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Mahdi Hasan Shahjahanpuri (1882–1976), also known as Mufti Mehdi Hasan and Mahdi Hasan Gilani Qadri, was an Indian Islamic scholar and mufti. He served as grand mufti at Darul Uloom Deoband for twenty years. He was an alumnus of Madrasa Aminia and Darul Uloom Deoband. He was a student of Mahmud Hasan Deobandi and Kifayatullah Dehlawi. Along with jurisprudence, he also had access to hadith and biographical evaluation. His literary works include Rijāl-u-Kitāb al-Āthār, Sharh-u-Balāghāt-i-Muhammad Fī Kitāb al-Āthār, Al-la'ali al-Masnoo'ah fī al-Riwāyāti al-Marjoo'ah, and a critical commentary on certain ideas of Ibn Hazm in the Science of Hadith entitled As-Sayf al-mujalla 'ala al-Muḥalla. He has done research and commentary work on Muhammad al-Shaybani's two books, Kitab al-Hujjah Alā Ahl al-Madīnah and Kitab al-Āthār.

Early life and education

Mahdi Hasan Shahjahanpuri was born on May 2, 1882, (Rajab 1300 AH) in Mullakhel, Shahjahanpur. His ancestors had settled in India from Baghdad.

He memorized the Quran from his father, Syed Kazim Hasan, at the age of about twelve. He received his primary education in Arabic and Persian from his father and elder brother, then at Madrasa Ainul Ilm in his city, where he was taught by Sheikh Abdul Haq (an authorized disciple of Rashid Ahmad Gangohi) and Kifayatullah Dehlawi. When Dehlawi was moved to Madrasa Aminia, Delhi, he was sent to Madrasa Aminia by his father, where he received further education in Dars-e-Nizami from Dehlawi and other teachers and graduated in 1908 AD (1326 AH).

He obtained permission (Ijazah) for hadith narration from Mahmud Hasan Deobandi by reading parts of Sahih al-Bukhari and Jami' al-Tirmidhi in front of him, and he was also granted the turban of proficiency in the convocation held at Darul Uloom Deoband in 1910 AD (1328 AH). He also received Ijazah in Hadith from Khalil Ahmad Saharanpuri, and Anwar Shah Kashmiri.

He pledged allegiance to Rashid Ahmad Gangohi in Tariqah and was authorized by Shafiuddin Makki, an authorized disciple of Gangohi.

Career

After graduating from education, Kifayatullah Dehlawi sent Shahjahanpuri to Madrasa Ashrafia in Rander, Surat, where he continued to teach Kutub al-Sittah and perform ifta services for seven years. Then he performed the duties of teaching Kutub al-Sittah for four years as the principal of Madrasa Muhammadia in Rander. Between 1920 and 1947 AD (1338 and 1366 AH), he worked as a mufti in Bombay province.

In 1948 AD (1367 AH), he was appointed as Grand Mufti of the Dar-ul-Ifta at Darul Uloom Deoband, and he held this position for about twenty years. In 1967 AD (1387 AH), due to his long illness and weakness, he retired from Darul Uloom Deoband and went to his homeland, Shahjahanpur. During his presidency, 75,324 fatwas were issued from the Dar-ul-Ifta of Darul Uloom Deoband. Muhammad Tayyib Qasmi reported the number of these fatwas at 133752.

Throughout his stay at Darul Uloom Deoband, he continued to teach Al-Tahawi's Sharh Ma'ani al-Athar. His notable students included Mufti Abdul Razzaq, Kafilur Rahman Nishat Usmani, Saeed Ahmad Palanpuri, and Arshad Madani.

He was also an Urdu and Arabic poet, and he learned from Husain Ahmad Miyan Bebak, a student of Daagh Dehlvi.

Literary works

Shahjahanpuri has done twenty years of research on the book Kitab al-Hujjah Alā Ahl al-Madīnah by Muhammad al-Shaybani in four volumes; similarly, he has also done research on al-Shaybani's book Kitab al-Āthār in three volumes. Besides these, he authored and compiled about 28 books in Arabic and Urdu, including:

• Qalā'd al-Azhār (a two-volume commentary on Imām Muḥammad's recension of Imām Abū Ḥanīfah's Kitāb al-Āthār.)
• Rijāl-u-Kitāb al-Āthār
• Sharh-u-Balāghāt-i-Muhammad Fī Kitāb al-Āthār
• Ad-Duur as-Samīn
• Al-Ihtidā’-u-Fī Radd al-Bidʿah
• Sharh Nukhbat-ul-Fikr (in Urdu; unpublished)
• As-Sayf al-mujalla 'ala al-Muḥalla (a critical commentary on certain ideas of Ibn Hazm in the Science of Hadith in four volumes.)
• Al-la'ali al-Masnoo'ah fī al-Riwāyāti al-Marjoo'ah

Death

Shahjahanpuri died on April 28, 1976 (Rabi' al-Thani 28, 1396 AH) in Shahjahanpur and was buried there.

References

Citations

1. ^ ar-Rahman 1976, p. 610.
2. 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. p. 192. OCLC 20222197.
3. Qasmi, Muhammadullah (October 2020). Darul Uloom Deoband Ki Jame O Mukhtasar Tareekh (in Urdu) (2nd ed.). India: Shaikh-Ul-Hind Academy. p. 594. OCLC 1345466013.
4. ^ Qasmi 2020, p. 594.
5. Mubarakpuri, Arif Jameel (2021). Mausoo'a Ulama-u- Deoband [The Encyclopedia of Deobandi Scholars] (in Arabic) (1st ed.). Deoband: Shaikhul Hind Academy. p. 473.
6. Rizwi 1981, p. 192.
7. 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. 35.
8. 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. 184. hdl:10603/364028. Archived from the original on 24 October 2023. Retrieved 4 March 2024.
9. Qasmi 2020, pp. 595, 749.
10. Wani, Bilal Ahmad (January 2016). "A study on the contribution of Darul-'ulum Deoband to the development of Fiqh". South Asia Journal of Multidisciplinary Studies. 1 (12): 7. ISSN 2395-1079.
11. Rizwi 1981, p. 193.
12. Qasmi, Aftab Ghazi; Qasmi, Abdul Hasib (February 2011). Fuzalā-e-Deoband Ki Fiqhi Khidmāt [Jurisprudential services by Darul Uloom Deoband alumni] (in Urdu). Deoband: Naimia Book Depot. p. 142.
13. Qasmi, Muhammad Tayyib (June 1965). "Muftis of Darul Uloom". Darul Uloom Deoband Ki Sad Sāla Zindagi [Centenary Life of Darul Uloom Deoband] (in Urdu) (1st ed.). Deoband: Daftar-e-Ihtemam, Darul Uloom. p. 101.
14. Ullah, Mohammed (2018). The Contribution of Deoband School to Hanafi Fiqh A Study of Its Response to Modern Issues and Challenges (PhD thesis). India: Centre for Federal Studies, Jamia Hamdard. p. 102. hdl:10603/326073.
15. ^ Qasmi 2003, p. 36.
16. Muzaffarnagari, Muhammad Taslim Aarifi; Saharanpuri, Abdullah Sher Khan (2023). Asātizat-u-Dar al-Uloom Wa Asānīduhum Fi al-Hadith [Asanīd of Hadith teachers of Darul Uloom] (in Urdu) (2nd ed.). Deoband: Maktaba al-Haramain. pp. 46, 49.
17. ar-Rahman 1976, pp. 611–12.
18. Akbarabadi, Saeed Ahmad, ed. (May 1976). "Nazarāt". Monthly Burhan (in Urdu). Vol. 76, no. 5. Delhi: Nadwatul Musannifeen. p. 3.
19. Nadvi, Shah Mueenuddin Ahmad, ed. (November 1965). "Imam Muhammad Ki Kitab al-Hujjah Alā Ahl al-Madīnah: Qazi Athar Mubarakpuri" [Imam Muhammad's Kitab al-Hujjah Alā Ahl al-Madīnah by Qazi Athar Mubarakpuri]. Monthly Ma'ārif (in Urdu). Vol. 96, no. 5. Azamgarh: Darul Musannefin Shibli Academy. p. 327.
20. Qasmi 2020, p. 596.
21. Rizwi 1981, pp. 193–194.
22. Kamal, Mohd Arif (2020). Ulema e Hind ki Bisween Sadi Nisf Awwal mein Khidmat e Hadith Tanquidi Mutala (PhD) (in Urdu). India: Department of Sunni Theology, Aligarh Muslim University. pp. 235–236. hdl:10603/364940.
23. Kaleem 2017, pp. 184–185.
24. Miftahi, Zafeeruddin (1980). Mashaheer-e-Ulama-e-Darul Uloom Deoband (in Urdu) (first ed.). Deoband: Daftar Ijalas-e-Sad Sala. pp. 74–75.
25. Akbarabadi 1976, pp. 2–3.
26. "Dawām riyāḍ al-anwār fī kitāb al-Āthār : Qalāʼid al-azhār ʻalá kitāb al-Āthār : wa-al-musammá bi-al-ism al-tārīkhī, Taḥqīq al-āthār fī kitāb al-Āthār". WorldCat.org. Retrieved 2024-03-16.
27. Azmi, Habibur Rahman Qasmi, ed. (August 2010). "Mufti Mahdi Hasan Shahjahanpuri: Fuzailurrahman Hilal Usmani". Monthly Darul Uloom (in Urdu). 94 (8). Darul Uloom Deoband: 55.
28. ar-Rahman, Fuyūz (1976). "Mufti Syed Mahdi Hasan Shahjahanpuri". Mashāhīr-e-Ulama-e-Deoband (in Urdu). Urdu Bazar, Lahore: Azīzia Book Depot. p. 611.
29. ar-Rahman 1976, p. 612.
30. Rizwi 1981, p. 194.
31. Kaleem 2017, p. 185.
32. Qasmi 2003, p. 37.

Note

1. His genealogy is as follows: Mahdi Hasan bin Syed Kazim Hasan bin Syed Fazlullah bin Syed Muhibullah Shah bin Syed Qutbuddin bin Syed Darwaish bin Syed Shahabuddin Ahmad Shah Shahabadi bin Syed Abu Ishaq Ibrahim bin Syed Shahabuddin Ahmad Shah Gilani. Among his ancestors, Abu Ishaq Ibrahim came to Delhi from Baghdad in the reign of Shah Jahan and returned to Baghdad after nine years. He again came to India and died in Aurangabad, Deccan. Then his son Syed Ahmad came to Delhi from Baghdad in the reign of Alamgir in 1090 AH, settled in Shahabad, died, and was buried there. His grave is a special and common place of pilgrimage there.

• 1882 births
• 1976 deaths
• Deobandis
• Indian Islamists
• 20th-century Muslim scholars of Islam
• Indian muftis
• Hadith scholars
• People from Shahjahanpur
• Darul Uloom Deoband alumni
• Head Muftis of Darul Uloom Deoband
• Students of Mahmud Hasan Deobandi