Muhammad Taqi Usmani

Muhammad Taqi Usmani (born 3 October 1943) is a Pakistani Islamic scholar and former judge who is Vice President and Hadith professor at Darul Uloom Karachi. An intellectual leader of the Deobandi movement, he has authored more than 80 books (many multi-volumes) in Urdu, Arabic and English, including a translation of the Qur'an in both English and Urdu as well a 6-volume commentary on the Sahih Muslim in Arabic,[5] having written and lectured extensively on hadith, and Islamic finance. He chairs the Shariah Board of the Bahrain-based Accounting and Auditing Organization for Islamic Financial Institutions (AAOIFI). He is also a permanent member of the Jeddah-based International Islamic Fiqh Academy, an organ of the OIC.

Not to be confused with Muhammad Taqi Amini.

Muhammad Taqi Usmani
Taqi Usmani
TitleMufti, Qadi, Imam and Sheikh-ul-Islam
Personal
Born (1943-10-05) 5 October 1943
Deoband, United Provinces, British India
ReligionIslam
Nationality Pakistani
Era21st-century philosophy
DenominationSunni
JurisprudenceHanafi,Maturidi[1]
MovementDeobandi
Main interest(s)Quran, Arabic, Shari'a, Hadith, Fiqh, Tafsir, Sufism, Islamic finance, Kalam
Notable idea(s)Evolution of Islamic economics, Islamic banking, Meezan Bank, The Hadith Encyclopedia, The Jurisprudence of Trade
Notable work(s)Muhammad Taqi Usmani bibliography
Alma materDarul Uloom Karachi
Karachi University
Punjab University
RelationsMuhammad Shafi Deobandi (father)
Rafi Usmani (brother)
Imran Ashraf Usmani (son)[2]
Zubair Ashraf Usmani (nephew)[3][4]
Signature
Muslim leader
Disciple ofAbdul Hai Arifi
AwardsSitara-i-Imtiaz (Star of Excellence) by the President of Pakistan in 2019
Websitemuftitaqiusmani.com/en/

In Pakistan, Usmani served as a scholar judge on the Shariat Appellate Bench of the Supreme Court from 1982 to 2002, and on the Federal Shariat Court from 1981 to 1982. From 1977 to 1981 he was a member of Zia's Council of Islamic Ideology and was involved in drafting the Hudood Ordinances.[5]

Early life and education
Further information: Usmani family of Deoband § Miyānji Shukrullah

Muhammad Taqi Usmani was born on 5 Shawwal 1362 AH (3 October 1943) in the city of Deoband in Saharanpur district, United Provinces, British India. He was the fifth and youngest son of Mufti Muhammad Shafi (1897–1976). With his full nasab (patronymic), he is Muhammad Taqi ibn Muhammad Shafi ibn Muhammad Yasin ibn Khalifah Tahsin Ali ibn Imam Ali ibn Karim Allah ibn Khair Allah ibn Shukr Allah. The forefathers of Miyanji Shukr Allah are unknown, but the family claims descent from Uthman, the third caliph and a companion of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, hence the nisbat "Usmani".[6][7]

Usmani was born to several generations of educators. The title "Miyanji" applied to several of his ancestors indicates that they were teachers. His grandfather Muhammad Yasin (1865/66 – 1936) taught Persian at Darul Uloom Deoband. Born the year before the madrasah's founding, he had been one of its first students and studied with some of its early teachers including Muhammad Yaqub Nanautawi, Sayyid Ahmad Dihlawi, Mulla Mahmud Deobandi, and Mahmud al-Hasan Deobandi. Usmani's father Muhammad Shafi was also a product of the Deoband seminary. He taught there for several decades and held the post of chief mufti.[6]

In 1948, when Usmani was four years old, his father immigrated the family from Deoband to Karachi, Pakistan. Since there was not a madrasah nearby, Usmani's primary education began at home under his parents. He was later enrolled in Darul Uloom Karachi after Mufti Shafi founded the school in 1950. After completing his primary education, he began his formal religious training in the Dars-i Nizami curriculum in 1953. He passed the Fazil-i Arabi (Punjab Board) with distinction in 1958, and received his Alimiyyah degree with distinction from Darul Uloom Karachi in 1959. He then obtained his Takhassus (specialization) degree in fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence) and ifta (fatwa issuance) from Darul Uloom Karachi in 1961, earning the title of "Mufti". Usmani continued his education at the University of Karachi, obtaining a Bachelor of Arts in economics and politics in 1964, then a Bachelor of Laws with second-class honours in 1967. In 1970 he obtained a Master of Arts with first-class honours in Arabic language and literature from the University of Punjab.[6][7][8][9][10]

Teachers

Usmani received teaching licenses to teach hadith from Islamic scholars including Muhammad Shafi, Muhammad Idris Kandhlawi, Qari Muhammad Tayyib, Saleemullah Khan, Rashid Ahmed Ludhianvi, Sahban Mahmud, Zafar Ahmad Usmani, Muhammad Zakariya Kandhalvi, Hasan al-Mahshat Al-Makki Al-Maliki, 'Abdu-l-'Azeez Ibn Baz Al-Maliki, Abd al-Fattah Abu Ghuddah, Abi Al-Faid Muhammad Yasin Al-Fadani Ash-Shafi'i, and others.[10]

Islamic Economics

Usmani pioneered the concept of Islamic banking in Pakistan when he established the Meezan Bank. Usmani has authored books in Arabic, Urdu, and English on Islamic topics in addition to articles on Islamic banking and finance published in journals and magazines.

According to The Muslim 500: "Usmani's chief influence comes from his position as a global authority on the issue of Islamic finance."[5]

Awards and honors

Academia

He currently teaches Sahih al-Bukhari, fiqh, and Islamic economics at Darul Uloom Karachi and is known for his Islahi Khutbat. He was a key member of a team of scholars which helped declare Ahmadis non-Muslims by Pakistan's National Assembly during the era of former Pakistani president, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, in the 1970s. During the presidency of General Zia ul Haq, he was instrumental in drafting laws pertaining to Hudood, Qisas meaning retaliation in kind or (eye for an eye, and Diyya (blood money).[5]

Personal Views

Usmani strongly opposes elements of explicit modernity, which he describes as engulfing

the whole world in the tornado of nudity and obscenity, and has provided an excuse for fornication, and more so it has led under thunder claps to the passage of a bill in the British House of Commons to legalize homosexuality. It is in the shadow of the same modernity that Western women are openly displaying banners on the streets demanding legalization of abortion[18]

At a religious conference in 1984, he urged a more "dynamic attitude" towards the practice of ijtihad, arguing there is no shortage of fine minds capable of interpreting the sharia, but warning against the contamination of sharia by Western ideas such as the elimination of hudud penalties such as amputation and stoning.[19][20]

Current positions held
Current Positions Held by Muhammad Taqi Usmani
Position Organisation Location From
Vice President and Shaykh al-Hadith Jamia Darululoom Karachi Karachi
Chairman International Shariah Standard Council, Accounting and Auditing Organization for Islamic Financial Institutions[21]
Permanent Member International Islamic Fiqh Academy, Jeddah, organ of the Organisation of Islamic Conference[22][5] Jeddah
Member Islamic Fiqh Academy of Rabita-al-‘Alam-e-Islami Makkah
Chairman Centre for Islamic Economics Pakistan Pakistan 1991
Chairman Shariah Board Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank UAE
Chairman Shariah Board Meezan Bank Limited Karachi
Chairman Shariah Board International Islamic Rating Agency Bahrain
Chairman Shariah Board Pak-Kuwait Takaful Karachi
Chairman Shariah Board Arif Habib Investments – Pakistan International Islamic Fund Karachi
Member Shariah Board Arcapita Investment Fund Bahrain
Member Unified Shariah Board Islamic Development Bank Jeddah
Member Shariah Board Shariah Board Guidance Financial Group[23] USA

Positions held
Positions Held by Taqi Usmani in the Past
Position Organisation From to
Judge Shariat Appellate Bench, Supreme Court of Pakistan 1982 2002
Chairman Centre for Islamic Economics, Pakistan 1991 now
Judge Federal Shariat Court of Pakistan 1980 1982
Member Syndicate University of Karachi 1985 1988
Member Board of Governors, International Islamic University Islamabad 1985 1989
Member International Institute of Islamic Economics 1985 1988
Member Council of Islamic Ideology 1977 1981
Member Board of Trustees International Islamic University, Islamabad 2004 2007
Member Commission for Islamisation of Economy of Pakistan
Member Shariah Board Bank of Khyber, Pehawar
Member Shariah Board Dow Jones Index, New York
Member Shariah Board HSBC Amanah Finance Dubai
Member Shariah Board Swiss Re Takaful, Switzerland
Member Shariah Board Bank Islami
Member Shariah Board Dubai Bank
Member Shariah Board Robert Fleming Oasis Fund, Luxemburg
Member Shariah Board AL Bakarah Group Jeddah
Member Shariah Board ABC Investment Bank

Bibliography
Main article: Muhammad Taqi Usmani bibliography

Usmani has authored more than 70 books including An Introduction to Islamic Finance, Contemporary Fataawa, The Authority of Sunnah, Uloomu-l-Qur'an. He has also written a supplement to Shabbir Ahmad Usmani's Fath al-Mulhim.[24]

Quotes

“Since wealth is the property of God, humanity does not have autonomy in this ownership but through the specific path He has instituted in the Islamic Shari ‘ah.”

“Nothing destroys one’s respect in the hearts of others more than greed.”

See also

References
  1. Jocelyne Cesari, Encyclopedia of Islam in the United States, p 23. ISBN 0313336253.("The Pakistani Hanafi scholar and judge Muhammad Taqi al-Deen Usmani...")
  2. Dr. Muhammad Imran Usmani's biography on his official website
  3. Board of Sharia & Experts' profile on The centre for Halal assurance
  4. Sharia Board Members' profile on HabibMetro Sirat
  5. "Sheikh Taqi Usmani's Profile". TheMuslim500.com. Archived from the original on 5 July 2017. Retrieved 25 October 2019.
  6. Ḥakīm, Luqmān (2002) [Composed 1998]. Muḥammad Taqī al-'Uthmānī: al-qāḍī al-faqīh wa-al-dā'iyah al-raḥḥālah محمد تقي العثماني : القاضي الفقيه والداعية الرحالة. ‘Ulamā’ wa-mufakkirūn mu‘āsirūn: lamaḥāt min ḥayātihim wa-ta‘rīf bi-mu’allifātihim علماء ومفكرون معاصرون : لمحات من حياتهم وتعريف بمؤلفاتهم. Dimashq: Dār al-Qalam.
  7. "Profile of Justice Maulana Muhammad Taqi Usmani" (PDF). Federal Shariat Court of Pakistan. Archived (PDF) from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 13 October 2019.
  8. "Islamic Finance Scholars". IjaraLoans.com. 30 June 2014. Archived from the original on 30 October 2014. Retrieved 27 October 2019.
  9. Kettell, Brian (2011) [2008]. Introduction to Islamic Banking and Finance. Wiley. p. 28.
  10. "Mufti Taqi Usmani". albalagh.net. Albalagh. Archived from the original on 3 April 2007. Retrieved 14 October 2019.
  11. "Conferment of Pakistan Civil Awards" (PDF) (Press release). Government of Pakistan, Cabinet Secretariat. 14 August 2019. Archived from the original (PDF) on 21 October 2019.
  12. "Islamic Finance Excellence Awards 2017". COMSATS University Islamabad, Lahore Campus. Archived from the original on 19 September 2017. Retrieved 27 October 2019.
  13. "Meezan Bank receives multiple awards at Islamic Finance Forum of South Asia – SriLanka" (Press release). Meezan Bank. 15 August 2016. Archived from the original on 21 October 2019.
  14. "Taqi Usmani, Rodney Wilson share IDB prize". Arab News. Jeddah. 9 May 2014. Archived from the original on 12 July 2014. Retrieved 27 October 2019.
  15. "عن الشيخ". muftitaqiusmani.com. Archived from the original on 21 October 2019. Retrieved 17 October 2020.
  16. "Double first for the top winners at the Islamic Business & Finance Awards 2011" (Press release). Market Buzz. 14 December 2011. Archived from the original on 21 October 2019.
  17. "أعلى وسام أردني لعمرو خالد" (in Arabic). Alanba. 4 October 2010. Archived from the original on 21 October 2019. Retrieved 17 October 2020.
  18. Taqi Usmani, Muhammad. Islam and Modernism. p. 6. Retrieved 27 October 2019.
  19. Kadri, Sadakat (2012). Heaven on Earth: A Journey Through Shari'a Law from the Deserts of Ancient Arabia ... Macmillan. pp. 228–9. ISBN 9780099523277.
  20. Usmani, Taqi. "THE ISLAMIC WAY OF LIFE. Misunderstandings about "Ijtehad" [excerpt taken from Islam and Modernism by Taqi Usmani]". Islamic reality. Archived from the original on 20 November 2015. Retrieved 27 October 2019.
  21. "Archived Copy".
  22. Brian Kettell, Introduction to Islamic Banking and Finance, p 28. ISBN 047097804X.
  23. "Profile of Mufti Taqi Usmani (Archived Copy)". Retrieved 27 October 2019.
  24. Zil Huma (January–June 2019). "Mufti Muhammad Taqi Usmani ki maroof tasnīfāt-o-tālifāt ka ta'ārufi jāyzah" [Interpretation of the leading books and compositions of Mufti Muhammad Taqi Usmani]. Rāhatul Qulūb. 3 (1): 197–224. Retrieved 19 January 2021.
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