{{Short description|South African Muslim scholar and jurist (1963–2021)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=July 2023}} {{Use South African English|date=February 2020}} {{Infobox religious biography | honorific_prefix = [[Mufti]] | name = Ebrahim Desai | birth_date = {{birth date|1963|01|16|df=y}} | birth_place = [[Richmond, Natal]], South Africa | death_date = {{death date and age|2021|07|15|1963|01|16|df=y}} | death_place = [[Durban]], South Africa | religion = [[Islam]] | citizenship = <!-- use only when necessary per [[WP:INFONAT]] --> | denomination = [[Sunni]] | jurisprudence = [[Hanafi]] | movement = [[Deobandi]]<ref>{{cite book |author1=Goran Larsson |title=Muslims and the New Media: Historical and Contemporary Debates |date=2016 |publisher=[[Routledge]] |page=105 |isbn=978-1-317-09103-5 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=W8QFDAAAQBAJ&q=Ebrahim+desai&pg=PA105}}</ref> | alma_mater = [[Jamiah Islamiah Talimuddin Dabhel]] | known_for = [[Askimam]] | disciple_of = [[Mahmood Hasan Gangohi]] | notable_works = {{bulleted list|list_style=margin-left:0;|''Commentary on Qaseedah Burdah''|''Introduction to Hadīth''|''Introduction to Islamic Commerce''}} | main_interests = [[Fiqh]] | founder = Darul Iftaa Mahmudiyyah }}
'''Ebrahim Desai''' (16 January 1963 – 15 July 2021) was a South African Muslim scholar and jurist who established the Darul Iftaa Mahmudiyyah, the [[Askimam]] [[fatwa|fatawa]] portal and served as the senior professor of [[hadith]] at [[Madrasah In'aamiyyah]]. He was an alumnus of [[Jamiah Islamiah Talimuddin Dabhel]] and ranked among [[The 500 Most Influential Muslims]]. He authored books including ''Commentary on Qaseedah Burdah'', ''Introduction to Hadīth'' and ''Introduction to Islamic Commerce''.
==Biography== Ebrahim Desai was born on 16 January 1963, in [[Richmond, KwaZulu-Natal|Richmond]], [[Natal (province)|Natal]].<ref>{{cite news |title=جنوبی افریقہ کے مشہور مفتی ابراھیم ڈیسائی صاحب کا 15 جولائی کو ڈربن میں انتقال ہوا |trans-title= Famous South African Mufti Ebrahim Desai passes away in Durban|url=https://www.sqnews.in/2021/07/MuftiIbrahimDesayi.html |access-date=16 July 2021 |work=Sadaye Haq News |date=16 July 2021}}</ref> He memorized the [[Hafiz (Quran)|Quran]] at the Waterval Islamic Institute and studied traditional [[Dars-i Nizami]] course at the [[Jamia Islamia Talimuddin]] in [[Gujarat]], India.{{Sfn|Farhana|2015|p=14, 19}} He specialized in Islamic jurisprudence under [[Ahmed Khanpuri]].{{Sfn|Farhana|2015|p=14, 19}} He also studied with the former Grand Mufti of [[Darul Uloom Deoband]], [[Mahmood Hasan Gangohi]], the author of the multi-volume ''Fatawa Mahmudiyyah'' and became his authorized disciple in [[Sufism]].{{Sfn|Farhana|2015|p=14, 19}}<ref>{{cite book |title=Hadhrat Mufti Mahmood HasanGangohi - His Life And Works |publisher=Talimi Board |page=67 |url=https://archive.org/stream/akabir/HadhratMuftiMahmoodHasanGangohi-HisLifeAndWorksByTalimiBoardKzn#page/n90/mode/1up |accessdate=16 July 2021}}</ref>
Desai taught at the Madrasah Ta῾līmuddīn, in [[Isipingo Beach]] for ten years, and headed the Fatwa department of the Jamiatul Ulama [[Kwazulu Natal]].<ref name="baseerat">{{cite news |title=جنوبی افریقہ کے مشہور مفتی ابراھیم ڈیسائی صاحب کا 15 جولائی کو انتقال ہواـ پچھلے کئی روز سے ان کی طبیعت خراب چل رہی تھی. |trans-title= South African Mufti Ebrahim Desai passes away |url=https://www.baseeratonline.com/151024 |access-date=16 July 2021 |work=Baseerat Online |date=16 July 2021 |language=ur}}</ref><ref name="afshan">{{cite journal |title=When can Muslims withdraw or withhold life support? A narrative review of Islamic juridical rulings |year=2020 |doi=10.1080/11287462.2020.1736243 |last1=Mohiuddin |first1=Afshan |last2=Suleman |first2=Mehrunisha |last3=Rasheed |first3=Shoaib |last4=Padela |first4=Aasim I. |journal=Global Bioethics |volume=31 |issue=1 |pages=29–46 |pmid=32284707 |pmc=7144300 }}</ref> He served as the senior professor of [[hadith]] at the [[Madrasah In'aamiyyah]] for another ten years, and headed its Darul Ifta.<ref name="baseerat" /><ref name="afshan"/> In March 2008, he travelled to [[Hong Kong]] to lecture students at the [[Islamic Kasim Tuet Memorial College]].<ref>{{cite news |title=Talk by Islamic Scholar from South Africa |url=http://www.iktmc.edu.hk/events/20080326a.htm |access-date=15 July 2021 |work=IKTMC |date=26 March 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110625162750/http://www.iktmc.edu.hk/events/20080326a.htm |archive-date=25 June 2011 }}</ref> In 2011, he shifted to [[Durban]] and established the Darul Iftaa Mahmudiyyah in [[Sherwood, Durban|Sherwood]].<ref name="baseerat" /> He taught ''[[Sahih Bukhari]]'' at Darul Uloom Nu'maniyyah and headed the Darul Iftaa Mahmudiyyah, that he established in Sherwood.<ref name="daruliftaa" /> In 2000, he started the [[Askimam|Ask Imam Fatawa Portal]], an online Islamic questions and answers database, which is thought to have given him an international prominence.<ref name="sisler">{{cite journal |author1=VÍT ŠISLER |title=EUROPEAN COURTS ́ AUTHORITY CONTESTED? THE CASE OF MARRIAGE AND DIVORCE FATWAS ON-LINE |journal=Masaryk University Journal of Law and Technology |date=March 2010 |volume=3 |issue=1 |pages=65, 67 |url=https://journals.muni.cz/mujlt/article/view/2525}}</ref>{{Sfn|Farhana|2015|p=51}} According to V. Šisler, "Ebrahim Desai exemplifies a scholar who, although being trained in non-[[Azhar University|Azhari]] institution outside of the Arab world, gained global recognition mainly through mass support accumulated via information and communication technology."<ref name="sisler"/>
Desai served as the chairman of FNB Islamic Finance's Shari’ah Board.<ref>{{cite news |title=Entire FNB Islamic Finance board quits |url=https://businesstech.co.za/news/banking/17152/entire-fnb-islamic-finance-board-quits/ |access-date=15 July 2021 |date=7 July 2012}}</ref> He started the Sharī῾ah Compliant Business Campaign in 2002 to provide "a conference to tackle contemporary business matters in Islamic Commerce and Finance", according to the website of Darul Iftaa Mahmudiyyah.<ref name="daruliftaa">{{cite web |title=About Mufti Ebrahim Desai |url=https://daruliftaa.net/about-mufti-ebrahim-desai/ |publisher=Darul Iftaa |access-date=15 July 2021}}</ref> He was featured among [[The 500 Most Influential Muslims]] compiled by the [[Royal Islamic Strategic Studies Centre]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Ebrahim Desai |url=https://themuslim500.com/profiles/ebrahim-desai/ |website=themuslim500.com |publisher=[[Royal Islamic Strategic Studies Centre]] |access-date=16 July 2021}}</ref> [[Namira Nahouza]] referred to him as the "South African Grand Mufti of Indian descent."<ref>{{cite book|last=Nahouza|first=Namira|authorlink=Namira Nahouza|title=Wahhabism and the Rise of the New Salafists: Theology, Power and Sunni Islam|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nyaODwAAQBAJ&pg=PA119|year=2018|publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing|isbn=978-1-83860-983-2|page=119}}</ref> His students include Abrar Mirza, Faisal al-Mahmudi and Husain Kadodia.<ref name="chenab"/><ref>{{cite web |title=Biography of Mufti Husain Kadodia |url=https://daruliftaamw.com/biographies/mufti-husain-kadodia/ |publisher=Darul Iftaa Malawi |access-date=26 July 2021 |quote=Upon returning from Mauritania, he enrolled in the Ifta course at Madrasah In’amiyyah in Camperdown, South Africa under Mufti Ebrahim Desai. He successfully completed the Takhassus fi’ al-Ifta course which culminated in his answering of approximately 1,500 fatwas.}}</ref> Farhana in her research study indicates that "Desai himself was arguably a master teacher to the students of Darul Ifta Mahmudiyyah, the institution where he taught and from where all his fatwas were generated. A survey of the structure of the fatwas on [[askimam]].org in 2011 revealed that while Desai's students hail from different geographical locations, they generate the bulk of fatwas, and as master teacher he was the final authority, as indicated by the closing line at the end of each fatwa: 'checked and approved by Mufti Ebrahim Desai'."{{Sfn|Farhana|2015|p=19}}
Desai died on 15 July 2021, in [[Durban]].<ref name="chenab">{{cite news |title=Famous Fatwah Portal Ask Imam's Mufti Ebrahim Desai passes away |url=https://thechenabtimes.com/2021/07/16/famous-fatwah-portal-ask-imams-mufti-ebrahim-desai-passes-away/ |access-date=16 July 2021 |work=The Chenab Times |date=16 July 2021}}</ref> [[Abdur Rahman ibn Yusuf Mangera]], [[Muhammad ibn Adam Al-Kawthari]], [[Omar Suleiman (imam)|Omar Suleiman]] and [[Yasir Nadeem al Wajidi]] expressed grief over his death.<ref name="chenab"/>
==Literary works== Desai's religious edicts have been published as ''Contemporary Fatawa'' in four volumes.<ref name="baseerat" /> His other works include:<ref name="chenab"/><ref name="daruliftaa"/> * ''Al-Mahmood'' (Collection of his religious edicts) * ''Imam Bukhari and his famous Al-Jāmi Al-Sahīh'' * ''Introduction to Hadīth'' * ''Introduction to Islamic Commerce'' * ''Commentary on Qaseedah Burdah'' == See also == * [[Deobandi movement in South Africa]] * [[List of Deobandis]]
== References == ===Citations=== {{Reflist}}
===Bibliography=== {{refbegin}} * {{cite thesis |last1=Farhana |first1=Ismail |title=An analysis of the discursive representations of women's sexual agency in online fatwas: a case study of askimam.org |date=2015 |publisher=[[University of KwaZulu-Natal]] |url=https://researchspace.ukzn.ac.za/handle/10413/14487 |accessdate=25 May 2020}} {{refend}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Desai, Ebrahim}} {{authority control}} [[Category:1963 births]] [[Category:2021 deaths]] [[Category:Jamia Islamia Talimuddin alumni]] [[Category:Deobandis]] [[Category:South African Muslims]] [[Category:South African people of Indian descent]] [[Category:South African Sunni Muslim scholars of Islam]] [[Category:South African imams]] [[Category:Muftis]]