Maulānā Sayyid Muhammad Thānī

Hasanī Rāi Barelwī

Lineage and birth
Maulānā Sayyid Muhammad Thānī rahimahullāh
was born in the Shāh ‛Alamullāh family in Takiyah
Kalān, Rāi Bareilly in 1343 A.H./1925. His father’s
name was Sayyid Rashīd Ahmad. He was named
after Hadrat Maulānā Rashīd Ahmad Gangohī
rahimahullāh. His lineage goes up to Hadrat Shāh
‛Alamullāh Hasanī rahimahullāh on the eighth level.
His mother, Sayyidah Amatul ‛Azīz (d. 23 Ramadān
1416 A.H.), was a great historian and scholar of
religious sciences of the last century. She was the
eldest daughter of Hadrat Maulānā Sayyid ‛Abd al-
Hayy Hasanī rahimahullāh.
Education
He studied under and was tutored by his great
maternal uncles, Maulānā Dr. Sayyid ‛Abd al-‛Alī
Hasanī rahimahullāh and Maulānā Sayyid Abul
Hasan ‛Alī Hasanī Nadwī rahimahullāh. He also
received training from his maternal grandmother,
Khayr an-Nisā’ Behtar.
Spiritual training
Maulānā rahimahullāh went to study Hadīth under
Hadrat Shaykh al-Hadīth Maulānā Muhammad
Zakarīyyā Sāhib rahimahullāh in Sahāranpūr. He
also made a request to receive spiritual training
from him. Hadrat Maulānā Abul Hasan ‛Alī Nadwī
rahimahullāh writes in a letter to Hadrat Shaykh al-
Hadīth:

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 Muhammad Thānī is really in need of
your affections. We are handing him
over on behalf of our family and passing
him on to you.1
Maulānā Nūr al-Hasan Rāshid Kāndhlawī writes:
He presented a request for bay‛at to
Hadrat Shaykh. Hadrat had already
gauged the innate competence and
Allāh-bestowed capabilities in this young
student. This is why, contrary to his
norm, he accepted his request
immediately.
Maulānā Thānī rahimahullāh became occupied in
dhikr and other spiritual practices and exercises.
The qualities of the pious predecessors became
more firmly embedded in him. Humility and
deference, religiosity and integrity, obedience and
submission – qualities which he had already
inherited from his ancestors – began to be
manifested. Hadrat Shaykh’s affection and attention
towards him also increased at the same speed.
He eventually received khilāfat from Hadrat Shaykh
rahimahullāh and the permission to induct murīds.
All praise is due solely to Allāh ta‛ālā.
Impressions of ‛ulamā’

Maulānā Talhah Sāhib Taunkī was especially

impressed by the pious and sound temperament of
Maulānā Muhammad Thānī rahimahullāh. Later on,
he used to say in very meaningful words:

1 Maktūbāt Maulānā Sayyid Abul Hasan ‛Alī Nadwī, vol.

2, p.14, compiled by Maulānā Muhammad Hamzah
Hasanī.

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 ‛Alī trained him through studying of
books, pondering and reflecting; and
tried to develop rectitude in him.
However, Muhammad Thānī had
acquired these qualities from birth
without having to strive for them.
The testimony of one of the classmates of Maulānā
Muhammad Thānī - Hadrat Maulānā Qārī Siddīq
Ahmad Sāhib Bāndwī rahimahullāh – with regard to
his temperament and spirituality is enough. He
says:
He was my sincere friend and
affectionate guide. I faced many
challenges in life in which I received his
guidance. Maulānā’s inherited qualities
of abstinence, contentment, patience,
forbearance, selflessness, sacrifice,
sincerity, devotion to Allāh ta‛ālā, sweet
manner of speech, generosity and
hospitality call upon all of us towards
action. I will forever rue over the fact
that the world could not acquire from
him what it could have.
The testimony of his classmate in Dār al-‛Ulūm
Nadwatul ‛Ulamā’, Maulānā ‛Abdullāh ‛Abbās Sāhib
Nadwī rahimahullāh, affirms the previous
testimony. He writes:
Maulānā Thānī Hasanī was from among
those few people whom, when you
merely look at, the heart testifies that
this servant of Allāh ta‛ālā is a creation
of the Hereafter. Anyone searching for a
model should look at him. It is true,
every person cannot identify a pearl. It
requires the gaze of a jeweller and the
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 experience of a king. However, if a
glittering piece of glass is seen in a heap
of rocks, then any ordinary person
passing by will say that the glass is
distinguished from the rocks and stones.
The value of the pearl can only be
ascertained by a jeweller, but its general
rate and the fact that is distinguished
from thousands others, can be testified
to by every ordinary person.
Hadrat Maulānā Muhammad Manzūr Nu‛mānī
Sāhib rahimahullāh (the author of Ma‛ārif al-Hadīth
and the founder of al-Furqān) had taken Maulānā
Muhammad Thānī with him on a hajj journey. He
writes:
A very special enviable quality in
Maulānā Thānī Hasanī was his
selflessness and altruism. He was
certainly not sinless, but – inshā Allāh –
I will not be exaggerating if I said that he
possessed sinless attributes.1
Hadrat Maulānā Muhammad Rābi‛ Sāhib Nadwī
highlights one important quality in Maulānā Thānī:
Even if he was offended by the harshest
statement of a person, he would not
express his displeasure in a harsh tone.
Instead, he will do his utmost not to
express his displeasure. He was filled to
the brim with love. His love used to be
manifested in the from of mercifulness
and empathy. He would honour his

1Monthly, Ridwān, Lucknow. Special edition on Maulānā

Muhammad Thānī.

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 seniors with love, and his juniors with
affection and empathy. He took a keen
interest in the work of propagation and
rectification. His interest in this was
displayed in Lucknow and Rāi Bareilly.
People benefited tremendously from this.
The nucleus of his interest in the fields
of education and administration was
Madrasah Falāh al-Muslimīn and
Madrasah Diyā’ al-‛Ulūm which was
near his house. He was the supervisor of
one, and the head of education in the
other. By virtue of his attributes and
special traits, people began looking up to
him as a deputy of his grand and
eminent maternal uncle, Maulānā ‛Alī
Miyā Sāhib [Hadrat Maulānā Abul
Hasan ‛Alī Nadwī rahimahullāh].
Children
Maulānā Muhammad Thānī rahimahullāh was
married to Sayyidah Khadījah Hasanī (d. 3 August
1999) who was the third daughter of Hadrat
Maulānā Dr. ‛Abd al-‛Alī Hasanī Sāhib
rahimahullāh. He had one daughter, Sayyidah
Umāmah Hasanī (who passed on), and one son,
Maulānā Sayyid Muhammad Hamzah Hasanī (the
general supervisor at Nadwatul ‛Ulamā’ Lucknow,
and editor of the monthly Ridwān, Lucknow).
Demise
Maulānā Muhammad Thānī rahimahullāh passed
away in an accident on 21 Rabī‛ ath-Thānī 1401
A.H./16 February 1982 in Lucknow. To Allāh we
belong and to Him is our return.

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 Sufi ‛Abd al-Qayyūm Khān Gausī1
Birth and lineage
He was born in 1298 A.H./1880 in Bīswārah, Gausī,
district Ma’u. He was genealogically connected to
the Wesh tribe. This is why his village is known as
Bīswārah (which must have been Weshwārah).
His father’s name was Mukarram ‛Abd al-Ghanī
Sāhib. He had invited Hadrat Hakīmul Ummat
Maulānā Ashraf ‛Alī Thānwī rahimahullāh to his
house and pledged bay‛at to him. He had two sons,
‛Abd al-Hayy Khān and ‛Abd al-Qayyūm Khān. The
elder son was a fanatical Barelwī while the younger
son belonged to the Deobandī creed and adhered to
it.
His father, ‛Abd al-Ghanī, was a maternal uncle of
my grandfather, Muhammad Nadhīr Khān. My
grandfather was brought up in Gausī at the house
of his maternal family.
Piety and purity
We could not ascertain where he studied and up to
what level. Nonetheless, the essence of knowledge
which is fear of Allāh ta‛ālā was found to the level of
perfection in him. His son, ‛Abd al-Hakīm, writes:
The entire life of my honourable father
was spent in worship, spiritual practices
and reading the Qur’ān. He was an
embodiment of affection and love to not

1 He was a special disciple of Hadrat Muslihul Ummat

Maulānā Shāh Wasīyyullāh Sāhib Fatahpūrī Allāhābādī
rahimahullāh.

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 only humans but to animals as well.
While he had a powerful bond with the
‛ulamā’ of Deoband and other genuine
‛ulamā’, he was especially attached to
Hadrat Muslihul Ummat Maulānā Shāh
Wasīyyullāh Sāhib rahimahullāh and
had a spiritual bond with him. Hadrat
Muslihul Ummat rahimahullāh also
spoke highly of him. My honourable
brother, Muhīyy ad-Dīn Khān, related
that Hadrat Muslihul Ummat
rahimahullāh addressed some of his
special associates saying: “From all the
people in the family, ‛Abd al-Qayyūm is a
selfless man.”
Preoccupation with worship
After the ‛ishā salāh, Maulānā ‛Abd al-Qayyūm
Sāhib rahimahullāh used to spend a considerable
amount of time in different forms of dhikr and other
spiritual practices. He would then go to bed and
wake up at about 2:30 in the morning. On waking
up, he would occupy himself in tahajjud salāh,
dhikr and Qur’ān reading. He would proceed to the
masjid at the time of the fajr adhān. On occasion,
he would call out the adhān himself. After the fajr
salāh, he would proceed to his room where he would
keep himself busy in various acts of worship,
reading the Qur’ān and the ishrāq salāh.
Simplicity
Maulānā rahimahullāh was not particular about
food. He ate simple food with relish. He was
constantly grateful to Allāh ta‛ālā and stressed on
his family members to do the same. He wore coarse
garments. He was fastidious about following the

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Sunnah in his clothing. If his kurtah or pants got
torn, he would ask his daughters-in-law to patch it
for him. They would reply: “Father! A patched
garment does not look appealing.” He would say:
“Daughter! Hadrat ‛Umar radiyallāhu ‛anhu was the
Amīr al-Mu’minīn yet he liked wearing patched
garments. Of what importance am I in comparison
to him? Furthermore, Rasūlullāh sallallāhu ‛alayhi
wa sallam used to say to Hadrat ‛Ā’ishah: ‘O
‛Ā’ishah! Do not get rid off garments until you patch
and wear them.”
In his emulation of the Sunnah, he loved goat’s milk
and bottle-gourd. He used to encourage his family
members to eat these and say: “Rasūlullāh
sallallāhu ‛alayhi wa sallam loved these foods.”
Grief over missing a salāh
He suffered from a certain ailment and had to be
shown to a doctor in Benāres. In the course of the
medical treatment, he missed the fajr salāh of one
day. Consequently, he beseeched Allāh ta‛ālā and
cried before Him. His son relates: I said to him:
“Father! Why are you stressing so much?” He
turned to me with eyes flowing down his face. It was
a face brimming with submission. He said to me in
a lamenting tone: “I missed my fajr salāh today.” I
asked: “Why are you crying so much over it? Sleep
is not within one’s control. You have already
performed the qadā’ for it. That is enough.” He
replied: “How can a person who spent his entire life
performing tahajjud salāh and then the fajr salāh
with congregation ever feel consoled by performing
only the qadā’ salāh? I am crying because Allāh
ta‛ālā always woke me up to perform these rituals.
Why did He not wake me up today? I fear that He is

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displeased by some error of mine and therefore
abandoned me today.”
Note: Glory to Allāh! This is real fear of Allāh ta‛ālā.
Can such a person even go near sin? (compiler)
Conditions before his death
He attended the jumu‛ah salāh a few days before his
demise. While returning, he felt some pain in his
heart. He managed to reach his house. A doctor was
called but Maulānā rahimahullāh did not pay much
attention to the doctor’s prescription and advice.
Instead, he continually emphasised on his family
members to abstain from sin and to do good works.
He also said to them: “If any of you has a right over
me they must take it from me now. If I offended any
of you, you must pardon me. These are the final
moments of my life. I will leave when Allāh issues
His order.”
He was mindful of remaining in a state of purity
until the very end. His condition worsened on the
night of the 20th of March. His family members and
neighbours assembled. He spent the night in a
unique spiritual state. His son went into detail in
describing it. We are quoting just one paragraph
from it.
Just before his demise, my brother Afsar
ad-Dīn Sāhib addressed my father by
saying: “Abbā (father).” He opened his
eyes. When my brother asked him if he
was in any pain, he replied: “I have
never experienced the peace and joy
which I am experiencing at present.”
Note: May Allāh ta‛ālā bless every believer with
conditions of this nature. Āmīn. (compiler)

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Demise
He passed away on a Tuesday 20 March 1982/1403
A.H. before zuhr. To Allāh we belong and to Him is
our return.

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