Rasheed Ahmad Gangohi
Encyclopedia
Rashid Ahmad Gangohi (10 May 1829 – 11 August 1905) was an Indian
Islamic scholar who co-founded the Deobandi
Islamic movement at the Darul Uloom Deoband
Madrasah
, or Islamic School, of which he became principle following the death of Muhammad Qasim Nanotvi
. Gangohi authored nearly fourteen literary works on fiqh
(Islamic jurisprudence
) and Sufism
, including Fatawa Rasheediyya and Hidaayatush Shia. Aside from being a powerful Alim
("one who knows"), Gangohi was also a Hakim
("judge"), and an authority on Shari'a law and the Tariqah
of Sufism.
, a city in the Saharanpur
district of Uttar Pradesh
, India. His father, Hidaaya Ahmad, died in 1252 AH
at the age of thirty-five when Gangohi was seven years old and thereafter he was cared for and trained by his grandfather. It has not been established where Gangohi learnt to recite the Qur’an, but he probably learnt it from his mother at home. Having completed the recitation of the Qur'an, Gangohi moved to Karnal
in order to live with his maternal uncle, Muhammad Taqi, under whom he studied Persian
kitabs (books). He also studied under Muhammad Ghauth and was later an Arabic grammar
student under Moulvi Baksh Rampuri. With Rampuri's encouragement, Gangohi moved to Delhi
in 1261 AH at the age of seventeen in pursuit of further knowledge. In Delhi, he attended the classes of various Ulama
(Islamic legal scholars). Coincidentally, Mamluk 'Ali passed by Delhi
while he was there and Gangohi had the opportunity to study 'Uloomul Zaahiriyya by studying the Sadraa Shams-e-Baazigah under him. Gangohi's Ulama in the philosophical sciences were Mufti Sadruddin Azurda and Qadi Ahmaduddin while his Ulama in hadith
(narrations of the words and deeds of the prophet Muhammad
), was Abdul Ghani Naqshbandi. On completing his studies, Gangohi returned home at around the age of twenty-one.
He then came across a small book by Thanvi (who lived in Thana Bhawan
, and one of the three sheikh's resident there at the time, although not Ashraf Ali Thanvi
.) and found some objectionable writings in the book. As a result he decided to go to Thana Bhavan and debate them with the author. When he reached the toen, he met Haji Imdadullah who asked why he was there. When he told his purpose, Haji Imdadullah clarified his doubts and Gangohi had bay'at (oath) with Haji sahab. He stayed for forty days in Khankah with Haji Imdadullah and on his departure, Haji Imdadullah told him "I have given you all that I had in these forty days". Gangohi then returned to Gangoh and spent a few months in Istegraf. Haji Imdadullah wrote Gangohi a letter enquiring after his spiritual condition, to which he replied:
Shariyat ab Tabiyat ban gayi hai...( Shariyat is now my Nature).
Tarif karne wale aur burai karne wale Yaksa ho gaye...(Praisers and critics are the same to me).
Kisi sharayi masle me koi ishkal nahi raha....(There is no doubt in any religious matter).
On receipt of this letter, Haji Imdadullah put it on his head and said, "I have have still not achieved this condition".
Thereafter, Gangohi started to teach a variety of subjects in Gangoh where he remained until 1300 AH. From 1301 AH, his preoccupation was with the hadith. He alone would teach the entire Siha Sittah and the duroos of hadith would commence in Shawwaal and be completed by Sha'baan. In 1297 AH, after Nanautvi's death, Gangohi became the patron of Darul Uloom Deoband
but his career as a teacher ended in 1314 AH due to his development of cataracts. By this time, more than three hundred students had completed his hadith course and thereafter, only spiritual instruction, inculcation and the issue of fatwā
s continued regularly. From then on, Gangohi also became the patron of Madrasa Madhahirul 'Ulum in Saharanpur
.
Gangohi remained in the company of Haji Imdadullah, who accepted his bay'at. Within forty days, Gangohi was awarded Khilafa (Caliphate) and on returning to Gangoh, remained in Abdul Quddoos Gangohi's cloister. During this period, he earned his income through his medical practice. In 1857, Gangohi participated in the jihad
at Shamli
with his Pir-o-Murshid
(spiritual leader) and other companions. When Zamin Shaheed was martyred, Gangohi picked up his corpse, carried it to a nearby masjid (mosque), and sitting nearby, started to recite the Qur'an. Thereafter, a warrant was issued for his arrest. After his detention by the authorities, Gangohi was sent to prison in Saharanpur, then moved to Muzaffarnagar
. Six months passed in prison where a number of prisoners became his adherents, after which they all began to offer salaah (sacred prayers) as members of a prison congregation. Although reports vary, Gangohi is said to have died on Friday, August 11, 1905 after the Adhaan (call to prayers) for Jumu'ah
(Friday prayers), aged seventy-six.
Indian people
Indian people or Indisians constitute the Asian nation and pan-ethnic group native to India, which forms the south of Asia, containing 17.31% of the world's population. The Indian nationality is in essence made up of regional nationalities, reflecting the rich and complex history of India...
Islamic scholar who co-founded the Deobandi
Deobandi
Deobandi 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:...
Islamic movement at the Darul Uloom Deoband
Darul 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...
Madrasah
Madrasah
Madrasah is the Arabic word for any type of educational institution, whether secular or religious...
, or Islamic School, of which he became principle following the death of Muhammad Qasim Nanotvi
Muhammad Qasim Nanotvi
Muhammad Qasim Nanotvi was a world famous Islamic Scholar and one of the main people responsible for establishing the Deobandi movement. Nanotvi was born in 1833 in Nanota, a village near Saharanpur, India. He completed his primary education in his hometown and then he was sent to Deoband, where he...
. Gangohi authored nearly fourteen literary works on 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....
(Islamic jurisprudence
Sharia
Sharia law, is the moral code and religious law of Islam. Sharia is derived from two primary sources of Islamic law: the precepts set forth in the Quran, and the example set by the Islamic prophet Muhammad in the Sunnah. Fiqh jurisprudence interprets and extends the application of sharia to...
) and Sufism
Sufism
Sufism or ' is defined by its adherents as the inner, mystical dimension of Islam. A practitioner of this tradition is generally known as a '...
, including Fatawa Rasheediyya and Hidaayatush Shia. Aside from being a powerful Alim
Alim
-Given name:* Amat Al Alim Alsoswa, Yemeni politician* Alim Ashirov, Soviet footballer* AFM Alim Chowdhury, Bangladeshi physician*Aleem Dar , Pakistani cricketer* Alim Karkayev, Russian footballer* Mohammed Alim Khan, last emir of the Manghit dynasty...
("one who knows"), Gangohi was also a Hakim
Hakim (title)
' and ' are two Arabic titles derived from the same triliteral ḤKM "appoint, choose, judge". Compare the Hebrew title hakham.-Hakīm :...
("judge"), and an authority on Shari'a law and the Tariqah
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...
of Sufism.
Biography
Maulana Gangohi was born at the time of Chasht on Sunday, May 10, 1829 in GangohGangoh
Gangoh is a town and a municipal board in Saharanpur district in the state of Uttar Pradesh, India.-Geography:Gangoh is located at . It has an average elevation of 292 metres .-Demographics:...
, a city in the Saharanpur
Saharanpur
Saharanpur is a city and a Municipal Corporation in the state of Uttar Pradesh in northern India. It is the administrative headquarters of Saharanpur District as well as Saharanpur Division...
district of Uttar Pradesh
Uttar Pradesh
Uttar Pradesh abbreviation U.P. , is a state located in the northern part of India. With a population of over 200 million people, it is India's most populous state, as well as the world's most populous sub-national entity...
, India. His father, Hidaaya Ahmad, died in 1252 AH
Islamic calendar
The Hijri calendar , also known as the Muslim calendar or Islamic calendar , is a lunar calendar consisting of 12 lunar months in a year of 354 or 355 days. It is used to date events in many Muslim countries , and used by Muslims everywhere to determine the proper day on which to celebrate Islamic...
at the age of thirty-five when Gangohi was seven years old and thereafter he was cared for and trained by his grandfather. It has not been established where Gangohi learnt to recite the Qur’an, but he probably learnt it from his mother at home. Having completed the recitation of the Qur'an, Gangohi moved to Karnal
Karnal
Karnal is an important city and the headquarters of Karnal District in the Indian state of Haryana.Karnal is said to have been founded by the Kauravas in the Mahabharata era for the king Karna, a mythological hero and a key figure in the epic tale...
in order to live with his maternal uncle, Muhammad Taqi, under whom he studied Persian
Persian language
Persian is an Iranian language within the Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European languages. It is primarily spoken in Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan and countries which historically came under Persian influence...
kitabs (books). He also studied under Muhammad Ghauth and was later an Arabic grammar
Arabic grammar
Arabic grammar is the grammar of the Arabic language. Arabic is a Semitic language and its grammar has many similarities with the grammar of other Semitic languages....
student under Moulvi Baksh Rampuri. With Rampuri's encouragement, Gangohi moved to Delhi
Delhi
Delhi , officially National Capital Territory of Delhi , is the largest metropolis by area and the second-largest by population in India, next to Mumbai. It is the eighth largest metropolis in the world by population with 16,753,265 inhabitants in the Territory at the 2011 Census...
in 1261 AH at the age of seventeen in pursuit of further knowledge. In Delhi, he attended the classes of various Ulama
Ulama
-In Islam:* Ulema, also transliterated "ulama", a community of legal scholars of Islam and its laws . See:**Nahdlatul Ulama **Darul-uloom Nadwatul Ulama **Jamiatul Ulama Transvaal**Jamiat ul-Ulama -Other:...
(Islamic legal scholars). Coincidentally, Mamluk 'Ali passed by Delhi
Delhi
Delhi , officially National Capital Territory of Delhi , is the largest metropolis by area and the second-largest by population in India, next to Mumbai. It is the eighth largest metropolis in the world by population with 16,753,265 inhabitants in the Territory at the 2011 Census...
while he was there and Gangohi had the opportunity to study 'Uloomul Zaahiriyya by studying the Sadraa Shams-e-Baazigah under him. Gangohi's Ulama in the philosophical sciences were Mufti Sadruddin Azurda and Qadi Ahmaduddin while his Ulama 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....
(narrations of the words and deeds of the prophet Muhammad
Muhammad
Muhammad |ligature]] at U+FDF4 ;Arabic pronunciation varies regionally; the first vowel ranges from ~~; the second and the last vowel: ~~~. There are dialects which have no stress. In Egypt, it is pronounced not in religious contexts...
), was Abdul Ghani Naqshbandi. On completing his studies, Gangohi returned home at around the age of twenty-one.
He then came across a small book by Thanvi (who lived in Thana Bhawan
Thana Bhawan
Thana Bhawan is a small town in Muzaffarnagar District in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It is the birthplace of the famous Islamic scholar Ashraf Ali Thanvi...
, and one of the three sheikh's resident there at the time, although not Ashraf Ali Thanvi
Ashraf Ali Thanvi
Mawlana Ashraf 'Alī Thānawī was an Indian Islamic Sunni Hanafi scholar and Chishti Sufi master of the Deobandi school.-Education:Ashraf 'Alī Thānwī graduated from the Darul Uloom Deoband in 1884...
.) and found some objectionable writings in the book. As a result he decided to go to Thana Bhavan and debate them with the author. When he reached the toen, he met Haji Imdadullah who asked why he was there. When he told his purpose, Haji Imdadullah clarified his doubts and Gangohi had bay'at (oath) with Haji sahab. He stayed for forty days in Khankah with Haji Imdadullah and on his departure, Haji Imdadullah told him "I have given you all that I had in these forty days". Gangohi then returned to Gangoh and spent a few months in Istegraf. Haji Imdadullah wrote Gangohi a letter enquiring after his spiritual condition, to which he replied:
Shariyat ab Tabiyat ban gayi hai...( Shariyat is now my Nature).
Tarif karne wale aur burai karne wale Yaksa ho gaye...(Praisers and critics are the same to me).
Kisi sharayi masle me koi ishkal nahi raha....(There is no doubt in any religious matter).
On receipt of this letter, Haji Imdadullah put it on his head and said, "I have have still not achieved this condition".
Thereafter, Gangohi started to teach a variety of subjects in Gangoh where he remained until 1300 AH. From 1301 AH, his preoccupation was with the hadith. He alone would teach the entire Siha Sittah and the duroos of hadith would commence in Shawwaal and be completed by Sha'baan. In 1297 AH, after Nanautvi's death, Gangohi became the patron of Darul Uloom Deoband
Darul 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...
but his career as a teacher ended in 1314 AH due to his development of cataracts. By this time, more than three hundred students had completed his hadith course and thereafter, only spiritual instruction, inculcation and the issue of fatwā
Fatwa
A fatwā in the Islamic faith is a juristic ruling concerning Islamic law issued by an Islamic scholar. In Sunni Islam any fatwā is non-binding, whereas in Shia Islam it could be considered by an individual as binding, depending on his or her relation to the scholar. The person who issues a fatwā...
s continued regularly. From then on, Gangohi also became the patron of Madrasa Madhahirul 'Ulum in Saharanpur
Saharanpur
Saharanpur is a city and a Municipal Corporation in the state of Uttar Pradesh in northern India. It is the administrative headquarters of Saharanpur District as well as Saharanpur Division...
.
Gangohi remained in the company of Haji Imdadullah, who accepted his bay'at. Within forty days, Gangohi was awarded Khilafa (Caliphate) and on returning to Gangoh, remained in Abdul Quddoos Gangohi's cloister. During this period, he earned his income through his medical practice. In 1857, Gangohi participated in the jihad
Jihad
Jihad , an Islamic term, is a religious duty of Muslims. In Arabic, the word jihād translates as a noun meaning "struggle". Jihad appears 41 times in the Quran and frequently in the idiomatic expression "striving in the way of God ". A person engaged in jihad is called a mujahid; the plural is...
at Shamli
Shamli
Shamli is a city, tehsil and now a district headquarters in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It is located on the Delhi - Saharanpur highway. It is around 100 km from Delhi, 38 km from Panipat and 65 km from Saharanpur...
with his Pir-o-Murshid
Pir-o-Murshid
Pir-o-Murshid is an esoteric title, signifying the head of some Sufi Schools. Also it is a title of respect given to spiritual leaders....
(spiritual leader) and other companions. When Zamin Shaheed was martyred, Gangohi picked up his corpse, carried it to a nearby masjid (mosque), and sitting nearby, started to recite the Qur'an. Thereafter, a warrant was issued for his arrest. After his detention by the authorities, Gangohi was sent to prison in Saharanpur, then moved to Muzaffarnagar
Muzaffarnagar
Muzaffarnagar is a major city and a municipal board in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. The city was established in Mughal period by a Sayyid Jagirdar, Munawar Lashkar Ali, and so named in honour of his father, Muzaffar Ali Khan. It is the headquarters of the Muzaffarnagar district. It is a...
. Six months passed in prison where a number of prisoners became his adherents, after which they all began to offer salaah (sacred prayers) as members of a prison congregation. Although reports vary, Gangohi is said to have died on Friday, August 11, 1905 after the Adhaan (call to prayers) for Jumu'ah
Jumu'ah
Jumu'ah is a congregational prayer that Muslims hold every Friday, just after noon in lieu of dhuhr...
(Friday prayers), aged seventy-six.