Muhammad Rafi Usmani

Muḥammad Rafi Usmānī was born on 21 July 1936 into the Usmani family of Deoband, in the Indian town of Deoband.[2] He was named Muḥammad Rafī by Ashraf Ali Thanwi.[3] Usmāni's father Muhammad Shafi Deobandi was a Grand Mufti of Darul Uloom Deoband and one of the pioneer figures of Pakistan Movement.[4] He is the elder brother of Muhammad Taqi Usmani.[5]

Usmānī memorized half of the Quran at Darul Uloom Deoband, and migrated to Pakistan on 1 May 1948.[6] He completed memorizing the Quran at the Masjid Bab al-Islam in Aram Bagh, and recited the last lesson with the Palestanian Grand Mufti, Amin al-Husseini.[7] He entered the Darul Uloom Karachi in 1951, and graduated in the traditional "dars-e-nizami" in 1960.[7] In 1378 AH, he passed the "molvi" and "munshi" (also known as "Molvi Fazil"[7]) examinations from University of the Punjab.[6][7] He specialized in Islamic jurisprudence (ifta) at Darul Uloom Karachi in 1960.[6]

Usmānī studied Sahih Bukhari with Rashid Ahmed Ludhianvi, Sahih Muslim with Akbar Ali Saharanpuri, Muwatta Imam Muhammad and Sunan Nasai with Sahban Mehmood, Sunan Abu Dawood with Ri'ā'yatullah and Jami' al-Tirmidhi with Saleemullah Khan.[8] He studied parts of Sunan ibn Majah with Muhammad Haqīq, and completed studying it under the tutelage of Ri'ā'yatullah.[8]

Usmāni is authorized to transmit hadith by Hasan bin Muhammad al-Musyath, Muhammad Idris Kandhlawi, Muhammad Shafi Deobandi, Muhammad Tayyib Qasmi, Muhammad Zakariyya Kandhlawi and Zafar Ahmad Usmani.[9]

In the late 1980s, Usmānī participated in the jihad against the Soviets with the group Harkat-ul-Jihad al-Islami (HUJI).[10] From 1988 to 1991, he published his jihad memoirs in the Urdu monthly of Darul Uloom Karachi, Al-Balagh, as well in the Urdu daily Jang and the Urdu monthly al-Irshad belonging to HUJI. These jihad memoirs were later published into a book titled Ye Tere Pur-Asrār Bande (transl. These Incredible Servants of Yours).[11]

Usmānī has been a member of All Pakistan Ulema Council, Council of Islamic Ideology, Ruet-e-Hilal Committee and Zakat Council of the Government of Sindh.[12] He was an advisor to Shariat Appellate Bench, Supreme Court of Pakistan.[12] He served as a member of the examinations committee of Wifaq ul Madaris Al-Arabia.[12] Usmani was a syndicate member of the NED University of Engineering & Technology.[12]He is a syndicate member of the University of Karachi, and a member of the executive council of Wifaq ul Madaris Al-Arabia.[13]

Usmānī succeeded Abdul Hai Arifi as the president of Darul Uloom Karachi.[14] At Darul Uloom Karachi, he taught all the books related to "dars-e-nizami" from 1380 AH to 1390 AH. Since 1391 AH, he has been teaching the sciences of "hadith" and "ifta" in the seminary.[15] He teaches Sahih Muslim in the Darul Uloom Karachi, and trains the students of Islamic jurisprudence.[6]

He always asked students to keep a distance from politics.[16]

Usmāni has authored about 27 books in Arabic and Urdu.[17] His books include:[17]

• Ahkām-e-Zakāt
• Alāmāt-i qiyāmat aur nuzūl-i Masīḥ
• Al-Tālīqāt al-nāfi'ah alā fath al-mulhim
• Bai al-wafā
• Europe ke tīn mu'āshi nizām, jāgīrdāri, sarmāyadāri, ishtirākiyat awr unka tārikhi pas-e-manzar. Its English translation is published separately as The three systems of economics in Europe: feudalism, capitalism, socialism and their historical background.
• Ilm al-Sīgha, This book is taught in the "dars-e-nizami" curriculum in the madrasas of India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, England, South Africa and United States of America.
• Islām mai aurat ki hukmrāni
• Ḥayāt-i Muftī-yi Aʻẓam
• Kitābat-e-Hadees ahd-e-risālat o ahd-e-sahāba mai
• Mere murshid Ḥaẓrat-i ʻĀrifī
• Nawādir al-Fiqh

• 2020 International Maturidi Conference

• Blackwater involved in Karachi catastrophe, says Mufti Usmani (Muharram 2009 blasts in Karachi) Geo TV News, Published 30 December 2009, Retrieved 13 March 2020