Appendix E: Brief Biographies

APPENDIX E

Imām Abū Ĥanīfah (80-150 AH) رضي الله عنه The Light of this Nation [Sirāj al-Ummah], the Greatest Imām [al-Imām al-Aáżam] Abū Ĥanīfah Númān ibn Thābit al-Kūfī was born in year 80 AH. He is the eponymous imām of the Ĥanafī school, and the most senior among the four imāms of the schools of fiqh that have survived to this day,1150 and is among the junior Tābiýīs.

Imām Suyūţī has mentioned that he has met the Companion Anas ibn Mālik and narrated from him. He is the greatest scholar of Iraq and the Imām of Fuqahā’a. Among his teachers are: Ĥammād ibn Abī Sulaymān, Áţā, al-Zuhrī, Qatādah and others.

Imām Shāfiýī has said: “In jurisprudence (fiqh) everyone is a dependant of Abū Ĥanīfah.” Among his students are Ábdullāh ibn Mubārak and Wakīý ibn al-Jarrāĥ, both ĥadīth imāms – and among the grand-teachers of Imām Bukhārī.

Ibn al-Mubārak is reported to have said: “He is the imām of the people and the imām of the ruler.” Imām Mālik was asked if he had met Imām Abū Ĥanīfah and he replied: “I have seen such a man that if he were to debate to prove this [iron] pillar was made of gold, he could convince you that it was indeed so.” His knowledge was immense; but his piety, worship and abstemiousness was even greater.

He was also a rich trader and generous with his wealth; contemporary scholars would say that he gave so much that they were embarrassed by his gifts. In his life of 70 years, it is said that he went for Ĥajj 55 times! In other words, from the age of 15, he would go on Ĥajj every year.

Dhahabī has said that he is the fourth imām after Sayyidunā Úthmān ibn Áffān, Tamim al-Dārī and Saýīd ibn Jubayr to recite the entire Qur’ān in two rakáh. Dhahabī has said “while I compiled one folio [juz] for each of the imāms, I required two folios [juz] to recount the praise and merits of Abū Ĥanīfah.” In Ramađān, he would recite the Qur’ān 61 times – once every day, once every night and once during the Tarāwīĥ.

Among his books are Fiqh al-Akbar, Al-Áālim wa’l Mutállim, Al-Waşiyyah. He did not accept any gifts from those in power nor assumed official positions. He was offered the post of chief justice by the Caliph, which he refused out of piety and fear of Allāh; because of this refusal he was imprisoned and beaten and he eventually passed away – and it is said that he was poisoned by the ruler fearing mutiny.

Allāh táālā knows best.

Imām Mālik Ibn Anas (93-179 AH) رضي الله عنه Shaykhu’l Islām, the Scholar of Madīnah [imām dār al-hijrah] Abū Ábdullāh Mālik ibn Anas ibn Mālik al-Ĥimyari al-Aşbaĥīy al-Madanī. He has narrated from Muĥammad ibn al-Munkadir, Jáfar al-Şādiq, Ĥumayd al-Ţawīl and many others. He was considered the most reliable narrator from Imām Zuhrī.

Imām Bukhārī has said that the most authentic chain (sanad) is Mālik narrating from Nāfiý from [Ábdullāh] Ibn Úmar. Imām Shāfiýī was his student and he has said: “When it comes to ĥadīth narrations, Mālik is a star.” Imām Mālik was immensely knowledgeable and pious; his love and respect for the Prophet ﷺ and his sunnah was legendary.

His madh’hab spread far and wide and was the prevalent madh’hab in Andalus; today, most of northern and western Africa, the Sudan and the UAE follow the Mālikī madh’hab. His most famous work is Al-Muwaţţa and which was compiled long before Imām Bukhārī was born.

He passed away in Madīnah. Imām Muĥammad ibn Idrīs al-Shāfiýī (150-204 AH) رضي الله عنه The imām of imāms – imām from the Quraysh, Abū Ábdullāh Muĥammad ibn Idrīs alShāfiýī. Born in Gaza in the year 150 AH, he was taken to Makkah by his mother when he was two years old. He has narrated from his uncle Muĥammad ibn Álī, Imām Sufyān ibn Úyaynah and Imām Mālik among others.

When Imām Shāfiýī’s mother was pregnant with him, she saw in a dream that a brilliant star1151 came out of her womb and fell in Egypt and some pieces fell in all other cities. Scholars interpreted this as the birth of a great scholar whose knowledge would illuminate the entire world, especially Egypt. And thus it came to pass. Imām Shāfiýī memorised the Qur’ān at the age of seven and the Muwaţţa of Mālik at age ten.

He became a Muftī at a young age and would issue edicts at age fifteen. Among his students are Imām Aĥmad ibn Ĥanbal, Ibrāhīm al-Muzani, Abū Úbayd Qāsim, Abū Thawr, Al-Buwaytī and many others.

Imām Aĥmad has said: “Allāh táālā will send at the head of each century, a man who will teach them the Prophetic tradition [sunnah] and repudiate the lies attributed to the Prophet ﷺ; examining this, we saw Úmar ibn Ábdu’l Ázīz came at the head of the first century and Shāfiýī at the head of the second.” He passed away on the last day of Rajab in the year 204 AH.1152 Imām Abu’l Ĥasan al-Shāfiýī saw the Prophet ﷺ in his dream and asked: What reward will Shāfiýī receive from you for the şalawāt he wrote in the end of his Al-Risālah: wa şallAllāhu álā Muĥammad kullamā dhakarahu’dh dhākirūna wa ghafala án dhikrihi’l ghāfilūn. The Prophet ﷺ replied: “His reward will be that he will not have to stand for Accounting.” Imām Aĥmad ibn Ĥanbal (164-241 AH) رضي الله عنه The imām of Ahl al-Sunnah and the imām of ĥadīth masters, The Defender and Upholder of the Sunnah [nāşiru’s sunnah], steadfast in the face of persecution and trial [al-şābir álā al-miĥnah]: Abū Ábdullāh Aĥmad ibn Muĥammad ibn Ĥanbal al-Shaybānī al-Marwazi.

He was born in Baghdad in 164 AH. Among those who narrate from him are the imāms Bukhārī, Muslim and Abū Dāwūd among others.

Wakīý and Jaáfar ibn Ghiyāth have both said: “None like him [in ĥadīth science] has appeared in Kūfah.” Ábdu’l Razzāq, a student of Abū Ĥanīfah, said: “Without exaggeration I have not seen anyone like Yaĥyā ibn Maýīn – nor do I know anyone more knowledgeable in ĥadīth than him; al-Madīnī was a great Ĥāfiż; as for Aĥmad ibn Ĥanbal, I have not seen anyone more knowledgeable [afqah] or pious [awraá].” Yaĥyā ibn Ādam reports from Shāfiýī that he said: “I did not leave behind in Baghdad anyone more knowledgeable [afqah], nor a greater ascetic [az’had], nor more pious [awraá] nor more erudite than Aĥmad ibn Ĥanbal.” Abū Zuráh al-Rāzī said: “Aĥmad has memorised a million ĥadīth.” When he was asked how he knew about this, he replied: “I reviewed with him and took various chapters from him.” When Ma’mūn, the khalīfah, had become a Mutazilite and tried imposing the Mútazilah belief that the Qur’ān was created – Imām Aĥmad was resolute and unwavering in the face of persecution and openly refuted it.

He was publicly whipped and imprisoned to coerce him to accept the Mútazilī heresy, but he endured the punishment and never flinched from championing the Sunni belief. He passed away on the 12^th of Rabīý al-Awwal, 241 AH on a Friday.

Imām Aĥmad is reported to have told the heretics: “It is the funerals – ours and yours - that will demonstrate our truthfulness.” It is said that 800,000 men and 60,000 women attended the funeral prayer of Imām Aĥmad; seeing this 20,000 nonMuslims (Jews, Christians and Magians) accepted Islām.

History is witness, that within a hundred years after Imām Aĥmad’s passing, the power and influence of the Mútazilah came crashing down and was buried by Imām Abu’l Ĥasan al-Ashárī and his followers.

Imām Aĥmad’s Musnad is a voluminous work with more than 27,000 narrations and is one of the major ĥadīth sources that survives to this day and is counted among the top nine ĥadīth references – the rest being: Şaĥīĥ al-Bukhārī, Şaĥīĥ Muslim, Sunan Abū Dāwūd, Jāmiý al-Tirmidhī, Sunan Nasā’īy, Sunan Ibn Mājah, Muwaţţa Imām Mālik and Sunan Dārimī.

Our grandshaykh, the Ghawth, Shaykh Ábdu’l Qādir al-Jīlānī al-Hasani al-Ĥusaynī was an imām in the Ĥanbalī madh’hab and the Ĥanbalī imām, Ibn Qudāmah al-Maqdisī learned from and progressed on the spritual path in the company of Shaykh Ábdu’l Qādir al-Jīlānī رضي الله عنه. Shaykh Ábdu’l Ĥaqq Dihlawī, the famous muĥaddith and Ĥanafī jurist has said that the Ĥanbalī madh’hab is the closest to the Ĥanafī madh’hab.

Imām Abū Manşūr Māturīdī (233-333 AH) His name is Muĥammad ibn Muĥammad ibn Maĥmūd, Abū Manşūr al-Māturīdī. Māturīd is a district in Samarqand; hence, he is also referred to as Samarqandī.

Among his titles are: Imām al-Hudā (The Leader of Guidance), Álam al-Hudā (the Standard of Guidance), Imām al-Mutakallimīn (The Leader of Theologians), Muşaĥĥiĥ Áqāýid alMuslimīn (The Mender of the Beliefs of Muslims), Ra’īs Ahl al-Sunnah (The Chief of Ahl al-Sunnah).

His ancestry reaches the Companion Abū Ayyūb Khālid ibn Zayd ibn Kulayb al-Anşārī, in whose home RasūlAllāh ﷺ had alighted when he first arrived in Madīnah.

Imām Māturīdī was born1153 around 233 AH and among his teachers are: Abū Naşr Aĥmad al-Íyāđī,1154 Abū Bakr Aĥmad ibn Is’ĥāq al-Jūzjānī,1155 Muĥammad ibn Muqātil al-Rāzī1156 and Nusayr ibn Yaĥyā al-Balkhī.1157 His sanad reaches Imām al-Aáżam Abū Ĥanīfah in four links as follows: Abū Manşūr Māturīdī is the student of Abū Naşr al-Íyāđī, who is the student of Abū Bakr al-Jūzjānī, who is the student of Abū Sulaymān al-Jūzjānī,1158 the student of Imām Muĥammad ibn al-Ĥasan al-Shaybānī, the student of Imām Abū Ĥanīfah.

Among his works are: Kitāb al-Tawĥīd, Maqālāt, Al-Radd álā al-Qarāmiţah, Bayān Wahm al-Mútazilah, Radd alUşūl al-Khamsah (refutation of Abū Muĥammad al-Bāhilī), Radd Awā’il al-Adillah, Radd Waýīd al-Fussāq, Radd Tahdhīb al-Jadal (these three are refutations of Al-Kaábī’s works); Ma’ākhadh al-Sharāiý and Kitāb al-Jadal in Uşūl al-Fiqh; his famous tafsīr named Ta’wīlāt Ahl al-Sunnah also known as Tafsīr Māturīdī.

Imām Tājuddīn Subkī has annotated a book on áqīdah named: Al-Sayf al-Mash’hūr fi Sharhi Áqīdati Abū Manşūr. Among his students are Abū Aĥmad al-Íyāđī (the son of Imām Māturīdī’s teacher Imām Abū Naşr), Abu’l Ĥasan Rustughfanī, Ábdu’l Karīm ibn Mūsā al-Pazdawī, who is the grandfather of the brothers: Fakhru’l Islām Pazdawī and Şadru’l Islām Pazdawī.

He passed away in 333 AH and his mausoleum is in Samarqand, in today’s Uzbekistan.

Imām Abu’l Ĥasan al-Ashárī (260-330) Álī ibn Ismāýīl al-Ashárī, the imām of Ahl al-Sunnah and among its foremost theologians, was born in Başrah and later moved to Baghdad and settled there. He attended the circle of Abū Is’ĥāq al-Marwazī, the imām of Shāfiýīs. Ibn Fūrak has said that Al-Ashárī was initially a Mútazilī, and a student of the famous Mútazilī scholar Abū Álī al-Jubbāyī.

He was extraordinarily intelligent and after excelling in the Mútazilah school, he debated his teacher on certain points of áqīdah and rendered him speechless with his objections. He then abandoned the Mútazilī school and began refuting them; thereafter he became the champion of the Ahl al-Sunnah. It is also said that he saw the Prophet ﷺ in his dream, who told him to abandon that school and aid the Ahl al-Sunnah.

Al-Ashárī was the descendant of the famous Companion Abū Mūsā Ábdullāh ibn Qays al-Ashárī. Abū Bakr al-Sayrafī has said: The Mútazilah had raised their heads until Ashárī appeared and consigned them to garbage [lit. husk of sesame seeds]. By the time al-Ashárī left this world, Ahl al-Sunnah rallied around two schools – the Ashárī and the Māturīdī [predominantly Ĥanafīs] and thus it is to this day.

May Allāh táālā reward both the imāms, and the scholars of both the schools for defending the true faith. Imām Bukhārī (194-256 AH) Muĥammad ibn Ismāýīl ibn Ibrāhīm ibn al-Mughīrah al-Júfī, Abū Ábdullāh, the author of Şaĥīĥ al-Bukhārī. He is the imām of ĥadīth masters and his compilation is deemed the most authentic book in Islām after the Qur’ān.

He was born on Friday the 13^th of Shawwāl 194 AH, and passed away on the night of Eid al-Fiţr in the year 256 AH, at the age of 62 years. Imām Bukhārī recounted his journey to Al-Warrāq thus: “I was inspired to memorise ĥadīth when I was still in school and about ten years of age. After I finished school at ten, I travelled to various places [seeking ĥadīth].

When I turned sixteen, I memorised books of Ábdullāh ibn al-Mubārak and Wakīý1159and understood their sayings. After that, I went to Makkah with my mother and my brother Aĥmad, seeking ĥadīth.

When I was eighteen, I began to compile sayings of the Companions and their Followers, and I wrote a book of history near the grave of the Messenger of Allāh; there was hardly any name in [Islamic] history about whom I did not have something to say – but I did not wish to make it a lengthy work.” According to Bukhārī, his Şaĥīĥ compilation was derived from 600,000 ĥadīth.

Bukhārī told his student Firabri,1160 that he would bath [do ghusl] and pray two rakáh before inscribing every ĥadīth in the Şaĥīĥ.1161 He has written many books, most of which are now lost. Among those that survive are Adab al-Mufrad, Al-Tārīkh al-Kabīr and short epistles Qirā’ah Khalf al-Imām and Khalq Afáāl al-Íbād. According to Imām Subkī, he was a follower of Imām Shāfiýī.

Imām Aĥmad Riđā Khān al-Baraylawī (1272-1340 AH) Famously known as ‘Alahazrat,’ he was born in 1272 (1856) in Bareilly, a city in North India, to a famous family of scholars; his father Mawlānā Naqī Áli Khān and grandfather Riđā Álī Khān were prominent scholars of Ahl as-Sunnah in their time. He studied Islamic sciences under the tutelage of his erudite father.

He was a master of many sciences and especially in Ĥanafī fiqh, he was outstanding among his contemporaries. Even his adversaries have acknowledged that he was peerless in this discipline. He obtained many ijāzahs or degrees of authorisation in Ĥanafī fiqh, and the most important1162 among them is from the Muftī of Makkah, Shaykh Ábd al-Raĥmān al-Sirāj ibn Ábdullāh al-Sirāj.

This chain of transmission reaches Imām Abū Ĥanifah through twenty seven links and in a further four to the Master of all creation, Muĥammad RasūlAllāh ﷺ. He was given an authorisation of ĥadīth transmission from the great Meccan scholar, Malik al-Úlamā, Sayyid Aĥmad Zaynī Daĥlān al-Shāfiýī.

Imām Aĥmad Riđā is widely known for his refutation of Wahābīs, innovators and libertarian religion-reformers of the early 20^th century of the Common Era.

Upon his second and eventful visit to the Hejaz in 1323/24 AH, the scholars of the two sanctuaries in Makkah and Madinah were so impressed by his erudition and his efforts to safeguard Ahl as-Sunnah, that prominent scholars hailed him as the Reviver of the Religion. Imām Aĥmad Riđā would refer to himself as ‘the slave of the Prophet’ ﷺ, Ábd al-Muşţafā in Arabic.

His skill as a jurist outshone his other abilities and even the corpus of his work is mainly fatāwā. Many lengthy books that he has written are in response to questions. Many of his rulings (and more than 150 fatāwā are monographs) were collected, indexed and ordered by the Imām himself and named Al-Áţāyā al-Nabawiyyah fi’l Fatāwā ar-Riđāwiyyah, popularly known in the subcontinent as Fatāwā e Razaviyyah.

A cross-referenced and translated version was published the 1990s by Raza Foundation in Pakistan in 30 volumes. The author of the work, Bahar e Sharīát, Mawlānā Amjad Álī al-Aáżamī is among his prominent students.

BRIEF BIOGRAPHIES OF HERETICS

Ismāýīl Dihlawī: (1193-1246/1779-1831) was born in Muzzafarnagar district, which is in the state of Uttar Pradesh in today’s India. His father Shāh Ábdu’l Ghanī Dihlawī, the youngest son of Shāh Walīyullāh Dihlawī, died very young; the orphan was brought up by his uncles, Shāh Ábd al-Ázīz Dihlawī, Shāh Ábd al-Qādir and Shāh Rafiýuddīn.

He had a rebellious streak and defied his own uncles on certain issues, who were upset with the behaviour of Ismāýīl.1163 He wrote the book Taqwiyatu’l Īmān, which not only introduced Wahābī ideas in India, but also set the precedent for referring to Prophets and awliyā’a in an insolent and irreverent manner.

He classed the imitation of imāms [taqlīd] as idolatry and his was probably the first anti-madh’hab work in India.

Deobandis accuse Imām Ahmed Riđā Khān of being the flag-bearer of takfīr in India, whereas it was Ismāýīl’s book which made polytheists of everyone –including himself.1164 The author has himself acknowledged the extremism in his book, saying that even lesser sins were labelled as polytheism and idolatry.1165 Thereafter he wrote more incendiary works such as Şirāt e Mustaqīm and Yak Rozi – rekindling the Mútazilī belief that falsehood is included in the Divine Power of Allāh táālā.

He was refuted by prominent úlamā, including his own cousins; the foremost among them was Imām Fađl al-Ĥaqq Khayrābādī, a student of Shāh Ábd al-Ázīz Dihlawi. Among others who refuted him were Imām Fađl al-Rasūl Badāyūnī and Imām Aĥmad Riđā Khān.

Ismāýīl was killed at Balakot, in Pakhtunkhwa province of today’s Pakistan; his followers claim he was killed by a Sikhs and was a martyr – and hence call him Ismāýīl shahīd.

Rashid Aĥmad Gangohī (1244-1323/1829-1905) was born in Gangoh, a town in Saharanpur, a district of Uttar Pradesh, India. After his primary education in Gangoh, he went to Delhi in 1261 and studied there under various teachers, notably under Shaykh Mamluk Álī. Maulvi Qāsim Nānotwī was also a student of the shaykh, and thus they became friends and remained together the rest of their lives.

In Hadith, Gangohī was the student of the Muhaddith, Shah Abdu'l Ghanī Dihlawi. He became a disciple of the Naqshbandi shaykh, Ĥāji Imdādullāh Muhājir Makkī. Rashid Aĥmad was one of the founding fathers of the Deoband school. Fatāwā Rashidiyyah and Makātīb e Rashīdiyyah1166 are his well-known works.

He was an admirer of Ismāýīl Dihlawī and defended his heresies – for example, he too believed that it is intrinsically possible for Allāh táālā to lie (imkān e kazib). He wrote a fatwā that a person who says that falsehood has transpired in the speech of Allāh is not a kāfir, which caused an uproar and Sunni scholars made takfīr of Gangohī because of this fatwā.

He also deemed celebration of Mawlid in whatever form as an impermissible bidáh.

Muĥammad Qāsim Nānotwī: (1248-1297/1832-1880) was born in Nanotah, a town in Saharanpur district, Uttar Pradesh, India. He completed his studies under Shaykh Mamlūk Álī (d.1267 AH) and thereafter studied ĥadīth together with his friend Rashīd Aĥmad Gangohī under Shaykh Ábd al-Ghanī Dihlawī (d.1295) and became a disciple of Shaykh Imdādullāh Muhājir Makkī (d.1317 AH).

He is deemed the founder of the School of Deoband and according to Deobandi sources1167 the school was inaugurated on the 15^th of Muharram, 1283 (1867). His biographers list a number of works that he has written or annotated.

One small book he wrote, Taĥdhīru’n Nās, became controversial in which he claimed: “...hypothetically, if a new prophet is born after the time of the Prophet ﷺ, even then, there will be no effect on the ‘finality’ of the prophethood of Hazrat Muĥammad ﷺ; [comparatively] if there is [a prophet] among his contemporaries or in another earth; or if it can be supposed even on this very earth, another prophet [after his ﷺ time without affecting his finality].” Scholars ruled him kāfir for such statements in the book.

Khalīl Aĥmad Ambethwi (1269-1346/1852-1927) was born in Ambetha1168 and studied at Deoband. He was the student of Rashīd Aĥmad Gangohī and at his behest wrote Barāhīn al-Qāţiáh as a refutation of the book Anwār e Sātiáh of Mawlānā Ábdu’s Samīý Rampūrī, a Sunni scholar who was also a disciple of Ĥājī Imdādullāh Muhājir Makkī, Gangohī’s spiritual master.

It is in this book that Khalīl Aĥmad Sahāranpūri1169 says that the knowledge of the earth for Satan is proven from documentary evidence and there is no evidence for similar knowledge for RasūlAllāh ﷺ.

He also wrote another book in Arabic named Muhannad where he denied a number of accusations levelled at him and other elders of Deoband; according to later Deobandis, he retracted from criticism of Wahābīs in Muhannad, after Wahābīs captured the Ĥijāz.

Ashraf Álī Thānawī1170 (1280-1362/1863-1943) graduated from Deoband in 1300 (1883) and Rashīd Aĥmad Gangohī conferred upon him the turban;1171 Qāsim Nānotwi, Maĥmūd al-Ĥasan Deobandi and Yáqūb Nānotawi were among his teachers.1172 He is famous for his translation of the Qur’ān in Urdu; Bihishti Zeywar, a fiqh manual and many other works.

In 1319, he wrote a fatwā printed as a booklet titled Ĥifż al-Īmān, in which he made a statement insulting the Prophet ﷺ, a statement which any native Urdu speaker, even an illiterate, will consider as an insult; in spite of the furore, he justified his statement as valid; even though he permitted altering the passage in Taghyīr al-Únwān, he was unrepentant about his previous writing; the passage was not omitted in successive editions, and continues to be published and defended by his followers to this day.

Mirza Ghulam Aĥmad Qādiyānī He was born in the year 1260 AH/1835 AH and he died on the 26^th of May 1908 [1326 AH] in Lahore; his body was transported to Qadian, a town in Gurdaspur district [in today’s Punjab state, India], where he is buried. Initially he claimed to be a reformer and styled himself as a debater defending Islām against Christian Missionaries.

Later, he published pamphlets and books which were initially dismissed by Sunni scholars as the ravings of a madman. Eventually, he claimed to be a prophet and was refuted by Sunni úlamā, and deviant sects of Islām as well. Today, his followers call themselves as Ahmadis.

Sir Syed Aĥmad Khān (1817-1898 CE / 1232-1316 AH) was born in Delhi on 17^th of October, 1817. His father, Syed Mir Muttaqī was a nobleman and among the close confidantes of the Mughal Emperors Shāh Alam II (1728-1806 CE) and Akbar Shāh II (1760-1837 CE).

When he was offered the post of prime minister, he suggested that it be given to his father-in-law,1173 Khān’s maternal grandfather, Khwājā Fariduddin, who was also an aristrocrat, once in the employ of the East India Company. After the death of his father in 1836 CE, Khān was handed his grandfather’s titles by Bahadur Shāh Zafar, the last Emperor of Delhi.

But the death of his father had left the family in financial difficulties and hence, he had to work for livelihood and joined the service of the East India Company in 1838 as a junior clerk; later he was promoted and served as a judge in various places.

Even though Khān came from a family of nobles of the Mughal court, he was impressed by the British administration and this led him to adopt pro-British views.1174 While in the employ of the British, he acquired knowledge about various developments in science and philosophy in the West, and at some point, this admiration of Western philosophy transformed him into a reformer seeking rationalisation of Islāmic doctrines that seemed to contradict the science of his day – or even reject them if they did not fit his framework.

He developed a naturalist philosophy, in which he rejected supernatural aspects of religion and crafted novel explanations for concepts such as Paradise, Hell, Resurrection; he rejected the existence of Jinn and Angels, denied the miracle of the Night Journey, rejected the concept of prayer [duáā] and prayers being answered.

Everything had to conform to the philosophy of naturalism – that is, only natural laws and forces operate in the universe. An exponent of this philosophy is known as Neychari in Urdu. Khān was a prolific writer who wrote nearly 6000 pages – among them a commentary of the Qur’ān in which he rejected every thing that could not be explained in terms of the material world and the cause-effect phenomenon.

Among his books is Tahdhīb al-Akhlāq, in which he sought to reform Muslim society by embracing western culture in dress, habits and everything else. Sunni úlamā refuted his naturalist philosophy, and by the Grace of Allāh, succeeded in demolishing Sir Syed’s religious and theological ideas.

Today, he is only remembered as the founder of the Anglo Mohammedan Oriental college, the first institution meant to teach English and modern sciences to Muslims, which later became the Aligarh Muslim University. Sir Syed Aĥmad Khān died in 1898. •