{{Short description|Indian Islamic scholar (1911/1912–1992)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=January 2019}} {{Use Indian English|date=January 2019}} {{Infobox religious biography |religion=[[Islam]] |image = |caption = |name = Muhammad Masihullah Khan<br/>{{small|{{Nastaliq|محمد مسیح الله خان}}}} |title = [[Maulana]], ''Masih al-Ummah'' |birth_date = 1911/1912 |birth_place = Barla, [[Aligarh District]], [[United Provinces of Agra and Oudh]], British India {{small|(now [[Uttar Pradesh]], India)}} |death_date = 13 November 1992 (aged 79–81) |death_place = [[Jalalabad, Muzaffarnagar|Jalalabad]], [[Muzaffarnagar District]], [[India]] | resting_place = Jalalabad |nationality = [[India]]n |ethnicity = |era = |region = |occupation = [[Islamic scholar]], [[murshid|Sufi shaykh]] |denomination = [[Sunni Islam]] |Madh'hab = [[Hanafi]] |creed = [[Maturidi]] |movement = [[Deobandi]] |Sufi_order = [[Chishti Order|Chishtiya]]-[[Alauddin Sabir Kaliyari|Sabiriya]]-[[Haji Imdadullah Muhaajir Makki|Imdadiya]] |disciple_of = [[Ashraf Ali Thanwi]] |alma_mater = [[Darul Uloom Deoband]] |awards = |main_interests = [[Sufism]] |notable_ideas = |notable_works = The Path to Perfection, Shariat-o-Tasawwuf |influences = [[Ashraf Ali Thanwi]], [[Muhammad Ilyas Kandhalvi]], [[Hussain Ahmad Madani]] |influenced = [[Taqi Usmani]] }}
'''Muhammad Masihullah Khan Sherwani Jalalabadi''' ({{langx|ur|{{Nastaliq|محمد مسیح الله خان شیروانی جلال آبادی}}}}; 1911/1912 – 13 November 1992) was an Indian [[Deobandi]] [[Islamic scholar]] known as an authority in Sufism. He was among the senior ''[[Khalifah (Sufism)|authorised disciples]]'' of [[Ashraf Ali Thanwi]], who gave him the title Masīh al-Ummah (''{{translation|Comforter of the [[Ummah]]}}'').<ref name=":Kaleem">{{Cite thesis |last=Kaleem |first=Mohd |title=Contribution of Old boys of Darul uloom Deoband in Hadith Literature |publisher=Department of Sunni Theology, [[Aligarh Muslim University]] |year=2017 |location=India |language=ur |hdl=10603/364028 |type=PhD |url=https://shodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in:8443/jspui/handle/10603/364028 |access-date=24 October 2023 |archive-date=24 October 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231024044219/https://shodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in:8443/jspui/handle/10603/364028 |url-status=live |pages=249–253}}</ref>
== Early life and education == Muhammad Masihullah Khan was born in 1329 or 1330 [[Hijri year|AH]] (1911/1912) in Sarai Barla, a village in the [[Aligarh district]] of [[Uttar Pradesh]], [[India]].<ref name="wtp" /><ref name="Jām'i o Mukhtasar">{{Cite book |last=Qasmi |first=Muhammadullah |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=3rd|date= October 2020|location=India |language=ur |pages=732–733 |oclc=1345466013}}</ref><ref name="Rizwi"></ref> His family was of the [[Shirani (Pashtun tribe)|Sherwani]] tribe, a [[Sayyid]] tribe of [[Pathans]]. His father's name was Saeed Khan.<ref name="Rizwi"></ref>
He was known for piety in his youth, and he often sat in the company of scholars and [[Sufi]]s.<ref name="Rizwi"></ref> He developed a close companionship with [[Muhammad Ilyas Kandhalvi]], who introduced him to the books and lectures of [[Ashraf Ali Thanwi]].{{sfn|Allahabadi|2005|pp=30, 47–48}}<ref name="wtp">{{cite web |title=Maulana Masihullah Khan Sherwani |url=https://www.whitethreadpress.com/author/maulana-masihullah-khan-sherwani/ |website=White Thread Press |access-date=30 May 2019 |archive-date=21 September 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200921145346/https://www.whitethreadpress.com/author/maulana-masihullah-khan-sherwani/ |url-status=dead }}</ref>
He received his early and secondary education in Barla, [[Aligarh district|Aligarh]], and enrolled in [[Darul Uloom Deoband]] in 1347 AH (1929 AD){{sfn|Allahabadi|2005|pp=30–33, 39}} and graduated from there in 1349 AH (1931 AD).<ref name="Rizwi">{{cite book |last1=Rizwi |first1=Syed Mehboob |author1-link=Syed Mehboob Rizwi |translator= Murtaz Hussain F Qureshi |volume= 2 |title=History of Dar al Ulum Deoband |url=https://archive.org/details/2VolumeBookOnTheHistoryOfDarAlUlumDeoband/HistoryOfTheDarulUloomDeoband-VolumeTwo1981/page/n132/mode/1up|date=1980 |publisher=Idara-e-Ehtemam |location=Darul Uloom Deoband |edition=1st|pages=119–120|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Bukhari |first=Akbar Shah |url=https://archive.org/download/Maktaba-Hafiz-Muhammad-Akbar-Shah-Bukhari-Sahib/Akabir-i-Ulama-i-Deoband.pdf |title=Akabir-i-Ulama-i-Deoband |publisher=Idara Islamiah |year=1999 |location=Lahore, Pakistan |pages=306–308|language=ur}}</ref> He continued there for another two years after graduation, spending time on [[Islamic logic]] and [[Islamic philosophy|philosophy]].<ref name="Mausoo'ah"></ref>
His teachers at Deoband Seminary included [[Hussain Ahmad Madani]], [[Izaz Ali Amrohi]], [[Asghar Hussain Deobandi]], [[Ibrahim Balyawi]], Rasool Khan Hazarvi, and [[Murtaza Hasan Chandpuri]].{{sfn|Allahabadi|2005|pp=40–41}}
He was an authorised disciple of Ashraf Ali Thanwi in [[Sufism]]. During his student days, he pledged allegiance to Thanwi, and in 1351 AH, Thanwi gave him permission to [[Bay'ah#In the Qur'an|pledge allegiance]].<ref name="Rizwi"></ref>{{sfn|Allahabadi|2005|pp=52–57}}<ref>{{cite book |last=Saeed|first=Ahmad|title=Bazm e Ashraf Ke Chiragh|url=https://www.rekhta.org/ebooks/bazm-e-ashraf-ke-charagh-ahmad-saeed-ebooks|publisher=Al Ashraf Matboo'āt|location=[[Lahore]]|pages=35–36|date=25 May 1975|language=ur}}</ref>
== Career == In 1357 AH (1938/1939 AD), Thanwi sent him as a teacher in a madrasa (an Islamic school) named ''Madrasa Miftahul Uloom'' in [[Jalalabad, Muzaffarnagar]] (now Jalalabad, Shamli). At that time, this madrasa was only established as a school. But within a few years, due to the hard work of Masihullah, this madrasa started to be counted among the big Islamic seminars in India.<ref name="Rizwi"></ref>{{sfn|Allahabadi|2005|pp=72–79}}
==Literary works== * ''Shariat-o-Tasawwuf''<ref name =SoT>{{cite book|title=Shariat-o-Tasawwuf|publisher=Maktaba Fakharia Khanquah Imdadia, Gilat Bazar, Varanasi Cantt, [[Uttar Pradesh]]|author=Muhammad Masihullah Khan|language=ur}}</ref><ref name="Mausoo'ah">{{cite book |last=Mubarakpuri|first=Arif Jameel|author-link=Arif Jameel Mubarakpuri|title=Mausoo'a Ulama-u- Deoband|trans-title=The Encyclopedia of Deobandi Scholars|date=2021|edition=1st|publisher=Shaikhul Hind Academy|location=Deoband|page=456|language=ar}}</ref> *''The Path to Perfection''<ref>{{Cite book |last=Khan |first=Dr Mamnun |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=f8GfDwAAQBAJ&dq=the+path+to+perfection+Masihullah+Khan&pg=PT239 |title=Being British Muslims: Beyond Ethnocentric Religion and Identity Politics |date=2019-04-22 |publisher=AuthorHouse |isbn=978-1-7283-8266-1 |location=UK |language=en}}</ref>
== Death == Masihullah died on Friday, November 13, 1992 AD ([[Jumada I]] 17, 1413 AH), and was buried the same day after the Friday prayer.{{sfn|Allahabadi|2005|p=152}} The funeral prayer was led by Mufti Inayatullah, and his funeral was attended by over 250,000 people. He was buried in the cemetery next to the madrasa.<ref name="wtp" /><ref name=:"Bukhari">{{cite book |last=Bukhari|first=Akbar Shah|title=Tadhkira Auliyā e Deoband|url=https://www.rekhta.org/ebooks/tazkira-auliya-e-deoband-ebooks|publisher=Rahmania Book Depot|location=Urdu Bazar, [[Lahore]]|pages=632–634|year=2001|language=ur}}</ref>
==References== === Citations === {{reflist}} === Bibliography === {{refbegin}} * {{cite book|last=Allahabadi|first=Ghayasuddin|title=Sawāneh-e-Masīhu al-Ummat|trans-title=Biography of "Masīh al-Ummah"|url=https://archive.org/details/sawaneh-e-masih-al-ummah|date=February 2005|publisher=Department of Broadcasting, Jamia Miftahul Uloom|location=[[Jalalabad, Shamli]]|language=ur}} {{refend}}
== Further reading == * {{Cite thesis |last=Ingram|first=Brannon D.|title=Deobandis Abroad: Sufism, Ethics and Polemics in a Global Islamic Movement|publisher=[[University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill]]|year=2011|location=United States|language=en|doi=10.17615/vp8r-8f57 |degree=PhD|url=https://cdr.lib.unc.edu/concern/parent/pc289j45z/file_sets/z029p5040|pages=125–134|chapter=Masihullah Khan: Imprinting Thanawi on South African Deoband}} * {{Cite book |last1=Hansa |first1=Abdul Kader |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kgMZDAAAQBAJ&q=Maulana+Masihullah+Khan+Sherwani|title=Hadhrat Maulana Maseehullah Khan Sherwani |last2=Mangera |first2=Ismail|publisher=Jamiatul Ulama |edition=1st |location=Isipingo Beach, South Africa |publication-date=January 2014 |language=en}} {{Hanafi scholars}} {{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Masihullah Khan, Muhammad}} [[Category:Year of birth uncertain]] [[Category:1992 deaths]] [[Category:Indian Sunni Muslim scholars of Islam]] [[Category:Hanafi fiqh scholars]] [[Category:Indian Sufis]] [[Category:Sunni Sufis]] [[Category:People from Aligarh]] [[Category:Deobandis]] [[Category:Indian people of Pashtun descent]] [[Category:Disciples of Ashraf Ali Thanwi]]