Muhammad Taqi Usmani

Early life

Muhammad Taqi Usmani was born on 5 October 1943 (5 Shawwal 1362 AH) in Deoband, a city in the Saharanpur district of Uttar Pradesh, India.

In 1958, Usmani passed the Fazil-e-Arabi (Arabic language examination) with distinction, administered by the Punjab Board. In 1959 he graduated from the `Alim course at Darul Uloom Karachi. He then specialised in fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence) under the guidance of his father, the Mufti of Darul Uloom Karachi, Muhammad Shafi, receiving his Takhassus degree (equivalent to a PhD) in fiqh and ifta (issuance of Islamic legal opinions) from Darul Uloom Karachi in 1961, earning the title of Mufti. He graduated from the University of Karachi with a Bachelor of Arts in 1964, then received a Bachelor of Laws with distinction from the University of Karachi in 1967. He received a Master of Arts in Arabic literature, with distinction, from the University of Punjab in 1970.

Usmani received ijaza to teach hadith from Islamic scholars including Muhammad Shafi, Muhammad Idris Kandhlawi, Qari Muhammad Tayyib, Saleemullah Khan, Mufti Rashid Ahmad Ludhianvi, Sahban Mahmud, Zafar Ahmad Usmani, Muhammad Zakariya Kandhalvi, Hasan al-Mahshat, and others.

His Teachers also include Mufti Wali Hasan Tonki, the Grand Mufti of Jami' ul Uloom Al-Islamiyyah. His elders include Shaikh Abdul Fattah Abu Ghuddah.

In tradition to the scholars of Deoband, recognising the importance of Tasawwuf, he traversed the path under the guidance of his Shaikh Dr. Abdul Hai Arifi and Maulana Muhammad Masihullah Khan both khulafa of Hakeemul Ummat Maulana Ashraf Ali Thanwi (rahmetullah ajmaeen). He is authorized by both of his mentors in Silsila e Ashrafia: Chistiyyah, Naqshbandiyah, Qadiriyah and Suharwardiyah. In addition to his busy schedule he is himself a mentor to numerous spiritual aspirants all over the world, such as Hadhrat Moulana Sheikh Mohammad Luqman Sahib Ji (RA) of the renowned Abu Bakr Trust in Walsall, England.

Usmani pioneered the concept of Islamic banking in Pakistan when he established the Meezan Bank. Usmani has authored a number of books in Arabic, Urdu, and English on Islamic topics in addition to a large number of articles on Islamic banking and finance published in a number of journals and magazines. According to The Muslim 500 website, he is a leading scholar of Islamic Finance, "Usmani's chief influence comes from his position as a global authority on the issue of Islamic finance."

In March 2004, United Arab Emirates Vice President and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum presented an award to Taqi Usmani in recognition of his lifetime service and achievement in Islamic finance during the annual International Islamic Finance Forum (IIFF) in Dubai.

In accordance with the tradition of the scholars of Deoband and recognising the importance of tasawwuf, Usmani's bay'ah was accepted by Abdul Hai Arifi and Muhammad Masihullah Khan. Usmani is currently a mentor to numerous spiritual aspirants all over the world and delivers weekly lectures on self-improvement at Darul Uloom Karachi on Sundays between Asr Salaah and Maghrib Salaah.

He currently teaches Sahih al-Bukhari, fiqh, and Islamic economics at Darul Uloom Karachi and is known for his Islahi Khutbat. He was a key member of a team of scholars which helped declare Ahmadis (Qadianis), as non-Muslims by Pakistan's National Assembly during the era of former Pakistani president, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, in the 1970s. During the presidency of General Zia ul Haq, he was instrumental in drafting laws pertaining to Hudood, Qisas meaning retaliation in kind or (eye for an eye, and Diyya (blood money).

Views

Usmani strongly opposes elements of modernity, which he describes as engulfing

"the whole world in the tornado of nudity and obscenity, and has provided an excuse for fornication, and more so it has led under thunder claps to the passage of a bill in the British House of Commons to legalize homosexuality. It is in the shadow of the same modernity that Western women are openly displaying banners on the streets demanding legalization of abortion ....

He also strongly supports Pakistan's Hudood Ordinances he helped write and strongly opposed the Women's Protection Bill, which he believes violates the injunctions of Quran and Sunnah. He thinks it will not provide a great relief to countless women.

At a religious conference in 1984 he urged a more "dynamic attitude" towards the practice of ijtihad, arguing there is no shortage of fine minds capable of interpreting the sharia, but warning against the contamination of sharia by Western ideas such as the elimination of hudood penalties such as amputation and stoning.

Positions

Muhammad Taqi Usmani has been called "a leading scholar of Islamic jurisprudence" and "one of the most successful of the Islamic revivalist initiatives of the past century", by The Muslim 500 website, which lists him among the 500 "most influential Muslims" in the world; and "one of the leading religious experts on Islamic finance and much sought after person by Islamic financial institutions for their Shari'ah Boards," by M.O.Farooq.

Positions currently being held

• Chairman, Sharia Board of State Bank of Pakistan
• Vice President and Shaykh al-Hadith, Jamia Darululoom Karachi
• Chairman, International Shariah Standard Council, Accounting and Auditing Organization for Islamic Financial Institutions, Bahrain
• Permanent Member, Vice Chairman, International Islamic Fiqh Academy, Jeddah, organ of the Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC).
• Member, Islamic Fiqh Academy of Rabita-al-‘Alam-e-Islami, Makkah
• Permanent Member International Islamic Fiqh Academy, Jeddah, sponsored by OIC.
• Chairman Centre for Islamic Economics Pakistan since 1991
• Chairman Shariah Board Central Bank of Bahrain
• Chairman Shariah Board Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank, U.A.E.
• Chairman Shariah Board Meezan Bank Limited, Karachi, Pakistan
• Chairman Shariah Board International Islamic Rating Agency, Bahrain
• Chairman Shariah Board Pak-Kuwait Takaful, Karachi
• Chairman Shariah Board Pak-Qatar Takaful, Karachi
• Chairman Shariah Board JS Investments Islamic Fund, Karachi
• Chairman Shariah Board of JS Islamic Pension Savings Fund
• Chairman Shariah Board Arif Habib Investments – Pakistan International Islamic Fund, Karachi
• Member Shariah Board Arcapita Investment Fund, Bahrain
• Member Unified Shariah Board Islamic Development Bank, Jeddah
• Member Shariah Board Guidance Financial Group, USA

Positions held in the past

• Judge, Shariat Appellate Bench, Supreme Court of Pakistan (1982 to May 2002)
• Chairman, Centre for Islamic Economics, Pakistan since 1991
• Judge, Federal Shariat Court of Pakistan from (1980 to 1982)
• Member, Syndicate University of Karachi (1985 to 1988)
• Member, Board of Governors, International Islamic University Islamabad, 1985 to 1989.
• Member, International Institute of Islamic Economics (1985 to 1988)
• Member, Council of Islamic Ideology (1977 to 1981)
• Member, Board of Trustees International Islamic University, Islamabad (2004 to 2007)
• Member, Commission for Islamisation of Economy of Pakistan.

Works in English Translation

• Hudhur (Salla-Allahu alayhi wa Sallam) ney Farmaya (Sayings of Prophet Sall-Allahu alayhi wa sallam)
• 'Uloom-ul-Qur'an (An Approach to the Qur'anic Sciences)
• Hujjiyat-e-Hadeeth (The Authority of Sunnah)
• Dunya K Uss Paar (Beyod this World)
• Aasan Nakiyan (Easy Good Deeds)
• Islam aur Jidat Pasandi (Islam and Modernism)
• Mu'amalaat Saaf Rakhayn (Live like Brothers, Deal like Strangers)
• Perform Salah Correctly
• Pur Noor Duain (Radiant Prayers) (Collection of Prayers for all occasions)
• Hudood - Aik Ilmi Jaiza (The Case of the Hudood Ordinances)
• Islahi Khutubat (The Discourses on the Islamic Way of Life) (10 volumes published as yet)
• Spiritual Discourses (4 Volumes)
• Salah - a Unique Meeting
• Solutions to Domestic Conflicts (A collection of 6 Speeches entitled "Causes of Disunity and its Remedy")
• A Call to Allah
• Resisting the Evils in Society
• Rights and Responsibilities
• Akabir 'Ulama-e-Deoband Kya Thay? (The Scholars of Deoband Islamic Seminary)
• Sood Per Tareekhi Faisla (The Historic Judgement on Interest)
• Ahkam-uz-Zaba'ih (The Legal Rulings on Slaughtered Animals)
• Taqleed Ki Shari'i Hasiyat (The Legal Status of Following a Madhab)
• Ahkam-e-I'tikaf (The Rules of I'tikaf)
• The Sanctity of Life in the Qur'an & Sunnah
• Qadiyani Fitnah aur Millat-e-Islamiyah Ka Mu'aqqaf (with Samiul-Haqq) [Mu'aqqaf Ummat-ul-Islamiyah Minal Qadiyaniyah (The View of the Ummah on Qadiyanism/Qadiyanism on Trial)]
• 'Eesayat Kya Hai? [Ma Hea An-Nasraniyah? (What is Christianity?)]
• In the Footsteps of the Beloved
• Preserving the Deen
• Self Management
• To Preach and Practice
• A Guide to Perfection
• A Successful Believer
• An Outlook on Life
• Divine Gifts
• Islam in Today's World
• Bringing up Children in Islam
• The Issue Of Interest
• Wonderful Life of Paradise (Just one chapter is written by Mufti Muhammad Taqi Usmani)
• Some Points to Ponder about Post Crisis Reforms
• The Right of a Woman to Unilateral Divorce under Islamic Law
• An Obituary to Shaikh 'Abdul Fattah Abu Ghuddah (R'A)

Many of these books are available online. He also gave many lectures that are available online in audio formats.