al-Muttaqi al-Hindi
- Died
- 975 AH
- Born in
- -
al-Muttaqi al-Hindi (885–975 AH / 1480–1567 CE) was an Indian-born hadith scholar, jurist, and Sufi master who settled in the Hijaz and is best known for his encyclopedic hadith compendium Kanz al-Ummal fi Sunan al-Aqwal wa al-Afal ("The Treasure of the Doers regarding the Sunnah of Sayings and Deeds") .
Lineage and early life
His full name was Ala al-Din Ali ibn Husam al-Din Abd al-Malik ibn Qadi Khan al-Qurashi al-Jawnpuri al-Burhanpuri . His family originated from Jaunpur, and he was born in Burhanpur in 885 AH; another report gives 888 AH . As a youth, his father placed him under the spiritual guidance of Shaykh Baha al-Din al-Sufi al-Burhanpuri, and upon reaching adulthood he received the Sufi cloak (khirqa) from Baha al-Din's son, Abd al-Hakim . Seeking further instruction, he traveled across India to Multan, where he studied under Shaykh Husam al-Din al-Muttaqi al-Multani for two years, reading works such as Tafsir al-Baydawi and Ayn al-Ilm; it was from his teacher Husam al-Din that he received the epithet "al-Muttaqi" ("the Pious") . He also spent time in Ahmedabad during the reign of Sultan Bahadur Shah .
Migration to the Hijaz, teachers, and students
He migrated to the Two Holy Sanctuaries, residing first in Medina before settling permanently in Mecca . In Mecca, he studied under scholars such as Abu al-Hasan al-Bakri and Ibn Hajar al-Haytami; Ibn Hajar initially taught him and later became his student in Sufism, taking the spiritual cloak from him . His spiritual affiliations included the Chishti Order, Qadiri Order, and Shadhili Order .
A large circle of students studied under him in Mecca, most notably his close disciple Abd al-Wahhab al-Muttaqi, who accompanied him for twelve years and succeeded him in teaching . Other prominent students included the Hanafi scholar Mulla Ali al-Qari, who praised him as an exemplary spiritual master in his works, and the Indian hadith scholar Muhammad ibn Tahir al-Patani .
Scholarly contribution and standing
His most celebrated scholarly achievement was the thematic and legal restructuring of the massive hadith compendia compiled by Jalal al-Din al-Suyuti—specifically Jam al-Jawami and al-Jami al-Saghir—reorganizing them into jurisprudential chapters to facilitate legal reference, culminating in his major work Kanz al-Ummal . This led his teacher Abu al-Hasan al-Bakri to state: "Al-Suyuti placed an obligation upon the worlds, and al-Muttaqi placed an obligation upon al-Suyuti" . Among his other writings on tradition and doctrine was al-Burhan fi Alamat Mahdi Akhir al-Zaman ("The Clear Proof on the Signs of the Mahdi of the End Times") .
Scholars widely praised his piety and asceticism. When Abd al-Wahhab al-Sharani visited him in Mecca in 947 AH, he described him as intensely devoted to worship, observing long silences and seclusion, and maintaining a household where poor disciples were accommodated in separate quarters for Quranic recitation, dhikr, and study . His prominence attracted veneration from rulers; Sultan Mahmud of Gujarat held him in high regard, and the Ottoman Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent sent offerings to be distributed through him to scholars and the needy in the Hijaz . His contemporary Abd al-Qadir al-Fakihi dedicated a biographical work to him entitled al-Qawl al-Naqi fi Manaqib al-Muttaqi .
Death
He died in Mecca before dawn on Tuesday, 2 Jumada al-Ula 975 AH (another report places his death around 977 AH), at the age of eighty-seven, while other reports state he had passed eighty-five or reached ninety years of age . He was buried later that morning in the Jannat al-Mu'alla cemetery at the foot of the mountain opposite the tomb of Fudayl ibn Iyad .
Answer updated
List of Works
Kanz al-Ummal fi Sunan al-Aqwal wa al-Afal (The Treasure of the Doers regarding the Sunnah of Sayings and Deeds) is an encyclopedic hadith compendium that reorganizes the comprehensive hadith collections of Jalal al-Din al-Suyuti according to legal and thematic chapters.