Muḥammad Fayḍ Allāh ibn Hidāyat ʿAlī al-Islāmābādī ( ar, محمد فيض الله بن هداية علي الإسلام آبادي, 1890–1976), popularly known as Mufti Faizullah ( bn, মুফতি ফয়জুল্লাহ), was a Bangladeshi

Deobandi Deobandi is a revivalist movement within Sunni Islam, adhering to the Hanafi school of law, formed in the late 19th century around the Darul Uloom Madrassa in Deoband, India, from which the name derives, by Muhammad Qasim Nanau ...

Islamic scholar,

mufti A Mufti (; ar, مفتي) is an Islamic jurist qualified to issue a nonbinding opinion ('' fatwa'') on a point of Islamic law (''sharia''). The act of issuing fatwas is called ''iftāʾ''. Muftis and their ''fatwas'' played an important rol ...

, poet, educator and a reformer. He was among early students to study at the

Darul Uloom Hathazari Al-Jāmiʿah al-Ahliyyah Dār al-ʿUlūm Muʿīn al-Islām ( ar, الجامعة الأهلية دار العلوم معين الإسلام), popularly known as the Hāṭhazārī Madrasa ( bn, হাটহাজারী মাদ্রাসা) ...

. He 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 Qa ...

and later served as the Chief Mufti of the Darul Uloom Hathazari. He established Mekhal Madrasa following in the style of Ashab-e Suffah. He authored over 100 books in

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walte ...

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

and

Urdu Urdu (;"Urdu"
''

Early life and education

Faizullah was born in 1890 to a

Bengali Muslim Bengali Muslims ( bn, বাঙালি মুসলমান; ) are adherents of Islam who ethnically, linguistically and genealogically identify as Bengalis. Comprising about two-thirds of the global Bengali population, they are the se ...

family in the village of Mekhal in

Hathazari Hathazari ( bn, হাটহাজারী) is an upazila of Chattogram District in Chattogram Division, Bangladesh. Geography Hathazari is located at . It has 52,594 households and a total area of 251.28 km2. The main river is Halda. It ...

Chittagong district Chittagong District, renamed the Chattogram District, is a district located in the south-eastern region of Bangladesh. It is a part of the Chattogram Division. The port city of Chattogram, which is the second largest city in Bangladesh, is l ...

. His father, Hedayet Ali, was a

munshi Munshi is a Persian word, originally used for a contractor, writer, or secretary, and later used in the Mughal Empire and India for native language teachers, teachers of various subjects, especially administrative principles, religious texts, ...

, while his mother, Rahimunnesa, was a housewife. He received his initial education at

and was among its early students, studying under the likes of

Abdul Hamid Madarshahi Fakhr al-Islām ʿAbd al-Ḥamīd ibn Rustam ʿAlī al-Madārshāhī ( ar, فخر الإسلام عبد الحميد بن رستم علي المدارشاهي; 1869–31 March 1920), commonly known as Abdul Hamid Madarshahi ( bn, আব্দ� ...

. In 1330 AH (1912 CE), he set off for

Saharanpur Saharanpur is a city and a municipal corporation in Uttar Pradesh, India. It is also the administrative headquarters of Saharanpur district. Saharanpur city's name was given after the Saint Shah Haroon Chishti. Saharanpur is declared as on ...

, where he received higher education for two and a half years under

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 ...

Anwar Shah Kashmiri Anwar Shah Kashmiri (known with honorifics as ''Sayyid Muḥammad Anwar Shāh ibn Mu‘aẓẓam Shāh al-Kashmīrī''; 16 November 1875 – 28 May 1933) was a Kashmiri Muslim scholar and jurist who served as the first principal of Madrasa Am ...

and

Aziz-ul-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 specialised in

Hadith studies Hadith studies ( ar, علم الحديث ''ʻilm al-ḥadīth'' "science of hadith", also science of hadith, or science of hadith criticism or hadith criticism) consists of several religious scholarly disciplines used by Muslim scholars in th ...

Career

He was appointed a teacher at the Darul Uloom Hathazari in 1915, and subsequently became its Chief Mufti. He established Hami as-Sunnah Mekhal Madrasa following in the style of Ashab-e-Suffah in 1934. He was involved in the management of this madrasa until his death in 1976. He was awarded the title of "Mufti Azam" for his experience in issuing fatwas.

Literary works

Faizullah authored about 100 books in Arabic, Persian and Urdu. He majorly focused on

Aqidah ''Aqidah'' ( (), plural ''ʿaqāʾid'', also rendered ''ʿaqīda'', ''aqeeda'', etc.) is an Islamic term of Arabic origin that literally means " creed". It is also called Islamic creed and Islamic theology. ''Aqidah'' go beyond concise state ...

and

Fiqh ''Fiqh'' (; ar, فقه ) is Islamic jurisprudence. Muhammad-> Companions-> Followers-> Fiqh. The commands and prohibitions chosen by God were revealed through the agency of the Prophet in both the Quran and the Sunnah (words, deeds, and ...

in his writings. He extensively wrote on controversial matters for educational purposes of the Muslim community. Under the instruction of

, Faizullah compiled the explanation of

Ka'b ibn Zuhayr Kaʿb ibn Zuhayr ( ar, كعب بن زهير) was an Arabic, Arabian poet of the 7th century, and a contemporary of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. Ka'b ibn Zuhayr was the writer of ''Bānat Suʿād (Su'ād Has Departed)'', a qasida in praise of Mu ...

's ''Bānat Suʿād

qasida The qaṣīda (also spelled ''qaṣīdah''; is originally an Arabic word , plural ''qaṣā’id'', ; that was passed to some other languages such as fa, قصیده or , ''chakameh'', and tr, kaside) is an ancient Arabic word and form of writin ...

'' into

. His books include:

Arabic

* (''Fayḍ al-Kalām'') * (''Hidāyah al-ʿIbād'') * (''Rāfiʿ al-Ishkālāt'') * (''Taʿlīm al-Mubtadi'') * (''Iẓhār al-Munkarāt'') * (''Tawjīh al-Bayān'') * (''Izālah al-Khabaṭ'') * (''Targhīb al-Ummah ilā Taḥsīn an-Niyyah'') * (''Iẓhār al-Ikhtilāl fī Mas'alah al-Hilāl'') * (''Al-Qawl al-Sadīd fī Ḥukm al-Ahwāl wa al-Mawāʿīẓ'') * (''Al-Falāḥ fīmā yataʿallaq bin-Nikāḥ'')

Persian

* (''Band Nāmah-e-Khākī'') * (''Masnavī-e-Khākī'') * (''Ershād al-Ummah'') * (''Manẓūmāt-e-Mukhtasarah'') * (''Qand-e-Khākī'') * (''Masnavī-e-Dilpazīr'') * (''Al-Faysalah Al-Jāriyah fī Awqāf al-Madāris'') * (''Ḥifẓ al-Īmān'') * (''Munkarāt al-Qubūr'') * (''Dafʿ al-Wasāwis fī Awqāf al-Madāris'') * (''Al-Ḥaq as-Ṣarīh fī Maslak as-Ṣaḥīḥ'') * (''Dafʿ al-Iʿtisāf fī Aḥkām al-Iʿtikāf'') * (''Iẓhār-e-Khayāl'') * (''Shūmī Maʿāṣī'') * (''Al-Risālah al-Manẓūmah ʿalā Fiṭrah an-Nījariyyah'')

Urdu

* (''Sharh-e-Būstān'') * (''Sharh-e-Gulistān'') * (''Hāshiyat-e-ʿAṭṭār'')

Death

Faizullah died in 1396 AH (1976 CE) and was buried in front of his home in Mekhal.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Faizullah, Muhammad 20th-century Muslim scholars of Islam Hanafi fiqh scholars Deobandis 1890 births 1976 deaths 20th-century Bengalis Bangladeshi Sunni Muslim scholars of Islam Bangladeshi people of Arab descent Darul Uloom Deoband alumni Darul Uloom Hathazari Alumni Grand Mufti of Darul Uloom Hathazari Bangladeshi Arabic writers 20th-century Arabic writers People from Hathazari Upazila 20th-century Persian-language writers 20th-century Persian-language poets 20th-century Urdu-language writers