Rashid Ahmad Ludhianvi (; also known as Mufti Rashid Ahmad; 26 September 1922 – 19 February 2002), was a Pakistani Islamic scholar and

faqīh A ''faqīh'' (: ''fuqahāʾ'', ; : ‏‎) is an Islamic jurist, an expert in ''fiqh'', or Islamic jurisprudence and Islamic law. Definition Islamic jurisprudence or ''fiqh'' is the human understanding of Sharia, which is believed ...

, who founded the

Al Rashid Trust The Aid Organization of the Ulema (AOU), formerly known as the Al Rashid Trust is an NGO based in Pakistan. Beginning in 1996, it supported "charity and welfare projects in Afghanistan and Pakistan" while also providing "financial and legal supp ...

and the

Jamia Tur Rasheed Jamia Tur Rasheed, Karachi () is an Islamic seminary in Karachi, Pakistan. The seminary was established by Rasheed Ahmad Ludhianvi. It is accredited degree awarding institute by Ministry of Federal Education and Professional Training and the ...

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 ...

. He served as the head of Darul Ifta Wal Irshad, a jurisprudential institute of the

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 ...

and authored books such as ''Anwaar-ur-Rasheed'', ''Jawahir-ur-Rasheed'' and ''Allah Ke Baghi Musalman''. His religo-legal edicts were compiled and published as ''Ahsan ul-Fatawa'' in ten volumes.

Early life

Rashid Ahmad Ludhianvi graduated from the

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 his teachers included

Hussain Ahmad Madani Hussain Ahmad Madani (; 6 October 1879 – 5 December 1957) was an Indian Islamic scholar, serving as the principal of Darul Uloom Deoband. He was among the first recipients of the civilian honour of Padma Bhushan in 1954. ...

Career

Ludhianvi taught at institutions including Madinatul 'Uloom, Hyderabad, Jamia Darul Huda Therhi,

Jamia 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 initi ...

, and Darul Ifta Wal Irshad for approximately forty years. He served as the director of Education at Darul Ifta.. He established Al Rashid Trust, now called the

Aid Organization of the Ulema The Aid Organization of the Ulema (AOU), formerly known as the Al Rashid Trust is an NGO based in Pakistan. Beginning in 1996, it supported "charity and welfare projects in Afghanistan and Pakistan" while also providing "financial and legal supp ...

. He also founded

, an Islamic seminary in Karachi.

Relations with the Afghan Taliban

He was also a notable supporter of the

Afghan Taliban , leader1_title = Supreme leaders , leader1_name = {{indented plainlist, * Mullah Omar{{Natural Causes{{nbsp(1994–2013) * Akhtar Mansour{{Assassinated (2015–2016) * Hibatullah Akhundzada (2016–present) , leader2_title = Gov ...

, and after he returned with "extremely positive impressions" from Afghanistan and wrote a book as advice for the Talibans, titled ''Obedience to the Amir'' and composed in 1998 or 1999,

Mullah Omar Muhammad Umar Mujahid (196023 April 2013), commonly known as Mullah Omar or Muhammad Omar, was an Afghan militant leader and founder and the first leader of the Taliban from 1994 until his death in 2013. During the Third Afghan Civil War, the T ...

was so impressed that he distributed Pashto and Dari versions of it to the visitors, saying it perfectly represented the Talibans’ ideology, while Barnett Rubin states that this "manual on how to run a militant organization" helped the Taliban "devise an organizational model that suppressed tribalism and patronage network more effectively than any other organization in Afghanistan."

Books

He authored more than 150 books, including : * ''Ahsanul Fatawa'', his collection of

fatwa A fatwa (; ; ; ) is a legal ruling on a point of Islamic law (sharia) given by a qualified Islamic jurist ('' faqih'') in response to a question posed by a private individual, judge or government. A jurist issuing fatwas is called a ''mufti'', ...

in 10 volumes. *''Anwaar-ur-Rasheed'' *''Jawahir-ur-Rasheed'' *''Rasail-ur-Rasheed'' *''Har Preshani Ka Elaj'' *''Allah Ke Baghi Musalman''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ludhianvi, Rashid Ahmad 1922 births 2002 deaths People from Ludhiana district Muftis Pakistani Islamic religious leaders Pakistani Sunni Muslim scholars of Islam Pakistani Muslim missionaries Darul Uloom Deoband alumni 20th-century Muslim scholars of Islam Deobandis Jamia Tur Rasheed people Politicians from Ludhiana Jamia Khairul Madaris alumni