Kafīlur Rahmān Nishāt Usmānī (5 March 1942 – 1 August 2006) was an

Indian Indian or Indians may refer to: Peoples South Asia * Indian people, people of Indian nationality, or people who have an Indian ancestor ** Non-resident Indian, a citizen of India who has temporarily emigrated to another country * South Asia ...

Muslim scholar, jurist, and a poet who served as a Mufti of

Darul Uloom Deoband The Darul Uloom Deoband is an Islamic seminary (darul uloom) in India at which the Sunni Deobandi Islamic movement began. It is located in Deoband, a town in Saharanpur district, Uttar Pradesh. The seminary was established by Muhammad Qasim ...

. He was the grandson of

Azizur Rahman Usmani Aziz-ul-Rahman Usmani (also written as Azizur Rahman Usmani) (died 1928) was an Indian Sunni Muslim scholar who served as first Grand Mufti of Darul Uloom Deoband. He is best known for his ''Fatawa Darul Uloom Deoband''. His brother was Shabbir ...

. He was an alumnus of Darul Uloom Deoband and the

Aligarh Muslim University Aligarh Muslim University (abbreviated as AMU) is a Public University, public Central University (India), central university in Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh, India, which was originally established by Sir Syed Ahmad Khan as the Muhammadan Anglo-Orie ...

. He translated ''

Fatawa 'Alamgiri Fatawa 'Alamgiri, also known as Al-Fatawa al-'Alamgiriyya ( ar, الفتاوى العالمگيرية) or Al-Fatawa al-Hindiyya ( ar, الفتاوى الهندية), is a 17th-century sharia based compilation on statecraft, general ethics, milita ...

'' into the

Urdu language Urdu (;"Urdu"
''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary''. ur, , link=no, ) is an Indo-Aryan languages, In ...

and issued more than fifty thousand religious edicts.

Biography

Kafīlur Rahmān Nishāt Usmānī was born into the

Usmani family of Deoband The Usmani family of Deoband are the descendants of the third Rashidun Caliph, Uthman, based primarily in the town of Deoband in India. The notable people of this family include Fazlur Rahman Usmani, Mahmud Hasan Deobandi, Azizur Rahman Usmani an ...

on 5 March 1942. His father was Jalilur Rahmān Usmānī, one of the sons of

and a teacher of "

tajwid In the context of the recitation of the Quran, ''tajwīd'' ( ar, تجويد ', , ' elocution') is a set of rules for the correct pronunciation of the letters with all their qualities and applying the various traditional methods of recitation ('' ...

" and "

qirat In Islam, ''Qirāah'', (pl. ''Qirāāt''; ar, قراءات , lit= recitations or readings) are different linguistic, lexical, phonetic, morphological and syntactical forms permitted with reciting the holy book of Islam, the Quran. Differ ...

" in the

. Usmānī graduated from Darul Uloom Deoband in 1961 and received an

M.A A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...

in Arabic from the

in 1975. His teachers include

Syed Fakhruddin Ahmad Syed Fakhruddin Ahmad (1889-1972) was an Indian Sunni Muslim scholar and jurist who served as the Principal of Madrasa Shahi, and the sixth President of Jamiat Ulama-e-Hind. He was a professor of hadith at the Darul Uloom Deoband. Biography Sye ...

and

Muhammad Tayyib Qasmi Muhammad Tayyib Qasmi (known as Qari Muhammad Tayyib) was an Indian Sunni Islamic scholar who served as Vice Chancellor of Darul Uloom Deoband for more than half a century. He was grandson of Muhammad Qasim Nanautavi, the founder of the Darul ...

. In 1392 AH, Usmāni was appointed as a Mufti in the

. He served in this role for 32 years, during which time he issued more than fifty thousand religious edicts. He was also a poet and wrote in the

ghazal The ''ghazal'' ( ar, غَزَل, bn, গজল, Hindi-Urdu: /, fa, غزل, az, qəzəl, tr, gazel, tm, gazal, uz, gʻazal, gu, ગઝલ) is a form of amatory poem or ode, originating in Arabic poetry. A ghazal may be understood as a ...

hamd Hamd ( ar, حمد, ḥamd, praise) is a word that exclusively praises God - whether written or spoken. Thus, The word "Hamd" is always followed by the name of God (Allah) - a phrase known as the Tahmid - "al-ḥamdu li-llāh" (Arabic: ) (English ...

, naat,

nazm ''Nazm'' () is a major part of Urdu and Sindhi poetry that is normally written in rhymed verse and also in modern prose-style poems. is a significant genre of Urdu and Sindhi poetry; the other one is known as ''ghazal'' (). is significantly ...

marsiya A marsiya ( fa, مرثیه) is an elegiac poem written to commemorate the martyrdom and valour of Hussain ibn Ali and his comrades of the Karbala. Marsiyas are essentially religious. Background The word ''Marsiya'' is derived from the Arabic word ...

, and qasīda genres of Urdu poetry. Usmānī died on 1 August 2006 and was buried in

Qasmi cemetery Mazār-e-Qāsmi, also Qabristān-e-Qāsmi is a cemetery located in the premises of Darul Uloom Deoband where notable Deobandi scholars are buried. Notable interments * Muhammad Qasim Nanautavi (died 1880) * Mahmud Hasan Deobandi (died 1920) * Az ...

next to the grave of his grandfather Azizur Rahman Usmani. His funeral prayer was led by his elder brother Fuzailur Rahman Hilal Usmani.

Literary works

Usmānī wrote books including his poetic collection, ''Shanāsa'' (), ''Ziyārat-e-Quboor'' (), ''Hayāt Ibn Abbās'' (), ''Hayāt Salmān Fārsi'' (), ''Hayāt Abu Hurairah'' (), ''Sirāj al-Īdāh'' (Urdu commentary to Hasan Shurunbulali's ''Nur ul Idāh'') and ''Ā'īna-e-Bid'at'' (). Usmānī translated and annotated number of books concerning "

dars-e-nizami Dars-i Nizami is a study curriculum or system used in many Islamic institutions (madrassas) and Dar Ul Ulooms, which originated in the Indian subcontinent in the 18th century and can now also be found in parts of South Africa, Canada, the United S ...

" from Arabic and Persian into the

Urdu language Urdu (;"Urdu"
''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary''. ur, , link=no, ) is an Indo-Aryan languages, In ...

. The Arabic-Urdu translations include ''Sirāj al-Ma'āni'', ''Sirāj al-Wiqāya'' (Urdu translation and commentary to ''Sharh-ul-Wiqāya''), ''Sirāj al-Matālib'', ''Tafhīm al-Muslim'' (Urdu translation and commentary to

Shabbir Ahmad Usmani Shabbir Ahmad Usmani (11 October 188713 December 1949) was an Islamic scholar who supported the Pakistan Movement in the 1940s. He was a religious scholar, writer, orator, politician, and expert in Tafsir and Hadith. Born in 1887 in Bijnor, Us ...

's ''Fath al-Mulhim''), and ''

''. The Persian-Urdu translations include ''Gulzār-e-Dabistān'', ''Tuhfat al-Muwahhidīn'', ''Masā'il Arba'īn'', and '' Rubāʿiyāt of

Baha' al-Din Naqshband Baha' al-Din Naqshband ( fa, بهاءالدین محمد نقشبند; 1318–1389) was the eponymous founder of what would become one of the largest Sufi Sunni orders, the Naqshbandi. Background Baha al-Din was born in March 1318 in the v ...

''.

References

Citations

Bibliography

* * {{Authority control 1942 births 2006 deaths Darul Uloom Deoband alumni Aligarh Muslim University alumni Academic staff of Darul Uloom Deoband Urdu-language poets Usmani family Burials at Mazar-e-Qasmi