Hadhrat Shaikh Maulana Maseehullah Khan Sherwani (1911 or 1912 – November 12, 1992) was a renowned scholar of Islam

Islam

Islam . The most common are and .   : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...

.

Sherwani was born in Sara’i Barla, a village within the district of Aligarh in Uttar Pradesh

Uttar Pradesh

Uttar Pradesh abbreviation U.P. , is a state located in the northern part of India. With a population of over 200 million people, it is India's most populous state, as well as the world's most populous sub-national entity...

, India

India

India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

. After the completion of his early education in his hometown, Sherwani enrolled into Darul Ulum Deoband. Upon Sherwani's graduation, he was awarded with the authorization to teach tasawwuf. He then was assigned to operate a school in Jalalabad

Jalalabad

Jalalabad , formerly called Adinapour, as documented by the 7th century Hsüan-tsang, is a city in eastern Afghanistan. Located at the junction of the Kabul River and Kunar River near the Laghman valley, Jalalabad is the capital of Nangarhar province. It is linked by approximately of highway with...

. Within a few years, Sherwani established an Islamic institution called Madrasa Miftahul Ulum. Students would arrive from far and wide to attend this institution in order to benefit from his knowledge and wisdom.

Sherwani would spend the entire day in the service of Islam. After Fajr Salaah, he would partake of a light breakfast and refrain from eating thereafter until the time of Maghrib Salaah. For the entire day, he would sit in the Qa'idah posture of salaah and teach patiently. His teaching method was simple yet effective and he would constantly state, “I am only presenting this through the benevolence and mercy of Allah”. He conformed to the Sunnah in every aspect of his life. Sherwani died on November 12, 1992. Mufti Muhammad Inayatullah performed Salaatul Janaza and he was buried in Alalabad.

Education and training

Maseehullah's initial educational training commenced in his hometown. The greater part of the Islamic syllabus up to the stage of Mishkat Shareef was acquired from Mufti Saeed Ahmad. From Mishkat Shareef and Hidayah onwards up to completion of the Aalim Faadhil course was undertaken at the famous Islamic institute of learning, Darul Uloom, Deoband. He passed his student days in perfect solitude and was totally engrossed in the acquisition of llm'. At the same time he was a Mureed of Thanvi and as a result of his elevated spiritual rank, he occupied a distinguished position of honour and respect among students and Ulama as well. It was already noted that a spiritual link of faith and love with Thanvi was already established during his early childhood days. The first time that Hadhrat Maseehullah saw Hakeemul Ummat Maulana Thanvi, was at Aligarh during the year when Maseehullah left for Deoband in pursuit of his Islamic education. The same year Maseehullah established his `islaah (spiritual rectification) connection with Thanvi. Since that time he has been in constant communication with Thanvi.