Mahmood Ashraf Usmani (14 May 1951 – 27 February 2022) was a Pakistani Islamic scholar, jurist and an author and headed the Dar-ul-Ifta at

Darul Uloom Karachi Darul Uloom Karachi () is a Madrasa in Karachi, Pakistan. It was founded by Muhammad Shafi in June 1951 at Nanak Wara and later on it transferred to Korangi, Karachi, on 17 March 1957. It continues the tradition of the Darul uloom system ini ...

. He was an alumnus of Jamia Ashrafia and the

Islamic University of Madinah The Islamic University of Madinah () is a public Islamic university in Medina, Saudi Arabia. Established by King Saud bin Abdulaziz in 1961, Sayy’id Abul Ala Maududi had played a significant role of establishing and running of Islamic Univers ...

. He reportedly issued over a hundred thousand religious edicts and authored about three dozen books on

hadith Hadith is the Arabic word for a 'report' or an 'account f an event and refers to the Islamic oral tradition of anecdotes containing the purported words, actions, and the silent approvals of the Islamic prophet Muhammad or his immediate circle ...

mysticism Mysticism is popularly known as becoming one with God or the Absolute (philosophy), Absolute, but may refer to any kind of Religious ecstasy, ecstasy or altered state of consciousness which is given a religious or Spirituality, spiritual meani ...

jurisprudence Jurisprudence, also known as theory of law or philosophy of law, is the examination in a general perspective of what law is and what it ought to be. It investigates issues such as the definition of law; legal validity; legal norms and values ...

and

tafsir Tafsir ( ; ) refers to an exegesis, or commentary, of the Quran. An author of a ''tafsir'' is a ' (; plural: ). A Quranic ''tafsir'' attempts to provide elucidation, explanation, interpretation, context or commentary for clear understanding ...

Biography

Mahmood Ashraf Usmani was born on 14 May 1951 in Lahore into the Usmani family of Deoband. His father Zaki Kaifi was a poet of the

Urdu language Urdu (; , , ) is an Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in South Asia. It is the Languages of Pakistan, national language and ''lingua franca'' of Pakistan. In India, it is an Eighth Schedule to the Constitution of Indi ...

, and the eldest son of Islamic scholar

Muhammad Shafi Muhammad Shafi (24 January 1897 – 6 October 1976), often referred to as Mufti Muhammad Shafi, was a Pakistani Sunni Islamic scholar of the Deobandi school, a Hanafi jurist and mufti, he was also an authority on shari'ah, hadith, Qur'anic ...

. Usmani began memorizing the Qur'an with Iftikhar Ahmad Qaiser, and completed memorizing it with Ronaq Ali. He received his early education at home and graduated in the traditional

Dars-i Nizami Dars-i Nizami () is a study curriculum or system used in many Islamic institutions ( madrassas) and Darul Ulooms, which originated in the Indian subcontinent in the 18th century and can now also be found in parts of South Africa, Canada, the Unite ...

from the Jamia Ashrafia, in

Lahore Lahore ( ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, Pakistani province of Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, second-largest city in Pakistan, after Karachi, and ...

in 1970. He taught at the Ashrfia seminary for two years and moved to study at the University of Madinah. Meanwhile, his father Zaki Kaifi died, and he continued to teach at his alma mater Jamia Ashrafia. From 1990, he joined the

, where he taught

Sahih al-Bukhari () is the first hadith collection of the Six Books of Sunni Islam. Compiled by Islamic scholar al-Bukhari () in the format, the work is valued by Sunni Muslims, alongside , as the most authentic after the Qur'an. Al-Bukhari organized the bo ...

and held the post of

Mufti A mufti (; , ) 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 ''fatāwa'' have played an important role thro ...

. Usmani died in

Karachi Karachi is the capital city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, province of Sindh, Pakistan. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, largest city in Pakistan and 12th List of largest cities, largest in the world, with a popul ...

on 27 February 2022, at the age of 70. His funeral prayers were offered at 11:30am at Darul Uloom Karachi, and he was buried there.

JUI-F Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Pakistan also known the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam or simply as Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (F) (; ; JUI (F)) is an Islamic fundamentalist political party in Pakistan. Established as the ''Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam'' in 1945, it is the ...

chief Maulana Fazl-ur-Rehman contacted

Taqi Usmani Muhammad Taqi Usmani (born 3 October 1943) SI, OI, is a Pakistani Islamic jurist and leading scholar in the fields of Qur'an, Hadith, Islamic law, Islamic economics, and comparative religion. He was a member of the Council of Islamic Ideology ...

and expressed his condolences.

Literary works

Usmani issued over an hundred thousand religious edicts. He authored about three dozen books on Hadith, Sufism, Fiqh and Tafsir. * * * * * *

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Usmani, Mahmood Ashraf 1951 births 2022 deaths Pakistani Islamic religious leaders Darul Uloom Karachi people Jamia Ashrafia alumni Pakistani writers Islamic University of Madinah alumni People from Lahore Religious leaders from Karachi Writers from Karachi Deobandis Pakistani Sunni Muslim scholars of Islam Jurisprudence academics Usmani family

Biography

Literary works

See also

References