Asghar Hussain Deobandi (also known as Mian Sayyid Asghar Hussain) (16 October 1877 — 8 January 1945) 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 ...

Sunni Sunni Islam () is the largest branch of Islam, followed by 85–90% of the world's Muslims. Its name comes from the word '' Sunnah'', referring to the tradition of Muhammad. The differences between Sunni and Shia Muslims arose from a disagr ...

Muslim scholar who co-founded

Madrasatul Islah Madrasatul Islah is a traditional Islamic institution of learning and a renowned center of oriental and Islamic studies at Sarai Mir in the Azamgarh district of Uttar Pradesh. It was started by Mawlana Muhammad Shafi in 1908 along with participa ...

. Born on 16 October 1877 in a

Deoband Deoband is a town and a municipality in Saharanpur district in the state of Uttar Pradesh, India, about 150 km from Delhi. Darul Uloom Deoband, an Islamic seminary and one of the largest Islamic Institution of India is located there. Etymo ...

-based family, claiming descent to Abdul Qadir Jeelani, Asghar Hussain Deobandi was an alumnus 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 ...

, where he studied with

Mahmud Hasan Deobandi Mahmud Hasan Deobandi (also known as Shaykh al-Hind; 1851–1920) was an Indian Muslim scholar and an activist of the Indian independence movement, who co-founded the Jamia Millia Islamia university and launched the Silk Letter Movement for t ...

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 ...

and

Hafiz Muhammad Ahmad Hafiz Muhammad Ahmad (also known as Muhammad Ahmad Nanautawi) (1862-1930) was an Indian Muslim scholar, who served as the Vice Chancellor of the Darul Uloom Deoband for thirty five years. He was the Grand Mufti of the Hyderabad State from 1922 t ...

. Hussain was a disciple of

Imdadullah Muhajir Makki Imdadullah Muhajir Makki (1817 – 1899) was an Indian Muslim Sufi scholar of the Chishti Sufi order. His disciples include Muhammad Qasim Nanautawi, Rashid Ahmad Gangohi, and Ashraf Ali Thanwi. In the Indian Rebellion of 1857, he led the Musli ...

in the Chishti Sufi order. He taught religious sciences at

Atala Masjid, Jaunpur Atala Masjid or Atala Mosque is a -14th century mosque in Jaunpur, Uttar Pradesh, India. It is 300 meter away from Shahi Qila, Jaunpur.It is 2.2 km north-northeast of Jaunpur, 7.3 km northwest of Zafarābād, 16.8 km north-nor ...

and at his alma mater, Darul Uloom Deoband. He co-edited ''Al-Qasim'', a monthly journal published by Darul Uloom Deoband. Hussain died on 8 January 1945 in

Surat Surat is a city in the western Indian state of Gujarat. The word Surat literally means ''face'' in Gujarati and Hindi. Located on the banks of the river Tapti near its confluence with the Arabian Sea, it used to be a large seaport. It is now ...

, and was buried in

Rander Rander (also known as Rahe Neer or city of mosques) is a town in Surat district in the state of Gujarat, India. Located on the bank of the Tapti River, it is from the city of Surat. History There are some historic indications that Rander ...

. His students include

Manazir Ahsan Gilani Manazir Ahsan Gilani (1 October 1892 – 5 June 1956) was an Indian Sunni Islamic scholar and former Dean of The Faculty of Theology in Osmania University. He wrote ''Tadwin-e-Hadith'', ''Muqaddama Tadwin-e-Fiqh'' and ''Sawanih Qasmi''. Muhammad ...

and

Muhammad Shafi Deobandi Muḥammad Shafī‘ ibn Muḥammad Yāsīn ‘Us̱mānī Deobandī ( ur, ; ar, محمد شفيع بن محمد ياسين العثماني الديوبندي, ''Muḥammad Shafī‘ ibn Muḥammad Yāsīn al-‘Uthmānī ad-Diyūbandī''; ...

Family background

Mian Asghar Hussain's ancestors came to India from

Baghdad Baghdad (; ar, بَغْدَاد , ) is the capital of Iraq and the second-largest city in the Arab world after Cairo. It is located on the Tigris near the ruins of the ancient city of Babylon and the Sassanid Persian capital of Ctesiphon ...

and are descended from Abdul Qadir Jeelani. During the era of

Shah Jahan Shihab-ud-Din Muhammad Khurram (5 January 1592 – 22 January 1666), better known by his regnal name Shah Jahan I (; ), was the fifth emperor of the Mughal Empire, reigning from January 1628 until July 1658. Under his emperorship, the Mugha ...

, Sayyid Ghulam Rasool had moved to

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

along with his family. He was entrusted the imamat and khitabat at the Shahi Masjid of

. He had two sons, Ghulam Nabi and Ghulam Ali. Both brothers married daughters of Shah Ameerullah. Sayyid Ghulam Ali had three daughters and two sons. The elder son Alam Meer was the grandfather of Mian Asghar Hussain. Alam Meer married Azeemun Nisa, the daughter of Shah Hafeezullah. They had a daughter Wajeeh-un-Nisa and son Muhammad Hasan, who was the father of Mian Asghar Hussain. Muhammad Hasan married twice, first to Maryam-un-Nisa, who bore him a son, Sayyid Khursheed, and a daughter Masum-un-Nisa. After Maryam-un-Nisa's death, Muhammad Hasan married her sister Naseeb-un-Nisa, who bore him a son, Asghar Hussain.

Birth and education

Birth

Mian Asghar Hussain was born on 16 October 1877 in

to Sayyid Muhammad Hasan and Naseebun Nisa bint Sayyid Mansub Ali.

Name and lineage

His ism (

given name A given name (also known as a forename or first name) is the part of a personal name quoted in that identifies a person, potentially with a middle name as well, and differentiates that person from the other members of a group (typically a fa ...

) was Asghar Hussain. His ''

nasab Arabic language names have historically been based on a long naming system. Many people from the Arabic-speaking and also Muslim countries have not had given/ middle/family names but rather a chain of names. This system remains in use throughout ...

'' (

patronymic A patronymic, or patronym, is a component of a personal name based on the given name of one's father, grandfather (avonymic), or an earlier male ancestor. Patronymics are still in use, including mandatory use, in many countries worldwide, alt ...

) is: Sayyid Asghar Hussain ibn Sayyid Shah Muhammad Hasan ibn Sayyid Shah Alam Meer ibn Sayyid Ghulam Ali ibn Sayyid Ghulam Rasool Baghdadi ibn Sayyid Shah Faqeerullah Baghdadi ibn Sayyid A’zam Saani ibn Sayyid Nazar Muhammad ibn Sayyid Sultan Muhammad ibn Sayyid A’zam Muhammad ibn Sayyid Abu Muhammad ibn Sayyid Qutbuddin ibn Sayyid Baha’uddeen ibn Sayyid Jamalauddin ibn Sayyid Qutbuddin ibn Sayyid Dawud ibn Muhi’uddin Abu Abdullah ibn Sayyid Abu Saleh Nasr ibn Sayyid Abdur Razzaq ibn

Abdul Qadir Jilani ʿAbdul Qādir Gīlānī, ( ar, عبدالقادر الجيلاني, ʿAbd al-Qādir al-Jīlānī; fa, ) known by admirers as Muḥyī l-Dīn Abū Muḥammad b. Abū Sāliḥ ʿAbd al-Qādir al-Jīlānī al-Baḡdādī al-Ḥasanī al-Ḥusayn ...

Education

Aged eight, he began studying with Muhammad Abdullah, alias Miyanji Munne Shah and studied Quran from his father and then started to study Persian from him. Later he was enrolled in

. He continued with the Persian class and studied Persian from Muhammad Yaseen, the father of

. He studied mathematics from Manzoor Ahmad. He passed the class of Persian with first position and soon received

Muwatta Imam Malik The ''Muwaṭṭaʾ'' ( ar, الموطأ, "well-trodden path") or ''Muwatta Imam Malik'' ( ar, موطأ الإمام مالك) of Imam Malik (711–795) written in the 8th-century, is one of the earliest collections of hadith texts comprising the ...

as an honorary gift. As Asghar Hussain turned 17 or 18 and reached the Arabic classes in

, his father died on 20 September 1894. He discontinued his studies for almost one year and started to teach in his ancestral madrasa. At the request of

, Asghar Hussain entered the

again on 1 April 1896 and continued with Arabic classes. He studied ''

Sahih al-Bukhari Sahih al-Bukhari ( ar, صحيح البخاري, translit=Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī), group=note is a ''hadith'' collection and a book of '' sunnah'' compiled by the Persian scholar Muḥammad ibn Ismā‘īl al-Bukhārī (810–870) around 846. Al ...

'', ''

Sahih Muslim Sahih Muslim ( ar, صحيح مسلم, translit=Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim), group=note is a 9th-century ''hadith'' collection and a book of '' sunnah'' compiled by the Persian scholar Muslim ibn al-Ḥajjāj (815–875). It is one of the most valued bo ...

'', ''

Jami` at-Tirmidhi Jami at-Tirmidhi ( ar, جامع الترمذي), also known as Sunan at-Tirmidhi, is one of " the six books" (''Kutub al-Sittah'' - the six major hadith collections). It was collected by Al-Tirmidhi. He began compiling it after the year 250 A.H. ...

'' and ''

Sunan Abu Dawood ''Sunan Abu Dawood'' ( ar-at, سنن أبي داود, Sunan Abī Dāwūd) is one of the ''Kutub al-Sittah'' (six major hadith collections), collected by Abu Dawud al-Sijistani (d.889). Introduction Abu Dawood compiled twenty-one books related to ...

'' with Mahmud Hasan Deobandi. His other teachers included

and Ghulam Rasool Baghwi. He graduated in 1320 AH and was awarded his certificate from Mahmud Hasan Deobandi and

. He was an authorized disciple of

in the Chishti branch of

Tasawwuf Sufism ( ar, ''aṣ-ṣūfiyya''), also known as Tasawwuf ( ''at-taṣawwuf''), is a mystic body of religious practice, found mainly within Sunni Islam but also within Shia Islam, which is characterized by a focus on Islamic spirituality, r ...

Career

After graduating from the

, he worked in the office department of the Darul Uloom for more than one year. Then his teachers

and

sent him to the madrassa of the

for the post of head-teacher and he served there for seven years. In the meantime in 1327 AH, he laid the foundation stone of

in Sarai Meer, Azamgarh in 1908. He was called to

and was entrusted with co-editorship of the journal ''Al-Qasim'' of the Darul Uloom, while the editor was Maulana Habeebur Rahman. He was entrusted the teaching of '' Sunan Abu Dawud'' in

and he also taught the books of tafsir and fiqh like ''Jalalayn'' and ''Durr-e-Mukhtar''. His notable students include

. and Mufti Naseem Ahmad Fareedi. He restarted his ancestral madrasa which had been closed since the death of his father. The madrasa came later under the care of his son Sayyid Bilal Hussain Mian (d. 9 February 1990) and is now known as Madrassa Asgharia Qadeem whilst its historical name is Darul Musafireen, Madrasa Taleemul Quran.

Literary works

Asghar Hussain has written about thirty books in the

Urdu Urdu (;"Urdu"
''

* ''Fatawa Muhammadi'' * ''al-Jawab al-Matin bi-Ahadith Sayyid al-Mursaleen'' * ''Miras al-Muslimin'' * ''Mufeed-ul-Wariseen'' * ''Hayat-e-Khizer'' * ''al-Qawl al-Matin fi al-Iqamati wa at-Taziin'' * ''Gulzar-e-Sunnat'' * ''Molvi Ma'anwi'' (biography of

Rumi Jalāl al-Dīn Muḥammad Rūmī ( fa, جلال‌الدین محمد رومی), also known as Jalāl al-Dīn Muḥammad Balkhī (), Mevlânâ/Mawlānā ( fa, مولانا, lit= our master) and Mevlevî/Mawlawī ( fa, مولوی, lit= my ma ...

) * ''Hayat-e-Shaykhul Hind'' (biography of

) * ''Kulliyat Shaykhul Hind''

Marriage and family life

During his student days at Darul Uloom Deoband, Hussain married the daughter of Mushtaq Hussain. She bore him two sons, Sayyid Akhtar Hussain and Mian Bilal Hussain, and one daughter, Fehmeeda. Fehmeeda died eight years after her marriage, and was survived by her son Syed Farhat Hussain who had been associated with Hamdard Dawakhana in Karachi. Hussain's son Sayyid Akhtar Hussain was a teacher of hadith at Darul Uloom Deoband, and served in the seminary's administration. Hussain's another son Sayyid Bilal Hussain is survived by three sons, Sayyid Jameel Hussain, Sayyid Khaleel Hussain, and Sayyid Jaleel Hussain; and two daughters, Sajida Khatun and Aabida Khatun.

Death

Mian Asghar Hussain died of cardiac arrest on 8 January 1945 (22

Muharram Muḥarram ( ar, ٱلْمُحَرَّم) (fully known as Muharram ul Haram) is the first month of the Islamic calendar. It is one of the four sacred months of the year when warfare is forbidden. It is held to be the second holiest month after R ...

1364 AH). He is buried in

Notes

References

Bibliography

* {{cite book , last1=Hussayn , first1=Sayyid Jameel , title= Tadhkirah Hadhrat Miyan Saheb , trans-title=Biography of Miyan Saheb , publisher=Madrasa Islamia Asgharia, location=

, language=Urdu 1877 births 1945 deaths Deobandis Indian Sunni Muslim scholars of Islam People of British India Darul Uloom Deoband alumni Darul Uloom Deoband faculty Students of Mahmud Hasan Deobandi People from Deoband