Muhammad Shafi Usmani

Muhammad Shafi (24 January 1897 – 6 October 1976), often referred to as Mufti Muhammad Shafi, was a Pakistani Sunni Islamic scholar of the Deobandi school, a Hanafi jurist and mufti, he was also an authority on shari'ah, hadith, Qur'anic exegesis, and Sufism. Born in Deoband, British India, he graduated in 1917 from Darul Uloom Deoband, where he later taught hadith and held the post of Head mufti. He resigned in 1943 to devote his time to the Pakistan Movement. After the independence he moved to Pakistan, where he established Darul Uloom Karachi in 1951. Of his written works, his best-known is Ma'ariful Qur'an, an Urdu commentary on the Qur'an.

Birth and early childhood

Muhammad Shafi, son of Muhammad Yasin, was born on 24 January 1897 (20 Sha'ban 1314 AH) in Deoband, British India, to an Usmani family. He was given the name "Muhammad Shafi" by his father's sheikh, Rashid Ahmad Gangohi, though he was originally named "Muhammad Mubin" by his grandfather, Khalifah Tahsin Ali. Shafi grew up in a religious environment. As a child he played in the courtyard of Darul Uloom Deoband and sat in the company of his father, who was a teacher at the school. In 1907 or 1908 (1325 AH), he commenced the study of Urdu, Persian, mathematics and other subjects at Darul Uloom Deoband, which he completed within the next five years under the supervision of his father.

Shafi remained in the teaching department over the next few years, during which two other ulama held the post of Sadr Mufti. On 25 Safar 1359 AH (c. 4 April 1940), Shafi was appointed to the office a second time.

He avoided disputes at all costs and on occasion, he even gave up land allocated to him by the government of Pakistan to build a Madrasah, just to avoid a dispute that has arisen in the process.

Works He wrote around one hundred books explaining the Quran and interpreting Islamic law.

His best-known and most widely translated work is the Ma'ariful Qur'an ("The Wisdom of the Quran"), which he finished (in Urdu) four years before his death. This work, a commentary on the entire Quran, began as a series of weekly lectures on Radio Pakistan that ran for ten years.