Yunus Jaunpuri

**Al-‘Allamah, hadith scholar Shaykh Muhammad Yunus ibn Shabbir Ahmad ibn Shir Ali al-Jaunpuri al-Saharanpuri** (Urdu: مُحَمَّدُ ىُونْسْ جُونْبُورَى) was a Muslim scholar and hadith scholar. He was one of the greatest hadith scholars of the 14th and 15th Islamic centuries. He was born in British India on 25 Rajab 1355 AH, which matches 10 October 1937 CE, in the area of “Kahita Sarai” in the district of “Jaunpur”. He started learning Islamic religious knowledge at the age of thirteen at Diya al-Ulum School in the area of “Mani Kalan” in the same district. He learned the Persian language and studied the basic books of the Dars-e-Nizami system used in India and Pakistan. He joined Mazahir Uloom University in India, one of the largest modern Islamic schools, in Shawwal 1377 AH and graduated in 1380 AH. He was then appointed as a teacher there in 1381 AH. He continued teaching until he became Shaykh al-Hadith in 1388 AH. He taught Sahih al-Bukhari for almost fifty years and continued until he died on Tuesday 17 Shawwal 1438 AH, which matches 11 July 2017 CE, at the age of 83.

Al-Jaunpuri wrote many useful letters and research works in Arabic and Urdu. Many of them were collected by his student Shaykh Muhammad Ayyub al-Surti and printed in four volumes called “Al-Yawāqīt al-Ghāliyah”. His close students also collected many of his lesson notes on books. Shaykh Yunus was strongly influenced by the early hadith scholars and by Ibn Taymiyyah and Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani. He had very wide knowledge in hadith, its narrators, and its details. He continued learning and following new hadith books until the end of his life.

## Early life and education

Muhammad Yunus al-Jaunpuri was born in the village of “Kuraini” near “Jaunpur” in Uttar Pradesh, India. He was born on Monday morning at 7:00 a.m. on 25 Rajab 1355 AH, which matches 2 October 1937 CE. His mother died when he was five years old, so his grandmother raised him. He joined village schools where he learned reading, writing, and basics. After that, he moved to Diya al-Ulum School in “Mani Kalan” near his village, where he learned more knowledge. He benefited greatly from Shaykh Diya al-Haqq al-Faydabadi and Shaykh Abd al-Halim al-Jaunpuri.

He then joined Mazahir Uloom University in Saharanpur in Shawwal 1373 AH and graduated after three years, showing strong skill in Islamic sciences, especially Hadith. In 1377 AH, al-Jaunpuri stayed closely with Imam Muhammad Zakariya Kandhlawi and al-‘Allamah Muhammad As‘ad Allah al-Rampuri after they noticed his strong knowledge. He studied all of Sahih al-Bukhari with Shaykh Kandhlawi by reading and listening, part of the introduction to Sahih Muslim, half of Sunan Abi Dawud, the three treatises, and other works. He was given a general permission (ijazah). Other teachers who gave him permission included Muhammad As‘ad Allah al-Rampuri, Manzur Ahmad al-Saharanpuri, and Amir Ahmad ibn Abd al-Ghani al-Kandhlawi.

## Teaching

He was appointed as a teacher at Mazahir Uloom University in Shawwal 1381 AH. He taught Sahih Muslim, Sunan Abi Dawud, Sunan al-Nasa’i, Sunan Ibn Majah, Muwatta Imam Malik in its two narrations, and many books of Islamic jurisprudence and its principles. In Shawwal 1388 AH, his teacher Muhammad Zakariya Kandhlawi appointed him as his replacement, and he became Shaykh al-Hadith at the university. He stayed in this position for about 48 years.

## Works and research

Shaykh Muhammad Ayyub al-Surti collected many of al-Jaunpuri’s letters, research, and hadith references in Arabic and Urdu and printed them in four large volumes in Leicester, United Kingdom, called “Al-Yawāqīt al-Ghāliyah”. Dr. Muhammad Akram al-Nadwi also published the book “Al-Fara’id fi ‘Awali al-Asanid wa Ghawali al-Fawa’id” from al-Jaunpuri’s works. Along with editing Sahih al-Bukhari and publishing it as “Nibras al-Sari ila Sahih al-Bukhari”, al-Jaunpuri edited many other classical Islamic books, including Kitab al-Tawhid in refutation of the Jahmiyyah.

## Death

Al-Jaunpuri suffered from illness for much of his life, and his condition became very serious near the end of his life. He became very weak and close to death more than once, then recovered again. He finally died on Tuesday morning 17 Shawwal 1438 AH, which matches 11 July 2017 CE, at his home in Saharanpur. The funeral prayer was held in the afternoon, and many people from different parts of India attended. Thousands of Muslims took part in his funeral, and many scholars expressed sadness at his death, including Dr. Rashid Boutarboush, head of the Islamic University in Europe, and the General Secretariat of the Muslim Scholars Association of Iraq. Indian poet and scholar Fuzail Ahmad Nasiri also expressed sadness and said that Jaunpuri was a great scholar of hadith.

## Infobox (religious biography)

- **religion**: Islam
- **honorific prefix**: Maulana
- **name**: Yunus Jaunpuri
- **birth date**: 2 October 1937
- **birth name**: Muhammad Yunus Jaunpuri
- **birth place**: Jaunpur district, Jaunpur, British India
- **death place**: Saharanpur, Uttar Pradesh, India
- **alma mater**: Mazahir Uloom, Saharanpur
- **main interests**: Hadith
- **jurisprudence**: Hanafi
- **denomination**: Sunni
- **occupation**: Scholar
- **movement**: Deobandi
- **notable works**: _Nibrās al-Sārī ilā Riyāḍ al-Bukhārī_
- **disciple of**: Zakariyya Kandhlawi
- **influenced**: Abdur Rahman ibn Yusuf Mangera
- **creed**: Athari