محمود حسن الديوبندي

Shaykh al-Hind (RH)

Mahmud Hasan Deobandi (Shaykh al-Hind)

Also known as: Mahmud Hasan, Mahmud al-Hasan Deobandi, Sheikhul Hind, Syeikhul Hind, Shaikh-ul-Hind

1268–1339 AH · 1851–1920 CE

Hadith Hanafi

Head teacher of Deoband, whose students carried his hadith teaching across South Asia and as far as Kelantan.

Mahmud Hasan was born in Bareilly in 1851 into a scholarly family of Deoband. In 1866 he became the first student of the newly founded Dar al-'Ulum of Deoband, where he studied with its founder Muhammad Qasim Nanautawi, and he later took the Sufi path with Rashid Ahmad Gangohi. He began teaching there in 1873 and was its head teacher from 1890, teaching Sahih al-Bukhari and the other hadith collections for decades. His students included Anwar Shah Kashmiri, Ashraf 'Ali Thanawi, Husain Ahmad Madani and, from far away, Tok Khurasan of Kelantan, and many of the hadith chains of South Asia pass through him.

He also opposed British rule in India. In 1915 he went to the Hijaz to seek Ottoman support; the plan, later called the Silk Letter movement, was uncovered, and in 1916 he was arrested in Makkah and held in Malta until 1920. There he finished an Urdu translation of the Quran. On his return he was hailed as Shaykh al-Hind, 'the shaykh of India', and in his last months he presided at the founding of the Jamia Millia Islamia. He died in Delhi in November 1920 and was buried at Deoband.

Open on the map →

Life journey

1851 CE Bareilly بريلي
Born in Bareilly, where his father was posted; the family came from Deoband.
1866 CE Deoband ديوبند
The first student of the Dar al-'Ulum of Deoband; taught there from 1873 and was its head teacher from 1890.
1915 CE Makkah مكة
Went to the Hijaz in 1915; arrested in Makkah in 1916 and handed to the British.
1917 CE Malta مالطة
Held as a prisoner of war in Malta until 1920, where he finished his Urdu translation of the Quran.
1920 CE Deoband ديوبند
Died 1920 CE · 1339 AH
Returned to India in June 1920; died in Delhi that November and was buried at Deoband.

Students

Ashraf 'Ali Thanawi (RH) 1863–1943 CE
Thanawi studied at Deoband from 1878 to 1883, when Mahmud Hasan was among its teachers.
Anwar Shah Kashmiri (RH) 1875–1933 CE
Kashmiri studied hadith at Deoband with Mahmud Hasan, his principal teacher, and later succeeded to his teaching of Sahih al-Bukhari there.
Tok Khurasan (RH) c. 1875–1944 CE
Tok Khurasan finished his studies at Deoband, where Mahmud Hasan was among his teachers.

Key works

Tarjamah-e Shaykh al-Hind
Shaykh al-Hind's Translation of the Quran
An Urdu translation of the Quran, finished in Malta; with Shabbir Ahmad 'Uthmani's notes it became the widely read Tafsir-e 'Uthmani.
al-Abwab wa al-Tarajim li al-Bukhari الأبواب والتراجم للبخاري
The Chapters and Their Headings
Notes on how al-Bukhari's chapter headings relate to the hadith beneath them.

Places in their life

Sources

Sayyid Mahbub Rizvi, History of the Dar al-Ulum Deoband (1980)
Barbara D. Metcalf, Islamic Revival in British India: Deoband, 1860–1900 (1982)
Husain Ahmad Madani, Safarnama-e Asir-e Malta

Draft, awaiting scholarly review.

He led the Silk Letter movement against British rule. The rule for 20th-century figures excludes leaders of political movements; he was added at the owner's request as a scholar first, like Abu Ghuddah. Please confirm. His death in Delhi is shown at Deoband, where he is buried.