Shah
waliallah muhaddith dehlawi1 was born in
21st February 1703. It was at the end of reign of Aurangeb and the
time of waning of Muslim power in subcontinent. Aurangzeb died in 3rd
march 1707 literally the sun of Mughal rule set down. Shah waliullah’s
childhood and boyhood passed through in such a time when the Muslims were
facing a social and political turmoil. They were not only losing their social
and political identity but also being far from Islamic rituals. Shah waliullah started recitation and
memorization of holy Quran at the age of five and completed it by the age of
seven. His father was his teacher. He taught him different school of learning
and at the age of seventeen when his father died he became a mudarris
(teacher). He started teaching at the madrasha of rahimiyya2
established by his father. He was there for 12 years. In 1731 he started for Mecca3
to perform holy hajj and reached there in 21st may. After performing
hajj and learning a lot on Quran and Hadith he came back to Delhi on January 1,
1733.
He
was a great Islamic scholar and became very famous for his writings and oratory
in his life time. Among his prolific writings the most notable was translation
of Quran into Persi, Hazzatallahil Baligha, Ijtihad (independent interpretation
: whether it is obligatory for a Muslim to adhere to one of the four schools of
Islamic jurisprudence or whether one can exercise his own judgment) and Taqlid
(conformity) etc. He tried his level best to enrich the morale and lifestyle of
the Muslims of subcontinent. He died on August 20, 1762.
Born
on 1745, Shah Abdul Aziz4, the eldest son of shah waliullah,
was one of the greatest Islamic scholars in the sub-continent. He successfully
played the role of his father for the last days of his life. He wrote many
books. Among them Fatawa-i-Aziz, Tafsir-i-Aziz, Tawba Ithna Ashari were the
most famous books. After his father he was considered as the greatest scholar
and muhaddith of the subcontinent. The proverb “like father like son” is really
true for him.
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