Mufti Muhammad Asjad Raza Khan Qadri (born 14 October 1970) is an Indian Sunni islamic scholar and Barelvi leader and a descendant of Ahmed Raza Khan Barelvi and son and successor of Akhtar Raza Khan. He is considered as the Grand Mufti of Barelvi Muslims, Qazi-ul-Quzzat fil Hind or Qazi-e-Hindustan and Islamic Chief Justice of India. He is the Principal of Jamiatur Raza.
Early life
Asjad Raza Khan was born as Muhammad Munawwar Raza Muhamid to Akhtar Raza Khan, then Grand Mufti of India on 14 October 1970 same as 14 Shaban 1390 at Mohalla Khwaja Qutub, Bareilly district of Uttar Pradesh.
Personal life
Asjad Raza Khan married the daughter of Sibtain Raza Khan, also a descendant of Ahmed Raza Khan Barelvi on 17 February 1991 and they have 2 sons, Muhammad Hussam Ahmad Raza and Muhammad Hummam Ahmad Raza.
Statements and views
Extreme ideologies must be repelled
After the bombings in Sri Lanka in 2019, Asjad Raza issued a strongly worded statement condemning the attacks and urging all nations to "repel the evil" and combat terrorist ideologies.
Demanding a ban on Zakir Naik
Upon Zakir Naik being named as one of the influencers of the bombers in a terrorist attack in Bangladesh, Asjad said:
“India is the land of Sufism. Dr Naik speaks the language of terrorism. His thoughts are not Islamic, but related to (fundamentalist) Wahhabism. Back in 2008, we had demanded that the central and state governments to impose a ban on his speeches and programmes. Sufi Barelvis are united against him."
Asjad Raza also appealed to Muslim youth to refrain from listening to his speeches.
Refusal to recite the National Song
Asjad Raza opposed the forced singing of the Vande Mataram song on Indian Independence Day at minority run educational institutions due to it being "un-Islamic", despite being ordered to by the Uttar Pradesh government.