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Ala Hazrat Imam Aĥmed Riđā Khān al-Barelwī (1856–1921, sometimes transcribed as Ahmad Raza Khan) ,titled as Abdul Mustafa, was a prominent Muslim Alim from Bareilly, a city in Northern India during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He was a follower of Hanafi fiqh. Hanafi Fiqh (the school of Islamic Fiqh, founded by Abu Hanifah), was one of four schools that enjoyed massive and general scholarly acceptance. Imam Aĥmed Riđā was also poet and writer, authoring nearly 1,000 books and monographs of varying lengths in Arabic, Persian and Urdu.

Life history

Imam Aĥmed Raza was born in 1272 AH (1856 CE) into a family of Alims (legal scholars). His father, Mawlānā Naqī Áli Khān, was an alim of his time. His mother named him Amman Miyān. Riđā studied Islamic sciences mainly under the tutelage of his father. He undertook the traditional dars-e nizami course under his father's supervision and thereafter was largely self-taught. He did not proceed to take a formal course at a dar al-ulum.

An important landmark in Aĥmed Riđā's early life was the assumption of responsibility from his father for writing fatawa (legal pronouncements) in 1869, when he was fourteen.

Aĥmed Riđā studied many sciences and fiqh (Sunni religious law) particularly in the Hanafi school. He earned many degrees of authorization in Hanafi. By his own affirmation, the most important one was from the Mufti of Makkah, Shaykh Ábd ar-Raĥmān as-Sirāj ibn Ábdullāh as-Sirāj. This chain of transmission is claimed to reach back to Abu Hanifah.

He is known for his attacks on Wahabis, and other Muslim groups, libertarian religion-reformers like Sir Sayyid Ahmed Khan, Abu'l Kalām Āzād, and others of the early 20th century.

Aĥmed Riđā took the Qadiri path and was initiated in that Sufi order by Sayyid Abu’l Ĥusayn Nūrī of Mārahra (a town in northern India). He dedicated many tracts to the love of Muhammad, as is evident in his writings and endeavors.

In 1904 he founded a school, the Madrasa Manzar al-Islam. The position of chief administrator of this school was later to become a hereditary one within the Riza family for the next four generations.

Aĥmed Riđā died in 1340 AH (1921 CE) at the age of 63.

His works

Imam Aĥmed Riđā was the author of nearly 1,000 books and monographs of varying lengths, as well as poetry, in Arabic, Persian and Urdu. Amongst the most well-known are the following:

  1. Kanz ul Iman Fi Tarjamatu'l Qu'ran (The Treasure of Faith: A translation of the Koran) - This is his Urdu translation of the Koran. It combines fluency of language with Koranic exegesis and is an explanatory translation, as opposed to a literal one.
  2. Ĥadāyiq e Bakh’shish (Gardens of Salvation) - This is his slim two-volume anthology of Urdu and Persian poetry, eulogizing the Prophet Muhammad (may Allah bless him and give him peace).
  3. Al- Átāyā an-Nabawiyyah fi’l Fatāwā ar-RiĎawiyyah (also known as Fatāwa ar-RiDawiyyah or Fatāwā Razwiyah) - His magnum opus, this is a collection of books, monographs and edicts on all aspects of Hanafī fiqh. The latest edition runs into 24 large volumes.
  4. Al-Dawlatul Makkiyah (The Meccan Treasure) - This is amongst his masterpieces and was written in a few days. It discusses, in great detail, the Prophet's Knowledge of the Unseen ( 'ilm al ghayb), one of the contentious issues between Ahlus Sunnah and their opponents, notably the literalist Wahabi school.

He also made several poems about Muhammad, such as Lam Yati Nadhiruka Fi Zarin and Zamin-o-Zaman which can be found in Ĥadāyiq e Bakh’shish.

British Empire, Khilafat, and Jihad

From the period of the Crimean War to 1878, Britain encouraged a pro-Turkish policy for Muslim India. Aĥmed Riđā's stance followed this line. In one of his famous works, Tahzib Al-Akhlaq, he is on record as praising the reforms in the Ottoman Dominions.

He rejected the spiritual jurisdiction of the Ottoman Khilafah based on the accepted classical Sunni position that the caliph must be from Quraysh, the tribe of the Prophet to which the Ottomans did not belong. He held the view that the real Khilafah had ended with the first four caliphs (Khulafa al-Rashidun) and protested the ban imposed by Sultan Abd Al-Hamid II against discussions on this subject, which was entirely in accordance with Sunni traditional thought. Aĥmed Riđā rejected the jihad against the British occupation of India since in his view, British India was not Dar al Harb (an abode of war), and refused to cooperate with Hindus and other Muslims who used various other means of protest against the British Empire which were against the Shariah in his view. His stance was based on the principal that one must not cooperate with people of innovation in doctrine ahl ul bid'ah and thus disobey the Shariah for political gain. Personally, it appears he did not accept the jurisdiction of the British; an indication of this was his habit of affixing postage stamps with the head of the Queen upside down and his refusal to attend British court hearings.

However, when the Non-Cooperation Movement was launched in 1920 by an alliance of the Khilafat Movement and Gandhi, Aĥmed Riđā remained aloof. He objected to collaboration with Hindus in preference to collaboration with 'People of the Book', the British, based on sound Islamic legal edicts of the past.

Aĥmed Riđā and his disciples were the main initiators of Movement of Pakistan. Along with other prominent Muslim religious personalities of the period such as Pir Sayyid Jama'at Ali Shah Naqshbandi, his sons Mawlana Hamid Riđā Khan and Grand Mufti (Mufti-e-Aazam) Mustafa Riđā Khan, and student Mawlana Sayyid Naeemuddin Muradabadi, organized Sunni conferences and supported ideas about a separate state of Muslims.

Intellectual Life

Aĥmed Riđā's spiritual and religious involvements seemingly encompassed his life. However, he was also a self-taught scientist in many fields and a mathematician. He acted upon his sincere belief of the Koran and Hadith mentioning that Islam and science are intertwined within each other. He wrote several treatises on several scientific fields *.

Secularism

During the period of the Indian Khilafat Movement, Gandhi was advised that he should meet with Aĥmed Riđā. When he was told that the Gandhi wished to meet and speak to him, Aĥmed Riđā 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." (Al Mizaan, p. 335)

Hasan Nizami in an article called Kitabi Dunya (p. 2) when referring to the introduction to Dawam al-Aish (p. 18) said about Ahmad Rida Khan: "Most of his novices and followers separated from him for their disagreement with him on the Khilafat Movement."

Imam Ahmad Rida Khan declared that in the time of British Imperialism in India, there was no Jihad against them! This led to his opponents to consider him to be a supporter of the British and some went to the level of accusing him to be funded by the British. Imam Ahmad Rida Khan said in his al-Mahajjat al-Mu'tamana (p. 208): "Jihad is not obligatory for us, the Muslims of India, on the basis of the Qur'an. He who holds that it is obligatory is an opponent to the Muslims and intends to harm them!" He also said in his book: Dawam al-Aish (p. 46): "Jihad and fighting are not binding on the Muslims of India!"

His last will

He made a statement that his followers should strictly abide to his doctrines and ideologies His statements have been collated by a Barelvi by the name of Hasnain Rida in a book entitled: Wasaya Sharif. Rida Khan said to his followers as recorded in the Wasaya (p. 10): "Hold fast to my faith and doctrine which is apparent from my works. Hold fast to it and remain honest to it, for it is the most significant duty among the duties." He also said: "I do not know how long I shall live among you. You are the naive sheep of Mustafa and the wolves have encompassed you from all sides. They want to lead you astray and create schism and dissent among you. They wish to carry you to the hell-fire. So keep away from them, especially the Deobandi's" (Al-Bastawi in his al-Bareilawi, p. 105).

Differences from other groups

In 1906, Aĥmed Riđā wrote a fatwa accusing leading figures at Deoband - including Rashid Ahmed Gangohi, Muhammad Qasim Nanautawi and Ashraf Ali Thanvi - of being leaders of heresy and kafir because of their deviant beliefs. They were also termed wahabis. The Deoband countered Aĥmed Riđā's fatwa with one of their own, testifying that the Deobandis were apparently Hanafi Sunnis, just like Aĥmed Riđā. An interesting aspect is the role and influence of different Sufi orders: the Barelwis's allegiance to the Qadiri order.

His students

Prominent Muslim alims from the Indian sub-continent who were amongst the students of Aĥmed Riđā are as follows:

  1. Muhammad Haamid Raza Khan Noori Barakaati
  2. Mustapha Raza Khan Noori Barakaati
  3. Abdus Salaam Jabalpuri
  4. Na'eemuddeen Muraadabadi
  5. Sayyid Zafar'uddeen Bihaari
  6. Abdul Aleem Siddique
  7. Mufti Amjad Ali
  8. Zia'uddeen Ahmed Al Madani
  9. Burhaanul Haq
  10. Mawlana Mukhtar Ahmad Siddiqi Meerati
  11. Muhammad Abd al-Hayy
  12. Ahmad Khalil
  13. Ahmad Khudravi
  14. Muhammad bin Abi Bakr
  15. Muhammad Sa'id
  16. Mawlana Sayyid Ahmad Ashraf
  17. Mawlana Shah Sulayman Ashraf

See also

External links

Islam and Science]

Imams | Indian writers | Muslim scholars | Sufis | 1856 births | 1921 deaths | Islam in India

 

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the "Ahmed Rida Khan".

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