LLAMAH MUI:IAMMAD ANWAR SHAH KASHMIRl

174 Pages·2012·1.86 MB·English

LIFE AND WORKS OF ~LLAMAH
MUI:IAMMAD ANWAR SHAH KASHMIRl
by
Yunoos Osman
Submitted in fulfillment of the requirements for the degree DOCTOR OF
PHILOSOPHY (D. Phil) in the School of Religion and Culture, Faculty of
Humanities, University of Durban-Westville.
SUPERVISOR: PROFESSOR SYED SALMAN NADVI
JOINT SUPERVISOR: PROFESSOR ABUL FADL MOHSIN EBRAHIM
DECEMBER 2001
Dedicated to the loving memory of my father, Abdul Satar Osman,
who encouraged me to pursue studies in Islam, but did not live to
share the joy of this fruit
and
to my mother, Hanifa Satar, who continues to encourage me in my
educational pursuits.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT v
INTRODUCTION 1
Chapter One
INSTITUTIONS OF mGHER ISLAMIC LEARNING
IN INDIA: mSTORICAL BACKGROUND
1. Background
4
1.1 British Colonization
8
1.2 Reactions of Muslims
9
1.3 Some Institutions of Higher Islamic Learning
16
1.3.1 Dar al-(UlUm Farangf Ma~al 17
1.3.2 Al-Madrasat al-RaIJ,fmfyah
19
1.3.3 Dar al-(Ulum Deoband 20
1.3.4 The Aligarh College
27
1.3.5 Nadwat al-(Ulama' 29
Chapter Two
BIOGRAPHY OF MUHAMMAD ANWAR SHAH
KASHMiRI .
2. Family Background
33
2.1 Birth and Education
34
2.2 Teaching Career
39
2.3 His Demise
45
2.4 Eulogies
47
2.5 Shah saIJib's Children
49
2.6 Shah sa~ib's Character 50
2.7 Views of Scholars
52
Chapter Three
A SURVEY OF SHAH $AQIB'S WORKS
3. Shah SaIJib's Scholarship 59
3.1 His Writings 61
3.2 The Holy Qur'an 62
3.2.1 Mushkilat al- Qur'an 62
3.2.2 Shortcomings of Mushkilat al- Qur'an 65
3.3. Metaphysics 66
3.3.1 Al-parb al-Khatim (ala lfuduth al-(Alam 66
3.3.2 Mirqat al-Tahrim Ii lfuduth al-<J.lam 67
3.4 Al-~qa'id 68
3.4.1 Sahm al-Ghayb fi Kayd Ahl al-Rayb 68
3.4.2 Kitab al-Dhab (an Qurrat al-(Aynayn 69
3.4.3 (Aqldat aI-Islam fi lfayat (lsa 71
3.4.4 Ikfar al-MulIJidln 73
3.4.5 TaIJiyat al-Islamfi lfayat (lsa 74
3.4.6 Al-Ta~rlIJ bi ma Tawatara fi Nuzul al-MaslIJ 75
3.4.7 Khatam al-Nabiyln 76
3.4.8 Da (wat lfift al-Iman 78
3.5 Al-Fiqh 79
3.5.1 Fasl al-Khitab fi Umm al-Kitab 79
3.5.2 Khatim al-Khitab Ii FatiIJat al-Kitab 81
3.5.3 Al-Nur al-Fa'id ala Na?,m al-Fara'id 82
3.5.4 Nayl al-Firqadaynfi Mas'alah Rat al-Yadayn 83
3.5.5 Bast al-Yadayn 84
3.5.6 Kashl al-Satar (an SaWt al-Witr 84
3.6 Zoology 85
3.6.1 Khaza'in al-Asrar 85
3.7 Poetry 86
3.8 Politics 87
3.9 lfadlth 90
3.10 Unpublished Manuscripts 90
11
Chapter Four
SHAH $AQIB'S CONTRIBUTIONS IN THE FIELD
OF J:IADITH LITERATURE
4.1 His approach towards the Study and Teaching of
Jfadfth 96
4.1.1 Tarjumat ai-Abwab 97
4.1.2 Legal Implications of the Jfadfth 98
4.1.3 Identifying the Ruwat 99
4.1.4 Import of the lJadfth 100
4.2 Hadith 101
4.3 Commentaries on Al-lamt al-Sa~f}J of Imam
al-Bukhan 101
4.3.1 Faycj ai-Barf <ala al-Sa~f~ al-Bukharf
4.3.1.1 Special Features of Faycj ai-Barf 103
104
<ala al-Sa~f~ al-Bukharf
4.3.1.2 Shortcomings in Faycj ai-Barf <ala al-Sa~f~
al-Bukharf 108
4.3.2 Anwar ai-Barf Shar~ (alii al-Sa~f~ al-Bukharf 109
4.3.2.1 Special Features of Anwar ai-Barf Shar~
111
ala al-Sa~f~ al-Bukharf
4.4 Commentaries on Sa~f~ Muslim 112
4.5 Commentaries on Sunan Abf Da'ad 113
4.5.1 Anwar al-Ma~mad 114
4.6 Commentaries on Sunan al-Tirmidhf 115
4.6.1 Al-~rf al-Shadhf 116
4.6.2 Ma (arij al-Sunan 118
4.6.2.1 Shortcomings in Ma (arij al-Sunan 121
4.7 Shah S. ah. ib's Contributions in Other H. adfth Works 122
Chapter Five
SHAH $AQIB'S UNIQUE STANCE ON
CERTAIN ISSUES
5.1 Tajsfr al-Qur'an 125
11l
5.1.1 Ahl al-Kitab 127
5.1.2 AI-Nasikh wa al-Mansukh 128
5.2 <Ilm al-ijadfth 131
5.3 Legal (FiqhiJ Matters 134
5.3.1 India as Dar al-ijarb or Dar al-Aman 135
5.3.2 The taking and giving of interest 137
5.3.3 Tark AI-Muwalah 139
5.4 Matters pertaining to Muslim Women 142
5.4.1 Veiling the Face of a Woman 142
5.4.2 Dissolution of the Marriage of a Woman
whose Husband Is Lost 146
5.4.3 The.Validity of the Marriage of a Girl without
the Permission of her Parents or Guardian 147
5.4.4 A Woman traveling for ijajj without a Ma~ram 150
5.4.5 Muslim Women performing Salah in the Masjid 153
5.5 The Giving of Zakah to a Sayyid 154
5.6 The Learning of the English Language
and Secular Sciences 156
CONCLUSION 159
BIBLIOGRAPHY 162
IV
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
All praise is due to Allah (SWT) Who made it possible for me to
undertake this study and to complete it.
I am grateful to Professor Syed Salman Nadvi, former Head of the
Islamic Studies Department at the University of Durban-Westville, for
his encouragement and guidance throughout the period of writing this
dissertation.
I am also thankful to Professor Abul Fadl Mohsin Ebrahim of the
School of Religion and Culture at the University of Durban-Westville
for his editorial comments.
I would also like to express my gratitude to Mawlana Cassim M.
Serna, Rector of Dar al-<Ulum Newcastle, Mawlana Abdul Haq
Omarjee, Mawlana Yunus Patel, President of lamiat al-Ulema KZN,
Mawlana Shabbir Kazi and Mawlana AI:lmad Omar for their
assistance in providing me access to.the reference works cited in this
dissertation.
v
I would be failing in my duty if I were to ignore the support given to
me by my family. I wish to record my thanks to my wife for her moral
support and patience throughout the process of my writing this
dissertation. To my children, I am equally thankful for patiently
bearing the pangs of my absence while I was engaged in my research.
To my youngest daughter, Zakira, I wish to record my gratitude for
typing out the manuscript.
Vl
INTRODUCTION
(Allamah Anwar Shah KashmIri (d. 1933) was one of the most
distinguished Islamic scholars of the Indo-Pale Subcontinent. He was
recognised as an authority on (Ilm al-Jf.adfth (the science of Jf.adfth).
His works on Jf.adfth won him the title of Shaykh al- Jf.adfth (an
expert in the field of Jf.adfth) and was also acclaimed as a MulJ.addith
(scholar of Jf.adfth).
Although (Allamah Anwar Shah Kashmiri's speciality was primarily
in the field of the science of Jf.adfth, he was equally competent to
teach and write in other relevant Islamic sciences such as, al-Fiqh
(Islamic Jurisprudence) and (Ulum al-Qur'an (Qur'anic Sciences),
etc. His research and findings sometimes led to him engaging into
intense intellectual debates with other Muslim scholars in various
parts of India.
He had a passion for Jf.adfth and he spent all his life teaching the
$ilJ.ah Sittah (The Six Authentic Collections of Jfadfth). Students used
to flock to the institutions where he taught and it was considered an
honour and privilege to study under him.
(Allamah Anwar Shah KashmIri's contribution in the field of Hadfth
benefited and continue to benefit scholars and students alike to this
day.
To date no systematic study on the life and works of ~llamah Anwar
Shah KashmIri has as yet been accomplished in the English language.
Biographies on him exist in the Urdu language and they are mostly of
a popular nature and have generally not discussed in detail his
academic uniqueness and peculiarities. Thus, the objectives of this
study will be to:
1. Discuss the evolution of the Islamic institutions of Islamic
learning in India and what impact it had in moulding and
shaping the intellectual pursuit of (Allamah Anwar Shah
Kashmiri.
2. Analyze his literary works and assess his contributions in the
field of the science of Jfadfth and Jfadfth literature.
3. Examine his uruque position and individual stance on
matters pertaining to TaJsfr al-Qur'an (Qur'anic Exegesis),
2