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Biography
Sayyid Muḥammad Anwar Shāh ibn Mu‘az̤z̤am Shāh Kashmīrī (Sayyid Muḥammad Anwar Shāh ibn Mu‘aẓẓam Shāh al-Kashmīrī al-Hindī; November 16, 1875 – May 28, 1933) was a Kashmiri Islamic scholar from former British India. During his career, he taught at a number of prominent institutions, including the Darul Uloom Deoband which contains a gate named in his honor. He authored a numbers books on Islam, which were published in Arabic and Persian.
Personal life and education
Anwar Shah Kashmiri was a native of Kashmir. He was born on 27th Shawwal, A. H. 1292/1875, in a Sayyid family. At the age of four and a half years he started reading the Quran under the instruction of his father, Maulana Syed Muazzam Ali Shah. He was fourteen years old when he left for Madrasah of Hazara.In 1311/1893 he came to Deoband. Then, in 1314/1896 he went to Rashid Ahmad Gangohi and besides obtaining a Sanad (certificate) of Hadith, he also acquired esoteric knowledge.
After graduating from Darul Uloom he taught for some time in Madrasah Aminia, Delhi. In 1320/1903 he went to Kashmir. There, in his district, he opened a Madrasah named Faiz-e A'am. In 1323/1905 he went to perform Hajj. In 1327/1909 he came back to Deoband. Till 1333, he went on teaching books of Hadith without taking any salary. He held the guardianship of Darul Uloom for nearly twelve years. He resigned from guardianship in 1346/1927 and went to the Madrasah of Dabhel in western India, where, till 1351/1932, he taught Hadith. He left his family in 1887 and moved into the Madrasah in India. In 1889, he relocated to Deoband, where he studied at the Darul uloom. In 1894, he began studying Hadith, work he continued after graduation from the Darul Uloom in Gangoh.
Family Tree of Anwar Shah Kashmiri
Later life and death
In 1908, Shah married a woman of Gangoh. The couple had three sons and two daughters. His Elder son Azhar Shah and younger son Anzar Shah Kashmiri became president of "Dar-ul-Uloom Deoband". In 1933, Shah became ill and traveled to Deoband for medical care. He continued addressing students there until the day he died, 28 May 1933.
Career
He began his career teaching at Madrasah Aminiyah in Delhi in 1897 before returning to Kashmir upon the death of his mother in 1901. There, he taught at the Madrasah Fay'm for three years before embarking on his Hajj to Mecca and Medina. He visited his Deoband instructor Mahmood Hasan, who persuaded him to take a position teaching in Deoband. When Mahmood Hasan himself subsequently relocated to Medina in 1908, Shah was given his position teaching Hadith.He retained the position until 1927, when he departed due to disagreement with management.
Writing
In 1929, the Majlis-i-Ὶlm educational academy was opened in Delhi primarily to publish Shah's writings on Islam. It remained operational until 1946. Among other topics, his books discussed Qur'an, metaphysics, the fundamental beliefs of Islam, Fiqh, zoology, politics. Shah also wrote poetry and often put his scholarly writings in that form. In addition to those works published in his lifetime and after, there were as of 2007 a number of articles and manuscripts which had not yet seen print.