Muhammad Taqi Usmani | |
|---|---|
محمد تقی عثمانی | |
.jpg) Taqi Usmani in 2016 inLondon | |
| Justice of the Shariat Appellate Bench of theSupreme Court of Pakistan | |
| In office 10 July 1982 – May 2002 | |
| Appointed by | Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq |
| Justice of theFederal Shariat Court | |
| In office 6 July 1981 – 10 July 1982 | |
| Appointed by | Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq |
| President of theWifaq ul Madaris Al-Arabia, Pakistan | |
| Assumed office 19 September 2021 | |
| Preceded by | Abdur Razzaq Iskander |
| President of theDarul Uloom Karachi[1] | |
| Assumed office 2022 | |
| Preceded by | Rafi Usmani |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1943-10-03)3 October 1943 (age 81) Deoband,United Provinces,British India |
| Nationality | Pakistani |
| Alma mater | |
| Personal life | |
| Children | Imran Ashraf Usmani |
| Parents |
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| Main interest(s) | Fiqh,Tafsir,Hadith,Islamic economics,Islamic Law,Islam and modernity,Political aspects of Islam,Comparative religion |
| Notable work(s) |
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| Relatives |
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| Signature |  |
| Religious life | |
| Religion | Islam |
| Denomination | Sunni |
| Jurisprudence | Hanafi |
| Creed | Maturidi |
| Muslim leader | |
| Teacher | Shafi Usmani,Muhammad Idris Kandhlawi,Abd al-Fattah Abu Ghudda,Rashid Ahmed Ludhianvi,Wali Hasan Tonki,Zakariyya Kandhlawi,Saleemullah Khan |
| Disciple of | Abdul Hai Arifi,Masihullah Khan |
Influenced by | |
Influenced | |
| Website | muftitaqiusmani |
Muhammad Taqi Usmani[a] (born 3 October 1943)SI,OI, is a Pakistani Islamic jurist and leading scholar in the fields of Qur'an, Hadith,Islamic law,Islamic economics, andcomparative religion.[2] He was a member of theCouncil of Islamic Ideology from 1977 to 1981, a judge of theFederal Shariat Court from 1981 to 1982, and a judge in the Shariat Appellate Bench of theSupreme Court of Pakistan from 1982 to 2002. In 2020, he was selected as the most influential Muslim personality in the world.[3] He is considered a leading intellectual of the contemporaryDeobandi movement, and his opinions and fatwas are widely accepted by Deobandi scholars and institutions worldwide, including theDarul Uloom Deoband in India.[4] Since 2021, he has been serving as the Chairman ofWifaq ul Madaris Al-Arabia. His father,Shafi Usmani, was the Grand Mufti of Darul Uloom Deoband and Taqi Usmani migrated to Pakistan with his family after thepartition of India in 1948.
Usmani studied atDarul Uloom Karachi, theUniversity of Karachi, and theUniversity of the Punjab. He began teaching at Darul Uloom Karachi in 1960. Since 1967, he has been the editor of the Urdu magazineAl-Balagh and the English magazineAl-Balagh International since 1976. He is recognized as an authority in the field of Islamic law and its application.[5] He is a permanent member of theInternational Islamic Fiqh Academy of theOIC and a former deputy chairman. He is also a member of theMuslim World League based inMecca. At the age of 17, he wrote his first book titledIslam and Birth Control. He is the author of 143 books on various subjects in Arabic, English, and Urdu. He is widely recognized for his contributions to Islamic economics, where he has played a leading role in Islamizing the banking and finance industry in Pakistan and abroad. In 1998, his book on Islamic economics,An Introduction to Islamic Finance, was considered significant. His extensive work in Islamic economics led to his appointment as the Chairman of theAccounting and Auditing Organization for Islamic Financial Institutions (AAOIFI), a Bahrain-based Islamic Financial Institution of theIslamic Development Bank. In 2014, he was appointed as the Chairman of the Shariah Board of theState Bank of Pakistan. He has also served as the Chairman of the Shariah Board in more than a dozen Islamic banks and financial institutions. In recognition of his contributions to Islamic economics, he received the Islamic Development Bank Prize in 2014. Under his supervision, the English translation ofMa'ariful Qur'an was completed. He has authored translations and explanations of the Quran in both English and Urdu, which were published asThe Noble Quran andTauzeeh Al-Qur'an, respectively. Along withUlum al-Quran, these works are his major contributions to thestudy of the Quran. In the field ofFiqh (Islamic jurisprudence), his notable works includeFatawa-e-Usmani,Fiqh al-Buyu,Fiqhi Maqalat,Islam and Modern Economic Problems, andBuhuth fi Qadhaya Fiqhiyyah Mu`asirah, among others. His comprehensive explanation ofSahih Muslim, titledTakmilah Fath al-Mulhim, spans six volumes and is considered his finest work. The Hadith encyclopediaAl-Mudawwanah al-Jāmiʿah was compiled under his supervision. Among his other works in the field of hadith sciences areInamul Bari,Darus Tirmizi, andThe Authority of Sunnah. In recognition of his services in public welfare, he was honored with Pakistan's civil award,Sitara-i-Imtiaz, in 2019. In 2010,Abdullah II of Jordan bestowed upon him theOrder of Independence. In 2022, he received an honoraryDoctor of Letters degree from an American International Theism University.
Muhammad Taqi Usmani was born on 5 Shawwal 1362AH (3 October 1943) in the city ofDeoband inSaharanpur district,United Provinces,British India.[6] He was the fifth and youngest son ofMufti Muhammad Shafi (1897–1976). With his fullnasab (patronymic), he is Muhammad Taqi ibn Muhammad Shafi ibn Muhammad Yasin ibn Khalifah Tahsin Ali ibn Imam Ali ibn Karim Allah ibn Khair Allah ibn Shukr Allah. The forefathers of Miyanji Shukr Allah are unknown, but the family claims descent fromUthman, the thirdcaliph and acompanion of the Islamic prophetMuhammad, hence thenisbat "Usmani".[7][8]
Usmani was born to several generations of educators. The title "Miyanji" applied to several of his ancestors indicates that they were teachers. His grandfather Muhammad Yasin (1865/66 – 1936) taught Persian atDarul Uloom Deoband. Born the year before the madrasah's founding, he had been one of its first students and studied with some of its early teachers includingMuhammad Yaqub Nanautawi, Sayyid Ahmad Dihlawi,Mulla Mahmud Deobandi, andMahmud al-Hasan Deobandi. Usmani's father Muhammad Shafi was also a product of the Deoband seminary. He taught there for several decades and held the post of chiefmufti.[7]
In 1948, when Usmani was four years old, his father immigrated the family from Deoband toKarachi,Pakistan. Since there was not amadrasah nearby, Usmani's primary education began at home under his parents. He was later enrolled inDarul Uloom Karachi after Mufti Shafi founded the school in 1950. After completing his primary education, he began his formal religious training in theDars-i Nizami curriculum in 1953. He passed the Fazil-i Arabi (Punjab Board) with distinction in 1958, and received hisAlimiyyah degree with distinction from Darul Uloom Karachi in 1959. He then obtained hisTakhassus (specialization) degree infiqh (Islamic jurisprudence) andifta (fatwa issuance) from Darul Uloom Karachi in 1961, earning the title of "Mufti". Usmani continued his education at theUniversity of Karachi, obtaining aBachelor of Arts in economics and politics in 1964, then aBachelor of Laws standing second in his entire batch in 1967. In 1970 he obtained aMaster of Arts with first-class honours in Arabic language and literature from theUniversity of Punjab.[7][8][9][10][11]
Usmani received teaching licenses to teach hadith from Islamic scholars includingMuhammad Shafi,Muhammad Idris Kandhlawi,Qari Muhammad Tayyib,Saleemullah Khan,Rashid Ahmed Ludhianvi, Sahban Mahmud,Zafar Ahmad Usmani,Muhammad Zakariya Kandhalvi, Hasan al-Mahshat Al-Makki Al-Maliki, 'Abdu-l-'Azeez Ibn Baz Al-Maliki,Abd al-Fattah Abu Ghuddah, Abi Al-FaidMuhammad Yasin Al-Fadani Ash-Shafi'i, and others.[11]
Usmani pioneered the concept ofIslamic banking in Pakistan when he established theMeezan Bank.[citation needed] Usmani has authored books in Arabic, Urdu, andEnglish on Islamic topics in addition to articles onIslamic banking andfinance published in journals and magazines.[citation needed]
According toThe Muslim 500: "Usmani's chief influence comes from his position as a global authority on the issue of Islamic finance."[12]
He currently teachesSahih al-Bukhari, fiqh, andIslamic economics atDarul Uloom Karachi and is known for hisIslahi Khutbat. He was a key member of a team of scholars which helped declareAhmadis non-Muslims by Pakistan's National Assembly during the era of former Pakistani president,Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, in the 1970s. During the presidency of GeneralZia ul Haq, he was instrumental in drafting laws pertaining toHudood,Qisas meaningretaliation in kind or aneye for an eye andDiyya (blood money).[12]
Usmani strongly opposes elements of explicit modernity, which he describes as engulfing
"the whole world in the tornado of nudity and obscenity, and has provided an excuse for fornication, and more so it has led under thunder claps to the passage of a bill in the British House of Commons to legalize homosexuality. It is in the shadow of the same modernity that Western women are openly displaying banners on the streets demanding legalization of abortion"[21]
At a religious conference in 1984, he urged a more "dynamic attitude" towards the practice ofijtihad, arguing there is no shortage of fine minds capable of interpreting the sharia, but warning against the contamination of sharia by Western ideas such as the elimination ofhudud penalties such as amputation andstoning.[22][23]
| Position | Organisation | Location | From |
|---|---|---|---|
| President | Wifaq ul Madaris | Multan | 2021 |
| President | Ittehad-e-Tanzeemat-Madaris Pakistan | 2021 | |
| Vice President and Shaykh al-Hadith | Jamia Darul Uloom Karachi | Karachi | |
| Chairman | Centre for Islamic Economics, Pakistan[24] | Pakistan | 1991 |
| Chairman | International Shariah Standard Council, Accounting and Auditing Organization for Islamic Financial Institutions[25] | ||
| Permanent Member | International Islamic Fiqh Academy, Jeddah, organ of theOrganisation of Islamic Conference[26][12] | Jeddah | |
| Member | Islamic Fiqh Academy of Rabita-al-'Alam-e-Islami | Makkah | |
| Chairman Shariah Board | Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank | UAE | |
| Chairman Shariah Board | Meezan Bank Limited | Karachi | |
| Chairman Shariah Board | International Islamic Rating Agency | Bahrain | |
| Chairman Shariah Board | Pak-Kuwait Takaful | Karachi | |
| Chairman Shariah Board | Arif Habib Investments – Pakistan International Islamic Fund | Karachi | |
| Chairman Board | American International Theism University[27] | USA | |
| Member Shariah Board | Arcapita Investment Fund | Bahrain | |
| Member Unified Shariah Board | Islamic Development Bank | Jeddah | |
| Member Shariah Board | Shariah Board Guidance Financial Group[28] | USA |
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| Position | Organisation | From | to |
|---|---|---|---|
| Member | Council of Islamic Ideology | 1977 | 1981 |
| Judge | Federal Shariat Court of Pakistan[29] | 1980 | 1982 |
| Judge | Shariat Appellate Bench,Supreme Court of Pakistan[12][30] | 1982 | 2002 |
| Member | Syndicate University of Karachi | 1985 | 1988 |
| Member | Board of Governors,International Islamic University Islamabad | 1985 | 1989 |
| Member | International Institute of Islamic Economics | 1985 | 1988 |
| Member | Board of TrusteesInternational Islamic University, Islamabad | 2004 | 2007 |
| Member | Commission for Islamisation of Economy of Pakistan | ||
| Member Shariah Board | Bank of Khyber, Pehawar | ||
| Member Shariah Board | Dow Jones Index, New York | ||
| Member Shariah Board | HSBC Amanah Finance Dubai | ||
| Member Shariah Board | Swiss Re Takaful, Switzerland | ||
| Member Shariah Board | Bank Islami | ||
| Member Shariah Board | Dubai Bank | ||
| Member Shariah Board | Robert Fleming Oasis Fund, Luxemburg | ||
| Member Shariah Board | AL Bakarah Group Jeddah | ||
| Member Shariah Board | ABC Investment Bank |
Usmani has authored 143 books includingTauzeeh Al-Qur'an,An Introduction to Islamic Finance,Contemporary Fataawa,The Authority of Sunnah,Uloomu-l-Qur'an. He has also written a supplement toShabbir Ahmad Usmani'sFath al-Mulhim, entitledTakmila Fath al-Mulhim.[30][31]
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