By Shaykh Mohammed Daniel al-Muhajir
January 1, 2017
إنا لله وإنا إليه راجعون. اللهم اغفر له وارحمه واعف عنه ووسع مدخله وابدله دارا خيرا من داره واهلا خيرا من اهله وصبر اهله على مصيبتهم
It is with deep sadness that I inform my fellow Muslims of the passing away of the honourable Muhaddith Shaykh Abdul Haq al-Azami.
عن الحسن قال: “كانوا يقولون: موت العالم ثلمة في الإسلام لا يسدها شيء ما اختلف الليل والنهار” [رواه الدارمي ح 34]
The erudite scholar, the true ascetic, Shaykh Abdul Haq bin Mohammed Umar bin Karīm Baksh al-Azami al-Qāsimi was born in the town of Jagdishpūr in the state of Uttar Pradesh (India) in 1925 CE – corresponding to 1345 AH – and passed away on the evening of Friday, 30th December 2016.
He was orphaned during his early childhood and his upbringing was taken care of by Mawlana Mohammed Muslim al-Jawnpūri who supervised his elementary study and then placed him on the sacred path at the Bait al-Ulūm Madarsa in Sarai Meer where he used to serve as a teacher of Hadith.
There Shaykh al-Azami studied the elementary subjects and undertook an intensive study of Arabic syntax and grammar, logic, and Fiqh studying the famous work Sharh al-Wiqāyah and completing four years of study before he travelled to Darul Ulūm Mau where he completed a further 3 years of study focusing on the essentials of Hanafi Fiqh, completing his study of Imam Marghināni’s al-Hidāyah and Imam Tibrīzi’s Mishkāt al-Masābīh.
After this, he set out to the famous seat of learning in Deoband where he was inducted into the final year of the ‘Ālimiyyah course which he completed with the following teachers:
Sahih al-Bukhari: He studied the entire collection with the Shaykh of Shaykhs: Mawlana Husain Ahmed al-Madani (d.1957)
Sahih Muslim: He studied the entire collection with Allāmah Ibrahim al-Balyāwi (d.1967)
Sunan Abu Dawud: He studied the entire collection with Shaykh al-Adab Izāz Ali Amrohi (d.1954)
Jāmi’ Imam al-Tirmidhi: He studied half of the work with Mawlana Husain Ahmed al-Madani and the other half with Shaykh Izāz Ali Amrohi along with the Shamā’il al-Muhammadiyyah.
Sunan al-Nasai: He studied the collection with Shaykh Fakhr al-Hasan Murādbādi (d.1978)
Sunan Ibn Majah: He studied the work with Shaykh Dhuhūr Ahmed al-Uthmāni (d.1963)
Muwatta Collections: He studied the Muwatta of Imam Malik with Shaykh Fakhr al-Hasan Murādabādi and the Muwatta of Imam Mohammed b. Hasan Shaybāni with Shaykh Jaleel Ahmed al-Kairānwi (d.1968).
After completing his final year of studies – the Dawrat al-Hadith – in 1368 AH, he travelled to the famous seat of learning Mażāhir al-Ulūm [in Sahāranpūr, India] to study with the renowned Muhaddith Mawlana Muhammad Zakariyyah al-Kandhlawi. There he read the three famous works of Shah Waliullah al-Dehlawi: the Musalsal collection al-Fadl al-Mubīn, al-Durar al-Thamīn, and al-Nawādir.
Upon returning to his hometown of Azamgarh, he met with the great Muhaddith Habīb al-Rahman al-Azami and read Imam Mohammed Saeed al-Sunbul’s Awā’il.
I was honoured to meet the Shaykh on numerous occasions during my study visits to Deoband and he displayed true asceticism choosing very simple clothing, regular fasting, and residing in a very humble and small house at the seminary. At the same time, Shaykh was very welcoming, affable, and hospitable towards me, sending for refreshments and insisting that I eat some snacks before taking his biography or studying with him.
After graduating, he was encouraged by his mentors to start teaching and thus began his prolific career that lasted over 70 years. He started by teaching Hadith at Matlaa al-Ulūm in Banaris (India) where he taught for 16 years before moving to Madarsa al-Husayniyyah in Jawnpur where he taught for a few years more. Noticing his ability, the scholars of Deoband invited him to teach Sahih al-Bukhari at the prestigious Darul Ulūm where he remained from 1982 until his passing away a few days ago aged 92.8 lunar years.
Shaykh may have left this world, but his legacy lives on in the thousands of students that he taught whom have spread around the world passing on the great many lessons they learnt from him.
May Allah raise his ranks and have mercy upon him.
Servant of the savants,
Mohammed Daniel
Cordoba Academy
Courtesy of Cordoba Academy
Note: This article was edited for spelling, grammar, and style.
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