Gifts of Knowledge

Continuing from the last post.

“The Shaikh, may Allaah have mercy on him, had something which many people missed out on in our time, namely, the companionship of scholars and being raised among them, since he started his education with his parents and the scholars from his family. During that time he learnt Urdu and Persian and memorised some juzz of the Qurʾān, Shaikh ʿUzair said, “We used to memorise some juzz of the noble Qurʿān and some didactic poems and poetry in Urdu, the focus with us in India was more on understanding and expression rather than memorisation, that is why we were not familiar with the memorisation of texts and different manāhij as is known in Arab lands.”

The Shaikh also benefitted a lot from his father going to a large number of Shaikhs and different madrasahs. The most important madrasahs that Shaikh ʿUzair studied in were:

1) The first one he mentioned when he was asked about his religious upbringing was his own home, where he studied with his father and some of his brothers, this was in 1960 and he did so for two years at primary school level.

2) Faiḍ ʿĀm Madrasah in Māo, it was the first one he studied in after studying with his parents at home, he joined it in 1962 when he was about six years old and stayed there for three years. In his sixth year at primary he learnt Persian and memorised lots of Persian poetry.

3) Dārul-ʿUlūm al-Aḥmadiyyah Madrasah in Dārbānjā in Bihār in 1967. He only stayed there for a year. He studied grammar and morphology and the fundamentals of Arabic there under his uncle ʿAinul-Ḥaqq as-Salafī in Urdu, and also with Shaikh ʿAbdun-Nūr an-Nadwī who he studied Arabic with in Arabic, and he studied Persian literature with Shaikh Muḥammad Raʾīs an-Nadwī.

4) Dārul-Ḥadīth in Bengal in Murshidabād, he joined it in 1968 when his father moved there to teach so he had to go with him, and it is there that he learnt Bengali, and as such the Shaikh had learnt the following languages: Urdu, Persian, Hindī, Arabic, English and Bengali, then later he also learnt German. The following year he left this madrasah.

5) Dārul-Ḥadīth ar-Raḥmāniyyah in Benares in 1969 for two years where he completed middle school. Here he studied ḥadīth under Shaikh ʿAbdus-Salām ar-Raḥmānī.

6) Al-Jāmiʿah as-Salafiyyah in Benares too where he completed his secondary school education, finishing in 1976. There, under his father, he studied Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī and al-Muwaṭṭaʾ. And with Shaikh ʿAbdul-Waḥīd ar-Raḥmānī he studied Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim. And with Shaikh Ṣafiyyur-Raḥmān al-Mubārakfūrī he studied the book Ḥujjatullāhil-Bālighah of Shāh Waliyullāh ad-Dehlawī. And with Shaikh Muḥammad ʿĪsā an-Nadwī he studied selected chapters from the Muqaddimah of Ibn Khaldūn in Arabic. And with Shaikh ʿAbdul-Muʿīd Banārisī he studied Sunan an-Nisāʾī.

7) The Faculty of Arabic at the Islamic University of Medīnah, graduating with a degree there in 1981.

8) The Faculty of Arabic at Umm al-Qura University in Makkah where he obtained a Masters in 1985. Then he studied for a Phd there.”

Part 3 to follow inshaa Allaah.

Felt like putting a bio out on the Shaikh, Allaahul-Musta’aan. Here you go:

“He is Shaikh Muḥammad ʿUzair Shams bin Shams al-Ḥaqq bin Riḍallāh, born on Friday 15th December 1956 in West Bengal where his father had moved in order to teach.

He was raised in a family blessed with knowledge and scholars, his forefathers were known people of knowledge and excellence for eight generations, Shaikh ʿUzair said, “My family roots are in Bihar in north Bengal, my grandfather was a scholar and my father too, likewise almost all of my uncles were as well.”

His maternal grandfather: ʿAbdur-Raḥīm Barbūmī was a well-known scholar and muḥaddith, held in high esteem in his area and among his people. He was a student of the Muḥaddith, the ʿAllāmah, as-Sayyid Nadhīr Ḥussain al-Ḥussainī ad-Dehlawī. He spent his life teaching and calling his people to the truth.

His grandfather: Riḍāʾullāh who passed away in 1941, a well-known scholar who had a great impact on the common folk and the students of knowledge there.

His father: Shamsul-Ḥaqq Salafī, who passed away in 1986, a person of knowledge who used to teach ḥadīth in many madrasahs in India, he took the place of his father after he died taking over his works and responsibilities in daʿwah and teaching in their area. Shaikh ʿUzair studied from him and he was his first Shaikh, “My father graduated from a religious institute called Dārul-ʾUlūm al-Aḥmadiyyah in a city called Darbānjā which is in Bihār, north India. After he graduated he went to a number of different religious institutes and schools there, and he was the Shaikh of Ḥadīth in most of the ones he taught in … he spent his entire life teaching ḥadīth spanning more then fifty-two years. He taught Saḥīḥ Bukhārī more than fifty times and spent most of his time on it. He was entrusted with the responsibility of giving fatwās, he had many fatwās some of which have been published and also some articles and writings but they are limited.”

His uncle: ʿAinul-Ḥaqq Salafī, d. 1982, also from the people of knowledge, Shaikh ʿUzair also studied with him as will be mentioned later. Shaikh ʿUzair said about him, “My uncle was a teacher in Dārul-ʿUlūm al-Aḥmadiyyah, he was a student there and when he graduated he became a teacher there, and taught there for sixty years …”

His mother: the daughter of ʾAbdur-Raḥīm Barbūmī who was just mentioned earlier, he used to be keen on getting his daughters married to people of knowledge just as he was keen on teaching them, he helped his daughter memorise some of the Qurʾān and she studied many books with him at home.

From here Shaikh ʿUzair, may Allaah have mercy on him, started his journey in seeking knowledge, first at the hands of his father, from whom he got his manners and at whose spring he drank during his childhood … his father dedicated himself to him and would teach him and at the same time join him in play and fun, Shaikh ʿUzair said, “My father, may Allaah have mercy on him, would firstly teach me, my mother would too, and then he would play lots of games with me, even now I can remember that I learnt how to swim from him because there was a river next to our city …”

The Shaikh, may Allaah have mercy on him, had something which many people missed out on in our time, namely, the …”

Part 2.

A reminder of where we are all going. Here is Shaikh ʿUzair, may Allaah have mercy on him:

Here are some of the works that he sent before him, books of Ibn al-Qayyim and Ibn Taymiyyah, may Allaah accept it all:

Sources for first and second images.

A brother who was there said, “Shaikh Muḥammad ʿUzair Shams died the way he lived. I was with him when death came to him. A beginner student of knowledge at Dār al-Ḥadīth al-Khairiyyah was with me too and the last thing the Shaikh advised him with was to be serious in seeking knowledge and to practice writing by summarizing what he reads and hears. And to learn how to write correctly he advised him to become acquainted with [the dictionary called] ‘Al-Muʿjam al-Wasīṭ’ and ‘Muʿjam al-ʾAʿlaam.’ And before that in the very same sitting he tested the student to check his level in grammar, and morphology [ṣarf] and spelling, and here is a paper of the test he gave the student with the Shaikh’s corrections:

Source.

This is very painful, such a loss, Allaahul-Mustaʿān. May Allaah fill his grave with light and give him al-Firdaws.