{{short description|British Indian Muslim Scholar (d. 1928)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=January 2023}} {{Use Indian English|date=January 2023}} {{Infobox officeholder | honorific_prefix = Shamsul Ulama, Mawlana | name = Hafiz Muhammad Ahmad | birth_date = 1862 | birth_place = [[Nanauta]], [[British India]] | death_date = {{death date and age|df=y|1928|10|18|1862}} | death_place = [[Nizamabad Junction railway station|Nizamabad railway station]], British India | office1 = 8th [[List of Mohtamims of Darul Uloom Deoband|Vice Chancellor of Darul Uloom Deoband]] | predecessor1 = Muhammad Munir Nanautavi | successor1 = [[Habibur Rahman Usmani]] | term_start1 = 1895 | term_end1 = 1928 | office2 = [[Grand Mufti]] of [[Hyderabad State]] | term_start2 = 1922 | term_end2 = 1925 | father = [[Muhammad Qasim Nanautavi]] | children = [[Muhammad Tayyib Qasmi]] | relatives = [[Muhammad Salim Qasmi]] (grandson), [[Muhammad Sufyan Qasmi]] (great grandson) }} '''Hafiz Muhammad Ahmad''' (also known as '''Muhammad Ahmad Nanautawi''') (1862–1928) was an Indian Muslim scholar, who served as the [[List of Vice Chancellors of Darul Uloom Deoband|vice chancellor]] of the [[Darul Uloom Deoband]] for thirty five years. He was the [[Grand Mufti]] of the [[Hyderabad State]] from 1922 to 1925.
==Early life and education== Ahmad was born in 1862 in [[Nanauta]] into the [[Siddiqi family of Nanauta|Siddiqi family]]; his father was Islamic scholar [[Muhammad Qasim Nanautawi]].<ref name="sawaneh">{{cite book |last1=Gīlānī |first1=Manāzir Ahsan |authorlink1=Manazir Ahsan Gilani |title=Sawānih Qāsmi |trans-title=Biography of Qāsim|publisher=Maktaba Darul Uloom Deoband |location=[[Deoband]]|volume=1|language=Urdu |page=113}}</ref> He attended Madrasa Manba-ul-Ulum in Gulauthi and then [[Madrasa Shahi]] in [[Moradabad]]. He later returned to [[Darul Uloom Deoband]] where he studied with [[Mahmud Hasan Deobandi]]. He studied parts of the ''[[Jami` at-Tirmidhi]]'' with [[Muhammad Yaqub Nanautawi]] and specialized in [[hadith]] with [[Rashid Ahmad Gangohi]].<ref name="gail">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gAW8GreFqjkC&q=Hafiz+Muhammad+Ahmad&pg=PA27 |accessdate=5 June 2020|title=The Khilafat Movement: Religious Symbolism and Political Mobilization in India|isbn=9780231050722|last1=Minault|first1=Gail|year=1982|publisher=Columbia University Press }}</ref><ref name="history">{{cite book |author1=[[Syed Mehboob Rizwi]] |translator=Prof. Murtaz Husain F. Quraishi |title=History of The Dar al-Ulum Deoband (Volume 2) |publisher=Idara-e-Ehtemam, [[Darul Uloom Deoband|Dar al-Ulum Deoband]] |pages=37–38, 170–174|edition=1981 |url=https://archive.org/download/2VolumeBookOnTheHistoryOfDarAlUlumDeoband/HistoryOfTheDarulUloomDeoband-VolumeTwo1981.pdf |accessdate=9 May 2020}}</ref> He was a disciple of [[Imdadullah Muhajir Makki]].<ref name="tayyabqasmi">{{cite book |last1=Tayyib |first1=Qari Muhammad |authorlink1=Qari Muhammad Tayyib |editor1-last=Bukhari |editor1-first=Akbar Shah |title=50 Misaali Shaksiyaat |trans-title=50 Exemplar personalities |url=https://www.rekhta.org/ebooks/detail/darul-uloom-deoband-ki-pachaas-misali-shakhsiyaat-qari-mohammad-tayyab-ebooks |publisher=Maktaba Faiz-ul-Qur'an |location=[[Deoband]] |page=95 |date=July 1999 |language=Urdu}}</ref>
==Career== At [[Darul Uloom Deoband]], he taught ''[[Mishkat al-Masabih]]'', ''[[Tafsir al-Jalalayn]]'', ''[[Sahih Muslim]]'', ''[[Sunan ibn Majah]]'' for ten years, and served as vice chancellor for 35 years.<ref name="tayyab">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YjoMCAAAQBAJ&q=hafiz+muhammad+ahmad+deoband&pg=PT355 |accessdate=9 May 2020|title=Rethinking Islamic Studies: From Orientalism to Cosmopolitanism|isbn=9781611172317|last1=Ernst|first1=Carl W.|last2=Martin|first2=Richard C.|date=27 November 2012|publisher=Univ of South Carolina Press }}</ref><ref name="history"/> His students included [[Anwar Shah Kashmiri]], [[Shabbir Ahmad Usmani]], [[Ubaidullah Sindhi]], [[Hussain Ahmad Madani]], [[Kifayatullah Dehlawi]], [[Sayyid Asghar Hussain Deobandi]], [[Qari Muhammad Tayyib]], [[Muhammad Shafi]], [[Manazir Ahsan Gilani]] and [[Syed Fakhruddin Ahmad]].{{Sfn|Shakaib Qasmi|Noushad Qasmi|pp=71-95|2014}}
Ahmad was honored with the title of Shamsul Ulama by the [[British Raj|British Government of India]],<ref>{{Cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TQjrAQAAQBAJ&q=hafiz+muhammad+ahmad+deoband&pg=PT24 | title=Husain Ahmad Madani: The Jihad for Islam and India's Freedom| isbn=9781780742106| last1=Metcalf| first1=Barbara| date=December 2012| publisher=Oneworld Publications}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Deobandi |first1=Syed Muhammad Miyan |translator=Muhammadullah Qasmi |authorlink1=Syed Muhammad Miyan Deobandi |title=Silk Letters Movement |publisher=Shaikhul Hind Academy |location=[[Darul Uloom Deoband]] |pages=70–71 |url=http://www.darululoom-deoband.com/urdu/books/tmp/1388990860%20Silk%20Letter%20Movement.pdf |accessdate=9 May 2020 |language=English |chapter=Differences between Hadhrat Shaikhul Hind and Mohtamims}}</ref> which he returned in 1920.<ref name="ulama" /> He also served as the [[Grand Mufti]] of [[Hyderabad State]] from 1922 to 1925.{{Sfn|Adrawi|2016|p=17}}<ref name="ulama">{{cite book |author1=[[Muhammad Miyan Deobandi]] |title=Ulama-e-Haq awr Unke Mujahidana Kaarname |volume = 1|location = Deoband |publisher=Faisal International|pages=162–163 |language=Urdu |chapter=Hafiz Muhammad Ahmad}}</ref>
==Death and legacy== Ahmad died on 18 October 1928 (Jumad al-Ula 3, 1347 AH) while travelling in a train near [[Nizamabad Junction railway station]] and was buried in a special graveyard Khitta-e-Salihin with the consent of [[Mir Osman Ali Khan]].{{Sfn|Tayyib|1999|pp=108–109}}{{Sfn|Rizwi|1981|p=173}}<ref>{{Cite book |last=Qasmi |first=Muhammadullah |author-link=Muhammadullah Khalili Qasmi|url=https://archive.org/details/darul-uloom-deob-ki-jamey-wa-mukhtasar-tareekh-edition-2|title=Darul Uloom Deoband Ki Jame O Mukhtasar Tareekh |publisher=Shaikh-Ul-Hind Academy |edition=2nd|date= October 2020|page=531|location=India |language=ur|oclc=1345466013}}</ref> His son [[Qari Muhammad Tayyib]] was vice chancellor of [[Darul Uloom Deoband]] for fifty years.<ref name="tayyab" /> His other son was Tahir Qasmi,{{Sfn|Shakaib Qasmi|Noushad Qasmi|p=473|2014}} the father of Pakistani [[qari]]s [[Shakir Qasmi]], Waheed Zafar Qasmi and [[Zahir Qasmi]].{{Sfn|Shakaib Qasmi|Noushad Qasmi|p=464|2014}}
== See also == * [[List of Deobandis]]
==References== ===Citations=== {{reflist}}
===Bibliography=== {{refbegin}} * {{cite book |last1=Rizwi |first1=Syed Mehboob |translator= Murtaz Hussain F Qureshi |volume= 2 |title=History of Dar al-Ulum Deoband |url=https://archive.org/details/TheHistoryOfDarAlUlumDeoband1981VolumeTwo|date=1981 |publisher=Idara-e-Ehtemam |location=Darul Uloom Deoband |edition=1st}} * {{cite book |last1=Adrawi |first1=Asir |author1-link=Asir Adrawi |title=Karwān-e-Rafta: Tazkirah Mashāhīr-e-Hind |trans-title= The Caravan of the Past: Discussing Indian scholars|date=April 2016 |publisher=Darul Muallifeen |location=Deoband |edition=2nd|language=ur}} * {{Cite thesis |last1=Sulaiman |first1=A. F. M. |date=2011 |title=Indian Contributions to Arabic Literature: A Study on Mohd Rabe Hasani Nadwi |journal=University |url=https://shodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in/handle/10603/92992 |type=Ph.D. |publisher=Assam University |hdl=10603/92992 |via=Shodhganga |page=68–71}} * {{cite book |last1=Shakaib Qasmi |first1=Muhammad |last2=Noushad Qasmi |first2=Muhammad |title=Aks-e-Ahmad |date=May 2014 |publisher=Hujjatul Islam Academy |location=[[Darul Uloom Waqf]] |isbn=9788192944135 |url=https://dud.edu.in/index.php/ur/publications-2/164-title-of-2-publications-2 |access-date=6 April 2023 |language=ur}} {{refend}}
{{Qasmi family}} {{Darul Uloom Deoband}}
[[Category:Darul Uloom Deoband alumni]] [[Category:1862 births]] [[Category:1930 deaths]] [[Category:Deobandis]] [[Category:People from Nanauta]] [[Category:Madrasa Shahi alumni]] [[Category:Qasmi family]] [[Category:Students of Mahmud Hasan Deobandi]] [[Category:Muhtamims of Darul Uloom Deoband]] [[Category:Members of the Majlis-e-Shura of Darul Uloom Deoband]]