Anwar Shah Kashmiri

Anwar Shah Kashmiri was born in Kashmir on 27 Shawwal 1292 AH (16 November 1875) in a Sayyid family. Aged four, he started reading the Quran under the instruction of his father, Muazzam Ali Shah.[2] In 1889, he relocated to Deoband, where he studied at the Darul Uloom for three years. In 1892, he moved to Darul Uloom Deoband where he studied with Mahmud Hasan Deobandi and others. Then, in 1896 (1314 AH), he went to Rashid Ahmad Gangohi and obtained a teaching certificate in Hadith (which he had been studying for two years) and esoteric knowledge.[2]

After graduating from Darul Uloom, he taught in Madrasa Aminia, Delhi, serving as its first Principal. In 1903 he went to Kashmir, where he established Faiz-e A'am Madrasah.[2] In 1905 (1323 AH) he performed Hajj. Four years later, he returned to Deoband. Until 1333, he taught books of Hadith without taking a salary. He held the guardianship of Darul Uloom for nearly twelve years. He resigned in 1927 (1346 AH) and went to the Madrasah of Dabhel in western India, where, until 1932 (1351), he taught Hadith. He left his family in 1887 and moved into the Madrasah in India.[3]

He began his career teaching at Madrasa Aminia in Delhi in 1897 before returning to Kashmir when his mother died in 1901. There, he taught at the Madrasah Fay'm for three years before embarking on his Hajj to Mecca and Medina.[3] He visited his Deoband instructor Mahmood Hasan, who persuaded him to take a position teaching in Deoband. When Mahmood Hasan himself subsequently relocated to Medina in 1908, Shah began teaching Hadith.[1] He retained the position until 1927, when he departed after a disagreement with management.[3]

Kashmiri moved to Jamia Islamia Talimuddin along with Azizur Rahman Usmani in 1927 where he taught Hadith until 1932.[2]

In 1933, Shah became ill and traveled to Deoband for medical care. He continued addressing students there until he died on 28 May 1933. He was survived by his elder son Azhar Shah Qaiser and younger son Anzar Shah Kashmiri.[3] Muhammad Iqbal arranged a condolence ceremony, at which he described Kashmiri as the greatest Islamic scholar of the last five hundred years.[4]

Jamia Imam Muhammad Anwar Shah, Deoband is an Islamic school named after Kashmiri. Syrian scholar Abd al-Fattah Abu Ghudda has written a biography of Kashmiri in Arabic.[5] Yunoos Osman wrote his D.Phil thesis Life and Works of Allamah Muhammad Anwar Shah Kashmiri at the University of Durban-Westville.[6]

A book about Kashmiri entitled The Pride OF Kashmir was released in December 2015. During the release of the book, Engineer Rashid, then MLA of Langate renamed Student of the year award of Kupwara to "Moulana Anwar Shah Kashmiri Award for excellence".[7]

Between 1929 and 1946, the Majlis-i-Ὶlm educational academy in Delhi published Kashmiri's writings on Islam. Among other topics, his books discussed Qur'an, metaphysics, the fundamental beliefs of Islam, jurisprudence, zoology, and politics.

Kashmiri also wrote poetry and often put his scholarly writings in that form. Some of his articles and manuscripts remain unpublished.[3]

His works include:[8]

• Mushkilat al-Quran
• Fayz al-Barii ala Sahih al-Bukhari
• Anwar al-Baari (Urdu commentary of Sahih Bukhari, compiled by Kashmiri's son-in-law Ahmad Rida Bijnori)
• al-ʿUrf al Shadhi Sharh Sunan Al-Tirmidhi [9]

In 1908, Kashmiri married a woman of Gangoh, with whom he had three sons and two daughters.

Kashmiri's students include Manazir Ahsan Gilani, Muhammad Tayyib Qasmi, Hifzur Rahman Seoharwi, Saeed Ahmad Akbarabadi, Zayn al-Abidin Sajjad Meerthi, Muhammad Miyan Deobandi, Manzur Nu'mani, and Muhammad Shafi Deobandi.[10][11]

• Abd al-Fattah Abu Ghudda
• Anzar Shah Kashmiri
• Jamia Imam Muhammad Anwar Shah, Deoband

• Building Bridges of Harmony (1927 Jamiat Ulama-e-Hind Presidential Speech of Kashmiri)