Mohammad Abdul Ghafoor Hazarvi

Early life

Hazarvi was born in Chamba Village, Kot Najeebullah, North-West Frontier Province, British India. His father Maulana Abdul Hameed Hazarvi, an Islamic scholar, belonged to the Karlal Hindko tribe. He was a follower of the Chishti Order He was the elder of his four brothers and sisters. He started studies of Islamic law, Urdu, Persian and Arabic languages at the local maktab in Chamba Village, Abdul Ghafoor Hazarvi studied from the top scholars of his time including the most erudite of scholars Moulana Muhib-un-Nabi. He was the student of well known Islamic Scholar Moulana Mushtaq Ahmad Kanpuri, where he learned Islamic Jurisprudence and traditional Dars-i-Nizami. He completed the Dawra Hadith and Qur'anic exegesis with the Hamid Raza Khan the elder son of Ahmad Raza Khan in Madrasa Manzar-e-Islam, Bareily. Hamid Raza Khan gave this student of his khilafat, which is why Qadri is written on his gravestone. He became famous with the name which was kept by his grandfather Mohammad Aalam Hazarvi. It was the time when Hazarvi was attracted to Mathematics, and he studied the fundamental concepts in Mathematics in depth.

Pledge of allegiance and services

Hazarvi did Bay'ah on the hands of Pir Meher Ali Shah at the age of about 11 and asked him to pray that he could become a Mawlawi. Pir Meher Ali Shah said to him that "jaao! eik din tum bohot barei moulvi bano gei" (Mawlawi was the title used for Alim in those days).

At the age of 28, in 1937 Abdul Ghafoor Hazarvi went to Jeendhar Sharif, Gujrat, at the service of Uwais-e-Waqat Khawaja Gohar Munir Jeendharvi which was a great Sufi of the Uwaisi order, who devoted everything to his followers, due to this immense fayz (blessing), Hazarvi progressed rapidly through the stages of spiritual training and Tasawwuf. He conferred khilafah upon Hazarvi thus giving him permission to speak on behalf of the Uwaisi Order.

After taking the education he started the teaching Quran and Hadith in Madrasa Manzar-e-Islam in Bareilly, India. After then he taught Dars-i-Nizami in Jamia Khudam-ul-Sufiya in Gujrat, where he performed his duties as Mudarris. On (1935), Hazarvi established Jamia Nizamia Ghousia in Wazirabad, where he served as the Mohatmim and Khatib. Hazarvi was a great Mudarris and in the month of Ramadan especially he would teach Dowra Qur'an to advanced students over the 30 days.

Abdul Ghafoor Hazarvi being one of the best speakers in South Asia, he was a brilliant orator, and he had his gifted ability to answer and reply spontaneously. Many people would go "Mast" when he delivered his speeches. Ghazali-e-Zaman Syed Ahmad Saeed Kazmi Shah would consider himself uneducated in front of him. Hazarvi shared a close relationship with Muhaddith-e-Azam Pakistan Moulana Sardar Ahmad Qadri; both had studied under Hamid Raza Khan.

Hazarvi was the either the founding member of most Muslim organisations or was the part of them, such as Jamiat Ulema-e-Pakistan (JUP), Anjuman-e-Talaba-e-Islam (ATI), Majlis-e-Tahaffuz-e-Khatme Nabuwwat and All India Majlis-e-Ittehad-e-Millat later on merged in All-India Muslim League in 1940.

Muslim League & Patriotism

Abdul Ghafoor Hazarvi was a famous political and spiritual leader of Pakistan. He was one of the provincial delegates to the Lahore Resolution of the All India Muslim League session which he was participated on 22–24 March 1940. During the Pakistan Movement, Hazarvi was among the scholars who sided with Muhammad Ali Jinnah and the Muslim League, on the platform of "All India Sunni Conference″ held at Banaras in 1946. When Pakistan movement began for the independence of India, the Indian National Congress was supported by many Muslim scholars, leaders and the learned who were devotees of Indian nationality and stood side by side with the Hindu leaders. Abdul Ghafoor Hazarvi announced his assistance and loyalty to Qa’id A‘zam in the struggle to acquire Pakistan. After the passage of Lahore Resolution he gave an all out support to the Mohammad Ali Jinnah for the achievement of Pakistan. He made intensive tours of the country to generate support for the AIML. He advised his followers to work for the AIML and emphatically declared that he would not lead the funeral prayers of any devotee if he had not participated in the Pakistan Movement in any capacity. He was twice nominated as a member of the Council of Islamic Ideology, where he worked hard to Islamicize the existing laws. Abdul Ghafoor Hazarvi supported AIML during the elections 1945–46. His sincere campaign in the election of 1945–46 resulted in grand success of AIML candidates. During referendum in 1947 in NWFP he also visited the province and mustered his support for AIML.

In the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965, Abdul Ghafoor Hazarvi donated all the ornaments of his family to the Pakistan Army. He was twice nominated as a member of the Council of Islamic Ideology, where he worked hard to Islamicize the existing laws.

Agitation for democracy

During the Ayub era, nine prominent leaders belonging to different political parties were tried for mutiny under the Official Secret Act. The nine of them had decided to initiate a democratic movement; As a president of Jamiat Ulema-e-Pakistan Abdul Ghafoor Hazarvi was one of the nine. The trial lingered on for two years. Ultimately, the case was taken back by the government, for lack of evidence. In 1965, the joint opposition was organised, he was one of its central leaders. Along with other leaders of the COP, Hazarvi toured the two wings of the country (East and West Pakistan) to create mass awareness and organise a strong national democratic movement. The military ruler, president Muhammad Ayub Khan (1958–1969), banned political parties and warned Hazarvi against continued political activism. Jamiat Ulema-e-Pakistan supported the opposition party, the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM). In the 1964–1965 presidential elections, Hazarvi supported the opposition leader, Fatima Jinnah.

Opposition to other sects

Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of Qadian claimed to be the Mahdi (messiah) awaited by Muslims, as well as a Ummati Nabi, a subordinate prophet to Muhammed who brings no new Sharia but restores instead restore Islam to its pure form. These claims proved to be extremely controversial among many Muslims, and Hazarvi branded Mirza Ghulam Ahmad as a heretic and apostate and called him and his followers (Ahmadis) Kuffar. Hazarvi was also the founding member of Majlis-e-Tahaffuz-e-Khatme Nabuwwat, Pakistani nationalist Muslim political movement in Pakistan. He led a movement against Ahmadis and held a Khatme Nabuwwat Conference at Rabwah in 21–23 October 1953. Abdul Ghafoor Hazarvi was a central figure in the Khatme Nabuwwat Movement of 1953, which demanded that government of Pakistan declare the Ahmadis as non-Muslims. Hazarvi was active in the Khatme Nabuwwat movement.

Beliefs regarding Muhammad

Hazarvi have several beliefs regarding Muhammad's nature, which distinguish them from Deobandi, Salafi and Shia groups in South Asia:

Abdul Ghafoor Hazarvi's beliefs regarding Muhammad include that Muhammad, although human, possessed a nūr (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.

Hazarvi wrote:

We do not hold that anyone can equal the knowledge of Allah Most High, or possess it independently, nor do we assert that Allah's giving of knowledge to the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) is anything but a part. But what a patent and tremendous difference between one part [the Prophet's] and another [anyone else's]: like the difference between the sky and the earth, or rather even greater and more immense.

Practices

Works

Abdul Ghafoor Hazarvi wrote and translated numerous books on a variety of subjects. Amongst his famous works were his compilation of Manaqib-al-Jaleela, is a book on Islamic Jurisprudence.

Abdul Ghafoor Hazarvi's works include

1. Tahqiq-ul-Haq Fi Kalima-tul-Haq (The Truth about Kalima-tul-Haq)
2. Shamsul Hidayah
3. I'la Kalimatillah Fi Bayan-e-Wa Ma Uhilla Bihi Legharillah
4. AlFatuhat-us-Samadiyyah (Divine Bounties)
5. Tasfiah Mabain Sunni Wa Shi'ah
6. Majmua Fatawa

Ideology

Hazarvi's understanding of Islamic law has been presented concisely in his book Manaqib-al-Jaleela. Hazarvi's inspiration from his mentor, Ahmed Raza Khan Barelvi and non-traditionalist approach to the religion has parted him from traditionalist understanding on a number of issues, but he never goes out of the traditional framework.

Jihad

Hazarvi believes that there are certain directives of the Qur'an pertaining to war which were specific only to Muhammad and certain specified peoples of his times (particularly the progeny of Abraham: the Ishmaelites, the Israelites, and the Nazarites). Thus, Muhammad and his designated followers waged a war against Divinely specified peoples of their time (the polytheists and the Israelites and Nazarites of Arabia and some other Jews, Christians, et al.) as a form of Divine punishment and asked the polytheists of Arabia for submission to Islam as a condition for exoneration and the others for jizya and submission to the political authority of the Muslims for exemption from death punishment and for military protection as the dhimmis of the Muslims. Therefore, after Muhammad and his companions, there is no concept in Islam obliging Muslims to wage war for propagation or implementation of Islam. The only valid basis for jihad through arms is to end oppression when all other measures have failed. According to him Jihad can only be waged by an organised Islamic state. No person, party or group can take arms into their hands (for the purpose of waging Jihad) under any circumstances. Another corollary, in his opinion, is that death punishment for apostasy was also specifically for the recipients of the same Divine punishment during Muhammad's times—for they had persistently denied the truth of Muhammad's mission even after it had been made conclusively evident to them by God through Muhammad.

The formation of an Islamic state is not a religious obligation per se upon the Muslims. However, he believes that if and when Muslims form a state of their own, Islam does impose certain religious obligations on its rulers as establishment of the institution of salat (obligatory prayer), zakah (mandatory charity), and 'amr bi'l-ma'ruf wa nahi 'ani'l-munkar (preservation and promotion of society's good conventions and customs and eradication of social vices; this, in Hazarvi's opinion, should be done in modern times through courts, police, etc. in accordance with the law of the land which, as the government itself, must be based on the opinion of the majority).

The Qur'an states norms for male-female interaction in surah An-Nur. While in surah Al-Ahzab, there are special directives for wives of Muhammad and directives given to Muslim women to distinguish themselves when they were being harassed in Medina. The Qur'an has created a distinction between men and women only to maintain family relations and relationships.

Penal laws

Sources of Islam

Morals and ethics

Hazarvi is known for his stress on morals and ethics in Islam. He has raised concerns on moral and ethical issues in Muslims.

A translated snippet from his book "Ikhlaqiyat":

Death

He died on 9 October 1970, in the road accident at Wazirabad, Punjab, Pakistan.