Mullā Aḥmad ʿAbd al-Ḥaqq Farangī Maḥallī
(d. 1167 AH / 1754 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 Aḥmad ʿAbd al-Ḥaqq Farangī Maḥallī (d. 1754 CE), the distinguished student and nephew of Mullā Niẓām al-Dīn Muḥammad al-Sihālawī (d. 1748 CE), played a pivotal role in the early establishment of the Farangī Maḥall and is venerated as a saint within the family. What follows is a brief synopsis of his life.
Student & Heir of Mullā Niẓām al-Dīn and Silent Architect of the Farangī Maḥall
Mullā Aḥmad ʿAbd al-Ḥaqq was the eldest son of Mullā Muḥammad Saʿīd Sihālawī, who was the brother of Mullā Niẓām al-Dīn Muḥammad al-Sihālawī and the son of Mullā Quṭb al-Dīn al-Shahīd al-Sihālawī.
He was born on the very day his grandfather was martyred, in Sihālī, Awadh (present-day Bārābankī district, Uttar Pradesh), in 1103 AH (1692 CE). Sihālī was the original home of Mullā Niẓām al-Dīn al-Sihālawī and his brothers, before they relocated to the Farangī Maḥall in Lucknow following the martyrdom of their father, Mullā Quṭb al-Dīn al-Shahīd.
Mullā Aḥmad ʿAbd al-Ḥaqq and his younger brother, Mullā ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz (d. 1165 AH), were both among the early students of Ustādh al-Hind, Mullā Niẓām al-Dīn al-Sihālawī.
In addition to being his student, Mullā Aḥmad ʿAbd al-Ḥaqq was also the nephew of Mullā Niẓām al-Dīn. He served as a steadfast and dependable support to him in personal, familial, and various emerging affairs.
Whenever a responsibility arose, Mullā Aḥmad ʿAbd al-Ḥaqq would take a keen interest in managing it, thereby allowing Mullā Niẓām al-Dīn to remain fully engaged in his scholarly endeavors without distraction. In this way, Mullā Aḥmad ʿAbd al-Ḥaqq played a significant and practical role in facilitating the intellectual mission of his uncle.
Mullā Niẓām al-Dīn would openly acknowledge and praise the devoted service and sense of responsibility shown by his loyal nephew and student. It is mentioned in Aghsān-i Arbaʿa that Mullā Niẓām al-Dīn used to say,
"It is solely because of Miyyā Aḥmad ʿAbd al-Ḥaqq that Niẓām al-Dīn became what he did. He took all worldly burdens and struggles relating to responsibilities upon himself, so that I could remain fully absorbed and engaged in teaching and instruction with complete peace of mind."
Teaching Years: At the Side of Mullā Niẓām al-Dīn al-Sihālawī
After completing his education under his esteemed uncle, Mullā Aḥmad ʿAbd al-Ḥaqq went on, like him, to devote himself to teaching. However, the names of his students are not recorded in historical sources, despite the fact that his students were likely both numerous and distinguished.
The reason for this, as Mawlānā Muḥammad Raẓā Anṣārī Farangī Maḥallī suggests, is that many students who studied under Mullā Niẓām al-Dīn also attended some lessons with Mullā Aḥmad ʿAbd al-Ḥaqq. Among them, those who later gained prominence were typically identified as students of Mullā Niẓām al-Dīn al-Sihālawī Farangī Maḥallī.
Discovering His Spiritual Master Through Shaykh ʿAbd al-Qādir al-Jīlānī
Mullā Aḥmad ʿAbd al-Ḥaqq was first initiated into the Chishtī Sufi order during his childhood by his esteemed father. Later, in his youth, he entered the Qādirī order at the hands of Ḥaẓrat Sayyid Shāh ʿAbd al-Razzāq al-Qādirī Bānsawī (d. 1136 AH), from whom he received both authorisation (ijāzah) and spiritual succession (khilāfah) in the Qādirī-Razzāqī branch of the order. He would later go on to initiate others into the same path as well.
Both Mullā Niẓām al-Dīn and Mullā Aḥmad ʿAbd al-Ḥaqq became disciples of Ḥazrat Bānsawī simultaneously, after each of them experienced the exact same dream at the same time, which they took as a sign guiding them to their spiritual master.
Mullā Muḥammad Qiyām al-Dīn ʿAbd al-Bārī records this remarkable dream in his work Malfūẓ-i Razzaqī. He narrates that both Mullā Niẓām al-Dīn and his nephew and student, Mullā Aḥmad ʿAbd al-Ḥaqq, were in search of a spiritual guide. One night, both of them experienced the same dream independently.
In the dream, they found themselves at a spiritual gathering presided over by al-Ghawth al-Aʿẓam, Shaykh ʿAbd al-Qādir al-Jīlānī, with Khawāja Muʿīn al-Dīn al-Chishtī also present. The two stood outside the gathering with hands folded in reverence. Shaykh ʿAbd al-Qādir turned to Khawāja Muʿīn al-Dīn and said, "Give these two to us."
In response, Khawāja Muʿīn al-Dīn took the hands of both Mullā Niẓām al-Dīn and Mullā Aḥmad ʿAbd al-Ḥaqq and presented them to Shaykh ʿAbd al-Qādir. Al-Ghawth al-Aʿẓam then took their hands and placed them into the hand of another man standing behind him.
Both Mullā Niẓām al-Dīn and Mullā Aḥmad clearly saw this man and committed his features (ḥulyah) to memory. The next day, when they shared their dreams with each other, they were astonished to find that the dream had been exactly the same in every detail.
Soon afterward, when Ḥaẓrat ʿAbd al-Razzāq Bānsawī visited Lucknow. They both went to meet him and immediately recognised him as the very man from their dream, into whose hands al-Ghawth al-Aʿẓam had entrusted them. Recognising this, both became his spiritual disciples (murīds).
Mullā Walī-Allāh Farangī Maḥallī writes in ʿUmdat al-Wasāʾil that through the blessings of spiritual companionship and initiation (bayʿah) at the hands of Ḥaẓrat Bānsawī, spiritual openings (futūḥāt), such as spiritual unveilings (kashf) and spiritual elevations began to manifest radiantly (jalwah) upon the purified heart of Mullā Aḥmad ʿAbd al-Ḥaqq.
He became deeply immersed in litanies (awrād), remembrances (adhkār), intense spiritual practices (riyāḍāt shāqqah) and other practices. He also undertook forty-day spiritual retreats, known as chillah or arbaʿīn.
Numerous well-known and widely recounted incidents of Mullā Aḥmad ʿAbd al-Ḥaqq’s spiritual unveilings and saintly miracles (kashf wa karāmāt) are preserved in the historical record, particularly in works such as Khayr al-ʿAmal and ʿUmdat al-Wasāʾil.
On one occasion, his teacher, uncle, and spiritual mentor, Mullā Niẓām al-Dīn, gently cautioned him, advising that such hidden matters should not be disclosed openly.
This incident took place when both Mullā Niẓām al-Dīn and Mullā Aḥmad ʿAbd al-Ḥaqq were together in Sihālī, engaged in meditative contemplation (murāqabah) at the shrine of Mullā Quṭb al-Dīn al-Shahīd.
During that time, Mullā Niẓām al-Dīn spoke of experiencing a state of inner unrest. In response, Mullā Aḥmad ʿAbd al-Ḥaqq said, “Your daughter in Lucknow has (just) passed away, that is why your heart is not engaged in murāqabah at this moment.”
His Books & Writings
Mullā Walī-Allāh writes in ʿUmdat al-Wasāʾil that Mullā Aḥmad ʿAbd al-Ḥaqq authored numerous works in the field of the rational sciences (Maʿqūlāt). Among these and other works, the following titles are noted:
A commentary on Sullam al-ʿUlūm, described as unmatched in its clarification of complex issues and resolution of difficulties.
A super-commentary on Mir Zāhid al-Harawī’s gloss on Sharḥ al-Tahdhīb, orginally authored by Mullā Jalāl al-Dīn al-Dawānī.
A super-commentary on Mir Zāhid’s gloss on the Umūr ʿĀmmah section of Sharḥ al-Mawāqif.
Radd-i Rawāfiḍ, a rare treatise refuting Shīʿī doctrines.
His Commentary on Sullam al-ʿUlūm
Sullam al-ʿUlūm, authored by Mullā Muḥibbullāh Bihārī (d. 1119 AH), is a renowned work in the science of logic. It is taught, along with select commentaries, at the advanced stages of the classical Dars-i Niẓāmī curriculum. Composing a commentary on Sullam al-ʿUlūm was traditionally regarded as a mark of mastery in the rational sciences. The text itself holds the status of a matn (foundational text).
Every commentary on Sullam al-ʿUlūm is commonly referred to by the name of its author. For example, Mullā Ḥasan refers to the commentary by Mullā Ḥasan Farangī Maḥallī, while Ḥamdullāh denotes the commentary by Mullā Ḥamdullāh Sandēlawī. In the same way, Mullā Aḥmad ʿAbd al-Ḥaqq’s commentary on Sullam al-ʿUlūm is also simply known as Mullā Aḥmad ʿAbd al-Ḥaqq.
Mullā Aḥmad ʿAbd al-Ḥaqq is a comprehensive commentary covering both taṣawwurāt (concepts) and taṣdīqāt (judgments). A close study of his commentary clearly reveals Mullā Aḥmad ʿAbd al-Ḥaqq’s expertise in the rational sciences.
Qāḍī Muḥammad Mubārak Gopāmawī (d. 1162 AH) is generally credited with authoring the earliest commentary on Sullam al-ʿUlūm. His work became a foundational reference, widely relied upon and frequently discussed in subsequent commentaries.
Qāḍī Muḥammad Mubārak himself noted that his commentary was completed in the city of Delhi in Rabīʿ al-Awwal 1143 AH. However, Mullā Aḥmad ʿAbd al-Ḥaqq’s commentary was completed earlier, in 1136 AH. From these two dates, it is clear that Mullā Aḥmad ʿAbd al-Ḥaqq’s commentary preceded Qāḍī Mubārak’s by seven years.
To further illustrate the significance of this intellectual contribution to the rational sciences, it is worth noting that Mawlānā Yāsīn Akhtar Miṣbāḥī quotes Abū’l-Ḥasanāt Mullā ʿAbd al-Ḥayy Lucknowī (d. 1304 AH) regarding Mullā Aḥmad ʿAbd al-Ḥaqq, stating, “No other commentary on Sullam al-ʿUlūm compares to it.”
Mullā Aḥmad ʿAbd al-Ḥaqq to Imām Abū al-Ḥasan al-Ashʿarī
Mullā Aḥmad ʿAbd al-Ḥaqq’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:
Mullā Aḥmad ʿAbd al-Ḥaqq 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 Noble Sons; Eminent Scholars and Great Gnostics
Mullā Aḥmad ʿAbd al-Ḥaqq had two wives. From the first, he had a son named Mullā Muḥibbullāh, and from the second, two sons, Mullā Aḥmad Anwār al-Ḥaqq and Mullā Iẓhār al-Ḥaqq.
Among his sons, Mullā Aḥmad Anwār al-Ḥaqq (d. 1235 AH) distinguished himself not only as an eminent scholar from Farangī Maḥall but also as a gnostic (ʿārif billāh) and a spiritual guide of the Qādirī-Razzāqī order. ā
He studied under several notable teachers of the Farangī Maḥall, including Baḥr al-ʿUlūm Mullā ʿAbd al-ʿAlī Farangī Maḥallī. From childhood, he exhibited a strong inclination toward spirituality, largely due to the influence of his maternal uncle. As a result, he showed little interest in the rational sciences (maʿqūlāt) and remained focused on the study of religious texts.
At the age of sixteen or seventeen, he took spiritual allegiance (bayʿah) from his father, Mullā Aḥmad ʿAbd al-Ḥaqq Farangī Maḥallī, and eventually began initiating disciples into the Qādirī-Razzaqī order himself.
It is noteworthy that Mawlānā al-Shāh Aḥmad Riḍā Khān al-Qādrī’s (d. 1340 AH) great-grandfather, Ḥāfiẓ Kāẓim ʿAlī Khān, was also a spiritual disciple (murīd) of Mullā Aḥmad Anwār al-Ḥaqq Farangī Maḥallī.
Moreover, Mullā Aḥmad Anwār al-Ḥaqq also served as the teacher of Shāh Āl-i Rasūl Mārehrwī, the spiritual guide of Mārehra and classmate of Imām Faẓl-i Ḥaqq Khairabādī under the tutelage of Shāh ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz Muḥaddith Dehlawī. For further details on Shāh Āl-i Rasūl’s connection to the Farangī Maḥall, see From the Farangī Maḥall to Makkah: A Pure Connection Etched in Time (linked in the bibliography).
An independent biography of Mullā Aḥmad Anwār al-Ḥaqq and his brothers will be written in the near future, in shāʾ Allāh.
The Passing of a Saint: Mullā Aḥmad ʿAbd al-Ḥaqq’s Noble Departure
Regarding his passing, Mawlānā Yāsīn Akhtar Miṣbāḥī, quoting Mawlānā Muḥammad Raẓā Anṣārī Farangī Maḥallī, writes that it was the regular practice of Mullā Aḥmad ʿAbd al-Ḥaqq to leave his home around midnight, moved by jazbah ilāhiyyah (a deep yearning for the Divine) heading toward the open wilderness.
On one such night, following his usual routine, he attempted to descend from the rooftop to go outside. He felt as though the ground was even, without any rise or dip, and in that perception, he fell from the roof to the ground. The impact left his entire body wounded and shaken.
His family members lifted him and laid him gently on a cot. Even in that state, the only words flowing from his lips were, “Huwa Allāh, Huwa Allāh” (He is Allah, He is Allah).
His revered mother, with tender insistence, tried to ask where he was feeling pain. He replied, “Would you wish that, at the final moment of my life, a word other than the name of Allah should emerge from my tongue? Alḥamdulillāh, all is well. Whatever comes from the Beloved is good (Har che az dūst mīrasad, nīkū ast)”.
He remained unconscious and motionless for five days. His paternal cousin, Baḥr al-ʿUlūm Mullā ʿAbd al-ʿAlī Farangī Maḥallī, narrates the following incident that a relative, who was a spiritual disciple of Ḥaẓrat Sayyid Shāh ʿAbd al-Razzāq al-Qādrī Bānsawī, said,
“I (relative) was sitting near Mullā Aḥmad ʿAbd al-Ḥaqq, visiting him during his illness, when suddenly two exceptionally handsome young men appeared. They approached him and whispered something into his ear. One of them handed him a fragrant flower.
Mullā Ṣāḥib said to them, ‘Not today, tomorrow, in shāʾ Allāh taʿālā’...”
Baḥr al-ʿUlūm adds that he himself was present at the time, though he did not see the two men. However, he clearly heard Mullā Aḥmad ʿAbd al-Ḥaqq’s words, “Not today, tomorrow, in shāʾ Allāh taʿālā.”
The next day was Friday and Mullā Aḥmad ʿAbd al-Ḥaqq asked, “What day is it today?”
Those present replied, “Friday.” He then asked, “Has the time for prayer arrived?” When they answered in the affirmative, he said, “Go and pray, then return.”
Thus, they went to offer the prayer, and upon returning, they found that he had passed away.
Innā lillāhi wa innā ilayhi rājiʿūn.
Mullā Aḥmad ʿAbd al-Ḥaqq departed from this world on the Day of ʿArafah, 9 Dhū al-Ḥijjah 1167 AH, corresponding to 1754 CE. His grave is located in Lucknow, where it continues to be visited and is known as a place of barakah (blessing).
May Allah ﷻ have mercy upon the servant of al-Ḥaqq and elevate his ranks.
Al-Fātiḥah.
Completed on the day of ʿArafah, 9 Dhū al-Ḥijjah, 1446 AH.
Bibliography
Āthār al-Awwal min ʿUlamāʾ Farangī Maḥall
al-Asānīd al-ʿĀliyah li-ʿUlamāʾ al-Jāmiʿah al-Qādiriyyah
Mumtāz ʿUlamāʾ Farangi Mahall
Wafiyāt
Malfūẓ-i Razzaqī
ʿUmdat al-Wasāʾil
Bāqīyāt
Aghṣān-i Arbaʿah
Bānī Dars-i Niẓāmī
Khayr al-ʿAmal
From the Farangi Mahall to Makkah: A Pure Connection Etched in Time