Sadr ul-afaazil Hazrat Allama Maulana Mufti Syed Muhammed Naeemuddin Muradabaadi alaih rehmatul haadi
The only religion accepted by Allah is the religion of Islam. From the very first Prophet Sayyiduna Adam (peace be upon him) till the last Prophet, Muhammad (peace be upon him) the oneness of Allah was preached to the people. Previous to the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), all the other Prophets of Allah had the responsibility of propagating their message to only the people of their land or country however because the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) was sent as a Mercy to all the Universes; he had the responsibility of propagating the religion of Islam from the East to the West for all of Mankind. Along with this responsibility, he had the burden of being the last Prophet sent to Mankind upon his shoulders, and there wouldn't come any other Prophet after him. Furthermore he had the responsibility of teaching, purifying and leaving behind him people who would continue to propagate Islam after him, all of which he had performed perfectly. Quran says : It is He who has sent among the unlettered a Messenger from themselves reciting to them His verses and purifying them and teaching them the Book and wisdom - although they were before in clear error (62:2) In the short span of 23 years, he (peace be upon him) left behind more than a 100,000 followers. These followers who were directly taught and raised by by the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) were given the esteemed title of Sahaaba - the companions of the Prophet of Allah. They were given such an honoured rank that it says in the Qur an, Allah is pleased with them and they are pleased with Allah. and in a hadith the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said, My companions are like stars, whomsoever you follow, you will be guided. After the veiling of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) from the physical world, his companions continued to spread Islam around the globe, the message of Allah and His Prophet (peace be upon him). Similar to the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), his companions also left no stone unturned in preparing people for the propagation of Islam to the following generation. This process of teaching the people so that they can continue preaching and acting upon the true message of Islam continued and continues till today. Islam has produced many esteemed Scholars who have spent their entire life acting upon and preaching the teachings of the Qur an and Sunnah of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). They worked all their life for the upliftment of the Muslim Ummah, at the same time protecting them from trials and tribulations. Many were persecuted and killed whilst performing this duty of theirs.
In the list of these great Scholars we can find Sadrul Afazil Mufti Syed Naeemuddin Muradabadi, who spent his life propagating Islam, he debated with Christian and Hindu missionaries along with Wahabi & Deobandi fanatics and saved the faith of thousands of Muslims in the Indo-Pak region. His name was Muhammed Naeemuddin and was famously known as Sadrul Afazil and Ustaz ul-asaatiza. He was born on 21 Safar 1300H (1st January 1883) and his historical birth name is Ghulam Mustafa (Servant of the Chosen One). He died on the 23rd October 1948. His historic name per date of death was Ghulam Rasool (Servant of the Messenger). Family Lineage Sadrul Afazil s forefathers came from the city of Mash had (Iraq) during the reign of Sultan Aurangzeb. They were highly respected and were given high official positions and vast properties as a token of love by the Sultan. The family had always been a center of knowledge and virtues. His father, Maulana Moeenuddin had many sons who were Hafiz-e-Qur an (committed the entire Qur an to memory) however they all passed away in their childhood. When Sadrul Afazil was born, his father pledged to Allah that if his son s life is prolonged he will send him for Jihad. And this pledge was fulfilled when during the Khilafat Committee period the Ulema-e-Ahle Sunnat were attacked and Hindu- Muslim unity was forced and Wahabi sect provoked the people against Sadrul Afazil, Maulana Moeenuddin said, This is also a Jihad (a struggle in the way of Allah) and I will fulfil my pledge in this. Maulana Moeenuddin s short name was Nuzhat and he was one of the most famous poets of his time. There were many students who learnt poetry under him, hence he was titled as Ustazul Sho ar a. He was a student of Nawab Mehndi Ali Zaqi, who was the teacher of Maulana Kifayat Ali Kafi, Maulana Muhammad Hussain Sahab Tamanna and Nawaz Shabbir Ali Khan Sahab Tanha.
Maulana Moeenuddin was a disciple of Maulvi Qasim Nanotwi (a founder of the Deoband sect). In those times, because the Wahabi ideology was new in India, its followers would hide their beliefs. Maulvi Qasim Nanotwi allowed Maulana Moeenuddin to recite Meelad shareef and send salwaat upon the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) whilst standing and termed these practices as a source of blessing. When Maulana Moeenuddin was told about the blasphemous beliefs of Maulvi Nanotwi, he said how can it be possible when he himself allowed me to participate in the Meelad (celebrating the birth of the Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him) and qiyaam (sending salawat whilst stood up) and told me about of their virtues? When he was shown the book of Maulvi Nanotwi in which he rejected the finality of Prophethood for the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) and Fatawa Hassamul Haramain of Imam Ahmad Raza Khan (in which he proved that the Deobandi scholars were kuffaar due to their blasphemous writings), Maulana Moeenuddin broke his bayah with Maulvi Nanotvi and subsequently took bayah upon the blessed hands of Imam Ahmad Raza Khan (Allah have mercy upon him) and wrote the couplet: fira hun main us gali se nuzhat, hon jisme gumraah shiekh-o-qazi raza-e-ahmad isi mien samjhun, ki mujhse ahmad raza hon razi ( Nuzhat has come back from the streets, where Scholar & Judge are misguided, I believe acceptance by (Imam) Ahmad Raza is the acceptance by the Prophet(peace be upon him)) Early Education At the age of 4, Sadrul Afazil started to memorise the Qur an with his teacher Hafiz Syed Nabi Hussain who was blind and used to teach in a very harsh manner. Once, whilst he was teaching Sadrul Afazil very harshly, a Sufi dervish came to him and said, Don t be so harsh with him, can t you see that this boy is very intelligent and he will reach his target very soon. The very next day Hafiz Syed Nabi Hussain told Maulana Moeenuddin that he cannot teach his son any further and left. After some time had passed, Hafiz Hafeezullah Khan sahab started teaching Sadrul Afazil and he became a Hafize-Qur an at the tender age of 8. After this, he learnt the persian language under the tutelage of his father and started studying Arabic & Medicine under Maulana Abul Fazl Fazl Ahmad. Maulana Abul Fazl was so pious that he had stayed for 20 years in a tiny room at Masjid Chauki Hasan Khan and practiced medicine there. He never looked at anyones face and used to love na at (poetry in praise of the Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him) very much. Every friday after prayer he would hold a gathering of naat khwani which is happening even till this day.
Meeting Shaykhul Kul Maulana Gul Muhammad Maulana Abul Fazl, took Sadrul Afazil to one of the most celebrated and respected scholar of that time, Shaykhul Kul Maulana Gul Muhammad sahab and told him that, The boy is extremely intelligent, he has studied under me and I would like you to teach him rest of the books. Hazrat Shaykhul Kul accepted Sadrul Afazil as his student and taught him and made him proficient in all the subjects. Next to Madrassah Imdadia, there was a Deobandi Madrassah called Shahi Masjid which was established along with Darul Uloom Deoband by Maulvi Qasim Nanotvi. Sadrul Afazil sometimes used to attend lessons at this Madrassah and raise such questions that which the teachers there would never be able to answer, they would tell him you have your own Madrassah go and study there. Sadrul Afazil completed his Aalim course at the age of 19 and after one year of Ifta practice (giving fatwa), his dastarbandi (graduation) was done in a grand function at the Madrassah Imdadia in 1903. Finding a Peer (Spiritual guide) After graduating, Sadrul Afazil, wanted to be initiated into a Sufi spritual order by giving bayah to Spiritual guide. He went to Shah Ji Muhammed Sher Miyan of Pilibheet for bayah. Shah ji said, Whenever I go to Muradabad I present myself in the court of Maulana Gul Muhammad and the work for which you have come here can only be completed there and he will give you your share. Sadrul afazil came back to Muradabad and met Maulana Muhammad Gul. The Maulana said, So you have been to Shah Ji Miyan, the day after tomorrow is Jum ah, come to me after the Fajr prayer and I will give you your share. On Friday, he went to his esteemed teacher Maulana Muhammad Gul who then accepted his bayah and gave him his share. Sadrul Afazil was given khilafat of all the four salaasil (spiritual orders) by Shaykhul Kul Maulana Muhammad Gul, Imam Ahmad Raza Khan and Syed Shah Ali Hussain Ashrafi (Allah have mercy upon them all). This is from the miracles of the Awliyah (Friends of Allah) that neither did Sadrul Afazil said anything to Hazrat Sher Miyan at Pilipheet nor anything to Maulana Muhammad Gul, but still they both knew what was in his heart.
Meeting Ala Hazrat Imam Ahmad Raza Khan A Wahabi named Idrees from Jodhpur wrote an article against Imam Ahmad Raza Khan in the paper Nizamul Malik. Though till that day, Sadrul Afazil hadn t met Imam Ahmad Raza Khan personally but had read his books and had great respect for him. He wrote an article refuting the Wahabi Maulvi s article that very night and went to the paper s editor. The editor refused to publish his article, on this Sadrul Afazil said that, Your paper will be sold heavily and will become popular as people from his side and my side will keep reading our articles and answers of the articles. When the editor understood the monetary benefit he published his article. When his articles started publishing against the Wahabi Maulvi, people started to send mail to Imam Ahmad Raza Khan to send his articles printed in Nizamul Malik. Imam Ahmad Raza was astonished as he never wrote an article for the paper. He asked Haji Muhammad Ashraf sahab to bring one month s edition of the paper. When the Imam read Sadrul Afazil s article he was very happy and enquired about him. Haji sahab told that he is a 19 year old young graduate, called Naeemuddin, with excellent proficiencies. Ala Hazrat Imam Ahmed Raza Khan asked him to bring Sadrul Afazil next time he visits. Haji sahab took Sadrul Afazil to Bareilly shareef. Imam Ahmad Raza showed extreme love and respect towards Sadrul Afazil, after that day, not even a single week passed without Sadrul Afazil coming to Bareilly shareef to visit the Imam. Sadrul Afazil himself is reported to have said, My luggage was always ready for Bareilly shareef. He would come visit Imam Ahmed Raza every Monday s and Thursday s. He had great respect for Imam Ahmed Raza Khan. He never travelled but with the permission of the Imam. He used to say that, We found real Iman and Kalima from the place of Imam Ahmad Raza. It is a great favour of the Imam on the Sawad-e- Azam that he made us understand Iman and Kalima. Even Imam Ahmad Raza loved Sadrul Afazil dearly. He was one of the few associates close to the great Imam. He trusted him so much that whenever there was a debate with Non-Muslims and the Wahabi/Deobandi sects he would send Sadrul Afazil. The Imam once gave him one of his books for editing and he removed around one third of the book, but Imam Ahmed Raza Khan never asked why it was removed. Indeed Sadrul Afazil was one of the most active students of Imam Ahmad Raza Khan, propagating his mission in the truest form.
Proficiency as a Debater Sadrul Afazil was a great debater since his days as a youth. He had debates with a Hindus, Arya Samaj, Shia, Wahabi, Deobandi, Qadyani, Christians etc. Arya Samaj preachers used to give speeches against Islam at Bazar Chauk Muradabad every evening. Once whilst returning after leading the Jum ah prayer, Sadrul Afazil saw that a Pandit is debating with Maulvi Qudratullah of Shahi Masjid. The Maulvi sahab couldn t answer some of the objections and left the debate. Seeing this, the Pandit started clapping and made fun of Maulvi Qudratullah for leaving the debate without answering his objections. Seeing this, Sadrul Afazil challenged the Pandit to a debate. The Pandit said your Maulvi ran away then how can you answer? The Pandit said, This is not correct, in the Hindu religion the adopted son is as good as a biological son, all the rulings for the biological son are the same for the adopted son. Sadrul Afazil tried to explain to the Pandit with logical points. The gathered crowd understood the logic but the Hindu preacher refused to accept this. Sadrul Afazil said, Now I will prove my point. he said loudly to preacher, Pandit ji, you are my son now! He said this thrice in front of the crowd. Now Sadrul Afazul turned to the preacher and said, As per your logic, now since you are my son, all the rules which are valid for the biological father will be valid for me, that means your wife is prohibited for me but your mother should be allowed for me! He replied, Ask me the question and I will answer. Arya Samaj Pandit said, Your Prophet married his son Zaid s wife. Sadrul Afazil said, Zaid was not the Prophet's biological son but was adopted by him. In Islam the adopted son is not considered to be the biological son, he is not given any share of the heritage left by his adopted father, neither does his share be given to whom he adopted. Hearing this the Pandit said, You are abusing me. Sadrul Afazil replied, Now you yourself accept this as a profanity, this means you accept that the adopted son is never the same as the biological one. The Pandit left the place in anger and the crowd clapped in joy.
Another interesting debate There was once a Hindu Pandit in Delhi. The Ahle Hadith made him memorise some parts of the Qur an. The Pandit would challenge Muslims to debate with him. When he was in Bareilly town, he challenged the Muslims. The Muslim went to Maulana Hamid Raza Khan, the son of Imam Ahmad Raza (may Allah have mercy upon them both). Maulana Hamid Raza said, Send a telegram to Sadrul Afazil at Muradabad, he will be here by morning and will debate with the Pandit tomorrow. Unfortunately the telegram was delivered late. When Sadrul Afazil reached Bareilly it was already noon and Maulana Zahoorul Hasan sahab was debating with the Pandit. The debate was purely intellectual and the public didn t understand anything. Sadrul Afazil said to Maulana Hamid Raza, If I speak now, the Pandit will say that their first Maulana lost so they have sent another one, so you ask the people to stop the debate and say that it will be continued in evening. The Pandit nodded to acknowledge that what Sadrul Afazil had said was indeed the subject of debate and so did Maulana Zahoorul Hasan. He again asked the people, Do you understand now (what the debate is about?) The crowd again said No! He further explained, As per the Pandit s view, there is no difference between a man and donkey, there is only a difference in the outer appearance but the soul for both is the same. Hearing this the crowd burst into laughter and said there is no difference between a donkey and the Pandit. The Pandit became very angry and said, I came to your place and now you should come to our temple to continue this debate. Sadrul Afazil accepted and promised that he will come to debate at the temple in the evening. Ala Hazrat Imam Ahmad Raza Khan gave him blessings before he left for the temple. Maulana Hamid announced that, as its very hot, we will continue the debate in the evening. Before the crowd could go, Sadrul Afazil took the mic and asked the people, Did you people understand anything? To which the crowd replied No! He said, According to the Pandit, all souls are the same and as per Maulana sahab all the souls are different, isn t this right Pandit ji? He reached the temple after the Isha prayer, when hazrat arrived, the Pandit said, How can you debate with me Maulvi sahab I know half of your Qur an by heart, can you recite to me at least fifteen pages from our Holy Books? Sadrul Afazil replied: Pandit ji don t say this again! You will be gravely humiliated because of this sentence.
The Pandit said, How is that so? You can t read our Holy Books and I know half of your Qur an by heart still I will be humiliated? He replied, Yes you will be humiliated. When Imam Ahmad Raza Khan along with the ulama of the Arab lands gave the fatwa of kufr on the four Deobandi ulema including Khaleel Ahmad Ambetwi for their blasphemous writings. When asked how by the Pandit, Sadrul Afazil said, You know half of our book by heart, but can you recite half of your own Holy Book, which you claim to be from God, from memory? Or can you recite at least one fourth or 15 pages or even 5 pages? This proves that the Qur an is the true speech of God and that even those who oppose it can recite half of the Quran and even the most illiterate Muslim can recite some part of Quran or at least an verse. Hearing this the Muslims raised the slogan Nara e Takbeer and Nara e Risalat. The Pandit fled Bareilly shareef that very night! In another instance, Janab Ahmad Hasan sahab telegraphed Imam Ahmad Raza Khan that Maulvi Ashraf Ali Thanvi has come to Najeebabad. Ala Hazrat sent Mufti Amjad Ali Azmi (author of Bahaar e Shari at) and Maulana Hamid Raza Khan (his son) to Najeebabad to debate with Ashraf Ali Thanvi and asked them to take Sadrul Afazil with them also from Muradabad. When these three reached Najeebabad, they sent a letter to Ashraf Ali Thanvi, who received the letter and promised to reply by the morning but actually fled the city before dawn. The people of the Sunnah celebrated their victory. Sadrul Afazil personally went to the Madrassah Mazahirul Uloom of Maulvi Khalil Ambetwi with Shaukat Ali and Syed Habeeb. Sadrul Afazil started the debate with him, but Khaleel Ambetwi couldn t respond to the points and said, You call me a Kafir or Akfar but I don t have the answers for your questions. He was humiliated by this but still did not repent from his blasphemous writings.
Foundation Of Jamia Naeemiya, Muradabaad. In 1328H/1910, Sadrul Afazil planned to have an Islamic school for the standard teaching of Islamic sciences. He set up a trust and started a Madrassah under it called Madrassah Anjuma-e-Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamaat later when the other founding member of the trust passed away the madrassah was called Madrassah Naeemiya. When the graduates of Madrassah Naeemiya spread over India and started their own madrassah s and affiliated themselves to Madrassah Naeemiya, it was renamed to Jamia Naeemiya in 1352H/1933. Sadrul Afazil would teach books in almost all of the Islamic sciences. His lectures were so informative that even the teachers of the Jamia would join his class. Sadrul Afazil would write all the fatawa s on his own and didn't use a assistant. He was so proficient in Fiqh and Ifta that he would rarely look in the books, and still would be able to answer perfectly. Sadrul Afazil never took a penny for his services at the Jamia. Famous Literary Works: * Tafseer Khazain ul Irfan * al-kalimatul Uliya li Aelai ilmul Mustafa * Swaneh Karbala * Seerate Sahabah * Kitab ul-aquaid Some of his well known students are below, May ALLAH be pleased be with them all: 1) Allama Abul Hasnaat Syed Muhammed Ahmad Qadri 2) Allama Abul Barkaat Syed Ahmad Qadri 3) Taj-ul-Ulama Allama Mufti Muhammed Umar Naeemi 4) Hakeem-ul-Ummat Allama Mufti Ahmad Yaar Khan Naeemi 5) Ziya-e-Millat Allama Peer Karam Shah al-azhari 6) Hazrat Allama Mufti Syed Moeenuddin Neemi 7) Mujahid-e-Millat Allama Habeeb-ur-Rehman 8) Imam-un-Nahw Allama Ghulam Jeelani Meerathi 9) Allama Qazi Shamsuddin Jaunpuri (Qanoon-e-Shariat) 10) Hafiz-e-Millat Allama Abdul Azeez Muhaddis Muradabadi (Founder Jamia Ashrafia Mubarakpur UP India)
Last moments Mufti Moeenuddin writes that Once during the night, I was sitting beside Sadrul Afazil s bed and slept over his pillow. I saw a room illuminated by light and there were carpets placed. I saw Hazrat Abu Bakr, Hazrat Usman, Hazrat Ali, Hazrat Abu Huraira (Allah is pleased with them all) and other Sahaba. There is place vacant at the corner of room. Hazrat Umar is standing at the door of the room waiting for someone. At that moment I saw Sadrul Afazil coming, wearing a white amamah. ness he would recite the Kalimah shahadah. On the night of 23rd October 1948, he started reciting the Kalimah-e-shahadah, the voice began to quieten down and at 12:25AM this source of knowledge and virtue left this world. Before death he inclined himself towards the direction of qibla and made his hands and legs straight. Taj-ul-Ulama Mufti Umar Naeemi led his funeral prayer and he was buried in Jamia Naeemiya. His grave is visited by Ulema and Mashaikh and his blessings are still observed. Hazrat Umar said, Your place is vacant inside. Sadrul Afazil replied that it is more than enough for me if even I sit at the shoe place of you people. Hazrat Umar held his hand and made him sit at a vacant place. At this moment I woke up. Later in the morning, I narrated my dream, upon hearing Sadrul Afazil started crying in happiness and said, They are waiting for me, now I m going, this is the interpretation of this dream! Mufti Umar Naeemi said, This dream also indicates towards your good health. Sadrul Afazil said, No, they are waiting for me. It was his habit that he would recite hasbunallahu wa ne mal wakeel ne mal maula wa ne mal naseer. During his ill (PS : The content is taken from Hayaat-e-Sadr ul-afazil by Mufti Moeenuddin Muradabadi & Fataawa Naeemiyah ) Muhammed Kashif ul-ansari al-ridawi Ihya Academy - Bangalore - India ihya786@gmail.com