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{{Short description|Sunni Deobandi Islamic scholar (1897–1976)}}
{{Other uses|Muhammad Shafi (disambiguation)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2020}}
{{Use Pakistani English|date=January 2020}}
{{Infobox religious biography
| religion = [[Islam]]
| honorific_prefix = [[Mufti]]
| name = Muhammad Shafi
| image = Mufti Muhammad Shafi (Usmani).jpg
| birth_date = 24 January 1897
| birth_place = [[Deoband]], [[North-Western Provinces]], [[British Raj|British India]]
| death_date = {{death date and age|df=y|1976|10|6|1897|01|24}}
| death_place = [[Karachi, Sindh]], Pakistan
| nationality = {{plainlist|
* [[British Indian]] (1897–1947)
* Indian (1947–1948)
* Pakistani (1948–1976)
}}
| era = Modern
| denomination = [[Sunni Islam|Sunni]]
| jurisprudence = [[Hanafi]]
| creed = [[Maturidi]]
| movement = [[Deobandi]]
| alma_mater = [[Darul Uloom Deoband]]
| Sufi_order = [[Chishti]] ([[Haji Imdadullah Muhajir Makki|Sabiri-Imdadi]])
| disciple_of = [[Ashraf Ali Thanwi]] [[Mahmud Hasan Deobandi]]
| main_interests = [[Tafsir]]
| notable_works = ''Ma'ariful Qur'an'', ''[[Seerat Khatam al-Anbiya]]''
| influences = [[Mahmud Hasan Deobandi]] [[Habibur Rahman Usmani]] [[Anwar Shah Kashmiri]] [[Shabbir Ahmad Usmani]] [[Ashraf Ali Thanwi]] [[Aziz-ul-Rahman Usmani]] [[Mian Asghar Hussain Deobandi]] [[Izaz Ali Amrohi]] [[Ibrahim Balyawi]]
| influenced = [[Taqi Usmani]] [[Rafi Usmani]]
| students = [[Abul Hasan Jashori]] [[Hafez Ahmadullah]] [[Muhammad Abdullah Ghazi]]
| office1 = 1st President of [[Darul Uloom Karachi]]
| term1 = 1951 – 6 October 1976
| predecessor1 = Position established
| successor1 = [[Abdul Hai Arifi]]
| office2 = 4th Head Mufti of [[Darul Uloom Deoband]]
| term2 = {{circa}} 13 August 1931 – {{circa}} November 1935
| predecessor2 = Riyazudin Bijnori
| successor2 = [[Muhammad Sahool Bhagalpuri]]
| office3 = 7th Head Mufti of [[Darul Uloom Deoband]]
| term3 = c. 4 April 1940 – c. 23 March 1943
| predecessor3 = Kifayatullah Gangohi
| successor3 = Farooq Ahmad
| native_name = مفتی محمد شفیع
| children = [[Rafi Usmani]], [[Taqi Usmani]]
}}
{{Deobandi}}
'''Muhammad Shafi''' (24 January 1897 – 6 October 1976), often referred to as '''Mufti Muhammad Shafi''', was a [[Pakistani]] [[Sunni]] [[Islamic scholar]] of the [[Deobandi movement|Deobandi school]], a [[Hanafi]] jurist and [[mufti]], he was also an authority on [[shari'ah]], [[hadith]], [[Qur'an]]ic exegesis, and [[Sufism]].<ref name=":0">{{TDV Encyclopedia of Islam|article=MUHAMMED ŞEFÎ‘ DİYÛBENDÎ|url=https://islamansiklopedisi.org.tr/muhammed-sefi-diyubendi}}</ref> Born in [[Deoband]], [[British India]], he graduated in 1917 from [[Darul Uloom Deoband]], where he later taught hadith and held the post of Head mufti. He resigned in 1943 to devote his time to the [[Pakistan Movement]]. After the [[Partition of India|independence]] he moved to Pakistan, where he established [[Darul Uloom Karachi]] in 1951. Of his written works, his best-known is ''Ma'ariful Qur'an'', an Urdu commentary on the [[Qur'an]].

==Birth and early childhood==
{{See also|Usmani family of Deoband#Miyānji Shukrullah}}
Muhammad Shafi, son of Muhammad Yasin, was born on 24 January 1897 (20 Sha'ban 1314 [[Hijri year|AH]]) in [[Deoband]], [[British India]], to an [[Usmani family of Deoband|Usmani]] family.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=taqi>{{cite web|author=Muhammad Taqi Usmani|title=Shaykh Muhammad Shafi': The Mufti of Pakistan|url=http://www.deoband.org/2011/12/history/biographies-of-scholars/shaykh-muhammad-shafi%E2%80%98-the-mufti-of-pakistan/|publisher=Deoband.org|date=4 December 2011|orig-year=Originally written March 1964}} Translated by Zameelur Rahman from introduction to {{cite book|title=احكام القرآن / Aḥkām al-Qur'ān|volume=3|pages=1–19|language=ar|publisher=ادارة القرآن والعلوم الاسلامية / Idārat al-Qur’ān wa-al-‘Ulūm al-Islāmīyah|location=Karachi|author1=Zafar Ahmad Usmani|author2=Jamil Ahmad Thanawi|author3=Muhammad Shafi Deobandi|author4=Muhammad Idris Kandhlawi|year=2008|orig-year=First published 1987}}</ref><ref name=rafi>{{cite book|title=حیات مفتی اعظم / Ḥayāt-i Muftī-yi A'ẓam|author=Rafi Usmani|date=May 2005|orig-year=First published 1994|publisher=ادارة المعارف / Idāratul-Ma‘ārif|location=Karachi|language=ur}}</ref> He was given the name "Muhammad Shafi" by his father's sheikh, [[Rashid Ahmad Gangohi]], though he was originally named "Muhammad Mubin" by his grandfather, Khalifah Tahsin Ali.<ref name=rafi/><ref name=rizvi>{{cite book|title=History of the Dar al-Ulum Deoband|volume=2|year=1981|publisher=Idara-e Ihtemam, Dar al-Ulum|location=Deoband, India|author=Sayyid Mahbub Rizvi|author-link=Syed Mehboob Rizwi|others=Translated by Prof. Murtaz Husain F. Quraishi}}</ref><ref name=interview>{{cite interview|subject=Muhammad Shafi Deobandi|date=c. 1973|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JA86vFqX8f4 |title=Rare interview on YouTube: Mufti Shafi Usmani talks about his life (1973 interview in Urdu language with captions in English)}}</ref> Shafi grew up in a religious environment. As a child he played in the courtyard of Darul Uloom Deoband and sat in the company of his father, who was a teacher at the school.<ref name=interview/>

==Education==
Aged five, Shafi began memorizing the Qur'an with Muhammad Azim and Namdar Khan at the Darul Uloom.<ref name=rafi/><ref name=interview/><ref name=shafi>

{{cite book|title=معارف القرآن / Ma'āriful-Qur'ān|volume=1|pages=59–71|chapter=تمہید / Tamhīd|trans-chapter=Introduction|author=Muhammad Shafi Deobandi|language=ur|publisher=Idāratul-Ma‘ārif|location=Karachi|date=April 2008|orig-year=Cited chapter written October 1972}}

</ref> In 1907 or 1908 (1325 AH), he commenced the study of Urdu, Persian, mathematics and other subjects at Darul Uloom Deoband, which he completed within the next five years under the supervision of his father.<ref name=taqi/><ref name=rafi/>

He studied arithmetic and [[Euclid]] from his uncle Munshi Manzur Ahmad and Quranic recitation from Muhammad Yusuf Miruthi. Along with teaching Shafi the Persian books, Maulana Yasin also instructed him in the elementary [[Arabic]] books of ''sarf'' (morphology), ''nahw'' (grammar), and ''[[fiqh]]'' (jurisprudence), up to ''Fusul-i Akbari'', ''Hidayat an-Nahw'', and ''Munyat al-Musalli''.<ref name=rafi/>

In 1330 AH (1912)<ref name=rafi/><ref name=interview/> or 1331 AH (1913)<ref name=shafi/> Shafi was formally enrolled in the upper level Arabic classes of Darul Uloom Deoband. He did Daurah Hadith in 1335 AH (1916/1917) under the supervision of Anwar Shah Kashmiri, and completed his education in 1336 AH (1917/1918).<ref name=rafi/><ref name=rizvi/><ref name=shafi/> The teachers under whom Shafi formally studied included:<ref name=rafi/><ref name=interview/><ref name=shafi/>

*[[Anwar Shah Kashmiri]]
*[[Shabbir Ahmad Usmani]]
*[[Azizur Rahman Usmani]]
*[[Mian Asghar Hussain Deobandi]]
*[[Izaz Ali Amrohi]]
*Muhammad Rasul Khan
*[[Ibrahim Balyawi|Muhammad Ibrahim Balliyawi]]
*Ghulam Rasul Hazarwi
*[[Hafiz Muhammad Ahmad]]

Among his teachers was [[Anwar Shah Kashmiri]], who was the school's head teacher. Some of the books Shafi studied with him were ''[[Sahih al-Bukhari]]'', ''[[Sahih al-Tirmidhi]]'' (with the exception of a small part), [[at-Tirmidhi]]'s ''[[Shama'il Muhammadiyah|Shama'il]]'' and '''Ilal'', ''al-Falsafah al-'Arabiyah'' on modern philosophy, and ''Sharh an-Nafisi'' on medicine (''tibb''). Shafi was among Kashmiri's closest students, and Kashmiri would later select Shafi for assistance in refuting the [[Ahmadiyya Movement]]. Shafi studied ''[[Sahih Muslim]]'' and half of ''[[al-Hidayah (book)|Hidayah]]'' with Shabbir Ahmad Usmani, whom he would later accompany in the movement to create Pakistan. With [[Mian Asghar Hussain Deobandi]] he studied the hadith collections ''[[Sunan Abu Dawud]]'', ''[[Sunan an-Nasa'i]]'', and the remainder of ''Sahih al-Tirmidhi''. With Azizur Rahman, head of the Darul Uloom's [[Fatwa]] Department, Shafi studied the [[Muwatta Imam Malik|Muwatta]] of [[Imam Malik]] in the transmission of [[Yahya al-Laithi|Yahya ibn Yahya]] and the transmission of [[Muhammad al-Shaybani|ash-Shaybani]], [[at-Tahawi]]'s ''Sharh Ma'ani al-Athar'', ''[[Tafsir al-Jalalayn]]'', ''[[Mishkat al-Masabih]]'', [[Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani|Ibn Hajar]]'s ''Sharh Nukhbat al-Fikar'', and ''Hisn-i Hasin''. He studied ''Sunan Ibn Majah'' with Ghulam Rasul Hazarwi. With [[Izaz Ali Amrohi]] he studied all the books of literature, [[Maibazi]]'s ''Sharh Hidayat al-Hikmah'', [[at-Taftazani]]'s ''Sharh al-'Aqa'id al-Nasafiyah'', Ubayd Allah al-Mahbubi's ''Sharh al-Wiqayah'', and some other treatises. With Maulana Muhammad Ibrahim he studied ''[[Mulla Sadra|Sadra]]'' and ''[[Shams al-Bazighah]]''.<ref name=taqi/><ref name=rafi/>

After Daurah a few books still remained, including ''Qazi'', ''Mir Zahid'', and ''Umur-i 'Ammah''—these were completed in 1336 AH (1917/1918).<ref name=rafi/><ref name=shafi/> In that year Shafi was also appointed to teach some lessons.<ref name=taqi/><ref name=rafi/><ref name=shafi/>

==Career==
Shafi began teaching at Darul Uloom Deoband in 1918 or 1919 (1337 AH).<ref name=rizvi/><ref name=shafi/> He taught the elementary level books of the curriculum and eventually reached the level of Daurah Hadith.<ref name=rafi/><ref name=rizvi/> The first book of Daurah level that he was given was ''[[Muwatta Imam Malik]]'', and he later taught other books. In 1354 AH (1935/1936) he was entrusted with teaching ''[[Sunan Abu Dawud]]'' for some time in place of Maulana Asghar Husain. On Husain's request he was given this lecture permanently, and he taught it until he left Darul Uloom Deoband in 1943 (1362 AH). Shafi was regarded as an exceptional lecturer on many subjects, but two of his lessons were most famous—one was ''Sunan Abu Dawud'', and the other was ''Maqamat al-Hariri'' in Arabic literature.<ref name=rafi/> After leaving Darul Uloom Deoband, he taught ''[[Sahih al-Bukhari]]'' for three months at [[Jamiah Islamiyah Dabhel]], filling in for [[Maulana Shabbir Ahmad Usmani]].<ref name=rafi/>

Shafi established [[Darul Uloom Karachi]] in 1951 (Shawwal 1370 AH). There he taught ''Sahih al-Bukhari'' for several years, as well as ''Muwatta Malik'' and ''[[Shama'il at-Tirmidhi]]''. Whenever due to health or other responsibilities he was unable to teach the whole of ''Bukhari'', then those years he would teach until the Book of Wudu, and other teachers would cover the remainder. In the last four years of his life, he was bedridden and thus unable to teach regularly. However, on the insistence of students and teachers, every year he taught the first lesson of ''Sahih al-Bukhari'' and the last lessons of the [[Sihah Sittah]].<ref name=rafi/>

==Fatwa, Rulings ==
Shafi frequently assisted [[Azizur Rahman Usmani]], head of the school's [[fatwa]] department.<ref name=taqi/> Azizur Rahman resigned from the Darul Uloom in 1344 AH (1925/1926). Others occupied the post of Sadr Mufti (Chief Mufti) until the Majlis-e-Shura of Darul Uloom Deoband appointed Shafi to the post on 28 Rabi al-Awwal 1350 AH (c. 13 August 1931).<ref name=rafi/><ref name=rizvi/>{{#tag:ref|Mufti Muhammad Shafi writes in the introduction to ''Ma'ariful Qur'an'' that he occupied the post from 1349 AH.<ref name=shafi/>|group="note"}} In additions to undertaking the duties of fatwa-writing, Shafi also continued to teach some books of hadith and tafsir.<ref name=shafi/>

In November 1932 (Rajab 1351), Shafi published a tract entitled ''Nihayat al-arab fi ghayat an-nasab'' on [[Caste system among Muslims#In South Asia|caste]]. The weavers of the Deoband area (who were regarded as a lower caste) revolted against the fatwa, and from early 1353 AH (1934/1935) to late 1354 AH (1935/1936) rallies were held and threats were made against Shafi, in response to which a group of teachers took to acting as his bodyguards. Several scholars wrote or spoke in defense of the fatwa, including Shafi's shaikh Ashraf Ali Thanwi, Sayyid Asghar Husain, and Husain Ahmad Madani. Due to the controversy, Shafi asked to be transferred to the teaching department, a request that was eventually granted by the Majlis-e-Shura in Sha'ban 1354 AH (c. November 1935).<ref name=rafi/><ref name=rizvi/><ref>{{cite book|last=Buehler|first=Arthur F.|title=Sayyids and Sharifs in Muslim Societies: The Living Links to the Prophet|editor-last=Morimoto|editor-first=Kazuo|year=2012|publisher=Routledge|location=London|isbn=9780203123157|page=239|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5VnmEMh0MF4C&pg=PA239|chapter=Trends of ashrāfization in India}}</ref>

Shafi remained in the teaching department over the next few years, during which two other ulama held the post of Sadr Mufti. On 25 Safar 1359 AH (c. 4 April 1940), Shafi was appointed to the office a second time.<ref name=rafi/><ref name=rizvi/> He held the post until he left Darul Uloom Deoband in Rabi al-Awwal 1362 AH (March 1943).<ref name=taqi/><ref name=rafi/>{{#tag:ref|[[Syed Mehboob Rizwi]] writes that Shafi occupied the post until 1361 AH (1942).<ref name=rizvi/>|group="note"}}

Estimates of the number of fatwas that he issued while at Darul Uloom Deoband range from 26,000<ref name=rizvi/> to over 40,000. Some of Muhammad Shafi's fatwas have been published in eight large volumes titled ''Imdad al-Muftin'', while the majority remain unpublished.<ref name=taqi/>

==Tasawuf==
From an early age, Shafi frequently attended the gatherings of [[Mahmud Hasan Deobandi]]. Then when Mahmud Hasan was [[Malta exiles|imprisoned in Malta]], Shafi consulted [[Ashraf Ali Thanwi]]. Mahmud Hasan returned to Deoband in June 1920 (20 Ramadan 1338 AH). In 1339 AH (1920) Shafi gave ''bay'at'' (allegiance) at his hand. However, Mahmud Hasan died a few months later on 18 Rabi al-awwal AH (November 1920). Shafi returned to Thanawi after Mahmud Hasan's death. In Rabi ath-thani 1349 AH (1930) he received ''ijazat-i bay'at'' (permission to take disciples) and ''khilafah'' (spiritual successorship).<ref name=taqi/><ref name=rafi/>

==Pakistan Movement==
When the [[All-India Muslim League]] was formed to campaign for the creation of a separate Muslim state, Ashraf Ali Thanvi instructed all Muslims, including scholars, to support this campaign. Shafi and other scholars, including Zafar Ahmad Usmani, joined the [[Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam]], a council of Islamic scholars formed by [[Shabbir Ahmad Usmani]] to campaign for the creation of Pakistan. In 1363 AH (1944) Muhammad Shafi resigned from teaching and issuing fatwas at Darul Uloom Deoband in order to devote his time to the movement for the creation of Pakistan. He toured India, gave speeches, and issued ''fatwas'' for this purpose.<ref name=taqi/>

==Migration to Pakistan==
In 1948 (1367 AH), after the [[partition of India]], Shafi migrated from Deoband to Pakistan. He founded [[Darul Uloom Karachi]] in 1370 AH (1950/1951). He died on 10 Shawwal 1396 (6 October 1976).<ref name=taqi/>

== Life in Pakistan ==
He remarked that the various educational systems that came into being under the British rule – traditional Madrasahs, spearheaded by Deoband, and modern schools, spearheaded by Aligarh – should be integrated thus balancing the religious and worldly dimensions of knowledge and nurturing.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://musingsofamuslimdoctor.wordpress.com/2018/11/22/asia-bibi-case-pakistanis-need-to-bridge-the-mister-mulla-divide/|title=Asia Bibi case: Pakistanis need to bridge the 'mister-mulla' divide|last=Talhah|first=Sayyid|date=2018-11-22|website=Musings of a Muslim Doctor|language=en|access-date=2019-09-28}}</ref>

He avoided disputes at all costs and on occasion, he even gave up land allocated to him by the government of Pakistan to build a Madrasah, just to avoid a dispute that has arisen in the process.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://sayyidtalhah.wordpress.com/2017/12/13/avoiding-disputes/|title=Avoid the Disputes – Despite Being Right!|last=Talhah|first=Sayyid|date=2017-12-13|website=Pearls for Tazkiyah|language=en|access-date=2019-09-28}}</ref>

==Works==
He wrote around one hundred books [[Exegesis#Islam|explaining]] the [[Quran]] and interpreting [[Sharia|Islamic law]].

His best-known and most widely translated work is the ''Ma'ariful Qur'an'' ("The Wisdom of the Quran"), which he finished (in Urdu) four years before his death.<ref name="ibid">''Ma'ariful Qur'an: A Comprehensive Commentary on the Holy Qur'an'' (Karachi: Mataba-e-Darul-Ulomm Karachi, 2008 ed.), Volume 1. p. xv</ref> This work, a commentary on the entire Quran, began as a series of weekly lectures on [[Radio Pakistan]] that ran for ten years.<ref name="ibid" />

==Notes==
{{Reflist|group=note}}

==External links==
* {{Cite journal |last=Ullah |first=Asad |date=2018-06-30 |title=Research Study of the Contribution of Mufti Muhammad Shafi' in Sīrah Studies |url=http://jirs.uoh.edu.pk/index.php/JIRS/article/view/328 |journal=Journal of Islamic and Religious Studies |language=ur |volume=3 |issue=1 |pages=95–105 |doi=10.36476/JIRS.3:1.06.2018.07 |issn=2519-7118|doi-access=free }}
*[https://archive.org/details/UrduBooksCollection_20170511]
*[https://archive.org/details/EnglishBooksCollection]
*[http://prr.hec.gov.pk/jspui/handle/123456789/19985 مفتی اعظم پاکستان مولانا مفتی محمد شفیع کی عملی، تصنیفی اور ملی خدمتات کا علمی، تحقیقی و تنقیدی جائزہ]
*[https://studentrepo.iium.edu.my/entities/publication/fcc52da2-bedb-48dd-8bed-46b0570dff81 الشيخ المفتي محمد شفيع العثماني وإسهاماته في فقه النوازل : دراسة تحليلية نقدية]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{s-start}}
{{s-rel}}
{{succession box
| title = fourth Head Mufti of Darul Uloom Deoband
| years = 13 August 1931 - November 1935
| before = Riyazuddin Bijnori
| after =[[Muhammad Sahool Bhagalpuri]]
}}
{{succession box
| title = seventh Head Mufti of Darul Uloom Deoband
| years = 4 April 1940 - 23 March 1943
| before = Kifayatullah Gangohi
| after =Farooq Ahmad
}}
{{s-end}}{{Islamic scholars from Pakistan|state=collapsed}}{{Pakistan Movement|state=collapsed}}
{{Maturidi}}
{{Hanafi scholars}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Muhammad Shafi}}

[[Category:Muhammad Shafi]]
[[Category:Pakistani Islamic religious leaders]]
[[Category:Hanafis]]
[[Category:Maturidis]]
[[Category:Deobandis]]
[[Category:Pakistani Sunni Muslim scholars of Islam]]
[[Category:Jurisprudence academics]]
[[Category:1976 deaths]]
[[Category:1897 births]]
[[Category:Muhajir people]]
[[Category:People from Deoband]]
[[Category:Darul Uloom Deoband alumni]]
[[Category:Head Muftis of Darul Uloom Deoband]]
[[Category:Students of Mahmud Hasan Deobandi]]
[[Category:Students of Anwar Shah Kashmiri]]
[[Category:Presidents of Jamia Darul Uloom, Karachi]]
[[Category:Darul Uloom Karachi people]]
[[Category:Disciples of Ashraf Ali Thanwi]]
[[Category:Usmani family]]
[[Category:Muslim scholars]]
[[Category:Grand Muftis of Pakistan]]

Muhammad Shafi - Revision history

Jameshowlett179011: started basic entry initial version