Ahmed Raza Khan Barelvi (14 June 1856 – October 1921), known reverentially as Ala Hazrat, was an Indian Islamic scholar, theologian, jurist, preacher, poet from Bareilly, British India, considered as the founder of the Barelvi movement and the Razvi branch of the Qadri Sufi order.
He wrote on law, religion, philosophy and the sciences, and because he mastered many subjects in both rational and religious sciences, Francis Robinson, one of the leading Western scholars of South Asian Islam, considers him to be a polymath. He was a reformer who wrote extensively in defense of the Prophet Muhammad and popular Sufi practices. He influenced millions of people, and today the Barelvi movement has around 200 million followers in the region.
Biography
Family
Khan was born on 14 June 1856 to an Indian Muslim family in the mohallah of Jasoli in Bareilly district, North-Western Provinces, British India. His family were Pathans descended from Saeedullah Khan, a Barech tribesman who migrated from Kandahar to Delhi via Lahore in the 17th century. His father, Naqi Ali Khan, was an Islamic scholar.
The name corresponding to the year of his birth was "Al Mukhtaar". His birth name was Muhammad. Khan used the appellation "Abdul Mustafa" ("servant of the chosen one") prior to signing his name in correspondence.
Teachers
According to the official Biography written by Molana Zafar Uddin Bihari, some of his famous teachers included: Shah AI-i-Rasul (d. 1297/1879) Naqi Ali Khan (d. 1297/1880) Ahmad Zayni Dahlan Makki (d. 1299/1881) Abd al-Rahman Siraj Makki (d. 1301/1883) Hussayn bin Saleh (d. 1302/1884) Abul-Hussayn Ahmad Al-Nuri (d. 1324/1906) 'Abd al-Ali Rampuri (d. 1303/1885)
Spiritual order
In the year 1294 A.H. (1877), at the age of 22 years, Ahmed Raza became the Mureed (disciple) of Shah Aale Rasool Marehrawi. His Murshid bestowed him with Khilafat in several Sufi Silsilas. Some Islamic scholars received permission from him to work under his guidance.
Ahl-e-Sunnat Revival movement
Imam Ahmed Raza wrote extensively in defense of his views, countered the Wahabism and Deobandi movements, and, by his writing and activity, became the leader of the Ahle Sunnat movement. The movement is spread across the globe with followers in Pakistan, India, South Africa and Bangladesh. The movement now has over 200 million followers globally. The movement was largely a rural phenomenon when began but is currently popular among urban, educated Pakistanis and Indians as well as the South Asian diaspora throughout the world.
The efforts of Khan and his associate scholars to establish a movement to counter the Deobandi and Ahl-i Hadith movements resulted to in the institutionalization of diverse Sufi movements and their allies in various parts of the world.
Death
Ahmed Raza Khan died in October 1921 (Safar 1340 AH) at the age of 65. He is buried in his hometown of Bareilly.
Imam Ahmed Raza Khan wrote several hundred books in Arabic, Persian, and Urdu, including the thirty-volume fatwa compilation Fatawa Razaviyya, and Kanzul Iman (Translation & Explanation of the Qur'an). Several of his books have been translated into European and South Asian languages.
Kanz ul Iman (translation of the Qur'an) Kanzul Iman (Urdu and Arabic: کنزالایمان) is a 1910 Urdu paraphrase translation of the Qur'an by Khan. It is associated with the Hanafi jurisprudence within Sunni Islam, and is a widely read version of the translation in the Indian Subcontinent. It has been translated into English, Hindi, Bengali, Dutch, Turkish, Sindhi, Gujarati, and Pashto, and also recently translated into Gojri language by Mufti Nazir Ahmed Qadri.
Husam ul Haramain
Husamul Haramain or Husam al Harmain Ala Munhir kufr wal mayn (The Sword of the Haramayn at the throat of unbelief and falsehood) 1906, is a treatise which declared infidels the founders of the Deobandi, Ahl-i Hadith and Ahmadiyya movements on the basis that they did not have the proper veneration of Muhammad and finality of prophethood in their writings. In defense of his verdict he obtained confirmatory signatures from 268 scholars in South Asia, and some from scholars in Mecca and Medina. The treatise is published in Arabic, Urdu, English, Turkish and Hindi.
Fatawa Razawiyyah
Fatawa-e-Razvia or the full name Al Ataya fi-Nabaviah Fatwa Razaviah (translates to Verdicts of Imam Ahmed Raza by the blessings of the Prophet) is the main fatwa (Islamic verdicts on various issues) book of his movement. It has been published in 30 volumes and in approx. 22,000 pages. It contains solutions to daily problems from religion to business and from war to marriage.