Asghar Hussain Deobandi (also known as Mian Sayyid Asghar Hussain) (16 October 1877 — 8 January 1945) was a

Sunni Sunni Islam is the largest branch of Islam and the largest religious denomination in the world. It holds that Muhammad did not appoint any successor and that his closest companion Abu Bakr () rightfully succeeded him as the caliph of the Mu ...

Muslim scholar from the Indian subcontinent who co-founded

Madrasatul Islah Madrasatul Islah is a traditional Islamic institution of learning and a renowned center of oriental and Islamic studies at Sarai Mir in the Azamgarh district of Uttar Pradesh. It was started by Mawlana Muhammad Shafi in 1908 along with particip ...

. Born on 16 October 1877 in a

Deoband Deoband is a town and a municipality in Saharanpur district in the state of Uttar Pradesh, India, about 150 km (93 miles) from Delhi. Darul Uloom Deoband, an Islamic seminary and one of the largest Islamic Institutions of India is located ther ...

-based family, claiming descent to Abdul Qadir Jeelani, Asghar Hussain Deobandi was an alumnus of

Darul Uloom Deoband Darul Uloom Deoband is an Islamic university and seminary ( darul uloom) in Deoband, Uttar Pradesh, India, at which the Sunni Deobandi Islamic movement began. Established in 1866 by Muhammad Qasim Nanautavi, Fazlur Rahman Usmani, Sayy ...

, where he studied with

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 ...

Azizur Rahman Usmani Aziz-ul-Rahman Usmani (also written as Azizur Rahman Usmani; died 1928) was an Indian Sunni Muslim scholar who served as first Head Mufti of Darul Uloom Deoband. He is best known for his '' Fatawa Darul Uloom Deoband''. His brother was Shabbir A ...

and

Hafiz Muhammad Ahmad Hafiz Muhammad Ahmad (also known as Muhammad Ahmad Nanautawi) (1862–1928) was an Indian Muslim scholar, who served as the vice chancellor of the Darul Uloom Deoband for thirty five years. He was the Grand Mufti of the Hyderabad State from 1922 ...

. Hussain was a disciple of

Imdadullah Muhajir Makki Imdadullah Muhajir Makki (1817 – 1899) was an Indian Muslim Sufi scholar of the Chishti Sufi order. His disciples include Muhammad Qasim Nanautawi, Rashid Ahmad Gangohi, and Ashraf Ali Thanwi. In the Indian Rebellion of 1857, he led the Musl ...

in the Chishti Sufi order. He taught religious sciences at

Atala Masjid, Jaunpur The Atala Mosque, also known as the Atala Masjid, is a 15th-century mosque in Jaunpur, in the state of Uttar Pradesh, India. The mosque is situated from Shahi Qila fort; from the Jama Mosque; north-northeast of Jaunpur; northwest of Z ...

and at his alma mater, Darul Uloom Deoband. He co-edited ''Al-Qasim'', a monthly journal published by Darul Uloom Deoband. Hussain died on 8 January 1945 in

Surat Surat (Gujarati Language, Gujarati: ) is a city in the western Indian States and territories of India, state of Gujarat. The word Surat directly translates to ''face'' in Urdu, Gujarati language, Gujarati and Hindi. Located on the banks of t ...

, and was buried in

Rander Rander is a town in Surat district in the state of Gujarat, India. It is located on the bank of the Tapti River, it is from the city of Surat. History There are some historic indications that Rander was an important port of Western Hi ...

. His students include

Manazir Ahsan Gilani Manazir Ahsan Gilani (1 October 1892 – 5 June 1956) was an Indian Sunni Islamic scholar and former Dean of the Faculty of Theology at Osmania University. Some of his notable works include ''Tadwin-e-Hadith'', ''Muqaddama Tadwin-e-Fiqh'', ''Saw ...

and

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 ...

Family background

Mian Asghar Hussain's ancestors came to India from

Baghdad Baghdad ( or ; , ) is the capital and List of largest cities of Iraq, largest city of Iraq, located along the Tigris in the central part of the country. With a population exceeding 7 million, it ranks among the List of largest cities in the A ...

and are descended from Abdul Qadir Jeelani. During the era of

Shah Jahan Shah Jahan I, (Shahab-ud-Din Muhammad Khurram; 5 January 1592 – 22 January 1666), also called Shah Jahan the Magnificent, was the Emperor of Hindustan from 1628 until his deposition in 1658. As the fifth Mughal emperor, his reign marked the ...

, Sayyid Ghulam Rasool had moved to

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

along with his family. He was entrusted the imamat and khitabat at the Shahi Masjid of

. He had two sons, Ghulam Nabi and Ghulam Ali. Both brothers married daughters of Shah Ameerullah. Sayyid Ghulam Ali had three daughters and two sons. The elder son Alam Meer was the grandfather of Mian Asghar Hussain. Alam Meer married Azeemun Nisa, the daughter of Shah Hafeezullah. They had a daughter Wajeeh-un-Nisa and son Muhammad Hasan, who was the father of Mian Asghar Hussain. Muhammad Hasan married twice, first to Maryam-un-Nisa, who whom he had a son, Sayyid Khursheed, and a daughter Masum-un-Nisa. After Maryam-un-Nisa's death, Muhammad Hasan married her sister Naseeb-un-Nisa; they had a son, Asghar Hussain.

Birth and education

Birth

Mian Asghar Hussain was born on 16 October 1877 in

to Sayyid Muhammad Hasan and Naseebun Nisa bint Sayyid Mansub Ali.

Name and lineage

His ism (

given name A given name (also known as a forename or first name) is the part of a personal name quoted in that identifies a person, potentially with a middle name as well, and differentiates that person from the other members of a group (typically a f ...

) was Asghar Hussain. His ''

nasab Arabic names have historically been based on a long naming system. Many people from Arabic-speaking and also non-Arab Muslim countries have not had given, middle, and family names but rather a chain of names. This system remains in use througho ...

'' (

patronymic A patronymic, or patronym, is a component of a personal name based on the given name of one's father, grandfather (more specifically an avonymic), or an earlier male ancestor. It is the male equivalent of a matronymic. Patronymics are used, b ...

) is: Sayyid Asghar Hussain ibn Sayyid Shah Muhammad Hasan ibn Sayyid Shah Alam Meer ibn Sayyid Ghulam Ali ibn Sayyid Ghulam Rasool Baghdadi ibn Sayyid Shah Faqeerullah Baghdadi ibn Sayyid A’zam Saani ibn Sayyid Nazar Muhammad ibn Sayyid Sultan Muhammad ibn Sayyid A’zam Muhammad ibn Sayyid Abu Muhammad ibn Sayyid Qutbuddin ibn Sayyid Baha’uddeen ibn Sayyid Jamalauddin ibn Sayyid Qutbuddin ibn Sayyid Dawud ibn Muhi’uddin Abu Abdullah ibn Sayyid Abu Saleh Nasr ibn Sayyid Abdur Razzaq ibn

Abdul Qadir Jilani Abdul Qadir Gilani (; ; c. 1077/78 – 1166) was a Hanbali scholar, preacher, and Sufi leader who was the eponym of the Qadiriyya, one of the oldest Sufi orders. He was born c. 1077/78 in the town of Na'if, Rezvanshahr in Gilan, Persia, an ...

Education

Aged eight, he began studying with Muhammad Abdullah, alias Miyanji Munne Shah and studied Quran from his father and then started to study Persian from him. Later he was enrolled in

. He continued with the Persian class and studied Persian from Muhammad Yaseen, the father of

. He studied mathematics from Manzoor Ahmad. He passed the class of Persian with first position and soon received

Muwatta Imam Malik ''Al-Muwaṭṭaʾ'' (, 'the approved') or ''Muwatta Imam Malik'' () of Malik ibn Anas, Imam Malik (711–795) written in the 8th-century, is one of the earliest collections of hadith texts comprising the subjects of Sharia, Islamic law, compile ...

as an honorary gift. As Asghar Hussain turned 17 or 18 and reached the Arabic classes in

, his father died on 20 September 1894. He discontinued his studies for almost one year and started to teach in his ancestral madrasa. At the request of

, Asghar Hussain entered the

again on 1 April 1896 and continued with Arabic classes. He studied ''

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 ...

'', ''

Sahih Muslim () is the second hadith collection of the Six Books of Sunni Islam. Compiled by Islamic scholar Muslim ibn al-Ḥajjāj () in the format, the work is valued by Sunnis, alongside , as the most important source for Islamic religion after the Q ...

'', ''

Jami` at-Tirmidhi ''Sunan al-Tirmidhi'' () is the fourth hadith collection of the Six Books of Sunni Islam. It was compiled by Islamic scholar al-Tirmidhi in (250–270 AH). Title The full title of the compilation is (). It is shortened to , , , or . The te ...

'' and ''

Sunan Abu Dawood ''Sunan Abi Dawud'' () is the third hadith collection of the Six Books of Sunni Islam. It was compiled by scholar Abu Dawud al-Sijistani (). Introduction Abu Dawood compiled twenty-one books related to Hadith and preferred those (plural of ...

'' with Mahmud Hasan Deobandi. His other teachers included

and Ghulam Rasool Baghwi. He graduated in 1320 AH and was awarded his certificate from Mahmud Hasan Deobandi and

. He was an authorized disciple of

in the Chishti branch of

Tasawwuf Sufism ( or ) is a mysticism, mystic body of religious practice found within Islam which is characterized by a focus on Islamic Tazkiyah, purification, spirituality, ritualism, and Asceticism#Islam, asceticism. Practitioners of Sufism are r ...

Career

After graduating from the

, he worked in the office department of the Darul Uloom for more than one year. Then his teachers

and

sent him to the madrassa of the

for the post of head-teacher and he served there for seven years. In the meantime in 1327 AH, he laid the foundation stone of

in Sarai Meer,

Azamgarh Azamgarh is a city in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It is the headquarters of Azamgarh division, which consists of Ballia, Mau and Azamgarh districts. Azamgarh is situated on the bank of Tamsa River (Tons). It is located east of the ...

in 1908. He was called to

and was entrusted with co-editorship of the journal ''Al-Qasim'' of the Darul Uloom, while the editor was Maulana Habeebur Rahman. He was entrusted the teaching of ''

Sunan Abu Dawud ''Sunan Abi Dawud'' () is the third hadith collection of the Six Books of Sunni Islam. It was compiled by scholar Abu Dawud al-Sijistani (). Introduction Abu Dawood compiled twenty-one books related to Hadith and preferred those (plural of " ...

'' in

and he also taught the books of tafsir and fiqh like ''Jalalayn'' and ''Durr-e-Mukhtar''. His notable students include

. and Mufti Naseem Ahmad Fareedi. He restarted his ancestral madrasa which had been closed since the death of his father. The madrasa came later under the care of his son Sayyid Bilal Hussain Mian (d. 9 February 1990) and is now known as Madrassa Asgharia Qadeem whilst its historical name is Darul Musafireen, Madrasa Taleemul Quran.

Literary works

Asghar Hussain has written about thirty books in the

Urdu 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 ...

language, including: * ''Fatawa Muhammadi'' * ''al-Jawab al-Matin bi-Ahadith Sayyid al-Mursaleen'' * ''Miras al-Muslimin'' * ''Mufeed-ul-Wariseen'' * ''Hayat-e-Khizer'' * ''al-Qawl al-Matin fi al-Iqamati wa at-Taziin'' * ''Gulzar-e-Sunnat'' * ''Molvi Ma'anwi'' (biography of

Rumi Jalāl al-Dīn Muḥammad Rūmī (), or simply Rumi (30 September 1207 – 17 December 1273), was a 13th-century poet, Hanafi '' faqih'' (jurist), Maturidi theologian (''mutakallim''), and Sufi mystic born during the Khwarazmian Empire ...

) * ''Hayat-e-Shaykhul Hind'' (biography of

) * ''Kulliyat Shaykhul Hind'' * ''Irshadun Nabi'' * ''Chehel Hadith'' * ''Nqabil Itibar Riwayat''

Marriage and family life

During his student days at Darul Uloom Deoband, Hussain married the daughter of Mushtaq Hussain. They had two sons, Sayyid Akhtar Hussain and Mian Bilal Hussain, and one daughter, Fehmeeda. Fehmeeda died eight years after her marriage, and was survived by her son Syed Farhat Hussain who had been associated with Hamdard Dawakhana in Karachi. Hussain's son Sayyid Akhtar Hussain was a teacher of hadith at Darul Uloom Deoband, and served in the seminary's administration. Hussain's another son Sayyid Bilal Hussain is survived by three sons, Sayyid Jameel Hussain, Sayyid Khaleel Hussain, and Sayyid Jaleel Hussain; and two daughters, Sajida Khatun and Aabida Khatun.

Death

Mian Asghar Hussain died of cardiac arrest on 8 January 1945 (22

Muharram Al-Muharram () is the first month of the Islamic calendar. It is one of the four sacred months of the year when warfare is banned. It precedes the month of Safar. The tenth of Muharram is known as Ashura, an important day of commemoration in ...

1364 AH). He is buried in

Notes

References

Bibliography

* {{cite book , last1=Hussayn , first1=Sayyid Jameel , title= Tadhkirah Hadhrat Miyan Saheb , trans-title=Biography of Miyan Saheb , publisher=Madrasa Islamia Asgharia, location=

, language=Urdu 1877 births 1945 deaths Deobandis Indian Sunni Muslim scholars of Islam People from British India Darul Uloom Deoband alumni Academic staff of Darul Uloom Deoband Students of Mahmud Hasan Deobandi People from Deoband