Khalil Ahmad Saharanpuri

Khalil Ahmad Saharanpuri (; December 185213 October 1927) was an Indian Islamic scholar of the Deobandi movement. He authored Badhl Al-Majhud Fi Hall Abi Dawud, an 18-volume commentary on the hadith collection Sunan Abi Dawud. He was a Sunni of the Hanafi school. He was also a Sufi shaykh of the Chishti order, being a disciple and successor of Rashid Ahmad Gangohi.

Name and family background In one of his books he introduces himself as, "Ḥāfiz̤ Abū Ibrāhīm K͟halīl Aḥmad ibn Shāh Majīd ‘Alī ibn Shāh Aḥmad ‘Alī ibn Shāh Qut̤b ‘Alī." In the biographical work Nuzhat al-Khawatir it is written, "K͟halīl Aḥmad al-Anbeṭhawī as-Sahāranpūri: The Shaykh, the ‘Ālim, the Faqīh, K͟halīl Aḥmad ibn Majīd ‘Alī ibn Aḥmad ‘Alī ibn Qut̤b ‘Alī ibn G͟hulām Muḥammad al-Anṣārī al-Ḥanafī al-Anbeṭhawī, one of the righteous scholars and senior jurists and traditionists." In Mu‘jam al-Ma‘ājim wa-al-Mashyakhāt it is written, "The Shaykh, the Muḥaddith, the Faqīh, Khalīl Aḥmad ibn Majīd ‘Alī […] al-Anṣārī al-Ḥanafī al-Anbayt′hawī as-Sahāranfūri al-Muhājir al-Madanī, one of the senior scholars of India." Husain Ahmad Madani writes in the introduction to Badhl al-Majhud, "Mawlānā Abū Ibrāhīm Khalīl Aḥmad, al-Ayyūbī al-Anṣārī by lineage and origin, al-Ḥanafī ar-Rashīdī by mashrab (spiritual disposition, lit. 'spring') and madhhab (legal school), and al-Jishtī al-Qādirī an-Naqshbandī as-Suhrawardī by ṭarīqah (Sufi order) and maslak (track)."

Biography Khalil Ahmad was born in late Safar 1269 AH (early December 1852) in Nanauta, Saharanpur district, British India (in present-day Uttar Pradesh, India). He was named both "Zahiruddin" and "Khalil Ahmad", but the second name was what he became known by. On his father's side he was Ayyubi Ansari and on his mother's side he was Siddiqi.

Early education Khalil Ahmad began his education at the age of five in a maktab (elementary school) with study of the qaidah, a common text for learning Arabic script. For barakah (blessing), his grandfather Mamluk Ali conducted the opening bismillah ceremony. In a short time completed nazirah (reading) of the Qur'an and then began studying Urdu. In Ambehta and Nanauta he completed hifz (memorization) of the Qur'an and study of the primary Urdu and Persian books under various teachers. After some time Khalil Ahmad's father, who was also employed in Gwalior, resigned from his work and returned to Ambehta with Khalil Ahmad.