By Mufti Atiqur Rahman Azmi
Translated by Muhammad Abdul Khaliq Yusuf
Edited by IlmGate
Shaykh Zuhayr ibn Nāsir al-Nāsir resides in Madīna Munawwarah. He is a Ḥanafī and is inclined to taṣawwuf. Some of Shaykh Fazlur Rahman Azmi’s students went to Madīna Munawwarah to further their studies in ḥadīth with Shaykh Zuhayr and other scholars there. Shaykh Fazlur Rahman Azmi was introduced to Shaykh Zuhayr through his students.
When Shaykh Zuhayr learnt that Shaykh al-Ḥadīth Fazlur Rahman Azmi was visiting Madīna Munawwarah during ḥajj, he quickly made arrangements to meet him. Upon meeting, they were both delighted and talked for a while. Some of Shaykh Zuhayr’s students read the Risālat al-Awāʾil and received authorization (ijāzah) in ḥadīth from Shaykh al-Ḥadīth Fazlur Rahman Azmi. When this was done then Shaykh Zuhayr himself [requested] authorization. Shaykh al-Ḥadīth responded to Shaykh Zuhayr by suggesting that an exchange of ijāzahs would be more appropriate [1]. This is an indication of his humility and the respect he had for the shaykh.
The meeting between Shaykh Zuhayr and Shaykh al-Ḥadīth Fazlur Rahman Azmi was by a pillar in Masjid Nabawī behind the ṣuffa (raised platform) between Maghrib and ʿIshāʾ. At that time, Shaykh Zuhayr’s son was asleep at home [in Madīna Munawwarah] and he had a dream in which he saw the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم saying to him, “You are asleep [while] my gathering is taking place in my mosque!”
He awoke quickly, made wuḍūʾ, and rushed to the mosque directly to the pillar he had seen in his dream. When he arrived, he noticed it was there that Shaykh al-Ḥadīth Fazlur Rahman Azmi was granting authorizations in ḥadīth to those present. He informed his father Shaykh Zuhayr of the dream, who in turn conveyed the glad tidings to Shaykh al-Ḥadīth Fazlur Rahman Azmi who immediately began to cry.
Shaykh Zuhayr was so delighted and impressed at meeting Shaykh al-Ḥadīth that he later invited him home for a meal and requested him to teach Nawawī’s al-Arbaʿīn. Shaykh Zuhayr obtained written authorization for himself, his son-in-law, and his daughter, and later praised Shaykh al-Ḥadīth in the following words, “The like of this shaykh is rare, most rare.”
He went on and mentioned to Shaykh al-Ḥadīth’s students who were present, “Hold firmly to him . . . firstly, because of his faith (īmān), then because of his love of the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم, then because of his knowledge.”
Shaykh Zuhayr has written many books, including a marginalia (taʿlīqāt) on Musnad Aḥmad. He gifted copies of these to Shaykh al-Ḥadīth and on the opening page of his al-Qawl al-Mufīd fī ’l-Dhabb ʿan Jāmiʿ al-Masānīd he wrote:
In the name of Allāh, Most Gracious, Most Merciful. All praise is due Allāh, Lord of the worlds, and salutations upon our master Muḥammad صلى الله عليه وسلم, and all his Family and Companions رضي الله عنهم أجمعين. This is a gift presented to Our liege lord Mawlānā Shaykh Fazlur Rahman Azmi, the great scholar of ḥadīth. May Allāh protect him with goodness and well-being. In request of his duʿāʾs and guidance.
Zuhayr ibn Nāṣir al-Nāṣir
Masjid Nabawī, Madīna Munawwara
Dhū ʾl-Ḥijja 2, 1420 | March 9, 2000
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Footnotes:
[1] This is known as tadbīj in the terminology of the Ḥadīth scholars (translator).
Extracted from A Brief Biography of Shaykh al-Hadith Fazlur Rahman Azmi, pg.90-91, Madrasah Da’watul Haq 2013, 2nd edition.
Note: This article was edited for spelling and style.
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