Haroon Rashid Bhat
“And no soul perceives what it will earn tomorrow, and no soul perceives in what land it will die. Indeed, Allah is Knowing and Acquainted.”
Al- Quran.”
The Muslim Umma lost one more legendary scholar of this era. Mufti Abdul GaniAzhari RA- an eminent scholar, reformer,prolific orator,and former Head of the Department of the Arabic University of Kashmirleft for his heavenly abode.The scholar of global repute was born in Poonch in 1922 and later settled in SogamKokarnag Kashmir. He spent his entire life impartingthe message of the Quran and Hadees in a very cordial and peaceful way. He had good access to religious studies, and expertise in the Quranic interpretation, Prophet hadith, history, and Islamic jurisprudence, especially in comparative jurisprudence. His journey of knowledge started when he was accompaniedby grandfather WaliKamil Abdul Halim, who has the honor of being the first Gujjar commentator, studied knowledge from the best scholars of Pakistan, passed the excellence exams in Persian from Lahore University, studied the holy book of Quran from MaulanaGhulam Allah Khan. He had also benefited from Shaykh al-Tafseer Ahmad Ali Lahori, Maulana, and Muhammad Ismail Salafi Gujranwala, MaulanaAbulKalam Azad.He deemed it an honor to receive his education from the prominent Islamic Institutions -DarulUloomDeoband 1943, and Mazahir Al- Uloom Saharanpur 1949. JamiatalAzharsharif 1966. Besides completing his Ph.D.from Azhar University he completed a diploma in human psychology from the same University. The title of his Ph.D. thesis is Al “Imam Al Muslim WaManhajuhu Fi Al Hadith RiwayatnWaDirayatan”.The matter of justice and truth is that he was a great researcher, an expert in science and art, a person who is blessed with the company of a large group of saints, and a person who gives permission and a caliph. Among his teachers and spiritual mentors are -Maulana Shah Abdul QadirRaiPuri,Sheikh al-Hind Mahmud al Hassan Deobandi, Hakim al Islam Qari Muhammad Tayyab,Allamah Muhammad Ibrahim Balyawi;MaulanaAzaz Ali Amrauhi; MaulanaSyed Fakhr al-Din, Prof. Dr. Abdul Halim Mahmud al Shaf ;Sheikh Abdul Wahhab Abdul LatifRasul Shah Sahib alias Naga Baba Milan Gam, Syed Rasul Shah NaqshbandiMujadadi, and HazratKausar Ali Shah Afghani SafaviNaqshbandiMujadadi, etc. You have made good use of all of them and have received spiritual blessings in abundance. Therefore, considering it as a blessing from God, you mention in your famous and well-known book -Noor-E-Irfan “Expressing his satisfaction, he mentioned in his book “There are countless blessings that Almighty Allah blessed me. He gave me allegiance to a powerful elder and mentor like Hazrat Shah Abdul QadirRaiPuri, there also gave me the council of Hazrat Syed Qutb-i-WaqtRasool Shah Sahib- Naga Baba JiMulan Gam.”The star of Shah Abdul QadirRaiPuri’s eyes and the last living caliph and authority, accompanied by the founders of Da’wa and Tabligh. Hazrat Sheikh Hadith MaulanaZakaria’s RA.
On the invitation of then Chief Minister Sheikh Muhammad Abdullah, he joined MadinahUloomHazratbala teacher of the Arabic language. Along with serving as a professor in MadinatUloom, he rendered his services to the University of Kashmir as the Professor department of Arabic and retired as HOD-Arabic in 1997. He had also been the Shaykh al-Hadith of MazahirUloom Saharanpur and hold the same great position in Madrasah NizamiyaBadshahiBagh Saharanpur, which he founded and is running under his patronage. Also, hehadthe position and honor of being a Musnad of Hadith at the international level, he witnessed the century-old rise and fall of the Muslim Ummah. He had been the founder and guardian of hundreds of Madrasas. Being Kashmir his birthplace, he founded the movement of Madrasas in Kashmir along the Hafiz Mohammad ChiragNaseer-Al-Qasimi under the title “‘Center of Ahl-SunnatWal-Jamaat’ The prime purpose behind the foundation of these Madrasas is not only to enlighten the people with the word of Almighty Allah and teaching of our beloved prophet but also unite the Muslim Umma. He always performed his services keeping in mind the wider interest of the Ummah, never letting the spirit of goodwill of Kashmir fade. Throughout this noble mission, he never forgot the path of Salaf-Saleheen. Giving due respect to his mentors, he established many Khanqahs and Islamic institutions after their names. He established one such institution at New Theed Harwan – Darul-UloomKousriaafter the blessed name of HazratKausar Ali Shah Afghani in 1990; the grand Masjid –ShahiHamdhan Masjid at New Theed,
Maktabah Anwar al Uloom is established in Dandhipura area of KokernagAnantnag ( 1950’s); Maktabah al Azhariya20: ‘AzhariyaMarkazAhliSunnatwa al Jama ‘at’ was established in the year 1960 as aM, which in 1980; DarulUloom Shah wali Allah: Located in DonipawaBrakpora of District Anantnag 2003. DarulUloom Al-Azhariya (WahhabKharShali). In addition to this, he established seminaries in areas like Nagrota, Sidrah, and Tandah etc. Apart from this, he had also the Madrasah NizamiyaMadinaUloomBadshahiBagh Saharanpur. He spent the last days of his life in the same. He taught the lessons of the Quran and Hadeeswas there till his last breath. His famous achievements and works include his doctoral thesis, Ancient History of Gujjar,Ma La Budda Minh, Noor-i-Irfan: MaktobatNaqshbandiyya, and Urdu translation of Amir Kabir Mir Syed Ali Hamdani’s RA. Who knew This polymath Sufiseparated from us physically on 19th January 2023 at Badshahibagh- UP India. A huge number of people rushed to the spot to have a last glance of their beloved religious leader. His Saltul-Jinazah was headed by Moulana Mohammad Aaqil-Sheikh-Ul-Hadees,JamiaMazahril- Ul-UoomSharanpore UP-India on 20thof January 2023 at 2:00 PM after the Friday congregational prayer as his admirers across the globe expressed their wish to attend his funeral. A large number of people attended his funeral ceremony andhe was laid to rest in the same place. I havethe special privilege to work under him in Darul-UloomKousria as a part-time teacher of English and Mathematics. The thing that fascinated me more about his life was his utter simplicity. My eyes hardly believe it when I entered DarulUloomKousria today to attend his funeral prayer in absentiaheaded by QariKhursheedAhamdRahemiya. May Almighty Allah bless the departed soulin thehighest place in Jannah!
Haroon Rashid Bhat is a teacher ,Ex-faculty member of DUK, can be reached at minamharoon123@gmail.com
