Muhammad Hifz al-Rahman al-Kamlayi
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Muhammad Hifz al-Rahman al-Kamlayi (b. 1377 AH / 1958 CE) is a contemporary Bangladeshi Hanafi jurist, mufti, and biographical historian, best known for his multi-volume biographical encyclopedia of Hanafi scholars, al-Budur al-Mudiya fi Tarajim al-Hanafiyya ("The Luminous Full Moons in the Biographies of the Hanafis") .
Lineage and early life
He is Muhammad Hifz al-Rahman ibn Muhibb al-Rahman ibn Samir al-Din (also vocalized in his introduction as Humayr al-Din) ibn Sulayman ibn 'Ali Mahmud ibn Fatan ibn Mahmud Husayn al-Miyanji al-Finuwa'i al-Kamlayi al-Bangladishi . He was born into a scholarly family on 26 Ramadan 1377 AH (16 April 1958 CE) in the Mawlawi Bari quarter of North Fenuwa village, in the Laksam region of Comilla, Bangladesh . His father, Muhibb al-Rahman, was a scholar and graduate of Darul Uloom Deoband under Husain Ahmad Madani, and his maternal grandfather, Ghiyath al-Din, was the head of the Islamic Madrasa in Noakhali and a disciple of Mahmud Hasan Deobandi .
Education and career
Al-Kamlayi received his primary religious training at home from his parents before enrolling in al-Madrasa al-Furqaniyya, an institution established near his home by his ancestor Aftab al-Din . He pursued higher Islamic studies at Al-Jamiatul Ahlia Darul Ulum Moinul Islam in Hathazari, Chittagong, from which he graduated . Following the completion of his training, he was appointed head of the Department of Legal Verdicts (Dar al-Ifta) at Jamia Rahmania Arabia in Dhaka .
At the encouragement of his mentor, the hadith critic Abd al-Rashid al-Nu'mani, al-Kamlayi undertook the composition of al-Budur al-Mudiya fi Tarajim al-Hanafiyya, compiling alphabetical biographical entries spanning the early Hanafi authorities to modern scholars across the Islamic world, with particular attention to South Asian figures . His broader legal and hadith treatises include Makanat Abi Hanifa fi al-Fiqh wa-al-Hadith ("The Status of Abu Hanifa in Jurisprudence and Hadith") and Ma Yanbaghi bihi al-'Inaya li-man Yutali' al-Hidaya ("What Deserves Care for Whoever Reads al-Hidaya") .
Scholarly reception
Al-Kamlayi's biographical and legal writings received commendations (taqariz) from prominent contemporary scholars of the Indian subcontinent. Among those who praised his biographical encyclopedia were Saeed Ahmad Palanpuri and Abul Qasim Nomani of Darul Uloom Deoband, Muhammad Aqil Saharanpuri of Mazahir Uloom, and Abd al-Salam al-Chatgami . Palanpuri noted the work's importance in highlighting the contributions of Hanafi authorities to hadith scholarship, while Muhammad 'Aqil commended its inclusion of lesser-known scholars alongside famous figures .
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List of Works
al-Budur al-Mudiya fi Tarajim al-Hanafiyya (The Luminous Full Moons in the Biographies of the Hanafis) is a multi-volume biographical encyclopedia of Hanafi jurists and traditionists. Spanning twenty-three volumes, including introductory material and indexes, the work gathers biographical notices preserved by earlier chroniclers while adding previously omitted scholars and later figures, with a particular emphasis on scholars of the Indian subcontinent and Bangladesh.