On December 27, 2018 Greater Kashmir carried a report, “House of renowned scholar Maulana Anwar Shah Kashmiri in shambles”. This caught my eyes, and I set me thinking about the forgotten legacy. Very few people know about the legacy of great people like Poet Mulla Tahir Ghani Kashmiri, who influenced greats like Ghalib, and to whom tribute was paid by none other than Allama Iqbal; artists like G.R Santosh. Migrated Kashmiri’s like Agha Hashar Kashmiri, renowned writer who had inspired great short story writer like Saadat Hassan Manto. Manto himself writes in his essay “Two Meetings With Agha Hashar Kashmiri”. And the renowned Islamic Scholar Maulana Anwar Shah Kashmiri, about whom Poet, Philosopher Allama Iqbal on his death anniversary said, “Islamic history has produced no great like him in past five centuries”. The news was about him.
Maulana Anwar Shah Kashmiri, born 16 October, 1875, in Lolab, Kupwara, Kashmir. That was the time socio – political problems, economic exploitation, political oppression determined the character of times here. He first studied under his father Moazam Shah, memorised whole Quran at the age of six, then studied in Hazara madrassa where his father had also studied, and then in most famous South Asian Madrassa Dar Ul Uloom Deoband. He had an extensive knowledge about almost all branches of Islam, Philosophy, Logic, and Theology. After completing his education from Deoband he taught for three years in Madrassa Ameeniya, Dehli. After teaching in Ameeniya, he came back to Kashmir and stayed for many years in Kashmir. During this time he visited Arabia for pilgrimage also and established madrassa Faiz e Aam in Baramulla at the abode of Abdul Samad Kakroo. After his stay in Kashmir, he visited back to Deoband where he taught for some time and was chosen as successor to Maulana Mehmood ul Hassan known as Sheikh ul Hind by him only as head of the madrassa. Kashmiri also headed the institute when Mehmood ul Hassan was jailed for five years for leading “Raishim Roomal “underground movement against British rule in India.
During 1925-1927, there was a student agitation. Kashmiri supported this, and it ultimately led him to leave Deoband. During this time Allama Iqbal wrote to Kashmiri, and persuaded him to come to Lahore, work with him on Islamic Laws. Syed Akbarabadi in his biography on Kashmiri “Hayat-e-Anwar” writes that when Iqbal read Kashmiri’s Zarab ul Khatim Ali Hadith Ul Ilm”, he told me” what Kashmiri had written in this book, no great European Philosopher in present times would say more than it.” Renowned Intellectual, academic, scholar Muhammad Qasim Zaman in his book “Modern Islamic Thought In A Radical Age” published by Princeton University Press writes, “Iqbal is said to have held Kashmiri in high esteem. Deeply interested in the idea of rethinking Islamic legal norms and of seeing them codified, Iqbal was keen to enlist Kashmiri in the latter effort. Like many other modernists, Iqbal trained in the English common law tradition, had a poor opinion of Ulema, and this is amply reflected in his poetry. But he viewed Kashmiri differently.”
Kashmiri was always interested in teaching due to which he didn’t visit Lahore but went to Dar Ul Uloom Dabhel, Gujrat where he taught for many years. On his teaching Mufti Mehmood of Deoband had said “India (British India) had produced no great teacher than Kashmiri”. One of his famous students and renowned scholar Shabir Uthmani writes “If anyone would tell me have you seen Sheikh Taqiuddin Ibn Dafeeq and Hafiz Bin Hajar Askalani, I will say I have seen everything in Anwar Shah Kashmiri”. This shows his scholarship.
Kashmiri was a man of piety. During his stay at Dabhel, he had disagreements with Badre Alam Meerthi on the suggestion of him writing an Exegesis on Quran and explanation of Bukhari which Kashmiri didn’t want so that these books would become source of income, royalty for him and his family. This was the reason Kashmiri wrote very few books.
We, as a society have forgotten our greats. Except a hostel in Kashmir University, nothing is named after him. How would people remember greats? His house is in shambles despite government’s declaration of it as heritage.
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