Aziz-ul-Rahman Usmani

Mufti-e-Azam
Aziz-ul-Rahman Usmani
Mufti-e-Azam Aziz-ul-Rahman Usmani
1st Grand Mufti of Darul Uloom Deoband.
	In office; 1890–1927
Preceded by	position established
Succeeded by	Izaz Ali Amrohi
Personal details
Born	1858 or 1859
Died	1928; Deoband, British India
Children	Atiqur Rahman Usmani
Parent	Fazlur Rahman Usmani (father);
Relatives	Usmani family of Deoband
Alma mater	Darul Uloom Deoband
Notable work(s)	Fatawa Darul Uloom Deoband
Senior posting
	Students Shah Abd al-Wahhab,; Badre Alam Merathi;

Aziz-ul-Rahman Usmani (also written as Azizur Rahman Usmani; died 1928) was an Indian Sunni Muslim scholar who served as first Grand Mufti of Darul Uloom Deoband.^[2] He is best known for his Fatawa Darul Uloom Deoband. His brother was Shabbir Ahmad Usmani.^[3]^[4]

Biography

Aziz-ul-Rahman Usmani was born in 1275 AH (corresponding to 1858-1859 in the Gregorian calendar) into the Usmani family of Deoband. He graduated from the Darul Uloom Deoband in 1295 AH. His teachers included Muhammad Qasim Nanautawi,^[5] Mahmud Hasan Deobandi and Muhammad Yaqub Nanautawi.^[6] He was an authorized disciple of Muhammad Rafi-ud-Din in Sufism.^[7]

Usmani was appointed the Grand Mufti of the Darul Ifta of Darul Uloom Deoband after its inception and he headed it until 1927 after which he moved to Dabhel. His juristic rulings were compiled in twelve volumes by Zafeeruddin Miftahi and were published between 1962 and 1972 as Fatawa Darul Uloom Deoband.^[8]^[9] Muhammad Shafi Deobandi also compiled selected fatawa of Usmani and published them as Aziz al-Fatawa.^[10] According to Syed Mehboob Rizwi, Usmani issued 37,561 fatawas between 1330 and 1346 AH (1911-12 and 1927-1928).^[6]

Usmani resigned from Darul Uloom Deoband along with Anwar Shah Kashmiri in 1927 and moved to Jamia Islamia Talimuddin (Dabhel) and taught Sahih al-Bukhari there.^[6] In Dabhel, his health deteriorated and he returned to Deoband, where he died in 1928. His funeral prayer was led by Sayyid Asghar Hussain Deobandi and he was buried in the Qasmi cemetery of Darul Uloom.^[5]

Usmani issued verdicts with the title of Grand Mufti of India, along with the title of Grand Mufti of Darul Uloom Deoband.^[5]

Legacy

In 2011, Abu Tamim completed his PhD thesis, 'Mufti Azeezur Rahman Ki Fiqhee Khidmat,' under the supervision of Mohammad Habibullah at Aligarh Muslim University.^[11]

References

^ Ullah, Ahmad; Qadir, Ridwanul (February 2018). "কুতুবুল আলম হাকীমুন নফস, খলীফায়ে থানভী আল্লামা শাহ আবদুল ওয়াহহাব রহ. (১৮৯৪—১৯৮২) - এর সংক্ষিপ্ত জীবনচরিত". মাশায়েখে চাটগাম. Vol. 2 (1 ed.). 11/1, Islami Tower, Bangla Bazar, Dhaka-1100: Ahmad Prakashan. pp. 35–54. ISBN 978-984-92106-4-1.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location (link)
^ Adrawi, Asir. "Mufti Aziz-ul-Rahman Usmani". Tazkirah Mashaheer-e-Hind: Karwan-e-Rafta (in Urdu) (April 2016 ed.). Deoband: Darul Muallifeen. pp. 197–198.
^ Usmani, Mufti Taqi. "Hadhrat Mufti Aziz-ul-Rahman Saheb". Akabir-e-Deoband Kya They [The Great Scholars of the Deoband Islamic Seminary] (in Urdu) (May 1995 ed.). Deoband: Zamzam Book Depot. pp. 63–68.
^ Tamim, Abu (2011). "Mufti Azeezur Rahman ki Fiqhee Khidmat". University.
^ ^a ^b ^c Muhammad Tayyib, Qari. Bukhari, Akbar Shah (ed.). 50 Misaali Shaksiyaat [50 Exemplar personalities] (in Urdu) (July 1999 ed.). Deoband: Maktaba Faiz-ul-Qur'an. pp. 110–113.
^ ^a ^b ^c Rizwi, Syed Mehboob, History of the Dar al-Ulum Deoband, vol. 2, translated by Murtaz Hussain F Quraishi, pp. 183–197
^ Deobandi, Syed Muhammad Miyan. "Hadhrat Allama Ustadh Mawlana Aziz al-Rahman Mufti-e-Azam Darul Uloom Deoband". Ulama-e-Haq awr Unke Mujahidana Karname (in Urdu). Deoband: Faisal International. p. 181. ISBN 81-86971-94-7.
^ Nur Alam Khalil Amini. Pas-e-Marg-e-Zindah (in Urdu). Deoband: Idara Ilm-o-Adab. pp. 930–931.
^ Stephens, Julia (21 June 2018). Governing Islam: Law, Empire, and Secularism in Modern South Asia. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9781107173910. Retrieved 24 May 2020.
^ Aftab Ghazi Qasmi; Abdul Haseeb Qasmi. Fuzala-e-Deoband Ki Fiqhi Khidmat (Fiqhi Services of the Graduates of Deoband) (in Urdu) (February 2011 ed.). Deoband: Kutub Khana Naimia. pp. 117–118.
^ Tamim, Abu (2011). Mufti Azeezur Rahman Ki Fiqhee Khidmat (PhD thesis) (in Urdu). India: Aligarh Muslim University. hdl:10603/161543.