Shaykh Safi ur Rahman Mubarakpuri Passes Away!

So I come home, check my email after a long and tiresome day and read the unfortunate news that the Shaykh and al ‘Allaamah Safi ur Rahmaan Mubarakpure has passed away. The message was forwarded to me by a dear brother which contained a forward of a student in Medina University by brother Abu Imad Rasheed Gant which basically said that after the Shaykh passed away after Salaatul Jumu’ah in Banaras, India which is 2.00 - 2.30 PM there and 1.30 - 2.00 AM Houston time or Central Zone time.

For those who don’t know the Shaykh was one of the major scholars upon the Sunnah in India. He is popularly known for his award winning work on the Seerah of the Messenger of Allah () entitled “ar Raheeq ul Makhtoom” or “The Sealed Nectar“and his supervision of the translation and abridgement of Taseer Ibn Katheer/Kathir. Both these works can be purchased from Dar Us Salaam Publications and are available in English, and I recommend the work on the Seerah to everyone. He was known for his defence of the Sunnah and warning against innovations and those who propagate it.

Indeed it is a great loss for the muslim Ummah that such a great scholar and hard worker has passed away. I have given a short biography of the shaykh below for thsoe who are interested. And as the brother that forwarded me this message quote and quote it here again he hadith of the Pophet () found in Sahih Muslim:

‘Abdullah b. ‘Amr b. al-’As reported Allah’s Messenger (may peace be upon him) as saying:

Verily, Allah does not take away knowledge by snatching it from the people but He takes away knowledge by taking away the scholars, so that when He leaves no learned person, people turn to ignorant as their, leaders; then they are asked to deliver religious verdicts and they deliver them without knowledge, they go astray, and lead others astray.

The following is a brief biography of the Shaykh taken from his own autobiography mentioned in arRaheeq alMakhtoom

Short Bio of Safiur Rahman Mubarakpuri (rahimullah - b.1360AH/1942CE - d.1427AH/2006CE) )

Birth
His name was Abu Hashim Safiur Rahman bin ‘Abdullah bin Muhammad Akbar bin Muhammad ‘Ali bin ‘Abdul-Mu’min bin Faqirullah al Mubarakpuri al Azami. He was born in the year 1942 corresponding to 1360 AH in Husainabad , a village one mile deep to the north side of Mubarakpur (Azamgarh District).

Education, Teaching, and Writings

He started his studies at home with the Qur’aan from his grandfather and uncle. Then started his studies in Arabic and Persian after being admitted to Madrasah Arabia Dar ut Ta’leem in Mubarakpur. Then moved onto Madrasah Ihyaaul Uloom in Mubarakpur after being admitted there in 1954CE/1373AH. Two years after that he joined Madrasah Faid Aam in Munath Bhanjan in Azamgarg District for further studies. Upon completion of his 7 years of studies, he acquired the Fadilat degree and passed multiple exams to receive the Maulvi and Alim Certification.

Shaykh Safiur Rahman (rahimullah) then went onto teach for the next 28 years in various Universities, Madarahs, and schools in India until he was offered a position at the Islamic University of alMadinah alMunawwarah at “The Center for the Services of the Prophet ()’s Biography” and was entrusted with the job of preparing an encyclopedia on the subject of the life history of the Noble Prophet ().

The shaykh put his efforts in writing many books of those that I know are available in English are the following:

The Sealed Nectar
When the Moon Split
History of Makkah alMukarramah
History of Medinah alMunawwarah
Abridged Tafsir Ibn Kathir

The above books are available at the Dar Us Salam Website under the English books section and “Biography and History” sub-section and “Qur’aan and Tafsir” sub-section.

May Allaah () have Mercy on the Shaykh and Forgive his sins.

In the words of Abu Khaliyl:

 

Bismillaah

In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful

All praise is due to Allah, the Living, the Maintaining, Lord of the worlds, and may He mention , and send peace upon His Messenger Muhammad (sall Allahu `alaihi wa sallam)

I can narrate to you from Shaykh Safiur-Rahman al-Mubarakpuri, may Allah have mercy with him and expand his abode, with his chain, reaching to Imam al-Bukhari, with his chain reaching to `Urwah, from `Abdullah bin `Amr bin al-`Aas, that Allah’s Messenger (sall Allahu `alaihi wa sallam) said:

“Allah does not take away the knowledge by taking it from the people, but He takes it away by the death of the knowledgeable ones, until no knowledgeable one remains, then the people will take ignorant persons as their leaders, they will ask them, and they will give them fatwas without knowledge - and in one version: “according to their opinions” - so they will go astray and lead others astray.”

Al-Bukhari reported this hadith, in no. 100 of his Sahih, in the Book of Knowledge, and with the different wording, in number 7307 of his Sahih, in the Book of Holding Fast to the Book and the Sunnah.

After the deaths of such important scholars of our era, Shaykh `Abdul-`Aziz bin Baz, Shaykh Muhammad Nasir ad-Deen al-Albani, Shaykh Muhammad bin Salih al-`Uthaymeen, Shaykh Muqbil bin Hadi al-Wad`i, and others, may Allah have mercy upon them, Our Lord - Exalted is He - has taken another of our Shaykhs, Shaykh Safiur-Rahman al-Mubarakpuri, may Allah have mercy with him and expand his abode.

And as I have said to many of those who know me before, we are living between two eras, where many of us have seen, learned from, and spent time with these scholars, and then an era when they are no longer with us.

Abu Hishaam, Safiur-Rahmaan bin `Abdullah bin Muhammad Akbar bin Muhammad `Ali bin `Abdul-Mun`im bin Faqeerullah al-Mubarakpuri al-`Azami, was born, may Allah have mercy upon him near the year 1361, as he himself wrote about himself, that he was born in the middle of 1942 in the village of Husainabad near Mubarakpur.

Shaykh Safiur-Rahman heard from a number of prominent Shaykhs and scholars. Among the most prominent the grand Shaykh Abul-Hasan `Ubaidullah ar-Rahmaani al-Mubarakpuri, may Allah have mercy upon him, author of “Mir`aat al-Mafateeh Sharh Mishkaat al-Masaabeeh.”

Shaykh Safiur-Rahman, may Allah have mercy upon him, has mentioned these shaykhs he heard from in his commentary on Sahih Muslim, “Minnat al-Mun`im fi Sharh Sahih Muslim.”

The Shaykh had been suffering with problems, on and off sometimes worse than others, for a number of years now.

And today we learned that the Shaykh has passed away and we ask Allah have mercy on him and expand his abode, grant him Paradise, and raise his rank, and to send salah, salam, and blessings upon the family of the Shaykh.

was-salamu `alaykum

Abu Khaliyl

From Zulfiker Ibrahim (student at the Islaamic University of Madeenah):

 

“Today after Salaatul-Asr I received a phone call from Jamia Salafia -Banaras, India, informing me that the Shaykh, al-’Allaamah Safiur-Rahmaan Mubarakpuri passed away today in Mubarakpur, India, after Salaatul-Jumu’ah -Indian time roughly 2.00-2.30 pm.

 

The Shaykh was known as one of the Major Salafee Scholars of India and his defence for the Sunnah and warning against Ahlul-Bid’ah.

 

The Shaykh has a number of beneficial works in print, his most famous book being “ar-Raheeq al-Makhtoom” (The Sealed Necter) and the summary of the Tafseer of Ibn Katheer as published by Darussalam Publishers in Riyadh where he was a resident Scholar authenticating works prior to ther publication.”

 

We ask you all to remember the Shaykh in your prayers and we ask Allaah (’Azza wa Jall) to cleanse the Shaykh of his sins and reward him with al-Firdaws, aameen.

I ask you all to remember the Shaykh in your du’aa and ask Allaah () to forive the Shaykh’s sins and enter him into Jannat al Firdaws.