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Habibur Rahman Usmani (1860–1929), also written as Habibur Rahman Deobandi and Maulāna Habib al-Rahmān, was an Indian Islamic scholar, Arabic writer and poet, and an Islamic jurist. He served as Deputy Vice-Chancellor, then Vice-Chancellor for the VC Office of Darul Uloom Deoband, for nearly twenty-three years. He succeeded Hafiz Muhammad Ahmad as Grand Mufti of Hyderabad State for about one year. His students included Shabbir Ahmad Usmani, Manazir Ahsan Gilani, Muhammad Shafi Deobandi, Habib al-Rahman al-A'zami, Muhammad Idris Kandhlawi, Atiqur Rahman Usmani, Qari Muhammad Tayyib, Badre Alam Merathi, Hifzur Rahman Seoharwi, Saeed Ahmad Akbarabadi, Manzoor Nomani, and Yusuf Banuri.

Early life and education

Habibur Rahman Usmani was born in Deoband in 1277 AH (1860/1861 AD). His father was Fazlur Rahman Usmani, a co-founder of Darul Uloom Deoband, and his brothers included Azizur Rahman Usmani and Shabbir Ahmad Usmani.

He studied at Darul Uloom Deoband from the beginning and graduated from there in 1300 AH (1383 AD). His teachers included Yaqub Nanautawi, Mahmud Deobandi, Syed Ahmad Dehlavi, and Mahmud Hasan Deobandi. His classmates included Hafiz Muhammad Ahmad.

He was an authorised disciple of Rashid Ahmad Gangohi in Sufism.

Career

After graduation, he was appointed as a teacher at Darul Uloom Deoband, and later, he was promoted to Deputy Vice Chancellor in 1907 AD (1325 AH) and remained in this position until 1925 AD (1343 AH).

In late Jumada al-Ula 1344 AH (early December 1925 AD), he succeeded Hafiz Muhammad Ahmad as Grand Mufti of Hyderabad State and returned to Deoband in 12 Rabiul al-Awwal 1345 AH (latter September 1926) and worked as Vice Chancellor as the assistant of Hafiz Muhammad Ahmad, the Head-VC of the time. In late 1928 AD (1347 AH), he was appointed as prominent Vice Chancellor of Darul Uloom Deoband and remained in this position until his demise in December 1929.

His students included Shabbir Ahmad Usmani, Manazir Ahsan Gilani, Muhammad Shafi Deobandi, Habib al-Rahman al-A'zami, Muhammad Idris Kandhlawi, Atiqur Rahman Usmani, Qari Muhammad Tayyib, Badre Alam Merathi, Hifzur Rahman Seoharwi, Saeed Ahmad Akbarabadi, Manzoor Nomani, Yusuf Banuri, and Abdul Hafeez Balyawi.

In April 1910 (Rabi al-Awwal 1328 AH), he issued Darul Uloom Deoband's first magazine, Monthly Al-Qasim, and served as its editor until its publication was discontinued in March 1920. Then, in Muharram 1344 AH (July 1925 AH), when it was reissued, he became its editor again, and after four years, in 1347 AH (1928), its publication was discontinued permanently. Similarly, from Rajab 1332 AH (May 1914) to Jumada al-Ukhra 1339 AH (March 1920), he edited Monthly Al-Rashid, another Darul Uloom magazine, from beginning until it was stopped.

Qari Muhammad Tayyib states that Anwar Shah Kashmiri used to say that if I am influenced by someone's knowledge, then he is Maulana Habibur Rahman.

He was an active member of the Jamiat Ulama-e-Hind and presided over its fourth conference held in Gaya, Bihar, between December 24 and 26, 1922 AD (Jumada al-Ula 5 and 7, 1341 AH), during which he delivered the presidential sermon.

He actively participated in the Khilafat movement and presided over several conferences held in Meerut and Muzaffarnagar, UP, between March and April of 1920.

Literary works

Usmani was specialised in Arabic and Urdu literature and history. He wrote a qasida entitled Lāmiyat al-Mu'jizāt, which describes one hundred miracles of the Islamic prophet Muhammad in about three hundred verses and has also been translated into Urdu by Izaz Ali Amrohi. He wrote another qasida of two hundred and eighty-five verses titled Bāmiyat-ul-Mu'jizāt, which explores Prophet Muhammad's one hundred miracles.

He penned several poems in honor of Hyderabad State's last Nizam, Mir Osman Ali Khan. He did not perform these poems for money gain but rather to praise Nizam for his concern and interest in religious affairs and Islamic religious institutions, particularly for the reason for which Nizam was granted to donate five hundred rupees per month to Darul Uloom Deoband.

His works include:

• Mu'īn al-Labīb Fī Jam'-i-Qasāid al-Habīb (his dīwān, compiled by Izāz Alī Amrohi.)
• Ishā'at-e-Islām: Dunya Mein Islām Kiyun Kar Phala? (in Urdu; transl. Spread of Islam: How did Islam spread across the world?)
• Ta'līmāt-e-Islām (in Urdu; transl. The teachings of Islam)
• Hāshiyah Maqāmāt-e-Harīrī (his Urdu annotations on Al-Hariri's Maqamat al-Hariri)
• Hashiyah Tafsīr al-Jalālayn (his annotations on Al-Mahalli's Tafsir al-Jalalayn)
• Rahmatul Lil-Ālamīn or Sīrat-e-Sayyid al-Murasalīn (an incomplete prophetic biography of Islamic prophet Muhammad)

Death

Usmani died 4 Rajab 1348 AH (6 December 1929 AD) in Deoband and buried in Qasmi cemetery. Sulaiman Nadvi, in an issue of Ma'arif magazine in Azamgarh, expressed his grief over his death and described his death as the biggest academic and educational accident of that month.

References

1. Kashmiri, Khizar Muhammad (March 2023). Zikr-e-Fakhr-ul-Hind [A mention of Fakhrul Hind]. Deoband: Shaikhul Hind Academy. p. 25.
2. ^ Khān, Mohsin Atīque, ed. (January–March 2020). "مساهمة الشيخ حبيب الرحمن العثماني في الشعر العربي: محمد أبو تراب" [The contribution of Sheikh Habib al-Rahman Al-Uthmani to Arabic poetry: Muhammad Abu Turab]. Quarterly Aqlām al-Hind (Online) (in Arabic). 5 (1): 1694. Archived from the original on 26 March 2024. Retrieved 26 March 2024.
3. Amini, Noor Alam Khalil, ed. (March–April 2011). "الشيخ حبيب الرحمن العثماني الديوبندي في مدائحه النبوية: رياض أحمد" [Sheikh Habib al-Rahman al-Uthmani al-Deobandi in his praises of the Prophet: Riyadh Ahmad]. Al-Daie (in Arabic). 35 (4–5). Archived from the original on 26 March 2024. Retrieved 26 March 2024.
4. Qasmi, Muhammadullah (October 2020). Darul Uloom Deoband Ki Jame O Mukhtasar Tareekh (in Urdu) (2nd ed.). India: Shaikh-Ul-Hind Academy. p. 532. OCLC 1345466013.
5. ^ Qasmi 2020, p. 532.
6. Qasmi 2013, pp. 34, 36.
7. Kashmiri 2023, p. 25.
8. ^ Khān 2020.
9. Qasmi, Muhammad Tayyib (2013). Darul Uloom Diary: Disciples of Ustāz al-Asātidhah Maulana Muhammad Yaqūb Nanautawi (in Urdu). Deoband: Idara Paigham-e-Mahmud. p. 36.
10. ^ Bukhari, Akbar Shah (1999). Akābir Ulama-e-Deoband (in Urdu). Lahore: Idara-e-Islamiat. p. 90.
11. Rizwi, Syed Mehboob (1980). History of the Dar al-Ulum Deoband. Vol. 1. Translated by Murtaz Hussain F Qureshi. UP, India: Idara-e Ihtemam, Darul Uloom Deoband. p. 167. OCLC 20222197.
12. Rizwi, Syed Mehboob (1981). History of the Dar al-Ulum Deoband. Vol. 2. Translated by Murtaz Hussain F Qureshi. UP, India: Idara-e Ihtemam, Darul Uloom Deoband. pp. 173–174. OCLC 20222197.
13. Qasmi 2020, pp. 532, 750.
14. ^ Rizwi 1980, pp. 208–209.
15. Kashmiri 2023, p. 38.
16. Qureshi, Hamid Afaq (2006). Glimpses of Deccan and Awadh: 1193-1976 : Essays and Translations. New Royal Book Company. p. 12. ISBN 978-81-89267-03-2.
17. Tayyib, Qari Muhammad (September 1972). Tarīkh-e-Darul Uloom Deoband [History of the Darul Uloom Deoband] (in Urdu). Moulvi Musāfir Khana, Karachi: Dār-ul-Ishā'at. pp. 61–62.
18. Qasmi 2020, pp. 534, 747.
19. Kashmiri 2023, pp. 34–35.
20. Hasan, Nayab (2013). Darul Uloom Deoband Ka Sahafati Manzarnama [Journalistic scenario of Darul Uloom Deoband] (in Urdu) (1st ed.). Deoband: Idara-e-Tahqīq-e-Islami. pp. 105–114.
21. Ghazali, Muzaffar Hussain (13 July 2022). "Deoband Ki Sahāfat: Ek Ijmāli Khaka" [Journalism of Deoband: A Brief Sketch]. Qindeel Online (in Urdu). Archived from the original on 25 March 2024. Retrieved 26 March 2024.
22. Bijnori, Muhammad Salman, ed. (December 2016). "An Introduction to the Magazines 'Al-Qasim', 'Al-Rashid', and 'Monthly Darul Uloom' by Muhammad Shahid Akhtar Qasmi". Monthly Darul Uloom (in Urdu). 107 (2): 8–17.
23. Tayyib, Qari Muhammad. Bukhari, Akbar Shah (ed.). 50 Misaali Shaksiyaat [50 Exemplar personalities] (in Urdu) (July 1999 ed.). Deoband: Maktaba Faiz-ul-Qur'an. p. 115.
24. Kaleem, Mohd (2017). Contribution of Old boys of Darul uloom Deoband in Hadith Literature (PhD) (in Urdu). India: Department of Sunni Theology, Aligarh Muslim University. p. 164. hdl:10603/364028. Archived from the original on 24 October 2023. Retrieved 26 March 2024.
25. Rozina, Parveen (1980). Jamiat-ul-Ulama, Hind (in Urdu) (1st ed.). Islamabad: National Institute of Historical and Cultural Research. pp. 137, 140.
26. Sandelvi, Shujaat Ali (1988). Intekhāb Khutbāt-e-Jamiat-i-Ulama-e-Hind (in Urdu) (1st ed.). Lucknow: Uttar Pradesh Urdu Academy. pp. 83–90.
27. Miftahi, Zafeeruddin (1980). Mashaheer-e-Ulama-e-Darul Uloom Deoband (in Urdu) (first ed.). Deoband: Daftar Ijalas-e-Sad Sala. p. 41.
28. Minault, Gail (1982). The Khilafat Movement: Religious Symbolism and Political Mobilization in India. Columbia University Press. p. 98. ISBN 978-0-231-51539-9. Retrieved 26 March 2024.
29. Ansari, Arif (2023-01-05). The Khilafat Movement. Notion Press. ISBN 979-8-88869-333-9. Retrieved 26 March 2024.
30. Niemeijer, A. C. (2012-12-11). The Khilafat Movement in India 1919-1924. BRILL. p. 152. ISBN 978-90-04-28692-4. Retrieved 26 March 2024.
31. Nanda, B. R. (2001-12-14). Gandhi: Pan-Islamism, Imperialism and Nationalism in India. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-908771-6. Retrieved 26 March 2024.
32. Minault 1982, pp. 98, 107, 266.
33. Qasmi 2020, p. 533.
34. ^ Rizwi 1981, p. 175.
35. ^ Amini 2011.
36. Rizwi 1980, pp. 189–190.
37. Rizwi 1981, pp. 174–175.
38. Qasmi 2020, pp. 533–534.
39. Qasmi, Khurshid Hasan (2003). Darul Uloom Aur Deoband Ki Tarīkhi Shakhsiyyāt [Historical Figures of Darul Uloom and Deoband] (in Urdu) (1st ed.). Jamia Masjid, Deoband: Maktaba Tafsir al-Qur'an. p. 20.
40. Mubarakpuri, Arif Jameel (2021). Mausoo'a Ulama-u- Deoband [The Encyclopedia of Deobandi Scholars] (in Arabic) (1st ed.). Deoband: Shaikhul Hind Academy. p. 78.
41. Rahman, Obaidur (2021). مساهمة علماء ديوبند في اللغة العربية وآدابها ١٨٦٧م - ٢٠١٣م [Contribution of Olamae of Deoband to Arabic Language and Literature from 1867 to 2013] (PhD) (in Arabic). India: Department of Arabic, Banaras Hindu University. p. 76. hdl:10603/536377.
42. Adrawi, Asir (1994). Tazkirah Mashāhīr-e-Hind: Karwān-e-Rafta (in Urdu) (1st ed.). Deoband: Darul Muallifeen. p. 72.
43. ar-Rahman, Fuyūz (1976). "Maulana Sharif Hasan Sahab". Mashāhīr-e-Ulama-e-Deoband (in Urdu). Urdu Bazar, Lahore: Azīzia Book Depot. pp. 128–129.
44. Nadvi, Syed Sulaiman, ed. (December 1929). "Shadharāt". Monthly Ma'ārif (in Urdu). 24 (6). Azamgarh: Darul Musannefin Shibli Academy: 1.

Further reading

• Saʻīd, Aḥmad (1997). Muslim India, 1857-1947: A Biographical Dictionary. Institute of Pakistan Historical Research. p. 331.
• Aziz, Hasan (2022). বিস্মৃত মনীষা: দারুল উলুম দেওবন্দের বিস্মৃত মনীষীদের জীবনালেখ্য [Forgotten People: Biographies of the forgotten thinkers of Darul Uloom Deoband] (in Bengali). Dhaka: Punoray Prokashon. pp. 51–63.
• Sulaiman, A. F. M. (2011). Indian Contributions to Arabic Literature: A Study on Mohd Rabe Hasani Nadwi. University (Ph.D.). Assam University. p. 71–73. hdl:10603/92992 – via Shodhganga.

v t e Darul Uloom Deoband
People	Founders Qasim Nanawtawi Yaqub Nanautawi Rafiuddin Deobandi Sayyid Muhammad Abid Fazlur Rahman Usmani Zulfiqar Ali Deobandi Vice-Chancellors Hafiz Muhammad Ahmad Marghubur Rahman Abul Qasim Nomani Rafiuddin Deobandi Sayyid Muhammad Abid Muhammad Tayyib Qasmi Ghulam Mohammad Vastanvi Academic staff Category:Academic staff of Darul Uloom Deoband Alumni List of Darul Uloom Deoband alumni List of students of Mahmud Hasan Deobandi‎
Publications	Monthly Darul Uloom Al-Daie Da'watul Haq Darulifta-Deoband.com Fatawa Darul Uloom Deoband History of Darul Uloom Deoband
Legacy	Bibliography Centenary Celebration
Related	Deobandi movement Index of Deobandi movement–related articles Qasmi Cemetery
Category:Darul Uloom Deoband

• Darul Uloom Deoband alumni
• 1858 births
• 1929 deaths
• Deobandis
• People from Deoband
• Usmani family
• Students of Mahmud Hasan Deobandi
• Muhtamims of Darul Uloom Deoband
• Members of the Majlis-e-Shura of Darul Uloom Deoband