| Abu Yusuf Riyadh ul Haq | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1971 Gujarat, India |
| Residence | Leicester, United Kingdom |
| Occupation | Islamic scholar |
| Religion | Sunni Islam |
| Website | |
| http://www.akacademy.eu | |
| Notes
Ul Haq speaking on Surah Hujarat at Azhar Academy, London on 24 November 2008.
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Abu Yusuf Riyadh-ul-Haq (born 1971) is an Islamic scholar based in the United Kingdom. He was born in Gujarat, India, and moved with his family to the United Kingdom in 1974. He is internationally recognized as a prominent scholar of Islam in the Western world and considered an authority on various Islamic fields including hadith. Abu Yusuf Riyadh ul Haq is a graduate of the oldest and most prestigious Islamic religious seminary in the United Kingdom, Darul Uloom Al-Arabiyyah Al-Islamiyyah and a spiritual successor of Yusuf Motala. Over 400 of ul Huq's lectures are in circulation with the earliest recordings from 1994. The Al Kawthar Academy was founded under the guidance of Abu Yusuf Riyadh ul Haq.
Abu Yusuf Riyadh ul Haq hails from a family known for their religious scholarship. His father, Maulana Muhammad Gora, served as an Imam for the early immigrant Muslim community in Leicester.
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His father began his son's religious instruction at a very young age. By the age of ten, the boy had memorised the entire Quran and completed the study of a number of kitabs on various Islamic topics. When he was thirteen, he enrolled at Darul Uloom Al-Arabiyyah Al-Islamiyyah in Bury. There, ul Haq undertook an intensive study of Arabic, Quranic tafseer, hadith and fiqh under traditionally qualified scholars. His teachers from whom he has ijazah in various Islamic sciences include Yusuf Motala and the late Islamul Haq. He also has ijazah in hadith from the late Mufti Mahmood Hassan Gangohi and the famous Muhaddith, Shaikh Yunus of Saharanpur, India. Abu ul Haq graduated from Darul Uloom Al-Arabiyyah Al-Islamiyyah in early 1991.
After his graduation, he became the Imam of Birmingham Central Mosque and then began teaching hadith at Madinatul Uloom Al-Islamiyyah. Until 2003, ul Haq served as the honorary headmaster of Madinatul Uloom Al-Islamiyyah in Kidderminster, where he was previously sadr mudarris (head teacher/dean of the faculty). Since graduation he has devoted himself to the work of deen and remained actively involved in da'wah and teaching. He has taught and commented on numerous classical Islamic works and has lectured extensively on a range of topics including Quranic tafseer, hadith, aqeedah and fiqh. He has also travelled widely, teaching and lecturing in various countries in the Middle East, Africa, Europe and North America. Many of his sermons and lectures are recorded and are widely available. He has also authored two books, 'The Salah of a Believer in the Quran and Sunnah'[1] and 'The Causes of Disunity'.[2] A poem written by ul Haq called 'Whispers of the Night' has been published on many websites and blogs,[3][4],,.[5][6]
Since 2001, Abu Yusuf Riyadh ul Haq has been teaching an abridged version of Sahih-al-Bukhari to the general public. The collection of hadith in Bukhari are considered the most authentic collection in Islam. This is the first time ever that these hadith have been taught in English in a systemic, detailed and thorough manner. All rulings derived from the hadith are explained according to the understanding of the main schools of fiqh. Ul Haq teaches these hadith through an unbroken and authentic chain of narration or sanad.,.[7][8] He narrated his complete sanad in Lesson 3 of the Bukhari series before teaching the first hadith.[9] The lessons are currently held at Al Kawthar Academy in Leicester and number over 240 that have been delivered to date,.[10][11] Many video excerpts from the Bukhari lessons are on Al Kawthar Academy's Youtube channel.[12] Abu Yusuf Riyadh ul Haq is considered to be an authority on hadith as along with his learning he known to have a prodigious memory. The hundreds of lay students along with many scholars that have attended his Sahih al-Bukhari lectures have attested to the fact that he teaches the hadith without recourse to any notes or translations relying only the original Arabic text. However, for any given hadith he is able to provide the rulings of all the main scholars of fiqh, along with any fringe rulings, which have been derived from that narration.
The earliest spiritual discourses by Riyadh ul Haq which are available online date to around 1994.[13] Prior to commencing the weekly Bukhari classes, he taught lessons of Tafseer, Fiqh and Aqeedah.[14] He has given many general talks often on topical subjects relevant to Muslims in the West. These lectures have been given across the UK and in many other countries often at conferences and seminars where ul Haq is an invited and keynote speaker. In early 2009, ul Haq addressed the credit crunch issue from an Islamic perspective.[15][16]
Since 2008, ul Haq has been delivering a series of talks on 'The Mothers of The Believers'[17] and also a series of talks on 'The Lives and Learning of the Companions',.[18][19]
In November 2008, ul Haq delivered an intensive study course entitled 'The Etiquettes of Seeking Sacred Knowledge'.[20] The course held over two consecutive weekends and was organised by Al Kawthar Academy. The location of the course was Azhar Academy, Forest Gate, London. This was the first intensive study course taught by ul Haq. Al Kawthar Academy organised a second intensive study course entitled 'Fundamentals of Understanding the Glorious Qur'an'.[21] This course was held at Azhar Academy, London on 27 and 28 June 2009. Ul Haq delivered a third intensive course at Azhar Academy entitled 'Ramadhan Dawn till Dawn' on the 8th and 9 August 2009.
Further, he has devised a syllabus for a part-time Alim course which is based on a classical curriculum and is designed to help beginners progress from an elementary stage to a very advanced level in Arabic and Islamic Studies. The course covers an in-depth study of Arabic language and literature as well as Islamic theology, Qur'an, hadith and fiqh. Ul Haq teaches this course in Leicester, UK.[22]
Ul Haq is listed in the 2010 Third Edition of 'The 500 Most Influential Muslims' published by Royal Islamic Strategic Studies Centre[23] This publication is the third of an annual series that provides a window into the movers and shakers of the Muslim world. It highlights people who are influential as Muslims, that is, people whose influence is derived from their practice of Islam or from the fact that they are Muslim. It gives valuable insight into the different ways that Muslims impact the world, and also shows the diversity of how people are living as Muslims today. Ul Haq appears in a section of the publication where '450 leaders are categorized by their diverse fields of work and appear unranked'. In the publication, it is stated "Abu Yusuf Riyadh ul Haq is a very influential speaker and leading Deobandi scholar in the UK. He has been markedly influential through his work with the Al Kawthar Academy in Leicester. Al Kawthar is a leading Islamic educational institution at the forefront of knowledge proliferation through diverse media forms." [24]
In September 2007 The Times carried a news item by Andrew Norfolk accusing Riyadh ul Haq of being the "homegrown cleric who loathes the British"[25] and a commentary article from the same author claiming there was a "hardline takeover of British mosques" led by ul Haq. In an opinion piece by the same author on the same date there was a claim that ul Haq was in line to become the spiritual leader of the Deobandi sect in Britain, despite allegedly having extreme views.[26] However, the hundreds of hours of recordings of ul Haq's lectures in the public domain may suggest otherwise. Simultaneously, Andrew Norfolk published a further "comment" piece in the Times calling the Deobandis historically anti-British,[27] but also aired the opposing views of Sheikh Ibrahim Mogra, the chairman of the Muslim Council of Britain’s interfaith relations committee. Mr Mogra graduated from the same Deobandi seminary in Bury, Greater Manchester, that Mr ul Haq attended. Mr Mogra has a vision of a pluralistic, tolerant Islam "starkly at odds with mainstream Deobandi thinking", believing that for British Muslims "our loyalty to Britain must be unquestionable".[28]
The next day Andrew Norfolk published two more opinion pieces, also in the Times, the first describing two British Muslims in a "sinister" Karachi madrassa of mutually opposing view points, the student there being "desperate" to come home to Yorkshire.[29] The second opinion piece named another world respected Deobandi scholar (Justice Muhammad Taqi Usmani), this time from Pakistan calling for followers to live peacefully in countries such as Britain only until they gain enough power to engage in jihad or battle.[30]
Amongst the immediate responses The Guardian carried a "Comment is Free" opinion article by Inayat Bunglawala, media secretary for the Muslim Council of Britain, calling Norfolk's work a "toxic mix of fact and nonsense".[31] The Muslim Public Affairs Committee UK (MPACUK) claimed on their own web-site that the Berelvis were coming out in defence of Riyadh al Haq.[32] 2 days later, MPACUK called the attacks on ul Haq a "decapitation strategy".[33]
Most of his speeches are digitally recorded and widely distributed. They can be found in most Islamic book stores in the form of cassettes or CDs.
His lectures can also be found at several places online. To mention but a few:
