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Imam Muhammad al-Shaybani
Hakim al-Umma Mawlana Ashraf ‘Ali Thanawi
Shaykh Zakariyya Kandhlawi
Imam Zafar Ahmad Uthmani
Maulana Masihullah Khan Sherwani
‘Ashiq Ilahi al-Bulandshehri
Mufti Muhammad Taqi Usmani
Inam Uddin
Abdur-Rahman ibn Yusuf
Muhammad ibn Adam al-Kawthari
Faraz Rabbani
He is Abu ‘Abdullah Muhammad ibn al-Hasan ibn Farqad al-Shaybani. Muhammad was born in Wasit in 132 AH, and grew up in Kufa. He was a pupil of Abu Hanifa. Imam Shafi’i said, “I have not seen anyone more eloquent than him. I used to think when I saw him reciting the Qur’an that it was as if the Qur’an had been revealed in his language.” He also said, “I have not seen anyone more itelligent than Muhammad ibn al-Hasan.” Al-Dhahabi said, “He narrated from Malik ibn Anas and others, and he was one of the great oceans of knowledge and fiqh, and he was strong [when he narrated] from Malik.” Muhammad said, “I stood at Malik’s door for three years and I heard [the Muwatta’] from him [with] more than seven hundred hadith.” He died in Ray in 189 AH.
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Hakim al-Umma Mawlana Ashraf ‘Ali Thanawi
Mawlana Ashraf ‘Ali Thanawi, referred to by many South Asian Muslims as Hakim al-Umma (“Spiritual Physician of the Muslim Umma”) and Mujaddid al-Milla (“Reformer of the Nation”), is a towering figure of Islamic revival and reawakening of South Asia in the twentieth century. Mawlana Thanawi was the “most eminent religious figure of his time, a prolific author, and believed to be the greatest Sufi of modern India.”
“He led a very active life, teaching, preaching, writing, lecturing, and making occasional journeys” (Naeem 94). The distinguishing mark and guiding principle that led to the vast success of his message was a remarkable sense of balance and straightforwardness in his speeches and writings. Mawlana Thanawi was an exemplar of the Qur’anic verse “And thus have We made you a nation justly balanced, that you might be witnesses over mankind” (Qur’an 2:143). An astounding, comprehensive knowledge of all branches of Islamic learning was evident in his personality, explicated in his lectures, and recorded in his writings. The Indian jurist Qadi Mujahid al-Islam Qasimi said, “It is hard to think of an area of Islamic sciences left unattended by his writings” (Zayd 11). [ Read the Full Biography ]
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In the last century, India has undoubtedly become an important center for the study of hadith, and the scholars of India have become well-known for their passion for religious knowledge. Upon them ended the era of leadership in teaching hadiths, codification of the special fields (funun) of hadith, and commentary upon its texts (mutun). Such was their mastery of this science that Muhammad Rashid Rida mentions in the introduction of his book Miftah Kunuz al-Sunna, “Were it not for the superb attention to detail in the science of hadith displayed by our brothers, the scholars of India in the present era, this science would have withered away in the eastern cities. And, indeed, mastery of this science has been waning in Egypt and Syria since the tenth century ah.” There is no doubt that Shaykh Muhammad Zakariyya was among the most distinguished hadith scholars of India and a great contributor in service of the Sunna. He was given the honorary title of Shaykh al-Hadith, or “Great Scholar of Hadith,” by his teacher, Shaykh Khalil Ahmad Saharanpuri, who recognized his deep insight, clear-sightedness, and extensive knowledge of hadith and related sciences. [ Read the Full Biography ]
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He was the authoritative scholar of the Islamic sciences, the Qur’anic exegete, Hadith expert, jurist, and Sufi, Zafar Ahmad ibn Latif ‘Uthmani al-Thanawi. He was born the 13th of Rabi’ al-Awwal, 1310 ah. His mother died when he was only three, so his grandmother raised him. She was a righteous woman who had performed the hajj. She raised him well, and he benefited from her rectitude and piety (taqwa).
At the age of five, he began studying and memorizing the Qur’an with the principal reciters. At age seven, he began studying Urdu and Persian, as well as mathematics, with the great scholar and author, Mawlana Muhammad Yasin, the father of Mawlana Mufti Muhammad Shafi’ ‘Uthmani. Later, he studied the various Islamic sciences with the foremost scholars of India under the direct guidance and supervision of his uncle, Imam Ashraf ‘Ali al-Thanawi. He gave particular emphasis to Sacred Law (fiqh) and hadith studies, became highly proficient in both, and distinguished above other students by his intellectual ability, and the benefit of his great uncle’s tutelage.
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Maulana Masihullah Khan Sherwani
One of the greatest authorities on tasawwuf of his times, Mawlana Muhammad Masihullah Khan was among the senior representatives (khalifas) of Hakim al-Umma Mawlana Ashraf ‘Ali Thanawi. He hailed from the renowned and distinguished Sherwani family of Pathans, who are descendents of the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and give him peace).
Mawlana Masihullah was born in 1329 or 1330 ah at Sara’i Barla, in the district of Aligarh, India. From early childhood, he had a unique desire to sit in the company of the scholars and pious servants of Allah. In particular, he enjoyed the close companionship of Mawlana Muhammad Ilyas, the spiritual representative (khalifa) of Shaykh al-Hind Mahmud al-Hasan. Through this relationship, Mawlana Masihullah was introduced to Hakim al-Umma Mawlana Thanawi, whom he came to love and strove to emulate. [ Read the Full Biography ]
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A prolific writer and eminent scholar of the Indian Subcontinent, Shaykh ‘Ashiq Ilahi al-Bulandshehri (or al-Barni) was born in 1343 ah in Bulandshehr of Uttar Pradesh. After attaining his primary education at Madrasa Imdadiyya Moradabad and Jami‘ Masjid Aligarh, he traveled to Mazahir ‘Ulum Saharanpur in pursuit of higher knowledge. After completing his studies, he taught various subjects at Ferozpur Jhirka, Hayat al-Ulum Moradabad, and at different madrasas throughout Calcutta. He later taught at Dar al-‘Ulum Karachi for several years at the request of Mufti Muhammad Shafi’, where he assumed responsibility of the fatwa department and taught students hadith and tafsir. The Shaykh later migrated to Madina, where he spent the last 25 years of his life. He was a disciple of the hadith scholar Shaykh Muhammad Zakariyya Kandhlawi. Dozens of his books have been well received in many countries. Tohfa-e khawatin (Gift for women), Marne ke bad kya hōga? (What is going to happen after death?), Islami adab (Islamic conduct), Huquq al-walidayn (Rights of parents), and Anwar al-bayan (Illuminating discourses on the Holy Qur’an), a voluminous commentary of the Qur’an, are among the well-known books he authored. In the field of hadith, he authored Zad al-talibin (Provisions for the seekers) and Al-Fawa’id al-saniyya fi sharh al-Arba‘in al-Nawawiyya (The lofty beneficial points in the explanation of Nawawi’s Forty Hadiths). As for jurisprudence, he is the author of Al-Tashil al-daruri fi masa’il al-Quduri (The necessary facilitation of the laws of Quduri), as well as dozens of reformative booklets and articles. He passed away in the illuminated city of Madina at the age of 80 and was buried there in the Baqi‘ graveyard, as had been his desire. [ Back to Authors Index ]
Mufti Muhammad Taqi Usmani is one of the leading Islamic scholars living today. Author of more than forty books in Urdu, Arabic, and English, he is an expert in the fields of Islamic Law, Hadith, and Economics. He is the son of Mufti Muhammad Shafi' Usmani, the late Grand Mufti of Pakistan. For the past forty years, he has taught at Darul Uloom, Karachi, one of the largest and most renowned schools of higher Islamic education in Pakistan. Mufti Usmani is a retired judge of the Shari'a Appellate Bench of the Supreme Court of Pakistan, and he currently serves as the deputy chairman of the Jeddah-based Islamic Fiqh Council of the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC). He is also on the advisory board of a number of Islamic financial institutions around the world, and he continues to play a key role in advancing the cause of interest-free banking and establishing more Islamic financial institutions available to Muslims.
Mufti Usmani’s works include Takmila Fath al-Mulhim, a six-volume complement to Fath al-Mulhim, an Arabic commentary of Sahih Muslim by Mawlana Shabbir Ahmad Usmani. In Arabic he has also written Buhuth fi Qadaya Fiqhiyya Mu'asira, a collection of juristic discussions on some important contemporary issues (especially economics-related ones). His English works include What is Christianity?, Islamic Months, and Authority of Sunnah. The majority of his books are in Urdu, and most of them have been translated into English. Titles include Islam and Modernism, The Legal Status of Following a Madhhab, and An Approach to the Quranic Sciences. His works are widely available in the US and easily obtainable through on-line book distributors. [ Back to Authors Index ]
[Forthcoming] [ Back to Authors Index ]
(Shaykh Mufti) Abdur-Rahman ibn Yusuf Mangera has been studying the traditional Islamic sciences and writing scholarly works for most of his life. He completed the bulk of his studies at Darul Uloom Bury, North England, where he memorized the Qur’an by age fifteen and thereafter went on to complete a rigorous, six-year Shari‘a program. He graduated from this program with authentic certifications [ijaza] in numerous Islamic disciplines, including Arabic, Islamic jurisprudence, and hadith (with particular emphasis on the six authentic books of hadith [Sihah Sitta] and the Muwattas of Imam Malik and Imam Muhammad). His teachers at Darul Uloom Bury included Shaykh Yusuf Motala and other students of Shaykh al-Hadith Mawlana Muhammad Zakariyya Kandhlawi.
After graduating, the author traveled to South Africa, where he attended Madrasah Zakariyyah part-time to gain specialized training in answering legal questions [ifta’] under Mufti Rada al-Haq. While in South Africa, he also completed a B.A. with honors in Islamic studies at Rand Afrikaans University, Johannesburg, under Professor Abdur-Rahman Doi, Ph.D. [ Read the Full Biography ]
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(Shaykh Mufti) Muhammad ibn Adam al-Kawthari is a traditionally trained scholar who studied in different parts of the world. Born in Leicester, UK in 1976 and raised under the guidance of his illustrious father, Shaykh Mawlana Adam, he started learning about Islam from a very young age. He memorized the Holy Qur’an at a very tender age of 9.
At the age of 12, he enrolled into one of the famous Islamic institutions
in Britain, Darul Uloom in Bury, and studied the Arabic Language and various
other Islamic Sciences under many Shuyukh notably, Shaykh Muhammad Yusuf Motala
(A great scholar of Hadith & Tasawwuf, and the senior disciple of the
famous Shaykh Muhammad Zakariyya al-Kandahlawi). He received Ijazas
in various books including the six major books of Hadith. He also took part
in a one year course of specialization in fiqh (Ifta). [ Read
the Full Biography ]
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Faraz Rabbani is a student of Hanafi fiqh and the Islamic sciences. After graduating from the University of Toronto with a degree in Commerce and Economics, he spent three years in Damascus where he studied fiqh, ‘aqida, and other subjects with Shaykh Adib al-Kallas, Shaykh Hassan al-Hindi, Shaykh Muhammad Jumu’a, Shaykh Muhammad Qaylish, Shaykh Mu’min al-‘Annan, and others.
He then moved to Amman in the summer of 2000, where he has lived since then, continuing his studies with teachers in Jordan, and corresponding regularly with scholars in the Indian Subcontinent. Sidi Faraz is a student of Shaykh Nuh Keller and teaches Hanafi fiqh and other subjects in Amman and through Sunni Path (www.SunniPath.com), an online center for Islamic knowledge. [ Back to Authors Index ]
