Hifzur Rahman | |
|---|---|
হিফজুর রহমান | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1958-04-16)16 April 1958 (age 67) |
| Alma mater | |
| Personal life | |
| Nationality | Bangladeshi |
| Main interest(s) | |
| Notable work(s) |
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| Religious life | |
| Religion | Islam |
| Denomination | Sunni |
| Jurisprudence | Hanafi |
| Teachers | |
| Movement | Deobandi |
Hifzur Rahman (born 16 April 1958) is a Bangladeshi Islamic scholar and writer, noted for his Arabic biographical works onHanafi scholarship. He is the head of the Department of Fiqh atJamia Rahmania Arabia in Dhaka. He became known in the scholarly community following the publication of two major works in Egypt.[1] The first is a comprehensive biographical collection ofHanafi scholars,Al-Budur al-Mudiya fi Tarajim al-Hanafiyya, spanning fromAbu Hanifa to contemporary figures, published in 23 volumes after a decade of research. The second is an eight-volume biographical compilation onBengaliulama,Al-Yawaqit wal-Jawahir, containing over 2,000 entries.
Hifzur Rahman was born on 16 April 1958 in Uttar Fenuya, located in the Uttar Haola Union ofLaksam Upazila,Comilla District,[2] to Muhibbur Rahman, analim, and Razia Khatun.[1] He began his early Qur'anic studies under Abdul Matin and, after completing primary education at a local school in 1971, studied up to class seven atFeni Government Pilot High School. He then spent two years at Munshir Hat Hossainia Madrasa before continuing his studies at Mekhal Madrasa, where he pursuedSharh al-Jami. He later enrolled atDarul Uloom Hathazari and completed the Dawra-e-Hadith program, after which he traveled to Pakistan in 1987 to study atJamia Uloom-ul-Islamia in Karachi, where he completed a specialization inIslamic jurisprudence (Ifta).[2] His teachers includedShah Ahmad Shafi,Wali Hasan Tonki,Abdul Rasheed Nomani, andAbdus Salam Chatgami.[3]
Rahman began his professional career in 1985 as a muhaddis (teacher of hadith) at Darul Uloom Barura in Bangladesh, where he taught for 15 years.[4] In 2000, he joined Jamia Rahmania Arabia inDhaka in the same capacity, and in 2002 he was appointed the chief mufti of the institution while also teaching the second volume ofSahih Muslim. Alongside his work at Jamia Rahmania, he served asSheikh al-Hadith at Tejgaon Jamia Islamia Railway Madrasa and at Darul Uloom Masjidul Akbar Complex Madrasa, where he taughtSahih al-Bukhari.[4]
Rahman has written 72 books in Bengali on various subjects, as well as 20 books in Arabic, two of which were published in Egypt.[5] On 22 August 2025, he received the 'Lekhak Forum Padak 2025' from theBangladesh Islami Writers Forum.[6] According toDesh Rupantor, perhaps he is the first Bangladeshi scholar recognized for large-scale research work in Arabic.[1] His first Arabic book, primarily related toAl-Hidayah, was published in the early 2000s under the titleMa Yambagi Bihil Inayah Liman Yutali'ul Hidayah and was prepared under the supervision of Abdul Rasheed Nomani during his time in Pakistan as an introduction toHidayah. His first book published in Bengali wasShebar Arale NGO-ra Ki Korche, a title suggested byFarid Uddin Masood.[7]
Rahman compiled a 23-volume biographical encyclopedia in Arabic after ten years of research, titledAl-Budur al-Mudiya fi Tarajim al-Hanafiyya, published by Darus Salih inCairo, Egypt.[8] The work documents the lives and works of Hanafi scholars, including imams,mujtahids, jurists (fuqaha), and teachers of hadith, from Abu Hanifa to the 21st century, and includes several Bangladeshi scholars.[9] He also created another Arabic biographical encyclopedia on over two thousand Bengali-speaking scholars, published in 2020 in eight volumes under the titleAl-Yawaqit wal-Jawahir fi Tarajim Nubala-i Bangal wal Akabir, covering 2,183 individuals across nearly 4,000 pages. This work, completed over six years, received scholarly review from Muhammad bin Jamaluddin al-Suyuti ofAl-Azhar University,Nematullah Azami, andHabibur Rahman Azami.[8] According to Rahman, he wrote these works for three main reasons: to counter the perception, particularly amongArab scholars, that significant scholars did not exist in theIndian subcontinent; to provide responses on issues relevant to theAhl-i Hadith; and to document the lives, services, and works of scholars—particularlyBangladeshi scholars—and their religious practices for a global audience, while historically demonstrating that the Indian subcontinent, including Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, and Afghanistan, has long been a major center of the Hanafi school of thought.[7]
Most of his writings focus on the Hanafi school.[7] He authored a five-volume research work on legal terminology in Islamic jurisprudence titledYad al-Muhtaj ila al-Mustalahat al-Fiqhiyyah, with each volume comprising approximately 500 pages, and it is considered a reference for advanced students of Hadith and Fiqh.[8] In a similar vein, he produced a work with the same title asTaqi Usmani'sUsul al-Ifta, although both appear to have been composed independently, and he later expanded his version using material from Usmani's research.[7] He also wrote a foundational work on the position of Abu Hanifa in Hadith and Fiqh, titledMakanatu Abi Hanifata fil-Fiqh wal-Hadith, which he later annotated with material from his teacher Abdul Rasheed Nomani's book of the same title.[7] His other scholarly works includeFiqhu Ahlil Iraq wa Hadisuhum,Addurar al-Muntakat ala Muqaddimatish Shaykh,Fathul Wadud ala Sharh al-Uqud, andAl-Badrul Munir ala Fawzul Kabir, serving primarily as instructional texts, while his lexicographical works includeMu'jam al-Faqih wal-Mutafakkih. Biographical works such asMu'jam al-Shuyukh document the lives of notable scholars.[7] In Bengali, his published works includeMashayekhe Comilla,Rahe Sunnat,Izahul Muslim,Islam e Murtaddeder Shasti,Narir Mulloyon, andMakbul Du'a, among others.[4]