Baḥr al-ʿUlūm Mullā `Abd al-`Alī Farangī Maḥallī
(d. 1225 AH / 1810 CE)
Introduction
The Indian subcontinent has produced some of the greatest experts in the Islamic sciences over the centuries. A significant contributor to this chain of prestige scholarship, especially from the 17th century onward, has been the scholars of Farangī Maḥall and their esteemed Dars-i Niẓāmī curriculum.
Mullā `Abd al-`Alī Farangī Maḥallī (d. 1810 CE), the illustrious son of Mullā Niẓām al-Dīn Muḥammad al-Sihālawī (d. 1748 CE) was one of the pioneering scholars of the Farangī Maḥall and is revered as Baḥr al-ʿUlūm (The Ocean of Knowledge). What follows is a brief synopsis of his life.
Student Years & an Unexpected Incident
Mullā `Abd al-`Alī, known as Baḥr al-ʿUlūm (The Ocean of Knowledge) was the son of Mullā Nizām al-Dīn Muḥammad, who in turn was the son of Mullā Quṭb Dīn al-Shahīd. He acquired knowledge from his father, the namesake of Dars-i Niẓāmī.
Interestingly however, in his early years after the passing of his father, he was not particularly inclined toward the continued acquisition of knowledge.
During the annual ʿUrs commemoration at the sacred shrine of Shāh Pīr Muḥammad Chishtī (d. 1668 CE), located on the mound by the River Gomti in Lucknow, a significant incident occurred that would mark a turning point in Bahr al-ʿUlūm’s life.
The Madrasah of Shaykh Ghulām Naqshband Lakhnawī (the teacher of Mullā Niẓām al-Dīn Muḥammad Sihālwī) was also situated at this very site. During a turban-tying ceremony (dastārbandī) held on the mound in honour of students, Bahr al-ʿUlūm, who had come merely as a spectator, was jostled by the crowd.
Amidst the pushing and shoving, when he introduced himself by saying, “I am the son of Mullā Niẓām al-Dīn Muḥammad,” someone from the crowd exclaimed, “Subḥān Allāh! If you were truly the son of Ustād al-Hind, Mullā Niẓām al-Dīn Muḥammad, you would be seated on the dais, not being shoved around here!”
Reflecting on the impact of this moment, Mawlānā Muḥammad ʿInāyatullāh Farangī Maḥallī (d. 1941 CE) writes that Bahr al-ʿUlūm’s sense of honour was stirred.
He returned home, took a book under his arm, and went to the grave of his noble father. There, he stood for a long time, weeping. Afterwards, he opened the book and began studying.
Whenever he encountered a difficulty, he would seek help from his late father until he became an unparalleled scholar: a master of both the rational and transmitted sciences, and a luminary in both the external and internal dimensions of knowledge.
In his book Aghsān-e-Arba‘ah, Mullā Walīullāh Farangī Maḥallī (d. 1853 CE) writes, “After the passing of Mullā Niẓām al-Dīn Muḥammad, his noble son devoted himself to the study of the rational (ma‘qūlāt) and transmitted (manqūlāt) sciences. Whenever he encountered difficulty in this pursuit, it would be resolved through the rūḥāniyyah (spirituality) of his (late) father. I have heard from reliable sources that Bahr al-ʿUlūm, Mawlānā ʿAbd al-ʿAlī Farangī Maḥallī, used to say,
“My father, just as he was engaged in nurturing me during his lifetime, remains just as attentive after his passing, teaching and guiding me in understanding and resolving difficult concepts and complex intellectual issues.”
Mullā Niẓām al-Dīn’s Top Students Recognise ‘The Ocean of Knowledge’
In the beginning, after getting back into his studies, when faced with difficult issues and scholarly discussions where even the most learned falter, he would consult the elder and distinguished student of his father, Mullā Kamāluddīn Sihālwī, in order to ascertain the correct position. He would engage in discussions and debates with him to understand discourses and passages from curriculum (darsī) texts.
Mullā Kamāluddīn would share with him the fine and subtle insights from both himself and his late teacher Mullā Niẓām al-Dīn. One of the distinguishing characteristics highlighted by Bahr al-ʿUlūm was that Mullā Kamāl never grew displeased or impatient with his debates and repetitions (revisiting a discourse or passage again and again for mastery).
However, some people were displeased by Bahr al-ʿUlūm’s frequent debates and questions directed at his teacher, Mullā Kamāluddīn Sihālwī. They complained to the teacher, saying that elders should teach students respect and composure while instructing them, not treat the young as equals or allow them opportunities to debate.
Mullā Kamāl al-Dīn’s response became a timeless example of the deep teacher-student bond in the classical Dars-i Niẓāmī tradition. His reply remains a shining model of affection and a response worthy of imitation,
“First, this boy is the son of my teacher. I acquired this knowledge while in the service of his noble father, Mullā Niẓām al-Dīn Muḥammad. Whatever I do for this boy is nothing compared to the favours his father showed me.
Second, what this boy has achieved at such a young age through his own effort and struggle, I am convinced even his esteemed father had not reached such a level of learning at the same age, though of course, in later years, Mullā Niẓām al-Dīn became one of the foremost scholars of his time.
Third, the mastery this young boy has attained over the works of both the mutaqaddimīn (early scholars) and mutaʾakhkhirīn (later scholars) at such a young age is something many scholars are unable to achieve over the course of their entire lives.”
Perhaps it was Mullā Muḥammad Walīullāh Farangī Maḥallī who, reflecting on Mullā Kamāl al-Dīn’s stance, expressed the conclusion he had drawn when he said,
“All of this is purely the result of the spiritual attention of his father, a master of both the external and internal sciences, whose sainthood (wilāyah) had reached perfection. Outwardly, though the boy (Bahr al-ʿUlūm) may appear young in age, in the realm of debate and discourse, his rank is equal to that of ʿAllāmah Ṣadr al-Dīn Shīrāzī and Muḥaqqiq Dāwānī.”
Teaching Years; The Unfolding of a Legacy
After receiving his certificate of graduation from his noble father, Bahr al-ʿUlūm began teaching approximately two or three years later, by which time his renowned father had already passed away. For nearly ten years, he adorned his father's teaching seat in Lucknow.
At the request and invitation of various Nawabs and dignitaries, he travelled extensively, honouring many places with his presence and spreading his profound knowledge and the sciences.
His first stop was Shahjahanpur, at the court of Ḥāfiẓ Raḥmat Khān, Regent of Rohilkhand, where he spent nearly twenty years teaching and writing.
After causing a major intellectual stir through his brilliance in Shahjahanpur, Bahr al-ʿUlūm moved to the state of Rampur at the request of Nawab Faizullāh Khān, where he spent the next four years engaged in teaching.
The Nawab of Rampur offered full support to Bahr al-ʿUlūm and his students. However, as the number of students grew, the burden of their upkeep began to strain the state's finances.
This situation came to the attention of Munshī Ṣadruddīn of Burdwan district, Bengal, who was the chief secretary to the Governor General. He submitted a request and, leveraging British influence, compelled the Rampur state to persuade Bahr al-ʿUlūm to join ‘Madrasah Munshī Ṣadruddīn’, in order to raise its academic standing. The chief secretary's dream soon became a reality.
With great dignity and prestige, Bahr al-ʿUlūm continued his scholarly service at Madrasah Munshī Ṣadruddīn. However, the ever-increasing number of students and the continuous arrival of seekers of knowledge from far and wide eventually placed a financial strain on Munshī Ṣadruddīn’s resources.
As this situation became known, three prominent rulers simultaneously extended formal invitations to Bahr al-ʿUlūm, requesting that he honour their domains with his presence:
The Nizām of Hyderabad,
The great Sultan Tipu, and
The Nawab of Arcot (Madras).
Bahr al-ʿUlūm chose to accept the invitation of the Nawab of Arcot, as the Nawab was originally from Gopāmau (District Hardoi, Awadh), and thus held the right of a neighbour in relation to him. The Nawab of Arcot Muḥammad ʿAlī Khān Wallajah (d. 1795 CE) was overjoyed by Bahr al-ʿUlūm’s acceptance and arranged an extraordinary reception in his honour.
When Bahr al-ʿUlūm arrived in Madras, the city’s scholars and dignitaries came out to receive him beyond the city limits. He was seated in a palanquin and all the state dignitaries walked beside him on foot, accompanying him in a grand procession to the Nawab’s state palace.
The Nawab himself, along with his princes, came to the gates of the palace to welcome him.
As Bahr al-ʿUlūm prepared to step down from the palanquin, the Nawab stopped him. The Nawab then lifted the palanquin onto his own shoulder and carried it all the way to the main hall (Ṣadr Maqām). There, he seated Bahr al-ʿUlūm in the seat of honour (ṣadr) and sat before him with humility and reverence, like a student in the presence of his teacher.
The grandeur of Bahr al-ʿUlūm’s own arrival, however, carried a distinct honour of its own; he travelled accompanied by six hundred men of learning. When Bahr al-ʿUlūm reached Madras, he brought with him what was, in essence, an entire university: a company of hundreds of students.
The noble-hearted Nawab of Arcot welcomed Bahr al-ʿUlūm with great humility and honour along with all his companions. In that same lofty spirit, he had a separate Madrasah constructed especially for him.
He fixed a handsome stipend for Bahr al-ʿUlūm and provided separate teaching salaries for his sons-in-law: Mullā ʿAlāʾuddīn Farangī Maḥallī and Mullā ʿIẓhār al-Ḥaq Farangī Maḥallī. He also established scholarships for all the accompanying students.
Students from Madras and the surrounding regions soon began benefitting from Bahr al-ʿUlūm’s teachings. He continued to instruct students in Madras throughout the remainder of his life.
Throughout Bahr al-ʿUlūm’s decades-long teaching career, Nawabs, elites, princes, and even foreigners became his students.
Acknowledged by an Illustrious Contemporary: Shah ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz’s Recognition
Bahr al-ʿUlūm, Mullā ʿAbd al-ʿAlī Farangī Maḥallī of Lucknow, and Sirāj al-Hind, Shāh ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz Muḥaddith of Dehli (d. 1824 CE), were two of the greatest scholars of the 13th century Hijrī and eminent representatives of the Ahl al-Sunnah wa al-Jamāʿah.
What many may not know however, is that both scholars held deep admiration and respect for one another.
At one point, Mullā ʿAbd al-ʿAlī authored a profound treatise on the internal dimensions of religion (ʿIlm Asrār al-Dīn) in his monumental work al-Arkān al-Arbaʿah. Upon studying this work, Shāh ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz expressed his appreciation in a letter, addressing him as ‘Bahr al-ʿUlūm’ - The Ocean of Knowledge.
The title resonated so strongly that it became widely accepted and commonly used among scholars and people of virtue from that point onward.
Bahr al-ʿUlūm’s Noble Sons
Among the sons of Bahr al-ʿUlūm, the eldest is Mullā ʿAbd al-Aʿlā. He received his entire education directly under his father’s instruction. However, he passed away eighteen years before his father’s own demise.
Another son is Mullā ʿAbd al-Nāfiʿ, who also passed away during his father's lifetime.
Lastly, there is Mullā ʿAbd al-Rabb Farangī Maḥallī, who was granted the title Sultān al-ʿUlamāʾ by the Nawab of Arcot (Madras). He continued teaching for some time after his father’s passing in Madras. Later, he returned to the Farangī Maḥall in Lucknow, where he continued instructing students of sacred knowledge. He passed away in 1253 AH.
Bahr al-ʿUlūm to Imām Abū al-Ḥasan al-Ashʿarī
Bahr al-Ulum’s scholarly lineage traces back to Imām Abū al-Ḥasan al-Ashʿarī through 23 teachers. Below is one of his chains of transmission to Imām al-Ashʿarī. It is worth noting that multiple such chains exist, as several scholars within the transmission studied under more than one teacher, each path ultimately leading back to Imām al-Ashʿarī himself:
Baḥr al-ʿUlūm Mullā `Abd al-`Alī Farangī Maḥallī
Mullā Niẓām al-Dīn Muhammad al-Sihālawī, Ustādh al-Kull (the teacher of all)
Mullā Quṭb al-Dīn al-Shahīd
Mawlānā Dāniyāl
Mawlānā ʿAbd al-Salām al-Dīwī
Mawlānā ʿAbd al-Salām al-Lāhorī
ʿAllāmah Fathullāh al-Shīrāzī
Mawlānā Jamāl al-Dīn Maḥmūd al-Shīrāzī
Imām Jalāl al-Dīn Muḥammad al-Ṣiddīqī al-Dawwānī
Mawlānā Saʿd al-Dīn Asʿad al-Dawwānī
Al-Sayyid al-Sharīf Abū al-Ḥasan ʿAlī ibn Muḥammad al-Jurjānī
ʿAllāmah Mubārak Shāh al-Miṣrī
ʿAllāmah Muḥammad ibn Muḥammad Abū ʿAbd Allāh Quṭb al-Dīn al-Rāzī
Qāḍī ʿAḍud al-Dīn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Aḥmad al-Ījī
Shaykh Zayn al-Dīn al-Hankī
Qāḍī al-Bayḍāwī Nāṣir al-Dīn Abū Saʿīd ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿUmar al-Shīrāzī
ʿAllāmah Tāj al-Dīn Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥusayn al-Urmawī
Abū ʿAbd Allāh Muḥammad ibn ʿUmar ibn Ḥusayn, Imām Fakhr al-Dīn al-Rāzī
ʿAllāmah Ḍiyāʾ al-Dīn ʿUmar
ʿAllāmah Muḥammad ibn Yaḥyā
Imām Muḥammad ibn Muḥammad, Ḥujjat al-Islām Abū Ḥāmid al-Ghazālī
Imām al-Ḥaramayn, ʿAbd Malik al-Juwaynī
Al-Ustād Abū Isḥāq Ibrāhīm ibn Muḥammad ibn Ibrāhīm al-Istfarāʾīnī
Shaykh Abū al-Ḥasan al-Bāhilī
Imam Ahl-Sunnah, Abū al-Ḥasan ʿAlī ibn Ismāʿīl al-Ashʿarī (d. 324 AH)
May Allah have mercy on them all, including those scholars whose names have been omitted due to variations in the chain of transmission.
His Spirituality & Sufi Affiliations
Baḥr al-ʿUlūm Mullā ʿAbd al-ʿAlī Farangī Maḥallī was regarded as a unique scholar of his time, excelling not only in the external sciences but also in the internal sciences. In a brief biographical note on Mullā ʿAbd al-ʿAlī, Maulānā Faqīr Muḥammad Jehlamī (d. 1916 CE) writes,
"Bahr al-ʿUlūm once said: In a dream, I was blessed with the vision of Ḥaḍrat Abū Bakr al-Ṣiddīq (may Allah be pleased with him), who held my hand and initiated me into his spiritual allegiance (bayʿah). He gave me the directive to teach and to guide (i.e. initiate) in spiritual allegiance (bayʿah) [irshād-i bayʿat]. Therefore, I am exclusively his disciple, and through him, my spiritual chain of bayʿah reaches the holy Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him)."
As such, whenever someone took spiritual allegiance (bayʿah) from him in this chain, he would provide a chain of spiritual transmission (shajrah) with only a single link, directly through Ḥaḍrat Abū Bakr al-Ṣiddīq (may Allah be pleased with him).
He had also received authorisation (ijāzah) in other Sufi orders from his noble father. However, he did not accept large numbers of disciples; in fact, apart from a few individuals, he refrained from initiating anyone into bayʿah.
His Books & Writings
Bahr al-ʿUlūm had extensive writings in both the rational (maʿqūlāt) and transmitted (manqūlāt) sciences. His notable works include, but are not limited to:
Fawātiḥ al-Raḥamūt (commentary on Musallam al-Thubūt)
Treatise on ‘Taqsīm al-Ḥadīth’
Sharh al-Majestī (by Ptolemy)
Commentary on Sullam al-ʿUlūm (of Mullā Bihārī)
Supercommentaries (ḥawāshī) on al-Zawāʾid al-Thalāth,
Supercommentary on Mīr Zāhid’s ḥāshiyah on Sharḥ al-Mawāqif
Supercommentary on Sharḥ Hidāyat al-Ḥikmah (by Mullā Ṣadrā)
Supercommentary on Shams-i Bāziġah (by Mullā Maḥmūd Jawnpūrī in Philosophy)
Treatise on Wahdat al-Wujūd
Commentary on al-Fiqh al-Akbar (of Imām Abū Ḥanīfah)
Sharḥ al-Dāʾirah fī al-Uṣūl
Completion (takmila) of Sharḥ Taḥrīr al-Uṣūl; a continuation of Mullā Niẓām al-Dīn’s commentary on ʿAllāmah Ibn Humām’s work
Commentary on the Mathnawī of Mawlānā Rūmī
Persian commentary on Manār al-Anwār
Arkān-i Arbaʿah
Sharḥ al-Faṣṣ al-Nūḥī min Fuṣūṣ al-Ḥikam
Marginal notes (taʿlīqāt) on al-ʿUfuq al-Mubīn (by Mīr Dāmād)
...alongside a number of other valuable works.
His Noble Students; Scholars of the Farangī Maḥall and South Asia
Many great and accomplished scholars emerged from his teaching circle, among them a significant number of students are from his own extended family. Here are some of the prominent students of Bahr al-ʿUlūm who went on to become leading scholars of the Farangī Maḥall and South Asia:
Mullā ʿAbd al-Aʿlā Farangī Maḥallī – Eldest son of Bahr al-ʿUlūm
Mullā ʿAbd al-Nāfiʿ Farangī Maḥallī – Son of Bahr al-ʿUlūm
Maulānā ʿAbd al-Rabb Farangī Maḥallī – Son of Bahr al-ʿUlūm
Mullā Aḥmad Anwār al-Ḥaq Farangī Maḥallī
Maulānā Nūr al-Ḥaq Farangī Maḥallī
Mullā Iẓhār al-Ḥaq Farangī Maḥallī
Maulānā Ẓuhūr al-Ḥaq Farangī Maḥallī
Mullā ʿAbd al-Wāḥid Farangī Maḥallī
Maulānā ʿAlāʾuddīn Farangī Maḥallī
Ṣūfī ʿAbd al-Raḥmān Lakhnawī
Maulānā Muḥammad ʿAlī Bherāwī
(See www.khairabadiinstitute.com/biographies/farangimahall for biographies of Farangī Maḥallī scholars, including Bahr al-ʿUlūm’s own students.)
His Noble Departure
Bahr al-Ulūm passed away in Madras, in the month of Rajab 1225 AH / 1810 CE and was buried in a Masjid.
By the end of his life, there was no equal to him in knowledge across the Indian subcontinent at that time. He was a marvel of his age, his literary contributions warrant deeper research, his personality invites further study, and those who truly carried his mission forward deserve recognition.
May Allah ﷻ have mercy upon Bahr al-Ulūm and elevate his ranks.
Al-Fātiḥah.
Bibliography
Āthār al-Awwal min ʿUlamāʾ Farangī Maḥall
al-Asānīd al-ʿĀliyah li-ʿUlamāʾ al-Jāmiʿah al-Qādiriyyah
Ḥadāʾiq al-Ḥanafiyyah
Mumtaz ʿUlamāʾ Farangi Mahall
Tadhkirah ʿUlamāʾ-i Hind
Tadhkirah ʿUlamāʾ-i Farangī Maḥall
Aghṣān-i Arbaʿah
Bānī Dars-i Niẓāmī
Haft Tamāshā
From the Farangi Mahall to Makkah: A Pure Connection Etched in Time