{{Infobox philosopher
title = mujaddid
| region = Islamic scholar | era = Modern era | color = #B0C4DE | caption = | name hakeem ul ummat mujaddid e millat allama shah ashraf ali farooqi thanvi(rah) | birth_date = 19 August 1863 | death_date = July 4, 1943 (aged 79) | main_interests = fiqh hadees quran tasuwuf | influenced = | notable_ideas = }}
| Key figures | |
|
Qasim Nanotvi · Rashid Gangohi |
|
| Notable Institutions | |
|
Darul Uloom Deoband, India |
|
| Movements | |
|
Tablighi Jamaat |
Mawlana Ashraf 'Alī Thānawī (August 19, 1863 – July 4, 1943) (Urdu: اشرف علی تھانوی) was an Indian Islamic Sunni Hanafi scholar and Chishti Sufi master of the Deobandi school.
Contents |
Ashraf 'Alī Thānwī graduated from the Darul Uloom Deoband in 1884. When Rashīd Ahmad Gangohī, one of the founders of the institution, arrived for the graduation ceremony, Shaikhul Hind Mahmūd-ul Hasan informed him that an especially intelligent student was about to graduate. Gangohī wanted to test this student by asking the most difficult questions that he could think of. Ashraf 'Alī's answers amazed and pleased Gangohī, who himself conducted the Dastārbandī Jalsa, the turban-tying ceremony marking graduation.
During his studies at Dār-ul 'Ulūm Deoband, Ashraf 'Alī Thānwī asked Gangohī to train him in the spiritual sciences as well. Gangohī, however, advised him to wait until the completion of his traditional studies. Ashraf 'Alī Thānwī remained restless and looked for a way to ask Hājī Imdādullāh, the spiritual guide of Gangohī, to recommend him to his student. When Gangohī departed for Hajj, Ashraf 'Alī Thānwī sent a letter with him to Hājī Imdādullāh, requesting him to persuade Gangohī to initiate him into his spiritual order (Tariqah|Ṭarīqah).
After his graduation, Ashraf 'Alī Thānwī taught religious sciences in Kanpur for fourteen years. Over a short period of time, he acquired a reputable position as a religious scholar, of Sufism among other subjects.[1] His teaching attracted numerous students and his research and publications became well-known in Islamic institutions. During these years, he traveled to various cities and villages, delivering lectures in the hope of reforming people. Printed versions of his lectures and discourses would usually become available shortly after these tours. Until then, few Islamic scholars had had their lectures printed and widely circulated in their own lifetimes. The desire to reform the masses intensified in him during his stay at Kanpur.
Eventually, Ashraf Ali Thanwi retired from teaching and devoted himself to reestablishing the spiritual centre (khānqāh) of his shaikh in Thāna Bhāwan. Upon this transition, Hājī Imdādullāh remarked, "It is good that you have arrived in Thāna Bhāwan. It is hoped that people will benefit from you spiritually and physically. You should engage yourself in revitalizing our madrasah and khānqāh once more in Thāna Bhāwan. As for myself, I am always praying for you and attentive towards you."
Thanwi’s students and disciples constitute a generation of leading scholars of South Asia. Ashraf Ali Thanwi's disciples settled in all parts of South Asia. Among his disciples are:
Ashraf 'Alī Thānwī was a prolific author. His literary contributions are in the order of eight hundred to one thousand in number, including sermons, discussions, discourses, treatises, and books. Sayyid Sulaimān Nadwī said, "Hazrat [Ashraf 'Alī Thānwī] was a translator and exegete (mufassir) of the Quran; he explained its injunctions and wisdoms. He removed doubts and answered questions pertaining to it." Thānwī was a scholar of hadīth (muhaddith) as well, and expounded its intricacies and subtleties. He was a jurist (faqīh) who issued thousands of legal rulings (fatwā) and addressed numerous legal problems in contemporary issues in Islamic law (fiqh). He was described as a moving orator (khaṭīb) and hundreds of his speeches have been published and widely circulated.
While teaching in Kanpur, Ashraf 'Alī Thānwī was reported to have seen 'Abdullāh bin 'Abbās, the cousin of the Prophet Muhammad, in a dream. In this dream, he indicated to him that tafsir should become his primary task. Sayyid Sulaimān Nadwī said:
He not only memorized the words of the Qur’aan but also memorized the deeper significance of these words. He was an exceptional reciter (qārī) of the Quran, who had mastered the art of recitation. The uniqueness of his recitation of the Quran was such that each letter was uttered from its proper place of pronunciation (makhraj). There was no imitation or overly exertive effort to make his voice melodious. He would rather recite in his normal voice, which was full of inspiration and absorbed in reflection.
The propagation of Islam was an essential part of Thānwī’s life. He would be highly organized and would plan his tours well in advance. Thousands of people would attend his lectures, which usually lasted between two and five hours. Once he visited Gajner, a village in the Kanpur district of Uttar Pradesh, when the Ārya Samāj had started to preach Hinduism among the Muslims of that area. Thanwi was able to persuade the Muslims there to promise that they would not commit "apostasy" by converting. To prevent the spread of apostasy, he wrote the treatise, Al-Insidād li-Fitnat-il Irtidād ("Putting a Stop to the Temptation of Apostasy").
Thānwī opposed a wide variety of religious practices in South Asia, which he saw as bidah, unacceptable innovation within Islam. These practices, often derived from Sufism, were common among the Sunni Muslims of India, specially the Barelvis. Ashraf Ali Thanwi wrote a number of books that dealt with this subject. His book, Hifzul Imān ("Protecting Faith"), denounced such common acts as worshipping at tombs, asking for intercession from other than God, and believing in the omnipresence of the prophet Muhammad and Muslim saints.
Thanwi's statements drew criticism from a variety of other Islamic authorities (this is false only the barelwi's critised him). Barelwi scholar Ahmad Raza Khan issued a false fatwa of kufr against Thanwi for his alleged disrespect to the prophet Muhammad.[2] Ahmad Raza Khan cited in his fatwa Thanwi's belief that the "knowledge of unseen" possessed by Muhammad could be attained by the epileptics and the insane (a false accusation), the animals and the beasts as well.[3] The fatwa of Ahmad Raza has been confirmed by 35 Islamic scholars of Mecca and Madeena [4] as well as by 250 scholars of Indian sub-continent.[5] (must be 250 Barelwi's who Raza Khan showed the document to in his attack on the Deobandi school.) [This should be removed as it is unbalanced against the Deobandi's and Sheikh Ashraf Ali Thanwi]
This was a false accusation made against Sheikh Ashraf Ali Thanwi by Raza Khan. Raza Khan had deep hatred for the Deobandi school so he made a false document and attributed it towards the deobandi school and had it signed by the scholars of Makkah and Madeenah. He then spread it in the Indian continent that the scholars of Hijaz consider the Deobandi school as unbelievers. Such was his treachery. A detailed account can be seen in Al'Muhannad alal Muffanad (http://www.archive.org/stream/AlMuhannadAlAlMufannadYaniAqaidUlamaEAhleSunnatDeoband/Al-Muhannad-Al-Al-Mufannad-Yani-Aqaid-Ulama-E-Ahle-Sunnat-Deoband#page/n15/mode/2up). Sheikh Saharanpuri went to Hijaz and uncovered this treachery and let the Scholars there know that these are not our beliefs and clarified the Deobandi stance. The scholars there agreed that they had been duped by Raza Khan and agreed that the Deobandi schools beliefs were correct and in line with Ahlus Sunnah wal Jama'ah. The statement made above about the belief on 'knowledge of the unseen' is false. Sheikh Ashraf Ali Thanwi's belief was that amongst the creation Muhammad SAW was the most knowledgable without doubt. Yet the complete knowledge of the unseen is possessed only by Allah. Muhammad knows of the unseen that which Allah has granted him.
Ashraf 'Alī Thānwī argued, using mainly verses of the Quran, that political rule is only a means of instituting Islam in people's lives and not the purpose of life itself. All modern political notions that contradict the Quran and Hadīth would have to be forsaken, and the "pure" political thought reflected in Quranic sources should guide Muslims in organizing and structuring their governments. He was the Murshid of Maulana Shabbir Ahmad Usmani and Mufti Muhammad Shafi who supported Mohammad Ali Jinnah during Pakistan movement
Ashraf 'Alī Thānwī died in Thāna Bhāwan on July 4, 1943. His funeral prayer was led by his nephew, Zafar Ahmad Uthmānī, and he was buried in the graveyard of 'Ishq-e-Bāzān.
On December 17, 2006 the graves of Ashraf Ali Thanvi and three others were leveled and desecrated in Thana Bhawan, Muzaffarnagar, Uttar Pradesh, India.[6]