Ahmed Raza Khan Fazil-e-Barelvi (Urdu: احمد رضاخان, (1856–1921 CE) was a Sunni Islamic scholar and sufi, whose works influenced the Barelvi movement of South Asia.Raza Khan wrote on numerous topics, including law, religion, philosophy and the sciences. He was a prolific writer, producing nearly 1,000 works in his lifetime.
Early life
Ahmed Raza Khan was born on 14 June 1856 (1272 AH) in Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh, India. His father was Naqi Ali Khan, and his great-grandfather Kazim Ali Khan was a scholar from Kabul.
Ahmed's mother named him Amman Miyān. Raza Khan used the appellation "Abdul Mustafa" (slave of Mustafa) prior to signing his name in correspondence. He studied Islamic sciences and completed a traditional Dars-i-Nizami course under the supervision of his father Naqī Áli Khān, who was a legal scholar.He went on the Hajj with his father in 1878.
Beliefs
Ahmed Raza Khan promulgated several beliefs regarding the Islamic prophet Muhammad:- Muhammad, although human, possessed a noor (light) that predates creation. This contrasts with the Deobandi view that Muhammad was insan-e-kamil ("the complete man"), a respected but physically typical human.
- He is haazir naazir (can be present in many places at the same time, as opposed to God, who is everywhere by definition).
- God has granted him ilm-e-ghaib (the knowledge of the unseen). and on this matter he states:
- God has made him mukhtaar kul (having the authority to do whatever he desired).
Quran and hadith studies
Ahmed Raza Khan translated the Quran into Urdu, which was first published in 1912 under the title of Kanz ul-Iman fi Tarjuma al-Qur’an. The original manuscript is preserved in the library of Idara Tahqiqat-i-Imam Ahmed Raza, Karachi, and an English translation of Kanzul Iman has also been published. Ahmed Raza Khan also wrote several books on the collection and compilation of hadiths.Fatwas
Raza Khan's main work was Fatawa Ridawiyya which runs in 27 volumes of over 1000 pages each. The Raza Foundation under the leadership of Abdul Qayyum Hazarwi revised the work, translating all the Persian and Arabic sentences in Urdu, and published it in 30 volumes, running across 90,000 pages.Religious research
Raza Khan investigated numerous religious questions:- In 1915 he wrote a treatise describing 160 types of water which are acceptable for wudu (ablution), and 146 types of proscribed water.
- He identified 181 acceptable and 130 unacceptable materials for tayammum (alternatives to water for ablution).
- He was able to fill up the Naqsh-i-Murabba (a sixteen column quadrilateral) by 1152 methods.
- He knew 800 names of Muhammad from books, and was able to gather 1400 more.
- He analysed whether it was credible that Hussain was able to travel from Mecca to Kerbala on 3rd Zilhij and reach there on 2nd of Moharram. He investigated the types of horse, the loads they carried, the route of the caravan, the types of terrain, and other factors, and finally concluded that the caravan could feasibly have reached Kerbala by the 2nd.
Works in physics
Raza Khan opposed the belief in a heliocentric universe, instead stating that the sun and moon circulate around the Earth.Works in economics
Raza through his book published in 1912, presented four points for the economic development of Muslims:- Barring the affairs wherein government is involved, Muslims should decide all their disputes mutually so that millions of rupees, which are being spent over litigations, may be saved.
- The affluent Muslims of Bombay (Mumbai), Calcutta, Rangoon, Madras and Hyderabad should open banks for other poor Muslims.
- Muslims should not purchase anything from anybody except Muslims.
- The sciences of Islam should be propagated and publicized.
Antagonism towards Mirza Ghulam Ahmad and the Ahmadiyya Cult
Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of Qadian claimed to be the Mahdi (messiah) awaited by the Muslims as well as a new prophet. These claims proved to be extremely controversial among many in the Muslim community, and he was branded a heretic and apostate by many religious scholars of the time, including Ahmed Raza Khan. Ghulam Ahmad's claims are controversial to this day, but his Mahdi status and prophethood is believed in by the Ahmadiyya religion. Some Muslim countries, such as Pakistan in 1974, have officially declared the Ahmadiyya non-Muslims.When Ahmed Raza visited Mecca and Medina for pilgrimage in 1905, he prepared a draft document entitled Al Motamad Al Mustanad ("The Reliable Proofs") for presentation to the scholars of Mecca and Medina. Ahmed Raza Khan collected opinions of the ulama of the Hejaz and compiled them in an Arabic language compendium with the title, Husam al Harmain ("The Sword of Two Sanctuaries"), a work containing 34 verdicts from 33 ulama (20 Meccan and 13 Medinese). The work concluded that Ghulam Ahmad's beliefs were blasphemous and tantamount to apostasy.
maslak-e-aala hazrat.............zindabad
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