Ahmed Raza Khan was a prominent Muslim scholar from Bareilly India. He has written many books on a vast range of topics covering religion,
science
and philosophy. A collection of fatwas by the title of Fatawa Ridawiyya
Ahmed Raza Khan followed Abu Hanifa in Fiqh and Abdul Qadir Jilani in Spiritualism.
Early life & Education
Ahmad Raza Khan was born on 14 June 1856 (1272 AH) in Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh. His mother named him Amman Miyan, father Ahmad Miyan while
his grandfather named Ahmad Raza[2];
he used to use the appellation Abdul Mustafa prior to signing his name
in correspondence. (Abdu'l Mustafa means slave of Mustafa/Mohammed)[3]
He studied Islamic sciences and completed a traditional dars-e nizami course under the supervision and tutelage of his father Naqi Áli Khan.
Ahmad Raza Khan studied some books of Urdu and Persian from Mirza Ghulam Qadir Beg. He also learnt acquired knowledge from Abdul Ali of Rampuri (d. 1885). He learnt 21
subjects from his father, Naqi Ali Khan (d. 1880). Besides, he was also
taught by his Spiritual Guide, Shah Al-i-Rasùl of Marehrah Sharif (d.
1879) and Abul Husayn Nùri of Marehra
Sharif (d. 1906).
Besides them, he was also taught by Rasool Marehravi and learnt some formulae of Jafr (Numerology & literology) from shah Abul Hussain Noori Marehravi.
Translation of Quran
Ahmed Raza Khan has translated the Quran into Urdu first published in 1912 under the title of Kanzul Iman fi Tarjuma al-Qur’an.
Main specialty of Kanzul Iman is Ahmed Raza preserved the high status of Allah & his Messenger in the translation.
Kanzul Imam was actually dictated by Ahmed Raza to his beloved student Sadrush Sharia Amjad Ali Azmi, who later compiled it and got it published.
Recently Golden Jubilee of Compilation of Kanzul Imam was celebrated across India like Bhadravati, (Karnataka) & Rajastan.
The original manuscript is preserved in the library of “Idara Tahqiqat-i-Ahmed Raza”, Karachi.
Many scholars managed and complied dozen books on the comparative study of "Kanz ul-Iman". Few names are giving below:
1. Ghulam Rasùl Saeedi[4] 2. Riza-ul-Mustafa Azmi[5] 3. Prof. Dr. Majeedullah Qadri of KARACHI UNIVERSTY
English translation of Kanzul Iman has also published.
Compilation of Hadiths
Ahmad Raza Khan has written several books on the subject of collection and compilation of Hadiths.
The students of Arabic have considered the intellect of Ahmad Raza Khan in this field. Applauding the ability of Ahmad Raza Khan in the science of Hadith, Yasin Ahmad Khyari al-Madni has observed about Ahmad
Raza Khan as "Huwa Imam-ul-Muhadduthin" (the leader of Muhaddethin).
Muhammad Zafar al-Din Rizawi has compiled a collection of traditions
quoted by Ahmed Raza Khan in his books in several volumes. The second
volume has been published from Sindh"">Hyderabad, Sindh, with the title of "Sahih al-Bihari" in 1992
containing 960 pages. Mr. Khalid al-Hamidi of Jamia Millia
of Delhi
writing his doctoral dissertation of ulamà of sub-continent to Hadith
literature. In this dissertation the author has mentioned more than
forty books/treatises of Ahmed Raza Khan on Hadith literature.
[edit] Fatwas
Ahmed Raza Khan was a student of international repute. In this field, Ahmed Raza Khan has written a number of books and booklets on a number of issues. But his masterpiece is Fatawa Ridawiyya which runs in
12 volumes and each volume is spread over 1000 pages. Raza Foundation, Lahore
under the leadership of Mufti Azam Pakistan Mufti Abdul Qayyum Hazarwi
revised the Fatwa Razawia, translating all the Persian/Arabic sentences
in Urdu, and published in 30 huge volumes, running across 90 thousand
pages, It is one of the largest fatawa collection in the history of Islam. It
can be called a dictionary of Fatwas and an encyclopedia of Muslim
jurisprudence.
Faqeeh-e-Millat Mufti Jalaluddin Ahmad Amjadi said that: Bahar-e-Shariat makes a person Aalim and Fatawa Razwia makes him a Mufti.
Dr Hasan Raza Khan presented his thesis on "The place of Ahmed Raza Khan in Islamic jurisprudence", which was accepted by University" India and a degree of doctorate was conferred on Dr. Hasan Raza Khan. Conceding the
intellect of Ahmed Raza Khan, Justice D. F. Mulla, a Parsi Judge
of Bombay High Court observed that in India and Pakistan,
two great books were written on Fiqh - one
"Fatawà-i-Alamgiri" and the other Fatawa Ridawiyya. An uncommon
feature of Fatawa Ridawiyya is that it is hailed by among friends
and foes alike.
As a teacher
Ala Hazrat taught a number of persons. Yet it cannot be said with certainty as to how many persons in all were taught by Ala Hazrat. Some of his prominent pupils are Mawlana Khan"">Hasan Raza Khan, Mawlana Mohammad Riza Khan, Mawlana Sayyid
Mohammad Jilani Muhaddith-i-‘Azam of India of Pilibhit,
Mawlana Ziauddin Ahmed, Mawlana Sayyid Nùr of Chittagong
and Mawlana Hashmat Ali
Khan of Pilibhit. Some of his prominent caliphs are Mawlana Abd
al-Hayy of Africa,
Shaykh Swaleh Kamal, Sayyid Ismail Makki of Saudi
Arabia, Hujjatul Islam Mawlana [[Hamid Riza Khan, Mufti-i-‘Azam
Mawlana Mustafa Raza Khan, Mawlana Amjad Ali
(Writer of Bahar-e-Shariat), Mawlana Naimuddin
Moradabadi, Mawlana Didar Ali of Lahore,
Mawlana Abdul Aleem Siddiqi (father of Shah Ahmad Noorani Siddiqi of Pakistan),
Idul Islam Mawlana Abdul Salaam of Jabalpur,
Mawlana Burhanul Haq of Jabalpur, Mawlana Lal Mohammad of Madras et cetera.
C
laims about authoring 1000 books
Ahmed Raza Khan has written hundreds of books on various subjects. More or less, he has written one thousand books and treatises on fifty-five subjects as revealed by Mufti Ijaz Wali Khan Shaykh al-Hadith
Jami‘a Nizamiyya Rizawaiyy, Lahore, in
al-Mu‘tamid al-Mustanad, (Turkey). Allama Zafar al-din Rizawi had presented
the bibliographical data of A'lahazrat in his book al-Mujmal al-Mu‘addid
li Talifat al-Mujaddid (1327/1909), Dr. Hasan Riza ‘Azami also has
given details of writings (Urdu, Persian, Arabic) of A‘lahazrat in his
doctoral dissertation an A‘lahazrat. Dr. Majeedullah Qadri of Karachi University (Sindh, Pakistan)
has given the details of A‘lahazrat’s contribution to various rational
and traditional branches of knowledge in his doctoral dissertation on
A‘lahazrat. Dr. Muhammad Mas‘ud Ahmad has collected the titles of books
and treatises of A‘lahazrat. This list may exceed to one thousand
books/treatises after completion. Mawlana Abdul Mubin Nu‘mani of
al-Majma‘ al-Islami (Mubarakpur, India) has
also compiled a book on the academic and literary contributions of
A'lahazrat — rational and traditional branches of knowledge.
Research works
Ahmed Raza Khan has researched in various fields. Briefs of some are mentioned below:
(1) Wuzu is the act of washing the parts of the body, which are generally exposed, in a prescribed manner. For making Wuzu, water is required. But
water is a wide term. Which type of water is fit for making Wuzu and
which type of water is unfit for the purpose. Such a question came up
for consideration before Ahmed Raza Khan. In 1915, he wrote a separate
treatise over this issue. He has described 160 kinds of water; the Wuzu
is permissible to make with. Besides, the water with which Wuzu cannot
be made; he has given 146 kinds thereof. Thus, in all, he has described
306 kinds of water.
(2) Tayammum is an alternative of Wuzu or ghusl (bath) made without water under certain circumstances. Ahmed Raza Khan has drawn a list of 181 things
fit to be used for Tayammum. He has given a separate list of 130 things
unfit for the purpose.
(3) Zafar al-din Rizawi has written a biography of Ahmed Raza Khan, in which he states[7] that “he himself was able to fill up the "Naqsh-i-Murabba" (a sixteen
column quadrilateral) by 1152 methods”. He further states that Ahmad
Raza from whom he learnt this art, knew to fill it up by 2300 methods.
(4) Once someone asked Ahmed Raza Khan if there were only 99 names of Holy Prophet Muhammad. He replied: "About 800 names of Holy Prophet are usually found in the books. I have been able to gather up to
1400 names and Allah knows better the exact number."
(5) Hazrat Imam Hussain proceeded from Mecca for Kerbala, Iraq on 3rd
Zilhij and reached there on 2nd of Moharram. Some of the people raise an objection
to it. According to them, it was impossible for Hazrat Imam Hussain to reach Kerbala from Mecca within
such a short time, particularly when in those days the caravans used to
proceed only on horses and camels.
On this point, Ahmed Raza Khan made a full research and pointed out that the caravan of Hazrat Imam Hussain proceeded on
horses. He also pointed out the various kinds of horses, the number of
horses in the fleet, their individual races, and various routes through
which the caravan proceeded. He further went to the extent of pointing
out the respective distances and the aggregate distance from Mecca to Kerbala, the different kinds or routes, the holy
caravan, passed through — sandy, stony and otherwise, and the different
speeds of different horses. He pointed out their speeds vis-à-vis the
kinds of routes. He, then, pointed out the time to be taken by a
particular horse of a particular race on a particular route. Thus, after
making a thorough research, the "thorough-bred researcher" proved fully
that the caravan of Hazrat Imam Hussain having proceeded from Mecca on 3rd
Zilhij carrying horses of such and such races passing through such and
such routes, must have reached Kerbala only on 2nd Moharram and so it
came to be.
Works in astronomy
Thrilling news appeared in the English Daily "Express" of 18 October 1919 published from Bankipur, Patna (Bihar) regarding a unique and dreadful forecast made by Prof. Albert of United States of
America, who happened to be an astronomer and mathematician of
international repute. Its gist was as under:-
"On 17 December, 1919, six planets which are most powerful viz. Jupiter, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Saturn and Neptune
will be in conjunction and the Sun will come in
opposite direction of these planets. These planets will fetch the sun
towards them with all their gravity. The result will be that the
magnetic properties of these planets will pierce into the sun and it
will inflict a hole into the sun, which will be in the shape of a big
dagger. And, such a stain on the sun will be visible which everybody
would see on 17 December 1919 with naked eyes. Prof. Albert further
predicted that conjunction of such planets, which was not witnessed for
the last twenty centuries, would cause disorder in the air and it would
bring about big storms, terrible rains and powerful earthquakes. The
earth will return to its normal position after several weeks."
Mawlana Zafaruddin of Bihar, a disciple and caliph of Ala Hazrat apprised Ala Hazrat of such forecast of Prof. Albert. Thereupon, Ala Hazrat wrote an article belying the forecast tooth and nail brandishing
it as baseless and bogus, which was published in the Monthly "Al Riza"
from Bareilly. This contradictory article too gained equal publicity.
Ala Hazrat was challenging Prof. Albert.
A deep study of these arguments may be made by going through the booklet "Prof. Albert F. Porta Ki Peshin Goi Ka Rad" published from Maktaba Gharib Nawaz, Allahabad.
Ala Hazrat argued vehemently that the very basis of such a forecast was wrong. The forecast was based on the principle that "sun is stationary and the earth moves around the sun". In the light of Holy
Qur’an, Ala Hazrat declared:- "The sun and moon do move according to
their course. They are sailing within a circle. It is earth (not sun)
that is stationary around which the sun and other planets revolve".
According to the working of Prof. Albert, the mutual distance of six planets as on 17 December 1919 worked out to 26 degree, whereas Ala Hazrat presented a detailed chart depicting the real position of such
planets as on 17 December, according to which, such mutual distance
worked out to 112 degree. There was such a lot of difference between the
two.
Prof. Albert gave all the weight to Law of Gravitation. Confuting it, Ala Hazrat argued that the said conjunction did not conform with the Law of Gravitation as well. Either of the two shall
have to be discarded then. Have all the planets made a pact to attack
the sun alone? Why will they not attack each other, Ala Hazrat quipped.
If the Law of Gravitation is correct, it is bound to affect all — more
effect upon what is nearer and sharper effect upon what is weaker. When
the attack of six planets can cause such an injury to the sun, then why
the Saturn
could not be destroyed by the gravity of the remaining five planets,
especially when the Saturn is smaller than Sun by thousand times, Ala
Hazrat asked.
Mars is smaller than Saturn. (planet)"">Mercury is the smallest of all. So in this way, these are bound to be shattered into pieces. What an absurd it is to believe that
the weaker might not suffer at all and the strongest (sun) will lose the
battle, Ala Hazrat argued. Even on the basis of the Law of Gravitation,
there can be no such conjunction of planets, Ala Hazrat declared.
By and by, the time passed and the crucial day of 17 December arrived. The panic-stricken people began to take it as event"">Doomsday event. The day went off peacefully, the sun set setting the pandemonium at rest. Nothing untoward took place anywhere.
It was witnessed that what Ala Hazrat had observed and declared, came true. Prof. Albert also conceded that
Works in education
Ahmed Raza Khan taught a number of persons. Yet it cannot be said with certainty as to how many persons in all were taught by Ala Hazrat.
Ahmed Raza Khan learnt a few books of Urdu and Persian from Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Qadir Beg. He also learnt a little from Hazrat Mawlana Abdul Ali of Rampur (d. 1885). Ala Hazrat learnt 21 subjects from
his respected father, Hazrat Naqi Ali Khan (d. 1880). Besides, he was
also taught by his Shaykh, His holiness Shah Al-i-Rasùl of Marehrah
Sharif (d. 1879) and H.H. Shah Abul Hasan Nùri of Marehrah Sharif (d.
1906).
Thus, Ala Hazrat who later on proved himself at home in so many subjects, learnt most of the subjects at home.
Antagonism towards modern day deviant sects
Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of Qadian, claimed to be the promised Messiah, a false prophet and Mahdi. These claims proved to be orchestrated and wrong among Muslims and he was
branded as a heretic and apostate by many religious scholars of the time,
including Ahmad Raza Khan. To prove his point, when Ahmed Raza visited Mecca and Madina
for pilgrimage in 1905, he prepared a draft document entitled "AlMotamad
AlMustanad" (The Reliable Proofs) for presentation to the eminent
scholars of Mecca and Madina. Ahmad Raza Khan collected opinions of the
Ulama of Hejaz and compiled them in a compendium written in Arabic
language with the title, Husam al Harmain (The Sword of two
sanctuaries), a work containing the thirty-three Ulamas’ thirty -four
verdicts (20 Meccan and 13 Medinese Ulama). The overall import of this
work was that Ghulam Ahmad's beliefs were blasphemous and tantamount to
apostasy.
For a full exposé of deviant heretical sects and the verdicts against them according to traditional Sunni Islam, one can obtain English copies of Husam al Harmain from Raza Academy Ltd. based in Stockport
in the United Kingdom, as well as many other works
of Ahmed Raza Khan.
Secularism
During the period of the Indian Khilafat Movement, Gandhi was advised that he should meet with Ahmed Raza Khan. When he was told that the Gandhi wished to meet and
speak to him, Ahmed Raza Khan said, "What would he speak about? Religion
or worldly affairs? If it is worldly affairs, what can I partake in,
for I have abstained from the world and have no interest in it.
Criticism
- He is well known for often giving Fatwas against other Muslim religious group such as Deobandis and Wahabbis after accusing them of being disrespectful towards Prophet Muhammad.
Deobandi and Salafi scholars believe that Ahmed Raza Khan has made
these accusations due to his "exaggeration" in loving the prophet and
therefore disobeyed the following hadith:[9]
I heard the Prophet saying, "Do not exaggerate in praising me as the Christians praised the son of Mary, for I am only a Slave. So, call me the Slave of Allah and His Apostle."
All Muslims show immense love for the Prophet (Muhammad) but innovations are no way of showing love. The followers of Barelwi thought"">school of thought respond to this that the Christians exaggerated in praising Prophet Jesus (peace
be upon him) to the level that they considered him to be either a God,
son of God or a partner of God. Hence, it will be completely unlawful
and disbelief to elevate the status of the Messenger of Allah (Allah
bless him & give him peace) in a manner that one considers him to be
a God, son of God or a partner of Allah as indicated by Imam Hafidh Ibn
Hajar al-Asqalani (Allah have mercy on him). Hence, one should send
blessings on him and praise him as much as possible. It is a sign of
being a Muslim as indicated in the Noble Qurán.
- He is in support of Sufi concept of caste system in Muslims. He has written in his book Fatawa Ridawiyya about this. Many Muslim scholars consider this an act against basic Islamic principles.
If a un-touchable muslim becomes a alim, he is not equal to syed, sheikh, pathan (surfah key kufu nahin).
- In another place, Ahmed Raza Khan wrote:[10]
If you are embarrassed in your affairs, seek help from the inmates of the tombs.
- He pronounced takfir on many Islamic scholars for not agreeing him on religious issues.
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