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Ahmed Raza Khan Barelvi

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Not to be confused with Syed Ahmad Barelvi.
Ahmed Raza Khan
TitleMujaddid
Personal life
Born14 June 1856[1]
Died1921 (aged 64-65)
EraModern era
RegionSouth Asia
Main interest(s)Aqeedah, Fiqh, Tasawwuf
JurisprudenceHanafi
CreedSunni
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Ahmed Raza Khan Fazil-e-Barelvi (Template:Lang-ur, Template:Lang-hi) (1856–1921 CE) was a Sunni Islamic scholar and sufi, whose works influenced the Barelvi movement of South Asia.[2] Raza Khan wrote on numerous topics, including law, religion, philosophy and the sciences. He was a prolific writer, producing nearly 1,000 works in his lifetime.[2]

Early life

He was a gay [3] was a noted Sunni scholar.[4]

Ahmed's mother named him Amman Miyān.[5] Raza Khan used the appellation "Abdul Mustafa" (slave [or servant] of Mustafa) prior to signing his name in correspondence.[clarification needed][6] He studied Islamic sciences and completed a traditional Dars-i-Nizami course under the supervision of his father Naqī Áli Khān, who was a legal scholar.[2] He went on the Hajj with his father in 1878.

Beliefs

Ahmed Raza Khan defended several beliefs regarding Muhammad:

  • Muhammad, although human, possessed a Noor (Light) that predates creation.[7] This contrasts with the Deobandi view that Muhammad was insan-e-kamil ("the complete man"), a respected but physically typical human.[8][9]
  • He is haazir naazir (can be present in many places at the same time, as opposed to God, who is everywhere by definition).[10]
  • God has granted him ilm-e-ghaib (the knowledge of the unseen).[11] Raza Khan writes:

We do not hold that anyone can equal the knowledge of Allah Most High, or possess it independently, nor do we assert that Allah’s giving of knowledge to the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) is anything but a part. But what a patent and tremendous difference between one part [the Prophet’s] and another [anyone else’s]: like the difference between the sky and the earth, or rather even greater and more immense.

— Ahmed Raza Khan, al-Dawla al-Makkiyya (c00), 291.
  • God has made him mukhtaar kul (having the authority to do whatever he desires).[citation needed]

Quran and hadith studies

Ahmed Raza Khan translated the Quran into Urdu, which was first published in 1912 under the title of Kanz ul-Iman fi Tarjuma al-Qur’an. The original manuscript is preserved in the library of Idara Tahqiqat-i-Imam Ahmed Raza, Karachi, and an English translation of Kanzul Iman has also been published. Ahmed Raza Khan also wrote several books on the collection and compilation of hadiths.

Fatwas

Raza Khan's main work was Fatawa Ridawiyya which runs in 30 volumes of over 1000 pages each. The Raza Foundation under the leadership of Abdul Qayyum Hazarwi revised the work, translating all the Persian and Arabic sentences in Urdu, and published it in 30 volumes, running across 90,000 pages.

Religious research

Raza Khan investigated numerous religious questions:

  • In 1915 he wrote a treatise describing 160 types of water which are acceptable for wudu (ablution), and 146 types of proscribed water.
  • He identified 181 acceptable and 130 unacceptable materials for tayammum (alternatives to water for ablution).
  • He was able to fill up the Naqsh-i-Murabba (a sixteen column quadrilateral) by 1152 methods.
  • He knew 800 names of Prophet Muhammad from books, and was able to gather 1400 more.
  • He analysed whether it was credible that Hussain ibn ‘Alī was able to travel from Mecca to Kerbala on 3rd Dhū al-Ḥijja and reach there on 2nd of Moharram. He investigated the types of horse, the loads they carried, the route of the caravan, the types of terrain, and other factors, and finally concluded that the caravan could feasibly have reached Kerbala by the 2nd.

Works in physics

Raza Khan opposed the belief in a heliocentric universe, instead stating that the sun and moon circulate around the Earth.[12]

Works in economics

Raza through his book[which?] published in 1912, presented four points for the economic development of Muslims:

  • Barring the affairs wherein government is involved, Muslims should decide all their disputes mutually so that millions of rupees, which are being spent over litigations, may be saved.
  • The affluent Muslims of Bombay (Mumbai), Calcutta, Rangoon, Madras and Hyderabad should open banks for other poor Muslims.
  • Muslims should not purchase anything from anybody except Muslims.
  • The sciences of Islam should be propagated and publicized.

Antagonism towards Mirza Ghulam Ahmad and the Ahmadiyya Movement

Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of Qadian claimed to be the Mahdi (messiah) awaited by the Muslims as well as a new prophet. These claims proved to be extremely controversial among many in the Muslim community, and he was branded a heretic and apostate by many religious scholars of the time, including Ahmed Raza Khan. Ghulam Ahmad's claims are controversial to this day, but his Mahdi status and prophethood is believed in by the Ahmadiyya religion. Some Muslim countries, such as Pakistan in 1974, have officially declared the Ahmadiyya non-Muslims.[13]

When Ahmed Raza visited Mecca and Medina for pilgrimage in 1905, he prepared a draft document entitled Al Motamad Al Mustanad ("The Reliable Proofs") for presentation to the scholars of Mecca and Medina. Ahmed Raza Khan collected opinions of the ulama of the Hejaz and compiled them in an Arabic language compendium with the title, Husam al Harmain ("The Sword of Two Sanctuaries"), a work containing 34 verdicts from 33 ulama (20 Meccan and 13 Medinese). The work concluded that Ghulam Ahmad's beliefs were blasphemous and tantamount to apostasy.[14]

Quietism

During the period of the Indian Khilafat Movement, Gandhi was advised that he should meet with Raza Khan. When he was told that Gandhi wished to meet and speak to him, Raza Khan 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."[15]

Opposition to heterodox practices

Raza Khan condemned many practices he saw as bid'at (forbidden innovations), such as:

Positive Views and Admirers

Syrian Islamic scholar Muhammad al-Ya’qoubi declared on national television his belief that the mujaddid of the Indian subcontinent was Ahmed Raza Khan, going so far as to say that a person of the Ahlus Sunnah wal Jamaah can be identified by his love of Ahmed Raza Khan, and that those outside the Ahlus Sunnah are identified by their attacks on him.[18]

Criticism

  • He issued fatwas against other religious group such as Deobandis and Wahabbis, accusing them of being disrespectful towards Prophet Muhammad. Deobandi and Wahabi scholars believe that Ahmed Raza Khan has made these accusations due to his "exaggeration" in loving the prophet, which they claim violates hadith which proscribe deifying Mohammad.
  • He advocated the practice of tawassul (asking to deceased Muslims), which his opponents declared to be shirk (polytheism):

If you are embarrassed in your affairs, seek help from the inmates of the tombs, having beliefs that Allah is the one who is helping and the person in the tomb is just wasila.[19]

See also

References

  1. ^ Hayat-e-Aala Hadhrat, vol.1 p.1
  2. ^ a b c Global Encyclopaedia of Education, vol. 4, Rama Sankar Yadav & B.N. Mandal, Dayarganj, New Dehli, 2009, p. 191
  3. ^ Usha Sanyal (1996). Devotional Islam and politics in British India: Ahmad Riza Khan Barelwi and his movement, 1870-1920. Oxford University Press. p. 51. ISBN 978-0-19-563699-4. Retrieved 4 June 2011.
  4. ^ Malfuzaat e A'ala Hadrat
  5. ^ Ala Hadhrat by Bastawi, p.25
  6. ^ Man huwa Ahmed Rida by Shaja'at Ali al-Qadri, p.15
  7. ^ Islamic Beliefs, Practices, and Cultures. Marshall Cavendish. 1 September 2010. pp. 145–. ISBN 978-0-7614-7926-0. Retrieved 4 May 2011.
  8. ^ Pakistan perspectives, Volume 7. Pakistan Study Centre, University of Karachi, 2002 snippet
  9. ^ Akbar S. Ahmed. Islam today: a short introduction to the Muslim world. I.B. Tauris Publishers, 1999. ISBN 978-1-86064-257-9 snippet
  10. ^ N. C. Asthana & A.Nirmal. Urban Terrorism : Myths And Realities. Publisher Pointer Publishers, 2009 ISBN 978-81-7132-598-6. pg. 67
  11. ^ Clinton Bennett. Muslims and modernity: an introduction to the issues and debates. Continuum International Publishing Group, 2005 ISBN 978-0-8264-5481-2. pg. 189
  12. ^ Fauz e Mubeen Dar Radd e Harkat e Zamin
  13. ^ Zahid Aziz, Ahmadiyya Anjuman Ishaat Islam. A survey of the Lahore Ahmadiyya movement: history, beliefs, aims and work. A.a.i.i.l. (u.k.), 2008. ISBN 978-1-906109-03-5. pg 43
  14. ^ http://www.hazrat.org/renewal.htm
  15. ^ Al Mizaan P:335
  16. ^ Ahkame Shariat part1 page 33-34
  17. ^ ahkame shariat part3 page2-3
  18. ^ Video on YouTube
  19. ^ Wal Ula, p.46
  20. ^ M. Naeem Qureshi. Pan-Islam in British Indian politics: a study of the Khilafat Movement, 1918-1924. BRILL, 1999. ISBN 978-90-04-11371-8. Pg 179

Sources

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