Hafiz Muhammad Ahmad
Hafiz Muhammad Ahmad was an Indian Muslim scholar, Vice Chancellor of Darul Uloom Deoband, and Grand Mufti of the Hyderabad State from 1922 to 1925.Biography
Ahmad was born in 1862 in Nanauta to Muhammad Qasim Nanautavi. He attended Madrasa Manba-ul-Ulum in Gulauthi and then Madrasa Shahi, Moradabad. He later returned to Darul Uloom Deoband where he studied under Mahmud Hasan Deobandi. He studied parts of the Jami` at-Tirmidhi under Muhammad Yaqub Nanautawi and specialized in hadith under Rashid Ahmad Gangohi. He was a disciple of Imdadullah Muhajir Makki.
At Darul Uloom Deoband, he taught Mishkat al-Masabih, Tafsir al-Jalalayn, Sahih Muslim, Sunan ibn Majah for ten years, and served as Vice Chancellor for 35 years.
Ahmad was honored with the title of Shamsul Ulama by the British Government of India, which he returned in 1920. He also served Grand Mufti of Hyderabad State from 1922 to 1925.Students
Ahmad's students include Anwar Shah Kashmiri, Shabbir Ahmad Usmani, Ubaidullah Sindhi, Hussain Ahmad Madani, Kifayatullah Dehlawi, Sayyid Asghar Hussain Deobandi, Qari Muhammad Tayyib, Muhammad Shafi Deobandi, Manazir Ahsan Gilani and Syed Fakhruddin Ahmad.Death
Ahmad died in 1930 while travelling in a train near Nizamabad Junction railway station and was buried in a special graveyard Khitta-e-Salihin with the consent of Mir Osman Ali Khan.Legacy
Ahmad's son Qari Muhammad Tayyib was Vice Chancellor of Darul Uloom Deoband for fifty years.
