Husain Ahmed Madani
Encyclopedia
Syed Husain Ahmad Madani (6 October 1879 - 1957) was an Islamic scholar from the Indian subcontinent
. He was conferred upon the title of Shaikhul Islam as to acknowledge his eminence in hadith
and fiqh
.
, where he was taught by Shaikhul Hind Maulana Mehmud Hasan
. After completing the exoteric sciences, he became a disciple of Rasheed Ahmad Gangohi, who later authorised him to initiate others in the Sufi path
. Rasheed Ahmad Gangohi was also the pir (or spiritual teacher) of Maulana Mehmud Hasan and it was Mehmud Hasan who told Husain Ahmed to become Rasheed Ahmad Gangohi's disciple too. He was held among the senior khulafa (or successors) of Rasheed Ahmed Gangohi. Through him his spiritual lineage goes back to Alauddin Sabir Kaliyari
who was the originator of the Chisti-Sabiri branch of the Chisti order. This spiritual chain is however strongly linked with the Naqshbandi
order of sufism as well, because one of the ancestral pirs of Husain Ahmed had also accepted Syed Ahmad Shaheed
as his master who belonged to the Naqshbandi order. Thus Husain Ahmed had the benefit of being linked to both the Naqshbandi and the Chisti order. While the former stressed on the exoteric, the latter was more focused on the esoteric aspects of Islam. His main school of thought, of whose litanies he practiced, was however Chisti-Sabiri.
with his family. He began teaching Arabic grammar, usul al-fiqh
, usul al-hadith, and Quranic exegesis
. He spent 18 years teaching these various Islamic sciences in Medina. Maulana Madani, as he was also known as, was then appointed as head teacher and Shaikhul Hadith of Darul Uloom Deoband. He filled this position for approximately 28 years.
was sentenced by the British for his role in the Silk Letter Conspiracy
to a prison in the Island of Malta
, Maulana Madani volunteered to go with him so that he could look after him. He had personally not been convicted. He was imprisoned for three years.
After his release, he returned to India and became actively involved in India's freedom struggle. He had considerable influence over a section of the Muslims, more prominently those belonging to Eastern Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. He was against the two-nation theory
, and predominantly due to this a large number of Muslims from Eastern U.P. and Bihar declined to migrate to Pakistan at the time of partition
. He became the President of the Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind
, a post he held until his death in 1957. (He also held the post of Shaikhul Hadith at Darul Uloom Deoband till his death).
He was against the inception of Pakistan. He was of the view that in the present times, nations are formed on the basis of homeland and not on ethnicity and religion.
Indian subcontinent
The Indian subcontinent, also Indian Subcontinent, Indo-Pak Subcontinent or South Asian Subcontinent is a region of the Asian continent on the Indian tectonic plate from the Hindu Kush or Hindu Koh, Himalayas and including the Kuen Lun and Karakoram ranges, forming a land mass which extends...
. He was conferred upon the title of Shaikhul Islam as to acknowledge his eminence in hadith
Hadith
The term Hadīth is used to denote a saying or an act or tacit approval or criticism ascribed either validly or invalidly to the Islamic prophet Muhammad....
and fiqh
Fiqh
Fiqh is Islamic jurisprudence. Fiqh is an expansion of the code of conduct expounded in the Quran, often supplemented by tradition and implemented by the rulings and interpretations of Islamic jurists....
.
Education and spiritual training
In the year 1892, at the age of thirteen years, he went to the Darul Uloom DeobandDarul Uloom Deoband
The Darul Uloom Deoband is an Islamic school in India where the Deobandi Islamic movement was started. It is located at Deoband, a town in Saharanpur district of Uttar Pradesh, India. It was founded in 1866 by several prominent Islamic scholars , headed by Maulana Muhammad Qasim Nanotvi...
, where he was taught by Shaikhul Hind Maulana Mehmud Hasan
Maulana Mehmud Hasan
Shaykh-ul-Hind Maulana Mehmud Al-Hasan was an eminent Islamic Scholar who made tireless efforts in the freedom struggle during the British Rule in India. He was conferred upon by the title 'Shaykh-ul-Hind' which means the leading scholar of India. -Early life:Mehmud Hasan was born in the town of...
. After completing the exoteric sciences, he became a disciple of Rasheed Ahmad Gangohi, who later authorised him to initiate others in the Sufi path
Tariqah
A tariqa is an Islamic religious order. In Sufism one starts with Islamic law, the exoteric or mundane practice of Islam and then is initiated onto the mystical path of a tariqa. Through spiritual practices and guidance of a tariqa the aspirant seeks ḥaqīqah - ultimate truth.-Meaning:A tariqa is a...
. Rasheed Ahmad Gangohi was also the pir (or spiritual teacher) of Maulana Mehmud Hasan and it was Mehmud Hasan who told Husain Ahmed to become Rasheed Ahmad Gangohi's disciple too. He was held among the senior khulafa (or successors) of Rasheed Ahmed Gangohi. Through him his spiritual lineage goes back to Alauddin Sabir Kaliyari
Alauddin Sabir Kaliyari
Alauddin Ali Ahmed Kaliyari also known as Sabir Kaliyari was a prominent South Asian Sufi Saint of Chishti Order in 13th century, a successor to Baba Fareed , and the first in the Sabiriya branch of Chishti Order....
who was the originator of the Chisti-Sabiri branch of the Chisti order. This spiritual chain is however strongly linked with the Naqshbandi
Naqshbandi
Naqshbandi is one of the major Sufi spiritual orders of Sufi Islam. It is considered to be a "Potent" order.The Naqshbandi order is over 1,300 years old, and is active today...
order of sufism as well, because one of the ancestral pirs of Husain Ahmed had also accepted Syed Ahmad Shaheed
Syed Ahmad Shaheed
Not to be confused with Ahmed Raza Khan BarelviSyed Ahmad Shaheed , also called Syed Ahmed Barelvi, was a Muslim activist from Rae Bareli, India. and founder of the "The Way of the Prophet Muhammad" , a revolutionary Islamic movement...
as his master who belonged to the Naqshbandi order. Thus Husain Ahmed had the benefit of being linked to both the Naqshbandi and the Chisti order. While the former stressed on the exoteric, the latter was more focused on the esoteric aspects of Islam. His main school of thought, of whose litanies he practiced, was however Chisti-Sabiri.
Career
After graduating from the Darul Uloom Deoband, he migrated to MedinaMedina
Medina , or ; also transliterated as Madinah, or madinat al-nabi "the city of the prophet") is a city in the Hejaz region of western Saudi Arabia, and serves as the capital of the Al Madinah Province. It is the second holiest city in Islam, and the burial place of the Islamic Prophet Muhammad, and...
with his family. He began teaching Arabic grammar, usul al-fiqh
Usul al-fiqh
Uṣūl al-fiqh is the study of the origins, sources, and principles upon which Islamic jurisprudence is based. In the narrow sense, it simply refers to the question of what are the sources of Islamic law...
, usul al-hadith, and Quranic exegesis
Tafsir
Tafseer is the Arabic word for exegesis or commentary, usually of the Qur'an. Ta'wīl is a subset of tafsir and refers to esoteric or mystical interpretation. An author of tafsir is a mufassir .- Etymology :...
. He spent 18 years teaching these various Islamic sciences in Medina. Maulana Madani, as he was also known as, was then appointed as head teacher and Shaikhul Hadith of Darul Uloom Deoband. He filled this position for approximately 28 years.
His efforts for independence
After his teacher Maulana Mehmud HasanMaulana Mehmud Hasan
Shaykh-ul-Hind Maulana Mehmud Al-Hasan was an eminent Islamic Scholar who made tireless efforts in the freedom struggle during the British Rule in India. He was conferred upon by the title 'Shaykh-ul-Hind' which means the leading scholar of India. -Early life:Mehmud Hasan was born in the town of...
was sentenced by the British for his role in the Silk Letter Conspiracy
Silk Letter Conspiracy
The Silk Letter Conspiracy refers to a conspiracy by Deobandi leaders to attempt to begin a Pan-Islamic insurrection in British India during World War I by seeking support from Ottoman Turkey, Imperial Germany, and Afghanistan...
to a prison in the Island of Malta
Malta
Malta , officially known as the Republic of Malta , is a Southern European country consisting of an archipelago situated in the centre of the Mediterranean, south of Sicily, east of Tunisia and north of Libya, with Gibraltar to the west and Alexandria to the east.Malta covers just over in...
, Maulana Madani volunteered to go with him so that he could look after him. He had personally not been convicted. He was imprisoned for three years.
After his release, he returned to India and became actively involved in India's freedom struggle. He had considerable influence over a section of the Muslims, more prominently those belonging to Eastern Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. He was against the two-nation theory
Two-Nation Theory
The Two-Nation Theory proposed by Allama Iqbal is the ideology that the primary identity of Muslims in the Indian subcontinent is their religion, rather than their language or ethnicity, and therefore Indian Hindus and Muslims are two distinct nationalities, regardless of ethnic or other...
, and predominantly due to this a large number of Muslims from Eastern U.P. and Bihar declined to migrate to Pakistan at the time of partition
Partition of India
The Partition of India was the partition of British India on the basis of religious demographics that led to the creation of the sovereign states of the Dominion of Pakistan and the Union of India on 14 and 15...
. He became the President of the Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind
Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind
Jamiat Ulema-I-Hind or is one of the leading Islamic organizations in India. It was founded in 1919 by Abdul Mohasim Sajjad, Qazi Hussain Ahmed, Ahmed Saeed Dehlvi, and Abdul Bari Firangi Mehli...
, a post he held until his death in 1957. (He also held the post of Shaikhul Hadith at Darul Uloom Deoband till his death).
He was against the inception of Pakistan. He was of the view that in the present times, nations are formed on the basis of homeland and not on ethnicity and religion.
See also
- DeobandiDeobandiDeobandi is a movement of Sunni Islam. The movement began at Darul Uloom Deoband in Deoband, India, where its foundation was laid on 30 May 1866.-History:...
- Bahishti ZewarBahishti ZewarBahishti Zewar is a volume of Islamic belief written by Maulana Ashraf Ali Thanvi. Bahishti Zewar is a comprehensive handbook of fiqh , especially for the education of girls and women. The volume describes the Five Pillars of Islam and also highlights more obscure principles...
- Shah WaliullahShah WaliullahShah Waliullah Muhaddith Dehlvi was an Islamic scholar and reformer. He was born during the reign of Aurangzeb. He worked for the revival of Muslim rule and intellectual learning in South Asia, during a time of waning Muslim power...
- Mufti Muhammad ShafiMufti Muhammad ShafiMaulana Mufti Muhammad Shafi‘ was a Hanafi Islamic scholar from India. During his life he served as the grand Mufti of India and later Pakistan as well.-Biography:...
- Muhammad Taqi UsmaniMuhammad Taqi UsmaniMuhammad Taqi Usmani is a Hanafi Islamic scholar from Pakistan who was born in 1943. He served as a judge on the Federal Shariat Court of Pakistan from 1981 to 1982 and the Shari'a Appellate Bench of the Supreme Court of Pakistan from 1982 to 2002. He is an expert in the fields of Islamic...
- Muhammad Rafi UsmaniMuhammad Rafi UsmaniMuhammad Rafi Uthmani is the renowned religious authority in the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. He is serving as the crrent Grand Mufti of Pakistan and President of Darul Uloom Karachi. He is the son of the late Mufti Muhammad Shafi Uthmani, the founder of Darul Ulum Karachi. He is recognized for...