Muhammad Arshad Misbahi, or Allama Maulana Hafiz Imam Muhammad Arshad al-Misbahi (born 1968) is the Chair of Al-Karam Scholars Association and has served at Manchester Central Mosque from 1997 to 2015 as the Khatib, Imam and Headteacher. He is a graduate from the Islamic Seminary Al Jamiatul Ashrafia. He is considered by many to be among the knowledgeable scholars of his time.

Biography

Muhammad Arshad Misbahi comes from the family of Sufi

Barelvi The Barelvi movement, also known as Ahl al-Sunnah wal-Jama'ah (People of the Prophet's Way and the Community) is a Sunni revivalist movement that generally adheres to the Hanafi school, Hanafi and Shafi'i school, Shafi'i schools of jurisprudenc ...

Muslim in India. His father, Shaykh Hafiz Muhammad Miyan Maleg, has been serving Islam for the last three decades in Birmingham and was the former Imam and Khateeb at Oldbury Jamia Masjid in

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...

. Imam Muhammad Arshad began his studies at Jamia Al-Karam where he studied under Shaykh Muhammad Imdad Hussain Pirzada and Abu’l-In’am ‘Allama ‘Abd Al-Bari. Later he travelled to India and

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

to pursue further and higher education. In Pakistan, he studied with the late Diya’ al-Ummat, Justice Shaykh Muhammad Karam Shah al-Azhari and in India, he studied at Al Jamiatul Ashrafia at Mubarakpur. Upon his return from Pakistan, he began teaching and serving as head of religious studies at Jamia Al-Karam. He completed Tahfeez-ul-Qur’an in

Bradford Bradford is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in West Yorkshire, England. It became a municipal borough in 1847, received a city charter in 1897 and, since the Local Government Act 1972, 1974 reform, the city status in the United Kingdo ...

. He is the founder and patron of the Sunni Society at the

University of Nottingham The University of Nottingham is a public research university in Nottingham, England. It was founded as University College Nottingham in 1881, and was granted a royal charter in 1948. Nottingham's main campus (University Park Campus, Nottingh ...

. He has extensively traveled to many countries delivering lectures and seminars. In 2001, he was awarded the ad-Dir’ul ur-Mumtaz award from the

Al-Azhar University The Al-Azhar University ( ; , , ) is a public university in Cairo, Egypt. Associated with Al-Azhar Al-Sharif in Islamic Cairo, it is Egypt's oldest degree-granting university and is known as one of the most prestigious universities for Islamic ...

Cairo Cairo ( ; , ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Egypt and the Cairo Governorate, being home to more than 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, L ...

, Egypt. Describing the anti-Islam movie, he said that (movie) is "against Islam, against the messenger of Islam, and against the teachings of Islam" and he said "I have four children. My parents are both alive. But I am here to say I love my prophet more than I love my children. I love my prophet more than I love my own self." He was among the signatories of a letter written to British PM to support the refugee's arrival in the U.K. ''As people of faith, we call on your government urgently to revise its policy towards refugees. The best of this country is represented by the generosity, kindness, solidarity and decency that Britain has at many times shown those fleeing persecution, even at times of far greater deprivation and difficulty than the present day.'', the letter said.

Works

* Alam, Arshad (March 1, 2008) ''The Enemy Within: Madrasa and Muslim Identity in North India'' (

Cambridge University Press Cambridge University Press was the university press of the University of Cambridge. Granted a letters patent by King Henry VIII in 1534, it was the oldest university press in the world. Cambridge University Press merged with Cambridge Assessme ...

)

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Misbahi, Muhammad Arshad Living people 1968 births Sunni imams Barelvis Hanafis