Wahīduzzamān Kairānawi (1930–1995), also spelt as Waheed-uz-Zaman Keranvi, was an Indian Islamic scholar, writer, lexicographer, and professor who specialised in Arabic. He spent around 27 years instructing Hadith and Arabic at Darul Uloom Deoband.
Early life and education
Wahiduzzaman Kairanawi was born on 17 February 1930, in Kairana.[1] He was a descendant of Abu Ayub Ansari, a companion of the Islamic Prophet Muhammad.[2][3]
Kairanawi studied Hifz, Arabic, and Persian in Jama Masjid, Kairana from his father Masīhuzzamān and Muhammad Khalid,[4] then accidentally went to Hyderabad for education in 1946, where he learned the Arabic language from an Arabic scholar, Mamūn Al-Dimashqi.[5][6]
After graduating from Darul Uloom Deoband, Kairanawi was the private secretary of Habib-ur-Rehman Ludhianvi until his death in 1956, and in the meantime, in 1952, he visited Saudi Arabia as the spokesperson of a goodwill delegation.[9][10]
In 1958, he established an institution called Darul Fikr (Arabic: دار الفكر)[11] in Deoband for students interested in the Arabic language, and from this institution issued a monthly magazine called Al-Qāsim (Arabic: القاسم), which continued to be published for years and gained popularity among the students and the scholars.[12][13]
In 1963, he was appointed as a teacher in the Arabic department at Darul Uloom Deoband.[14][15][16] In 1964, he established a department called "Al-Nadi Al-Adabi" (Arabic: النادي الأدبي) in Darul Uloom Deoband for the practise of Arabic language and literature.[17]
In 1965, the quarterly magazine Dawat al-Haq (Arabic: دعوة الحق) was launched, and he was appointed its editor.[18][19] Later, in June 1976 (Jumada al-Thani 1396 AH), a fortnightly (present monthly) Al-Daie (Arabic: الداعي) was published, and for some time he was also its editor.[18][20][19]
His teaching period in Darul Uloom Deoband spans a period of thirty years, during which he also taught Hadith books such as Sharḥ Maʿāni al-Āthār and Sunan al-Nasa'i;[21][22] however, his commitment and interest in teaching Arabic language remained high.[23]
Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind launched an Arabic newspaper, Al-Kifah (Arabic: الكفاح), of which he was the chief editor for about 15 years between 1973 and 1987.[26][27][28] In the meantime, he was also the director of the editorial department of Jamiat Ulama, "Markaz-e-Da'wat-e-Islām".[27][24]
From 1983 to 1985, he served as the director of the Education Department of Darul Uloom Deoband, and from 1985 to 1987, he served as the Assistant Vice-Chancellor of Darul Uloom.[27][29]
In 1988, the Milli Jamiat Ulama-e-Hind was established at the National Convention held in Delhi, and he was elected its first president.[27]
In 1988, he established an institution called Darul Muallifīn (Arabic: دار المؤلفین) in Deoband for the purpose of employing young scholars to study the writings and literary services of great scholars, from which about 20 books were published.[30][31]
In 1990, the governing body of Darul Uloom Deoband issued a pension to him due to illness and an excuse.[32][33]
^‘Alwi, Tanweer Ahmad. Sahīfa-e-Abrār (in Urdu) (1973 ed.). Muzaffarnagar: Idara-e-Matbuat Noor Mohammadia. p. 567 The family tree of the Ansari's of Kairana.
^Qasmi, Muhammad Tayyib (June 1965). Darul Uloom Deoband Ki Sad Saala Zindagi [Centenary Life of Darul Uloom Deoband] (in Urdu) (1st ed.). Deoband: Darul Uloom. pp. 115, 118.
^Qasmi, Muḥammad Raihan (October–December 2017). "مساهمة أبناء ديوبند في تطوير الصحافة العربية" [The contribution of the Deoband sons to the development of the Arab press]. aqlamalhind.com (in Arabic). Retrieved 31 March 2023.
^Mansoorpuri, Muhammad Salman (April 2020). "Maulana Wahiduzzaman Qāsmi Kairanawi". Zikr e Raftagān (in Urdu). Vol. 1 (2nd ed.). Lālbagh, Moradabad: Al-markz al-ilmi Linnashri wat tahqīq. pp. 197–199.
^Sitamarhi, Nizamuddin Qasmi (September 2012). "Maulana Wahiduzzaman Qasmi Kairanawi". Tazkira e Akābir (in Urdu) (2nd ed.). Akkalkuwa, Maharashtra: Jamia Ishā‘atul Uloom. pp. 297–298.
^Mubarakpuri, Muhammad Aarif Jameel (2021). "1150–Al-Kairanawi". Mausoo'atu Ulam–i–Deoband (in Arabic) (1st ed.). Deoband: Shaikhul Hind Academy. pp. 497–798.
al-Maraachli, Yousuf (2006). "وحيد الزمان القاسمي الكيرانوي" [Waheed-uz-Zaman al-Qasimi al-Kairanawi]. نثر الجواهر والدرر في علماء القرن الرابع عشر وبذيله عقد الجوهر في علماء الربع الأول من القرن الخامس عشر [A scattering of jewels and pearls among the scholars of the fourteenth century, followed by the contract of essence among the scholars of the first quarter of the fifteenth century] (in Arabic) (1st ed.). Beirut, Lebanon: Dar al-Maarifah. pp. 2185–2186. ISBN9953-446-01-6.
