Muhammad Bashir al-Sahsawani
- Died
- 1326 AH
- Born in
- -
Muhammad Bashir al-Sahsawani (c. 1250/1254–1326 AH / c. 1834/1838–1908 CE) was an Indian Muslim scholar, hadith specialist, and theologian known for his polemical and theological writings, most notably Siyanat al-Insan 'an Waswasat al-Shaykh Dahlan .
Lineage and Early Life
His full name was Muhammad Bashir ibn Muhammad Badr al-Din ibn Sadr al-Din al-'Umari al-Faruqi al-Sahsawani . He was born in Sahaswan, located in the Badaun district of northern India, around the middle of the thirteenth century AH, with reports placing his birth in approximately 1250 AH or 1254 AH (another report mentions Lucknow as his place of birth) . His father died when he was nine years old, and he had two older brothers and one younger brother .
Education and Teachers
Al-Sahsawani began his early studies in Sahaswan before traveling to Lucknow in 1273 AH, where he studied rational and traditional sciences under the Hanafi jurist al-Mufti Muhammad Wajid 'Ali ibn Ibrahim al-Banarasi as well as scholars of Farangi Mahall . He studied literature, philosophy, and mathematics under Hidayat Allah Khan al-Rampuri, and received instruction in Mathura from Hakim Nur al-Hasan al-Sahsawani .
He then moved to Delhi to complete his training in Quranic exegesis, hadith, and legal theory, studying under Sayyid Amir Hasan and hearing the Six Books of hadith from Nadhir Husayn (al-Sayyid Nadhir Husayn al-Dihlawi) . During his pilgrimage to Mecca, he received certifications and narrations from scholars residing there, including Ahmad ibn Ibrahim ibn Isa al-Najdi and Muhammad ibn 'Abd al-Rahman al-Saharanfuri, and he was granted an ijazah by the Yemeni hadith scholar Husayn ibn Muhsin al-Ansari .
Career and Students
Al-Sahsawani taught for one year in Sylhet in Assam and for one year in Sasaram before serving for fifteen years as an instructor of Arabic and Persian at Agra College in Agra (Akbarabad) . In 1295 AH (specifically 5 Muharram 1295 AH), the ruler and scholar Nawab Siddiq Hasan Khan invited him to the state of Bhopal, where al-Sahsawani was appointed director over all the religious schools (nizarat al-madaris) and taught for roughly twenty-five to thirty years . Later, he settled in Delhi, where he spent his final years teaching tafsir and hadith .
Among those who studied under him were his younger brother Hakim Mazhar 'Ali al-Sahsawani and the scholar Sayyid I'jaz Ahmad al-Sahsawani, who read classical manuals of legal theory and exegesis under his direction in Bhopal .
Scholarly Standing and Death
Al-Sahsawani was recognized by contemporaries as an authority in hadith, theology (kalam), and the principles of Islamic jurisprudence (usul al-fiqh), marked by personal piety and a deep acquaintance with early doctrinal views . Nawab Siddiq Hasan Khan held him in high esteem throughout his tenure in Bhopal .
His best-known work is Siyanat al-Insan 'an Waswasat al-Shaykh Dahlan ("The Protection of Man from the Whispers of Shaykh Dahlan"), a detailed theological polemic answering al-Durar al-Saniyya fi al-Radd 'ala al-Wahhabiyya by the Meccan Shafi'i mufti Ahmad Zayni Dahlan (which initially appeared under the pseudonym 'Abd Allah ibn 'Abd al-Rahman al-Sindi) . He also authored al-Haqq al-Sarih fi Ithbat Hayat al-Masih ("The Explicit Truth Concerning the Proof of the Life of the Messiah"), a refutation directed against the claims of the Ahmadiyya movement .
Al-Sahsawani died in Delhi on 29 Jumada al-Ula 1326 AH (June 1908 CE) .
Answer updated
List of Works
Siyanat al-Insan an Waswasat al-Shaykh Dahlan (The Protection of Man from the Whispers of Shaykh Dahlan) is a theological and polemical treatise composed in defense of the Najdi reform movement and in refutation of Ahmad Zayni Dahlan, the Shafi'i mufti of Mecca.