Hifzur Rahman | |
|---|---|
হিফজুর রহমান | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 16 April 1958 Laksam, Comilla |
| Alma mater | |
| Personal life | |
| Nationality | Bangladeshi |
| Main interest(s) | |
| Notable work(s) |
|
| Religious life | |
| Denomination | Sunni |
| Jurisprudence | Hanafi |
| Teachers | |
| Movement | Deobandi |
Hifzur Rahman (born 16 April 1958) is a Bangladeshi Islamic scholar and writer, noted for his Arabic biographical works on Hanafi scholarship. He is the head of the Department of Fiqh at Jamia Rahmania Arabia in Dhaka. He became known in the scholarly community following the publication of two major works in Egypt. [1] The first is a comprehensive biographical collection of Hanafi scholars, Al-Budur al-Mudiya fi Tarajim al-Hanafiyya, spanning from Abu Hanifa to contemporary figures, published in 23 volumes after a decade of research. The second is an eight-volume biographical compilation on Bengali ulama, Al-Yawaqit wal-Jawahir, containing over 2,000 entries.
Hifzur Rahman was born on 16 April 1958 in Uttar Fenuya, located in the Uttar Haola Union of Laksam Upazila, Comilla District, [2] to Muhibbur Rahman, an alim, and Razia Khatun. [1] He began his early Qur'anic studies under Abdul Matin and, after completing primary education at a local school in 1971, studied up to class seven at Feni Government Pilot High School. He then spent two years at Munshir Hat Hossainia Madrasa before continuing his studies at Mekhal Madrasa, where he pursued Sharh al-Jami. He later enrolled at Darul Uloom Hathazari and completed the Dawra-e-Hadith program, after which he traveled to Pakistan in 1987 to study at Jamia Uloom-ul-Islamia in Karachi, where he completed a specialization in Islamic jurisprudence (Ifta). [2] His teachers included Shah Ahmad Shafi, Wali Hasan Tonki, Abdur Rashid Nomani, and Abdus Salam Chatgami. [3]
Rahman began his professional career in 1985 as a muhaddis (teacher of hadith) at Darul Uloom Barura in Bangladesh, where he taught for 15 years. [4] In 2000, he joined Jamia Rahmania Arabia in Dhaka in the same capacity, and in 2002 he was appointed the chief mufti of the institution while also teaching the second volume of Sahih Muslim. Alongside his work at Jamia Rahmania, he served as Sheikh al-Hadith at Tejgaon Jamia Islamia Railway Madrasa and at Darul Uloom Masjidul Akbar Complex Madrasa, where he taught Sahih al-Bukhari. [4]
Rahman has written 72 books in Bengali on various subjects, as well as 20 books in Arabic, two of which were published in Egypt. [5] On 22 August 2025, he received the 'Lekhak Forum Padak 2025' from the Bangladesh Islami Writers Forum. [6] According to Desh Rupantor, perhaps he is the first Bangladeshi scholar recognized for large-scale research work in Arabic. [1] His first Arabic book, primarily related to Al-Hidayah , was published in the early 2000s under the title Ma Yambagi Bihil Inayah Liman Yutali'ul Hidayah and was prepared under the supervision of Abdur Rashid Nomani during his time in Pakistan as an introduction to Hidayah. His first book published in Bengali was Shebar Arale NGO-ra Ki Korche, a title suggested by Farid Uddin Masood. [7]
Rahman compiled a 23-volume biographical encyclopedia in Arabic after ten years of research, titled Al-Budur al-Mudiya fi Tarajim al-Hanafiyya, published by Darus Salih in Cairo, Egypt. [8] The work documents the lives and works of Hanafi scholars, including imams, mujtahids, jurists (fuqaha), and teachers of hadith, from Abu Hanifa to the 21st century, and includes several Bangladeshi scholars. [9] He also created another Arabic biographical encyclopedia on over two thousand Bengali-speaking scholars, published in 2020 in eight volumes under the title Al-Yawaqit wal-Jawahir fi Tarajim Nubala-i Bangal wal Akabir, covering 2,183 individuals across nearly 4,000 pages. This work, completed over six years, received scholarly review from Muhammad bin Jamaluddin al-Suyuti of Al-Azhar University, Nematullah Azami, and Habibur Rahman Azami. [8] According to Rahman, he wrote these works for three main reasons: to counter the perception, particularly among Arab scholars, that significant scholars did not exist in the Indian subcontinent; to provide responses on issues relevant to the Ahl-i Hadith; and to document the lives, services, and works of scholars—particularly Bangladeshi scholars—and their religious practices for a global audience, while historically demonstrating that the Indian subcontinent, including Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, and Afghanistan, has long been a major center of the Hanafi school of thought. [7]
Most of his writings focus on the Hanafi school. [7] He authored a five-volume research work on legal terminology in Islamic jurisprudence titled Yad al-Muhtaj ila al-Mustalahat al-Fiqhiyyah, with each volume comprising approximately 500 pages, and it is considered a reference for advanced students of Hadith and Fiqh. [8] In a similar vein, he produced a work with the same title as Taqi Usmani's Usul al-Ifta, although both appear to have been composed independently, and he later expanded his version using material from Usmani's research. [7] He also wrote a foundational work on the position of Abu Hanifa in Hadith and Fiqh, titled Makanatu Abi Hanifata fil-Fiqh wal-Hadith, which he later annotated with material from his teacher Abdur Rashid Nomani's book of the same title. [7] His other scholarly works include Fiqhu Ahlil Iraq wa Hadisuhum, Addurar al-Muntakat ala Muqaddimatish Shaykh, Fathul Wadud ala Sharh al-Uqud, and Al-Badrul Munir ala Fawzul Kabir, serving primarily as instructional texts, while his lexicographical works include Mu'jam al-Faqih wal-Mutafakkih. Biographical works such as Mu'jam al-Shuyukh document the lives of notable scholars. [7] In Bengali, his published works include Mashayekhe Comilla, Rahe Sunnat, Izahul Muslim, Islam e Murtaddeder Shasti, Narir Mulloyon, and Makbul Du'a, among others. [4]