Mazahir Uloom

Mazahir Uloom (also known as Mazahir Uloom Waqf) is an Islamic seminary located in Saharanpur, Uttar Pradesh. Started in November 1866 by Sa'ādat Ali Faqīh, and developed further by Mazhar Nanautawi and Ahmad Ali Saharanpuri; it is regarded as the second most influential and major Deobandi seminary in India. The earliest graduates of the seminary include famous Hadīth scholar Khalil Ahmad Saharanpuri. In 1983, the seminary split into two with the establishment of Mazahir Uloom Jadeed as a new independent seminary. Since then the seminary has been named as Mazahir Uloom Waqf Qadeem.[1]

This article is about Mazahir Uloom Waqf Qadeem. For the independent offshoot, see Mazahir Uloom Jadeed.

Mazahir Uloom
Entry gate of the seminary
TypeIslamic university
Established9 November 1866 (1866-11-09)
Founders
RectorMuḥammad Saeedi
Location
Saharanpur, Uttar Pradesh, India
NicknameMazahir

The incumbent rector of the seminary is Muḥammad Saeedi.

History

Mazāhir Uloom was established as "Mazhar Uloom";[2] on 9 November 1866, six months after the foundation of the Deoband seminary.[3][4][5] Its founding figures included Ahmad Ali Saharanpuri, Mazhar Nanautawi, Qādhi Fazlur Rahmān and Sa’adat Ali Faqih.[6] Mazahir Uloom is thought to be the second major madrasa after Darul Uloom Deoband.[7]

One of the earliest buildings of Mazahir Uloom

The first generation teachers, apart from the founders; include, Aḥmad Hasan Kanpuri, Sa'adat Hussain Bihari, Sakhāwat Ali Ambethwi and Muḥammad Siddīq.[8] The first generation students include Khalil Ahmad Saharanpuri, Mushtāq Aḥmad Anbethwi and Qamruddīn Sahāranpuri.[9] In Muharram 1338 AH, the seminary established its Darul Ifta (the fatwa institute). The seminary's jurists include Ashfāqur Rahmān Kāndhlawi, Mahmood Hasan Gangohi, Abdul Qayyūm Raipuri and Muḥammad Shuaib Bastawi.[10]

Recent developments

Following the split of Darul Uloom Deoband in 1982; this seminary also bifurcated into two and Mazahir Uloom Jadeed took birth as an independent offshoot in 1983.[11][12]

Program

The seminary teaches the dars-e-nizami curriculum. The former rector of the seminary Abdul Latīf wrote a detailed defense of the dars-e-nizami curriculum; when some scholars asked the syllabus to be updated. The seminary has changed few books in the curriculum timely, but they did not modify it completely and they do not agree with the changes, or systems otherwise.[13]

Administration

Mazāhir Uloom follows the dogma of Sunni Islam and the jurisprudence of Abu Hanifa. It adheres to the Chishti order of Sufism, following Rashid Ahmad Gangohi and Khalil Ahmad Saharanpuri.[14] The seminary focuses on educational purposes only. It has stayed away from discussing politics.[15]

The management of the seminary was controlled by its local members. Owing to their differences, Rashid Ahmad Gangohi was appointed the senior patron of the seminary in 1896. Gangohi resigned from the position in 1319 AH;[16] and an executive council called "Majlis Shūra Sarparastān" was formed to look after the seminary affairs on 3 January 1903. The first such council included Abdur Rahīm Raipuri, Ashraf Ali Thanwi and Zulfiqar Ali Deobandi.[17]

Scholars such as Abdur Rahīm Raipuri, Ashraf Ali Thanwi, Mahmud Hasan Deobandi, Fazlur Rahmān Sahāranpuri, Khalil Ahmad Saharanpuri, Abdul Qadir Raipuri, Aashiq Elāhi Meerthi, Muhammad Ilyas Kandhlawi, Muhammad Zakariya Kandhlawi, Muhammad Yusuf Kandhlawi, Inamul Hasan Kandhlawi, Iftikhar-ul-Hasan Kandhlawi, Mahmood Hasan Gangohi and Ghulam Mohammad Vastanvi have been the members of the executive council.[18]

Publications

Mazahir Uloom publishes Ā'īna-e-Mazāhir-e-Uloom as a monthly journal.[1] The religious edicts issued by the seminary's Dārul Ifta are kept in record. The edicts issued by Khalil Ahmad Saharanpuri were compiled by Muhammad Zakariyyah Kāndhlawi, and published as Fatāwa Khalīliya.[19]

Rectors

Sa'ādat Ali Saharanpuri was appointed as the first rector of the seminary.[20] Following the division and establishment of Mazahir Uloom Jadeed; Muzaffar Hussain who was the last rector of the unified seminary; occupied on the position at the Mazahir Uloom till his death in 2003.[21] He was succeeded by Muḥammad Saeedi.[21] In the early years of the seminary, the administrative tasks of the seminary were also performed by a vice-rector; Abd al-Wāhid Khān served on the position from 1881 to 1896, and thus there appears to be confusion in dates, until a permanent position of rector was adopted which follows in sequence after Munshi Maqbool Aḥmad.[20]

The following is a list of seminary's rectors.[20]

NumberNameTerm startTerm end
1Sa'ādat Ali Sahāranpuri18661870
2Fazlur Rahmān Sahāranpuri18661908
3Ali Muḥammad18961907
4Ikrāmul-Haq19071908
5Munshi Maqbool Aḥmad19101916
6Munshi Fazl Haq19171918
7Bashīr Ḥasan Nagīnwi19191920
8Khalil Ahmad Saharanpuri19201925
9Ināyat Ilāhi19251928
10Abdul Lateef19281954
11Muḥammad Asadullah19541979
12Muzaffar Hussain19802003
13Muhammad Saeedi2003incumbent

Notable alumni
Main article: List of Mazahir Uloom alumni

Alumni include:

References
  1. Qasmi 2013, pp. 347–348.
  2. Saharanpuri 2005, p. 108.
  3. Brannon D. Ingram (2019). "'Modern' Madrasa: Deoband and Colonial Secularity". Historical Social Research / Historische Sozialforschung. 44 (4): 211. JSTOR 26747455. Retrieved 28 May 2021.
  4. Syed Mehboob Rizwi. History of The Dar al-Ulum Deoband. Vol. 1 (First Print, 1980 ed.). Idara-E-Ehtemam, Dar al-Ulum Deoband. p. 356.
  5. Saharanpuri 2005, p. 68.
  6. Saharanpuri 2005, p. 70.
  7. Saharanpuri 2005, p. 67.
  8. Saharanpuri 2005, p. 109.
  9. Saharanpuri 2005, p. 116.
  10. Saharanpuri 2005, pp. 333–334.
  11. Dietrich Reetz. "Change and Stagnation in Islamic Education: The Dar al-Ulum of Deoband after the Split in 1982". In A. Noor, Farish; Sikand, Yoginder; Bruinessen, Martin van (eds.). The Madrasa in Asia: Political Activism and Transnational Linkages (2008 ed.). Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press. p. 89. ISBN 978-90-5356-710-4.
  12. Muhammadullah Khalili Qasmi (26 May 2011). "Madrasa Mazahir Uloom Saharanpur 1866-2011". Retrieved 28 May 2021.
  13. Saharanpuri 2005, pp. 131–132.
  14. Saharanpuri 2005, p. 217.
  15. Saharanpuri 2005, pp. 219–220.
  16. Saharanpuri 2005, p. 377.
  17. Saharanpuri 2005, p. 122.
  18. Saharanpuri 2005, pp. 198–199, 377.
  19. Saharanpuri 2005, p. 336.
  20. Saharanpuri 2005, pp. 375–376.
  21. Nāsiruddin Mazāhiri (17 November 2012). "Mawlāna Muḥammad Saeedi". algazali.org (in Urdu). Retrieved 29 May 2021.

Bibliography
  • Javed, Iffat Massod (1996). Contribution Of Mazahir E Uloom Saharanpur To Tasawwuf (Thesis) (in Urdu). India: Department of Islamic Studies, Jamia Milia Islamia University. hdl:10603/395286.
  • Saharanpuri, Shahid (2005). Ulama e Mazahir Uloom aur unki Ilmi wa tasnīfi khidmāt (in Urdu). Vol. 1. Saharanpur: Maktaba Yādgār-e-Shaykh.
  • Qasmi, Nayab Hasan (2013). Darul Uloom Deoband Ka Sahafati Manzarnama (in Urdu). pp. 347–348.

Further reading

29°58′42.27″N 77°32′48.17″E

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