al-Kashmiri
- Died
- 1353 AH
- Born in
- -
Anwar Shah al-Kashmiri (1292–1353 AH / 1875–1933 CE) was an Indian hadith scholar and Hanafi jurist who served as the senior hadith instructor at Dar al-Ulum Deoband and the Islamic university in Dabhel .
Lineage and Early Life
His full lineage is Muhammad Anwar Shah ibn Mu'azzam Shah ibn Abd al-Kabir ibn Abd al-Khaliq ibn Muhammad Akbar ibn Muhammad Arif ibn Haydar ibn Ali ibn Abd Allah ibn Mas'ud al-Husayni al-Hanafi al-Kashmiri . His ancestors originally migrated from Baghdad to Multan, then moved to Lahore, and finally settled in Kashmir .
He was born on 27 Shawwal 1292 AH (described in another report as three days remaining in Shawwal) in the village of Wadwan in Kashmir . He was raised in a scholarly household and began his studies under his father, who instructed him in elementary primers, as well as under Ghulam Rasul al-Hazarwi . He then traveled to Bakli to study jurisprudence, legal theory, and logic .
Education and Teaching Career
At the age of seventeen, in 1310 AH, he traveled to Deoband and enrolled in Dar al-Ulum Deoband, graduating in 1313 AH . His primary teachers included Ishaq al-Amratsari, Khalil Ahmad al-Saharanpuri, and Mahmud Hasan al-Deobandi, receiving hadith licenses from Mahmud Hasan and Rashid Ahmad al-Gangohi .
After completing his studies, he taught at al-Madrasa al-Aminiyya in Delhi for a period . In 1323 AH, he traveled to the Hijaz to perform the pilgrimage and visit the holy sanctuaries, where he also received hadith transmissions . He later served as the chief instructor of hadith at Dar al-Ulum Deoband . In 1346 AH, he departed Deoband alongside scholars including Shabbir Ahmad al-Uthmani and Mufti Aziz al-Rahman al-Uthmani, moving to the Jamia Islamia in Dabhel (Surat), where he taught hadith until near the end of his life .
Among his prominent students were Muhammad Yusuf al-Banuri, Muhammad Badr Alam al-Mirti, Ahmad Rida al-Bijnori, and Muhammad Siddiq al-Najibabadi . His classroom dictations and lectures were transcribed by several of his students, producing works such as Fayd al-Bari ala Sahih al-Bukhari, compiled and edited by al-Mirti, and Al-Urf al-Shadhi Sharh Sunan al-Tirmidhi, compiled by Muhammad Chiragh al-Banjani .
Scholarly Standing and Creedal Positions
He was noted for his photographic memory, extensive reading, and command of both transmitted and rational disciplines . In theological matters regarding divine attributes, he affirmed the reality of reports such as the divine descent (nuzul) while consigning their specific modality and detailed reality to God (tafwid al-kayf wa-l-tafsil), rejecting speculative interpretation (ta'wil) driven by pure intellect .
Death
He died in 1353 AH (with one report stating 1352 AH) .
Answer updated
List of Works
Fayd al-Bari ala Sahih al-Bukhari is an Arabic commentary on Sahih al-Bukhari based on scholarly lectures and dictations (amali), compiled and edited by Muhammad Badr Alam al-Mirti. The work presents detailed verifications and explanations delivered during instruction of the hadith collection, accompanied by al-Mirti's marginal supercommentary, al-Badr al-Sari ila Fayd al-Bari.
al-Tasrih bima Tawatar fi Nuzul al-Masih is a specialized hadith compendium aimed at demonstrating the mass-transmitted status (tawatur) of narrations concerning the bodily ascent and end-times descent of Jesus ('Isa). The work gathers prophetic traditions and early reports to establish this descent as a definitive tenet of Islamic eschatology, arranged alongside accounts of related eschatological events.
Ikfar al-Mulhidin fi Daruriyyat al-Din is an Arabic theological treatise that establishes the boundaries of Islamic creed. Written to clarify contentious theological issues, the work defines what constitutes an essential tenet of faith (daruri min daruriyyat al-din) and details the criteria under which figurative interpretation (ta'wil) ceases to be a valid excuse and leads to excommunication (takfir).
Al-Urf al-Shadhi Sharh Sunan al-Tirmidhi is an Arabic commentary on al-Tirmidhi's hadith collection Jami al-Tirmidhi, transcribed and assembled from classroom lectures and dictations. It focuses primarily on explaining the legal meanings of hadiths, resolving difficult reports, and presenting and defending the textual evidence of the Hanafi school against objections.