Mufti Abdul Raheem Sikandari رَحْمَةُ الـلّٰـهِ عَلَيْه

Godly People

Mufti ꜤAbd al-Raḥīm Sikandarī

 رَحْمَةُ الـلّٰـهِ عَلَيْه 

Qamar al-Dīn Attari

Mufti ꜤAbd al-Raḥīm Sikandarī رَحْمَةُ الـلّٰـهِ عَلَيْه was born on Friday, 27 Ramadan, 1363 AH/14 September, 1944 CE, at the time of dawn in the village of Sibaanu Khan Shar, in Thari Mirwah, Khairpur Mirs, Sindh. He belonged to the Shar Baloch caste.^[1]

Early Education

In 1954, he completed his foundational education in the primary school of his ancestral village that had been established in 1942 by his great-grandfather, Faqīr Mawlā Bakhsh Shar. Alongside this, he studied the Quran with Hafiz Qādir Bakhsh who had been appointed by his father to teach Quran to the children of the village.^[2]

Joining Jamiah Rashidia 

In 1957, he enrolled into the distinguished seminary of South Asia, Jamia Rashidia Dargah Sharif, Pir Jo Goth. Under the tutelage of accomplished ulema, he diligently advanced through the disciplines of Islamic scholarship until completing his scholarly training with the study of the canonical works of hadith (dawrat al-hadith). Besides this, he also displayed great respect towards his teachers, served them, and took blessings from the dargah.^[3]

Honourable teachers

The distinguished teachers and ulema of Jamia Rashidia who he studied under include Mufti Muhammad Sāḥibdād Jamālī, Mawlana Muhammad Sāliḥ Mehr, Mufti Taqaddus ꜤAli Khān, Sayyid Hussain Akhtar, Mawlana ꜤAbd al-Ṣamad Meetlu, and Mawlana Karīm Bakhsh Dāyū  رَحْمَةُ الـلّٰـهِ عَلَيْهِم.^[4]

Graduation

His graduation ceremony took place on Friday, 27 Rajab, 1386 AH/11 November 1966 CE. Eminent scholars, including Pir Muhammad Qāsim Mashwari, Pir Ghulām Mujaddid Sarhandī, Sayyid Aḥmad SaꜤīd Kāẓmī, Muhammad ꜤUmar Icharwī, Mawlana Qāḍī Dost Muhammad, Mawlana Muhammad Husayn Qādirī, and Makhdūm Amīr Aḥmad Kahrāī رَحْمَةُ الـلّٰـهِ عَلَيْهِم,^[5] attended the event.

Founding of Madrassa Sibghat-ul-Huda in Shahpur, Chakar

In the same year he graduated, upon the instruction of his teacher, Mawlana Muhammad Ṣāliḥ Mehr رَحْمَةُ الـلّٰـهِ عَلَيْه, he assumed the role of imam and Friday preacher at the Ghawthiyyah Masjid in Shahpur, Chakar, Sindh. In 1967, he founded Madrassa Sibghat-ul-Huda. There, he initiated Quran lessons and foundational classes in Arabic and Persian. After more teachers were appointed, students were given the opportunity to study the entire Dars-i-Nizami syllabus, but Mufti ꜤAbd al-Raḥīm Sikandarī رَحْمَةُ الـلّٰـهِ عَلَيْه would teach dawrah al-Hadith himself.^[6]

His Legacy

Just as his teaching produced many scholars for the Ummah, his written works constituted masterpieces too. Below are some of his written works:

Published books:

*   Dhikr-i-Eid Milad al-Nabī.

*   Sayf-i-Sikandarī (Sindhi, Urdu).

*   Sadd-i-Sikandarī.

*   Tuḥfah al-Mu’minīn.

*   Sayf-i-Yazdānī (Urdu translation of al-Fatḥ al-Mubīn).

*   Fazāʾil wa Masāʾil Qurbānī.

*    Suḥbat Supīrīn Jī.

Unpublished books:

*   Taḥqīq al-Mukhtār fī Afḍaliyyat Sāḥib al-Muṣṭafā bi al-Ghār.

*   Matee Ludhu Maan.

*   Awrat Jī Sarbarāhī Jo SharꜤī Ḥukam.

*    Qurrah al-ꜤAynayn fī Ithbāt Īmān Abawayn Karīmayn.

*   Sayf al-Sunnah Ꜥalā ꜤUnuq Ṣāḥib al-BidꜤah.

*   Tawḍīḥ al-Ifk Ꜥan Masʾalat al-Fadak.

*   MajmūꜤa Fatāwā Sikandariyyah.^[7]

Founding of Library

Mufti ꜤAbd al-Raḥīm رَحْمَةُ الـلّٰـهِ عَلَيْه also founded a library in 1967, which became one of the most respected repositories in the country. Boasting over 100 exegeses of the Quran, it houses all classic and reliable works of hadith, all source texts of sira, thousands of hagiographical and biographical works, and countless books on narrator evaluation, Islamic law, legal theory, religious edicts, tasawwuf, Arabic, Persian, Urdu, and Sindhi literature, philosophy, lexicons, to name a few. It also contains around 300 rare manuscripts of Quranic commentary, hadith, Islamic law, tasawwuf and history in Arabic, Persian and Sindhi.^[8]

Mastery in oratory

Mufti ꜤAbd al-Raḥīm رَحْمَةُ الـلّٰـهِ عَلَيْه was also recognised as an influential orator, preacher, prophetic devotee and true representative of Ahl al-Sunnah. He promulgated Islam, prophetic devotion, reverence of the Companions and Prophetic Household, and the doctrine of Ahl al-Sunnah throughout many areas of Pakistan. Due to his mastery in oratory, the spiritual guide Āgha Muhammad Ibrāhīm Jān Sarhandi Fārūqī رَحْمَةُ الـلّٰـهِ عَلَيْه conferred upon him the title Sultan al-Wāi’ẓīn (Chief of Orators).^[9]

Debates

Five years after graduating, he had a historical debate with an experienced teacher on the knowledge of the unseen (Ꜥilm al-ghayb) and defeated him. His second debate was with an individual who was initially set to debate the erudite scholar Fayz Aḥmad Owaisī رَحْمَةُ الـلّٰـهِ عَلَيْه, but in the final moments, he sought to excuse himself by stipulating that the debate would take place in Sindhi. Thus, Mufti ꜤAbd al-Rahīm Sikandarī رَحْمَةُ الـلّٰـهِ عَلَيْه was chosen to debate him instead. Unable to counter the knowledge and swift responses of Mufti ꜤAbd al-Rahīm رَحْمَةُ الـلّٰـهِ عَلَيْه, the man left his books and fled in the early part of the debate.^[10]

His children

Allah Almighty granted him three daughters and four sons. His first son is ꜤAbd-e-Nabī. His second son is Mufti Nūr Nabī NaꜤīmī Sikandari, a graduate of Darul Uloom Naeemia (Karachi) and currently teaching and issuing fatāwā at Madrassa Sibghat-ul-Huda, Shahpur, Chakar.

His third son is Dr. Mufti Haqq Nabi Sikandari al-Azharī, who studied Dars-e-Nizami at Jamia Nizamia Razawiyyah (Lahore), completed dawrah al-Hadith under his father, and then travelled to Jamia al-Azhar (Cairo, Egypt) in 2008 where he completed his MA, MPhil, and PhD. He was appointed as the successor of his noble father and is currently serving Muslims through teaching, writing, and public lectures.

His fourth son is Dr. Fazal Nabī, who completed his doctoral studies in veterinary medicine from the Agriculture University in Wuhan, China, and is currently serving as assistant professor at Uthal University in Balochistan.^[11]

Death

Aged 74, Mufti ꜤAbd al-Raḥīm Sikandarī رَحْمَةُ الـلّٰـهِ عَلَيْه passed away on Thursday 11 Rajab 1439 AH (29 March 2018 CE) in Liaquat National Hospital (Karachi).

Funeral prayer and burial

On the same day after Asr, his funeral prayer was led by Mufti Muhammad Rahīm Sikandari اطال اللہ عمرہٗ at the government high school in Shahpur, Chakar. His funeral prayer was attended by many scholars, shaykhs, students and godly people. He was laid to rest in the courtyard of Madrassa Sibghat-ul-Huda at the hands of sayyids, scholars, shaykhs, and his sons. May Allah Almighty elevate his rank.

اٰمِیْن بِجَاہِ خاتَمِ النَّبِیّیْن صلَّی اللہ علیہ واٰلہٖ وسلَّم