Qasim Nanotvi

**Muhammad Qasim Nanotvi** (1248–1297 AH / 1832–1880 CE, ) was a scholar from India. He was a Sunni Muslim. He followed the Hanafi school and Maturidi beliefs. He was a theologian (someone who studies God), a Sufi (someone who prays and remembers Allah a lot), and a Islamic scholar who taught many students. He helped people learn about Islam and was one of the main founders of the Deobandi movement, starting the Darul Uloom Deoband school.

He learned from Sheikh Mamluk Ali Nanotvi and Sheikh Abdul Ghani Mujaddidi Dehlawi. He studied many books.

Sheikh Nanotvi was very simple. He was not showy. He did not wear fancy clothes like other scholars. He spent his time learning, teaching, and remembering Allah.

He lived at a time when the British wanted to stop Islamic schools. They tried to hurt Muslims and make them weak. Nanotvi and other scholars worked hard to keep Islamic knowledge alive. He debated with Christians and Hindus to show that Islam is true.

## Scholarly works 
He wrote about thirty books. Some are:

* Annotations on Sahih Bukhari – notes on the last parts of Bukhari.
* Aab Hayat (Water of Life) – about the life of the Prophet.
* Misbah al-Taraweeh – about Taraweeh prayer.
* Hidayat al-Shia – answering Shi’a questions.
* Al-Dalil al-Muhkam ala Qira’at al-Fatiha lil Mu’tem – about reading Al-Fatiha in prayer.
* Al-Ajwiba al-Arba‘un – answers to forty Shi’a objections.
* Asrar Qur’ani – answers questions about the Quran.
* Tasfiyat al-Aqa’id – replies to Sayyid Ahmed Khan.
* Tahdheer al-Nas – reply to Muhammad Ahsan al-Nanotvi.
* Radd Qawl al-Fasih – reply to Fasih al-Din.
* Hujjat al-Islam – lecture proving Islam is true.
* Al-Hiwar al-Dini – lecture at Knowledge of God fair.
* Munazara Shahjahanpur – lecture at the 1877 fair.
* Intisar al-Islam – lecture on angels, jinn, and answers to others.
* Qibla Nama – teaches how to face the Kaaba in prayer.
* Jawab Turki bi Turki – answers Hindu questions.
* Taqrir Dil Bazir – shows main Islamic beliefs.
* Tawthiq al-Kalam fi Mubahath Khalf al-Imam – about reading Fatiha behind the Imam.
* Al-Tuhfa al-Lahmiya – about eating meat.
* Intibah al-Mu’minin – reply to Shi’a (in Persian).
* Fuyud Qasmiya – answers 15 letters about religion.
* Jamal Qasmi – answers questions on Sufism.
* Maktubat Qasmiya – eight letters about Sufism and behavior.
* Al-Ajwiba al-Kamila fi al-Usula al-Khamisa – reply to Shi’a.
* Al-Lata’if al-Qasmiya – nine letters replying to questions.
* Qasa’id Qasmiya – poems praising Prophet Muhammad and Sultan Abdul Hamid.

## Work against colonialism 
He fought against British rule in India in 1857. Many Muslims were hurt or killed. Nanotvi hid for three and a half years and did Hajj in 1860. He came back in 1861 and worked to teach Islamic knowledge.

He helped start Darul Uloom Deoband in May 1867. It began with one student in a mosque. He was the first principal. The school trained many teachers and students. It spread Islamic knowledge across India. People called it “Al-Azhar of India.”

## Death 
He did Hajj three times. On his last trip, he got sick in Jeddah. He stayed sick until he died on Thursday, 4 Jumada al-Awwal 1297 AH (April 15, 1880 CE) in Deoband.

## References