ABiographyOfMuftiKifaayatullaahDelhvi

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Table of Contents

Translators Preface.................................................................................. 1

Mufti-e-Azam Allmah Hadrat Mauln Kifyatullh Dehlvi ............... 3

Remote Ancestry ...................................................................................... 3

Shaykh Inyatullh.................................................................................. 4

Birth and Early Education ........................................................................ 4Friends and Classmates ............................................................................ 6

Involvement in Teaching.......................................................................... 7

Al-Burhn Magazine ................................................................................ 8

A Christian Dialogue................................................................................ 8

Marital Life............................................................................................... 9

Madrasah Amniyyah ............................................................................... 9

Educational Reforms .............................................................................. 10

Anjuman Islh-ul-Kalm........................................................................ 12

Beginning of Political Activities ............................................................ 13

Participation in Political Movements ..................................................... 13

Boycott of the Armistice Celebration (Jashn-e-Sulh) ............................ 14

Need for United Ulam......................................................................... 15Secret Assemblage ................................................................................. 15

Establishment of Jamiatul-Ulam-e-Hind............................................. 16

Hindu Shuddhi Movement and Efforts of Tablgh in Response............. 17

The Word of Truth in The Defence of Deen.......................................... 18

Hijz Conference.................................................................................... 20

Imprisonment.......................................................................................... 21

Self-sufficiency and Self-respect............................................................ 22

Offer from the British Government........................................................ 22

First Muslim, Then Hindustani............................................................... 23Palestine Conference in Egypt................................................................ 24

Educational (Talmi) Services............................................................... 27

Salary...................................................................................................... 27Issuance ofFatw (Religious Rulings) ................................................ 28

Writing and Publications........................................................................ 30Death ...................................................................................................... 32

Noble Characteristics and Virtues.......................................................... 32

A Poignant Historical and Reverential Eulogy (by Hafzur-Rahmn

Sheb)..................................................................................................... 34


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Biography of Mufti Kifyatullh

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TRANSLATORS PREFACE

By the grace of Allh, within the last several decades, English-speaking students of Islm have been blessed with the availabilityof an introductory series of Islmic textbooks covering the beliefsand practices of the deenentitled, Taleem-ul-Islm, (Teachingsof Islm), translated from the original in Urdu written by MuftiKifyatullh (may Allh have mercy upon him). Within the sametime period also, an equally popular and widely used handbook

was compiled by Ml. Shabbr Ahmed Desai Taleem-ul-Haq which derived much of its material from the same series.

Taleem-ul-Islm, as noted already, is a series of books originallywritten in the Urdu language by Allmah Mufti Kifyatullh Dehlvi.They introduce the beliefs and practices of Islm from the level ofa beginner and are laid out in a simple question-answer format. Atleast two English translations of this work are widely available.The procedures of worship and other aspects of life detailed inthese books are based on the rulings of the Hanafischool of juris-prudence (madh-hab). Thus, they are all derived from the mostauthentic sources of the Qurn and Sunnah although, in order to

avoid overwhelming the beginning student, they have not detailedthe bases for each and every ruling.

Recently, I was informed by an acquaintance that a new trans-lation of this series of books into the Swedish language was beingundertaken and that a biography of the author, Mufti Kifyatullh,was being sought for. Having searched and enquired, I was un-able to find any such biography in English or any other language


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Translators Preface

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besides Urdu. Therefore, with Allhs grace, I endeavored totranslate the Urdu biography into English, the result of which is inyour hands.

This booklet is a summarized translation of the biography of MuftiKifyatullh recorded in Bees Baray Musleman (Twenty GreatMuslims), by Abdul-Rashd Arshad, published by Maktaba-i-

Rashidiah, Lahore, Pakistan, June 2001. The author of the biog-raphy was a student of the respected Mufti Kifyatullh and closefriend and classmate of his son, Hafzur-Rahmn Wsif. The Urdubook cited above contains many more details of the life history ofMufti Kifyatullh as well as some bibliographic footnotes, which Ihave not carried over in the translation.

The reader is requested to kindly forward any corrections or inac-curacies in this article to the translator1 and/or publisher. MayAllh forgive me for any errors or incompleteness I have intro-duced in this English translation. I pray, furthermore, that He havemercy upon myself and yourself, the reader, and upon all of the

pious Muslims who have passed before us, including the greatscholar of Islm, Mufti Allmah Kifyatullh Dehlvi, meen.

Nadeem Abdul HamidHamden, CT, U.S.A.

Shawwl 1424 / December 2003

1email: [email protected]


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Mufti-e-Azam Allmah Hadrat MaulnKifyatullh Dehlvi

(rahmatullhi alayhi May Allh have mercy upon him)

1292 1372 H. (1875 1952 C.E.)

by Hfiz Sayyid Abdur-Rashd Ahmad Arshad, (M.A.)

[translated in summary into English from Urdu]

The lineage of Hadrat Mufti1 Kifyatullh is: Kifyatullh binShaykh Inyatullh bin Faydullh bin Khayrullh bin Ibdullh.

REMOTE ANCESTRY

His lineage goes back to Shaykh Jamluddn Yamani and thus theactual homeland of his ancestors was Yemen (Yaman) in the Ara-bian Peninsula. His great-grandfathers were traders who used tocome from Bahrain to the shore lying areas of the Indian subcon-tinent to sell their wares. Once there was such a trading ship com-ing from Arabia which did not reach the coast of India before it raninto a storm and sunk. There were hardly any survivors, if any,except for a young man named Shaykh Jaml who managed touse a piece of debris to reach the shore. At the shore, he wasfound by a man of Bhopal who helped him and took him to hishome. There, Shaykh Jaml grew up and eventually married into

the local families. It was this Shaykh Jaml who was the prede-cessor of Mufti Kifyatullh.2 The sinking of the ship is estimatedto have occurred some 300 years before.

1The title Mufti refers to one who is qualified to deliver religious rulings

(fatw). Hadrat is a title of respect, similar to Sayyidun.2Mukhtasar Trkh Madrasah Amniyyah Delhi by Maulvi Hafzur-Rahmn.


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Shaykh Inyatullh

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SHAYKH INYATULLH

After Shaykh Jaml, there is no detailed record of the history ofMufti Kifyatullhs ancestors. His family moved at some pointfrom Bhopal to Shahjahanpur. Mufti Kifyatullhs father, ShaykhInyatullh, was an extremely noble and pious man who lived along life and looked very much like his son. Shaykh Inyatullh

had a large family but was quite poor. Prior to Mufti Kifyatullh,he had two daughters and after him were born three more boys.One son was named Hfiz Qri Nimatullh and he lived in Shah-

jahanpur, engaged in delivering religious instruction. Anotherbrother was Hfiz Salmatullh, who was a trader; and the thirdwas named Qudratullh, who moved to live in Pakistan and wasengaged in politics as well as various forms of trading activities.

BIRTH AND EARLY EDUCATION

Hadrat Mufti Kifyatullh was born in a neighborhood of Shahja-hanpur (in the UP province of India) in 1292 Hijri.

At the age of five he began his education in the maktab(primaryschool) of Hfiz Barkatullh Sheb. He completed his nzirah(recitation by sight) of the Qurn there and after that obtained ini-tial instruction in Urdu and Frsi from Hfiz Nasmullh. After that,he enrolled in Madrasah Izziyyah, run by Maulvi Izz HasanKhan in Khall Sharqi (another neighborhood of Shahjahanpur).This madrasahwas very famous by virtue of its capable teachersand thus Mufti Kifyatullh gained a strong foundation in terms ofhis education. He completed the most advanced book of the Frsisyllabus, Sikandar Nmah, and began studying the Arabic booksunder the extremely intelligent and able teacher, Hfiz BudhunKhan Sheb.

A second teacher of his in this madrasahwas Mauln Ubayd-ul-Haq Khan, who had migrated to India from Afghanistan in thesearch of religious knowledge, and who was the student of therenowned scholar Mauln Lutfullh Aligarhi. Mauln Ubayd-ul-Haq quickly recognized the great potential of the young MuftiKifyatullh so he tried to convince his father, Shaykh Inyatullh,


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to send him to Darul-Uloom Deoband. However, due to lack ofmeans and Mufti Kifyatullhs young age (he was 15 at the time),his father was not agreeable to the idea at that point. Eventually,Mauln Ubayd-ul-Haq managed to convince him to send MuftiKifyatullh along with another student, Abdul-Majd, to thenearby Madrasah Shhi Murdbd.

Thus, the two students were sent along with a letter of introductionfrom Mauln Ubayd-ul-Haq to the administrator (muhtamim) ofthe Madrasah Arabiyyah at Shhi Masjid in Murdbd. The twowere admitted thereto and they lodged in the residence of HfizMuhammad Isml, a famous lawyer of Murdbd. As MuftiKifyatullhs father was very poor, he (Mufti Kifyatullh) used towork himself to pay for all his educational expenses. He did nottake gifts or assistance from others, and during his studies atMurdbd and (later in) Deoband he used to earn his livelihoodweaving and selling prayer caps (topi). In two or three days, hewould finish sewing a cap and it would sell for two rupees. Prior toactually sewing the caps, he used to work on decorating them with

designs using a pen. This is an excellent example of his resource-fulness and workmanship. Samples of his caps and designs werepreserved by his son.1

Some anecdotes of the period of study in Murdbd are narratedby Mauln Sayyid Fakhr-ul-Hasan (ustdhof Darul-Uloom Deo-band) from his father, Mauln Sayyid Fayd-ul-Hasan, who said,Mufti Kifyatullh and I studied together in Murdbd. For mostof the time when Mauln Ahmad Husayn Amrohi was at that ma-drasah, Mufti Kifyatullh and myself studied several books to-gether under Hadrat Mauln Muhammad Hasan Murdbdi. Ofthem, I remember that we studied Sharh-ul-Waqyah together.

During the lesson Mufti Sheb used to sit in the back, seeminglyinattentive and sometimes even used to sew caps during the les-son. But his power of understanding and memory was such thatwhenever I needed an explanation of something in the book whichI didnt understand, I used to go to Mufti Sheb. Mufti Sheb

1Mufti-e-Azm ki Yd.


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Friends and Classmates

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would redeliver and explain for me the exact same lecture thathad been given by our teacher in class.

After spending two years at Madrasah Shhi Murdbd, MuftiKifyatullh gained admission to Darul-Uloom Deoband in 1312H., along with Maulvi Abdul-Khliq and Maulvi Abdul-Majd. Atthat time, the muhtamim of Darul-Uloom was Maulvi Muhammad

Munr and the principal (sadr mudarris) was Shaykh-ul-HindMauln Mahmd-ul-Hasan. At Deoband, Mufti Kifyatullh ac-quired education from the following teachers:

Mauln Munfaat Ali, who later became principal of Ma-drasah Fatehpri;

Mauln Hakm Muhammad Hasan (brother of HadratShaykh-ul-Hind);

Mauln Ghulm Rasl; Hadrat Mauln Khall Ahmad Ambethvi, then Saharanpuri; Hadrat Mauln Abdul-Ali; and Hadrat Shaykh-ul-Hind Mauln Mahmd-ul-Hasan himself.

Mufti Kifyatullh completed his studies of Hadthunder the lattertwo.

FRIENDS AND CLASSMATES

During the period when Mufti Kifyatullh was acquiring his edu-cation at Darul-Uloom, many other personages were also doingthe same who would later become great and famous scholars.This was, in fact, an illustrious era in the history of Deoband.Some such personalities were ahead of Mufti Kifyatullh in theirstudies, such as Allmah Anwar Shh Muhaddith Kashmri, andothers were close behind him. We list here some of his specialclassmates besides the two mentioned above who studied to-gether with him:

Shaykh-ul-Islm Sayyid Husayn Ahmad Madani; His brother, Sayyid Ahmad Faizbdi; Mauln Zi-ul-Haq, principal of Madrasah Amniyyah;


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Mauln Muhammad Shaf Deobandi; Mauln Muhammad Qsim; Mauln Amn-ud-Dn, founder of Madrasah Amniyyah, Delhi.

Mufti Kifyatullh spent three years at Darul-Uloom. Because ofhis quick memory and intelligence, he did not spend as much ef-fort but still quickly passed ahead of his fellow classmates in ex-

ams. He would learn and memorize his lessons at the time whenthey were delivered by the teacher and would spent his free timemeeting the expenses of his education by weaving caps, etc.

Hadrat Shaykh-ul-Islm Sayyid Husayn Ahmad Madani used torelate a story from his days of learning there, One time, I made aspecial effort to obtain the highest mark in our lesson among myclassmates. When examination time arrived, the question-paperwas on Mr Zhid Rislah. For the question I wrote a very detailedtwo page answer and Mufti Kifyatullh wrote only a half page inanswer to the same. Hadrat Shaykh-ul-Hind was the examinerand he gave both of us the same mark that is, he considered

that the content of the half page was no less than that of my twopages.

Despite the fact that he usually did not review his lessons(mutlaa) much at night like others, Mufti Kifyatullh used toearn the highest marks on his exams. He completed his studies atDarul-Uloom Deoband in 1315 H. at the age of 22.

INVOLVEMENT IN TEACHING

After leaving Darul-Uloom, Mufti Kifyatullh stayed for some timein Delhi with his close friend, Mauln Amn-ud-Dn, who at the

time had the intention of starting a religious madrasah. Then hereturned to Shahjahanpur where his initial teacher, Ubayd-ul-HaqKhan, had founded a new school, Madrasah Ayn-ul-Ilm. MuftiKifyatullh began to teach in that madrasahand also handled theoffice-work. From the records of Ayn-ul-Ilm it is found that MuftiKifyatullh managed all the administrative matters of the school.He used to get 15 rupees a month at the time and he was alwaysthe first to arrive and last to leave from the madrasah. Along with


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Al-Burhn Magazine

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teaching and administrating, Mufti Kifyatullh also began to giveanswers for fatw(religious rulings, sing.: fatw) in this period. Inwriting fatw, he was very meticulous and cautious and woulddeliver them with well-written proofs.

Students at Madrasah Ayn-ul-Ilm during Mufti Kifyatullhs pe-riod of teaching included:

Mauln Hfiz Izz Ali, teacher of fiqh and adab, Darul-Uloom Deoband;

Mauln Mufti Mahdi Hasan, Mufti Darul-Uloom Deoband; Maulvi Ikrmullh Khan Nadwi, Head, Conference Gazette,

Aligarh; Maulvi Hfiz Zkir Ali, advocate.

AL-BURHNMAGAZINE

While at Madrasah Ayn-ul-Ilm, Mufti Kifyatullh started amonthly periodical, Al-Burhn, in response to the Qadiani prob-

lem. The first issue was published in Shabn 1321 H. andstrongly refuted the Qadiani propaganda.

A CHRISTIAN DIALOGUE

Besides Arabic, Mufti Kifyatullh used to read and teach Frsibooks and he would engage in dialogue with people of other faithswhen the occasion arose. Mauln Izz Ali Sheb records oneanecdote of a dialogue that took place during this period,

At the time I was studying Sikandar Nmah from Mufti

Kifyatullh, it became known that in the local vegetable marketthe Christians had begun speaking and propagating against Islmand the preachers of Islm. That very day Hadrat Mufti Sheb,took myself and Maulvi Akram-ul-Allh Nadvi (editor ConferenceGazette, Aligarh) to the assemblage (in the market) and beganarguing with those spreaders of falsehood. At first, they thoughtthat it was some ignorant person speaking, but when the weight ofthe arguments hit them, they realized that it was not an ordinary


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person arguing with them and, leaving aside the discussion, theybegan to sing. Mufti Sheb stepped back about 10 feet and con-tinued to give answer to their criticisms until even those who hadbeen agreeing with them previously also began to criticize them.

I was standing next to the Christians platform and was supplyingMufti Sheb with notes of the statements they were making. He

would then give answers to them one by one. This continued forabout two weeks and then ended. And it ended in such a way thatbesides myself (who was only there for other reasons) there wasnot a single other soul that came to listen to them (i.e. by the endof the two weeks they had been so utterly rebutted by Mufti Shebthat no one came to listen to them any more).

MARITAL LIFE

Mufti Kifyatullhs first marriage took place during this time whilehe was teaching at Madrasah Ayn-ul-Ilm. He had a boy and a girlby this first wife, but they passed away in childhood and his wife

also passed away. Then he married the daughter of SharfuddnSheb by whom he had seven children.

MADRASAH AMNIYYAH

The financial situation of Madrasah Ayn-ul-Ilm was very poor, somuch so that in 1321 H. the teachers had a reduction in their sala-ries, which were already very little. Mufti Sheb himself had hissalary reduced from 18 to 16 rupees. However, he remained atAyn-ul-Ilm for about five years until the death of his dear teacher,Mauln Ubayd-ul-Haq Khan.

Upon the passing of Mauln Ubayd-ul-Haq, Mufti Kifyatullhwas brought to Delhi by Mauln Amn-ud-Dn and he began toteach there in the Madrasah Amniyyah. Although Mauln Amn-ud-Dn was the official principal of the madrasah, in practice, be-sides teaching hadth and giving fatw, Mufti Kifyatullh man-aged all the organizational affairs of the madrasah.


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Educational Reforms

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In Delhi Hadrat Mufti quickly became popular. The dignitaries andpeople of the upper-class used to consult with him in their politicaland religious affairs and would benefit from his correct advice.That he could achieve such fame as he did in Delhi, which wasthe capitol of the Indian subcontinent, was only by the grace ofAllh. The courts of law also benefited from his presence there.Before his arrival, the religious rulings that would be delivered by

the scholars to the courts of law were causing confusion eitherthe language they were written in was too hard to understand orelse the fatwwas completely wrong. In addition, different schol-ars would give different fatwon the same issue. However, whenHadrat Mufti arrived and began answering questions, it becamevery easy for the courts of Delhi because his fatwwere veryconcise, clearly written, and not too confusing or complex to un-derstand.

EDUCATIONAL REFORMS

After arriving at Madrasah Amniyyah, Mufti Kifyatullh began

step-by-step implementation of beneficial reforms in the educa-tional structure of the school. He had passed his own days of stu-dent life with great self-restraint and patience, as his parents werevery poor, but even in such circumstances he had never acceptedcharity from the wealthier people. As mentioned previously, hesupported himself by means of manual labor such as weavingcaps, etc.

However, when he arrived in Delhi he witnessed that the philan-thropists of the town would often call the students of religiousschools to come and eat upon occasions of marriage or death.Though the philanthropists were doing this for the poor students

due to their strong desire to help and support them, this was infact causing disrespect to the station of religious education. Thus,Mufti Sheb completely stopped this practice of going out to peo-ples houses for food.

For the 8th annual convention of Madrasah Amniyyah, MuftiSheb presented a treatise containing a number of proposals for


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the reform of religious educational institutions. In summary, he putforth the suggestions that:

1) The motive of all the Islmic schools is the same to spreadand disseminate the teachings and knowledge of Islm. Thus,from an organizational point of view, they should all be attachedtogether. That is, at least they should unite and help each other

out and not try to oppose one another.2) These Islmic schools are not making progress because themembers of their consultative or administrative committees arenot religious people or scholars, rather most of them are of themodernized type and influenced by western fashions, having noconcept of the religious sciences. Then, some organizationalmembers are indeed scholars but they have the wrong motives they are well-aware of Islmic issues but in monetary affairs theyare not trustworthy and they think the finances of the school arefor their own purposes. For these reasons, it is absolutely neces-sary that the members of the administrative committees of Islmic

schools should be people of knowledge and fidelity and all organ-izational and instructional affairs should be undertaken with theirconsultation and decisions. The administrators of the schoolsshould have fear of Allh in their hearts and take their responsibili-ties seriously, not using the money of the school inappropriatelyfor their own purposes.

3) Whoever becomes administrator of an Islmic madrasah heshould devote all his attention and time only to the affairs of thatmadrasah. He should not take responsibility of other work besidesit because nobody can give his full attention to two jobs at a time.

4) The administrators and teachers should treat the guests ofAllh (i.e. the students) with gentleness and well-wishing. Theyshould remove the difficulties from their paths and inculcate withinthem the love and desire for knowledge.

5) Great caution should be taken when initially considering stu-dents for admission. Only those students should be accepted whohave within them a real wish and desire to attain knowledge. Also,


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Anjuman Islh-ul-Kalm

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before admitting them they should have to produce a certificate ofgood achievement from their previous madrasah.

6) In order to maintain the students self-respect, they should notbe allowed to go out for invitations to eat. If the well-wishers wantto feed the students, they should arrange with the muhtamim aday beforehand and bring the food at an arranged time and feed

the students themselves.

ANJUMAN ISLH-UL-KALM

In addition to the administrative reforms mentioned above, MuftiSheb expended all his efforts to correct the educational weak-nesses of the students. He had noticed that the students could notproperly convey and express their ideas to the general public,their speeches and lectures were not as polished as desirable,and they could not argue and debate with non-Muslims when theneed arose. In order to correct these shortcomings, in 1328 H. heinitiated an assembly for speech and debate, which later came to

be called Anjuman Islh-ul-Kalm (Organization for Reformationof Speech). The purpose of this gathering was to teach studentshow to deliver speeches and debate. Every eighth day, the stu-dents had to give talks or engage in a dialogue and Mufti Shebhimself would help them. This assembly was very successful in itsaims but after some time it was ended due to lack of participation

the local inhabitants of Delhi on the whole did not send theirchildren for religious instruction and those students who camefrom other countries only came with the purpose of studying theset syllabus of Dars-e-Nizmi.


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BEGINNING OF POLITICAL ACTIVITIES

In 1915-1916, the Hindu and Muslim unity movements gainedpopularity and both sides realized the importance of unity becausethe British government had promised new political reform if theywould unite. At that time, the Muslims political group was the

Muslim League and the Hindus had a strong majority in the Con-gress party. The religious scholars at large had no organized in-volvement in the politics, neither as a group nor individually, al-though the elders of Deoband had been making some efforts ontheir own. In this situation, Congress held a gathering in Bombayin 1915 in which a proposal was put forth to make an alliance withMuslim League. In this regard, the Hindu and Muslim leaders be-gan to consult one another and eventually a pact of alliance wasmade which was ratified by Muslim League in the convention heldunder the chairmanship of Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnahin Lucknow, December 1916. In this alliance, there were a numberof points agreed to which were in fact mistakes from the Muslim

viewpoint, but which the Muslims leaders at that time failed to dis-cern. The Jamiatul-Ulama-e-Hind was not yet established butHadrat Mufti Kifyatullh had been given such political insight byAllh that he was able to foresee what these mistakes were. Thus,he began to attempt to clarify these on his own behalf. His politicalinsight and adeptness was so well acknowledged that wheneverhis respected teacher, Shaykh-ul-Hind, had to engage in a discus-sion with a political leader he would first call Hadrat Mufti and con-sult him. This caused Shaykh-ul-Hinds friends and close studentsto be envious. After enduring this for a long time, Shaykh-ul-Hindfinally addressed his friends saying, Without doubt you are si-ysat-dn politicians (i.e. you play politics), but Maulvi

Kifyatullh has a mind that makespolitics (siysat-sz).

PARTICIPATION IN POLITICALMOVEMENTS

On August 18, 1917 the colonial empire (Britain) made the famousannouncement that promised the people of the Indian subconti-


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Boycott of the Armistice Celebration (Jashn-e-Sulh)

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nent self-rule and self-government. Lord Montego arrived in Indiaand the pact of alliance between Muslim League and Congresswas presented to him. Previous to this, those individuals who wereassociated individually with Hadrat Mufti Kifyatullh had beencriticizing its shortcomings and at that point he realized that, as acollective body of ulam (religious scholars), if they did not takepart in the political movements and give proper direction to the

Muslims, then even more mistakes would result which would beharmful for the Muslims. Thus, with this motive, the ulamjoinedforces, en masse, with the Muslim League in its 11 th convention inDelhi held under the chairmanship of the Lion of Bengal, MaulviFazlul Haq. The leaders of Muslim League were delighted with theparticipation of the ulamand the sentiment was expressed bythe chairmainship.

BOYCOTT OF THE ARMISTICE CELE-BRATION (JASHN-E-SULH)1

Following this, a Khilfat Conference was convened in Delhi in1919 under the chairmanship of Maulvi Fazlul Haq in which againa great number of ulam took part. In this conference HadratMufti put forth a proposal to boycott Britains Armistice Celebra-tion:

Putting into context the impact that this armistice had with regardto those heart-wrenching events in the Turkish empire, thekhilfah, and the sanctity and authority of Iran, this proposal is putforth from the religious viewpoint that the Muslims of India shouldnot take part in the celebrations of these victories.

This proposal was unilaterally accepted and Mufti Kifyatullh had

further supported it saying, that from the Sharahpoint of view, itis impossible that a Muslim should happily take part in such a

1Probably the Armistice of Mudros, which took place on October 30, 1918 and

which marked the defeat of the Ottoman power in World War I. The Turks had

to give up the lands under their control, the army was demobilized, and ports

and other facilities were made available for use by the Allies. translators

note, fromEncy. Brit.


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celebration in the context of the fact that the sacred places havebeen taken away from the Muslim khilfahand the lands of Bagh-dad, Jerusalem, and others have come under the control of non-Muslims. Furthermore, the sole result of these happenings hasturned out to be nothing else than that the amr-ul-muminn,khalfat-ul-muslimnlost control of these countries and the elimina-tion of Islms worldly power and authority.

Furthermore, he stated, I am from the ranks of the ulamand Isay, from the viewpoint of the Sharah, it is not possible for aMuslim to take part in any such celebration, and if one does so, hewill definitely be sinful.1

NEED FOR UNITED ULAM

Before and during the establishment of the Khilfat Committee inDelhi, Mufti Kifyatullh had felt a strong urgency for the need ofestablishing a separate central and united headquarters of theulam. He realized that if the ulam continued to participate in

political parties on an individual basis and such parties took anunwary step, then the scholars would be in the greatest dangerfrom the backlash of such a mistake. Thus, he began to discussthis idea with others of the same mind as himself.

SECRET ASSEMBLAGE

However, uniting the ulam in their divergent opinions and differ-ing beliefs was an extremely difficult task. Furthermore, it was re-alized that the government took advantage of the ulambeing inmutual rivalry with each other so it would not allow them to jointogether in a single body. So it was decided to keep this effort se-cret. Further, it was decided that after the completion of theKhilfat Conference in 1919, the ulamonly should remain at themeeting place to discuss these issues. According to the instructionof Mufti Kifyatullh, Mauln Ahmad Saeed and Mauln zdSajjni secretly contacted all of the ulam at their residences toinvite them to take part in this gathering.

1Masalah Khilfat wa Jashn-e-Sulh.


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Establishment of Jamiatul-Ulam-e-Hind

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ESTABLISHMENT OF JAMIA-TUL-ULAM-E-HIND

Thus, on that day, after Ishprayer, a gathering of ulam washeld in which about 25 took part. There, all of them agreed upon aplan of establishing a united body of the ulamof India, the nameof which would be Jamiatul-Ulama-e-Hind. The temporary head(sadar) was selected to be Mufti Kifyatullh and Mauln AhmadSaeed was chosen to be the temporary administrator (nzim).Upon the invitation of Mauln Sayyid Mahmd Dwd Ghaznawiit was agreed that the next meeting the first assembly ofJamiatul-Ulam would be held in December 1919 in Amratsar un-der the chairmanship of Mauln Abdul-Bri.

Hence, at the end of the year 1919, the conference of MuslimLeague and Congress was held in Amratsar and so was the sec-ond meeting of Jamiatul-Ulam, in which 70-80 of the famousulamof India were present. This was again not a public meetingbut nonetheless the matters relating to the constitution and futuremethodology of the Jamiatul-Ulam was settled. The head of thisconference was Mauln Abdul-Bri Farangi Mahalli.

With regard to the charter, constitution, and future directions of theJamiat there were differences among the ulam but MuftiKifyatullh utilized his statesmanship and unmatched acumen,managing to resolve all the disputes within a few hours.

Mufti Kifyatullh remained the temporary head of Jamiatul-Ulamathroughout the life of his teacher, Hadrat Shaykh-ul-Hind, due tothe latters imprisonment in Malta. Throughout his life, he never

accepted to be the permanent head of the Jamiat. Although heheld this position from 1919 till 1938 a period of 19 continuousyears he never took charge as chair of the Jamiats annual con-ferences but would leave the position to his contemporaries.

Under the direction of Mufti Sheb, the Jamiatul-Ulama-e-Hindkept in view the goal of complete independence for the Pak-o-Hind subcontinent and for this purpose he worked hard to unite


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the ulam and bring in being a sound political consciousnessamong them. The conferences of the Jamiat were exactly for thispurpose and they were held almost yearly, alternating locationamong the various major cities of India. Some of them were ex-tremely impressive and important historical events, such as theone in Kanpr where Mash-ul-Mulk Hakm Ajmal Khan deliveredthe address. Other important assemblies were those held in

Murdbd, Joonpr, Delhi, Giy, and Amroha.

HINDU SHUDDHI MOVEMENT ANDEFFORTS OF TABLGH IN RESPONSE

With the rise of the Shuddhi1 movement in 1922, as a result ofwhich thousands of Muslims were forced to convert to Hinduism,Mufti Kifyatullh did not let association with Congress and otheraffairs of national unity deflect him from his religious obligations.He arranged to send out the first deputation for tablgh (Islmicpropagation) to those areas where the Arya Samaj movement hadbeen most active. The head of the group was Mauln Muham-mad Irfn and the nib (substitute) head was Mauln WahdHasan Tonki.2 Mufti Sheb did not suffice with this he went outhimself with a deputation to the area of Achheetra and saved theMuslims there from becoming murtad(apostate).

Mufti Shebs manner of speaking and mode of address in thisperiod of tablghfell right according to the level and intellect of thevillagers. They would be much affected by his impressive, yetstraightforward and simple speech and return to Islm. One ex-ample of this is that during this period of trial, Mufti Sheb re-ceived news that a certain village had entirely become apostate.He sent Mauln Ahmad Saeed with orders to go immediately

and determine the situation in that village. At that time, the AryaSamajs Shuddhi movement was extremely intense among theMalkna people with the result that the Muslims tablghi deputa-

1

Hindu proselytism.2

Mauln Wahd Hasan Khan was a great lim (scholar) and specialist in phi-

losophy (maqlt), logic (mantiq), and theology (ilm-e-kalm); thus he had

great weight in propagating Islmic through rational proofs.


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The Word of Truth in The Defence of Deen

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tions could not reach those areas without risking danger. Anyway,Mauln Ahmad Saeed arrived there and found that the AryaSamaj were telling the people: Your ancestors were Hindu untilthe Muslims came and forced them to cut their chooti1 and convertto Islm. Upon being informed of this, Mufti Kifyatullh went tothe village and called for a gathering of the people, whereupon headdressed them thus:

Today I am so happy to be in this town meeting you, the scions ofa courageous people. The Malkna people are one of the worldsnations known for bravery. These people are the backbone of In-dia. Your ancestors also stood up for the protection of Hindustan.They never took defeat from any enemy.

Some people have come to you claiming that the Muslims forcedyour ancestors to accept Islm and held them by the necks, cut-ting off their hair locks. What?! Were your ancestors so weak andcowardly? I do not believe this. Look brothers: these people aretelling you lies and deceiving you. The truth is that no one could

stand eye to eye with your predecessors. It was only that they un-derstood Islm to be a good and true way of life that they willinglybecame Muslims. In deserting your true religion, can you not feelthe grief that the souls of your ancestors are experiencing?

The effect of this speech hit the hearts of the people so hard thatthe people of the entire village again reverted to Islm.

THE WORD OF TRUTH IN THEDEFENCE OF DEEN

As a result of the Shuddhi movement, the entire country became

embroiled in sectarian clashes and unrest. It was for the purposeof Hindu-Muslim unity that Gandhi ji started his fast in September1924. Then a conference of all the religious parties was held onSeptember 26, 1924 in which the chairman, while expounding onthe importance of Hindu-Muslim unity, brought forward the sug-gestion to the Muslims that the punishment for apostasy and the

1Top lock, or pigtail, worn by Hindu males.


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duty of tablghshould be dropped as parts of their religion. Underthe circumstances, most of the Hindu and Muslim leaders were insupport of this proposal. Out of the gathering of thousands, onlythe person of Mufti Kifyatullh was fully opposed to this unani-mous resolution and stood up for the correct position of the Sha-rah. He was not awe-struck by any of the great personages as-sembled there, but rose in opposition, saying:

The foundation of Islm is upon tablgh (propagation). The verynature of it includes (the institution of) tablgh. Undoubtedly thepunishment of the apostate in Islm is death. This is an openlymanifest, fundamental principle of Islm and we have no reserva-tion declaring it to be so. The current unrest in Hindustan is not aresult of (the existence of) this principle because to enforce thispunishment is only the right of the Islmic sultanate. Thus the is-sue of this Islmic punishment has no bearing on the unrest oc-curring in Hindustan today.

In this way, despite all odds, Mufti Sheb spoke the word of Haqq,

preserving the status of ulam-e-haqqand Islm. In the words ofIqbal:

******


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Hijz Conference

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HIJZ CONFERENCE

When Sultn Ibn Sad was fighting to expel the Sharf of Makkahfrom his position, it was proposed that a representative gatheringof Muslims from all over the world take place. Thus a conferencewas planned for 1926 C.E. (26 Dhil-Qadah 1344) under the

chairmanship of Sharf Sharf Adnn. It was to be attended by se-lected delegates of all Muslim countries. The members of thedelegation sent by Jamiatul-Ulam-e-Hind were Hadrat MuftiKifyatullh (head of delegation), Mauln Abdul-Hakm Siddqi(private secretary), Mauln Muhammad Irfn (secretary),Allmah Shabbr Ahmad Uthmni, Mauln Ahmad Saeed, andMauln Nishr Ahmad. Mufti Kifyatullh demanded of SultnIbn Sad that the conference also address the formation of theHijz government and this issue was subsequently added to theagenda.

In May 1926 the delegation of Jamiatul-Ulam-e-Hind left from

Bombay on the ship Akbar along with delegates from the KhilfatCommittee, who included Mauln Sayyid Sulaimn Nadwi (headof delegation), Shoaib Qureshi, Mauln Shawkat Ali, andMauln Muhammad Ali. This extraordinary international confer-ence was attended by representatives from India, Egypt, Java,Palestine, Lebanon, Syria, Sudan, Najd, Hijz, Russia, Turkistan,Afghanistan, Turkey, and other Muslim lands. The subject commit-tee of the conference was made up of the following individuals:Grand Mufti of Palestine Al-Hj Amn al-Husayni, Grand Mufti ofIndia Mufti Kifyatullh, Prime Minister of Sadi GovernmentHfiz Duhbah, Mauln Shawkat Ali of the Khilfat Committee,Head of Russian Delegation Zia-ud-dn, and Head of Javan Dele-

gation Umar Saeed.

Mufti Sheb enthusiastically took part in the proceedings of theconference. He presented to the scholars of Hijz and Sultn IbnSad himself many suggestions for setting up the administrativestructure of Hijz. He demanded that all Islmic madhhib andsects should have freedom of thought and practice of their viewsin Hijz, that the un-Islmic practice of slave trafficking be totally


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abolished, and many other reformative proposals which he gotapproved on account of his power of argument.

He also remonstrated Sultn Ibn Sad that he should not havedestroyed the tombs and other historically important places ofMadnah without the prior consent of the participants of the con-ference, who were the ulam representing the entire Muslim

world. All these dignitaries thus witnessed Hadrat Muftis courage,determination, and power of argument and his fame and popular-ity spread throughout the Islmic world.

IMPRISONMENT

Though Mufti Kifyatullh had not engaged in any illegal activitiesduring his involvement with the Khilfatmovement and other po-litical endeavors, he was subsequently imprisoned twice, in 1930and 1932, on account of his outspoken speeches and involvementin civil disobedience and rallies through the Jamiatul-Ulam. Thefirst time, he was imprisoned for a few days in Delhi, then moved

to Gujrat. Other fellow prisoners here were Dr. Mukhtr AhmadAnsri, Abdul-Ghaffar Khn, Mauln Ahmad Saeed Dehlvi,Mauln Habbur-Rahmn Ludhianvi, and Mister sif Ali, amongothers. The second time he was arrested, he was kept in the jail ofMultan along with other such political prisoners as MaulnAhmad Saeed Dehlvi, Mauln Habbur-Rahmn Dehlvi, MaulnSayyid At-ullh Shah Bukhri, Mauln Dwd Ghaznavi, La-ladesh Bandhoo Gupta Chowdry, and Dr. Ansri.

While in jail, Hadrat Mufti did not remain unoccupied but he en-gaged himself in pursuits such as teaching his fellow prisoners,and even stitching the clothes of others. Mauln Ahmad Saeed

Dehlvi reports having learned the last portion of Fath-ul-Bri,Sharh Sahh-ul-Bukhri from Hadrat Mufti while in the jail of Gu-jrt. Furthermore, he relates that many political and religiousmeetings were held among the fellow prisoners.


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Self-sufficiency and Self-respect

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SELF-SUFFICIENCY AND SELF-RESPECT

Around this time, many opponents used to say that MuftiKifyatullh and other members of the Jamiatul-Ulam obtainedsalaries from Congress and that the entire party operated uponthe funds of Congress. Mauln Abul-Ghiyth Shaykh KarmuddnMeerthi, who worked as ambassador for the Jamiat in southernIndia for 15 years, refutes these claims, writing:

During the civil disobedience of 1930, the Jamiatul-Ulam was insuch dire straits that there was no money at all in the funds andseveral months passed without salaries. Moti Lal Nehru offeredmonetary assistance from the Congress funds. At that time, MuftiKifyatullh had been imprisoned but was still in the jail of Delhi,so when consulted upon this matter he said, In the struggle forindependence, we have not taken assistance or support fromanyone else. Our efforts for liberation of our land are our religiousobligation. If we cannot sustain the operation of the Jamiat, thenwe will close the offices.

Anyway, looking at the lifestyle of Hadrat Mufti, Hadrat MaulnSayyid Husayn Ahmad Madani, and other elders of the Jamiat onerealizes that such accusations (of taking monetary support fromCongress) are completely false. Their piety, character, sincerity forAllh, and religious and national sense of honor were unmatched.

OFFER FROM THE BRITISHGOVERNMENT

When he began taking full part in the freedom movement andmuch progress was being made in that direction, with hundreds ofthousands of followers joining him, the British government startedputting all types of pressure on Mufti Kifyatullh to keep awayfrom the movement. Eventually a message was sent to himthrough a member of the Viceroy Council, Mian Sir Fazl Husayn,saying, The British government requests you to separate yourself


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from the political movement. In return, the government will giveyou as a gift the royal building and grounds of the Madrasah Saf-dar Jang for your own personal self. Our purpose is not that youshould support the British government or engage in propagandaon its behalf but we just want you to remain silent and stay awayfrom politics.

The eldest son of Hadrat Mufti, Mauln Hafzur-Rahmn wrote inan article about the above message that, this was a secret mes-sage to my father, who also informed me of it in the greatest se-crecy and today is the first time that this has been made public.

In response to the above message of Mian Sir Fazl Husayn, Had-rat Mufti Sheb replied, I have not joined the freedom movementfor personal enrichment. Thank you very much for your offer butno enticement will be able to silence my voice.

FIRST MUSLIM, THEN HINDUSTANI

There has been some propaganda that Mufti Kifyatullh andother members of the Jamiatul-Ulam were blind followers of theCongress party and that they ascribed to the motto, (we are) firstHindustani (Indians), then Muslims. But this accusation has abso-lutely no foundation. Mufti Shebs oldest son again wrote in refu-tation of this in his book Mufti-e-Azam ki Yd, This fact cannot beestablished from any of Hadrat Muftis writings or speeches. Infact, quite the opposite, he held that it was the first duty of theMuslim public that in the push for political reform, the protection ofreligious freedom should be the foremost aim. And they shouldunderstand that we are first Muslim, then Hindi, Arab, Irani, Chi-nese, etc. (Reference Musulmn ke Mazhabi aur Qaumi Aghrz ki

Hifzat1

published by The Printing Works, Delhi, 1917.) He re-mained steadfast upon this principle until the end of his life.

1Protecting the Religious and National Interests of the Muslims.


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Palestine Conference in Egypt

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PALESTINE CONFERENCE IN EGYPT

When Britain decided to partition Palestine and establish a Jewishstate in one part there was great agitation on the part of the Pales-tinian Arabs. The (resistance) movement resulted in violent effortsof the British government to suppress it. In support of the op-

pressed Palestinians, Mufti Sheb and the Jamiatul-Ulam estab-lished the Majlis Tahaffuz-e-Filistn (Association for the Protec-tion of Palestine), which collected funds to support their cause. OnAugust 26, 1938 all of India held a Palestine Day of rallies andprotests against the division and it was decided that there wouldbe a world gathering of Muslims to protest this action. Thus, onOctober 17, 1938 a Palestine Conference was held in Cairo un-der the chairmanship of Ali Alawiyya Pasha, in which over 3,500delegates were present from Egypt, Syria, Iraq, Iran, India, Leba-non, Hijaz, Jordon, Yugoslavia, Romania, Turkey, and other Mus-lim lands. The delegation from the Jamiatul-Ulam of India in-cluded Mufti Kifyatullh as head, Mauln Abdul-Haq Madani,

and Mauln Muhammad Yusuf Binnori as members.

Mufti Kifyatullh received an exceptional welcome in Egypt.Mauln Muhammad Yusuf reported, The welcoming of HadratMufti that we witnessed in Cairo filled our hearts with joy andmade us raise our heads in pride because of its splendor, the likeof which was not seen elsewhere in the world. The cries of Longlive the great Mufti! Long live the Indian delegation! were allaround us. We were accompanied to the conference grounds withan amazing rally of people. Actually, Hadrat Mufti had becomesick during the journey to Egypt and due to a high fever was un-able to participate in the conference himself. He was thus repre-

sented, and his speech was read, by Mauln Abdul-Haq Madani.

During his sickness, Mufti Kifyatullh was visited several timesby the Shaykh of Azhar, Allmah Mustaf al-Murghi. The reli-gious position of the Shaykh of Azhar at the time was greater eventhan that of the king that is, the king would come himself to seethe Shaykh instead of the other way around. However, due to the


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great respect held for Mufti Kifyatullh by the Shaykh, he wouldhimself come and visit him.1

Upon preparation to leave Egypt, a great number of Egyptianulam and dignitaries came to see him off. The dignitaries re-quested that a photo be taken but Mufti Kifyatullh refused to doso. Because a number of the Egyptian scholars had given permis-

sibility to taking photographs, a discussion on this issue started.The viewpoint of the Egyptian scholars was that the impermissi-bility applied to those pictures which were created directly by thehuman hand. It did not apply to photography because the picturewas simply a reflection of the scene. The conversation that tookplace, according to the report of Mauln Abdul-Haq Madani,was:

Ulam-e-misr:The impermissibility onlyapplies to those pictureswhich are made by the

work of the human hand.In photography, no suchthing is needed, it issimply a reflection of thepicture.

Hadrat Mufti Saheb:So how does this reflec-tion become transferredfrom the lens to the pa-per?

Ulam-e-misr:It requires much [i.e.technical] work.

1The Shaykh remarked of him, Clemency and gravity shine upon his brow.


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Palestine Conference in Egypt

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Hadrat Mufti Saheb:What is the differencebetween human handi-work and much work?

Ulam-e-misr:Yes, they are the samething.

Hadrat Mufti Saheb:Hence, their ruling is thesame.

The Egyptian ulam were extremely impressed with HadratMuftis ready and sound answers and some were unable to speak

to give any reply after that.


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EDUCATIONAL (TALMI) SERVICES

The political and national services that Mufti Sheb effectedthrough the Jamiatul-Ulama have been briefly mentioned previ-ously. However, his teaching and issuance of fatwwhile at Ma-drasah Amniyyah are truly his lasting contributions. Muftis dars

(lessons), especially his dars of hadth, had this special qualitythat he avoided long discussions. He would explicate importantahdthand points of difference therein using the most simple andstraightforward language. In this, he followed the footsteps of histeacher, Shaykh-ul-Hind, whose lectures also used to be veryconcise. Among the many explanations of a hadth, he would pickthe most concise and comprehensive of them that appeared mostacceptable to him and explain it, thus effectively impressing theessence of ahdth into the students minds. Mufti Kifyatullhspent about 50 years in the teaching of ilm-e-hadthat MadrasahAmniyyah and also in issuing fatw. The author had the oppor-tunity to study Sahh Bukhri Sharf and Tirmidhi Sharf in his

company and was most impressed by his direct style of delivery.

SALARY

Upon first arriving at Madrasah Amniyyah, Mufti Shebs salarywas set at 20 rupees a month. Near the end of his period, it hadadvanced by Jamdi al-Awwal 1370H. to 250/- rupees. On the firstof Jamdi ath-Thni 1370H., the management committee hadraised his pay by 25 rupees to 275/- per month. In response tothis, he replied, The income of the madrasah is on the declineand therefore I will not take this increase. Hence, up until hisdeath he used to return 25 rupees monthly to the madrasah.

By this time, Mufti Kifyatullhs fame had spread internationallyand he could have availed himself of great employment opportuni-ties. However, he had dedicated his life to the service of the ma-drasah and would not accept any offer from anywhere else. At thetime when his salary was 40/- rupees a month, the Madrasah li-yyah, Calcutta, put forward an invitation for a teaching position of500/- rupees but he rejected the offer, saying, There I will not be


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Issuance of Fatw (Religious Rulings)

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able to have freedom of conscience, and this will be an obstruc-tion in the service of the deen.

From the organization of Mash-ul-Mulk Hakm Ajmal Khn, theNizm-e-Daccan had made available some office position and astipend but Mufti Sheb did not allow this to be executed becausehe considered that these might become an obstacle to his con-

science, ability to speak the truth, and his fearlessness in the path(of Islm).

ISSUANCE OFFATW(RELIGIOUSRULINGS)

We have previously mentioned that Mufti Kifyatullh began writ-ing fatw in Shahjahanpur and he did the same when he movedto Madrasah Amniyyah. As a result of this, Madrasah Amniyyahvery quickly became famous in Delhi. According to Mufti Ab Mu-hammad Abdul Haqq, the author of Tafsr Haqqnistated in frontof a large crowd at one of the madrasahs annual conventions:

I say on oath that this madrasah, in respect of the educationalquality, civility and maturity of the students, proficiency of theteachers, and administrative integrity, holds the highest positionamong the madrisof Delhi. This is the only madrasah in Delhiwhich is providing the highest level of service to Islm in the issu-ance of fatw.

It was a result of this that after a period of fifty years, MuftiKifyatullh had written answers to hundreds of thousands ofquestions and his rulings are a great treasure of Islmic jurispru-dence.1 In fact, his teachers also placed great trust upon his writ-

ing of fatw. Thus, in the period of non-cooperation with the Brit-ish, when people sought rulings about this from Shaykh-ul-Hind,among the three people he would redirect them to in this issuewas Mufti Kifyatullh.

1A compilation of these is nowadays available, entitled Kifyatul-Mufti.

translator.


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The fatwof Mufti Kifyatullh had the special quality that theywere extremely concise, yet fully well-grounded in proof, and theanswer was given exactly according to the intent of the ques-tioner. That is, whatever question was asked, the answer wouldbe given to the point unlike the long and twisted explanationsgiven by the average mufti. It was for this reason that he waspopular not only among the common folk but also among the offi-

cials of the courts of law, who would give preference to his rulingsin religious cases. We present below a few examples of hisfatw:

Black Market

What is the religious ruling on the Black Market? That is, is itpermissible to sell on it, or are there certain circumstances inwhich it is? For instance, nowadays clothes and flour are beingrationed so is it permissible or not? Kindly write a detailed answerto this.

In reply, Mufti Sheb concisely said, Engaging in the Black Mar-ket is not permissible because it involves injustice against fellowhumans, it does not breed mercy and kindness, and there is greatchance of falling into speaking lies.

In the Charge of Allh and Muhammad ( )

Once a question was asked, Many people, when they wish to en-trust something to the care of Allh, they utter the words, AllhMuhammad ke sipurd (in the charge of Allh and Muhammad).For instance, when someone is leaving for a dangerous place,then his friends and relatives utter it. Is this phrase correct to say

or what should one say in such a situation?Answer, One should not utter the phrase Allh Muhammad kesipurd. It is only correct to say, Allh ke sipurd (in the charge ofAllh).


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Writing and Publications

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Taking Photos

The issue of taking photos was broached to Mufti Sheb as fol-lows, What do the scholars of religion have to say on the issue oftaking photos and having them taken from the viewpoint ofSharah why is it forbidden? It is said: we just make a movingthing stationary that is, the image of ourselves that we see in the

mirror, we are simply making it permanent and calling it a photo.So it is not clear as to why it should be forbidden? Also, this is ameans of keeping memoirs.

Answer, Making and using pictures is impermissible according tothe sacred Sharah. Photography is simply another method ofmaking pictures; hence it is impermissible when used to take pho-tos of a living creature. Of course, to take photos of buildings andother non-living things is permissible, just as it is permissible todraw pictures of them by hand. The Sharahhas forbidden mak-ing pictures and taking photos of living things due to a certain wis-dom, which is that there should be no doubt about a Muslim glori-

fying or respecting someone other than Allh.From these few examples it should be clear that when giving afatwMufti Sheb did not use long, technical details but clarifiedthe ruling of the Sharahin very simple terms, which was his spe-cial excellence.

WRITING AND PUBLICATIONS

From at early age, Hadrat Mufti always took interest in readingand writing. His first major endeavor was the magazine Al-Burhn for which he wrote in refutation of the Qadiani problem,

as mentioned earlier.

Rawd-ur-Rayyhn

His second major work was his famous (Arabic) poem, Rawd-ur-Rayyhn which was published in 1327 H. (1909 C.E.) and hadbeen presented at the annual convention of Madrasah Amniyyahthe year earlier. In this qasdah, Mufti Sheb recalled and eulo-


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gized the great madris(religious schools) and scholars of old andespecially the famous teachers of Deoband and their efforts. Theeloquence and grandeur of the poem was such that Hadrat Muftiwas requested to, and subsequently produced, an Urdu transla-tion with footnotes giving more details of the lives and explainingdifficult words of the original.

Al-Musawwand Al-Musaff

Hadrat Mufti Sheb published the Sharh al-Musaww of HadratShah Waliyullh Dehlvi, which was an exegesis of Imm Mliksal-Muwatta. This great work of Shah Waliyullh was publishedalong with his Frsi commentary, al-Musaff in 1347 H. In thisway, readers could benefit at one time from both of Shah Wali-yullhs commentaries, in Arabic and Frsi.

Talm-ul-Islm

Mufti Kifyatullhs most famous publication is Talm-ul-Islm

(The Teachings of Islm), in which he wrote 4 volumes for childrenin very plain and simple language (in question-answer format).This contained details of the extremely important fundamental be-liefs and practices of Islm. It became very popular in the Indiansubcontinent and was introduced into the curriculum of a greatnumber of madris in India and Pakistan. So popular was it thatmany different publishers printed versions of it in the thousandsand even today every book publisher is bringing out new editionsof it. Because he did not copyright the work, it has been publishedand distributed in the hundreds of thousands. Its translation intoEnglish and other languages has also been accomplished.

Various Other Manuscripts

Hadrat Mufti wrote various other religious treatises which werepublished in book form but are no longer in circulation. As thereader has learned by now, Mufti Kifyatullh was a great muftiand scholar and very able writer. However, his literary works areactually very few. The reason was that he was so involved inteaching, political activities and writing fatw, along with the fact


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Death

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that Delhi was such a large city that had many different organiza-tions of which he was a member; therefore he was too busy and itwas difficult for him to find the time to write and publish. Had hebeen able to find the time to write, he would have been a greatwriter of our age, but at any rate, a published version of all thefatw he wrote would run to about 15 volumes of valuable reli-gious research. His speeches and khutbtwould also be a great

treasure were they to be collected a published in book form. Simi-larly, he was a great poet in Arabic and a publication of his poetry,some of which was also in Urdu, would be very beneficial.

DEATH

During the last years of his life, watching the deteriorating immor-alities of society, clashes between Hindus and Muslims, and manyother reasons, Mufti Kifyatullh withdrew himself completely frompolitics. For his last 10 years he was totally isolated and did notattend any gatherings. He was very much disturbed by the eventstaking place in the subcontinent and abstained from even making

comments. The last several months of his life he suffered fromsevere illness and swelling of the liver and showed no improve-ment despite the best medical treatment. Finally, on 13 Rab-uth-Thni, 1372 (end of December 1952) he passed away at 10:30PM. The next day his funeral prayers were attended by 100,000 ofthe Muslims of Delhi and he was buried near Hadrat Khwaja Qut-buddn Bakhtiyr Kki.

NOBLE CHARACTERISTICS ANDVIRTUES

It is very difficult to encompass all of his noble traits. In summary,it can be said that he was the example of a true and sincere lim.He was of a respectable and solemn nature but was kind and po-lite to his friends and the common folk. He stuck to the sunnahofthe Prophet ( ) and would do his work by his own hands. Hewas always ready to lend his help to the needy. From early child-hood he had such self-respect and self-restraint that even in direfinancial straits he did not ask help from anyone else but worked


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himself to earn a living. Even when working as a teacher, hepassed his life with very little salary.

His good qualities have been best enumerated by those who ac-companied him on his travels to Hajj and Egypt, or who were withhim in the jails of Gujrat and Multan. They report that on the wayto Hajj he helped and served his fellow travelers to every extend

possible. He would wash and hang to dry their clothes for them.During Hajj, he would secretly pray the tahajjudand remain quietlyin worship all the time. At night, he would go through the streets ofMakkah and Madnah distributing alms to the needy. He was of avery simple nature and would not only get his own groceries fromthe market by himself but would also bring those of his neighbors.He would cook his own food and stitch his own clothes, and in jailhe even did the same for his fellow prisoners.


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A Poignant Historical and Reverential Eulogy (by Hafzur-Rahmn Sheb)

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A POIGNANT HISTORICAL ANDREVERENTIAL EULOGY (BYHAFZUR-RAHMN SHEB)

Upon the death of the last Mughal emperor, Shah Sirjuddn

Zafar, it was said,

The lamp of Delhi has been put out. (1279 H.)

Then, upon the death of Hakm Ajmal Khan, someone remarked,

The lamp of Delhi has been extinguished. (1346 H.)

And then, upon the passing of Hadrat Mufti-e-Azam, MaulviMaqblur-Rahmn remarked again,

Extinguished is the lamp of Delhi. (1372 H.)


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Biography of Mufti Kifyatullhtranslated by Nadeem Abdul Hamidfor MADRASA-TUN-NOOR (c/o Connecticut Council of Masjid, Inc.)Hamden, Connecticut, U.S.A. Shawwl 1424 / December 2003


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ABiographyOfMuftiKifaayatullaahDelhvi

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