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Luminaries
Imam Sufyan ibn ʿUyaynah (d. 198/814) may Allah have mercy on him would say: ‘The mercy of Allah descends when His pious servants are mentioned.’(Hilyat al-Awliya’).
Shaykh Muhammad Yusuf Ludhyanwi (d. 1421/2000) mentions in the introduction to the biography of Shaykh Muhammad Zakariyya al-Kandehlawi (d. 1402/1987) that the biographies of the accepted and beloved servants of Allah hold great significance because:
❖Their mention and discussion is equivalent to being in their company
❖Allah’s special attention and mercy descends upon them, therefore, their mention attracts the mercy of Allah.
❖The study of their lives which encompasses many great characteristics of patience, steadfastness, sincerity, struggle and trust etc. gives us the beacon with which we can bring reform within ourselves;
❖Their presence was a sign of the truth of Islam and through them the proof of Allah has continuously manifested in His servants.
Allah mentions in the Qur’an:
إِنَّمَا یَخۡشَى ٱللَّهَ مِنۡ عِبَادِهِ
ٱلۡعُلَمَـٰۤؤُا۟ۗ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ عَزِیزٌ غَفُورٌ
‘Truly fears Allah among His servants but those filled with knowledge, Indeed Allah is overpowering, all-forgiving.’
(Surat al-Fatir: verse 28)
Every community, every civilisation has a class of people it loves and reveres. For Muslims it has always been the scholarly fraternity. Their virtue can be gauged from the hadith of the Prophet ﷺ, ‘The ulama are the heirs of the Prophet’ (Tirmidhi).
Due to their noble connection to the Prophets, they are regarded as the best after them.
The ulama are the protectors of the religion and so to love them is to love Islam, and to help them is to help Islam. To neglect them and deny them, means to extinguish the light of Allāh.
The Prophet ﷺ said in a noble Hadith:
وَإِنَّ فَضْلَ الْعَالِمِ عَلَى الْعَابِدِ
كَفَضْلِ الْقَمَرِ لَيْلَةَ الْبَدْرِ
عَلَى سَائِرِ الْكَوَاكِبِ
وَإِنَّ الْعُلَمَاءَ وَرَثَةُ الأَنْبِيَاءِ
وَإِنَّ الأَنْبِيَاءَ لَمْ يُوَرِّثُوا دِينَارًا وَلاَ
دِرْهَمًا وَرَّثُوا الْعِلْمَ فَمَنْ أَخَذَهُ أَخَذَ
بِحَظٍّ وَافِر
‘The superiority of an ‘aalim over the devout worshipper is like the superiority of the full moon over the rest of the heavenly bodies.’ (Abu Dawud).
At the Dār al-ʿUlūm al-Imām Muḥammad Ādam al-Islāmiyyah we have been honoured to host the visit of a number of leading senior scholars:
❖Our respected Shaykh, the pious scholar (al-Ālim aṣ-Ṣaliḥ), mentor (al-Murabbī), Ḥaḍrat Shaykh Mawlānā Muḥammad Ādam al-Qāsimī (d. 1445/2024) may Allāh ﷻ shower his infinite mercy upon him. A graduate of Dar al-Ulūm in Deoband (India), possessor of high chains (asānīd), and a long serving guide and teacher of the Noble Hadiths. The Dār al-ʿUlūm was honoured to host the final lesson and completion of the Sahih of Imam al-Bukhari with Ḥaḍrat at its first graduation ceremony (1444/2022).
❖Al-ʿAllāmah, al-Muḥaddith, al-Murabbi, Ḥaḍrat Shaykh Mawlānā Muḥammad Yūsuf Sulayman Mutālā (d. 1441/2019) may Allah have mercy upon him. A senior student of the great Muḥaddith, al-ʿAllāmah Muḥammad Zakariyyā al-Kāndehlawī (d. 1402/1982), and the former Head and Shaykh al-Hadith of Dar al-Ulūm (Bury, UK). He is considered to be amongst the senior scholars of the UK, as well as establishing numerous other seminaries. His students are spread across the West.
❖Shaykh al-Islam, al-Muḥaddith, jurist (al-Faqīh), former judge (al-Qāḍi), Shaykh Mufti Muḥammad Taqi Uthmāni (b. 1362/1943) may Allah preserve him. He has translated the Qur’an both into English and Urdu. He is the author of a six-volume Arabic Hadith commentary on Sahih Muslim. He is the Chief Editor of both the Urdu and English monthly magazine Albalagh, and regularly contributes articles to leading Pakistani newspapers on a range of issues. His legal edicts (fatwas), written over the period of 45 years, are published in 4 large volumes. He has authored more than 143 books in Arabic, English, and Urdu. Author of Fiqh al-Buyūʿ and numerous other beneficial works. Serving as the Chairman of AAOIFI and holding Vice-presidency at Dar al-Ulūm Karāchi are two of his many posts. The respected Shaykh delivered a lecture at the institute on the principles and ethics of issuing legal edicts (fatwa) in 2019, which was attended by many eminent scholars.
❖Shaykh al-Hadith, jurist (al-Faqīh), Mufti Ahmad Khanpuri (b. 1365/1946) may Allah preserve him, is the Grand Mufti of the Indian state of Gujarat and is an internationally renowned scholar. He graduated from the famous seminary in India, Darul Uloom Deoband. He has been teaching the sciences of hadith, Qur’anic exegesis and jurisprudence at the Islamic university in Dabhel, India for more than fifty years. He has authored several books in Urdu and Gujarati. Along with his teaching responsibilities, he is a Board Member of Darul Uloom Deoband, Nadwatul Ulama Lucknow and the Indian Fiqh Academy.
❖Shaykh al-Ḥadīth Mufti Shabbīr Aḥmad (b. 1376/1957) may Allah preserve him, is one of the leading scholars of the UK. He has taught the sciences of ḥadith, Qur’anic exegesis and jurisprudence at Dar al-‘Ulūm Al-‘Arabiyya Al-Islāmiyya in Bury, Manchester for over 35 years and also served as its Grand Mufti during this period. He studied under many distinguished scholars, most notably under Muḥaddith al-ʿAṣr Shaykh al-Ḥadīth Mawlānā Muḥammad Yūnus Jownpūrī (d. 1438/2017) in Saharanpur, India. He also has authorisations in the hadith sciences from Shaykh al-Ḥadīth Mawlānā Muḥammad Zakariyyā al-Kāndehlawī (may Allah have mercy on him). His students include many of the leading scholars of the UK. He has authored several books in Arabic, Urdu and English. The respected Shaykh conveyed the final lesson and the completion of the Sahih of Imam al-Bukhari for the Dār al-ʿUlūm at its second graduation ceremony (1445/2023).
❖Shaykh al-Hadith Mawlānā Faḍl al-Raḥmān al-Aʿẓamī (b. 1366/1946) may Allah preserve him, has been teaching the Islamic sciences for over forty years. He is a lecturer of Sahih al-Bukhari, Sunan al-Tirmidhi, Mishkat al-Masabih and other major books of Hadith. He is a prolific writer and has authored over forty books. His most famous works include introductions to Sahih al-Bukhari and Sunan al-Tirmidhi. He has also been active in the field of da'wa and tabligh and has benefited many as a distinguished disciple of Shah Hakim Muhammad Akhtar (d. 1434/2013) in the field of spiritual reformation (tazkiya).
❖Shaykh Mufti Ebrahim Desai may Allah have mercy upon him (d. 1443/2021). A prominent and world-renowned scholar, who has been issuing fatwas in various fields for more than 25 years.
❖Shaykh al-Hadith Mawlana Saif-ur-Rahman Makki (may Allah preserve him), has been a senior lecturer of Hadith at the prestigious Madrasah Sawlatiyah of Makkah.
❖Shaykh Mawlana Qari Hanif Jalandari (may Allah preserve him) is currently the General Secretary of Wifaq ul Madaris Al-Arabia, that runs at least 12,000 institutions in Pakistan and is the rector of Jamia Khairul Madaris since 1981.
❖Shaykh al-Hadith Mawlānā Hanif Luharvi (may Allah preserve him), has been a lecturer of Hadith for many decades and a senior disciple of Muḥaddith al-ʿAṣr Shaykh al-Ḥadīth Mawlānā Muḥammad Yūnus Jownpūrī.
At this point, it is justified to echo the sentiments of the poet al-Farazdaq (d. 110 AH), “These are my forefathers, so now bring me their likes.”