بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمٰنِ الرَّحِيْمِ
Preface
بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمٰنِ الرَّحِيْمِ. اَلْحَمْدُ لِلّٰهِ رَبِّ الْعَالَمِيْنَ وَالصَّلَاةُ وَالسَّلَامُ عَلٰى سَيِّدِ الْمُرْسَلِيْنَ وَعَلَى آلِهِ وَأَصْحَابِهِ أَجْمَعِيْنَ.
In Alläh’s name, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
All praise be to Alläh, the Lord of all the worlds. Blessings and peace be upon the chief of prophets, upon his family and all his companions.
The Islämic system of life covers all aspects of human life and through the noble Prophet صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ, Alläh has provided complete guidance for all dimensions of human existence. One of the important dimensions is Adjudication (qazä) between Muslims in their disputes and conflicts. Fair adjudication being the basis for peace and well-being of society, this discipline has a high status in society and also in the sphere of Islämic Fiqh and sciences. The supremacy of Judiciary has been honored throughout human history. The job of Adjudication requires complete familiarity with the texts on Adjudication and also training and practice for its real-life implementation.
An important responsibility of Muftïs and ‘Ulamä is to provide Islämic guidance to people on new and emerging issues facing the Ummah, and also to defend Isläm by responding to various questions and objections posed against it.
Initially, there was no organized arrangement for practical training in Islämic Adjudication in entire India. When Muslim Personal Law Board decided to implement the Islämic Adjudication System throughout the country, they felt the need for trained and learned scholars who could execute this job professionally. From quite some time, informal training camps had been organized throughout the country for the purpose and talented young scholars had been appointed in various Därul Qazä wal Iftä to train them in the academics, theory and practice of the discipline. However, the establishment of Därul Qazä and Iftä all over the country could not be accomplished by such informal, unorganized approaches.
Hazrat Maulänä Qäzï Mujähidul Isläm Qäsmï (Alläh’s mercy be upon him) stepped in to fill this gap. Alläh had bestowed him with special wisdom and vision for promotion of His Deen. Alläh had selected him to serve not only the fields of Adjudication and Jurisconsultation but also all other spheres and fields concerning Isläm and Muslims. Alläh had guided him to offer great services in a wide array of fields that included solving the emerging Fiqh-related issues, creating quality human resources, and reforming the society and community on a large scale. He served as the Chief Justice (Qäzil Quzäh) of Imärate Shara’iah and also as President of the all-inclusive All India Muslim Personal Law Board. Prior to this, he had trained and mentored a group of young scholars in researching and investigating solutions for emerging issues to enable them to give guidance to the Ummah in the light of Qurän and Sunnah. He formalized this mentoring program by laying the foundations of Islämic Fiqh Academy, India. To solve the social and national issues facing the Ummah and to equip them with expert guidance on these matters, he established Millï Council where he served as General Secretary till the end of his worldly life. He was also the mentor, patron and chief of many other important organizations. In continuation of this spirit, he established the institute AlMa’had-ul ‘Älï for Training in Adjudication and Jurisconsultation in Shawwäl 1419 AH (=Feb 1999) to train students in the fields of Adjudication and Jurisconsultation. The Ma’had was to work under the supervision of Imärate Shara’iah, Bihar, Odisha and Jharkhand, and was to run under the patronage of Hazrat Maulänä Sayyid Nizämuddïn Sähib (May his blessed life persist).
Hazrat Maulänä Qäzï Mujahidul Isläm Qäsmï stayed on as the President of AlMa’had-ul ‘Älï till the end of his life. Shedding light on the purpose, importance and significance of AlMa’had-ul ‘Älï, he wrote in its first introductory brochure:
From the day of its foundation, Imärate Shara’iah, Bihar, Odisha and Jharkhand has been implementing the vision and thoughts of its founder Hazrat Maulänä Abul Mahäsin Muhammad Sajjäd. In this course, it has been training and preparing men of action, equipping them with the ability to lead the Ummah in various spheres of life, and the zeal to strive sincerely to keep the collective existence of the Ummah on straight course. After the demise of Islämic social and political system, there were many spheres of service and fields of action which had become buried Sunnah and forgotten custom. Imärate Shara’iah had the privilege of reviving many of them, of re-introducing them to the Ummah and of preparing capable men to carry them on. At a time when even the blurred concepts of the system of Islämic Adjudication had died after the end of Islämic rule in India, Imärate Shara’iah’s determined efforts led to its revival.
One of the most important financial worships in Isläm is ‘Ushr. This too had got erased out of the society to the extent that nobody would even hear its name anywhere. Similarly, the collective payment and distribution of Zakäh had got buried in the rubble of time. Imärate Shara’iah had the honor of reintroducing each of them. Naqäbat, the system of community supervision and guidance established during the golden days of the Prophet صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ too had died out. Imärate Shara’iah re-established the system connecting the Ummah with its Ameer at grass-root level and consequently binding together the entire Ummah on a large scale.
Then came the days of the fourth Ameere Shari’at, Hazrat Maulänä Minnatulläh Rahmänï (Alläh’s mercy be upon him). Alläh guided him to carry on in a more organized manner and at a greater scale, the work Maulänä Sajjäd had started and bequeathed to him. This legacy comprised mainly the work of creating men of action and the task of stringing together the Ummah. He would keep talented youths under his direct supervision, then nurture and mentor their way of thinking and moral values, lead them through higher levels of academic and intellectual accomplishments and turn them into reputed men of action. Maulänä Minnatulläh Rahmänï’s first edict was aimed at expanding the reach of Adjudication system of Imärate Shara’iah and at preparing capable Qäzïs to serve it. Soon after his appointment as Ameer, a two-week Qäzï-training camp was organized under his direction and supervision. Since then such camps continued to be organized regularly, and the task of training went on. Just as he trained scholars in Adjudication, he also trained them to do the challenging task of writing Fatwä (juristic advice). He would ask young scholars, teachers and professors of Fiqh and Hadïth to find out solutions for contemporary issues from the Qurän and Sunnah and would train them so they could accomplish this.
For any constructive effort to persist through generations and to stay strong, utmost effort must be made to ensure its continuity. It is paramount that the work of past, present and future stay inter-connected and keep progressing without a break. If the future generations are not made into capable inheritors of their elders’ accomplishments, the grand work comes to an abrupt halt. The Quränic verse وَآخَرِينَ مِنْهُمْ لَمَّا يَلْحَقُوا بِهِمْ (And others who have not yet joined the Sahäbah[1]) compliments people who had not yet joined the caravan of Ïmän but would be joining in future and earning their share from the heritage of knowledge and deeds imparted by the Prophet صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ. Who can doubt that this glorious share is a favor and merit par excellence: ذَلِكَ فَضْلُ اللَّهِ يُؤْتِيهِ مَنْ يَشَاءُ (It is a bounty from Alläh which He gives to whoever He wills.[2])?
The Prophet صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ himself trained the Sahäbah to work in various fields of action. An excellent example in subsequent years is that of Hazrat ‘Umar Farooq who personally mentored young Sahäbï Hazrat ‘Abdulläh ibn ‘Abbäs رَضِيَ اللهُ عَنْهُمَا. He guided Ibn ‘Abbäs and encouraged him on his way to scholarly accomplishments. An important aspect of the life of great Imäm Abü Hanïfah is the convening of scholarly assemblies where under his supervision, young scholars discussed and debated, reviewed and critiqued each other’s research work and ruling-derivations from the Qurän and Sunnah. All of them later developed into the suns and moons of the sky of Fiqh.
In short, it is a critical need of the times to transfer the heritage of elders successfully and completely to the younger generation. A major reason for the scarcity of worthy men today is that elders have passed on to the next life generation after generation, but their heritage could not be transferred to the successors. As a result, every field of life saw a chasm too wide to be filled. Probably, knowledge, excellence and merit are not simply snatched away from the hearts of people; instead the level of knowledge in society declines gradually as men of knowledge and people of excellence pass on to next life without transferring their heritage to the coming generations. The holy Prophet صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ has himself hinted at this in the Hadïth: وَلَكِنْ يَقْبِضُ العِلْمَ بِقَبْضِ العُلَمَاءِ (Alläh takes away knowledge by giving death to the people of knowledge.[3])
This leads us to the fact that a highly important task of our times is to train talented youths of the upcoming generation and make them worthy inheritors of the people of merit and excellence from present times and past. This is the vision that has guided us from day one. First, informal training camps were conducted in various places across the country to train scholars. Second, talented and knowledgeable graduates were appointed in various Därul Qazä and Iftä to train their vision, thoughts and intellect. And this has been going on for years.
By Alläh’s grace, the same vision led to the foundation of AlMa’had-ul ‘Älï for Training in Adjudication and Jurisconsultation (Phulwärï Shareef, Patna). The purpose is to help young students in getting acquainted with the boundless ocean of Islämic Fiqh; in becoming proficient with the principles of deriving rulings from the Qurän and Sunnah, with the rules and regulations of Fiqh, the objectives of Sharï’ah, the modes of ruling-derivation, and the criteria for giving preference to one textual evidence over another; in developing skills to apply the Sharï’ah rulings to contemporary challenges and issues; in studying and comparing the blessings of Islämic Law with the inconsistencies and inanities of modern legal systems. This would enable our graduates to successfully face the challenges of our times and to resolve the new and upcoming issues in light of the Qurän and Sunnah.
The scholars getting admission into AlMa’had-ul ‘Älï’s two-year course are trained to derive rulings for contemporary issues, find solutions for modern challenges and write their findings as Fatwäs. They also undertake research on various academic and Fiqh-related tpics. In addition to learning practical methodologies of the Justice System of Isläm, they also get acquainted with the ideological bearings of various Adjudication-related issues and get training in implementing them in real life. The Adjudicational System of Imärate Shara’iah is highly well-organized, efficiently managed and has a wide reach. Everyday, cases are brought here, hearings are conducted and judgments delivered. It is now endowed with a massive treasure-trove of Sharï’ah-based verdicts and rulings delivered over past 80 years which the graduates regularly benefit from.
It can be rightly claimed that Imärate Shara’iah is the most well-suited place for specialization in Islämic Fiqh and for gaining expertise in Adjudication and Jurisconsultation. It is hoped that the specialized professionals graduating from this institute will have adequate skills to carry out duties of Adjudication and they will go a long way in fulfilling the requirements of various Därul Qazä established all over the country to preserve the Sharï’ah Law here and to resolve family disputes. They will also be able to take up responsibilities in various Därul Iftä of the country and serve as some of the best teachers in our madrasahs. They will have the capability to present the Islämic Law as a living Law for the current times. They will have a deep understanding of gradual progression of Islämic rulings; and with a keen insight into the developments in the field of science and technology and modern society, they will be able to apply Sharï’ah rules to modern life.
I pray to Alläh the All-Knowing, the All-Aware to make the Ma’had successful in attaining its constructive, beneficial and far-reaching objectives. To the madrasah-graduates getting trained here, to the eminent scholars and teachers whose knowledge and vision have blessed it, and to the people of wealth whose contributions will, Alläh willing, help the Ma’had reach heights of growth, to each of them, may Allah grant sincerity of intention and generous rewards for their noble deeds! And as a weak companion of this caravan, may He also benefit this humble from its blessings!
(Mujähidul Isläm Qäsmï)
The Ma’had started its academic services from the Jama’at room of Imärate Shara’iah, then it temporarily moved to the house of Hazrat Maulänä Badrul Hasan Qäsmï – May his shadow persist – which adjoins the current Ma’had campus in its west. The work continued there till the construction of its current dedicated campus got completed.
May Alläh guide us all to preserve this trust and to keep working for its development and stability, bringing it closer and closer to its high objectives. May He make this our treasure for the Next Life and the means for obtaining blessings in both lives. وَمَا ذَلِكَ عَلَى اللَّهِ بِعَزِيزٍ (For sure, this is not difficult for Alläh.[4])
[1] Qurän 62:3
[2] Qurän 62:4
[3] Bukhärï: 100
عَنْ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ بْنِ عَمْرِو بْنِ العَاصِ قَالَ: سَمِعْتُ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ يَقُولُ: «إِنَّ اللَّهَ لاَ يَقْبِضُ العِلْمَ انْتِزَاعًا يَنْتَزِعُهُ مِنَ العِبَادِ، وَلَكِنْ يَقْبِضُ العِلْمَ بِقَبْضِ العُلَمَاءِ، حَتَّى إِذَا لَمْ يُبْقِ عَالِمًا اتَّخَذَ النَّاسُ رُءُوسًا جُهَّالًا، فَسُئِلُوا فَأَفْتَوْا بِغَيْرِ عِلْمٍ، فَضَلُّوا وَأَضَلُّوا»
Alläh’s Prophet صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ said: Alläh does not take away knowledge by snatching it from slaves (people). Instead He takes away knowledge from the world by giving death to people of knowledge. When no knowledgeable man remains, people appoint ignorants as their leaders. People then ask their leaders who answer without knowledge. The leaders thus lose the path and misguide others. (Bukhärï: 100)
[4] Qurän 14:20