the shaykh’s rank and reliability. As Shaykh Muhammad ‘Awwamah said, Ibn Abi Shaybah narrated from Abu Hanifah “through the medium of 12 of his most eminent shuyukh.” (al-Musannaf li Bni Abi Shaybah, Muhammad ‘Awwamah ed. 20:6)

Abu Bakr ibn Abi Shaybah (159-235 H), the name with which he is better known, is ‘Abd Allah ibn Muhammad ibn Ibrahim. He was a contemporary of Imams Ahmad ibn Hanbal, Yahya ibn Ma‘in, Ishaq ibn Rahwayh and ‘Ali ibn al-Madini. His narrations are found in all six of the famous collections of hadith besides the collection of Imam al-Tirmidhi. Abu Hatim, Ibn Khirash and al-‘Ijli said: “[He was] trustworthy,” and al-‘Ijli added: “He was hafiz of hadith.” ‘Amr ibn ‘Ali said: “I have not seen [anyone who] had memorised more than Ibn Abi Shaybah.” Abu ‘Ubayd al-Qasim ibn Sallam said: “[Knowledge of] hadith culminates at four: Abu Bakr ibn Abi Shaybah, Ahmad ibn Hanbal, Yahya ibn Ma‘in and ‘Ali ibn al-Madini. Abu Bakr was the most retentive of them, Ahmad the most understanding of them, Yahya the most prolific of them and ‘Ali the most learned of them.” Ibn Hibban said: “He was a proficient and trustworthy master [of hadith], of those who wrote and collected and compiled, and he was the most retentive from the people of his time.” (Tahdhib al-Kamal, Bashshar ‘Awwad ed. 16:34-42) His work al-Musannaf is one of the largest collection of narrations including marfu‘, mawquf and maqtu‘ reports.

Based on Muhammad ‘Awwamah’s edition, I will list those who narrated from Imam Abu Hanifah and those who he narrated from according to the reports found in al-Musannaf, with reference to the hadith numbers in parentheses where those narrations can be found in the book:

Narrators from Abu Hanifah:

1. Ja‘far ibn ‘Awn (no. 1710)

His full name is Ja‘far ibn ‘Awn ibn Ja‘far ibn ‘Amr ibn Hurayth al-Makhzumi al-Kufi (120 – 206), and he is a narrator found in all six of the famous collections of hadith. His great grandfather, ‘Amr ibn Hurayth (d. 85) was from the young Sahabah, and is also a narrator found in the six collections. Ahmad ibn Hanbal said: “[He was] a pious man, there is no harm in his [narrations],” and Ahmad would recommend those who visit Kufa to take from Ja‘far. Yahya ibn Ma‘in, al-‘Ijli, Ibn Shahin, Ibn Qani‘, al-Dhahabi and others said he is “trustworthy” (thiqah). Ibn Sa‘d said: “He was trustworthy, with many hadiths.” (Tahdhib al-Kamal, Bashshar ‘Awwad Ma‘ruf ed. 5:70-3)

2. Yazid ibn Harun (no. 5400)

Yazid ibn Harun Abu Khalid al-Wasiti (118 – 206) is also a narrator found in all six collections. Ahmad ibn Hanbal said: “He was a proficient master of hadith.” Yahya ibn Ma‘in, ‘Ali ibn al-Madini, Abu Hatim, Ibn Sa‘d and others all said he is trustworthy. Ibn al-Madini said: “I have never seen a man who had memorised more than Yazid ibn Harun.” Yazid ibn Harun said about himself: “I memorised 24,000 hadiths with their chains, and this is no boast!” Abu Bakr ibn Abi Shaybah said: “I have not seen [anybody] with a more accurate memory than Yazid ibn Harun.” Al-‘Ijli said: “He was trustworthy and firm in hadith; and he was pious, with extremely wonderful Salah.” Ahmad ibn Sinan said: “I have not seen a scholar with more beautiful Salah than Yazid ibn Harun. He would stand as though a pillar praying from Zuhr to ‘Asr, and from Maghrib to ‘Isha’, he would not tire from Salah in the day and night.” Al-Mizzi states: “His excellences and virtues are very many.” (ibid. 32:261-70)

Here is Yazid’s praise of Abu Hanifah:

He said: “I comprehended the people and I have not seen anyone more intelligent, nor more virtuous, nor more scrupulous than Abu Hanifah!” (Tarikh Baghdad 15:498) Dr. Bashshar ‘Awwad Ma‘ruf comments, “Its isnad is sahih.” Al-Hasan ibn ‘Ali reported: I heard Yazid ibn Harun when a man asked him, “O Abu Khalid! Who is the best in fiqh from those you have seen?” say, “Abu Hanifah.” (Tarikh Baghdad 15:468) Dr. Bashshar ‘Awwad Ma‘ruf comments, “Its isnad is hasan.” The weight of such praise from Yazid ibn Harun of Imam Abu Hanifah can be gauged from this brief account of his qualities.

3. Waki‘ (no. 6147, 6222, 9580, 10125, 15124, 16941, 17599, 18841, 21925, 25743, 27713, 29599/33443)

Waki‘ ibn al-Jarrah al-Kufi (129 – 196) is also a narrator found in the six collections of hadith. Ahmad ibn Hanbal said: “I have not seen a greater container of knowledge than Waki‘, nor [one who] memorised more than Waki‘.” He also said: “I have never seen a man like Waki‘ in knowledge, memory, chain and chapters, along with humility and scrupulousness.” He also said: “Waki‘ was the Imam of Muslims in his time.” Yahya ibn Ma‘in said: “I haven’t seen anyone with a greater memory than Waki‘.” Ibn ‘Ammar said: “There was no one in Kufa in the time of Waki‘ greater in fiqh and more knowledgeable of hadith than him. Waki‘ was a luminary.” ‘Abd al-Razzaq al-San‘ani who was a contemporary of Waki‘ said: “I saw al-Thawri, Ibn ‘Uyaynah, Ma‘mar, Malik, and I saw and I saw, and my eyes have never seen the like of Waki‘.” ‘Ali ibn Khashram asked Waki‘ the method of acquiring such a proficient memory, and he said: “Abandoning sins, I have not experienced [anything] equal to it in [perfecting] memory.” Yahya ibn Aktham said: “I accompanied Waki‘ in journey and residence, and he would fast continuously and complete the Qur’an every night.” Waki‘’s son narrates: “My father would pray the entire night, and there did not remain in our house anybody except he would pray [in the night], and even our black slave girl would pray.” Al-‘Ijli said: “[He was] Kufan, trustworthy, a worshipper, pious, eloquent, from the memorisers of hadith, and he would issue fatwa.” (Tahdhib al-Kamal 30:462-84)

As shown in here, Waki‘ would issue fatwa according to the opinions of Imam Abu Hanifah. Al-Mizzi also quotes this from Yahya ibn Ma‘in in Tahdhib al-Kamal (30:474-5). Some of the fatwas Waki‘ reported from Abu Hanifah are recorded in the Musannaf; see numbers 10713 and 32152. The hadith narrations of Waki‘ in the Musannaf include a number of reports reaching the Sahabah.

4. ‘Isa ibn Yunus (no. 5876, 29099)

‘Isa ibn Yunus al-Kufi (d. 187) is also a narrator found in the six collections of hadith. He was the grandson of the famous narrator from the Tabi‘in, Abu Ishaq al-Sabi‘i (d. 127), who he saw. He was the brother of the famous narrator Isra’il ibn Yunus (100 – 160). Ahmad ibn Hanbal, ‘Ali ibn al-Madini, Abu Hatim, al-Nasa’i and others said he is trustworthy. Abu Zur‘ah said he was a “master [of hadith]” (hafiz). (Tahdhib al-Kamal 23:62-76)

Number 29099 is a narration from Imam Abu Hanifah that reaches ‘Umar ibn al-Khattab.

5. Hafs ibn Ghiyath (no. 5881, 17775, 21106, 24313)

Abu ‘Umar Hafs ibn Ghiyath al-Kufi (117 – 194), a narrator found in all six collections of hadith, was the Qadi of Kufa for thirteen years under Harun al-Rashid, and he was Qadi of Baghdad for two years. Yet, when he died, he did not leave behind any wealth. Yahya ibn Ma‘in, al-Nasa’i, Ibn Sa‘d and others said he is trustworthy. Al-‘Ijli said: “[He was] trustworthy, reliable, a jurist. Waki‘ was often asked about something, and he would say: ‘Go to our Qadi and ask him.’” Yahya ibn Sa‘id al-Qattan said: “The most trustworthy of the companions of al-A‘mash is Hafs ibn Ghiyath.” (Tahdhib al-Kamal 7:56-70)

Waki‘ ibn al-Jarrah listed Hafs amongst the companions of Imam Abu Hanifah as mentioned here. This is also recognised in the books of later non-Hanafi authorities, as for example, Imam al-Nawawi refers to him as “Hafs ibn Ghiyath al-Hanafi” in his work on Usul al-Hadith called al-Taqribof which al-Suyuti’s Tadrib al-Rawi is a commentary (Tadrib al-Rawi, Muhammad Ayman al-Shabrawi ed., p. 374). The narrations recorded in the Musannaf are all Hafs’s narrations from Abu Hanifah from Hammad ibn Abi Sulayman, either from Hammad’s own opinion or narrating from Ibrahim al-Nakha‘i or Sa‘id ibn Jubayr.

6. ‘Abd Allah ibn Numayr (no. 9434, 9437, 12388, 12401, 12602, 18685, 27562)

‘Abd Allah ibn Numayr al-Hamdani al-Kufi (115 – 199) is also a narrator found in all six collections of hadith. He was declared thiqah by Yahya ibn Ma‘in, Ibn Sa‘d, al-Daraqutni and others. Al-‘Ijli said: “Trustworthy, sound in hadith, a champion of the Sunnah.” (Tahdhib al-Kamal 16:225-9).

7. Abu Mu‘awiyah (no. 11053, 11124, 28902)

Abu Mu‘awiyah Muhammad ibn Khazim al-Tamimi al-Sa‘di al-Kufi (113 – 195) is also a narrator found in all of the six collections. Ahmad ibn Hanbal said: “Abu Mu‘awiyah is the most retentive of the companions of [Sulayman ibn Mihran] al-A‘mash.” Yahya ibn Ma‘in was asked who is the strongest of the narrators from al-A‘mash, and he replied: “After Sufyan and Shu‘bah, Abu Mu‘awiyah, the blind.” Al-‘Ijli said: “[He was] a Kufan, trustworthy (thiqah).” Al-Nasa’i, Ya‘qub ibn Shaybah, Ibn Sa‘d and al-Daraqutni said he was thiqah. However, many authorities discovered some errors in his narrations. He was criticised because of irja’, but this was from the acceptable category of irja’ discussed in detail here. (Tahdhib al-Kamal 25:123-34)

8. ‘Abd Allah ibn al-Mubarak (no. 12532, 28611)

‘Abd Allah ibn al-Mubarak (118 – 181) was one of the imams and luminaries of Islamic scholarship and piety, and also a narrator found in the six collections. ‘Abd al-Rahman ibn Mahdi said: “The four imams are Sufyan al-Thawri, Malik ibn Anas, Hammad ibn Zayd and Ibn al-Mubarak.” Shu‘ayb ibn Harb said: “Ibn al-Mubarak did not meet any man except Ibn al-Mubarak was more virtuous than him.” Ahmad ibn Hanbal said: “There was none in the time of Ibn al-Mubarak more ardent in gaining knowledge than him.” Sufyan ibn ‘Uyaynah: “I inspected the condition of the companions [of the Prophet (Allah bless him and grant him peace)] and I did not find any excellence in them over Ibn al-Mubarak except their companionship of the Prophet (Allah bless him and grant him peace) and their battles with him.” When the news of his death reached Sufyan ibn ‘Uyaynah, he exclaimed: “Allah have mercy on him! Indeed he was a jurist, a scholar, a worshipper, an ascetic, generous and brave, a poet.” ‘Abd al-Rahman ibn Mahdi would not favour anyone in hadith over Malik and Ibn al-Mubarak. When Ibn al-Mubarak’s students recounted his virtues, they would say: “He combined knowledge, jurisprudence, literature, grammar, language, poetry, eloquence, asceticism, scrupulousness, fairness, night-prayer, worship, pilgrimage, battles, bravery, insight, physical strength and avoiding talk about what did not concern him.” Yahya ibn Ma‘in said: “Ibn al-Mubarak was more learned than Sufyan al-Thawri.” Mu‘adh ibn Khalid ibn Shaqiq said: “I do not know that Allah has created a characteristic from the characteristics of virtue but Allah has put it in ‘Abd Allah ibn al-Mubarak.” Al-Mizzi said after collecting these narrations and others: “His virtues and excellences are very many.” (Tahdhib al-Kamal 16:5-24)

It has been mentioned in other articles that it was transmitted with authentic chains from ‘Abd Allah ibn al-Mubarak that he said: “When the opinion of Abu Hanifah and Sufyan concur on something, that is strong,” (Tarikh Baghdad 15:471) “the greatest faqih of people, is Abu Hanifah,” “I have not seen the like of him in fiqh,” (Tarikh Baghdad 15:469) “If anyone has the right to issue [a legal verdict] using his opinion, Abu Hanifah has the right to issue [a legal verdict] using his opinion.” (Tarikh Baghdad 15:471) According to another report with a good (hasan) chain, ‘Abd Allah ibn al-Mubarak said Abu Hanifah was a “sign” (ayah) in “virtue” (khayr) (Tarikh Baghdad 15:461).

9. ‘Abbad ibn al-‘Awwam (no. 12909, 13092, 16257, 26182)

‘Abbad ibn al-‘Awwam (115 – 185) Abu Sahl al-Wasiti is also a narrator found in the six collections of hadith. Ibn Sa‘d said: “He was from the nobles amongst men in all his affairs.” Yahya ibn Ma‘in, Abu Dawud, al-‘Ijli, al-Nasa’i, Abu Hatim and al-Bazzar said he is thiqah. (Tahdhib al-Kamal 14:140-5)

10. ‘Amr ibn Muhammad (no. 18274)

Amr ibn Muhammad al-‘Anqari al-Kufi (d. 199) is also a narrator found in all six books, although inSahih al-Bukhari his narration is only used for support (istishhad). Ahmad ibn Hanbal, al-Nasa’i and al-‘Ijli said he is trustworthy. (Tahdhib al-Kamal 22:220-3)

11. ‘Abd al-Rahim ibn Sulayman (no. 29599/33443)

‘Abd al-Rahim ibn Sulayman al-Kinani (d. 187) is a narrator found in all six collections. Yahya ibn Ma‘in, Abu Dawud and al-Daraqutni said he is thiqah. Al-‘Ijli said: “Trustworthy, pious, with many hadiths.” He was also known to have authored a number of books. (Tahdhib al-Kamal 18:36-9)

12. Abu Usamah (no. 30561, 35688)

Hammad ibn Usamah ibn Zayd (120 – 201) is also a narrator found in all six collections. Ahmad ibn Hanbal said he is thiqah and “the most learned of people about the conditions of people.” He also said: “How strong he was! He almost never erred.” Yahya ibn Ma‘in, Ibn Sa‘d, al-‘Ijli and al-Daraqutni said he is thiqah. It was reported from Abu Usamah that he said: “I wrote with these two fingers of mine 100,000 hadiths.” He was known to be from the constant worshippers (nussak) and and to have been extremely intelligent (Tahdhib al-Kamal 7:217-24).

Teachers:

1. Hammad (no. 1710, 5400, 5876, 5881, 6222, 9434, 9437, 9580, 10125, 11053, 12388, 12401, 12532, 12602, 12909, 13092, 15124, 16257, 17599, 17775, 18685, 21106, 24313, 27562, 27713, 28611, 29099, 30561)

Abu Isma‘il Hammad ibn Abi Sulayman al-Ash‘ari (d. 120) was the first and primary teacher of Imam Abu Hanifah. His narrations are found in all six collections of hadith, although in Sahih al-Bukhari they are without chain (mu‘allaq). He narrated from the Sahabi Anas ibn Malik (d. 93), and from the famous Tabi‘i, Sa‘id ibn Jubayr (38-95 H), and others. His primary teacher was Ibrahim al-Nakha‘i, a major scholar of hadith and fiqh from the Tabi‘in, who was the most learned regarding the opinions of ‘Abd Allah ibn Mas‘ud and his students. Ibn Abi Hatim narrated with his chain from ‘Abd al-Malik ibn Iyas: “I asked Ibrahim [al-Nakha‘i]: ‘Who should we ask after you?’ He said: ‘Hammad.’” Yahya ibn Ma‘in and al-Nasa’i said he is thiqah. Al-‘Ijli said: “Hammad ibn Abi Sulayman, a Kufan, trustworthy. He was the greatest jurist from the companions of Ibrahim.” Dawud al-Ta’i said: “Hammad ibn Abi Sulayman was generous with food and he was generous with dinars and dirhams.” (Tahdhib al-Kamal 7:269-79)

Al-Dhahabi said under the biography of Hammad ibn Abi Sulayman in Siyar A‘lam al-Nubala’: “The greatest faqih from the inhabitants of Kufa were ‘Ali and Ibn Mas’ud. The greatest faqih from their companions was ‘Alqamah. The greatest faqih from his companions was Ibrahim [al-Nakha’i]. The greatest faqih from the companions of Ibrahim was Hammad [ibn Abi Sulayman]. The greatestfaqih from the companions of Hammad was Abu Hanifah. The greatest faqih from his companions was Abu Yusuf. The companions of Abu Yusuf spread to the furthest regions, and the greatest faqihfrom them is Muhammad [ibn al-Hasan al-Shaybani]. The greatest faqih from the companions of Muhammad is Muhammad Abu ‘Abd Allah al-Shafi’i. Allah (Exalted is He) have mercy on them all.” Siyar A’lam al-Nubala (5:236)

2. ‘Ata’ (no. 6147, 21925)

‘Ata ibn Abi Rabah (ca. 27 – 115) was the greatest of Imam Abu Hanifah’s teachers as he himself mentioned (see further down below), and he has many narrations found in all six of the famous collections of hadith. One of the scholars said: “‘Ata’ was black, blind in one-eye, snub-nosed, lame and limp and then he became blind after this, yet he was trustworthy [in transmitting hadith], a jurist and a scholar possessing many hadiths!” (Tahdhib al-Kamal, 20:76) He met 200 companions of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), and he would issue fatwa in the presence of the companions, such that Ibn ‘Abbas would say to questioners: “O people of Makkah! Do you gather your questions to me, when Ibn Abi Rabah is amongst you?!” (ibid. 20:77) (Tahdhib al-Kamal 20:69-86)

The two reports of Abu Hanifah reporting from him in the Musannaf are in the form of fatwas which he took from him. In the first, Abu Hanifah asked ‘Ata’ about an illegitimately born man leading the people in prayer, and he replied: “There is no harm in it – is there not from amongst them those who pray and fast more than us?” This indicates that Imam Abu Hanifah took both fiqh and hadith (an example was given in the previous post) from ‘Ata’ ibn Abi Rabah.

3. ‘Alqamah ibn Marthad (no. 11124)

‘Alqamah ibn Marthad al-Hadrami’s (d. 126) hadiths are also found in all six collections.  (Tahdhib al-Kamal 20:308-11)

4. Kathir al-Rammah (no. 16941)

Ibn Hibban mentions him in his Kitab al-Thiqat as follows: “Kathir ibn ‘Abd Allah ibn Aslam al-Rammah, a Kufan who narrated from Nafi‘ from Ibn ‘Umar…Isma‘il ibn Hammad ibn Abi Sulayman narrated from him.” (Kitab al-Thiqat 7:353)

5. Al-Haytham (no. 18274, 25743, 28902)

His full name is al-Haytham ibn Habib al-Kufi al-Sayrafi. He was declared trustworthy by Ibn Ma‘in, Abu Zur‘ah and Abu Hatim. He was recommended by Shu‘bah ibn al-Hajjaj for those wishing to narrate from Kufan scholars. His narrations are found in the Marasil of Abu Dawud.  (Tahdhib al-Kamal 30:369-70)

6. ‘Ammar ibn ‘Imran al-Hamdani (no. 18841)

He is probably ‘Ammar ibn ‘Imran al-Ju‘fi who was declared thiqah by al-‘Ijli (Misbah al-Arib 2:410)

7. Ibrahim ibn Muhammad ibn al-Muntashir (no. 26182)

He is a narrator found in the six collections of hadith. He narrated from Anas ibn Malik, and this particular report of Abu Hanifah from him is from Anas ibn Malik (see below). Ja‘far al-Ahmar said: “He was from the most virtuous of those we saw at Kufa in his time.” He was declared thiqah by a number of authorities, including al-Nasa’i, Ahmad, Abu Hatim, Ibn Hibban, al-‘Ijli and others. (Tahdhib al-Kamal 2:183-4)

8. ‘Asim ibn Bahdalah (no. 29599/33443)

‘Asim ibn Bahdalah or ‘Asim ibn Abi al-Najud al-Kufi is the famous founder of one of the seven readings of the Qur’an, and the commonest reading known as “Hafs from ‘Asim” is from the narration of his student from him. He is a narrator of hadith found in the six collections.  He acquired his knowledge of Qur’an recitation from Zirr ibn Hubaysh who acquired it from ‘Abd Allah ibn Mas‘ud who said: “I took more than seventy chapters [of the Qur’an directly] from the mouth of the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and grant him peace)” (Sahih al-Bukhari) and the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: “Whoever it pleases to recited the Qur’an freshly as it was revealed, then let him read according to the recitation of Ibn Umm ‘Abd [i.e. ‘Abd Allah ibn Mas‘ud].” (Musnad Ahmad, Sunan Ibn Majah) (Tahdhib al-Kamal 13:473-80)

9. ‘Awn ibn ‘Abd Allah (no. 35688)

‘Awn ibn ‘Abd Allah ibn ‘Utbah ibn Mas‘ud al-Kufi al-Zahid (ca. 50 – ca. 115) was the grandson of the Sahabi ‘Utbah ibn Mas‘ud, and he is a narrator found in the six collections of hadith besidesSahih al-Bukhari. He was a Tabi‘i who narrated from a number of the younger companions. Al-‘Ijli, Ahmad ibn Hanbal, Yahya ibn Ma‘in, Ibn Sa‘d and al-Nasa’i said he is thiqah. ‘Awn ibn ‘Abd Allah said he prayed behind Abu Hurayrah (d. 59) situating his birth around the middle of the first century. He was known as an ascetic who would frequently remember the afterlife and weep. Musa ibn Abi ‘Isa narrated that when ‘Awn would narrate to them, his beard would become wet with tears. Maslamah ibn Ja‘far narrated that ‘Awn would say: “May I be destroyed! How can I become heedless of my soul while the Angel of Death is not heedless of my soul?! May I be destroyed! How can I claim I have my intellect while I put to waste my share of the afterlife?! May I be destroyed! May I be destroyed! Nay, woe to me! Woe to me! Destruction is inevitable for me if I die proceeding upon the disobedience of my Lord.” Then he would cry until his beard became wet with tears. At his death, he distributed all his properties to the poor. It was reported from ‘Awn that he said: “Those before us would assign for their worldly life whatever was left over from their afterlife, while you assign for your afterlife whatever is left over from your worldly life.” He also said: “I don’t think a person looks at the faults of men but from a heedlessness which has made him to forget himself.” (Tahdhib al-Kamal 22:453-61)

The Marfu‘ Narrations of Abu Hanifah from the Musannaf of Ibn Abi Shaybah

1. Ibn Abi Shaybah narrates: ‘Abbad ibn al-‘Awwam narrated to us from Abu Hanifah from Ibrahim ibn Muhammad ibn al-Muntashir from Anas ibn Malik: He said:

2. Ibn Abi Shaybah narrates: Abu Mu‘awiyah narrated to us from Abu Hanifah from ‘Alqamah ibn Marthad from Ibn Buraydah from his father, he said:

The Scholarly Acceptance of Imam Abu Hanifah’s Pronouncements on al-Jarh wa al-Ta’dil

‘Allamah Zafar Ahmad al-’Uthmani wrote in his Abu Hanifah wa Ashabuhu al-Muhaddithun: “Know that the opinions of Imam Abu Hanifah in al-Jarh wa al-Ta’dil (narrator-criticism) and the principles of hadith were accepted and received from him by the ‘ulama of this field. They quoted him in their books as proof or for consideration, just as they took from Imam Ahmad, al-Bukhari, Ibn Ma’in, Ibn al-Madini, and other scholars of this field. This shows you his great standing in [the science of] hadith and his expansive knowledge and mastery.” (Abu Hanifah wa Ashabuhu al-Muhaddithun, Idarat al-Qur’an wa al-’Ulum al-Islamiyyah, p. 45)

I will quote below a few examples of the scholarly acceptance of Imam Abu Hanifah’s pronouncements in this important field:

1. Al-Saymari narrates in his published book Akhbar Abi Hanifah wa Ashabih: Muhammad ibn ‘Imran ibn Musa al-Marzubani reported to us: Muhammad ibn Makhlad al-‘Attar narrated to us: Abu Musa Qays al-Mu’addib narrated to us: Suwayd ibn Sa‘id narrated to us: Sufyan ibn ‘Uyaynah narrated to us:

This chain is hasan: Abu ‘Abd Allah al-Husayn ibn ‘Ali ibn Muhammad Al-Saymari (351 – 436) is a Hanafi faqih and muhaddith who narrated from al-Daraqutni and Ibn Shahin, and is saduqaccording to al-Khatib (Tarikh Baghdad 8:634-5); Abu ‘Ubayd Allah Muhammad ibn ‘Imran ibn Musa al-Marzubani (296 – 384) is thiqah according to al-‘Atiqi. (Tarikh Baghdad 4:227-9); Muhammad ibn Makhlad al-‘Attar (d. 331) is thiqah according to al-Daraqutni (Tarikh Baghdad 4:501); Abu Musa Qays ibn Ibrahim ibn Qays al-Tawabiqi al-Mu’addib (d. 284), al-Daraqutni said he is acceptable (salih) (Tarikh Baghdad 14:478-9); Suwayd ibn Sa‘id ibn Sahl al-Harawi (140 – 240) is thiqah according to Ahmad ibn Hanbal, and a narrator of Muslim (Tahdhib al-Kamal)

The same narration was also narrated by Ibn ‘Abd al-Barr through a different chain:

Ibn ‘Abd al-Barr said: [Abu Ya‘qub Yusuf ibn al-Dakhil narrated in his book Fada’il Abi Hanifah wa Akhbaruhu]: Abu l-‘Abbas al-Farid narrated to us: Muhammad ibn Isma‘il [al-Sa’igh] narrated to us: Suwayd ibn Sa‘id al-Anbari narrated to us: I heard Sufyan ibn ‘Uyaynah say:

al-Intiqa fi Fada’il al-A’immat al-Thalathah, p. 199

Ibn al-Dakhil (d. 388) is described as the “muhaddith of Makkah” by al-Dhahabi in Siyar A‘lam al-Nubala, but besides this there is no other criticism or praise of him, although his biography is known. Abu al-‘Abbas Muhammad ibn al-Husayn al-Farid, his reliability is unknown. Muhammad ibn Isma‘il al-Sa’igh (d. 276) is thiqah according to Abu Dawud and al-Dhahabi. Hence, although the chain is weak because of the unknown narrator in the chain, it is not “very weak” (da‘if jiddan) that it cannot be used as a supporting narration. This narration therefore strengthens the previous one.

The narration also corresponds with the information known about Sufyan ibn ‘Uyaynah (107 – 198) from the books of Rijal. As mentioned in Taqrib, he “was the strongest narrator from ‘Amr ibn Dinar (45 – 126).” Ibn ‘Uyaynah himself referred to ‘Amr ibn Dinar as “thiqah thiqah thiqah” – the repetition is for emphasis. And it is known some major Kufan narrators like Waki‘ ibn al-Jarrah and Yahya ibn Zakariyyah ibn Abi Za’idah narrated from him as mentioned in Tahdhib al-Tahdhib (4:118). Waki‘, as mentioned in an earlier post, would issue fatwas according to the opinions of Abu Hanifah, and Yahya ibn Zakariyya ibn Abi Za’idah, who was the strongest and greatest narrator in Kufa after Sufyan al-Thawri, is known to have been a “student of Abu Hanifah” as mentioned in al-Dhahabi’sTadhkirat al-Huffaz.

After mentioning the abovementioned narration, ‘Allamah Zafar Ahmad al-‘Uthmani says:

Abu Hanifah wa Ashabuhu al-Muhaddithun, p. 17

2. Imam al-Tirmidhi narrates in his Kitab al-‘Ilal: Mahmud ibn Ghaylan narrated to us: He said: Abu Yahya al-Himmani narrated to us: He said: I heard Abu Hanifah say: “I have not seen anyone a greater liar than Jabir al-Ju‘fi (d. 128), nor anyone more virtuous that ‘Ata’ ibn Abi Rabah (27 – 115).” (Al-Jami‘ al-Kabir, Dr. Bashshar ‘Awwad Ma‘ruf ed., 6:233)

Imam al-Tirmidhi narrated this in the context of determining the provenance of the science of al-Jarh wa al-Ta’dil. The narrators in al-Tirmidhi’s chain are reliable: Mahmud ibn Ghaylan (d. 239) is a narrator found in the Sahihs of al-Bukhari and Muslim, and declared thiqah by Ibn Hajar al-‘Asqalani in al-Taqrib (Tahrir al-Taqrib 3:353). Abu Yahya ‘Abd al-Hamid al-Himmani (d. 202) is also a narrator found in the Sahihs of al-Bukhari and Muslim, and declared thiqah by Ibn Ma‘in, al-Nasa’i, Ibn Qani‘ and others, although some invalid criticism was levelled at him because of irja’. (Tahrir al-Taqrib 2:300-1)

This narration has also been quoted in the books of Rijal under the biographies of Jabir al-Ju’fi and ‘Ata’ ibn Abi Rabah (e.g. Tahdhib al-Tahdhib 2:48), illustrating the acceptance of Imam Abu Hanifah’s view amongst the later experts of this science.

3. In another post, I also quoted Imam Abu Hanifah’s authentic criticism of deviant groups:

Al-Khatib al-Baghdadi narrates: al-Khallal reported to us: al-Hariri reported to us that ‘Ali ibn Muhammad al-Nakha‘i narrated to them: Muhammad ibn al-Hasan ibn Mukram narrated to us: Bishr ibn al-Walid narrated to us: I heard Abu Yusuf say: Abu Hanifah said: “Two groups of the worst of people are from Khurasan: the Jahmiyyah and the Mushabbihah (antropomorphists),” and he probably said “Muqatiliyyah (followers of Muqatil ibn Sulayman (d. 150 H)).” (Tarikh Baghdad 15:514-15) Dr. Bashshar ‘Awwad Ma‘ruf said: “Its isnad is sahih, its narrators are trustworthy (thiqat).”

With the same chain, al-Khatib narrates: al-Nakha‘i said: Muhammad ibn ‘Ali ibn ‘Affan narrated to us: Yahya ibn ‘Abd al-Hamid ibn ‘Abd al-Rahman al-Himmani narrated to us from his father: I heard Abu Hanifah say: “Jahm ibn Safwan is a kafir.” (Tarikh Baghdad 15:515) Dr. Bashshar ‘Awwad Ma‘ruf said: “Its isnad is hasan.”

Imam Abu Hanifah’s opinion on Jahm is in fact quoted in the books of Rijal. Al-’Asqalani said inTahdhib al-Tahdhib (vol 10:281): “Muhammad ibn Sima’ah (who is thiqah according al-Saymari and saduq according to al-’Asqalani in al-Taqrib) narrated from Abu Yusuf from Abu Hanifah that he said: ‘Jahm went overboard in negation until he said: He [i.e. Allah] is nothing, and Muqatil went overboard in affirmation until He deemed Allah to be like His creation.’” Al-’Asqalani also quotes him saying: “Two disgusting opinions came to us from the east: Jahm the negator [of Allah’s attributes] and Muqatil the anthropomorphist.”

For more examples of the recorded statements of Imam Abu Hanifah on al-Jarh wa al-Ta‘dil from Tahdhib al-Tahdhib, see Abu Hanifah wa Ashabuhu al-Muhaddithun, pp. 45-7.

[Article taken from  http://darulmaarif.com/imam-abu-hanifahs-rank-in-hadith/]

By Mawlana Muntasir Zaman

“What cosmic soul is imprisoned in that human body?” mused the learned Abū Zahrah (d. 1974 AH) in utter admiration—indeed, “it is the soul of al-Kawtharī!” he proclaimed. [1] In recent memory, relatively few scholars have managed to synthesize expertise in, not merely acquaintance with, the vast majority of Islamic sciences. Shaykh Muhammad Zāhid al-Kawtharī (or Mehmet Zahit Kevsari) is arguably theforemost contender for that accolade; his polymathic oeuvre leaves one hard-pressed to pinpoint his forte, [2] from the intricacies of philosophy[3] to the minutiae of Arabic grammar,[4] not to mention his undisputed command of theology,[5] Hadīth,[6] and Islamic law.[7] The ripple effect of his peerless intellectual contributions is strongly felt in Islamic seminaries throughout the world till this day.

A modest amount of literature is available on the life and thought of al-Kawtharī (henceforth Kawtharī), To add to the existing material, particularly for an English-speaking readership, the present article aims to delineate the most salient features of his scholarly career, provide a synopsis of his modus operandi vis-à-vis prophetic and non-prophetic reports, and examine the merits of two major points of contention. Relevant details on certain passages have been relegated to the footnotes for the purpose of brevity.

Curriculum Vitae

Born in the year 1296 AH/1879 CE in Düzce,[8] Turkey, Kawtharī was of Circassian decent with an ancestor bearing the name Kawthar—hence the sobriquet al-Kawtharī. He received his elementary education from local scholars, and then moved to the vibrant capital of the Ottoman Caliphate, Istanbul, where he attended lessons in the prestigious medrese complex of the Fatih Mosque.[9] After successfully completing the fifteen-year curriculum in 1325 AH/1907 CE,[10] he enjoyed a distinguished career as a lecturer at his alma mater and was appointed Deputy of the Office of Shaykh al-Islam.[11] Fleeing from the Republican militias of Ataturk, in the winter of 1922 he emigrated, with a heavy heart, from his homeland to the unfamiliar soil of Egypt, leaving behind a once-proud empire that now stood on the brink of collapse. The following thirty years were tirelessly spent in Cairo, a hotbed for competing paradigms of Islamic thought; the first decade of his sojourn was punctuated with two year-long visits to Damascus.[12] He was married to a woman of proverbial piety and patience who stood by his side through thick and thin until their last moments; together they had four children, one son and three daughters—sadly, they were laid to rest before their father. After struggling with poor health for several years, he breathed his last in Dhul Qa‘dah 1371 AH/August 1952 CE (Allah have mercy on him).[13]

The raison d’être of his repertoire was his gifted memory.[14] He would effortlessly quote from memory “vanished pages from the imperial libraries of Istanbul.”[15] Shortly before his demise, while breaking fast with a close pupil, he dictated from memory insights from his readings at the Topkapı Library—he had not visited the library since his emigration well over a quarter-century earlier.[16] His extensive knowledge of rare manuscripts, Arabic and non-Arabic, from libraries throughout the Muslim world was a novelty due to which he eclipsed others in his league.[17] Fortunately, he left behind a wide-ranging oeuvre that comprised of books, treatises, biographies, articles,[18] and annotations in Arabic, Persian, Turkish,[19] many of which have yet to see the light of day.[20] His legacy was carried on by his students,[21] notable among whom are Ahmad Khayrī Efendi (d. 1967),[22] Husām al-Dīn al-Qudsī (d. 1980), ‘Abd al-Fattāh Abū Ghuddah (d. 1997),[23] and Muhammad Amīn Sirāj (b. 1932),[24] apart from droves of others who received authorization from him.[25]

His exile in Cairo was riddled with impoverished living conditions; despite the odds, his self-sufficiency and contentment were truly commendable. Affluent well-wishers incessantly proffered monetary gifts, but he would politely refuse even though at times he was pressured by circumstances to sell his books—his lifeblood—to make ends meet.[26] When the India-based research center, al-Majlis al-‘Ilmī,[27] gifted him four copies of Jamāl al-Dīn al-Zayla‘ī’s magnum opus, Nasb al-Rāyah li Ahādīth al-Hidāyah, as a token of appreciation he compensated them with fifty copies of his book al-Nukat al-Tarīfah; he could not bear the thought of receiving a gift without returning the favor.[28] Pandering to the wealthy and ruling class was a Faustian bargain he was not prepared to make. His courageous opposition to modern curricular reform[29] and gratuitous government intervention[30] in Turkey is reminiscent of legendary anecdotes of al-‘Izz ibn ‘Abd al-Salam (d. 660 AH)[31] and Muhyī al-Dīn al-Nawawī (d. 676 AH).[32]

Cairo’s volatile scholastic and socio-political milieu was diametrically opposite to the relatively stable intellectual homogeneity in Ottoman Turkey during his tenure as Deputy of the Office of Shaykh al-Islam. This geographical shift sparked within him a new-found zeal.[33] In an unflinching commitment to preserve the traditional teachings of Islam, which he believed were slowly sinking in quicksand, he engaged with schisms of all sorts: he minced no words in his forceful disagreement with modern thinkers who drank from ‘the brackish waters of the West;’[34] he raged against liberal reformists who championed vague slogans of common good as a panacea to all conceivable ills;[35] and he administered the coup de grace to anti-madhhab advocates.[36]

The highlight of his intellectual career was the stimulating dialogues and correspondence with scholars of varying orientations, such as the Ottoman Shaykh al-Islām Mustafā Sabrī (d. 1954),[37] the Moroccan polymath Ahmad al-Ghumarī (d. 1961),[38] and the Yemeni Hadīth scholar ‘Abd al-Rahmān al-Mu‘allimī (d. 1966).[39] Given their diverse background, it is not surprising that these exchanges often brimmed with scholarly fury, but, in the same breath, were not bereft of the mutual decorum characteristic of Islamic dialogues of yesteryear.[40] After disagreeing with Yūnus ibn ‘Abd al-A‘lā (d. 264 AH) on a given issue, Imām al-Shāfī‘ī (d. 204 AH) gently held his hand and asked, “Can we not remain brothers even though we differ on this issue?” [41]

Methodology & Contentions

In the arena of polemics, even the victor seldom exits unscathed—every action has an equal and opposite reaction. Kawtharī, who was in the midst of Cairo’s heated intellectual feuds, was no exception. His damaging critique of not a few groups earned him the ire of detractors who criticized him for a number of perceived flaws, chief among them an excessive partisanship for his legal school and methodological inconsistency. The proceeding explanation, to be sure, is not to say he was absolved of errors—that is intrinsic to human nature. But many of Kawtharī’s supposed shortcomings can be assuaged to a large extent by better understanding his methodology. As such, a word on his modus operandi vis-à-vis prophetic and non-prophetic reports is in order.

An unwavering adherence to the widely-transmitted practice of Muslims is a theme that pervades his works.[42] Time and again, he assures his readers that the legitimacy of his stance is supported by the inherited practice of the vast majority of Companions and Successors.[43] He considered it paramount to gauge the reliability of isolated reports against constants drawn from the aggregate ethos of Islamic teachings; this is typified by his fellow Cairene Hanafī scholar Abū Ja‘far al-Tahāwī (d. 321 AH), who had formulated his unique Hadīth-cum-legal hermeneutics a millennium earlier.[44] More specifically, he advised that a report about/from someone should be studied in light of what is established about him.[45]Moreover, an in-depth reading of history was the sine qua non of his methodology as he took great pains to contextualize and note factors that may have influenced a scholar’s Weltanschauung.[46] To recapitulate his modus operandi in one word: nuance.

Critics derided him for an alleged slavish attachment to the eponym of his legal school and an equally stubborn refusal to accept any critique against him.[47] At the outset, it should be noted that partisanship (ta‘assub) is not a categorically negative quality. That many a prestigious scholar was extolled by the likes of al-Dāraqutnī (d. 385 AH)[48] and al-Hākim (d. 405 AH)[49] for partisanship for noble causes like the Sunnah is quite telling. But in order for it to be praiseworthy, one should be convinced of the veracity of his cause (with the possibility of error in probable issues) and substantiate it with cogent evidence. Given that partisanship (ta’ssaub) in common parlance carries a derogatory connotation, an appropriate substitute would be firm adherence (tamassuk).[50] Kawtharī himself warned of the dangers of odious fanaticism to one’s school since, inter alia, it prompts one to dismiss persuasive arguments as flimsy casuistry, and vice versa.[51] Leading by example, he had no qualms in abandoning the position of Imām Abū Hanīfah in the face of convincing evidence to the contrary, as in the issue of endowments.[52] With this mind, he is to be excused, even commended, for an unflinching devotion to his legal school, because ultimately he was defending a tradition that like others exercised legitimate judgment to arrive at the most accurate interpretation of the foundational sources of Islam. In many cases, his firmness was accentuated by the vehemence of the criticisms, which drove him to reciprocate accordingly.[53]

That a considerable amount of his oeuvre relates to the Hanafī school, in one way or another, was not an act of fanaticism. Rather, given his undisputed proficiency in the school, he was the most qualified to undertake such projects, which he accomplished with competence. He also penned a number of works on other schools, such as a biographical tract on al-Layth ibn Sa‘d (d. 175 AH), who founded an independent legal school, and he encouraged the publication of Ibn Abī Hātim al-Rāzī’s Adāb al-Shāfi‘ī wa Manāqibuhū, for which he also wrote a forward, to name a few.[54]

The second contention raised against him is methodological inconsistency. In other words, he is guilty of criticizing a narrator in one place while deeming him reliable elsewhere. This contention, however, stems from an inadequate understanding of Kawthrī’s methodology. Given that nuance placed an important role in his methodology, he would apply his discretion as a Hadīth expert when employing the reports of a narrator as per the context. This approach is in line with pioneering scholars of Hadīth like Imāms al-Bukhārī (d. 256 AH)[55] and Muslim (d. 261 AH) [56] who would assess the reports of a narrator based on the context through a rigorous selection process.[57] Kawtharī’s treatment of the narrator Muhammad ibn Humayd al-Rāzī (d. 248 AH) is a striking case in point. In a discussion on intersession, he faults Ibn ‘Abd al-Hādī (d. 744 AH) for citing only those who impugned al-Rāzī; as counterweight to this one-sided expose, he highlights the opinions of those who spoke approvingly of him.[58] Contrast this with an article where he exposes the flawed and disingenuous approach of Orientalists who cast doubts on Islam by misconstruing certain reports from books of history and Sīrah; here he states that al-Rāzī’s probity is disputed, but many have vehemently impugned him.[59] Prima facie this may seem inconsistent: in one place, he points out the positive of the narrator while in another other he points out the negative. Far from inconsistency, this demonstrates deep insight. In both scenarios, he openly acknowledges that opinions vary regarding al-Rāzī, but as per the demands of the context—one a rejoinder to a one-sided intra-Islamic polemic while another a response to biased anti-Islamic criticism—he accentuates one opinion over the other.[60]

In a similar manner, he would emphasize an aspect regarding an otherwise unreliable narrator that may have caught the attention of a scholar and prompted him to overlook the narrator’s shortcomings. Consider the case of al-Mughīrah ibn Ziyād (d. 152 AH) where Kawtharī states that although his probity is disputed, since a number of authorities have deemed him reliable and the compilers of the Sunan works transmitted from him, “it is not surprising that a mujtahid would employ his narrations.”[61] In this example, he is clearly not giving the green light of categorical acceptance; instead, he is drawing attention to one dimension that, in tandem with external factors, may have caught the attention of a scholar who ipso facto employed his reports.[62] It is therefore paramount to bear in mind the distinct, multifarious methods scholars devised in developing their views.[63]

Conclusion

Like other prominent figures whose lives decorate the annals of Islamic history, Kawtharī led an enviable life, one that serves as an example par excellence for the scholarly fraternity, in particular. It is tempting to exhaust the many inspirational episodes that fill his biography. This brief expose, however, does not pretend to be an exhaustive study of his life and thought; that would require an encyclopedic, albeit highly appreciated, undertaking. In the foregoing, we momentarily walked in the shoes of Kawtharī, from his humble beginnings in Düzce to his ascendancy in the upper scholarly echelons of the Ottoman Caliphate to his life-changing exile in Cairo. His self-sufficiency, humility, and generosity only enhanced the value of his peerless scholarly acumen. Charges of methodological inconsistency and partisanship for his school of law stem from an inadequate understanding of his modus operandi. Be it as it may, with the passing of Kawtharī, the Muslim world not only mourned the loss of an irreplaceable scholar, but, more precisely, it also sounded the death knell for the remnant of an age gone past.

[1] Abū Zahrah, al-Imām al-Kawtharī in al-Maqālāt, p.15.

[2] Surprisingly, his forte appears to have been Qur’ānic studies, based on the following reasons. First, Ibrāhīm al-Akīnī, his primary teacher, was a specialist, inter alia, in the science of Qirā’ah; see: al-Kawtharī, al-Tahrīr al-Wajīz, p.43. Second, he was part of the faculty of specialization in Hadīth and Qur’ānic exegesis where he taught Qur’ānic studies for a lengthy period; see: Ibrāhīm al-Sarrāwī, Introduction to Tabaqāt Ibn Sa‘d, sec. dāl. Finally, his most celebrated book is a two-volume introduction to Qur’ānic studies—it was left behind in Istanbul prior to his migration and is yet to be located; see: Khayrī, al-Imām al-Kawtharī in al-Maqālāt, p.451; al-Kawtharī, al-Maqālāt, p.22.

[3] For instance, he critically edited and annotated ‘Abd Allah al-Batalyawsī’s (d. 521 AH) al-Haqā’iq fī al-Matālib al-‘Aliyah al-Falsafiyyah al-‘Awīsah, an explanatory treatise on certain delicate philosophical concepts.

[4] In fact, his first work was a Persian poem on Arabic grammar entitled Nazm ‘Awāmil al-I‘rāb. He also wrote a one-volume critique on Muhammad al-Akīnī’s gloss on al-Fawā’id al-Diyā’iyyah (that is, ‘Abd al-Rahmān al-Jāmī’s [d. 998 AH] renowned commentary, commonly known as Sharh Mullā Jāmī fi al-Nahw, on Ibn Hājib’s [d. 646 AH] al-Kāfiyah). This is in addition to a ten-page treatise where he resolves the ambiguity of a passage from al-Muharram’s supercommentary on Jāmī’s aforementioned book. See: Khayrī, al-Imām al-Kawtharī in al-Maqālāt, p.450. For a glimpse into the sophisticated nature of Jāmī’s commentary, see: Moosa, Ebrahim (2015), What Is a Madrasa?, pp.117-18.

[5] Among the theological works he critically edited and annotated were Ibn Qutaybah’s al-Ikhtilāf fī al-Lafż, al-Bayhaqī’s al-Asmā’ wa al-Sifāt, Imām al-Haramayn’s al-‘Aqīdah al-Niżāmiyyah, and a number of treatises attributed to Imām Abū Hanīfah, such as al-Alim wa al-Muta‘allim and al-Fiqh al-Absat.

[6] This is clear to anyone who even reads his books out of curiosity. His marginal comments on his personal copy of ‘Abd al-Hayy al-Kattānī’s Fahras al-Fahāris are brilliant examples—among countless others—of his precision in the transmission of Hadīth. Muhammad Al Rashīd reproduced these comments in: al-Imām Zāhid al-Kawtharī wa Ishāmātuhū fī ‘Ilm al-Riwāyah wa al-Isnād, p. 74 ff.

[7] See: Abū al-Hājj, Athar al-Imām al-Kawtharī fī Nusrat wa Ta’yīd al-Madhāhib al-Fiqhiyyah al-Sunniyyah, p.30 ff.; al-Bayūmī, Muhammad Zāhid al-Kawtharī Rāwiyat al-‘Asr wa Amīn al-Turāth al-Islāmī in al-Muqaddimāt, p.19; al-Bannūrī, Introduction to al-Maqālāt, pp.7-8.

[8] To be precise, he was born in a village called al-Hājj Hasan Efendi, named after his father who had founded it, situated three miles south of Düzce. See: al-Kawtharī, al-Tahrīr al-Wajīz, p.43.

[9]  Classical Ottoman scholarship for the most part was shaped by three seminaries of learning: (1) the first seminary in Nicea in 1331 CE by Orhan Gazi; (2) the Fatih Mosque and Complex with its Sahn-i Seman (lit. eight courtyards, or, madrasas) by Mehmet the Conqueror in Constantinople in 1471 CE; and (3) the Süleymaniye Mosque under the instruction of Sultan Süleyman in 1557 CE. See:  Ozervarli, Sait (2016), Theology in Ottoman Lands in The Oxford Handbook of Islamic Theology (ed. Sabine Scmidtke), Oxford: Oxford University Press, p.570. On the vibrant scholarly activity in Ottoman lands during the 17^th century, see Khaled El Rouayheb’s phenomenal study “Islamic Intellectual History in the Seventeenth Century: Scholarly Current in the Ottoman Empire and the Maghreb.” By examining the works of various scholars in the Ottoman Empire and North Africa, the author argues against the notion that the 17^th century was a period of intellectual stagnation in the Muslim world, a notion that “risks reinforcing the impression that on the one side of the Mediterranean in the seventeenth century one encounters Galileo, Kepler, Bacon, Newton, Descartes, Malebranche, Spinoza, Locke, and Leibniz, whereas on the other side one encounters popular chroniclers, Sufi diarists, popularizers of medical or occult knowledge, and the like” (p.3).

[10] At the medrese complex, a prospective student would select a teacher of his choice with whom he would spend the following 15 years learning all the sciences. The teacher would deliver only two lessons daily, for which he would prepare throughout the day. Upon graduation, a student would in effect become a carbon copy of his mentor. The teacher would then restart the cycle with a new batch of students for another 15 years. Kawtharī’s teacher at first was Ibrāhīm Haqqī al-Akīnī (d. 1318/1901) and after he passed away he completed the course with ‘Alī Zayn al-‘Abidin al-Alasūnī (d. 1329/1911) in compliance with al-Akīnī’s bequest; this was apart from select books he studied privately with other teachers. On the intriguing pedagogy employed at the Fātih Mosque, see: al-Kawtharī, al-Tahrīr al-Wajīz, pp.9, 32-33. For a light hearted, yet miraculous, incident that occurred during preparation for his final exam, see: ibid., p.38.

[11] In the Ottoman Caliphate, the office of Shaykh al-Islām, the highest scholarly position, was designated to the head of religious affairs. This title was used earlier unofficially to refer to a scholar of great repute and an authority in religious matters. See: Abū Ghuddah, al-‘Ulamā’ al-‘Uzzāb, p.46. Since the Shaykh al-Islām was often preoccupied with political affairs, he was appointed three deputies: one to pass legal verdicts; a second to head the department of education (i.e. pedagogy, scholars, and religious institutes); and a third to oversee judicial affairs. Kawtharī occupied the second post known as Wakīl al-Dars, akin to the post of Shaykh al-Azhar in Egypt. See: Khayrī, al-Imām al-Kawtharī, p.437; al-Kawtharī, al-Tahrīr al-Wajīz, p.38.

[12] His trips to Damascus were for purely academic reasons. He spent his time buried in the rare manuscripts held in the vaults of the Zāhiriyyah Library—days would go by without food. See: Wahbī Sulaymān, Introduction to al-Imām Zāhid al-Kawtharī wa Ishāmātuhū, p.6; Mutī‘, Tārīkh ‘Ulamā’ Dimashq, vol.3, p.417.

[13] Khayrī, al-Imām al-Kawtharī, p.429-433, 438.

[14] Interestingly, Kawtharī personally told ‘Abd al-‘Azīz al-Ghumārī that his memory was such that with one glance at a passage from a book, he would not forget the line, let alone the page; that was until a near-death experience while in Turkey where he almost drowned, after which his memory was not the same. See: al-Ghumārī, al-Safīnah, vol.1, 169; cf. Al Rashīd, al-Imām Muhammad Zāhid, p.193. This near-death experience is described in: Khayrī, al-Imām al-Kawtharī, p.435. Now, with this in mind consider the story in reference before his demise.

[15] Brown, Jonathan (2014), Misquoting Muhammad, London: Oneworld Publication, p.15.

[16] Khayrī, al-Imām al-Kawtharī, p.433.

[17] See: al-Bayūmī, Muhammad Zāhid al-Kawtharī, p.20.

[18] This is in addition to the forwards and introductions he wrote for a wide-range of books and treatises that are significant works in their own right. That many of articles and introductions were posthumously printed for a broader readership demonstrates the value these writings held in the sight of scholars. It should be noted that the present compilation of his articles is not exhaustive; Iyād al-Ghawj wrote a piece on the articles that were not included. See: al-Sarhān, Footnotes on Rasā’il al-Imām Muhammad Zāhid al-Kawtharī, pp.107-8.

[19] He appears to have written only one book in Turkish: a biography of Mujaddid Alf-e Thānī (d. 1034 AH) entitled “al-Rawd al-Nādir al-Wardī fī Tarjamat al-Imām al-Rabbānī al-Sarhindī.” See: Khayrī, al-Imām al-Kawtharī, p.451.

[20] For a list of his writings, see: Khayrī, al-Imām al-Kawtharī, pp.450-59. His writings were characterized with a succinct and lucid literary style that allowed him to write in one volume what would otherwise require several volumes. See: ‘Awwāmah, Forward to al-Musannaf, vol.20, p.10.

[21] During his tenure as professor at the Fātih Mosque, he lectured the largest class, and hundreds of students graduated under his auspices. See: al-Sarrāwī, Introduction to Tabaqāt Ibn Sa‘d, sec. dāl.

[22] He was one of Kawtharī’s closest post-migration students, whose authoritative biography is cited throughout this article. For a short biography of Ahmad Khayrī, see: Al Rashīd, al-Imām Muhammad Zāhid al-Kawtharī, pp.149-53.

[23] He enjoyed a close relationship with Kawtharī during his studies at al-Azhar. He even took on the sobriquet ‘al-Kawtharī’ and named his eldest son Muhammad Zāhid out of love for his teacher. See: Al Rashīd, al-Imām al-Muhammad Zāhid, p.164. Kawtharī gave him the agnomen Abū al-Futūh and highly praised him. See: Al Rashīd, Imdād al-Fattāh, p.146; al-Kawtharī, Introduction to Manāqib wa Adāb al-Shāfi‘ī, p.541. However, he had no qualms in openly disagreeing with his teacher on certain issues with due respect. See, for instance: Abū Ghuddah, Kalimāt fī Kashf Abātīl wa Iftirā’āt, p.38.

[24] See: Brown, Misquoting Muhammad, p.160.

[25] For a well-prepared list of his students and those who received authorization from him, see: Al Rashīd, al-Imām al-Muhammad Zāhid, p.147 ff.

[26] Al-Kawtharī (2013), Rasā’il al-Imām Muhammad Zāhid al-Kawtharī ilā al-‘Allāmah Muhammad Yūsuf al-Bannūrī, ed. Su‘ūd al-Sarhān, Jordan: Dār al-Fath, p.45. Kawtharī developed a close bond with Shaykhs Yūsuf al-Bannūrī (d. 1977) and Ahmad al-Bijnawrī (d. 1997), two exceptionally talented scholars from Deoband, when the latter arrived in Cairo in the Spring of 1938 for scholarly work at the behest of the newly founded al-Majlis al-‘Ilmī. During their short stay, they sought out Kawtharī and enjoyed his companionship; Kawtharī would later reminisce over the fruitful time they had spent together. In the following year, Kawtharī and Bannūrī began corresponding via letters—from April, 24, 1939 until February, 3, 1952 shortly before the former’s demise. After more than a decade of correspondence, Kawtharī concludes his final letter with the following tear-inducing words, “My deteriorating health prevents me from continuing this correspondence with you and with Mawlānā Abū al-Wafā’ [al-Afghānī; d. 1975]—every beginning has an end. My soul is with you, praying for you every goodness. And upon you [peace] and Allah’s mercy and blessings.” See: Ibid., pp.24, 32, 222. This page turning correspondence, of which only Kawtharī’s letters are published, is a first-hand account into many less known aspects of his life.

[27] On the history and activities of al-Majlis al-‘Ilmī, see: al-Bannūrī, Introduction to Nasb al-Rāyah, vol.1, p.2.

[28] Al-Kawtharī, Rasā’il, pp.168-69.

[29] Khayrī, al-Imām al-Kawtharī, p.430.

[30] An attempt was made to demolish a madrasah built by Sultan Mustafa III (d. 1187/1774) to make way for a shelter for disaster victims. In a bold act that cost him the leadership post as Wakīl al-Dars, Kawtharī vehemently protested the intervention on religious grounds. See: Ibid., p.437.

[31] See, for instance: Ibn Hajar, Raf‘ al-Isr, vol.1, p.240.

[32] See his letters to al-Zāhir Baybars (d. 676/1277) in: al-Sakhāwī, al-Manhal al-‘Adhb al-Rawī, p.30 ff.

[33] ‘Awwāmah, Manhaj al-Imām Muhammad Zājid al-Kawtharī fī Naqd al-Rijāl, p.5.

[34] See: al-Kawtharī, al-Maqālāt, p.203.

[35] See, for instance: ibid., p.233 ff.

[36] See, for instance: ibid., p.129.

[37] See: al-Kawtharī, al-Istibsār fī al-Tahdduth ‘an al-Jabr wa al-Ikhtiyār, p.3; Sabrī, Mawqif al-‘Aql wa al-‘Ilm wa al-‘Alam ‘ind Rabb al-‘Alamīn, vol.3, p.390 ff./cf.vol.4, p.51. Kawtharī heaps praises on him before engaging in the discussion while Mustafa Sabrī calls him “My honorable friend Shaykh Zāhid.” Also, see Muhammad Amīn Sirāj’s comments in: ‘Awwāmah, Adab al-Ikhtilāf, pp.83-84.

[38] Whatever the misunderstanding that caused the subsequent furor, Ahmad al-Ghumārī eventually ceased his critique and personally went to Kawtharī to apologize and reconcile, and he described him as a “verifying hadith scholar with expansive research;” this was verified by al-Ghumārī’s close student ‘Abd Allah al-Talīdī. See: ‘Awwāmah, Manhaj al-Imām al-Kawtharī, p.24.

[39] The to-and-fro that ensued between the two scholars stemmed from Kawtharī’s book Ta’nīb al-Khatīb, a critique on al-Khatīb al-Baghdādī’s treatment of Imām Abū Hanīfah in Tārīkh Baghdād. See: Mamdūh, Sa‘īd (2009), al-Ittijāhāt al-Hadīthiyyah fi al-Qarn al-Rābi‘ ‘Ashar, Cairo: Dār al-Basā’ir, pp.148-49; ‘Awwāmah, Manhaj al-Imām Muhammad Zāhid al-Kawtharī fī Naqd al-Rijāl, p.49 ff.; ‘Abd al-Mālik, al-Madkhal ilā ‘Ulūm al-Hadīth, p.170. In several places, al-Mu‘allimī praised Kawtharī and thanked him for directing him to the location of numerous manuscripts. See: al-Mu‘llimī, Introduction to al-Jarh wa al-Ta‘dīl, vol.1, sect. kāf/wāw; idem, al-Anwār al-Kāshifah, p.175.

[40] See, for instance: al-Subkī, Qā‘idah fī al-Jarh wa al-Ta‘dīl in Arba‘ Rasā’il fī ‘Ulūm al-Hadīth, p.23 ff.; ‘Awwāmah, Adab al-Ikhtilāf, pp.79-94, 148-57.

[41] Ibn ‘Asākir, Tārīkh Madīnat Dimashq, vol.51, p.302.

[42] He writes, “I have always called towards an adherence of the sharī‘ah of Allah by mobilizing under the flags of these imams (Allah be pleased with them all), without paying heed to dissenters on the peripherals and fundamentals.” See: al-Kawtharī, al-Sirā‘ al-Akhīr bayn al-Islām wa al-Wathaniyyah in al-Maqālāt, p.306.

[43] See, for instance: al-Kawtharī, al-Nukat al-Tarīfah, vol.2, p.539.

[44] See: al-Kawtharī, al-Hāwī, pp.20-21; al-Bakrī, Hamzah (2015), Introduction to al-Nukat al-Tarīfah, Jordan: Dār al-Fath, p.34; Shamsy, The Canonization of Islamic Law, pp.205-7.

[45] For instance, one should examine negative reports about Imām Abū Hanīfah against what is widely transmitted about him. As Kawtharī says, “authentic isolated reports cannot overrule what is widespread (al-mustafīd al-mashhūr), let alone what is concurrently transmitted (mutawātir).” See: al-Kawtharī, Ta’nīb al-Khatīb, p.31. A practical example is reports concerning Ibn Mas‘ūd’s exclusion of the mu’awwidhatayn in his copy of the Qur’ān. Reports of this nature cannot be accepted as they conflict with what is widely related that Ibn Mas‘ūd taught these sūrahs to his students, as is transmitted via six of the ten modes of Qur’ānic recitation. See: al-Kawtharī, Masāhif al-Amsār in al-Maqālāt, p.16; ‘Awwāmah, Footnotes on al-Madkhal, vol.1, p.349.

[46] Kawtharī describes this as the dakhā’il of narrator criticism, a monumental task reserved exclusively for experts in the field. See: al-Kawtharī, Fiqh Ahl al-‘Irāq, p.77; Abū Ghuddah, Mas’alat Khalq al-Qur’ān; ‘Awwamah, Athar al-Hadīth, p.32. For instance, he explains that Ibn Qutaybah’s earlier critique of Imām Abū Hanīfah was due to the ubiquitous resentment in his circles towards the Imām. This was because during the Qurānic Inquisition, some Hanafī Mu‘tazilī theologians who held judicial positions vetted Hadīth scholars vis-à-vis their beliefs; thus the latter retaliated by criticizing, unfairly, the eponym of the former’s legal school. See: al-Kawtharī, Introduction to al-Ikhtilāf fī al-Lafż, p.4; cf. Ibn ‘Abd al-Barr, Jāmi‘ Bayān al-‘Ilm wa Fadlihī, vol.2, p.1087 ff.

[47] See: al-Ghumārī, ‘Abd Allāh (1986), Bida‘ al-Tafsīr, Casablanca: Dār al-Rashād al-Hadīthah, p.179; cf. Mamdūh, al-Ittijāhāt al-Hadīthiyyah, pp.148-49.

[48] Al-Dāraqutnī praised the piety of the grammarian Ismā’īl al-Saffār (d. 341 AH) and said he was partial towards the Sunnah. See: al-Baghdādī, Tārīkh Baghdād, vol.7, p.301.

[49] Al-Hākim said regarding Abū al-Fadl al-Tūsī (d. 348 AH), “In Khurasān, he was one of the pillars of Hadīth in addition to his religiosity, asceticism, generosity, and partisanship for the People of Sunnah.” See: Ibn ‘Asākir, Tārīkh Madīnat Dimashq, vol.62, p.45.

[50]As Ibn Mullā Farrūkh (d. 1061 AH) aptly points out, scholars from all the schools of law “expressly state the impermissibility of ta’assub but the correctness of firm adherence (salābah) to the madhhab.” In this context, ta‘ssub, he continues, is a desire-driven inclination to support one’s school and to interact with another school condescendingly. See: Ibn Mullā Farrūkh, al-Qawl al-Sadīd fī Ba‘d Masā’il al-Ijtihād wa al-Taqlīd, p.46.

[51] See: al-Kawtharī, Fiqh Ahl al-‘Irāq wa Hadīthuhum, p.10.

[52] See: al-Kawtharī, Muhādathah Qadīmah Hawl al-Waqf al-Ahlī, p.192; al-Bakrī, Introduction to al-Nukat al-Tarīfah, vol.1, p.36 ff.

[53] In his critique of Imām al-Haramayn al-Juwaynī (d. 478 AH), he writes, “God willing, I will a tread a moderate path between gentleness and harshness as per the demands of the argument I will critique, proportionate to its veracity and the lack thereof, giving according to his ‘measurement scale’ without meekness and virulence.” See: al-Kawtharī, Ihqāq al-Haqq, p.15; cf. idem, Rasā’il, p.92.

[54] Al-Bayūmī, Muhammad Zāhid al-Kawtharī, pp.30-31.

[55] Ibn Hajar (d. 852 AH) explains al-Bukhārī’s reason for narrating the hadiths of ‘Abd Allah ibn Sālih, which is his modus operandi vis-à-vis narrators of this class, “Whatever he transmits from his hadiths is authentic since he sieved them from [the corpus of] his hadiths.” See: Ibn Hajar, Hudā al-Sārī, vol.1, p.415.

[56] In justifying Muslim’s transmission from Matar al-Warrāq, a narrator with questionable memory, Ibn al-Qayyim al-Jawzī (d. 751 AH) writes, “There is no fault on the part of Muslim for relating his hadiths, because he selected from the hadiths of this class what he believed they remembered just as he abandoned from the hadiths of a reliable narrator where he believed that narrator erred.” See: Ibn al-Qayyim, Zād al-Ma‘ād, vol.1, p.353.

[57] An interesting example is al-Bukhārī’s alternating between the active and passive voices as per the context when prefacing the incident of Jābir ibn ‘Abd Allah’s month’s journey to acquire one hadith. See: Ibn Hajar, Fath al-Bārī, vol.1, p.73/vol.13, p.453; cf. ‘Awāmah, Footnotes on Tadrīb al-Rāwī, vol.4, p.542.

[58] Al-Kawtharī, Mahq al-Taqawwul in al-Maqālāt, p.351. That he pointed out al-Subkī’s error too, with whom he agreed overall on the subject, and that he mentioned additional criticism on al-Rāzī demonstrate his sincere search for the correct position.

[59] Al-Kawtharī, Kalimah ‘an Khālid ibn al-Walīd wa Qatl Mālik ibn Nuwayrah in al-Maqālāt, p.400.

[60] ‘Awwāmah, Manhaj al-Imām Muhammad Zāhid al-Kawtharī, pp.20-21.

[61] Al-Kawtharī, al-Nukat al-Tarīfah, vol.1, p.220. This is brought under a hadith al-Mughīrah narrates that supports Imām Abū Hanīfah’s position on making vinegar out of wine.

[62] Al-Bakrī, Introduction to al-Nukat al-Tarīfah, vol.1, p.25.

[63] Kawtharī explains that all Sunnī scholars accepted the Prophet’s hadīths as the second source of law, but in so doing each scholar formulated his respective techniques of text-based and isnād-based analysis. See:  al-Kawtharī, al-Hāwī fī Sīrat al-Imām Abī Ja‘far al-Tahāwī, p.19. Even the Companions employed various methods of verifying the reliability of hadiths, like juxtaposing it with the Qur’ān. See, for instance: Ibn Mansūr, Sa‘īd (1982), al-Sunan, ed. al-A‘żamī, India: al-Dār al-Salafiyyah, vol.1, p.268.

[Taken from https://ahadithnotes.com/2017/01/23/the-life-and-thought-of-imam-zahid-al-kawthari/]

By Shaykh Sharīf Hātim al-‘Awnī

Translated by Muntasir Zaman

[Translator’s preface: The following paper outlines an approach to evaluating the authenticity of historical reports. The author begins by emphasizing the merits of the Hadīth methodology, but makes sure to point out that not every science is obliged to adopt such a rigorous method. Drawing on statements from Hadīth experts like Ibn al-Mubarak and al-Khatīb al-Baghdādī, he proves that Hadīth scholars themselves were nuanced in their treatment of non-prophetic reports.

After a lengthy preamble, he presents a maxim that can be applied to such reports: every report that, directly or indirectly, forms the basis of a religious ruling will be accepted only through the rigorous methods of the Hadīth scholars used for the Sunnah; otherwise, their methods will not be applied. He then explains the theoretical application of this maxim in all areas from Sīrah to Companion statements to stories of the following generations; to illustrate its practical application, he provides two case studies.

To be sure, this paper is not a license to cite unsubstantiated stories. As the author himself explains, “Taking certain liberties when assessing transmitted information besides Hadīth is not tantamount to authenticating what is inauthentic; instead, every transmitted information is to be evaluated with a relevant scale.” Note: a paraphrased translation was adopted and subtitles were added to facilitate an easier read.]

Introduction

There has been an increasing demand to refine Hadīth studies in the fields of Sīrah, history, and prosopography. These demands have been made for a diverse set of methodologies, the most pure and cautious being the methodology of the Hadīth scholars. As a result, numerous research projects and books were produced, which is a blessed endeavor and a sign of great good. These studies have corrected many academic errors and refined some of the most integral primary sources. Nonetheless, these were human endeavors and therefore prone to error. An error in a peripheral issue is a light matter that can be easily resolved, but a methodological error is dangerous and its findings are difficult to remedy.

Varying Methods of Evaluation

It is clear from the words and practice of the Hadīth scholars that they would differentiate between prophetic reports and non-prophetic reports and between those related to matters of faith and those that were not. Even prophetic reports were further categorized: legal and theological hadīths were treated differently from hadīths on virtues and softening of hearts. In fact, legal hadīths themselves were divided into primary reports on a given subject and mere attestations, each being treated differently. In all these areas, Hadīth scholars worked wonders that humbles the intellect.

A flaw in some of the studies mentioned earlier is they were conducted by non-specialists in the field of Hadīth – who lack actual expertise, not mere degrees and titles. Consequently, at times, these studies failed to implement the nuances of the Hadīth methodology, thereby opposing the very methodology they set out to implement. The following statements explicitly establish this nuance. In al-Jāmi‘ li Akhlāq al-Rāwī wa Ādāb al-Sāmi‘, under the chapter “Writing that which does not require a chain of transmission,” al-Khatīb al-Baghdādī’s writes, “Chains of transmission are a mere adornment and not a prerequisite when citing anecdotes of the righteous, stories of the ascetics, advices of the eloquent, and aphorisms of the poets.” He relates from Yūsuf ibn al-Husayn al-Rāzī (d. 304) that he said, “The chain of transmission for a wise saying is its existence.”[1] He further relates:

Ibn al-Mubārak was asked, “Should we read the advices found in books [without chains to their respective sources]?” He replied, “If you find advice inscribed on a wall, read it and take heed.” When asked if the same applies to law, he replied, “It must be studied from a teacher.”

He then mentions the story of a Khurāsānī man who would attend the gathering of Yazīd ibn Hārūn and write information without their chains of transmission. When the attendees criticized him, Yazīd said:

There is no problem if the Khurāsānī man is writing stories of asceticism and anecdotes of admonition and morals. However, he has erred if he wrote legal hadīths on what is lawful and unlawful without their chains, because that is the only method of verification. He is, therefore, required to ask and evaluate their authenticity.

It should be noted that every discipline has specific methods to evaluate the transmitted and rational information therein. It is an egregious error to conflate distinct methodologies, as this will to lead to the deconstruction of each science. For example, applying the critical methods of the Hadīth scholars to pre-Islamic, early Islamic, and even general collections of poetry will do little more than deconstruct the Arabic language. Scholars of language have formulated adequate standards to critique their science and methods to assess transmitted language, and in doing so, they exerted much effort, fulfilling the responsibility on their shoulder towards the language of the Qur’ān and Sunnah.[2] It is essential that we respect experts of each field with regards to their respective fields and value the expertise of the specialists. So long as we are not experts in a given field, we will not compete with them, particularly the leading specialists, from the scholars of the various Islamic sciences.

The purpose of the above explanation is to point out that although the Hadīth methodology is the only method to evaluate transmitted religious knowledge, it is not necessarily the most efficient method for other sciences even though both sets of information are accompanied by chains of transmission. The presence of a chain of transmission should not lead one to evaluate it as per the Hadīth methodology used for prophetic hadīths, since the inclusion of a chain was part and parcel of all Islamic sciences. The presence of a chain, therefore, does not always mean it is to be scrutinized to evaluate the reliability of the report.

Having established that Hadīth scholars critique hadīths differently from historical reports, it is an opportune moment to emphasis that the Hadīth methodology is characterized by extreme caution and intense scrutiny and skepticism. Had it not been for the indescribable amount of care the Muslim civilization gave to the transmission, study, teaching, preservation, and writing of the Sunnah – it was their greatest preoccupation – such caution and skepticism would have removed authentic parts of the Sunnah. Their profound attention towards transmission allowed Hadīth scholars to be extremely meticulous without harming the Sunnah. As such, applying this rigorous methodology to sciences besides Hadīth is harmful because they do not require that degree of rigor and neither has the Muslim civilization given them attention that would facilitate such rigor without dismissing reliable information. Taking certain liberties when assessing transmitted information besides Hadīth is not tantamount to authenticating what is inauthentic; instead, every transmitted information is to be evaluated with a relevant scale.

Allow me to illustrate this theoretical expose with a simple, practical example. Say you hear a prominent scholar, whose knowledge and piety you hold in high regard, relate a plausible story about one of his teacher’s most famous or knowledgeable teacher. While relating the story, if the scholar says, “I heard many of my teachers mention regarding that scholar,” would you doubt it simply because the status of those teachers is unknown? To make this more practical, assume you hear Shaykh Bin Bāz (Allah have mercy upon him) say, “We heard many teachers say that so and so was such and such.” Would you doubt his story? Then why is it that when Ibn ‘Adī, a competent authority, says, “I heard several teachers relate that when Muhammad ibn Ismā‘īl al-Bukhārī (Allāh be pleased with him) arrived at Baghdad, news reached the partisans of Hadīth, so they gathered together and chose a hundred hadīths and shuffled their chains and texts…” a contemporary criticizes this story on the basis that the status of Ibn ‘Adī’s teachers is unknown whereas al-Bukhārī’s knowledge far exceeds what is described here and Ibn ‘Adī narrates it from a group of al-Bukhārī’s students? Had Ibn ‘Adī, who was a Hadīth expert and musnid, wanted, he could have cited one of his direct teachers, but he believed that the phrase “I heard several teachers relate” was a stronger expression for a story of this nature because it is evaluated differently from hadīths.

Maxim of evaluation: theory and practice

I can now proceed to explain a maxim that can help determine when to apply a more rigorous approach, like the Hadīth methodology, to evaluate historical accounts anecdotes or a less rigorous approach by adopting other relevant methods of evaluation. The maxim is as follows: every report that, directly or indirectly, forms the basis of a religious ruling will be accepted only through the rigorous methods of the Hadīth scholars used for the Sunnah; otherwise, their methods will not be applied. This maxim requires much explanation, but I will suffice on several examples that can shed light on pertinent aspects of it.

In the prophetic Sīrah, some reports can be used to extrapolate a legal ruling; here the rigorous method of assessment will be applied. Other reports cannot form the basis of a legal ruling, such as the date, number of participants, and exact location of a particular battle; here the Hadīth methodology will not be applied unless a ruling can be extrapolated from it indirectly, e.g. whether a report had occurred earlier or later to help determine abrogation, in which case it will be applied.

Then there are reports about the Companions. Some of these have a connection with the law, such as the Companions’ legal verdicts and judicial judgments. If the Companion report is the only piece of evidence on a subject where there is no scriptural evidence, then the Hadīth methodology will be applied. However, in the presence of authentic scriptural evidence, the Companion report is cited only to augment our understanding of the scriptural evidence. It is fine to apply the aforementioned caution when assessing such a report, but there is also scope not to because it will not affect the overall status of the ruling.

Companion reports that are merely historical, such as conquests and battles, will follow the same procedure as the Sīrah. But reports about their internal conflicts (fitnah) are to be assessed similar to prophetic hadīths. To be sure, this is in conformity with the aforementioned maxim and not an exception. Reports of internal conflicts are not only stories; they influence our judgment on who was right or wrong, and it may even influence some people’s perception of their probity and transgression. Those being judged here are none other than the Companions (Allah be pleased with them), who were praised and verified by Allah and His messenger. As such, these reports are to be scrutinized thoroughly, particularly when they can pave the way for people of innovation and animosity towards the religion of Allah and the Companions to misconstrue and fabricate against them.

That being said, it is possible to adopt a middle path when dealing with reports about internal conflicts or similar reports: when the crux of a report is verified by the Hadīth methodology, details surrounding it can be established from other reports [not established through such rigorous methods], provided they do not conflict with the established probity and virtue of the Companions or with the authentic report itself. By way of illustration, I spent several years studying the reports about Khālid ibn al-Walīd and Mālik ibn Nuwayrah during the renegade wars. The story is well-known, but forgers and their ilk from the Orientalists have built around it a web of despicable details. One researcher had outright rejected the story in its entirety, concluding that Mālik ibn Nuwayrah was a renegade who was lawfully killed despite the fact that he is unanimously mentioned among the Companions. After further research, it became clear that there is only one authentic chain of transmission for the story, related by Khalīfah ibn Khayyāt in his Tārīkh where Ibn ‘Umar said:

Abū Qatādah came to Abū Bakr with news about the death of Mālik and his people. This deeply troubled him, so he summoned Khālid. Thereafter, Abū Bakr said, “Did Khalid do more than formulate an opinion and err?” and sent Khālid away. He then paid the blood money for Mālik ibn Nuwayrah and returned the captives and spoils.

Despite its brevity, this report establishes the crux of the story and puts things into perspective: Khālid’s actions are excused and the despicable allegation against Mālik ibn Nuwayrah [that he was a renegade] is disproved because Abū Bakr paid his blood money. This begs the question: what are we to do about the details without which we cannot possibly understand the story? The way forward is to accept only those details that conform to the narrative in the authentic report and do not contravene the probity of the Companions, which is established from scripture. This is because the chains of these details are not authentic in the first place, and moreover, whatever conflicts with the constants will be disregarded. It is disingenuous to treat them equally to the constants, let alone rely upon them.

The default for historical accounts of the following generations, i.e. the second and third centuries, is to benefit from them without critiquing them according to the Hadīth methodology unless a judgment is going to be made regarding an individual who possesses religious sanctity, i.e. he is a Muslim (e.g. some of the kings and sultans), in which case it will be scrutinized like a religious ruling. This is only when such a judgment has academic benefit. If such research will yield no positive results or even unpleasant results, it should be avoided and time should not be wasted.

This universal maxim is also applied to the lives and stories of the scholars. Caution will be applied when a report will lead to passing a religious judgement, which is illustrated in the expressions of narrator criticism vis-à-vis the Hadīth transmitters. All other reports, like the aforementioned story of al-Bukhārī, words of wisdom, mention of their oeuvre, and descriptions of their libraries, etc., will not be scrutinized as thoroughly. Rather, the relevant standard of assessment will be applied, taking into consideration what is reasonable, the reliability of the transmitter (or source and author), and other factors that accompany the report. In addition, the expected outcome of such assessment should be weighed. This is a summary of my take on evaluating historical reports. And Allah knows best.

(Al-‘Awnī, Naqd Asānīd al-Akhbār al-Tārīkhiyyah in Idā’āt Bahthiyyah, pp.143-153)

[1] If the transmission of this quote is accurate, then Yūsuf ibn al-Husayn al-Rāzī learned this from his teacher, the renowned ascetic, Dhū al-Nūn al-Misrī, who was asked, “What is the chain of transmission for a wise saying?” to which he replied, “Its existence.” See Abū Nu‘aym, Hilyat al-Awliyā’, vol.9, pp.377-378.

[2] Refer to Muhammad ibn Sallām al-Jumahī’s (d. 231 AH) discussion on the methods of critiquing the various sciences, arts, and disciplines and the need to consult the specialists of each field in Tabaqāt Fuhūl al-Shu‘arā’, vol.1, pp.7-4. An interesting statement is reported from Yahyā ibn Sa‘īd al-Qattān, “Transmitters of poetry are more perceptive than Hadīth transmitters because the latter [unknowingly] narrates much forgeries while the former immediately detects a forgery [in poetry] upon reciting it. See Abū ‘Alī al-Qālī, Dhayl al-Amālī, vol.3, p.105. To asses this report according to the Hadīth methodology, it is narrated from al-Qālī from Muhammad ibn Abī al-Azhar from al-Zubayr ibn Bakkār; Muhammad ibn Mazīd ibn Abī al-Azhar al-Nahwī is a liar and fabricator according to the Hadīth scholars and linguists (like al-Marzubānī). See Lisān al-Mīzān, vol.7, pp.500-2.

Taken from ahadithnotes.com

By Shaykh Muhammad ‘Awwāmah

Translated by Muntasir Zaman

Name and lineage

He is the Imām, prolific Hadith memorizer, and authority, Jamāl al-Dīn Abū Muhammad ‘Abd Allāh ibn Yūsuf ibn Yūnus Ibn Muhammad al-Zayla‘ī[1] al-Hanafī, one of the leading Hadīth experts of the 8^thcentury, which brimmed with experts of Hadīth who revived the path of the earlier scholars vis-à-vis memorization, scope, and analytics. Biographers disagree on his name and his father’s name: is it ‘Abd Allāh ibn Yūsuf or Yūsuf ibn ‘Abd Allāh? The first opinion is more preferred, and Allāh knows best.[2]

Birth

Biographers have not specified the year of his birth, and neither have I come across any information to specify it either, but it is, nonetheless, safe to provide a rough estimation. Hāfiẓ al-Suyūtī writes, “the place of his entry is in the following generation. I mentioned him earlier only because his demise was earlier.” The “following generation” referred to in the quotation is the generation of Hāfiẓ Ibn Rajab (736-795 AH), Ibn Musallam (724-792 AH), Ibn Sayyid al-Nās (729-792 AH), and others. It is therefore not farfetched to assume that Hāfiẓ al-Zayla‘ī was born in the vicinity of 720 AH. A further indication of this estimation is that Hāfiẓ al-‘Irāqī would accompany him in research while sourcing the hadīths of al-Ihyā, and they would even assist one another; al-‘Irāqī was born in 725 AH.[3]

In Nasb al-Rāyah, al-Zayla‘ī frequently quotes Ibn Daqīq al-‘Īd’s al-Imām, and in each case, he mentions “the Shaykh said” and not once does he say “our Shaykh said.” Ibn Daqīq al-‘Īd passed away in 702 AH in Cairo, al-Zayla‘ī’s hometown. Furthermore, in several places he quotes al-Sarūjī, who passed away in Cairo in 710 AH, and Ibn Sayyid al-Nās, who passed in 724 AH, from his ‘Uyūn al-Athar; not once does he refer to them as “our Shaykh.” However, he frequently quotes Hāfiẓ al-Mizzī (d. 742 AH) and Hāfiẓ al-Dhahabī (d. 748 AH) and refers to them as “our Shaykh.” To the best of my knowledge, Hāfiẓ al-Mizzī was the first of his teachers to pass away.

Teachers

Al-Zayla‘ī acquired knowledge from the senior scholars of Fiqh and Hadīth in his time.

The following are some of his teachers in Fiqh: (1) Imām Fakhr al-Dīn ‘Uthmān ibn ‘Alī al-Zayla‘ī (743 AH), the commentator on al-Kanz, one of the most authoritative texts in Hanafi jurisprudence. Hāfiẓ al-Zayla‘ī quotes him in Nasb al-Rāyah and describes him as “Imām Fakhr al-Dīn.” (2) Shams al-Dīn Muhammad ibn Ahmad Ibn ‘Adlān (d. 749 AH), described by Ibn Fahd as the Shaykh of the Shafi‘īs. (3) Shihāb al-Dīn Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Qays al-Ansārī (d. 749 AH), the jurist of Cairo and Alexandria. (4) Bahā’ al-Dīn ‘Abd Allah ibn ‘Abd al-Rahmān Ibn ‘Aqīl (d. 761 AH), the commentator on Alfiyyat Ibn Mālik.

The following are some of his teachers in Hadīth: (1) Imām Abū al-Hajjāj al-Mizzī (d. 742 AH), the teacher of the Hadīth experts of his time, who al-Zayla‘ī quotes in Nasb al-Rāyah on a number of occasions. (2) Imām Shams al-Dīn al-Dhahabī (d. 747 AH). Al-Zayla‘ī repeatedly cites his book, Mizān al-I‘tidāl, and at times even critiques him. (3) Imām ‘Alā’ al-Dīn al-Māridīnī (d. 750 AH), who al-Zayla‘ī quotes frequently, but critiques every time.

Acquaintance with, and praise in, the field of Hadīth

Al-Zayla‘ī developed a deep acquaintance with the field of Hadīth and frequently consulted the relevant books. He collected popular and rare, classical and new – relatively – Hadīth works until he developed proficiency in the science. He managed to locate hadīths other experts in the field were unable to locate; Nasb al-Rāyah is a clear testimony to this.

While enumerating those who wrote takhrīj works on al-Hidāyah, the learned Hadīth expert Qāsim [ibn Qutlūbughā] (d. 879 AH) describes al-Zayla‘ī as “the most expansive in scope and wide-ranging in collection.”[4] The erudite scholar al-Laknawī (d. 1304 AH) writes, “His takhrīj work is indicative of his depth in the field of Hadīth and narrator criticism, and his encompassing vision in the branches of Hadīth to the highest extent.”[5] The teacher of our teachers, the authoritative expert, Shaykh Muhammad Zāhid al-Kawtharī (d. 1371 AH) writes, “His takhrīj works bear testimony to his depth and expansive scope in the disciplines of Hadīth in terms of commentary, narrator criticism, texts, and routes.”[6] The Imām of this era, Shaykh Anwar Shāh al-Kashmīrī (d. 1352 AH) went as far as saying, “In my opinion, Hāfiẓ al-Zayla‘ī has better memory than Hāfiẓ Ibn Hajar.”[7] This is the opinion of Shaykh al-Kashmīrī, and Allāh knows best.

Works

His works are few in number. This is possibly because he lived a short life. Despite this, the written legacy he left behind is a sufficient source of provision and pride. The biographers mention only two books, and I came across a third.

The first is al-Is‘āf bi Ahādīth al-Kashshāf where he sourced the hadīths of al-Zamakhsharī’s Tafsīr al-Kashshāf. In Nasb al-Rāyah, he expressly mentions this book with the aforementioned title, and in several places, he alludes to it without naming it. That he mentions the book in the first volume of Nasb al-Rāyahdemonstrates that it is an earlier work, or alternatively, he began writing both books simultaneously.

In his annotation on al-Maqāsid al-Hasanah, our teacher, the learned Hadīth scholar, Shaykh ‘Abd Allāh al-Siddīq al-Ghumārī describes this work as “a beneficial and lengthy takhrīj work.” This is the description of one who is well versed with its contents, because he was in possession of a manuscript of the book. I wrote to him, requesting that he describe the book, so he replied (may Allāh reward him):

I have a copy of the takhrīj of the hadīths in al-Kashshāf. It is in one volume and does not have a preface. The author exhausted all the prophetic hadīths in al-Kashshāf, but left out many Companion reports because his primary focus was to source the prophetic hadīths. He does not pass a judgment on the authenticity, soundness, or weakness of a hadīth unless he quotes someone else. My copy of the book is new, and in the Egyptian National Library there is a good quality, antique manuscript.

Hāfiẓ Ibn Hajar summarized this book ­– just as he summarized al-Zayla‘ī’s takhrīj on the hadīths of al-Hidāyah – entitled al-Kāf al-Shāf bi Takhrīj Ahādīth al-Kashshāf. In 1354 AH, Mustafā Muhammad publishing house printed the book alongside Tafsīr al-Kashshāf under the guidance of our teacher, the prolific Hadīth memorizer, Shaykh Ahmad al-Siddīq al-Ghumārī.

The second book is Mukhtasar [summation of] Ma’ānī al-Āthār by Imām al-Tahāwī. While discussing the scholarly activity surrounding Sharh Ma‘ānī al-Āthār, ‘Allāmah al-Kawtharī mentions this and writes, “Hāfiẓ al-Zayla‘ī is also among those who summarized the book. His summary is preserved in Ruwāq al-Atrāk library (in Azhar) and Köprülü Library in Istanbul.”[8] The third book is Nasb al-Rāyah li Ahādīth al-Hidāyah, which will be studied in detail shortly [not translated here], with the help of Allāh.

Academic honesty

Many biographers note a noble academic trait that was pronounced in al-Zayla‘ī: impartiality and the abandonment of madhhab fanaticism. While describing al-Zayla‘ī and his book Nasb al-Rāyah, Hāfiẓ Ibn Hajar writes, “In every chapter, he cites the evidence of the opposition, and in so doing, he exhibits a great deal of fairness. He quotes what he finds without objection…”[9] ‘Allāmah al-Kashmīrī traces the cause of al-Zayla‘ī inculcating this trait to the fact that he was from “the Sūfī mentors whose souls were trained through spiritual exercises and seclusion…”[10]

This trait is manifest in Nasb al-Rāyah. The author was rooted in the Hanafī legal school and then cross-pollinated his knowledge by studying under Ibn ‘Adlān, the teacher of the Shāfi‘ī jurists, and others besides him. Furthermore, he was deeply influenced by al-Imām of Ibn Daqīq al-Īd, who was a Mālikī and Shāfi‘ī scholar, and by Ibn al-Jawzī’s al-Tahqīq and Ibn ‘Abd al-Hādī’s al-Tanqīh, both of whom were Hanbalī scholars.

While we are at it, it is important to clarify that some people are surprised by al-Zayla‘ī’s abandonment of madhhab fanaticism in light of his repeated usage of the phrase “the hadīths of the khusūm (opposition)” whereby he intends the hadīths adduced as proof by the other legal schools; he calls them the khusūm! How does one reconcile the two? The answer is the word khasm is not used as per the common parlance of the general masses, i.e. the enemy or similar usages. In this context, it is in reference to those disagreeing on a given topic. Here is the quote from al-Qāmūs al-Muhīt under the roots khā’, ṣād, and mīm, “Al-khusūmah: debate…a khasim person – on the scale of farih – is a debater.” As such, the intent of al-Zayla‘ī’s statement “the hadīths of the khusūm” is the hadīths of those who hold an opinion contrary to the Hanafīs – it does not mean the hadīths of the enemies! Hence, correct understanding is integral.

Demise

In the closing of al-Zayla‘ī’s entry, Ibn Fahd writes, “He (Allāh have mercy on him) passed away on the 11^thof Muharram in 762 AH” and that was in Cairo. No one specified the location of his grave.[11] Based on the estimation I postulated for the year of his birth, he lived for 40 years. Allāh have mercy on us, him, and all the Muslims.

[1] Al-Zayla‘ī is an attribution to Zayla‘ from the port cities of Ethiopia [present day Somalia]. A group of scholars are attributed to this place. Most prominent among them are two: the scholar under discussion and his teacher Fakhr al-Dīn al-Zayla‘ī (d. 743 AH), the commentator on al-Kanz.

[2] The following scholars have preferred the former opinion: Hafiẓ Ibn Hajar in al-Durar al-Kaminah(2:417), Ibn Fahd and al-Suyūtī in their respective addendums on Tadhkirat al-Huffaẓ (pp.128 and 362), al-Suyūtī in his Tabaqāt al-Huffāẓ (p.531) and Husn al-Muhādarah (1:359), and al-Laknawī in al-Fawā’id al-Bahiyyah (pp.229-230 – here he relates the disagreement- and p.237 – here he authenticates the former opinion). That the second opinion (Yūsuf ibn ‘Abd Allāh) is preferred is indicated by the fact that his title is unanimously Jamāl al-Dīn, which predominantly is the title of a person whose name is Yūsuf.

[3] Ibn Hajar, al-Durar al-Kāminah, vol.2, p.417.

[4] Ibn Qutlūbughā, Munyat al-Alma‘ī, p.9.

[5] Al-Laknawī, al-Fawā’id al-Bahiyyah, p.227.

[6] Al-Kawtharī, annotations on Dhuyūl Tadhkirat al-Huffāẓ, p.129.

[7] Al-Kashmīrī, Fayd al-Bārī ‘alā Sahīh al-Bukhārī, vol.1, p.368.

[8] Al-Kawtharī, al-Hāwī fī Sīrat Abī Ja‘far al-Tahāwī, p.33.

[9] Introduction to Nasb al-Rāyah, pp.6-7, quoting Tabaqāt al-Tamīmī.

[10] Al-Kashmīrī, Fayd al-Bārī, vol.1, p.107 in the footnotes.

[11] Ibn Fahd, Dhayl Tadhkirat al-Huffāẓ, p.130.

By Bilal Ali Ansari

It is January 3rd, 2023 (10th of Jumada al-Thani, 1444 AH). Mortality’s cloud has obscured a peerless source of compassion and service from our eyes. For seventy-six years, this archetype of feminine virtue illuminated the world with her blazing light. Now a sizable crowd patiently waits under dark skies and a cold, steady rain as her body’s final resting place is prepared. It is shortly after noon, but the sun is hidden behind gray clouds. The mood, like the sky, is deservingly dreary. 

Mawlana Ahsan Syed, waiting amongst a closely huddled mass of men, reminds me in his distinctively gentle tone of the spectacle we witnessed fifteen years ago, when Shaykh al-Hadith Mawlana Muhammad Naeem (or Abba Ji), the father-in-law of the now deceased, had his own funeral. Mawlana Ahsan refers to the scene of hundreds of worshippers clothed in sunnah dress marching towards the cemetery, braving heat and scorching sun, only to be met with torrential rain, moments after the last handful of dirt was placed on his grave. I am reminded of the reflections I composed about that day: taking a lesson from the sky’s furious complaint, witnessing the signs in the heavens, and the sinking reminder to appreciate a worthy soul before they depart from this world.¹ 

I stare downward at the grave being dug, trying to avoid my thoughts of indescribable loss as much as the pummeling rain. Much as fifteen years ago, I am gripped by the harsh reality that we do not pay attention to blessings until they are snatched from us, perhaps not even then. My graveyard companions are some of best people I know, but their presence barely softens the blow of my loss:

But when the bitter hour is gone,

And the keen throbbing pangs are still,

Oh, sweetest then to couch alone

Upon some silent hill!…

For what to man the gift of breath,

If sorrow be his lot below;

If all the day that ends in death

Be dark with clouds of woe?

– Lewis Carroll²

Abbā Jī’s grave is nearly adjacent to the one being dug up now. It is the grave of his daughter-in-law, Rafat Saleem, my maternal grandmother (nani) through marriage, and arguably the saintliest woman I have ever known. A single plot is left unoccupied between the two. My gaze falls on the recently-deceased’s husband of six decades, Qari Abdullah Saleem, who just shared a tearful recollection of his wife’s extraordinary qualities before the janazah prayer. He spoke of her unparalleled sincerity, tireless service, dutiful worship, and spiritual vision. My gaze is fixed on his face, his loosely tied white turban, long flowing beard, and saddened eyes as he lovingly describes his devout partner of half of a century. Near the end of the brief eulogy, however, his stirring recollection of  Nani having once prayed to be taken from this world before him brings me to tears and I am forced to avert my gaze. He recalls how when he responded to her duʿā with the same prayer, she had offered symbolic proof for why she deserved precedence: on their wedding day so many decades ago, her carriage (doli) had preceded him in the procession by a dozen or so yards. By analogy, she claimed, she deserved to precede him in life’s  ceaseless procession to the grave.

How bittersweet, this victory! 

When the verdict is goodbye,

Both consequences of glum debate

On who’s the first to die.

After the funeral, I revisit the piece I wrote about Abba Ji, titled “When the Skies Wept”, and find motivation to pen some thoughts about my Nani. Both personalities were priceless, rare gems buried in our midst. Both would be done a great injustice if their legacies were forgotten and their extraordinary lives were not recorded in the annals of history. 

Of course, I recognize that there are countless others more deserving – more knowledgeable relatives, more scholarly blood progeny – to document Nani’s life and biography. Nevertheless, my desire is intense that the world should know her, should hear her stories, should remember her, and should never forget her. I realize that the task is tall. I generally struggle to find the right words to describe great people, especially the sentiments they have produced in me. Words can carry thoughts but miserably fail to convey feeling accurately. 

This brief memoir, then, is primarily a reminder for myself and my children. I hope they will cherish and preserve these written words and use them to supplement what may grow into quickly fleeting mental images. Second, I pray that some of these memories may benefit a community that Nani cared so much about, a community that is still so direly in need of accessible commemorations of the exemplars and beau idéals of their time.

Her given name was Rafat, a fitting name that denotes one who is “elevated” or “exalted” in Arabic. She was born on January 3rd, 1947 C.E. (10th of Safar, 1366 A.H.). She was raised by a well-born, cultured father, Khalil al-Rahman Siddiqi, a descendant of the first Caliph Abu Bakr al-Siddiq, may Allah be pleased with him, and a pious, noble woman Masuda Khatun, a lineal daughter of the third Caliph ‘Uthman b. ‘Affan, may Allah be pleased with him. Her paternal grandfather (dada) knew her as Zayb al-Nisa’ (The Ornament of Women), a title she embodied throughout her life.³ 

She was one of eleven children: one sister died in childhood, ten lived to adulthood, and seven of whom are still alive. She was the oldest, after her a sister Qaysar (who died many years ago), then Anis al-Rahman (a brother who passed away only five months prior), then her sisters Kishwar and Nighat (the latter who passed away in 2012), then her brothers Khurshid (who lives in Madinah), Rahat, and Jamshid (both brothers who live in Deoband, India), and then the youngest sisters Zinat and Nusrat. I was not fortunate enough to have met her entire family, but those who I did, such as Khurshid Mamu who lived a few blocks from the Prophet’s Masjid (al-masjid al-nabawī) in Madinah and graciously hosted me when I traveled there for ḥajj and ʿumrah trips, always reflected the same kindness and exemplary character that was Nani’s hallmark.

Her father, Khalil al-Rahman Sahib, was a government official in charge of keeping records of the ownership of land and its tilling. His own mother was Hakim al-Ummah Mawlana Ashraf ‘Ali Thanwi’s first cousin. Khalil al-Rahman was also the maternal uncle (or mamu) of Mawlana Qari Muhammad Tayyib Sahib (grandson of Hujjat al-Islam Mawlana Qasim Nanotwi), may Allah be pleased with them all. When Qari Tayyib Sahib visited Nani’s father’s home on Eid days, he would be sure to proudly emphasize this familial link. 

Nani’s mother was also from a celebrated family of Deoband. She was from the progeny of Dar al-‘Ulum’s first teacher, Mulla Mahmud Deobandi, about whom it is said that the Dar al-‘Ulum in Deoband began with two Mahmuds studying under a pomegranate tree: Mulla Mahmud Deobandi, the first teacher, and Shaykh al-Hind Mahmud Hasan, the first student. Having observed Nani’s mannerisms over the last fifteen years, I can not say that I find Nani’s connection to these exceptional, celebrated personalities altogether surprising. Her humility, modesty, and unostentatiousness is a vestige of the spiritual and intellectual giants from whose lineage she hails.

My late mother, may Allah have infinite mercy on her, was one of a score of religious ladies in the community who was able to recognize Nani’s nobility from her sublime mannerisms, character, and piety alone. They did not know that she was born into a family of the spiritually and scholarly elite or that she shared the blood of the noblest Companions since she never boasted about her ancestry. It was only after she died that even some of her closest relatives learned of her lineal connections to Mulla Mahmud, Hadrat Hakim al-Ummah Mawlana Ashraf ‘Ali Thanwi, and Qari Muhammad Tayyib al-Qasimi (may Allah shower them all with His infinite mercy). 

Nani did not receive a formal Islamic education, but she was surrounded by those who had: her father-in-law, husband, children, grandchildren, etc.… Her father-in-law, Mawlana Muhammad Naeem, had in fact studied at the Dar al-ʿUlum in Deoband, by his own volition, for twenty long years and completed every elective offered therein.⁴  Nani had married at the tender age of sixteen and motherhood began not long after. She raised many children and grandchildren throughout her life, but six were directly her own: two older daughters, and then four sons. She insisted on their moral and intellectual education, encouraging them to persist in their studies even when it meant being separated from them for many long years. As a result, they all remain engaged in the field of education, specifically the Islamic, sacred sciences. Her older daughter⁵ administers a girls’ madrasah in Deoband, India and supervises the education of hundreds of young women. Her younger daughter, who holds a degree in the Applied Behavioral Sciences, likewise administers the girls’ madrasah at the Institute of Islamic Education in Elgin, IL. Her four sons: Qari Abdur Rahman Saleem, Mawlana Ubaidullah Saleem, Mawlana Saad Saleem, and Mawlana Sulaiman Saleem, in order of age, are all engaged full-time in teaching the sacred sciences and community service work. The diversity of their skill sets and involvement in so many ventures in Muslim America are testament to her unshaking belief in the potential prosperity and elevation of the Muslim community.

When her children were young, communal strife in the city of Deoband in the early 80’s forced her husband, Qari Muhammad Abdullah Saleem, to emigrate to the United States. Their four sons were still engaged in their hifz or ‘alimiyyah education there at the time, and their care, upbringing, and the supervision of their education was left entirely in Nani’s hands. Due to the value she placed in their education, Nani committed herself to the remainder of her sons’ schooling and pushed them to excel. The unresolved civil unrest amongst other factors kept her husband away for many years, unable to return to India and provide direct support to his family. In the meantime, Nani bore the burden of balancing her childrens’ education, nursing her terminally ill mother-in-law and sister-in-law, and serving her father-in-law at home. She handled all these responsibilities simultaneously and with such excellence that left no room for complaint.

Yet this was only the beginning of a life spent in the service of others. When she eventually joined her husband and migrated to the United States, a foreign land with a strange language and unfamiliar environment, she was immediately thrust into a new set of responsibilities. First, of course, was the domestic responsibility to her spouse, who was himself busy day and night in community service work, teaching, and various other duties. As a result, Nani largely spent the long days alone at home, away from homeland and family, and without support from either direct or extended family. Her children were still in India completing their studies at the time and she had no family connections in the Chicago-land area where they had settled. Instead of taking the opportunity to rest after years of managing a home alone in India, she occupied herself in serving her husband. 

One day, he approached her with a proposal. Considering the dearth of Quran study programs and hifz schools in the States (huffaz had to imported in Ramadan to lead tarawih in those days), he had established a madrasah for the Chicago-land area. However, due to the logistical challenges in purchasing property for a formal school and a desire to begin the noble work without delay, he had begun madrasah operations in the basement of his home. Several families had expressed interest in full-time hifz education, but the children needed a place to stay during the six-day school week, as well as someone to care for them: to cook their meals, nurse them when sick, and clean up after them. 

Before Nani had arrived in the States, Mawlana Abdullah Saleem had been cooking for the children himself in their Palatine home-madrasah.⁶ But when Nani arrived from India, he offered her the following proposal: he would continue to cook and clean since it was his own burden to bear, or she could contribute as well and shoulder the burden of the students’ domestic care. He asked that she not be critical in the case of the former, and that she never complain about the burden of work in the case of the latter, as serving madrasah students had to be done solely for the sake of Allah. Nani unhesitatingly agreed.

Of course, the young children living in her home required constant care. For six days of the week, Nani’s daily routine consisted of waking up early in the morning to cook the students and family breakfast. Once breakfast had been served, she busied herself in preparing their lunch and cleaning, and by the time lunch had been served and cleaned up, she would have to begin preparations for dinner right away. Because the food Nani prepared for family did not suit the blander palates of kids growing up in America, Nani had to cook separate meals for the students than she did with her own family, which occupied most of her day. In between all the cooking and cleaning, students would often visit the kitchen upstairs to grab drinks from the fridge, leaving behind a mess of dishes and cups, the cleaning of which was also left on her shoulders. Sunday was the day off for the madrasah kids, but not for Nani. While the students rested at home, the whole day was spent cleaning the house in preparation for the students’ arrival. By the time she finished, it would already be Sunday evening and the students would be trickling back into the home. The wildly intense daily cycle of cooking, feeding, sweeping, scrubbing for family and students would recommence yet again.

Lo, like a candle wrestling with the night

O’er my own self I pour my flooding tears.

I spent my self, that there might be more light,

More loveliness, more joy for other men.

– Muhammad Iqbal⁷

Eventually, with the gradual arrival of family from India, Nani received help from her children and their spouses. At the same time, their arrival also meant more mouths to feed and more loved ones to worry about, which she did limitlessly. At any one moment, there could have been over a dozen family members living under the same roof as a dozen or so madrasah students. Despite the burden, Nani’s heart held space for them all, and she enjoyed the warmth of family and friends. 

And certainly Allah blessed her with a large, adoring family, all of whom insisted on being with her during her final days: 6 children, 21 grandchildren, and 9 great-grandchildren, in addition to 11 children-in-law and grandchildren-in law.⁸ Despite the disdain amongst modern Farangis for large families, traditional family structures, and numerous children, it is hard to imagine anyone could dismiss the blessing of being surrounded by three dozen devoted and loving family members from three successive generations at the time of death.

If her devotion to her family was exemplary, then her  intellectual and spiritual pursuits were even more shockingly inspirational, for Nani was as committed to improving herself as she was to service and family. Despite the informality of her early intellectual and spiritual education, or perhaps because of it, she was habitually engaged in reading Islamic literature and various forms of ritual worship. I rarely saw her except that she was busy in salat, dhikr, tilawah, or some type of study when not serving others. She read whatever was accessible: stories of the prophets, biographies of the ‘ulama, even the Urdu newspapers. She considered her education inadequate due to the informality of her schooling, but her internalization of knowledge in the form of prophetic behavior and mannerisms meant that she was more cultured, refined, and educated than she perhaps ever realized. She could recall Quranic content better than many huffaz; if a hafiz relative struggled to locate a verse or concept in the Quran from memory, she was often effortlessly and immediately able to give reference to its chapter. In utter testament to her curiosity, I found her on several occasions in her later years poring over a grammar book in a humble attempt to pick up a new language. 

She had a dagger-sharp memory, especially when it came to personal histories. Her ability to accurately recall dates and names, even of people long-deceased, was remarkable. Often the names of community members, especially those my age, would come up in conversation and I would try to explain their familial relations to her, only to feel silly when she admitted that she knew the person well and wasn’t in need of a reintroduction. Nani remembered not only the people in question, but the names of their children, spouses, parents, and other significant relatives. I often marveled at how either she was able to recall family trees and lineal connections off the top of her head or they were just on the tip of her tongue, a clear attestation to her Siddiqi roots.⁹ Her tender, jamali temperament was equally testament to her Siddiqi nature. I can claim, without accusation of hyperbole, that I never saw her upset with anyone except when they violated another person’s rights. Her character was prophetic and emanated from her very core; even her displeasure was selfless.

As a daughter of the most modest of Companions, ‘Uthman b. ‘Affan, may Allah be pleased with him, Nani’s remarkable chasteness was also unsurprising. Guarding her innocent virtue was perpetually at the forefront of her mind. It didn’t matter how many reassurances she was given that no one could see her through the windows, she insisted on erring on the side of caution and shutting the blinds completely. For her, there was no compromise on matters of decency and morality. 

She sat ceremoniously upright with her feet together, never drawing a knee over another or crossing her legs even after long hours of sitting with guests. I was often tempted to lean over, put my feet up, or lie on my back in her presence because of how comfortable she made you feel in her presence, only to resist because of how I never saw her do the same. She was either sitting in respectful form or fetching refreshments for her guests. When she sat with me, she gave me her full attention and seemed genuinely interested in what I had to share. She never interrupted others, even her juniors, and she listened more than she spoke. Listening was her forte. Yet when she spoke, her advice was direct and appropriate. 

She dressed “properly”, with a degree of regal formality that made one think that perhaps she was expecting a guest at any moment. Even in old age she chose to wear relatively formal clothing at home. She would urge my wife to similarly keep a habit of wearing some jewelry in the house. She applied a most pleasant scent, a unique one that I have not been able to yet trace, that inexplicably and unfailingly followed visitors home. Any time my children visited their Bari Nani without me, no matter the length of the visit, I was able to smell the sweet fragrance of her cozy home on them for hours. During covid social distancing days, I once forgot to bring my own prayer mat to Jumu‘ah prayers and so she gifted me her own, insisting that I take it home with me instead of just borrowing it, and I was able to smell the same pleasant odor on it every time I prostrated on it for nearly a year.

Her selflessness and uninhibited generosity remind me of her Companion forebears. Like Abu Bakr and ‘Uthman before her, Nani’s philanthropy was unhesitant and indiscriminate. She gave to others without a second thought. We could not leave her house empty-handed. It didn’t matter how often we visited and for how long. Without fail, we returned home from visits with bags full of snacks, fruits, and meals. She stocked her pantry with foods that she knew her grandchildren and great grandchildren preferred and paid particular attention to their likes and dislikes. On top of that, she was often gifting food that had been specially prepared for her due to her specific dietary needs, of which there were several due to poor health in her later years. Her gluten-free handmade rotis were regular guests of our fridge and some of her low-spice vegetable salans are still in our freezer, along with boxes of dates and water that she had blessed with recitation of the Quran. Her generosity with us was so unreal that I was often ashamed to visit for fear that she would empty out her stock again. Despite being incredibly weak in her final months, she burdened herself to get up and provide us something to eat every time we visited. I once tried to tell her that if she kept insisting on showering these gifts on us it would make it difficult for us to maintain regular visits due to the embarrassment. To no one’s surprise, she simply responded with a warm smile and persisted in her expressions of generosity. If she was ever stubborn, it was in her benevolence and compassionate love. 

Her temperament and character, like her personal preferences, were prophetically moderate. In diet, she ate moderately in amount and in taste. She did not eat spicy food and had little tolerance for heavy peppers. She ate what was both available and tolerable to her, and selflessly insisted that others not go out of their way to cater to her dietary needs, even though she accepted assistance from family when it was provided. If she could not tolerate the food, she simply abstained from eating the meal, or ate very little of it. She ate to sustain herself, not for enjoyment and rarely to her fill, but urged others to eat more even when they had satiated themselves. 

A common expression we used with Nani was the abrupt “nahi Nani…” to her usual insistences. We argued with her about nearly every kindness she displayed. “Nahi Nani, we just ate before we came.” “Nahi Nani, we are comfortable. The temperature is fine”. “Nahi Nani, we already have so much at home. Please keep the food for yourself.” Over the years, I gave up on trying to dissuade her from her regular formalities, such as the refreshments she often presented that were usually reserved for irregular guests. I tried to visit her on Fridays after Jumu‘ah on weeks that I didn’t have to lead the prayer myself. I would visit her before heading out to visit my mother’s grave at the nearby cemetery, which I used as an excuse to make my visits relatively short so as not to burden her. Most recently, I sat with her for several hours, which was unusual because usually some family member or the other would visit in the afternoon. However, this Friday in particular no one interrupted our conversation, so I carried on asking her personal details about her life, her first years after emigrating to the States, stories of some of the pious people she knew, etc… until I realized that if I didn’t head out immediately, I would miss my chance to visit the cemetery, which closes at dusk in the winter months. I wonder now if I had interrupted her daily litanies, of which she had many, since she gave me no impression of being burdened by my visit during those hours. She was as generous with her time as she was with her possessions.

If ever and whenever the thought occurred to us to repay her in kind, we were inevitably humbled by her superior kindness. On one of many occasions, my wife loaded the car with a couple bags of food especially purchased for her grandparents. My wife knew that they would not likely accept the gifts without objection or remuneration. To no one’s surprise, when my wife returned home that evening she came carrying double the amount of food we had gifted them.  They give preference over themselves, even if they too are in poverty. (al-Ḥashr 59:9) Wa yu’thiruna ‘ala anhusihim wa law kana bihim khasasah.

Nani was a remarkably humble, unassuming, genial, and hospitable person. Her humility was borderline self-deprecating. She did not boast of her lineage or family connections. Her own close family members only learned of her connection to the noble scholars after she died. She never spoke of her charitable deeds or hospitality to anyone. Again, much of her philanthropic work, especially with family members, became known only after she passed away. When she traveled to India to visit relatives, she made it a habit to visit near and distant relatives and provide charitable support where it was needed. 

I am certain that any attempt to exhaustively cover Nani’s innumerable noble qualities would fail, and so I must therefore be satisfied, beyond this point, to highlight and reiterate some of her most distinguishing qualities. My wife’s recent reflections on her Nani’s ideals perhaps best capture these virtues, what she may call “her inner essence”. During her final illness, when Nani was admitted into the hospital, my wife shared a keen observation about her while sitting at her bedside and observing Nani’s primary concerns despite the intense pain she must have been enduring at the time. As my wife describes, Nani was entirely focused on three things, even in the hospital. She wrote: 

She’s so concerned about purdah right now too. [She] doesn’t want her head uncovered for even a moment… What embodies Nani is being the ultimate mother figure, ‘ibadah, and purdah. That basically sums her up. 

To contextualize this observation and help readers appreciate the significance of her concern, I must note how incredibly tolerant Nani was of pain. Despite a long bout with cancer, she didn’t start any potent pain medication until her last several days. My mother, may Allah have mercy on her, who suffered from cancer and died in 2010, once described the severity of her pain as one unlike anything I could relate to, because: “any pain you have experienced is irregular or fluctuates, but mine is sharp and piercing, and it doesn’t go away, even in my sleep”. When I sat with Nani, well before her hospitalization, I could often perceive the intensity of her discomfort from the subtle expressions on her face, although she never vocalized it. Amazingly, even during those moments she would only express concern about my own ailments, and I have no doubt that her concern for my health over her own was genuine. Anyone who knew her could attest to her ability to tolerate pain as long as those around her were in comfort.¹⁰ 

 Epictetus wrote in 90 A.D. that “difficulties are the things that show what men are.” A similar Arabic axiom reads: “In times of hardship the [contents of] men’s mines are revealed.” (‘inda al-shada’id tazhar ma‘adin al-rijal). In Nani’s time of most intense distress, when she would wake from weakness-induced sleep or regain consciousness, her inner reality became brilliantly manifest. Her sole concern was her prayer, her feminine virtue, and other people’s comfort.

Earlier that day, when my wife had texted me about Nani’s concerns, I had asked about her weakening condition, as she had not had nourishment for days and was barely able to stay awake. When she would wake, it was out of concern for her prayers. My wife’s reply was: “She’s praying again, but [I’m not] sure she’s awake. Sometimes she keeps praying until she falls asleep or even does all the movements of salat while sleeping.”  Anyone who knows me well will appreciate how much I enjoy reading the stories of the righteous or how much I like to recall my first hand observations of the many pious people I have met. From my personal observations, I have heard people uttering Allah’s name with every sleeping breath; I’ve heard stories of lovers of the Quran who recited Allah’s Word while under anesthesia; I have known people whose dementia made them forget their children’s names but not the Quran. I must admit that this was the first time that I was able to observe someone trying to offer salats in their sleep, which I believe is altogether implausible unless the concern for duty to Allah emanates from that person’s very core, from every cell in their body. These are people whose entire essence is occupied in the dhikr of Allah. They have merged with the Divine in holy remembrance.

A pious woman in our community, a hidden foundation of feminine righteousness and spirituality herself, related to me recently that when Nani first arrived in the United States, she had seen a dream in which someone told her that “Bhabi enjoys the maqam ‘ahdiyyat”. Not knowing what that meant at the time, she simply let the term “maqam ‘ahdiyyat” linger in her mind. Years later, she came across its definition and explanation in an advanced book of Islamic spirituality. The maqam, or rank, of ‘ahdiyyah (def. relating to the covenant) is reserved for people of the highest level of spiritual achievement. It is the rank of true cognizance of the Unlimited, the Absolute. The one who achieves ʿahdiyyah is someone for whom the Truth has manifested itself.

Abu ‘Abd al-Rahman al-Sulami, in his prosopographical work Dhikr al-Niswa al-Muta‘abbidat al-Sufiyyat, writes about Mu’minah al-Dimashqiyyah, the daughter of Bahlul (the mad ascetic) and one of the most important female gnostics (‘arifat) of her age. She was once asked. “From where did you acquire these spiritual states (ahwal)?” She replied, “By following Allah’s commands according to the sunnah of the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, by magnifying the rights of the Muslims, and by rendering service to the righteous and the virtuous.” These were also Nani’s most distinguishing characteristics and the reasons why I do not doubt that she could have achieved the highest of spiritual ranks. 

Her commitment to ‘ibadat alone testified to her taqwa and her adherence to Allah’s commands. Her punctuality with her salat, both the fara’id and nawafil, was well-known to her family. When she prayed, it was a harmonious blend of divine love and devout reverence, a purposeful but peaceful set of movements offered in the private quarters of her home. She was regular in her daily litanies and adhkar: the durud, istighfar, and third kalimah. It was rare to see her in even social gatherings except that she had a tasbih in her hand busying herself in dhikr. It was such a common sight that we stopped noticing it, until near the end of her life when her daily litanies increased in significant proportion. During those last years, there was hardly a moment when her fingers and tongue were not constantly engaged in dhikr. In her last days on this earth, her fingers constantly grasped her tasbih and only stopped when she lost consciousness. On my last visit, shortly before she lost consciousness for the last time, I noticed her tasbih slip from her hand. My last memory in the hospital with her was of me gently closing her hand around the tasbih to replace her grip, knowing that as soon as she came back around, she would want to continue reciting the kalimah. 

The week she passed away, she reviewed the answers to the three questions that everyone is asked by the angels Munkar and Nakir. She went over them again and again with her family like an anxious student reviewing their grammar lessons. In fact, for as long as I knew her, she was preparing for death in some way or the other, and near the end her preparations intensified. I am sure that she was expecting death even before her cancer diagnosis, but even after the diagnosis and poor prognosis, she didn’t seem unprepared to face it. We didn’t notice the signs of her illness worsening by virtue of any complaint of intensified pain. If we had been adequately perceptive, we may have understood that her condition was worsening based on the intensification in her worship, which she nevertheless observed with characteristic calm.

Every night since my wife was old enough to remember, Nani would quietly recite a routine of the panj surah (five chapters) after the ʿisha prayer: Ya Sin, al-Rahman, al-Waqi‘ah, al-Mulk, and al-Muzammil, and then also Ha Mim al-Sajdah. Her grandchildren remember that while others were asleep, she would place her mushaf on a pillow on the floor and complete her recitation under warm closet light so that the childrens’ sleep would not be disturbed. 

She performed tahajjud (the night vigil prayer) throughout her life, and continued this practice until her last few days, during which she only missed it due to debilitating weakness. She was similarly regular with her chasht (ishraq) and awwabin prayers until she became physically incapable of performing them near the end of her life. If she was ever blessed with even relatively nominal good fortune, she made sure to perform salat al-shukr (the prayer of gratitude), and in times of need she was sure to perform the salat al-hajah (the prayer of need). 

Before she passed, she had taken care of all her obligations to Allah and His creation. She left no debts and owed no one. She had no missed prayers to make up or for which to pay a fidyah. All her missed fasts had similarly been expiated (other than those she couldn’t make up due to terminal illness). When her brother passed away earlier this year, she recited the kalimah 25,000 times. For her own illness, she performed a dhikr of 125,000 kalimahs and stated, “I don’t know if anyone will be able to do it for me. I will do it myself.” 

What I find particularly striking about her ‘ibadah is that in fulfilling her duties to Allah, nothing seemed to interfere with how she fulfilled the rights of others. Devout worshippers often struggle to prevent their worship, or other people, from appearing to weigh heavy on them. Their struggle between balancing the rights of man and Allah is evident. With Nani, I was not able to perceive such a struggle. I never felt like I stood in the way of her duties to Allah. 

A final observation about her noble qualities brings us back to that time of great difficulty during her final illness. Due to her specific cancer and the location of the tumor, she was unable to receive nourishment for many days. The resultant weakness caused her to lose consciousness or fall asleep. However, when she regained consciousness, her first enquiry was usually an expression of concern about those around her. She asked if visitors had been offered water or food, if family had eaten, or if one of her great grandchildren who was in the hospital visiting her was being properly looked after. Her motherly instinct was intense and deep-rooted. Her selflessness was instinctual. As I’ve mentioned earlier, Nani’s selflessness was most evident in her service to others. When she was still in India, her mother-in-law was suffering from a brain tumor, from which she eventually died, and required constant care. Nani nursed her throughout her illness, even staying with her in hospitals in Delhi and Amritsar for three months, sleeping next to her bed on the hard concrete floor. She would go out in the big city to collect groceries by herself, cooking meals using the gas stove under the hospital stairs. She became accustomed to sleeping on hard surfaces such that it became uncomfortable for her to sleep on soft surfaces afterward, and my wife recalls that throughout her childhood she remembers that Nani slept on the floor. After her mother-in-law passed away, Nani took charge of nursing one of her sisters-in-law through terminal illness, not once complaining about the burden of having to care for her in-laws. Qari Abdullah Saleem once told me that he believed that his wife and son, Mawlana Saad Saleem, through serving his own parents, had earned all his opportunities of attaining reward. The latter had patiently served his father, Mawlana Na‘im throughout his illness until he eventually passed away in 2007, and his wife had done the same for his mother. Neither had ever complained, he said, even in the most difficult of circumstances. Nani’s sweet temperament, polite dealings, distinguished demeanor, and incomparable patience thus made her loved by all. She gave no reason to anyone, especially in-laws, to complain. She was the ideal in-law to her husband’s parents and sisters, and of course, her own parents and siblings cherished her dearly. Her sons and daughters-in-law thought of her as their own mother. Her elder son-in-law, Mawlana Nadeem al-Wajidi, wrote about her: “In terms of relationship, she was my mother-in-law, but she was truly more than a mother to me.” 

She worried about her sons-in-law and grandsons-in-law like she worried about her own children. If we ever got sick, she called to ask us about our health and left a list of suggested remedies. She would call my wife and recommend a variety of home remedies or supplications and sent damm water whenever possible. I am certain that a continuous chain of du‘as would begin at the moment she heard I was sick and only ceased when she got news that I had recovered. Without fail, if Nani was on the phone with my wife, there was at least one part of the conversation in which she enquired about my health in particular, not to speak about my children and other family members. She would ask about the health of my parents, brothers, sister, and their children, and if she ever discovered that one of them was ill she would pray for them and remember to ask me about their recovery. 

In the beginning of my marriage, I found it pleasantly quirky that whenever my wife and I left Nani’s house, without family she would call us to enquire as to whether we had arrived safely at home . At first, she would call a bit too early and find that we were still on the way, but after a few trips she would be able to better estimate our expected time of arrival and we then started receiving her check-up calls shortly after entering our front door. My mother-in-law and several other relatives testify to having had this same experience for decades; the former still travels an hour one-way to work daily and mentioned that until recently Nani would check in on her to see if she had arrived home safely after returning from work in the evening.

Nani worried so much about others that we suspect that it was the cause for a variety of significant health issues she suffered from in life. For over twenty years, she suffered from digestion issues, because of which she had discontinued eating meat and spicy food. On formal occasions, such as family get-togethers and community weddings, while others enjoyed a wide variety of delightful foods, Nani would suffice with the simplest dishes, often avoiding the formally-prepared meals altogether. When she was diagnosed with cancer, various forms of treatment were suggested, some of which placed many more restrictions on her: no gluten or lactose. 

Her dietary restrictions made me particularly sad, as my wife and I thoroughly enjoyed her cooking. Although she wasn’t particularly fond of the culinary arts, she was an incredible cook. She made simple dishes, but they were tasty. One such dish that my wife and I particularly enjoyed was her tahari, a yellow-rice and potato dish that contains only a handful of ingredients. She cooked, like she ate, out of need and not pleasure. She was efficient with her schedule and didn’t waste time or energy on culinary pleasures. Nevertheless, she spent so much of her life occupied in cooking for family, students, and guests. Nani cooked and catered to people’s preferences so well that, growing up, my wife assumed that she was passionate about cooking. It was later in life that she realized that Nani’s efficiency in relation to preparing and serving food was purely economical. She didn’t care for the pleasures of the tongue, nor for expensive clothing, jewelry, cars, homes, or other material pleasures. If there was anything she was passionate about after taking care of her family, it was her self-improvement and making up for lost time spent away from formal learning.

My wife fondly remembers how as a young girl her grandmother would nurse her when she was sick. She would make her soft-boiled eggs and give them to her with warm milk and honey. For coughs, she warmed up honey with crushed black pepper and fed it to her with a spoon. For fevers, she gave her warm saffron milk. For gut and general dietary health, she prepared ispaghol, a dietary fiber, in a mixture of milk and sugar in just the right amount to make it enjoyable to consume and put one straight to sleep. She occasionally took a spoon of khamira for general health. She was not a reductionist in her home remedies. She preferred natural medicines, the type that is common in yunani or ayurvedic treatments, but wasn’t averse to using allopathic medications as well. She additionally took great care to incorporate spiritual treatments into healing, reading du‘as on oil for hair maintenance and health, and reciting Quran on damm water.  

The pious lady of the community who recognized Nani’s spiritual rank from a dream related to me that she once saw Nani’s calloused hands, which she described as having “holes” in them due to her constantly serving the madrasah children. When she appealed to Nani to show herself more mercy, Nani replied, “How can I let them be on their own for even a minute when someone is bound to end up with a broken nose!” Aunty asked, “Even students of the Qur’an?” Nani replied, “Shaytan attacks students of the Qur’an more than others.”

Nani rigorously maintained her relationships with the circle of ladies she knew in the community. My mother was one of many women in the community who Nani stayed in contact with by phone. Many of the noble ladies made it a habit to perform their Jumu‘ah or Eid prayers nearby so that they could visit her afterward. Despite her physical distance from India, she was also in constant contact with her acquaintances in Deoband. Throughout the week, she would both make and receive so many calls from relatives and in-laws in India and Saudi Arabia, that it was as if she was talking to someone down the road: siblings, in-laws, their children and grandchildren, their in-laws, etc… If she heard that someone was ill, she would enquire into their health and supplicate for their quick recovery. Her concern for others’ health was astonishing. She would remember if I had ever gotten sick or even had a headache weeks later. I can’t recall how many times she would ask me about my recovery from an ailment that I had myself long forgotten about. If she ever learned of a relative in India falling ill, she would be sure to call them regardless of whether they were close relatives or distant in-laws. She was often the first to call for condolences, even with family abroad. When she visited Deoband, she went out of her way to inquire into the condition of her childhood friends, neighbors, and even the workers in the area she knew. If anyone was in financial need, she helped them out without hesitation and listened to their problems. When people came to her for help, they could rest assured that they would not leave her place empty-handed. Several acquaintances in India, while communicating their condolences, complained that now that Nani was gone, they didn’t know how they would be able to take care of their finances.

Unsurprisingly, she had nearly everyone’s numbers memorized. Her memory was remarkable; if she saw a number once she wouldn’t forget it. She remembered not only the person’s name but the names of all their relatives, blood kin, and relatives through marriage: parents, children, grandchildren, uncles, cousins, in-laws, etc… When a name came up in conversation, she was effortlessly able to recall lineages several generations back and knew the names of the family members of the many scholars in Deoband by heart. Often, I thought to document these connections because I don’t believe many of the family relationships are recorded elsewhere, but the opportunity escaped me and I don’t remember most of what she shared. Her knowledge of the womenfolk in Deoband was perhaps most notable, as their histories are often overlooked in written works, as well as her knowledge of how the many scholarly families in Deoband are interlinked through marriage.  

Whatever limited funds she possessed she gave away. She always had some money put away for the poor, and she would request travelers to take some with them if they were visiting the Haramayn to distribute amongst the needy. Her giving didn’t stop even when she passed. Shortly before her demise, she had instructed her family to distribute a sum of money that she had put aside in her home for charity. Even after death, her charitable giving lived on. When we traveled for Hajj or ‘Umrah, where others would give us money to purchase clothes or other personal items for them, the only funds Nani gave us was to distribute to the poor. 

She was equally charitable with her time. A dutiful mother and wife, her schedule was dictated by family: her husband, children, and grandchildren. She ate and rested according to their schedule. In fact, she rested very little, as she was constantly being interrupted by visitors and often didn’t get a chance to lie down during the day. Of course, she always reassured visitors that they had not disturbed her rest, but we suspect that she was often interrupted during visits. If she ever rested during the day, it was in the late afternoon. 

In the evenings, she remained awake for guests for as long as they stayed, preferring their convenience over her own. She did not discriminate between guests, even staying up late for her children who often sat with her late into the night. She patiently waited for everyone to leave before beginning her nightly routine of tilawah and salat, even if it meant starting the routine after midnight. Her husband kept to a strict schedule; Nani compromised her time to accommodate it. Empathetic well-wishers may have viewed her sacrifices as “not taking care of herself”, but I appreciate that this “deficiency” in self-care was just another expression of her selflessness. She saw everyone else’s care as her priority.

Nani’s heavenly gift, which she shared generously with others, was her pure and trusting heart. She noticed the good in others. When a person’s shortcomings were mentioned, even in jest, she redirected the conversation towards the person’s praiseworthy qualities or reinterpreted their flaws as strengths. She was full of compliments. My daughters fondly remember that when they visited Nani, it was her habit to compliment them about their good manners or how nicely they were dressed. She wasn’t blind to people’s faults, but her warm-heartedness encouraged others to talk to her freely without fear of judgment or critique. She was genuinely interested in others and listened intently to what they had to share. When I sat with her, I felt such tenderness and calm in my heart that I genuinely enjoyed any time I could spend with her alone, largely because she never let on that my presence was a burden on her. A single glance at her kind face brought a smile to my own and relieved any pain or fatigue from which I was suffering.

When she passed away, Nani owed no debts, of course, since she never borrowed from others. She was a giver, not a taker. The estate she left behind consisted entirely of everyday household items: some clothing, jewelry, prayer beads, etc… I don’t believe she had a bank account or ever kept enough money to justify opening one. Whatever she received she spent and distributed quickly. She was similarly particular about immediately fulfilling any rights to Allah. Even in her old age and throughout her battle with cancer, she constantly worried about making up missed fasts. As a result, when she passed away, she had no missed prayers or fasts to make up other than those she could not have made up due to terminal illness. 

Dutiful, compassionate, and selfless women like Nani seem rarer and rarer these days. More lamentably, the prophetic and feminine ideals she embodied are no longer honored or considered virtuous. Selflessness has been tragically replaced with feminist solipsism. Empowerment is imagined only in serving the self rather than Allah, His faith, and His creation. Compassion is misconstrued as an impediment in the path of progress, and women are taught to shed their modesty and discard chastity if they wish to be successful. 

As I pen these reflections, my thoughts shift to the weeping willow bonsai tree on my kitchen windowsill, my second attempt (both unsuccessful thus far) at caring for a bonsai. Despite having rooted well and grown several fresh branches, it curiously began to wilt around the day that Nani passed away and is now no more than a dried-up cutting. I have little hope that it will survive the winter and have conceded to the timely symbolism of its seemingly inevitable demise. In many traditions, the willow tree is seen as a symbol of feminine compassion and selflessness. The willow tree’s drooping branches and leaves, which hang low to the ground, are thought to evoke feelings of sorrow and empathy, and are often associated with the idea of sacrifice and the ability to endure suffering. Nani was our willow tree. Her sacrifices for family and community bring back memories of one my childhood favorites, Shel Silverstein’s “The Giving Tree”, and its story of contrasting selflessness and selfishness, of the unconditional parental love of a motherly tree for a young boy. The tree loves the boy dearly and expects nothing in return for her love, only wishing for the boy to be happy. It finds its own happiness in the ability to give the boy what he desires: her apples to eat and sell, her leaves and branches to play with, her shade to sit under, her branches to use for wood to make his home and for a boat to sail away on, and her stump for him to rest on in his old age. The only time she is somewhat unhappy is when she offers her wood for him to make a boat, because it will mean that the boy may never come back to her. This lone sacrifice makes her sad. Though the boy loves the tree, he only knows how to take from it; he doesn’t give back or appear to appreciate its sacrifices. The tree, like Nani, is happy despite it all because her key to happiness was the happiness of others. 

Like the willow branch of the dying bonsai before me reminds me of sacrificial giving, it also foreshadows the death of feminine virtue and the rarity of selfless sacrifice. As a child growing up in a town called Willowbrook, I once mentioned to my mother once how ironic it was that there were so few willow trees in the area. Her reply was, “Maybe there were more willow trees here before, or maybe they are special because they are rare.” It is possible that there was a time when God-fearing, noble, and dutiful women like Nani were in more abundance. Now, they seem so much more uncommon in both the Muslim and non-Muslim world. Nani was raised in an uncommon place of piety and learning, Deoband, the city of sages, and in a household of great nobility and civility, yet even amongst such elite she was a rare gem. Her uncommon virtues, which remained largely veiled from the common eye throughout her life, served as the foundation for so much good I see in the world around me. I don’t believe it is an exaggeration to claim that the foundations of the madrasah she served and subsequently all that it produced: hundreds of scholars, huffaz, branch institutions, publications, public programming, the revival of Quran studies, etc… were only possible due to Nani’s sacrifices. While others provided its intellectual sustenance, its spiritual nourishment emanated from her. 

It is said that the most glorious deeds are done without glory. Certainly, this rings true of Nani. No doubt, the many recipients of her favors could fill books with incidents of her service, but no matter how many stories we could share or words we could use to describe what place she holds in our hearts, they would not do her justice or be able to articulate the significance of our loss. 

The worlds know not what they lost in him,

nor kin, of what they’ve been bereft.

The loss of one man is unlike he who

Augured the demise of nations when they left.

– Safi al-Din al-Hilli¹¹ 

We are all destined to depart this temporary abode. For the last twenty years or more, I have been reminded of this harsh reality over and over again. One by one, I have suffered the loss of my elders: my dada (paternal grandfather) in 2000, then my spiritual teacher (Khwaja Khan Muhammad) and mother (Dr. Tallat Anwar Ali) in 2010, then my oldest aunt, dadi (paternal grandmother), nana (maternal grandfather), and nani (maternal grandmother) shortly after. I’ve lost a long list of compassionate and loving teachers, amongst them my intellectual mentor Mawlana ‘Abd al-Halim Chishti and my Arabic teacher Mawlana Shabbir Ahmad Madani, who honored me with tears when we last departed.¹² When Nani passed away, a floodgate of repressed grief suddenly burst, and I’ve been forced to reflect on the great void that these figures have left behind. 

Our generation is losing its elders, its spiritual and intellectual exemplars, its compassionate guides, like all generations do. The haunting reality of having to one day step into their roles, despite our tragic deficiencies, is sufficient motivation for me to spend more time capturing their biographies and chronicling their extraordinary qualities for the coming generations. I appreciate that I am incapable of truly representing them. Nevertheless, we are their legacy, and if we cannot embody their values, we must at least demonstrate that we cherish them and appreciate what they stood for. When we are incapable of upholding virtues, we must at least preserve and disseminate the value that those virtues have in our heart. Such is my simple hope with this brief memoir, that by capturing some elements of Nani’s life I can hope to see some of her values preserved for posterity. 

If we are the inevitable replacements of our elders, I wonder what legacy we will leave behind. One day, others will stand over our own graves, reflecting on their loss. What love will we have planted in their hearts, and what virtues will we leave for them to reflect on? Will we even leave behind any noteworthy virtues at all? It is through prophetic wisdom that we know that when Allah desires to lift knowledge and piety from the world, He elevates the people who embody them to His paradisal Gardens. It is my heartfelt prayer that the elevation of these female paragons to their eternal and blissful abode does not forebode the loss of feminine virtue amongst those who they left behind, and that Allah continues their legacy of righteousness and selflessness through those whose love for them is so deep embedded in the heart. Amin.

قال ملك حفني ناصف ترثي عائشة تيمور:

Melt, O heart; do not be frozen!

Burst forth, O tears; resist no more!

Withhold not from me; be profuse!

For knowledge’s treasure has come to ruin.

Bewildered shall we remain after ʿAʾisha,

As a flock without shepherd in a barren land.

She is lost; yet she lost not her high rank,

[Though] the sun together with its rays does vanish.

She is a protected pearl now in earth’s womb,

as she once was behind the face veil.

A vast sea she was, and never have we heard

of a sea that was buried on a mountainside.

She was for noble causes a prodigious aid,

and to good acts, the best inviter.

A principal agent in outstanding deeds,

Her hand was great in spreading knowledge.

O sun of praises, now passed from our sight, 

You left behind but tears for all who mourn.

O best of women without dispute,

Our paragon, without the least of argument!

You revived allusions to the women of Miṣr,

And renewed a loftiness once discontinued.

You erected lofty edifices of purity,

Fortified like the reinforcement of citadels.

By Mawlana Dr. Mateen A. Khan, Piscataway, NJ

The truthfulness of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ is supported by an overwhelming amount of proof. It is a topic well beyond the capabilities of this writer. However, I will write a few things which will, in shā Allāh, serve as a platform for further reading and thought.

In this article, we return to a statement from an earlier article in this series titled “On Knowledge & Knowing”:

The astute reader will now realize that the deen rests entirely on the shoulders of a single, true transmitter from Allah. He ﷺ was one aided by many miracles, which prove whatever he narrated to us must be true by virtue of divine confirmation of his prophethood.

The strongest rational evidence for his prophethood and truthfulness is his miracles. Simply, miracles (al-mu`jizāt) are events that happen against the laws of physics. In other words, these are events for which no explanation exists other than the Creator causing them to happen. What we witness as nature or physical laws are no more than the customs or Sunnah of Allah. Nothing occurs except that Allah brings it into existence. No object moves or holds still except He wills it. It is through these signs most of us recognize Allah and through which He interacts with His creation moment to moment. When something occurs against the natural norm, we know only Allah could have done so. If this is coupled with a person’s claim to prophethood, it is equivalent to Allah signaling, “This man tells the truth.” We then know his claim to be truthful.

Imams al-Bukhārī and Muslim narrate the Prophet ﷺ said, “There was not a single prophet who was not given a miracle by which people believed in him. I was given [the Qur’an] which Allah revealed to me.” The Qur’an is a miracle unlike any other given before. It is preserved, recited continuously, infinitely deep, perfect in meaning, and eternal. Further, Allah the Exalted states in it, “Falsehood cannot approach it” (41:42) and “Had it been from someone other than Allah, they would have found in it a great deal of discrepancy” (4:82). When Sayyiduna Ja`far ibn Abī Tālib recited Surah Maryam to Najāshī, it affected him deeply. He sent seventy Christian scholars to the Prophet ﷺ who heard Surah Yāsīn and began to cry recognizing it as divine. This occurred then and continues to occur today. For every miracle, two things are needed. First, it is given to one claiming prophethood and clearly incapable of causing the event. Second, his people are invited to bring something like it to establish their helplessness as well. Thus, it becomes clear that the miracle was a divine act.

The Qur’an is a literary masterpiece, and one the Prophet ﷺ was incapable of authoring. He was never trained in language or the literary arts, and he was proudly declared by Allah and the prophets before him as an “ummī”, illiterate. Do not make the mistake of thinking the Qur’an is like other masterpieces. For example, William Shakespeare was a trained master playwright. Yet, his works contain historical and geographical mistakes. They were almost certainly changed as editors applied their discretion in compiling what was passed to them from the memories of actors. Recent analysis of the plays suggests they were not written by him alone, but with help from another. In contrast, the Qur’an is free of any type of error and preserved from change. It came spontaneously from the Prophet without preparation, revision, or practice and has not yet been fully understood or replicated by another, nor can it be. Analysis of the Qur’an from tafsīr and language experts bears witness to its miraculous nature. Every letter of it divine with a source that could only be the spring of prophethood.

More impressive was the reaction of the Prophet’s contemporaries, the Arabs to whom the challenge of the Qur’an was first issued. Allah the Exalted declares, “If you are in doubt about what We have revealed to our Servant then bring a surah similar to this.” (2:23) and “Say [O Prophet], ‘If mankind and the jinn gathered in order to produce the like of this Qur’an, they could not produce the like of it, even if they were to each other assistants’” (17:88). Being experts in their own language, the Arabs alleged it was magic or supra-human assistance. This is an admission of its perfection. For had they noted human error or literary mistakes, they would have pointed that out instead. From its words and syntax to its style and overall system, they found nothing in its over six thousand verses to criticize. Even the Orientalists of today no longer claim the Prophet ﷺ was an imposter looking for some secondary gain and so made up the Qur’an with an alternative motive. Rather, they are only left with alleging he was afflicted by prolonged meditation or a psychiatric disorder. This allegation is easily refuted with a cursory glance at his sīrah and his accomplishments. From the time when the Arabs generally possessed the highest of literary skill and throughout the subsequent fourteen centuries, the challenge of imitating the Qur’an remains unfulfilled. Had even one person done so, the zeal of the non-Muslims would have preserved and propagated it to no end. How could they not have when they have always outnumbered the Muslims. Or, had one person done so, others surely would have as well. Thus, the inability of the claimant to prophethood and his people to produce the Qur’an establishes it as a divine act.

Besides the Qur’an, the Prophet ﷺ was given many other miracles. Some of them manifested in the objects around him. For example, the splitting of the moon, a tree coming closer to him, stones speaking, the yearning of a palm tree trunk, the complaining of a female camel, a cooked sheep informing him of it being poisoned, and the shading of clouds as he traveled. Although most of these events were conveyed to us as single narrations, in their entirety, they convey certainty of the occurrence of miracles by his hand.

His character, too, was proof of his prophethood. For example, when he first received revelation, he returned to his wife, Sayyidah Khadījah, who consoled him, reminded him of his good character, and believed in his prophethood before anyone else. She said, “You keep good relations with your kith and kin, help the poor and the destitute, serve your guests generously and assist the deserving calamity-afflicted ones.” Likewise, his closest friend, Sayyiduna Abū Bakr believed in him without asking for any proof for he had known his character from before. Whenever he saw him in his younger years, he would say, “This one was created for a great cause.” Later, when he came to know of his ﷺ prophethood, he replied, “This is what I hoped for from him.” (Al-Bidāyah) And so a great multitude of narrations continue like this. We all know many people and have read reports about countless others. However, we have never heard of a person like him. These reports lead one to believe such a man was protected by Allah to be perfect in character, inward and outward. When his own people were asked about him, they said, “We have only experienced truth from you.” (al-Bukhārī 4770) Even those in far away lands were drawn by what they heard. When Sayyiduna `Amr ibn al-`Āṣ went to the leaders of Oman, they and their followers accepted Islam based merely on what they had heard of him. Every convert to Islam has followed in the same way. He embodied the most perfect of characteristics throughout his life, never wavering, not in public or in private, not in anger or in joy. He was one of steadfastness, tranquility, nobility, dis-attachment to the world, and a continuous concern for the remembrance of Allah. Even his enemies, despite their animosity and desire to disparage him, were not able to slander him in the least. Muslims and non-Muslims alike have expressed his singularity among mankind. Therefore, it is inconceivable the Creator would have placed such qualities in a man, allowed him to continue preaching for twenty-three years, helped him against his enemies, made his way dominant over all others, and kept alive his teachings after his death until the Day of Resurrection unless he was a His Messenger.

These are merely a couple of the considerations which eliminate any doubt of our Beloved’s ﷺ prophethood. Prompting us, Allah the Exalted states, “O people, the Messenger has come to you with the truth from your Lord. So, believe. That is good for you.” (4:170) When we have come to know this with certainty, then everything the Prophet ﷺ has relayed to us in the form of Allah’s speech and his own is truth binding us in belief and action. It is guidance in its purest form and blessings uncountable. With this last thought, we end Madina’s Our Creed series. In six articles, we have established the importance of `aqīdah, the method of acquiring knowledge, the existence of the Creator, His essential attributes, the need for Messengers, and finally, the prophethood of Muhammad ﷺ. May Allah send His blessings upon His Messenger, our Beloved Muhammad, the best of creation, and upon his family, noble Companions, and all those who have followed them.

[A version of this article was first published in Al-Madania Magazine. The article was taken from enterthesunnah.com]

by Mawlana Haroon Ahmed

Early Life and Background (1114-1143 AH/1703-1762CE):

Shah Waliullah Dehlawi (may Allah be pleased with him), born in 1114 AH (1703 CE) in Phulat, near Muzaffarnagar in Uttar Pradesh, India, came from a distinguished family of the Mughal elite. His grandfather, Shaykh Wajih al-Din, served as a military officer under emperors Shah Jahan and Aurangzeb, known not only for his bravery but also for his piety. Shah Waliullah’s father, Shah Abd al-Rahim, distanced himself from the military and focused on Islamic sciences, contributing to the compilation of al-Fatawa al-Alamgiriyyah, a key legal code under Aurangzeb’s reign.

Some historians say his lineage traces back to Amir al-Mu’minin Umar ibn al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him). Shah Waliullah mentioned that his thirteenth grandfather, named Shams al-Din, came to India at the beginning of the Islamic conquest, settled there, established a school, and assumed the position of mufti. This position has been inherited by his descendant’s generation after generation, indicating that they were a family of knowledge and leaders of guidance.

Early Education and Career:

Shah Waliullah received his early education at al-Madrasah al-Rahimiyyah, founded by his father. By the age of fourteen, he had memorized the Quran and gained proficiency in Arabic and Persian. At fifteen, he was initiated into the Naqshbandi Order. Following his father’s death in 1131 AH (1719 CE), Wali Allah assumed the position of headmaster at the family’s Madrasah-i Rahimiyah, a renowned Islamic seminary in Delhi during his time.

Studies in the Hejaz:

In 1731 CE, Shah Waliullah traveled to the Hejaz for hajj (pilgrimage to Mecca), after which he remained in Mecca and Medina, for about fourteen months, to study under renowned Hadith masters and broaden his intellectual horizons. He studied under scholars like Shaykh Abu Tahir al-Kurdi and Shaykh Taj al-Din al-Qala’i. He obtained ijazahs in the six classical collections of Hadith as well as the Muwatta’ of Imam Malik.

During this time, he saw the forty-seven spiritual visions which form the subject matter of his famous mystical work Fuyud al-haramayn (Emanations or Spiritual Visions of Mecca and Medina) notable entries include visions of Imam Hassan and Imam Hussain giving him a pen symbolizing his inheritance of the Prophet’s knowledge. After making his second hajj, Shah Wali Allah returned home to Delhi in 1144 AH (1732 CE). All but one or two of his works were produced during his later years.

Intellectual and Metaphysical Contributions:

Shah Waliullah’s intellectual legacy is marked by his prolific writings in Arabic and Persian, comprising between fifty to seventy works. His writings span various disciplines, including theology, mysticism, metaphysics, and Quranic exegesis, reflecting his deep engagement with Islamic thought and his effort to synthesize diverse intellectual traditions.

Key Works:

• Hujjat Allah al-Bāligha (The Profound Evidence of Allah): This monumental work addresses metaphysical issues, theological doctrines, and practical aspects of Islamic law and ethics. It demonstrates Shah Waliullah’s systematic approach to integrating Islamic teachings with rational inquiry.
• Fath ar-Rahman (Translation of the Quran): Shah Waliullah’s translation of the Qur’an into Persian, known as “Fath ar-Rahman,” was a groundbreaking effort to make the Qur’an accessible to non-Arabic speaking Muslims in the Indian subcontinent. This was one of the earliest translations of the Qur’an into a non-Arabic language.
• Al-Khayr al-kathir (The Abundant Good): Explores the nature of existence (wujud), epistemology, and the relationship between God and the created universe. It emphasizes the unity of knowledge and religious experience.
• al-Tafhīmāt al-Ilāhiyyah (Divinely Inspired Insights): Offers insights into Islamic mysticism (Sufism) and the inner dimensions of human spirituality. It includes Shah Waliullah’s mystical experiences and interpretations of spiritual states.
• Al-Budur al-bazigha (The Full Moons Rising in Splendour): Discusses the unity of God, the purpose of human existence, and the evolution of religious laws. It reflects Shah Waliullah’s philosophical inquiries into the nature of divine attributes and human responsibilities.
• Izalat al-Khifa’ ‘an Khilafat al-Khulafa’ (Removing the Uncertainty about the Caliphate of the Caliphs): Addresses the concept of caliphate and leadership in Islam. In this book, he delves into the historical, theological, and political aspects of the caliphate, discussing the roles and responsibilities of caliphs and leaders in the Muslim community. The book aims to clarify misconceptions and provide a comprehensive understanding of Islamic governance based on the principles derived from the Qur’an and Hadith.
• Sharh Hizb al-Bahr (Commentary on the Litany of the Sea): Provides an extensive exegesis on Abu al-Hasan al-Shadhili’s well-known supplication, delving into its linguistic details, spiritual significances, and practical applications. Shah Waliullah emphasizes the benefits of regular recitation for spiritual fortification and purification, along with guidance on proper recitation etiquette and intentions. This work showcases his profound grasp of Sufi metaphysics and has played a crucial role in sustaining and spreading Sufi spiritual traditions, particularly in the Indian subcontinent.
• Al-Fauz al-Kabir fi Usul al-Tafsir (The Great Success in the Principles of Quranic Commentary): This is a comprehensive text that outlines the foundational principles of tafsir (Quranic exegesis) according to Shah Waliullah. It covers various aspects of understanding the Qur’an, including linguistic, theological, and contextual considerations. The book serves as a guide for scholars and students of the Qur’an to approach its interpretation systematically and accurately.

Pedagogical Reforms:

Dars-e-Nizami System: Shah Waliullah was educated under the Dars-e-Nizami system, a well-established curriculum in Delhi designed to produce professionals for the Mughal administration. This system emphasized a diverse range of knowledge, including:

• Logic (Mantiq)
• Rhetoric (Balagha)
• Philosophy (Falsafa)
• Theology (Kalam)

Key texts within this curriculum included:

• Hidayah: A seminal text on Hanafi law.
• Jalalayn: A tafsir (commentary) on the Qur’an.
• Mishkat al-Masabih: A comprehensive hadith collection.
• Sharh al-Aqa’id: A text on Islamic theology.

Shah Waliullah made a significant addition to this curriculum by incorporating the study of the six classical collections of Hadith, known as Sihah Sitta, as well as the Muwatta’ of Imam Malik. His intention behind this inclusion was to ensure that the ulema (Islamic scholars) maintained a direct spiritual and scholarly link to the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH).

This connection brought in the ruhāni (spiritual) dimension to the ilmī (knowledge) connection to the Prophet and the aslaf (predecessors). Shah Waliullah believed that knowledge without the Prophet was incomplete, and by including these classical texts, he aimed to enrich the Dars-e-Nizami curriculum with a profound spiritual heritage.

It is widely acknowledged among scholars from various schools of thought that Shah Waliullah played a crucial role in the preservation and revival of Hadith transmission. His efforts ensured that the chains (asānīd) of Hadith remained intact and continued to be transmitted across generations. In fact, most—if not all—of the contemporary chains of transmission for major Hadith collections, such as Sahih al-Bukhari, Sahih Muslim, Sunan Abu Dawood, Jami’ al-Tirmidhi, Sunan al-Nasa’i, and Sunan Ibn Majah, trace back to him. He was instrumental in revitalizing and preserving Hadith transmission, making him a central figure in the continuity of Hadith scholarship. It is often attributed to Shaykh Abdul Fattah Abu Ghuddah (a great Hadith scholar of the 20th century) that if it were not for Shah Waliullah, the chains of Hadith would have died out in both the Arab and Ajam (non-Arab) lands. This statement highlights the immense impact of his efforts.

The Darul Uloom Deoband, the most prestigious Islamic seminary in India, drew heavily on the traditions and curriculum shaped by Shah Waliullah. Deoband follows the educational and methodological approach (manhaj) of Shah Waliullah more closely than the Dars-e-Nizami system. Mawlana Qasim Nanautawi, one of the founders of Darul Uloom Deoband, introduced the concept of written examinations to the curriculum, which had previously relied solely on oral exams. This addition was influenced by his exposure to the standardized educational practices he observed at Delhi College. Nanautawi’s incorporation of written assessments aimed to enhance the academic rigor and standardization of the seminary’s educational program.

Shah Waliullah incorporated his cosmological understanding into his educational reforms. He emphasized the study of metaphysics and cosmology alongside other Islamic sciences in the curriculum of his madrasa. He promoted a holistic approach to education that included spiritual training and intellectual development, ensuring that students could grasp the interconnectedness of the physical and spiritual worlds.

Socio-Political Context and Impact:

Shah Waliullah’s era marked the decline of the Mughal Empire, which faced significant challenges from regional powers such as the Marathas, Sikhs, and Jats. Economically, British colonial interests were encroaching, particularly in Bengal. Socially, there was a growing disconnect from Islamic practices introduced during earlier Mughal reigns. As India teetered on the edge of British colonization, the Mughal Empire was disintegrating, losing control, and increasingly engaging in immoral activities.

Shah Waliullah emerged during this tumultuous period, just before the full establishment of British rule and amidst the decline of the Mughal Empire. His name, Shah, reflects his literal connection to the royal establishment; he and his family were well known within the Mughal dynasty. Witnessing political instability and societal upheaval, Shah Waliullah utilized his intellectual stature and moral authority to actively engage in political discourse. He advocated for Muslim unity and the revival of Islamic governance.

Engagement with the Mughal Administration:

• Advisory Role: Despite the declining Mughal Empire, Shah Waliullah maintained close relations with the ruling class, providing guidance on state, law, and governance matters.
• Critique and Reform: He critiqued the moral and administrative failures of the Mughal rulers and sought to reform both intellectual and practical aspects of governance, ensuring adherence to principles of justice and moral integrity.

His correspondence with political leaders played a crucial role in shaping political alliances and strategies. A significant example of his political influence was his letter to Ahmad Shah Durrani, also known as Ahmad Shah Abdali, urging him to intervene in India to restore Muslim political authority. This intervention culminated in the pivotal Battle of Panipat in 1761, underscoring Shah Waliullah’s role as a political thinker and strategist dedicated to protecting Muslim communities from both external threats and internal discord.

Shah Waliullah’s Cosmological Understanding:

Shah Waliullah’s cosmological understanding was a sophisticated blend of Sufi metaphysics, rational thought, and Islamic theology. His approach emphasized the interconnectedness of all existence and the importance of integrating spiritual insights with rational inquiry. By grounding his cosmological views in the Quran and Sunnah, he provided a comprehensive framework that influenced his educational reforms and socio-political thought.

• Moral and Ethical Order: Shah Waliullah linked his cosmological views to social and political ethics. He believed that understanding the divine order of the universe could guide humans in establishing a just and moral society.
• Reformist Agenda: His cosmological insights informed his reformist agenda, advocating for a society that reflects divine principles of justice, harmony, and balance.

Key aspects of his cosmological views and approach:

Integration of Sufi Metaphysics:

• Sufi Influence: Shah Waliullah’s cosmology is heavily influenced by Sufi metaphysical concepts, particularly those of Ibn Arabi and other Sufi scholars. He believed in the interconnectedness of all existence, viewing the universe as a reflection of divine reality.
• Hierarchical Universe: He described the universe in hierarchical layers, with each level representing a different degree of proximity to the Divine. This mirrors the Sufi understanding of existence, where the material world is at the lower end of the hierarchy and the spiritual realms are closer to God.

This image is based on the explanation of the Hierarchical Universe by Shaykh Amin Kholwadia

Concept of Tajalli (Divine Manifestation):

• Divine Attributes: Shah Waliullah articulated the concept of Tajalli, where the Divine manifests through various attributes in the creation. He saw the world as a manifestation of God’s names and attributes, with each element of creation reflecting a specific aspect of the Divine.
• Unity of Being: This concept aligns with the Sufi doctrine of Wahdat al-Wujud (Unity of Being), which posits that all existence is essentially one and a manifestation of the Divine. Shah Waliullah adopted a nuanced version of this concept, emphasizing both the unity and the multiplicity of creation.

Latifas (Subtle Centers):

• Spiritual Physiology: In line with Sufi teachings, Shah Waliullah described the human being as having multiple latifas or subtle centers, which correspond to different spiritual faculties. These centers need to be purified and activated for a person to attain higher spiritual states.
• Journey of the Soul: He believed in the soul’s journey through these latifas, progressing from the physical to the spiritual, ultimately aiming to achieve union with the Divine.

Divine Knowledge and Human Intellect:

• Epistemology: Shah Waliullah emphasized the importance of both divine knowledge
  (Ilm Ladunni) and rational intellect. He believed that true understanding comes from a
  synthesis of revealed knowledge and rational inquiry.
• Illumination: He posited that human intellect is illuminated by divine knowledge,
  enabling individuals to perceive deeper truths about existence and the cosmos.

This image is based on the explanation of Islamic Epistemology by Shaykh Amin Kholwadia

Rational and Mystical Synthesis:

• Balancing Rationalism and Mysticism: Shah Waliullah’s approach was unique in its synthesis of rational thought and mystical insights. He believed that rational sciences and mystical experiences were complementary and both necessary for a comprehensive understanding of the cosmos.
• Philosophical Integration: He integrated elements of Islamic philosophy with Sufi metaphysics, arguing that the physical world and the spiritual world are interconnected and should be studied together.

Scriptural Foundations:

• Quranic Insights: Shah Waliullah grounded his cosmological views in the Quran, interpreting verses in light of both exoteric (outer) and esoteric (inner) meanings. He believed that the Quran provided profound insights into the nature of the universe and the relationship between the Creator and creation.
• Hadith Interpretations: He also drew upon Hadith literature to support his cosmological theories, using prophetic sayings to elucidate the structure and functioning of the cosmos.

Shah Waliullah’s Final Wasiyyah and His Perspective on Following One Madhhab:

During his life Shah Waliullah sought to bridge gaps between the madhahib (legal schools), particularly between the Hanafi and Shafi‘i traditions, aiming for a revival of Islam in India based on unity and shared legal insights.

However, towards the end of his life, his perspective evolved. Recognizing the challenges of merging different madhahib and the potential confusion it could create, he advised his sons—particularly Shah Abdul Aziz Dehlawi—to adhere strictly to the Hanafi madhhab. This shift highlights his realization that while cross-madhhab engagement was beneficial for scholarly discourse, practical religious adherence required consistency within a single legal framework to preserve clarity in jurisprudence and religious practice.

In his final advice to his sons, Shah Waliullah emphasized several key points:

• The Preservation of Knowledge: He urged his sons to continue the work of transmitting and teaching the Qur’an, Hadith, and rational sciences. He emphasized the importance of integrating traditional Islamic knowledge with reasoned analysis to address contemporary challenges.
• Maintain the Balance Between Shariah and Tasawwuf: He advised them to uphold the balance between Sharī‘ah (Islamic law) and Tazkiyah (spiritual purification), ensuring that religious practice was deeply rooted in both jurisprudence and inner purification. He warned against extreme legalism or excessive mysticism, urging a path of moderation.
• Continue Reforming Society: Shah Waliullah was deeply concerned with societal reform and unity among Muslims. He advised his sons to work towards purifying Islamic beliefs and practices from innovations (bid‘ah) and cultural distortions.
• Strengthen Political and Social Awareness:He recognized the decline of the Mughal Empire and the growing political instability of his time. He instructed his sons to stay aware of socio-political developments and guide rulers and scholars towards just governance and Islamic unity.
• Commit to Teaching and Writing: Shah Waliullah encouraged his sons to continue his scholarly tradition through teaching, writing, and translating works that would benefit the Muslim ummah. He particularly emphasized the importance of making Islamic sciences accessible to the common people.
• Commitment to a Single Madhhab: While Shah Waliullah had engaged with multiple madhahib and encouraged scholars to draw insights from various legal traditions, he ultimately advised Shah Abdul Aziz to follow the Hanafi madhhab exclusively. This realization likely stemmed from the understanding that ijtihad mutlaq (absolute independent legal reasoning) is zamanī (time-bound). The Imams of the four madhahib—Imam Abu Hanifa, Imam Malik, Imam Shafi‘i, and Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal—lived during a specific period designated taqdīran and takwīnan for ijtihad.¹ Consequently, their legal frameworks possessed a unique authority and preservation that, despite the brilliance of later scholars, could not be replicated.

Ijtihaad is Zamani: The Role of the Four Imams

As Shaykh Amin Kholwadia explains, the four Imams had the distinct historical and divine placement to establish enduring legal methodologies. Their era was closer to the time of Rasulullah ﷺ, allowing them to access:

The understanding of the Sahabah and Tabi‘un directly.

A linguistic, cultural, and jurisprudential proximity to the revelation that later scholars could not replicate.

While Shah Waliullah was undoubtedly a great scholar of this Ummah, he was not Abu Hanifa—nor could any scholar later in history attain the same role in legal methodology. The Imams of the four madhahib were positioned in a divinely decreed era, designated for ijtihad mutlaq (absolute ijtihad). Later scholars, including Shah Waliullah, functioned within these established frameworks rather than attempting to reconstruct them.

The Evolution of Shah Waliullah’s Thought:

Shah Waliullah’s journey—from initially advocating for a synthesis of madhahib to ultimately reaffirming adherence to a single school—demonstrates his pragmatic and evolving scholarly vision. His final wasiyyah serves as a crucial reminder that while engagement with diverse legal traditions can be intellectually enriching, practical religious adherence requires discipline within a single madhhab to ensure stability and continuity.

His son, Shah Abdul Aziz Dehlawi, upheld this guidance, becoming one of the leading scholars of his time while remaining firmly within the Hanafi tradition. This legacy reinforces the enduring wisdom of following the path laid by the four Imams, whose legal methodologies were divinely placed within the best era for ijtihad.

Legacy & Scholarly Praise for Shah Waliullah:

Shah Waliullah’s legacy extends beyond his scholarly achievements to encompass his role as a reformer and intellectual beacon in Islamic history. His efforts to revive Quranic studies by translating the Quran into Persian facilitated broader access to religious knowledge. His theological writings and metaphysical inquiries continue to inspire scholars and practitioners worldwide, emphasizing the compatibility of Islamic teachings with rational thought and spiritual insight.

Shah Waliullah’s emphasis on educational reform and ethical governance laid the groundwork for future Islamic movements and intellectual developments. His synthesis of diverse intellectual traditions and his commitment to Islamic unity resonate in contemporary discussions on Islamic theology, spirituality, and political ethics.

Shah Waliullah Dehlawi, a revered Islamic scholar, received high praise from many contemporaries and later scholars for his profound knowledge and significant contributions to Islamic thought. Here is a compilation of some notable commendations:

• Shaykh Abu Tahir al-Kurani in his ijazah (certification) described Shah Waliullah as:
  “The singular scholar, the most esteemed thinker, the master whose prowess in profound discourse is unmatched, the erudite who holds the foremost position in the fields of explanation and elaboration, inheritor of the perfections from his honorable ancestors, attaining in his youth what the aged could not.”
• Muhammad Wafadullah, another of his teachers, in his ijazah, praised him: “The righteous young man, the successful scholar, the lineage of noble saints, the elite of the eminent righteous, combining the shari’ah (Islamic law) and haqiqah (mysticism), proficient in all exalted and real sciences, adorned with the secret of his name in every portion, who is successful and correct in every endeavor, our beloved and cherished one.”
• Shah Abdul Aziz, his son, in “Bustan al-Muhaddithin,” referred to him as: “Our teacher and guide in all sciences and matters, Shaykh Waliullah al-Dehlawi.”
• Shah Rafiuddin, his other son, in “al-Takmeel,” described him as: “My father, the accomplished gnostic and the perfect erudite.”
• Muhsin al-Tahrati in “al-Yani’ al-Jani,” exalted him as: “Our Imam, our master, our proof, our exemplar, the model of the nation, the foremost of the imams, he is the interpreter, the hadith scholar, the jurist, the knower of truths and knowledge, the chief of hadith scholars, the delight of prominent jurists, the foremost of imams, the proof of the nation, proficient in sciences, excavator and decipherer of them, a gatherer of all good traits who brought joy with his virtues.”
• Abd al-Hayy al-Laknawi in “al-Ta’liq al-Mumajjad” stated: “His writings all indicate that he was one of the illustrious nobles and great scholars, blessed by God with guidance and fairness, avoiding bias and oppression, proficient in religious sciences, deeply versed in hadith discussions.”
• Sadiq Hasan Khan in “Abjad al-Ulum” referred to him as: “The eminent scholar of the time.”
• Shah Nazeer Hussain, in his ijazah to Ali Abu Wadi, mentioned him as: “The most noble, the most complete, the perfect, the remainder of the predecessors, the proof of the successors.”
• Muhammad Rashid Rida in “Al-Manar” journal lauded him: “The renewer of the twelfth century Hijri in India through his call, guidance, upbringing, teaching, and writings, and through the prominent scholars from his sons, students, and followers. He combined traditional and rational sciences, philosophy, and mysticism; as known from his famous book ‘Hujjat Allah al-Baligha,’ which he authored to explain the objectives of the Shari’ah, its wisdom, and secrets.”
• Abd al-Hayy al-Hasani in “Nuzhat al-Khawatir” described him as: “The eminent Imam, the proof of God among mankind, the leader of the imams, the exemplar of the nation, the scholar of scholars, the inheritor of prophets, the last of the mujtahids (independent jurists), the unique scholar of religion, the leader of those well-versed in carrying the burdens of the strong Shari’ah, the reviver of the Sunnah, and through whom God has bestowed great favor upon us.”
• Muhammad ‘Ata Allah Hanif al-Fujiyani in the introduction to “Ithaf al-Nabih” stated:
  “He was one of the illustrious scholars, the great scholars, proficient in religious sciences, deeply versed in hadith discussions.”
• Shaykh Al-Albani in “Ahkam al-Jana’iz” considered him among the major scholars known for their independence in understanding, deep jurisprudence from God and His Messenger, and one of the virtuous ones.

These accolades highlight Shah Waliullah’s profound influence on Islamic scholarship and his exceptional contributions to various fields of Islamic knowledge. His legacy continues to be celebrated and studied by scholars and students worldwide.

Conclusion:

Shah Waliullah Dehlawi was undoubtedly one of the greatest scholars of this Ummah, whose contributions to Hadith, Tafsir, Fiqh, and Islamic thought were monumental. His early efforts to reconcile the madhāhib reflected his deep concern for Muslim unity and revival. However, his final wasiyyah to his sons—particularly his instruction to Shah Abdul Aziz to adhere strictly to the Hanafi Madhhab—demonstrates his realization that the era of absolute Ijtihād was divinely closed and that following an established school was the best way to preserve the integrity of Islamic jurisprudence.

Furthermore, while Shah Waliullah’s scholarship is phenomenal, most laymen will not be able to fully appreciate his intellectual contributions without first gaining a strong foundation in the sacred sciences. His works, especially Ḥujjatullāh al-Bāligha, require deep scholarly training to grasp their depth and nuance. In my personal opinion, studying Ḥujjatullāh under someone like Shaykh Amin Kholwadia is crucial for properly understanding Shah Waliullah’s insights. Today, very few scholars can truly explain and contextualize his teachings as he intended, making it all the more important to study with the right teachers.

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1. Taqdīran (تَقْدِيرًا) – By Divine Decree
   This refers to Allah’s predetermined plan and wisdom in deciding when and where something should occur. It signifies that the four Imams were divinely chosen to emerge in their specific era.
   Takwīnan (تَكْوِينًا) – By Divine Creation and Formation
   This refers to the way Allah brings things into existence in the natural order. It implies that the historical circumstances, the accessibility to the early generations, and the intellectual and linguistic environment were all divinely shaped to enable the Imams to perform Ijtihād Mutlaq (absolute legal reasoning).
   Context in Shah Waliullah’s Thought:
   Shah Waliullah’s realization toward the end of his life was that the era of absolute Ijtihād was divinely closed. The four Imams were placed taqdīran wa takwīnan in the best possible time for forming the legal methodologies of Islam. Later scholars, no matter how great, were not meant to reconstruct the madhāhib but to preserve and apply them.
   This understanding led him to advise his son, Shah Abdul Aziz, to adhere strictly to the Hanafi Madhhab, rather than attempting to merge different schools of thought.

   And Allah knows best.