Mazhar Nanautawi

Muḥammad Mazhar was born into the Siddiqi family of Nanauta in 1821.[1][2] His father Lutf Ali was a cousin brother of Mamluk Ali Nanautawi.[3] Mazhar memorized the Quran and received his primary education from his father.[2] He studied with Mamluk Ali Nanautawi at the Delhi College.[1] He studied Muwatta Imam Malik and few other hadith books with Shah Abd al-Ghani Dehlawi and Sahih Bukhari with Shah Muḥammad Ishāq Dehlawi.[4] He was an authorized disciple of Rashid Ahmad Gangohi in Sufism.[5]

Mazhar was appointed the head teacher of Arabic department of the Government College in Varanasi by Aloys Sprenger.[6] He later headed the Arabic department of Government College, Ajmer.[7] He also taught at the Agra College.[8] Mazhar participated in the Indian freedom struggle and fought alongside Imdadullah Muhajir Makki in the Battle of Shamli.[9] His views about working in government institutes changed after 1857.[10] He joined the Nawal Kishore Press as a copy editor and worked there for more than seven years.[11] His copyedited works include Al-Ghazali's Ihya al-Ulūm and Tāhir Patni's Majma' al-Bahhār; the latter being the major academic work of that time.[11] In February 1867, Mazhar joined the Mazahir Uloom; where he taught the subjects including tafsir, hadith, fiqh, literature and history.[12][13] He is credited as the founder of Mazahir Uloom for his role in its development.[5]

Mazhar died on 3 October 1885.[14] His students included Muhammad Qasim Nanautawi and Khalil Ahmad Saharanpuri.[15]

• Kāndhlawi, Nūr al-Hasan Rāshid. Tadhkirah Hadhrat Mawlāna Muḥammad Mazhar Nanautawi (in Urdu) (January 2007 ed.). Kandhla: Mufti Ilāhi Bakhsh Academy.
• Khan, Syed Aḥmad. "Mawlvi Muḥammad Mazhar Marhūm". In Shahjahānpuri, Abu Salmān (ed.). Tadhkira Khānwāda-e-Waliullāhi (in Urdu). Jamshoro: University of Sindh. pp. 513–519.
• Muḥammad Shāhid Sahāranpuri. Deobandi, Nawaz (ed.). Sawaneh Ulama-e-Deoband (in Urdu). Vol. 1 (January 2000 ed.). Deoband: Nawaz Publications. pp. 495–504.