Hakeem Muhammad Akhtar (1928 – 2 June 2013) was a Pakistani Sunni Muslim scholar, poet, philanthropist and a

Sufi 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, ...

mentor. He established the Jamiah Ashraful Madrāris in Karachi. He was an alumnus of the State Unani Medical College Allahabad and the Madrasa Bait-ul-Uloom, Sarai Mir. He was an authorized disciple of

Abrarul Haq Haqqi Abrarul Haq Haqqi (20 December 1920 — 17 May 2006) was an Indian people, Indian Sunni Muslim scholar who established Ashraful Madaris in Hardoi. He was a disciple of Ashraf Ali Thanwi. Biography Haqqi was born on 20 December 1920 in Hardoi. H ...

. His works include ''Ma'ārif-e-Masnawi'' and ''Faizān-e-Muḥabbat''.

Biography

Hakeem Muhammad Akhtar was born in 1928 in Pratapgarh. He was schooled in Pratapgarh and studied Persian with Qāri Muḥammad Siddīq in Sultanpur.He graduated from the State Unani Medical College Allahabad in 1944 where his teacher was Hakim Aḥmad Usmāni, the father of Hakim Hammad Usmani. He was inclined towards studying Islamic sciences, and completed the traditional

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 S ...

at the Madrasa Bait-ul-Uloom in Sarai Mir in four years. Akhtar studied the ''

Sihah Sittah The ''Kutub al-Sittah'' ( ar-at, ٱلْكُتُب ٱلسِّتَّة, al-Kutub as-Sittah, lit=the six books) are six (originally five) books containing collections of ''hadith'' (sayings or acts of the Islamic prophet Muhammad) compiled by six ...

'' with

Abdul Ghani Phulpuri Abdul (also transliterated as Abdal, Abdel, Abdil, Abdol, Abdool, or Abdoul; ar, عبد ال, ) is the most frequent transliteration of the combination of the Arabic word '' Abd'' (, meaning "Servant") and the definite prefix '' al / el'' (, mea ...

, a student of

Majid Ali Jaunpuri Majid Ali Jaunpuri (also known as Muhaddith Manwi; died 1935) was an Indian Sunni Islamic scholar and a rationalist thinker. He was mainly known for his work in the subjects of logic and hadith. He was an alumnus of the Darul Uloom Deoband and ...

. He developed interest in

Sufism 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 ...

in early days and benefitted from Abdul Ghani Phulpuri,

and Muhammad Ahmad Pratapgarhi. Haqqi authorized him in the Ashrafia, Chistiyyah, Naqshbandiyah,

Qadiriyyah The Qadiriyya (), also transliterated Qādirīyah, ''Qadri'', ''Qadriya'', ''Kadri'', ''Elkadri'', ''Elkadry'', ''Aladray'', ''Alkadrie'', ''Adray'', ''Kadray'', ''Kadiri'', ''Qadiri'', ''Quadri'' or ''Qadri'' are members of the Sunni Qadiri ta ...

and the Suhrawardiyya orders of Sufism. Akhtar migrated to

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 ...

in 1960 with his Sufi mentor Abdul Ghani Phulpuri. In 1980, he started the "Khanqāh Imdādiya Ashrafiya" in Karachi at the wishes of Abrarul Haq Haqqi. His disciples have started branches of it in

Bangladesh Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...

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 ...

Kenya ) , national_anthem = "Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi , ...

Mauritius Mauritius ( ; french: Maurice, link=no ; mfe, label=Mauritian Creole, Moris ), officially the Republic of Mauritius, is an island nation in the Indian Ocean about off the southeast coast of the African continent, east of Madagascar. It incl ...

Myanmar Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John C. Wells, Joh ...

Réunion Réunion (; french: La Réunion, ; previously ''Île Bourbon''; rcf, label= Reunionese Creole, La Rényon) is an island in the Indian Ocean that is an overseas department and region of France. It is located approximately east of the island ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

and

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

.Akhtar established the Jamiah Ashraful Madāris, a famous seminary in

Gulistan-e-Johar Gulistan-e-Johar or Gulistan-e-Jauhar ( ur, ) is a neighborhood in the Karachi East district of Karachi, Pakistan. Administration It was previously administered as part of the Gulshan Subdivision borough, which was disbanded in 2011. Some bl ...

, Karachi, in 1998. Akhtar died on 2 June 2013 in

Karachi Karachi (; ur, ; ; ) is the most populous city in Pakistan and 12th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 20 million. It is situated at the southern tip of the country along the Arabian Sea coast. It is the former cap ...

. His funeral prayer was led by his son Hakeem Muḥammad Mazhar and attended by scholars including

Abdul Ghafoor Haideri Maulana Abdul Ghafoor Haideri (; born ) is a Pakistani politician. He has served as the Deputy Chairman of the Senate of Pakistan since 12 March 2015 and has been the central General Secretary of the Jamiat Ulama-e-Islam party since 1995., Ret ...

Aurangzaib Farooqi Aurangzaib Farooqi ( ur, ) is a Pakistani Islamist Religious cleric and the current chief of the Ahle Sunnat Wal Jama'at. Farooqi also took part in 2013 Pakistani election. Biography He was born on 10 November 1972 in Abbottabad, Pakist ...

Mufti Muhammad Naeem Mufti Muhammad Naeem (1958 – 20 June 2020) was a Pakistani cleric and Islamic scholar who served as Chancellor of Jamia Binoria. Biography Family background His paternal family came from Surat in Indian Gujarat. His grandfather was born a P ...

, Muhammad Rafi Usmani,

Saleemullah Khan Saleemullah Khan (1921 – 15 January 2017) was a Pakistani Islamic scholar and former President of Wifaq ul Madaris Al-Arabia, Pakistan. His students include Muhammad Rafi Usmani and Muhammad Taqi Usmani. Khan established Jamia Farooqia in ...

and Zar Wali Khan. His disciples in Sufism include Abdul Hamid Ishaq, Fazlur Rahman Azmi,

Muhammad Ilyas Ghuman Muhammad Ilyas Ghuman (born 12 April 1969) is a Pakistani Islamic scholar and theologian of the Deobandi movement. An '' Ilm al-Kalām expert'' (Mutakallim e islam), religious philosopher, Sufi (he is a discipline of Peer Aziz ur Rehman Hazarv ...

, Salman Nadvi and Younus Patel.

Literary works

Akhtar's works include: * ''Ma'ārif-e-Masnawi'', a commentary on the ''

Masnavi The ''Masnavi'', or ''Masnavi-ye-Ma'navi'' ( fa, مثنوی معنوی), also written ''Mathnawi'', or ''Mathnavi'', is an extensive poem written in Persian by Jalal al-Din Muhammad Balkhi, also known as Rumi. The ''Masnavi'' is one of the most ...

'' 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 ...

. This major work of Akhtar is hailed by Islamic scholars such as

Yousuf Banuri Muhammad Yousuf Banuri (7 May 1908 – 17 October 1977) was a Pakistani Islamic scholar, founder of Jamia Uloom-ul-Islamia and former President and Vice President of Wifaq ul Madaris Al-Arabia, Pakistan from 30 May 1973 to 17 October 1977. Edu ...

Muhammad Zakariyya Kandhlawi Muḥammad Zakarīyā ibn Muḥammad Yaḥyá Ṣiddīqī Kāndhlawī Sahāranpūrī Muhājir Madanī (''Muḥammad Zakarīyā ibn Muḥammad Yaḥyá aṣ-Ṣiddīqī al-Kāndahlawī as-Sahāranfūrī al-Madanī''; 2 February 189824 May 1982) ...

and

Manzoor Nomani Muḥammad Manz̤oor Nomānī ( 15 December 1905 – 4 May 1997) was an Indian Islamic scholar. Prominent among his written works are ''Maariful Hadith'', ''Islam Kya Hai?'', and ''Khomeini and the Iranian Revolution''. He graduated from Darul ...

. It was rendered in English by the South African scholar

Yusuf Karaan Yusuf Karaan (also written as Yousuf Abdullah Karaan) (15 November 1935 - 10 May 2015) was a South African Sunni Muslim scholar from Strand who served as head mufti of Muslim Judicial Council. Biography Karaan was born on 15 November 1935. He a ...

. * ''Lessons on the Mathnawi of Moulana Rumi: on love and recognition'' * ''Tajalliat-E-Jazb: manifestation of Allah's attraction'' * ''Ma'rifat-e-Ilāhiya'' * ''Rūh ki bīmāriyān aur unka ilāj'' * ''Faizān-e-Muḥabbat''

References

Bibliography

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Akhtar, Hakeem Muhammad 1928 births 2013 deaths Sunni Muslim scholars of Islam Hanafis Deobandis State Unani Medical College Allahabad alumni People from Karachi Founders of Pakistani schools and colleges Deobandi Sufis