Abd al-Qadir bin Habib Allah al-Sindi
- Died
- 1418 AH
- Born in
- -
Abd al-Qadir bin Habib Allah al-Sindi (1355–1418 AH / 1936–1997 CE) was a Pakistani-born Saudi hadith scholar and lecturer at the Islamic University of Medina, noted for his critical studies in prophetic tradition and biography.
Early Life and Education
He was Abd al-Qadir bin Habib Allah bin Koro bin Sajan bin Sabar al-Sindi, born in 1355 AH (1936 CE) in the village of Janari in the Nawabshah district of Sindh, Pakistan. His family was of modest means, working in farming and cattle rearing; in his youth, after finishing elementary lessons in reading and writing, he tended sheep for his grandmother.
In 1368 AH (1949 CE), at the age of fourteen, he traveled to the Two Holy Sanctuaries with relatives to perform the Hajj pilgrimage. At the beginning of 1369 AH, he entered the Dar al-Ulum al-Salafiyyah school in Medina and attended evening study circles in the Prophet's Mosque under Shaykh Rashid Ahmad bin Ibrahim al-Hindi (d. 1381 AH).
Career and Scholarly Activities
Following his initial period of study, al-Sindi was appointed to teach in the primary division of Dar al-Ulum al-Salafiyyah. On 14 Ramadan 1375 AH (1956 CE), he received Saudi Arabian citizenship. He later enrolled at the Islamic University of Medina, graduating from its College of Sharia and subsequently completing his master's degree with a thesis titled al-Dhahab al-Masbuk fi Tahqiq Riwayat Ghazwat Tabuk ("The Cast Gold in Verifying the Narrations of the Expedition of Tabuk"), which applied traditional hadith criticism to the historical accounts of the campaign. He then served as a lecturer in the College of Hadith and Islamic Studies at the same university.
Al-Sindi engaged in theological and juridical debates of his era. He published scholarly critiques of writings by Dr. Muhammad bin Alawi al-Maliki regarding figures such as Muhammad Zahid al-Kawthari and Ahmad Zayni Dahlan. He also wrote rejoinders against Shaykh Muhammad Nasir al-Din al-Albani regarding the legal rulings of the woman's veil (hijab). Later in life, while hospitalized during an illness, al-Sindi expressed deep affection and respect for al-Albani, stating that in retrospect he regretted publishing his polemical replies on the veil out of concern that religious innovators might exploit those disagreements against al-Albani and his methodology.
Death
Al-Sindi died in 1418 AH (1997 CE).
Answer updated
List of Works
This specialized study in prophetic biography (sirah) and Hadith criticism evaluates the historical accounts of the Expedition of Tabuk through traditional chain-of-transmission (isnad) analysis.
This theological critique refutes the commendation given to the Sufi scholar and judge Yusuf al-Nabhani by Dr. Muhammad bin Alawi al-Maliki, while addressing al-Nabhani's theological stances regarding intercession, supplication, and Quranic exegesis.
This treatise examines the linguistic and technical definitions of the Sunnah, its doctrinal authority (hujjiyyah), and its role as the second source of Islamic legislation.
This specialized hadith treatise is dedicated to defending and explaining the narration concerning the order of creation recorded in Sahih Muslim.
This theological treatise refutes a contemporary work that conflated the theological methodology of early Muslim predecessors (al-Salaf) with that of later speculative theologians (al-Khalaf).
Ithaf al-Ahbab bima Thabata fi Masalat al-Hijab is a juridical treatise on the legal rulings regarding the Muslim woman's veil (hijab). Composed in response to an inquiry, the work addresses evidence from the Quran, the Sunnah, and scholarly consensus concerning what a woman may uncover in front of non-mahram men and her unmarriageable male kin.