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Remembering Professor Muhammad Hamidullah, a scholar of the Seerah

Crescent International

The world of Islam has lost a great scholar in Professor Muhammad Hamidullah, who passed away quietly in Jacksonville, Florida, US, on December 17. He was 94. His janaza prayer was led by his friend, Dr Yusuf Zia Kavakci, and he was laid to rest in the Muslim cemetery in Jacksonville. Professor Hamidullah went to rest after breakfast, having performed fajr salah earlier that morning; he did not wake up: inna lillah-e wa inna ilaih-e raje’oon.

His life spanned many decades of research and writing. He was born in Hyderabad, Deccan, on February 19, 1908. He started his publishing career at the age of 16 in 1924. In 1935 he obtained a PhD from the University of Bonn, Germany; then came a PhD in Law from the Sorbonne (Paris, France) in 1936. He returned to Hyderabad to resume his teaching career at Usmania University. From 1946 to 1948 Professor Hamidullah was actively involved in the struggle against Indian occupation; after the fall of Kashmir to Indian military invasion he went into exile in France. In 1996 he moved to the US, where a grandniece, Sadida Ataullah, looked after him (he was not married). Professor Hamidullah was fluent in 22 languages beside Urdu, his mother tongue; he was the first Muslim to translate the Qur’an into French.

Professor Hamidullah was best known for his original work on the Seerah of the Prophet (saw), especially relating to the political, administrative and military aspects of his blessed life. The late professor was a pioneer in this field, doing painstaking research to dig out original manuscripts to confirm or reject what others had written about the noble Messenger (saw). The author of more than 250 books and papers on Islam, Islamic history, the Seerah and the Qur’an, Professor Hamidullah went to original sources that were often buried in dusty libraries in the Muslim world. He discovered the earliest hadith manuscript in a Damascus library, and translated and published it in Urdu under the title Sahifa Hamam. His book Rasool-e Akram ki Siyasi Zindagi (‘Political life of the noble Messenger’) is at present the best original work available on political aspects of the Seerah. Similarly his book Ahd-e Nabawi kay Maidan-e Jang (‘The Battles of the Prophetic Period’) is a masterpiece of incisive analysis and detailed description of what really transpired in the battles fought during the time of the Prophet (saw). His great strength was that he was not satisfied to rely on others’ work; he took great pains to visit the places mentioned in such works. For instance, before he published his book on the Prophet’s battles, he made a detailed study of the battlefield locations, drew maps, and provided answers to critical questions that other scholars had not bothered about.

Ahd-e Nabawi kay Maidan-e Jang was first published as a manuscript in Majmoo’a-e Ilmiyya, the magazine of Usmania University of Hyderabad, Deccan, in 1940. It was widely aclaimed; after many reprints in simple form it was eventually published as a book. Among his other works areThe Prophet of Islam: Life and Achievements (in French); Muhammad Rasoolullah, upon whom be peace (English); Ahd-e Nabawi main Nizam-e Hukamrani (Urdu); and Khutbat-e Bahawalpur(Urdu). He also wrote many original works in French and translated others into various European languages.

His first brush with political activism was in his native Hyderabad, Deccan, which bore the onslaught of the Indian army from 1946 to 1948. When the state lost its independence to Indian military invasion and occupation, the scholar in him refused to accept this humiliation; he went into exile instead. In 1955 and 1956 he was invited to help draft Pakistan’s first constitution. Professor Hamidullah readily accepted the offer and devoted his immense talents to the task, but resigned because he soon discovered that the feudal lords and western-educated bureaucrats who dominated Pakistani politics were more concerned about safeguarding their vested interests than worrying about the Islamic content of the constitution. He returned to France to resume his research and teaching. In 1985 he was awarded Pakistan’s highest civilian award, but the quintessential scholar refused to use the money for himself, choosing instead to hand over the cash for Islamic research.

He will be sorely missed because he did so much original work on the Seerah. A fitting tribute to him would be for us to continue the work that he pioneered, rather than simply heaping accolades on him without building on his intellectual contribution.


Article from

Crescent International Vol. 31, No. 21

Shawwal 27, 14232003-01-01


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