Shah Waliullah Dehlawi

Shah Waliullah Dehlawi
Personal Details
Born	21 Feb, 1703 Moza Phalat, Delhi, India
Died	20 Aug 1773 referce zeeshan malik m.phil scholar Delhi, India
Cause of death	Natural
Resting place	Munhadiyan
Nationality	Indian
Ethnicity	Indian
Era	18th century
Region	India continent
Occupation	Muhaddtih, Faqih, Historiographer, bibliographer
Religion	Islam
Denomination	Sunni
Main interest(s)	Hadith studies
Sufi order	Naqshbandi
Influenced by Malik ibn Anas, Muhammad al-Bukhari, Ibn Taymiyyah
Influenced Shah Abdul Aziz, Haji Shariatullah, Syed Ahmad Barelvi, Shah Ismail Shaheed, Muhammad Nasiruddin al-Albani, Israr Ahmad

Syed Quṭb ad-Dīn Aḥmad Walī Allāh ibn ‘Abd ar-Raḥīm al-‘Umarī ad-Dihlawī (Arabic: قطب الدين أحمد ولي الله بن عبد الرحيم العمري الدهلوي‎‎‎; 1703–1762), commonly known as Shah Waliullah Dehlawi, was an Islamic scholar, muhaddith and reformer.

Early life and education

Shah Waliullah was born in 1703 to Shah Abdur Rahim, a prominent Sufi and scholar of Delhi. He memorized the Qur'an by seven, soon thereafter, he mastered Arabic and Persian letters. He was married at fourteen. By sixteen he had completed the standard curriculum of Hanafi law, theology, geometry, arithmetic and logic. He lived during the time when Fatawa-e-Alamgiri was being compiled and he was asked to join the team of scholars that was working on it, however, credible sources reveal that he joined the team but for a very brief period of time and then he dissociated himself from the task. His father was the founder of the Madrasah-i Rahimiyah. Shah Abdur Rahim was on the committee appointed by Aurangzeb for compilation of the code of law, Fatwa-e-Alamgiri. His grandfather, Sheikh Wajihuddin, was an important officer in the army of Shah Jahan.

He had a son who was also a famous religious scholar, Shah Abdul Aziz.

Death and legacy

He died on 20 August 1773.

His works have influence over both orthodox Muslim and Sufis. His magnum opus, Hujjat Allah Balaghah to instruct Sufis to conform with orthodoxy, he states:

"Some people think that there is no usefulness involved in the injunct of Islamic law and that in actions and rewards as prescribed by God there is no beneficial purpose. They think that the commandments of Islamic law are similar to a master ordering his servant to lift a stone or touch a tree in order to test his obedience and that in this there is no purpose except to impose a test so that if the servant obeys, he is rewarded, and i, he is punished. This view is completely incorrect. The traditions of the Prophet and consensus of opinion of those ages, contradict this view."

Works

• (The Sacred Knowledge), ed. D. Pendlebury, trans. G. Jalbani, The Sacred Knowledge, London: Octagon, 1982.
• Al-Khayr al-kathir (The Abundant Good), trans. G. Jalbani, Lahore: Ashraf, 1974.
• Hujjat Allah al-baligha (The Profound Evidence of Allah), Lahore: Shaikh Ghulam Ali and Sons, 1979. Considered his most important work. First published in Rae Bareily, India in 1286 Hijri.
• Sata'at (Manifestations), trans. into Urdu by S.M. Hashimi, Lahore: Idarah Thaqafat Islamiyya, 1989; trans. into English by G. Jalbani, Sufism and the Islamic Tradition: the Lamahat and Sata'at of Shah Waliullah, London.
• Lamahat (Flashes of Lightning), Hyderabad: Shah Wali Allah Academy, 1963; trans. G. Jalbani, Sufism and the Islamic Tradition: the Lamahat and Sata'at of Shah Waliullah, London, 1980. (One of the important writings on Sufism.)
• Fuyud al-haramayn (Emanations or Spiritual Visions of Mecca and Medina).
• Al-Tafhimat (Instructions or Clear Understanding), Dabhail, 1936, 2 vols. (One of the most comprehensive metaphysical works.)
• Al-Budur al-bazighah (The Full Moons Rising in Splendour).

Besides these he is also credited being the first to translate the Quran into Persian in the Indian subcontinent.