Abul Wafa Sanaullah Amritsari (12 June 1868 – 15 March 1948) was a

British Indian British Indians are citizens of the United Kingdom (UK) whose ancestral roots are from India. This includes people born in the UK who are of Indian origin as well as Indians who have migrated to the UK. Today, Indians comprise about 1.4 mil ...

, later Pakistani,

Muslim Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...

scholar and a leading figure within the

Ahl-e-Hadith Ahl-i Hadith or Ahl-e-Hadith ( bn, আহলে হাদীছ, hi, एहले हदीस, ur, اہلِ حدیث, ''people of hadith'') is a Salafi reform movement that emerged in North India in the mid-nineteenth century from the teac ...

movement who was active in the Punjab city of

Amritsar Amritsar (), historically also known as Rāmdāspur and colloquially as ''Ambarsar'', is the second largest city in the Indian state of Punjab, after Ludhiana. It is a major cultural, transportation and economic centre, located in the Majha r ...

. He was an alumnus of

Mazahir Uloom Mazahir Uloom ( ur, ) is an Islamic seminary located in Saharanpur, Uttar Pradesh. Started in November 1866 by Sa'ādat Ali Faqīh, and developed further by Mazhar Nanautawi and Ahmad Ali Saharanpuri; it is regarded as the second most influen ...

and the

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 a major antagonist of

Mirza Ghulam Ahmad Mirzā Ghulām Ahmad (13 February 1835 – 26 May 1908) was an Indian religious leader and the founder of the Ahmadiyya movement in Islam. He claimed to have been divinely appointed as the promised Messiah and Mahdi—which is the metaphoric ...

and the early Ahmadiya movement. He served as the general secretary of the All India Jamiat-i- Ahl-i-Hadith from 1906 to 1947 and was the editor of the ''Ahl-e-Hadees'', a weekly magazine.

Biography

Sanaullah Amritsari's ancestors belonged to Doru Shahabad, a town in the

Anantnag district Anantnag district is a district in the Indian union territory of Jammu and Kashmir. It is one of ten districts which make up the Kashmir Valley. The district headquarters is Anantnag city. As of 2011, it was the third most populous distri ...

of Jammu and Kashmir. His father settled permanently in Amritsar, where he was born in 1868. He was schooled at Madrasa Ta'īd al-Islām in Amritsar, from where he moved to Wazirabad to study

hadith Ḥadīth ( or ; ar, حديث, , , , , , , literally "talk" or "discourse") or Athar ( ar, أثر, , literally "remnant"/"effect") refers to what the majority of Muslims believe to be a record of the words, actions, and the silent approval ...

with

Abdul Mannan Wazirabadi Hafiz Abdul Mannan Wazirabadi, spelled as Abdul Mannan Wazirabadi or Abdul Manan Wazirabadi ( ur, ; Abdul Mannan Wazirabadi, 1851 AD18 July 1916 AD, 1267 AH - 16 Ramzan 1334 AH) was a religious scholar, jurist, ''mufassir'' and muhaddith dur ...

. He then studied with

Syed Nazir Hussain Syed Nazeer Husain Dehlawi (1805 – 13 October 1902) was a scholar of the reformist ''Ahl-i Hadith'' movement. Earning the appellation ''shaykh al-kull'' (teacher of all, or the shaykh of all knowledge) for his authority among early Ahl-i Hadith ...

in Delhi. He joined

for higher education and thereafter completed his studies at

, where his teachers included

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 ...

.. He had joined the Deoband seminary in 1890 to study logic, philosophy and Fiqh. He subsequently attended the lectures of Aḥmad Ḥasan at the Madrasa Faiz-e-Aam, in

Kanpur Kanpur or Cawnpore ( /kɑːnˈpʊər/ pronunciation (help·info)) is an industrial city in the central-western part of the state of Uttar Pradesh, India. Founded in 1207, Kanpur became one of the most important commercial and military stations o ...

. Amritsari started his career with teaching at his alma mater Madrasa Ta'īd al-Islām in Amritsar, in 1893, and taught the books of

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 ...

. He then became the director of education at the Madrasa Islamiyyah in

Maler Kotla The State of Malerkotla or Maler Kotla was a princely state in the Punjab region during the era of British India. The last Nawab of Maler Kotla signed the instrument of accession to join the Dominion of India on 20 August 1948. Its rulers belo ...

. He subsequently stepped into polemics and began debating the proponents of Arya Samaj and specially

Ahmadism Ahmadiyya (, ), officially the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community or the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jama'at (AMJ, ar, الجماعة الإسلامية الأحمدية, al-Jamāʿah al-Islāmīyah al-Aḥmadīyah; ur, , translit=Jamā'at Aḥmadiyyah Musl ...

. He established Ahl-e-Hadith Press in 1903 and published a weekly journal ''Ahl-e-Hadith'' which continued for about 44 years. He was a leading figure of the

movement and served as the general secretary of All India Jamiat-i- Ahl-Hadith from 1906 to 1947. He co-founded the

Jamiat Ulama-e-Hind Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind or Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind () is one of the leading organizations of Islamic scholars belonging to the Deobandi school of thought in India. It was founded in November 1919 by a group of Muslim scholars including Abdul Bari Fi ...

and had a rank of major general in Junud-e-Rabbania. He was president of Anjuman Ahl-e-Hadith Punjab. He was given the title ''Sher-e-Punjab'' for his services to Islam in Punjab. Amritsari migrated to

Gujranwala Gujranwala ( ur, , label=none; ) is a city and capital of Gujranwala Division located in Pakistan. It is also known as "City of Wrestlers" and is quite famous for its food. It is the 5th most populous city proper after Karachi, Lahore, Faisala ...

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

after

Partition of India The Partition of British India in 1947 was the Partition (politics), change of political borders and the division of other assets that accompanied the dissolution of the British Raj in South Asia and the creation of two independent dominions: ...

in 1947 and died on 15 March 1948 in

Sargodha Sargodha ( Punjabi and ur, ) is a city and capital of Sargodha Division, located in Punjab province, Pakistan. It is Pakistan's 12th largest city by population and one of the fastest-growing cities of the country. Sargodha is also known as ...

Literary works

Amritsari wrote pamphlets and books mostly in the refutation of

Syed Mehboob Rizwi Syed Mehboob Rizwi (1911–1979) was an Indian Sunni Islamic scholar, author and historian, best known for ''Tarikh Darul Uloom Deoband'', his two volume Urdu work on the history of Darul Uloom Deoband. Biography Syed Mehboob Rizwi was born in ...

has mentioned ''Tafsir al-Quran be-Kalam al-Rahman'', ''Tafsir-e-Sanai'' and ''Taqabul-e-Salasa'' as his important works. When

Rangila Rasul Rangina Rasul or Rangeela Rasool (Urdu: رنگیلا رسول, Devanagari: रंगीला रसूल, english: ''Colourful Prophet'': "These opening lines of the provocative Rangila Rasul he Colourful Prophet a slim volume published in 1 ...

was written on Islamic prophet Muhammad, Sanaullah Amritsari wrote ''Muqaddas Rasool'' as a reply to that book.

Legacy

* Faz̤lurraḥmān bin Muḥammad wrote ''Hazrat Maulana Sanaullah Amritsari''. * Abdul Majid Sohdri wrote ''Seerat Sanai''.

References

Citations

Bibliography

* * * *

External links

Tafsir Sanai By Sanaullah Amritsari
{{DEFAULTSORT:Amritsari, Sanaullah 1868 births 1948 deaths Pakistani Salafis Atharis Pakistani Sunni Muslim scholars of Islam Quranic exegesis scholars Critics of Ahmadiyya Pakistani people of Kashmiri descent Darul Uloom Deoband alumni Students of Mahmud Hasan Deobandi Founders of Jamiat Ulama-e-Hind Ahl-i Hadith people Mazahir Uloom alumni