Biography of the Author

تَرْجَمَةُ الْمُصَنِّفِ

Muftī ʿInāyat Aḥmad al-Kākūrawī, author of ʿIlm al-Ṣīghah

By the renowned historian and great researcher, ʿAllāmah ʿAbd al-Ḥayy al-Ḥasanī al-Lakhnawī, may Allah have mercy on him,
father of the eminent scholar and Islamic thinker Abū al-Ḥasan ʿAlī al-Nadwī, may Allah have mercy on him.

الْمُفْتِي عِنَايَةُ أَحْمَدَ الْكَاكُورَوِيُّ، مُصَنِّفُ «عِلْمِ الصِّيغَةِ»

لِلْمُؤَرِّخِ الشَّهِيرِ وَالْمُحَقِّقِ الْكَبِيرِ الْعَلَّامَةِ عَبْدِ الْحَيِّ الْحَسَنِيِّ اللَّكْهَنَوِيِّ رَحِمَهُ اللَّهُ
وَالِدِ سَمَاحَةِ الْعَلَّامَةِ الْمُفَكِّرِ الْإِسْلَامِيِّ أَبِي الْحَسَنِ عَلِيِّ النَّدْوِيِّ رَحِمَهُ اللَّهُ

His Name and Lineage

The great scholar, Shaykh Muftī ʿInāyat Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad Bakhsh ibn Ghulām Muḥammad ibn Luṭfullāh, al-Diyūbawī and later al-Kākūrawī, was one of the well-known scholars.

اسْمُهُ وَنَسَبُهُ:

الشَّيْخُ الْعَالِمُ الْكَبِيرُ الْمُفْتِي عِنَايَةُ أَحْمَدَ بْنُ مُحَمَّدٍ بَخْشٍ بْنِ غُلَامِ مُحَمَّدٍ بْنِ لُطْفِ اللَّهِ الدِّيُوبَوِيُّ ثُمَّ الْكَاكُورَوِيُّ، أَحَدُ الْعُلَمَاءِ الْمَشْهُورِينَ.

His Birth

He was born in “Diyūh”, with a kasrah on the unpointed dāl, in the district of “Bārah Bankī” in India, on the ninth night that had passed of Shawwāl in the year 1228 AH.

وِلَادَتُهُ:

وُلِدَ بِـ«دِيُوه» بِكَسْرِ الدَّالِ الْمُهْمَلَةِ، مُحَافَظَةِ «بَارَه بَنْكِي» بِالْهِنْدِ لِتِسْعٍ خَلَوْنَ مِنْ شَوَّالٍ سَنَةَ ثَمَانٍ وَعِشْرِينَ وَمِائَتَيْنِ وَأَلْفٍ (1228) مِنَ الْهِجْرَةِ.

His Studies

At the age of thirteen he travelled to “Rāmpūr”, where he studied grammar and morphology under Sayyid Muḥammad al-Barīlawī. He then studied under Mawlānā Ḥaydar ʿAlī al-Ṭūnkī and Mawlānā Nūr al-Islām al-Dihlawī, remaining with them for some time. Thereafter, he travelled to Delhi and studied ḥadīth under the musnid Shaykh Isḥāq ibn Afḍal al-ʿUmarī al-Dihlawī. He then went to ʿAlī Karah and regularly attended the lessons of Shaykh Buzurg ʿAlī al-Mārahrawī, from whom he acquired the rational sciences. He was then appointed to teach at “ʿAlī Karah”, where he taught for a full year…

دِرَاسَتُهُ:

سَافَرَ إِلَى «رَامْبُور» فِي الثَّالِثِ عَشَرَ مِنْ سِنِّهِ، فَقَرَأَ النَّحْوَ وَالصَّرْفَ عَلَى السَّيِّدِ مُحَمَّدٍ الْبَرِيلَوِيِّ، ثُمَّ اشْتَغَلَ - أَيْ دَرَسَ - عَلَى مَوْلَانَا حَيْدَرِ عَلِيٍّ الطُّونْكِيِّ، وَعَلَى مَوْلَانَا نُورِ الْإِسْلَامِ الدِّهْلَوِيِّ، وَلَازَمَهُمَا زَمَانًا، ثُمَّ سَافَرَ إِلَى دِهْلِي وَأَخَذَ الْحَدِيثَ عَنِ الشَّيْخِ الْمُسْنِدِ إِسْحَاقَ بْنِ أَفْضَلَ الْعُمَرِيِّ الدِّهْلَوِيِّ، ثُمَّ سَارَ إِلَى عَلِي كَرَه وَلَازَمَ دُرُوسَ الشَّيْخِ بُزُرْكِ عَلِيٍّ الْمَارَهْرَوِيِّ، وَأَخَذَ مِنْهُ الْعُلُومَ الْحِكْمِيَّةَ، وَوَلِيَ التَّدْرِيسَ بِـ«عَلِي كَرَه»، فَدَرَّسَ بِهَا سَنَةً كَامِلَةً،

…then he was appointed to issue legal verdicts and independently held that office for two years. He then moved from there to the town of “Bareilly”, where he was made Ṣadr al-Amīn and held that office independently for four years. Thereafter, he was appointed Ṣadr al-Ṣudūr and transferred to “Akbar Ābād”, Agra.

ثُمَّ وَلِيَ الْإِفْتَاءَ فَاسْتَقَلَّ بِهِ سَنَتَيْنِ، ثُمَّ انْتَقَلَ مِنْهَا إِلَى بَلْدَةِ «بَرِيلِي»، وَجُعِلَ صَدْرَ الْأَمِينِ فَاسْتَقَلَّ بِهِ أَرْبَعَ سِنِينَ، ثُمَّ جُعِلَ صَدْرَ الصُّدُورِ وَنُقِلَ إِلَى «أَكْبَر آبَاد» آكْرَه.

His Transfer as a Prisoner to “Kālā Pānī”

The great uprising, famously known as the War of Independence, broke out in India in 1857 CE before he could reach “Akbar Ābād”. It spread throughout the country, and British rule was removed from most of India at once, while an uncountable number of them were killed. This was in the year 1273 AH. The British then counter-attacked the people of India, suppressed the uprising with sword and spear, and seized those who had rebelled against them and those who had assisted the rebellion.

Muftī ʿInāyat Aḥmad was also counted among those who had helped incite the uprising, and an order was given for his deportation to the “Islands of Ceylon”, the island of “Andaman”, known in Urdu as “Kālā Pānī”. It happened that Karīm Bakhsh, an English physician, was there and treated him kindly. Because scholarly books were unavailable on that island, Muftī ʿInāyat Aḥmad composed several treatises for him.

انْتِقَالُهُ إِلَى «كَالَا بَانِي» سَجِينًا:

وَثَارَتِ الثَّوْرَةُ الْعَظِيمَةُ - الشَّهِيرَةُ بِجِهَادِ الْحُرِّيَّةِ - عَامَ 1857م بِالْهِنْدِ قَبْلَ أَنْ يَصِلَ إِلَى «أَكْبَر آبَاد»، وَعَمَّتْ جَمِيعَ الْبِلَادِ، وَارْتَفَعَتْ حُكُومَةُ الْإِنْجِلِيزِ مِنْ أَكْثَرِ الْهِنْدِ دَفْعَةً وَاحِدَةً، وَقُتِلَ مِنْهُمْ مَا لَا يُحْصِيهِ الْبَيَانُ، وَذَلِكَ سَنَةَ ثَلَاثٍ وَسَبْعِينَ وَمِائَتَيْنِ وَأَلْفٍ (1273) مِنَ الْهِجْرَةِ، ثُمَّ كَرُّوا عَلَى أَهْلِ الْهِنْدِ، وَدَفَعُوا الثَّوْرَةَ بِالسَّيْفِ وَالسِّنَانِ، وَأَخَذُوا الْخَارِجِينَ عَلَيْهِمْ وَمَنْ أَعَانَهُمْ عَلَى الْخُرُوجِ، وَعُدَّ الْمُفْتِي عِنَايَةُ أَحْمَدَ أَيْضًا مِنَ الْقَائِمِينَ بِإِثَارَةِ الثَّوْرَةِ، وَأُمِرَ بِجَلَائِهِ إِلَى «جَزَائِرِ السَّيْلَانِ» - جَزِيرَةِ «إِنْدُومَان»، وَبِالْأُرْدِيَّةِ «كَالَا بَانِي» -، فَاتَّفَقَ وُجُودُ كَرِيمِ بَخْشٍ الطَّبِيبِ الْإِنْجِلِيزِيِّ فَأَحْسَنَ إِلَيْهِ، وَصَنَّفَ لَهُ الْمُفْتِي عِنَايَةُ أَحْمَدَ بَعْضَ الرَّسَائِلِ؛ لِفُقْدَانِ الْكُتُبِ الْعِلْمِيَّةِ بِتِلْكَ الْجَزِيرَةِ.

His Release from Prison

By a fortunate coincidence, the governor of the island wished for Taqwīm al-Buldān to be translated from Arabic into Hindi so that it would be easier for him to have it rendered into English. He had offered the book for translation to some of the exiled scholars on the island, but none of them accepted it. He then offered it to Muftī ʿInāyat Aḥmad, who accepted and translated the book into Hindi. The governor of the island approved of the translation and interceded on his behalf, and he was released from captivity in the year 1277.

نَجَاتُهُ مِنَ السِّجْنِ:

وَمِنْ حُسْنِ الْمُصَادَفَاتِ أَنَّ حَاكِمَ الْجَزِيرَةِ كَانَ يُحِبُّ أَنْ يُتَرْجَمَ «تَقْوِيمُ الْبُلْدَانِ» مِنَ الْعَرَبِيَّةِ إِلَى الْهِنْدِيَّةِ؛ لِيَسْهُلَ عَلَيْهِ نَقْلُهُ إِلَى اللُّغَةِ الْإِنْجِلِيزِيَّةِ، وَكَانَ عَرَضَ ذَلِكَ الْكِتَابَ عَلَى بَعْضِ الْعُلَمَاءِ الْمَنْفِيِّينَ بِتِلْكَ الْجَزِيرَةِ لِلتَّرْجَمَةِ فَلَمْ يَقْبَلْ ذَلِكَ أَحَدٌ مِنْهُمْ، فَعَرَضَ عَلَى الْمُفْتِي عِنَايَةِ أَحْمَدَ فَقَبِلَهُ وَتَرْجَمَ ذَلِكَ الْكِتَابَ بِالْهِنْدِيَّةِ، فَاسْتَحْسَنَهَا حَاكِمُ الْجَزِيرَةِ وَشَفَعَ لَهُ، فَأُطْلِقَ مِنَ الْأَسْرِ سَنَةَ 1277م.

His Residence in “Kanpur”

He returned to India and settled in “Kanpur” at the request of the late ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn al-Ḥājj Rawshan Khān al-Ḥanafī al-Lakhnawī, proprietor of al-Maṭbaʿah al-Niẓāmiyyah. There he established a blessed school which he named “Fayḍ ʿĀm”, and he taught there for about three years.

قِيَامُهُ بِـ«كَانْبُور»:

فَدَخَلَ الْهِنْدَ وَأَقَامَ بِـ«كَانْبُور» بِتَكْلِيفِ الْمَرْحُومِ عَبْدِ الرَّحْمَنِ بْنِ الْحَاجِّ رَوْشَن خَانَ الْحَنَفِيِّ اللَّكْهَنَوِيِّ صَاحِبِ الْمَطْبَعَةِ النِّظَامِيَّةِ، وَأَنْشَأَ بِهَا مَدْرَسَةً مُبَارَكَةً سَمَّاهَا بِـ«فَيْضِ عَامٍّ» وَدَرَّسَ نَحْوَ ثَلَاثِ سَنَوَاتٍ.

His Passing into the Mercy of Allah Most High

He set out for Ḥajj and visitation. When he came close to reaching “Jeddah”, the ship sank at sea, and no one survived that fatal disaster. “Indeed, we belong to Allah, and indeed to Him we return.” This occurred after seventeen nights of Shawwāl had passed in the year 1279 AH. Mawlānā Luṭfullāh al-Kūʾī, may Allah Most High preserve him, informed me of this.

انْتِقَالُهُ إِلَى رَحْمَةِ اللَّهِ تَعَالَى:

شَدَّ الرَّحْلَ لِلْحَجِّ وَالزِّيَارَةِ، فَلَمَّا قَرُبَ أَنْ يَصِلَ إِلَى «جُدَّةَ» غَرِقَتِ السَّفِينَةُ فِي الْبَحْرِ وَلَمْ يَنْجُ مِنْ تِلْكَ الْمَهْلَكَةِ أَحَدٌ - إِنَّا لِلَّهِ وَإِنَّا إِلَيْهِ رَاجِعُونَ - وَذَلِكَ لِسَبْعَ عَشْرَةَ خَلَوْنَ مِنْ شَوَّالٍ سَنَةَ تِسْعٍ وَسَبْعِينَ وَمِائَتَيْنِ وَأَلْفٍ (1279) الْهِجْرِيَّةِ، أَخْبَرَنِي بِذَلِكَ مَوْلَانَا لُطْفُ اللَّهِ الْكُوئِيُّ، سَلَّمَهُ اللَّهُ تَعَالَى.

Among His Writings

ʿIlm al-Farāʾiḍ, the first treatise he authored, in the year sixty-two.
Mulakhkhaṣāt al-Ḥisāb.
Taṣdīq al-Masīḥ wa Radʿ Ḥukm al-Qabīḥ.
al-Kalām al-Mubīn fī Āyāt Raḥmatin lil-ʿĀlamīn.
Maḥāsin al-ʿAmal al-Afḍal fī al-Ṣalāh.
Hidāyāt al-Aḍāḥī.
A treatise concerning Laylat al-Qadr.
A treatise concerning the virtue of knowledge and the scholars.
A translation of Taqwīm al-Buldān.
ʿIlm al-Ṣīghah fī al-Taṣrīf.
al-Waẓīfah al-Kubrā fī al-Adʿiyah.
Tārīkh Ḥabīb Ilāh, concerning the biography of the Prophet ﷺ.
Khujastah Bahār.
A treatise concerning the virtue of sending blessings upon the Prophet ﷺ.
al-Durr al-Farīd fī Masāʾil al-Ṣiyām wa al-Qiyām wa al-ʿĪd.
Ḍamān al-Firdaws fī al-Targhīb wa al-Tarhīb.
al-Arbaʿūn min Aḥādīth al-Nabī al-Amīn ﷺ.
A treatise condemning “Mīlah” (the festivals and celebrations of the polytheists, during which they gather and hold markets).
Jadwal Mawāqiʿ al-Nujūm, tables admired by “Thomas”, the governor-general in the “United Provinces”, who for that reason gave him the title “Khān”.

وَمِنْ تَصَانِيفِهِ:

عِلْمُ الْفَرَائِضِ، وَهُوَ أَوَّلُ رِسَالَةٍ صَنَّفَهَا سَنَةَ اثْنَتَيْنِ وَسِتِّينَ.
مُلَخَّصَاتُ الْحِسَابِ.
تَصْدِيقُ الْمَسِيحِ وَرَدْعُ حُكْمِ الْقَبِيحِ.
الْكَلَامُ الْمُبِينُ فِي آيَاتِ رَحْمَةٍ لِلْعَالَمِينَ.
مَحَاسِنُ الْعَمَلِ الْأَفْضَلِ فِي الصَّلَاةِ.
هِدَايَاتُ الْأَضَاحِي.
رِسَالَةٌ فِي لَيْلَةِ الْقَدْرِ.
رِسَالَةٌ فِي فَضْلِ الْعِلْمِ وَالْعُلَمَاءِ.
تَرْجَمَةُ تَقْوِيمِ الْبُلْدَانِ.
عِلْمُ الصِّيغَةِ فِي التَّصْرِيفِ.
الْوَظِيفَةُ الْكُبْرَى فِي الْأَدْعِيَةِ.
تَارِيخُ حَبِيبِ إِلَهٍ - فِي سِيرَةِ النَّبِيِّ ﷺ -.
خُجَسْتَه بَهَار.
رِسَالَةٌ فِي فَضْلِ الصَّلَاةِ عَلَى النَّبِيِّ ﷺ.
الدُّرُّ الْفَرِيدُ فِي مَسَائِلِ الصِّيَامِ وَالْقِيَامِ وَالْعِيدِ.
ضَمَانُ الْفِرْدَوْسِ فِي التَّرْغِيبِ وَالتَّرْهِيبِ.
الْأَرْبَعُونَ مِنْ أَحَادِيثِ النَّبِيِّ الْأَمِينِ ﷺ.
رِسَالَةٌ فِي ذَمِّ «مِيلَة» (وَهِيَ أَعْيَادُ الْمُشْرِكِينَ وَمَهْرَجَانَاتُهُمْ، يَجْتَمِعُونَ فِيهَا وَيُقِيمُونَ الْأَسْوَاقَ).
جَدْوَلُ مَوَاقِعِ النُّجُومِ، جَدَاوِلُ اسْتَحْسَنَهَا «طَامَس» الْحَاكِمُ الْعَامُّ «الْجَنَرَالُ» بِالْبِلَادِ الْمُتَّحِدَةِ، وَلَقَّبَهُ لِأَجْلِ ذَلِكَ بِـ«الْخَانِ».