Abd al-Hayy al-Hasani al-Hindi
- Died
- 1341 AH
- Born in
- -
Abd al-Hayy al-Hasani al-Hindi (1286–1341 AH / 1869–1923 CE) was an Indian Muslim historian, scholar, and physician of Arab lineage who served as the director of Nadwat al-Ulama in Lucknow, best known for his biographical encyclopedia Nuzhat al-Khawatir wa-Bahjat al-Masami wa-al-Nawazir .
Lineage and Early Life
His full name was Abd al-Hayy ibn Fakhr al-Din ibn Abd al-Ali al-Hasani al-Talibi al-Nadwi . His ancestry traces back to Abd Allah al-Ashtar ibn Muhammad Dhu al-Nafs al-Zakiyya ibn Abd Allah al-Mahd ibn al-Hasan ibn Ali ibn Abi Talib . An ancestor, the prince Sayyid Qutb al-Din al-Madani (d. 677 AH; another report gives 776 AH), migrated from Baghdad to Ghazna during the Mongol invasions and subsequently entered India, where his descendants settled .
Al-Hasani was born on 18 Ramadan 1286 AH (1869 CE) at Zawiyat al-Sayyid Alam Allah, near Rae Bareli in the vicinity of Lucknow .
Education and Career
Al-Hasani studied Arabic morphology, grammar, Islamic jurisprudence, legal theory, Quranic exegesis, and the rational sciences under prominent scholars in Lucknow . He then traveled to Bhopal, where he studied hadith, literature, and medicine, and later journeyed to Delhi and other cities . Among his teachers was the hadith scholar Husayn ibn Muhsin al-Ansari al-Yamani .
He settled in Lucknow and was appointed director of Nadwat al-Ulama, where he oversaw its administration and taught . His sons included the scholar and educator Abd al-Ali al-Hasani and the author Abu al-Hasan Ali al-Nadwi .
Scholarly Standing
Al-Hasani was recognized for his broad erudition in jurisprudence, hadith, Quranic exegesis, history, medicine, and Arabic, Persian, and Urdu literature . He was called the "Ibn Khallikan of India" in recognition of his extensive eight-volume biographical dictionary, Nuzhat al-Khawatir wa-Bahjat al-Masami wa-al-Nawazir (also published as al-I'lam bi-man fi Tarikh al-Hind min al-A'lam), which documents the lives of Indian Muslim scholars and notables chronologically across Islamic centuries . He also authored Jannat al-Mashriq, on the geography, rulers, and antiquities of India, and Ma'arif al-Awarif (published as al-Thaqafa al-Islamiyya fi al-Hind), an overview of Islamic intellectual disciplines and education in the subcontinent .
Death
Al-Hasani died on 15 Jumada al-Akhira 1341 AH (1923 CE) . He was buried at Zawiyat Alam Allah, outside Rae Bareli .
Answer updated
List of Works
Nuzhat al-Khawatir wa Bahjat al-Masami wa al-Nawazir (also published as al-I'lam bi-man fi Tarikh al-Hind min al-A'lam) is an eight-part biographical dictionary in Arabic documenting Indian Muslim scholars, luminaries, and notables. Organized chronologically by Hijri centuries from the 1st century AH through the 14th century AH, the work focuses specifically on the figures and literati of India to assemble historical records into a single comprehensive compilation.