Was Ahmad Raza Khan a Shiite?

- Can you give me some information about Imam Ahmad Raza Khan?
- Do you think he was a mujtahid?
- What is your opinion about him?
- Was he a Shiite?

Dear Brother / Sister,

Ahmad Raza Khan was a Sunni scholar of Hanafi madhhab who lived in India/Pakistan. According to some, however, he was a Shiite.

According to Ihsan Ilahi Zahir, Ahmad Raza Khan’s family converted from Shiism to Sunnism. (al-Biralwiyya, p. 21)

Therefore, those who say that Ahmad Raza Khan was a Shiite may possibly be referring to the family’s previous status.

Ahmad Raza was born on 10 Shawwal 1272 (June 14, 1856) in the town of Ray Bireli in the state of Uttar Pradesh. His father Naki Ali Khan was a respected scholar. With the support of his father, Raza Khan studied religious sciences according to the madrasa curriculum and received his ijazah (diploma) at the age of thirteen and began to study fatwa under his father’s supervision. He also learned mathematics, medicine and geography from private teachers.

Among his teachers in Haramayn from whom he received his ijazah were Ahmad b. Zayni Dahlan, Abdurrahman al-Makki, Husayn b. Salih al-Makki, and Abu al-Husayin Ahmad an-Nuri can be mentioned.

In 1876, Raza Khan began issuing fatwas independently, and upon the death of his father in 1880, he took over the fatwa issuing.

In 1877, he took lessons and permission from Shah Aale Rasul Marhervi, the sheikh of the Qadiri order, and entered the Qadiri order. Later, he learned the manners of orders such as the Chishtiyya, Suhrawardiyya and Naqshbandiyya and received caliphate in the Qadiri order.

In 1897, Raza Khan left the Nadwatul-Ulama movement, in whose establishment he had been involved, and began to publish against it. He wrote about 200 fatwas against this movement and the scholars who were members of the movement, claiming that they had deviated into unbelief. He declared his leadership at the Majlis Ahl as-Sunnah wal Jama’ah held in Patna. He was given the title of the mujaddid of the twentieth century by his followers.

After this date, Raza Khan’s attitude toward the communities was not limited to Nadwa; he also strongly opposed Ahl al-Hadith and the Deobandis. His focus on issues related to the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) heated up the debates.

Due to the takfir movement he started, the reputation of the scholars (ulama) was damaged and a serious tension emerged in the society.

While his opponents claimed that Raza Khan supported the British and worked on their behalf, the writers belonging to the Barelvi school of thought said that he was actually against the British rule, but acted politically.

Those who take the middle path accuse Raza Khan of being an instrument to the British project to divide Muslims. It is stated the fatwa he issued in 1889 on the status of India under British rule and the fatwa he repeated in 1910, “According to Hanafi fiqh, India is dar al-Islam” was a result of this advocacy.

The Barelvi jama’ah (community), which Raza Khan started to form in 1880, continues in the same line today.

The community, which is influenced by an exaggerated Sufi understanding, strictly adheres to Hanafism in issues related to deeds (amal). Although the life and personality of the Messenger of Allah is the most important area of interest for Ahmad Raza Khan and his followers, they sometimes go to extremes in this regard.

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