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Biography: Historical

Mufti Kifayatullah Dehlvi

TRANSLATOR'S PREFACE

By the grace of Allâh, within the last several decades, English-speaking students of Islâm have been blessed with the availability of an introductory series of Islâmic textbooks covering the beliefs and practices of the deen entitled, "Ta'leem-ul-Islâm," (Teachings of Islâm), translated from the original in Urdu written by Mufti Kifâyatullâh (may Allâh have mercy upon him). Within the same time period also, an equally popular and widely used handbook was compiled by Ml. Shabbîr Ahmed Desai - "Ta'leem-ul-Haq" - which derived much of its material from the same series.

Ta'leem-ul-Islâm, as noted already, is a series of books originally written in the Urdu language by Allâmah Mufti Kifâyatullâh Dehlvi. They introduce the beliefs and practices of Islâm from the level of a beginner and are laid out in a simple question-answer format. At least two English translations of this work are widely available. The procedures of worship and other aspects of life detailed in these books are based on the rulings of the Hanafi school of jurisprudence (madh-hab). Thus, they are all derived from the most authentic sources of the Qur'ân and Sunnah although, in order to avoid overwhelming the beginning student, they have not detailed the bases for each and every ruling.

Recently, I was informed by an acquaintance that a new translation of this series of books into the Swedish language was being undertaken and that a biography of the author, Mufti Kifâyatullâh, was being sought for. Having searched and enquired, I was unable to find any such biography in English or any other language besides Urdu. Therefore, with Allâh's grace, I endeavored to translate the Urdu biography into English, the result of which is in your hands.

This booklet is a summarized translation of the biography of Mufti Kifâyatullâh recorded in "Bees Baray Musleman" (Twenty Great Muslims), by Abdul-Rashîd Arshad, published by Maktaba-i-Rashidiah, Lahore, Pakistan, June 2001. The author of the biography was a student of the respected Mufti Kifâyatullâh and close friend and classmate of his son, Hafîzur-Rahmân Wâsif. The Urdu book cited above contains many more details of the life history of Mufti Kifâyatullâh as well as some bibliographic footnotes, which I have not carried over in the translation.

The reader is requested to kindly forward any corrections or inaccuracies in this article to the translator and/or publisher. May Allâh forgive me for any errors or incompleteness I have introduced in this English translation. I pray, furthermore, that He have mercy upon myself and yourself, the reader, and upon all of the pious Muslims who have passed before us, including the great scholar of Islâm, Mufti Allâmah Kifâyatullâh Dehlvi, âmeen.

Nadeem Abdul Hamid
Hamden, CT, U.S.A.
Shawwâl 1424 / December 2003