Anwar Shah Kashmiri

Imam al-Asr Mawlānā Anwar Shah Kashmiri
انور شاہ کشمیری
Principal of Darul Uloom Deoband
In office 1915–1927
Preceded by	Mahmud Hasan Deobandi
Succeeded by	Hussain Ahmad Madani
Personal details
Born	(1875-11-26)26 November 1875
Died	28 May 1933(1933-05-28) (aged 57)
Children	Azhar Shah Qaiser, Anzar Shah Kashmiri
Alma mater	Darul Uloom Deoband
Signature
Personal
Denomination	Sunni
Jurisprudence	Hanafi
Movement	Deobandi
Main interest(s)	Hadith studies Poetry
Notable work(s)	Fayd al-Bari Anwar al-Bari Al-Arf al-Shadhi
Senior posting
Teacher	Mahmud Hasan Deobandi, Ghulam Rasool Hazarvi
Disciple of	Rashid Ahmad Gangohi
Students Saeed Ahmad Akbarabadi, Atiqur Rahman Usmani, Yusuf Banuri, Athar Ali Bengali, Hamid al-Ansari Ghazi, Manazir Ahsan Gilani, Idris Kandhlawi, Muhammad Miyan Deobandi, Muhammad Shafi Deobandi, Manzoor Nomani, Abdul Qadir Raipuri, Hifzur Rahman Seoharwi, Syed Fakhruddin Ahmad, Muhammad Tayyib Qasmi, Zayn al-Abidin Sajjad Meerthi, Badre Alam Merathi
Influenced Muhammad Iqbal

Anwar Shah Kashmiri^[a] (26 November 1875 – 28 May 1933) was an Islamic scholar from Kashmir in the early twentieth century, best known for his expertise in the study of hadith, a strong memory, and a unique approach to interpreting traditions, as well as the fourth principal of Darul Uloom Deoband. With an ancestral heritage of religious scholarship rooted in Baghdad, he acquired training in Islamic sciences at Darul Uloom Deoband under the mentorship of Mahmud Hasan Deobandi, alongside enjoying a spiritual journey with Rashid Ahmad Gangohi. Initiating his vocation as the first principal of Madrasa Aminia, he embarked on a hajj in 1906 with a sojourn in Medina, dedicated to exploring the depths of hadith literature. Subsequently, he joined Darul Uloom Deoband, serving as the post of Shaykh al-Hadith for nearly thirteen years before choosing Jamia Islamia Talimuddin as his final destination for his academic voyage. Although he displayed limited inclination toward the written word, a handful of treatises flowed from his pen. Yet, the bulk of his literary legacy has been preserved through the efforts of his students, who transcribed his classroom lectures, discourses, and sermons. While the crux of his scholarly work centered on championing the Hanafi school and establishing its supremacy, he also garnered recognition for his comparatively liberal approach to various religious matters. His publications found their place under the patronage of Majlis-i Ilmi, a scholarly institution established in Delhi in 1929. His scholarly credentials received official endorsement with the publication of Fayd al-Bari, a four-volume Arabic commentary on Sahih al-Bukhari, curated by Badre Alam Merathi and published in Cairo, with the financial support of Jamiatul Ulama Transvaal.

The spectrum of his literary endeavors touched diverse subjects, encompassing the Quran, Fundamental Beliefs, Metaphysics, Islamic Jurisprudence, Zoology, Poetry, and Political Thought, mostly in Arabic, with two in Persian. He also left behind 15,000 couplets of poetry. Many Indian scholars frequently referenced his views and opinions in their works, and he was often referred to as a Mobile Library. During his eighteen-year teaching career at the Deoband seminary, he contributed to the training of approximately two thousand hadith scholars. Regarding his engagement in the political arena, he was a vehement opponent of British colonial rule in India and encouraged Muslims not to cooperate with the British as a member of Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind. He is particularly remembered for his 1927 presidential address at the Peshawar annual meeting. In the twilight of his life, he directed his energies towards countering the rising tide of Qadiyanism, and his erudition manifested in the creation of approximately ten works on the subject. His intellectual prowess even inspired other figures like Muhammad Iqbal to undertake an exploration of Islam and Ahmadism.^[1] The government of Jammu and Kashmir has declared his house in Kashmir as an old wooden heritage site.

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