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{{Short description|Indian Islamic scholar (1911/1912–1992)}}
{{More citations needed|date=May 2019}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2019}}
{{Use Indian English|date=January 2019}}
{{Infobox religious biography
|religion=[[Islam]]
|image =
|caption =
|name = Muhammad Masihullah Khan<br/>{{small|{{Nastaliq|محمد مسیح الله خان}}}}
|title = [[Maulana]], ''Masih al-Ummah''
|birth_date = 1911/1912
|birth_place = Sara'i Barla, [[Aligarh District]], [[British India]]
|death_date = 12 November 1992 (aged 79–81)
|death_place = [[Jalalabad, Muzaffarnagar|Jalalabad]], [[Muzaffarnagar District]], [[India]]
| resting_place = Jalalabad
|nationality = [[India]]n
|ethnicity =
|era =
|region =
|occupation = [[Islamic scholar]], [[murshid|Sufi shaykh]]
|denomination = [[Sunni Islam]]
|Madh'hab = [[Hanafi]]
|Creed = [[Maturidi]]
|movement = [[Deobandi]]
|Sufi_order = [[Chishti Order|Chishtiya]]-[[Alauddin Sabir Kaliyari|Sabiriya]]-[[Haji Imdadullah Muhaajir Makki|Imdadiya]]
|disciple_of = [[Ashraf Ali Thanvi]]<br/>{{small|(granted ''[[Khalifah (Sufism)|khilafah]]'')}}
|alma_mater = [[Darul Uloom Deoband]]
|awards =
|main_interests = [[Sufism]]
|notable_ideas =
|notable_works = The Path to Perfection, Shariat-o-Tasawwuf
|influences = [[Ashraf Ali Thanvi]], [[Muhammad Ilyas Kandhalvi]], [[Husain Ahmad Madani]]
|influenced = [[Mufti]] [[Muhammad Taqi Usmani]]
}}

{{Deobandi}}

'''Muhammad Masihullah Khan Sherwani Jalalabadi''' ({{lang-ur|{{Nastaliq|محمد مسیح الله خان شیروانی جلال آبادی}}}}, ''Muḥammad Masīhu’llāh Khān Shīrwānī Jalāl ābādī''; 1911/1912 – 12 November 1992) was an Indian [[Deobandi]] [[Islamic scholar]] known as an authority in Sufism. He was among the senior ''[[Khalifah (Sufism)|khalifahs]]'' of [[Ashraf Ali Thanvi]], who gave him the title "''Masih al-Ummah''" ("Comforter of the ''[[Ummah]]''").

==Early life==
Muhammad Masihullah Khan was born in 1329 or 1330 [[Hijri year|AH]] (1911/1912) in Sara’i Barla, a village in the [[Aligarh district]] of [[Uttar Pradesh]], [[India]].<ref name="wtp" /><ref name="Jām'i o Mukhtasar">{{cite book |author1=Dr. Muhammadullah Khalīli Qasmi|title=دار العلوم دیوبند کی جامع و مختصر تاریخ (A comprehensive and brief history of Darul Uloom Deoband)|publisher=Shaykh-ul-Hind Academy, [[Darul Uloom Deoband]] |edition= October 2020|pages=732–733|date=31 December 2021}}</ref><ref name="Tārīkh">{{cite book |author1=[[Syed Mehboob Rizwi]]|title=History of Darul Uloom|publisher=Al-Mīzān Publishers And Booksellers, Al-Karīm Market, Urdu Bazar, [[Lahore]]|pages=163–164|edition=2005 |url=https://archive.org/details/TareekhEDarulUloomDeoband/Tareekh%20E%20Darul%20Uloom%20Deoband%20Vol%202%20By%20Sayed%20Mahboob%20Rizvi |language=Urdu|accessdate=31 December 2021}}</ref> His family was of the [[Sherwani (Pashtun tribe)|Sherwani]] tribe, a [[Sayyid]] tribe of [[Pathans]]. His father's name was Ahmad Sa`id Khan.
Masihullah was known for piety in his youth, and he often sat in the company of scholars and [[Sufi]]s. He developed a close companionship with [[Muhammad Ilyas Kandhalvi]], who introduced him to the books and lectures of [[Ashraf Ali Thanvi]].<ref name="biography">{{cite book |title=A BRIEF BIOGRAPHY OF MASIH AL-UMMAH MUHAMMAD MASIHULLAH KHAN |url=http://www.miftahuljannah.org/articles/A_Biography_Masihullah_Khan.pdf |access-date=30 May 2019}}</ref><ref name="wtp">{{cite web |title=Maulana Masihullah Khan Sherwani |url=https://www.whitethreadpress.com/author/maulana-masihullah-khan-sherwani/ |website=White Thread Press |access-date=30 May 2019}}</ref>

==Education and training==
Most of Masihullah's Islamic education was undertaken in his hometown under Sa`id Ahmad Lucknowi. He then enrolled in [[Darul Uloom Deoband]] in 1347 AH (1928/1929). In the same year he pledged allegiance to Ashraf Ali Thanvi. At [[Darul Uloom Deoband]], Masihullah's teachers included [[Husain Ahmad Madani]], [[Maulana Izaz Ali Amrohi|Muhammad I'zaz Ali Amrohi]],
[[Mian Asghar Hussain Deobandi|Syed Mian Asghar Hussain Deobandi]], and Muhammad Ibrahim Baliyawi.
Masihullah graduated in Sha`ban 1351 AH (1932). On 25 Shawwal 1351 (February 1933), he was granted ''[[Khalifah (Sufism)|khilafah]]'' by Thanvi, his shaykh, and was thus authorized to take his own disciples. Despite Masihullah's young age, Thanvi listed him among his eleven most distinguished ''khalifahs'' (spiritual representatives). In fact, he was ranked second among those eleven most distinguished ''khalifahs'', ranking only below [[Professor]] [[Mawlana]] Muhammad 'Isa [[Allahabad]]i, who was the most senior disciple of [[Mawlana]] Thanwi. Thanwi had confidence in Masihullah's methods of spiritual training, and would sometimes refer [[murid|disciples]] to Masihullah for training.<ref name="wtp" />
[[Mufti]] [[Muhammad Taqi Usmani]] is one of his most distinguished ''khalifahs''.<ref name="asharfia">{{Cite web|title =Mawlana Mohammad Taqi Usmani| website=Ashrafiya.com|url =
https://www.ashrafiya.com/sayyidi-mawlana-mohammad-taqi-usmani-db/
|accessdate = 31 December 2021}}</ref>

==Jalalabad==
Upon the direction of Thanvi, in 1357 AH (1938/1939) Masihullah moved to the town of [[Jalalabad, Muzaffarnagar|Jalalabad]] in the [[Muzaffarnagar District|district of Muzaffarnagar]], due to the need for a teacher there. In Jalalabad, Masihullah took charge of a small, two-roomed school known as Madrasah Miftah al-`Ulum. Within thirty years the school developed from a simple ''[[Maktab (education)|maktab]]'' into a large madrasah with Islamic education offered from the elementary level up to the Alimiyah and Ifta levels.<ref name="wtp" /><ref name="biography" /><ref name="Tārīkh" />
In 1407 AH (1986/1987), Masihullah gave the responsibility for running the madrasah to his son so that he could devote more time to his ''[[khanqah]]'', where an increasingly large number of people were coming for spiritual reformation. Every Monday and Thursday, Masihullah would conduct a two- to three-hour gathering for instructing his disciples. Every Friday, after the ''[[Jumu'ah|jumu`ah]]'' prayer, he would have a gathering for the general public which would be attended by several hundred people from Jalalabad and the surrounding areas.<ref name="biography" />

==Literary works==
* ''Shariat-o-Tasawwuf''<ref name =SoT>{{cite book|title=Shariat-o-Tasawwuf|publisher=Maktaba Fakharia Khanquah Imdadia, Gilat Bazar, Varanasi Cantt, [[Uttar Pradesh]]|author=Muhammad Masihullah Khan|language=ur}}</ref>
*''The Path to Perfection''<ref name="perfection">{{cite book |author1=Maulana Masihullah Khan |title=The Path to Perfection |publisher=White Thread Press |isbn=978-0-9728358-7-9 |edition=Jun 2005 Reprint 2009 |url=http://www.whitethreadpress.com/the-path-to-perfection/ |access-date=30 May 2019 |language=en}}</ref>

==Demise==
Masihullah died on 12 November 1992. He was buried the next day after the Friday prayer. The funeral prayer was led by Mufti Inayatullah, and his funeral was attended by over 250,000 people. He was buried in the cemetery next to the madrasah.<ref name="wtp" />

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{Hanafi scholars}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Masihullah Khan, Muhammad}}
[[Category:Year of birth uncertain]]
[[Category:1992 deaths]]
[[Category:Indian Sunni Muslim scholars of Islam]]
[[Category:Hanafi fiqh scholars]]
[[Category:Indian Sufis]]
[[Category:Sunni Sufis]]
[[Category:People from Aligarh]]
[[Category:Deobandis]]
[[Category:Indian people of Pashtun descent]]

Masihullah Khan - Revision history

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