| Islamic scholar Ahmed Raza Khan |
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|---|---|
| Title | Mujaddid |
| Born | 14 June 1856[1] |
| Died | 1921 (aged 64-65) |
| Ethnicity | Indian |
| Region | South Asia |
| Maddhab | Hanafi |
| School tradition | Sunni |
| Main interests | Aqeedah, Fiqh, Tasawwuf |
| Influences | Abdul Qadir Jilani, Rumi, Shami, Shah Abdul Haq, Fazl-e-Haqq Khayrabadi |
| Influenced | Mustafa Raza Khan, Ahmad Saeed Kazmi, Abdul Aleem Siddiqi, Akhtar Raza, Ilyas Qadri, Qamaruzzaman Azmi, Tahir-ul-Qadri |
Start of any new invention
| Central figures | |
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Ahmed Raza Khan Barelvi |
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| Organizations | |
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World Islamic Mission |
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| Institutions | |
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Al Jamiatul Ashrafia · Manzar-e-Islam |
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| Literature | |
| History | |
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Indian Rebellion of 1857 |
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| Notable individuals | |
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Mustafa Raza Khan |
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| Beliefs and practices | |
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Sunni Islam · Sufism |
Ahmed Raza Khan Fazil-e-Barelvi (Urdu: احمد رضاخان, Hindi: अहमद रज़ा खान) (1856–1921 CE) was a Sunni Islamic scholar and sufi, whose works influenced the Barelvi movement of South Asia.[2] Raza Khan wrote on numerous topics, including law, religion, philosophy and the sciences. He was a prolific writer, producing nearly 1,000 works in his lifetime.[2]
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His father was Naqi Ali Khan, and his great-grandfather Shah Kazim Ali Khan[3] was a great Sunni scholar.[4]
Ahmed's mother named him Amman Miyān.[5] Raza Khan used the appellation "Abdul Mustafa" (slave [or servant] of Mustafa) prior to signing his name in correspondence.[6] He studied Islamic sciences and completed a traditional Dars-i-Nizami course under the supervision of his father Naqī Áli Khān, who was a legal scholar.[2] He went on the Hajj with his father in 1878.
Ahmed Raza Khan promulgated several beliefs regarding Muhammad:
We do not hold that anyone can equal the knowledge of Allah Most High, or possess it independently, nor do we assert that Allah’s giving of knowledge to the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) is anything but a part. But what a patent and tremendous difference between one part [the Prophet’s] and another [anyone else’s]: like the difference between the sky and the earth, or rather even greater and more immense (al-Dawla al-Makkiyya (c00), 291).
Ahmed Raza Khan translated the Quran into Urdu, which was first published in 1912 under the title of Kanz ul-Iman fi Tarjuma al-Qur’an. The original manuscript is preserved in the library of Idara Tahqiqat-i-Imam Ahmed Raza, Karachi, and an English translation of Kanzul Iman has also been published. Ahmed Raza Khan also wrote several books on the collection and compilation of hadiths.
Raza Khan's main work was Fatawa Ridawiyya which runs in 30 volumes of over 1000 pages each. The Raza Foundation under the leadership of Abdul Qayyum Hazarwi revised the work, translating all the Persian and Arabic sentences in Urdu, and published it in 30 volumes, running across 90,000 pages.
Raza Khan investigated numerous religious questions:
Raza Khan opposed the belief in a heliocentric universe, instead stating that the sun and moon circulate around the Earth.[12]
Raza through his book published in 1912, presented four points for the economic development of Muslims:
Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of Qadian claimed to be the Mahdi (messiah) awaited by the Muslims as well as a new prophet. These claims proved to be extremely controversial among many in the Muslim community, and he was branded a heretic and apostate by many religious scholars of the time, including Ahmed Raza Khan. Ghulam Ahmad's claims are controversial to this day, but his Mahdi status and prophethood is believed in by the Ahmadiyya religion. Some Muslim countries, such as Pakistan in 1974, have officially declared the Ahmadiyya non-Muslims.[13]
When Ahmed Raza visited Mecca and Medina for pilgrimage in 1905, he prepared a draft document entitled Al Motamad Al Mustanad ("The Reliable Proofs") for presentation to the scholars of Mecca and Medina. Ahmed Raza Khan collected opinions of the ulama of the Hejaz and compiled them in an Arabic language compendium with the title, Husam al Harmain ("The Sword of Two Sanctuaries"), a work containing 34 verdicts from 33 ulama (20 Meccan and 13 Medinese). The work concluded that Ghulam Ahmad's beliefs were blasphemous and tantamount to apostasy.[14]
During the period of the Indian Khilafat Movement, Gandhi was advised that he should meet with Raza Khan. When he was told that Gandhi wished to meet and speak to him, Raza Khan said, "What would he speak about? Religion or worldly affairs? If it is worldly affairs, what can I partake in, for I have abstained from the world and have no interest in it."[15]
Raza Khan condemned many practices he saw as bid'at (forbidden innovations), such as:
If you are embarrassed in your affairs, seek help from the inmates of the tombs,having beliefs that Allah is the one who is helping and the person in the tomb is just wasila.[19]