Taqi Usmani

Justice (retired) Mufti Muhammad Taqi Usmani is a renowned Islamic scholar from Pakistan who has held a number of positions on the boards of prestigious Islamic institutions. Usmani received his Takhassus degree in Islamic education, equivalent to a PhD, from Darul 'Uloom Karachi in 1961. He also holds a master’s degree in Arabic literature from Punjab University and a bachelor of laws (LLB) degree from Karachi University.

Usmani served as a judge on the Shariah Appellate Bench of the Supreme Court of Pakistan from 1982 to 2002 and as a judge of the Federal Shariah Court of Pakistan from 1980 to 1982. He has written numerous books in Arabic, Urdu and English on vital Islamic topics in addition to a large number of articles on Islamic banking and finance published in many journals and magazines.

Arguably his most important work in Arabic is his Takmilat Fath al-Mulhim, in which he completed in six volumes the commentary of Allama Shabbir Usmani ra on Sahih Muslim. Imam Muhammad Zahid al-Kawthari regarded Allama Shabbir Usmani ra's incomplete commentary as the best commentary on Sahih Muslim, some scholars (including Sayyid Abu'l Hasan Ali Nadwi) have affirmed that Usmani's Takmila is even better. This work explains the hadiths of the Prophet Muhammad and also deals with numerous modern and contemporary issues with great mastery and authority.

His outstanding works in English include An Introduction to Islamic Finance, Historic Judgment on Interest, and the eight-volume English edition of the famous commentary of the Holy Qur'an, Ma'ariful Qur'an, originally compiled in Urdu by his father, Mufti Muhammad Shafi ra'. The latter work could be considered to be the best of the available English commentaries of the Qur'an, as Shaykh Faraz Rabbani and others state. He continues to teach Sahih al-Bukhari in Darul Uloom Karachi, and is also known for his Islahi Khutbat (sermons educating Muslim to become better human beings). He was a key member of the team of scholars that helped declare the Qadiani sect as non-Muslims by Pakistan's National Assembly during the era of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto in the 1970s.

In March 2004, United Arab Emirates Vice-President and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum presented an award to Usmani in recognition of his lifetime service and achievement in Islamic finance during the annual International Islamic Finance Forum (IIFF) in Dubai, one of the largest events in Islamic finance.

In tradition to the scholars of Deoband, recognizing the importance of Tasawwuf, he traversed the path under the guidance of Sheikh Dr. Abdul Hayy Arifi and Moulana Maseehullah Khan, both khulafa of Hakeemul Ummat Moulana Ashraf Ali Thanvi, and is authorized by both of his mentors in Silsila e Ashrafia: Chistiyyah, Naqshbandiyah, Qadiriyah and Suharwardiyah. He is himself a mentor to numerous spiritual aspirants all over the world and delivers regular weekly lectures on self improvement at Darul-Uloom Karachi on Sundays between Asr and Maghrib. [1]