Mawlana Shah ‘Abd al-Ghani al-Mujaddidi al-Dehlawi[1], may Allah shower him with His mercy, wrote a hashiya (footnotes) on the Sunan of Imam Ibn Majah, entitled Inhah al-Hajah. He was assisted in this by his outstanding student, Mulla Mahmud al-Deobandi—the first lecturer at Darul ‘Uloom Deoband. His hashiya has been oft published in India and Pakistan around the body text of Ibn Majah’s Sunan.

Al-Deobandiyyah: Ta’reefuha Wa Khidmatuha, Page 143 (Al-Faysal Printers)

[1] Mawlana Shah ‘Abd al-Ghani al-Mujaddidi al-Dehlawi was a noble imam and hadith scholar of 13th century (AH) India. He was the most able student and successor of the renowned scholar of hadith Hadhrat Shah Muhammad Ishaq al-Dehlawi, and a descendant of Mujaddid Alf-e-Thani Shaykh Ahmad al-Sirhindi, whose way he adhered firmly to. He received ijazah in the Naqshbandi Mujaddidi tariqah from his father Hadhrat Shah Abu Sa’eed Mujaddidi. Both Hadhrat Mawlana Qasim Nanautwi and Hadhrat Mawlana Rashid Ahmad Gangohi, who attained knowledge of hadith from him, were greatly influenced by his love for and adherence to the sunnah. Other Deobandi ‘Ulama, including Hadhrat Mawlana Khalil Ahmad Saharanpuri and Shaykh al-Hind Mawlana Mahmud Hasan, also attained ijazah to relate hadith from him. Mawlana Shah ‘Abd al-Ghani migrated to the Hijaz, where he spent the rest of his life. He lays buried in Jannat al-Baqi’. Mufakkir-e-Islam Hadhrat Mawlana Abu ‘l-Hasan ‘Ali al-Nadwi has penned a comprehensive biography of the mawlana capturing the memories of a rare breed of Sufi hadith scholars.