Moulana Ashraf Ali Thanwi Rahimahullah

Hakimul Ummat Moulana Ashraf Ali Thanwi was born on 5 Rabiuth-Thaani 1280 A.H. in the village of Thana Bowan, situated in the North of India, between Delhi and Saharanpur. He lost his mother at a tender age and was brought up by his father in a fairly affluent background. His father took great pains in teaching Moulana and his younger brother discipline and good character. From a young age he had a great desire for namaaz. Even whilst playing he used to imitate the namaazis; e.g. he gathered all his friends shoes, placed them in a line, put one shoe in front of the line and expressed his happiness that the shoes were performing namaaz.

He also had a great desire to give lectures. On his way to the shops he used to enter any masjid, ascend the mimbar and deliver a khutbah. At the age of 12 he began performing tahajjud and other nafl salaats and wazifahs. His desire for Deen was initiated by his initial ustaad Hazrat Moulana Fateh Muhammed Saheb (rahmatullahi alayh)

After learning the basic kitaabs by his uncle and Moulana Fateh Muhammed he proceeded to Deoband to complete his studies and qualified at the tender age of 19 or 20 years. From his student days he became famous for his intelligence and sharp wittedness. He never wasted his time in futile play and amusement. He had such a burning desire to obtain knowledge that he learnt certain kitaabs which he could not study during class times, from his ustaads while they were performing wudhu.
Moulana Thanwi’s ustaads were all great luminaries of their time. The most important amongst them was Hazrat Moulana Muhammed Yaqub Saheb from whom he achieved the greatest amount of knowledge and spiritual benefit.

He learnt qiraat from the well-known Qari Muhammed Abdullah Saheb Muhajir Makki and mastered it to such an extent that it became difficult for the listener to distinguish between the recitation of the student and the teacher.

After qualifying, he spent 14 years in Kanpur teaching, writing and propagating to the people. During this period thousands of students quenched their thirst at this “ocean of knowledge”. Although Moulana was still very young, the people of Kanpur respected and honoured him tremendously, and it was during this period that he became famous. His discourses were greatly appreciated and were being printed in the form of booklets. Very few scholars in the history of Islam have had so many of their discourses reproduced in print.

During his student days in Deoband he desired to take bay’at at the hands of Moulana Rasheed Ahmed Gangohi. The latter refused, saying that this would be harmful to his studies. Moulana Thanwi then wrote a letter to Hajee Imdadullah in Makkah urging him to make Moulana Gangohi accept the pledge of bay’at. Hajee Imdadullah instead, by means of a letter, himself accepted bay’at from Moulana Thanwi nad made him his mureed (disciple). When Moulana Thanwi accompanied his father for haj one year after qualifying, he renewed his pledge at the hands of Hajee Imdadullah. After his return from Hijaz, he continued teaching and propagating while his desire for zikr intensified. He used to deliver lectures while standing for five to six hours, continuously.

In 1315 A.H. he left Kanpur and on the advice of his spiritual mentor Hajee Imadadullah, returned to Thana Bowan. This was all part of the divine plan of the Creator so that the Khanqah of Hajee Imdadullah would once again be populated. This was the termination of the first phase of his life, which was devoted more to Deeni education. The second phase, which began with his return to Thana Bowan, was devoted more to imparting spiritual benefits to the masses. Moulana has written books in every field of knowledge, such as, tafseer, tasawwuf, fiqh, hadith, and tajweed. All his works total more than a thousand. The voluminous work on hadith titled I’laa-us-Sunan (Elevation of the Sunnah) was written under his guidance. Regarding this kitaab (I’laa-us-Sunan), he said that if this madresa had accomplished no other work besides the writing of this book, that in itself would have been be a magnificent achievement, for it is such a unique work. Few homes are without the Bahisti Zewar and Munajaat e Maqbool, two of Moulana Thanwi’s more famous books. His tafseer Bayanul-Quraan is unparalleled in its style. The erudite Moulana Anwar Shah Kashmiri (RA), used to say that after reading Bayanul-Quraan I developed a desire to read Urdu books. (Bayanul-Quran was written in Urdu) Although Moulana wrote such a large number of books, yet he did not earn a cent from them. All his work was solely for the pleasure of Allah. He gave open permission to anyone to re-print his books. Some of his works have been through hundreds of editions.

On 20 Jamadul Awwal 1346 AH whilst performing Fajr Salaat he was inspired with the effects of certain a’maal. It dawned upon him that if Muslims practiced these acts, their calamities could be overcome. Consequently Moulana gathered 25 principles and had them printed in a booklet he named Hayatul-Muslimeen— The life of Muslims (which is also available in English). Although Moulana had written over 1000 books, yet he said: “I never considered any of my books as being a means of salvation for me. However, with regards to Hayatul-Muslimeen, I have a strong feeling it will be a means of my salvation. I regard it as the earning and capital of my entire life.”
Due to his outstanding service for Deen, Hazrat Thanwi was given the titles Hakimul Ummat (The Sage of The Ummat) and Mujaddid-e-Millat (Reformer of the Islamic Nation). He passed away on 16 Rajab 1362 A.H. (20 July 1943) and was buried in Thana Bowan.