Muhammad Zakariyya al-Kandhlawi

Shaykh Zakariya was born at Kandhla in 1898,[3] to Maulana Muhammad Yahya. He spent ten years in Gangoh, where he attended his father's madrasah. In 1910, he moved to Saharanpur to study at Mazahir Uloom Saharanpur, a madrasah closely affiliated with Darul Uloom Deoband. He learned hadith from his father and from Khalil Ahmad Saharanpuri. After graduating in 1915, he secured a position as a teacher at the school.

Shaykh Zakariya was also a prominent Sufi Shaykh of the Sabiri-Imdadi branch of the Chishti order. He was a khalifah (spiritual successor) of Maulana Saharanpuri, who initiated him in the Sufi path in 1915 and gave him permission to initiate others in the four major tariqas (Chishtiyah, Naqshbandiyah, Suhrawardiyah, and Qadiriyah) in 1925.

He taught at Mazahir Uloom Saharanpur from 1916 to 1969, becoming well known by the title "Shaykh al-Hadith", a title given to him by his shaykh, Maulana Saharanpuri, for his extensive knowledge in the field of hadith. After he stopped teaching due to developing cataracts, he focused on the spiritual training of his numerous disciples.

In 1973, he permanently migrated to Medina, Saudi Arabia, where he died in 1982. He did however make a few visits abroad two of which were to the UK. The first visit to the UK was on 24 June 1979 where he viewed the Islamic Seminary called Darul-Uloom Al-Arabiyah Al-Islamiyah, Holcombe, Bury.[4]  The second visit was made after having spent the month of Ramadhaan in South Africa he stopped over at Zambia for a few days and then arrived in England on the 25 August 1981. The highlight of this second trip was the lecture delivered by him concerning the last Hadith of Sahih al-Bukhari. This lecture for many students marked the completion of a six-year Islamic studies course and the last of the Hadith lessons known to be conducted by him.[5]

His ism (given name) was Muhammad Zakariya. His nasab (patronymic) is as follows: Muḥammad Zakarīyā ibn Muḥammad Yaḥyá ibn Muḥammad Ismā‘īl ibn G͟hulām Ḥusain ibn Ḥakīm Karīm Bak͟hsh ibn Ḥakīm G͟hulām Muḥīyuddīn ibn Maulawī Muḥammad Sājid ibn ibn Maulawī Muḥammad Faiz̤ ibn Maulawī Muḥammad Sharīf ibn Maulawī Muḥammad Ashraf ibn Shaik͟h Jamāl Muḥammad Shāh ibn Shaik͟h Bāban Shāh ibn Shaik͟h Bahā’uddīn Shāh ibn Maulawī Shaik͟h Muḥammad ibn Shaik͟h Muḥammad Fāz̤il ibn Shaik͟h Quṭb Shāh.[6]

His name is usually mentioned with one or more nisbahs (attributive adjectives). He was Kandhlawi (of Kandhla) by origin, then Gangohi (of Gangoh), then Saharanpuri (of Saharanpur), then Madani (of Medina).[7] Muhajir Madani indicates his hijrah (immigration) to the Islamic holy city of Medina. By lineage he was Siddiqi, denoting descent from Abu Bakr as-Siddiq.

Muhammad Zakariya was born at 11 pm on Thursday, 11 Ramadan 1315 AH (Wednesday, 2 February 1898)[note 1] in the house of his mother's step-grandmother, Maryam, in the town of Kandhla in the present-day state of Uttar Pradesh, India.[8][9][10][11] He was born to a family of Islamic scholars that traced their ancestry to Abu Bakr as-Siddiq, a companion of the Islamic prophet, Muhammad.[12]

Zakariya's father, Maulana Muhammad Yahya Kandhlawi was a student and disciple of Maulana Rashid Ahmad Gangohi.[10][11][12] Born in 1287 AH (1870/1871), he received his early education from his father and later studied hadith under Maulana Gangohi and Maulana Khalil Ahmad Saharanpuri. He would routinely recite the entire Qur'an daily.[10] After completing dawrah of hadith with Maulana Gangohi, Yahya stayed with him in Gangoh.[9][10] Maulana Yahya's father, Maulana Muhammad Ismail Jhanjhanawi died twenty days after the birth of Zakariya, who would be Yahya's only son.[8][10][11]

After completing his academic studies, Muhammad Zakariya was appointed as a teacher at Mazahir Uloom on 1 Muharram 1335 AH (c. 29 October 1916).[7][9][12][15] At the age of 18, he was one of the youngest members of the staff.[11][12] He was initially assigned to teach books on Arabic grammar, morphology, and literature, as well as some primary texts of Islamic jurisprudence. He later advanced to teaching books of hadith and other daurah books.

The initial books he was assigned were ‘Ilm aṣ-ṣīghah, Mi’at ‘āmil manẓum, Sharḥ mi’at ‘āmil, Khulāṣah naḥw mīr, Nafḥat al-yaman, Munyat al-muṣallī, *Uṣūl ash-Shāshī, and Qāla aqūl. The next term, from Shawwal 1335 AH (1917), he taught Mirqāt, Qudūrī, Sharḥ Tahdhīb, Kāfiyah, Nūr al-iḍāḥ, Uṣūl ash-Shāshī, Sharḥ Jāmī, Baḥth fa‘l, Baḥth ism, ‘Ajab al-‘ujāb, and Nafḥat al-yaman. In Shawwal 1336 AH (1918) there was further promotion; he was given higher books including Maqāmāt, Sab‘ah mu‘allaqah, Quṭbī, Mīr Qutbī, and Kanz ad-daqā’iq. In Shawwal 1337 AH (1919) he was given Ḥamāsah and Hidāyah awwalīn.[9][15] At the end of term in Shaban 1338 AH (1920), Zakariya traveled with Khalil Ahmad to the Hejaz and performed his first Hajj. He returned to Saharanpur in Safar 1339 AH (1920).[7][15]

The books Zakariya taught in each of the next few years are not recorded in detail, but he writes that he was given Quṭbī, Mīr Qutbī, Tahdhīb, and Sharḥ Tahdhīb nearly every year, as the more senior teachers disliked teaching mantiq (logic). He also taught Hidāyah awwalīn a total of three times, and Nūr al-anwār followed by Husāmī three times.[15]

Beginning in 1341 AH (1923), he was given books of hadith to teach. On the instruction of Maulana Khalil Ahmad, in Rajab 1341 AH (1923) three sections of Sahih al-Bukhari were transferred to Zakariya from Maulana Abdul Latif, the madrasah's nazim (administrator/principal). In the next three terms, from Shawwal 1341 to Shaban 1344 AH (1923–1926), he taught Mishkat al-Masabih.[7][9][11][12][15] In Shawwal 1344 AH (1926) he traveled once again to the Hejaz, this time staying there for over a year. After performing Hajj, he arrived in Medina in Muharram 1345 AH (1926).[7][15] During his stay there he taught Sunan Abu Dawud at Madrasah al-`Ulum ash-Shar`iyah.[12][15]

Upon Zakariya's return to Saharanpur in Safar 1346 AH (1927), Sunan Abu Dawud was transferred to him from Maulana Abdul Latif. In this year he also taught Sunan an-Nasa'i, Muwatta Malik in the transmission of ash-Shaybani, and parts 12 to 16 of Sahih al-Bukhari. After Eid al-Adha the first volume of Sahih al-Bukhari was transferred to Zakariya, while the second volume remained with Maulana Abdul Latif.[9][12][15] From Safar 1346 AH onward Zakariya also taught Jami' at-Tirmidhi, Sahih Muslim, and other daurah books when teachers were unavailable due to sickness or travel.[15]

In 1373 AH (1954) Maulana Abdul Latif was unavailable due to travel, so Zakariya was given both volumes of Bukhari to teach in addition to his usual assignment of Abu Dawud. The same arrangement was made in 1374 AH (1955) when Abdul Latif was ill. In 1375 AH (1956), after the death of Maulana Abdul Latif, Sunan Abu Dawud was transferred to Maulana As'adullah, and Sahih al-Bukhari was transferred to Maulana Zakariya.[9][15]

Zakariya continued to teach until 1388 AH (1968), when he developed cataracts in his eyes - a defect in his vision. In total, he taught half of Sahih al-Bukhari 25 times, the complete work 16 times, and Sunan Abi Dawud 30 times.

Syrian scholar Abd al-Fattah Abu Ghudda, in a letter he wrote to Shaykh Zakariyya, states:[16][17]

To his eminence, the shaykh, the magnificent imām, the jurist, the ḥadīth master, the

outstanding noble scholar, the fragrance of India and the Ḥijāz, the tongue of the people of reality and metaphor, our master and our blessing, Shaykh Muḥammad Zakariyyā - may his lofty shadow be lengthened and his precious life be blessed. Āmīn.

From the needy slave, your admirer, ʿAbd al-Fattāḥ Abū Ghuddah.

Muhammad Zakariyya al-Kandhlawi also supported the Tablighi Jamaat movement in India and Pakistan. His written essays, based on hadith, are required reading for people of Tablighi Jamaat.[3]

Muhammad Zakariya fell ill on Sunday 16 May 1982 in the blessed city of Medina, Saudi Arabia. His condition deteriorated a week later resulting in serious breathing problems on Monday 24 May 1982. His final words were "Allah, Allah." and he died at 5:40 pm, exactly an hour and a half before the day's sunset prayers (maghrib). The shaykh's body was prepared for burial through washing before the Sunset prayers and burial took place after the night prayer (Isha) on the same day.

The funeral prayers were led by the Imam of the Prophet's Mosque, Shaykh Abdullah al-Zahim, and the body was taken for burial in the nearby Jannatul Baqi graveyard. Muhammad Zakariya's wish was to be buried close to the Prophet's family members (ahl al-bayt) and as per his wish, his grave was dug just outside their enclosure.[18]

In 1333 AH (1914 or 1915 CE), Muhammad Zakariya gave bay'ah at the hands of Khalil Ahmad Saharanpuri, taking him as his spiritual guide.

During his second journey to Hijaz with Khalil Ahmad, his sheikh conferred upon him khilafah in four silsilas (Chistiyya, Suhrawardiyya, Qadiriyya and Naqshbandiyya).[1]

Muhammad Zakariya married twice. He first married the daughter of Shaikh Ra'uf ul Hasan in Kandhla. She bore him eight children: three sons and five daughters. She died on the 5th of Dhu l-Hijja, 1355 AH (16 FEB 1937). He then married his first cousin, the daughter of Muhammad Ilyas, in 1356 AH (1938 A.D.). She bore him three children: one son and two daughters.

His notable students include Muhammad Yunus Jaunpuri and Yusuf Motala while Mufti Taqi Usmani has authorization in Hadith from Hazrat Shaikh.[19]

Muhammad Zakariya authored works both in Arabic and Urdu. A number of them treat specialized subjects intended for scholars and the rest have been written for the general public.

His first written work was a three-volume commentary of Alfiyah Ibn Malik, which he wrote as a student when he was only thirteen.

His work, Fadha'il-e-Qur'an has been translated into eleven languages, Fadha'il-e-Ramadan into twelve languages, and Fadha'il-e-Salaah into fifteen languages.

According to Wali ad-Din Nadwi, Muhammad Zakariya wrote 4 books on tafsir and tajwid, 44 books on hadith and its related sciences, 6 books on fiqh and its related sciences, 24 historical and biographical books, 4 books on aqidah, 12 books on zuhd (abstinence) and riqaq (heart-softening accounts), 3 books on Arabic grammar and logic, and 6 books on modern-day groups and movements.

According to Muhammad Shahid Saharanpuri (Muhammad Zakariya's maternal grandson), his written works amount to 103, of which 42 have been published and 61 remain unpublished. He wrote 2 books on tafsir, 60 books on hadith, 4 books on fiqh and usul al-fiqh, 22 books on tarikh and sirah, 2 books on tajwid and qira'ah, 3 books on Arabic grammar, classical logic, and geometry, 3 books on suluk and ihsan, 4 books in defense of Islam, and 3 books on miscellaneous subjects.[20]

• Muhammad Yusuf Kandhlawi
• Muhammad Ilyas Kandhlawi

• http://deeneislam.com/article.php?CID=1249
• Arabic Books by the Shaikhu-l-Hadeeth
• Urdu Books by the Shaikhu-l-Hadeeth
• English translations of some of the books written by the Shaikhu-l-Hadeeth