Faqih al-Ummat Hadhrat Mufti Mahmud al-Hasan Gangohi (may Allah shower His mercy upon him) relates:

 

“Mawlana Yusuf Binnori (may Allah shower His mercy upon him) had moved to Dabhel[1] and was teaching there. [Once], Mufti Mahdi Hasan[2] (may Allah shower His mercy upon him) arrived suddenly. Mawlana Binnori stood up from his place, seated the respected Mufti in it, then sat among the students and began reading the text of the lesson. The respected mufti explained the lesson in Urdu while Mawlana Binnori immediately recorded it in Arabic and then presented it to him, [informing him], ‘This is the explanation of the lesson that you gave’. Thereafter, he related that whenever Mawlana Rashid Ahmad Gangohi (may Allah shower His mercy upon him) would teach, Mawlana Yahya  [Kandhlawi] (may Allah shower His mercy upon him) would, at the same time, record his lectures in Arabic. The whole of Al-Kawkab al-Durri[3] and Lami’ al-Darari[4] was written in this manner.”

 

Malfuzat Faqih al-Ummat, Volume 3, (Karachi: Dar al-Huda, 2005, p.253-254) 

[1] Jame’ah Islamiah Dabhel, the renowned Islamic seminary in Gujarat (India) where luminaries such as Imam al-’Asr Anwar Shah Kashmiri, ‘Allamah Yusuf Binnori, Mufti Muhammad Shafi’, ‘Allamah Shabbir Ahmad ‘Uthmani, Mawlana Sa’id Ahmad Akbarabadi, Mawlana Sayyad Asghar Husayn Deobandi et al. taught. Among the ‘ulama who were involved with this seminary and who persuaded these above-mentioned elders to teach there was a Mawlana Ahmad Buzurg Simlaki, a graduate of Dar al-‘Ulum Deoband and a disciple (murid) of Mawlana Rashid Ahmad Gangohi. He later benefited from Hakim al-Ummat Mawlana Ashraf ‘Ali Thanawi and was, thereafter, granted ijazah in tasawwuf by Shaykh al-Islam Mawlana Husayn Ahmad Madani (translator).

[2] Mufti Mahdi Hasan Shahjahanpuri (b. 1301 AH / 1884 CE) was a distinguished student of the former Grand-Mufti of India, Mufti Kifayat-Allah Dehlawi, having studied at Madrasah Aminia in Delhi. He graduated from there in 1326 AH. He later studied hadith again at Dar al-‘Ulum Deoband, graduating in 1328 AH. There, he greatly benefited from Shaykh al-Hind Mawlana Mahmud Hasan Deobandi. He was appointed a lecturer at Dar al-‘Ulum Ashrafiah in Rander (Gujarat, India), where he spent thirty years in teaching and issuing religious edicts. He gained great prominence in the Indian states of Gujarat and Maharashtra, where he was considered Grand Mufti. Thereafter, he was appointed Chief Mufti at Dar al-‘Ulum Deoband where he spent twenty years in the service of din.

Mufti Mahdi Hasan was an exceptional Hanafi Jurist, and an accomplished scholar of Hadith and Asma al-Rijal. He was a person of great abstinence and piety, but fearless in speaking the truth. Despite his antagonists among the ghair-muqallideen using harsh words against him, he never responded with the same.

His written works include extremely beneficial annotations to Imam Muhammad ibn Hasan Al-Shaybani’s Kitab al-Hujjah and Kitab al-Athar (his introduction to this book was rendered into English and published by Turath Publishing in its English rendering of Kitab al-Athar). He authored a six-volume commentary of Imam Tahawi’s Sharh Ma’ani al-Athar, as well as a commentary of Imam Ibn Hajar al-‘Asqalani’s Nukhbat al-Fikar. The above mentioned works were authored in Arabic. Apart from these he authored a number of treatises in Urdu.

In Tasawwuf, he initially gave bay’ah to Mawlana Rashid Ahmad Gangohi and after his passing, was granted ijazah by Mawlana Gangohi’s khalifah, Mawlana Shafi’ al-Din Makki.

He passed away in his home town of Shahjahanpur on the 28th of Rabi’ al-Thani 1396 AH (1976 AH) (translator).

[3] Based on Mawlana Rashid Ahmad Gangohi’s lectures on the Jami’ of Imam Tirmidhi. It was penned in Arabic by his special student, Shaykh Yahya Kandhlawi (Shaykh al-Hadith Mawlana Zakariyya Kandhlawi’s father). Shaykh Zakariyya later edited, arranged, and published this compilation (translator).

[4] Written in Arabic, a collection of the unique remarks and observations on Sahih al-Bukhari presented by Mawlana Rashid Ahmad Gangohi. These life-long acquired wisdoms were recorded by his student Shaykh Yahya Kandhlawi (Shaykh al-Hadith Mawlana Zakariyya’s father) during their lessons. Shaykh Zakariyya edited, arranged, and commented on his father’s compilation, clarifying the text and adding a comprehensive introduction at the beginning. (http://www.whitethreadpress.com/authors/shaykh_zakariyya.htm)