بسم الله وحده والصلاة والسلام على من لا نبي بعده
Ālimah Siddiqa al-Fārsiyyah
Student, Takhassus Fi 'l-Hadith
Checked and Approved:
Mufti Ismail Moosa
www.ulumalhadith.com
Title: al-Yāniʿ al-Janī min Asānīd ʿAbd al-Ghanī
Genre: Ḥadīth
Language: Arabic
Author: Shaykh Muḥammad Muḥsin at-Tirhutī
Publisher: Arwiqah li ad-Dirāsah wa an-Nashr
Pages: 184
Overview of the Book
Shaykh Muḥsin at-Tirhutī has gathered the chains of his teacher, Shaykh Muḥaddith ʿAbd al-Ghanī, for the Muwaṭṭaʾ and the Kutub as-Sittah, which are considered the shortest of chains and compiled them in this book titled: al-Yāniʿ al-Janī min Asānīd ʿAbd al-Ghanī. He has also added valuable points regarding the authors of the Kutub as-Sittah and the Muwaṭṭaʾ, distinguishing features of some of the chains, and subtle benefits regarding its narrators. Shaykh al-Kattānī said regarding this book, “It is an excellent index; there is none better than it in the works of the contemporaries.”
Shaykh Muḥaddith ʿAbd al-Ghanī was the student of Musnid al-Hind, Muḥammad Isḥāq ad-Dihlawī (d.1262 AH), who took from his grandfather, Musnid al-Hind, ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz ad-Dihlawī (d. 1239 AH), who took from his father Shāh Waliyyullāh ad-Dihlawī (d. 1176 AH). His chains to Hāfiẓ Ibn Ḥajar are well-known and have been recorded in many books such as in al-ʿUjjālat an-Nāfiʿah of Shaykh ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz ad-Dihlawī (raḥimahullāh). As for the asānīd of Hāfiẓ Ibn Ḥajar to the Scholars of Ḥadīth, they have been recorded in many books, one such book being Ḥaṣr ash-Shārid of ʿAllāmah Muḥammad ʿĀbid as-Sindī (d. 1252 AH) (raḥimahullāh).
Shaykh Tirhutī has spared no effort in splendidly relating the biographies of his teacher, and the teachers of his teacher, all the way until Shāh Waliyyullāh ad-Dihlawī. He has mentioned their dates of demise, their lofty ranks in the Islamic fields, and has meticulously recorded their names and lineages. Previously, this book was published twice in India and Pakistan. It was published in 1349 AH alongside other treatises in the Farsi language. Despite this, it required revision and republication, which Shaykh Walīyyuddīn an-Nadwī took on and did an outstanding job.
The author: Shaykh Muḥammad Muḥsin at-Tirhutī
He is Shaykh Muḥsin ibn Yaḥyā al-Bakrī at-Taymī, at-Turhatī. This is how Shaykh ʿAbd al-Ḥayy al-Ḥasanī mentioned his name. ʿAllāmah al-Kattānī has mentioned his teknonym as Abū ʿAbdillāh. Amīr Ṣiddīq Khān mentioned his name more than once as: Muḥammad Muḥsin ibn Yaḥyā al-Bakrī at-Tirhutī, whilst ʿAllāmah al-Kattānī mentioned his name as: Abū ʿAbdillāh Muḥammad Yaḥyā, known as: Muḥsin at-Tirhutiyyī al-Furnī al-Hindī.
The muḥaqqiq, Shaykh an-Nadwī says that it seems that his name is Muḥammad-Muḥsin, but he became well-known with just the name Muḥsin. In many books, such as in Muʿjam al-Maṭbūʿāt, Īḍāḥ al-Maknūn, and Fihris al-Maktabah al-Azhariyyah lil Makhṭūṭāṭ, his name and father’s name come as Muḥammad ibn Yaḥyā, but this is incorrect.
He was born in Purnia, a city in Tirhut. He studied Arabic under Rukn ad-Dīn al-Qurashī at-Tirhutī, Muftī ʿAbd al-Ghanī as-Sārnī, ʿAlī Jawwād as-Silhatī, and Faqīh Muḥammad known as Wajīh al-Bakrī at-Tirhutī, and Shaykh Muḥammad Saʿīd ʿAẓīm Ābādī (d. 1304 AH).
He then travelled to the city of Kanpur and studied under Shaykh Salāmatullāh al-Badāyūnī (d. 1281 AH) for two years and read the beginning of al-Bukhārī and other books to him. He then stayed in the company of ʿAllāmah Faḍl Ḥaqq Khayr Ābādī (d. 1278 AH) and recited ḥadīth to him, followed by the company of Muftī Wājid ʿAlī ibn Ibrāhīm al-Banārīsī (d. 1276 AH). Thereafter, he travelled to the Ḥaramayn and took knowledge from Muḥaddith ʿAbd al-Ghanī ibn Abī Saʿīd al-ʿUmarī ad-Dihlawī in Madinah Munawwarah.
He passed away in Madinah at a young age of approximately 30 years in the 1293 AH or earlier. May Allah Taʿālā have mercy on him and reward him for his efforts.
The taḥqīq
Shaykh an-Nadwī came upon the written version of this book in the library of Masjid an-Nabawī, which was written in the lifetime of the author Shaykh ʿAbd al-Ghanī al-Mujaddidī (raḥimahullāh), in 47 pages. At the end of the book, Shaykh at-Tirhutī wrote: “I was bestowed the ability to complete this on the night of Wednesday, 19th of Rajab, 1280 AH in Madinah Munawwarah an-Nabawiyyah, upon its companion blessings and salutations.” The author’s student, ʿAbd al-Jalīl Barrādah completed copying it on the third day of Dhul Qaʿdah in the same year. In his copy, Shaykh Barrādah commences his statement by saying the following duʿā: “Our shaykh — may Allah benefit the Muslims by granting him a long life — narrates” which indicates that he copied this when Shaykh at-Tirhutī was still alive. As such, the copy of his student, Shaykh Barrādah, is very reliable, and the muḥaqqiq has relied on it.
The Muḥaddith, ʿAbd al-Ghanī al-Mujaddidī
His Name
He is ʿAbd al-Ghanī al-Mujaddidī, ad-Dihlawī, and then al-Madanī, the son of Ibnu Abī Saʿīd, the son of Ibn Ṣafī ad-Qadr, the son of ʿAzīz al-Qadr, the son of Muḥammad ʿĪsā, the son of Sayf ad-Dīn, the son of Muḥammad Maʿṣūm, the son of Aḥmad Sarhandī.
Early Life
He was born in the month of Shaʿbān in 1235 AH in the city of Delhi in India and grew up there. He memorised the Qurʾān as a child and then studied the Arabic language and grammar with Shaykh Ḥabīb ar-Raḥmān ad-Dihlawī. He then studied ḥadīth and fiqh from his father Abū Saʿīd al-Mujaddidī (d. 1250 AH). He also received ijāzah from him for the Kutub as-Sittah and the Muwaṭṭaʾ with the transmission of Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥasan ash-Shaybānī. He also read Imām Bukhārī’s al-Jāmiʿ aṣ-Ṣaḥīḥ to Shaykh Muḥammad Isḥāq ad-Dihlawī and Shaykh Muḥammad ʿĀbid as-Sindī (raḥimahumallāh) and received ijāzah from the latter of the two at the age of fifteen.
Later Life
He travelled to the noble Ḥaramayn in the year 1849 CE and performed ḥajj, did ziyārah of the Prophet (ṣal Allāhu ʿalayhī wa-sallam), and then returned to India and was preoccupied with the teaching and authoring of the noble ḥadīth. When the siege of Delhi in the year 1857 CE led to the Sepoy Mutiny, Shaykh ʿAbd al-Ghanī travelled to the Ḥaramayn with his family and resided in Madinah, becoming preoccupied with the teaching of the noble ḥadīth, worship, and advising. He was a follower of the Ḥanafī madhhab but he would go against it in some matters such as in the issue of Rafʿ al-Yadayn (raising the hands) in prayer because he would deem it to be closer to the sunnah. Shaykh al-Kattānī says: “He would adhere to the sunnah very staunchly in his actions, his speech, and his attire; he was ascetic and abstinent. He would raise his hands at every move in prayer, despite being a ḥanafī.”
Students
Many students learned from him in India and in the Ḥaramayn, of whom one student was Shaykh Muḥammad Qāsim an-Nānotwī (d. 1297 AH), the founder of Darul ʿUlūm Deoband; Maulānā Rashīd Aḥmad al-Gangohī (d. 1323 AH); Sayyid ʿAbd al-Jalīl Barrādah (d. 1327 AH); Shaykh Maʿṣūm al-Mujaddidī (d. 1341 AH); and the author of this book, ʿAllāmah Muḥammad Muḥsin at-Tirhutī.
His works
Shaykh ʿAbd al-Ghanī (raḥimahullāh) authored many books, some of the famous ones being:
- His annotation on Sunan Imām Ibn Mājah titled: Injāh al-Ḥājah ʿalā Sunan Ibn Mājah, published in India.
- His treatise titled: Takhrīj Aḥadīth Maktūbāt al-Imām ar-Rabbānī, published in India.
- A biography which he authored about his father titled: Khulāṣatu al-Jawāhir al-ʿAliyyah, published in India.
The scholars’ praise for him
ʿAllāmah ʿAbd al-Ḥayy al-Ḥasanī said regarding him: “Leadership ended at him in knowledge and action. He was the pinnacle of asceticism, clemency, tolerance, truthfulness, trustworthiness, chastity, and sincerity. He was the foremost in supplicating to Allah, having a severe fear of Him, constantly being mindful of Him, adhering to good character, benefitting the people, and doing good towards them. He had little inclination to worldly life and was detached from its distractions. Many scholars benefitted from his gatherings and from the barakah of his duʿas, and people of India and the Arabs are unanimous upon his leadership and loftiness.”
ʿAllāmah al-Kattānī praised him saying: “He is the splendor of the ḥadīth scholars, and the charm of the sanad scholars; the knowledgeable practicing scholar, the erudite scholar, Shaykh ʿAbd al-Ghanī.”
Imām az-Zirkalī said regarding him: “He is knowledgeable regarding ḥadīth; from the Ḥanafī jurists.”
Demise
Shaykh ʿAbd al-Ghanī (raḥimahullāh) passed away on Tuesday, the 6th of Muḥarram 1296 AH in Madinah Munawwarah, and was buried in al-Baqīʿ. He did not leave behind any male children. May Allah Taʿālā shower him with mercy and accept his actions.
May Allāh Taʿālā be pleased with him, and them all.
The PDF can be accessed here.