Biography of Shaikh Allaamah Abu Mohammad Badiuddeen Shah ar-Raashidee Al-Sindhee
Translated into English from the book: Tawheed Khaalis
Author: Shaikh Abu Mohammad Badiuddeen Shah ar-Raashidee Al-Sindhee
Publisher: Markaz al-Islaami lil-Buhuth al-Ilmiya Karachi (Islamic Center for Academic Research). Al-Maktaba ar-Raashidiya, New Saeed Abad
Biography written by: Sayyid Nusratullaah Shah ar-Raashidee bin Shaikh Badiuddeen Shah ar-Raashidee
Allaamah Sayyid Badiuddeen Shah Raashidee’s Life and Services
Name: Sayyid Badiuddeen Shah
Kunya: Abu Mohammad
Caste: Sayyid
Date of Birth: Wednesday 29th Shawwal 1344H Corresponding to 12th May 1926
Place of Birth: Goth Fazal Allaah Shah (Old Pir Jhandu) Near New Saeed Abad, District Matiari (Formerly District Hyderabad), Sindh.
Family Background: Allaamah Sayyid Badiuddeen Shah Ar-Raashidee’s lineage is as follows: Badiuddeen, bin Ehsaanullaah, bin Rushdullaah, bin Rasheed ud-Deen, bin Sayyid Mohammad Yaseen, bin Sayyid Raashid Shah al-Hussainy.
In the book ‘Tafsir Miftah Rushdullaah’ 1, Qazi Fatah Mohammad Nizamani has traced Sayyid Raashid Shah’s (Rahimahullaah) lineage to Sayyidina Hussain bin Ali bin Taalib (RadhiAllaahu Anhuma). This shows that Allaamah Sayyid Badiuddeen Shah ar-Raashidee’s lineage traces back forty generations to Imam Hussain (RadhiAllaahu Anhu).
Sir Sayyid Raashid Shah’s descendants are called Raashidee Hussainee. Sayyid Ali Makki (Rahimahullaah), one of the elders of Sayyid Raashid (Rahimahullaah), migrated from the Iraqi city of Kazmain and settled near Lakki Shah Sadr presently District Dadu. His descendants are known as Lakyaari Sadaat. Raashidee’s are from Lakyaari Sadaat. In terms of family and religious succession, Sayyid Raashid Shah had two descendants:
- Pir Paggaro Family
- Pir Jhandu Family
Allaamah Sayyid Badiuddeen Shah ar-Raashidee belongs to the Pir Jhandu Family.
The Pir Jhandu Family were renowned for their high academic status in religious knowledge. Sayyid Rasheeduddeen Shah ar-Raashidee (Rahimullaah) was referred to as the reviver of the 14th Century Hijri, he gave preference to acting upon hadith and refuted some of the erroneous beliefs of Sufism. His son Sayyid Rushdallaah Shah was a student of Syed Nazir Hussain Dhelawi and Allaamah Hussain bin Muhsin al-Ansari al-Yamani a student of Imam Shokani. He served the field of hadith and wrote many books in support of Ahl-ul-Hadith as well as refuting its opponents.
Education and upbringing
Allaamah Sayyid Badiuddeen Shah ar-Raashidee (Rahimahullaah) studied at his family madrassa “Dar al-Rashaad” and was initially trained by his father Ehsaanullaah Shah ar-Raashidee (Rahimahullaah). His father loved the sunnah and was a scholar upon the salafi aqeedah. In the year 1938CE his father Ehsaanullaah Shah ar-Raashidee (Rahimahullaah) passed away, at the time Allaamah Sayyid Badiuddeen Shah ar-Raashidee (Rahimahullaah) was about 14 or 15 years old.
His Teachers
- Allaamah Sayyid Muhibullaah Shah ar-Raashidee
- Shaikh Mohammad Ismaeel bin Abdul Khaliq Sindhi
- Shaikh Wali Mohammad bin Mohammad Aamir Kairio
- Shaikh Mohammad Noor Easa Khail
- Shaikh Bahauddeen Jalal Abadi
- Shaikh Mohammad Madni
- Shaikh Abdullaah bin Umar bin Abdul Ghani
- Shaikh Mohammad bin Khalil bin Mohammad Saleem (Rahimahumullaah)
Certificate of Permission (Ijaazah)
After completing his education Allaamah Sayyid Badiuddeen Shah ar-Raashidee (Rahimahullaah) received permission (Ijaazah) from the following scholars:
- Allaamah Abu al-Wafa Thana’ullaah Amr-Tasree
- Shaikh Haafiz Abdullaah Ropari Amr-Tasree
- Muhadith Abu Saeed Sharafuddeen al-Dhelawi
- Shaikh Muhadith Abu Ishaaq Naik Mohammad
- Shaikh Muhadith Abu Mohammad Abdulhaq Bhawalpuri
May Allaah shower His Mercy upon them all.
Shaikhs Strength of Memory
Allaah blessed Shah Sahib (Rahimahullaah) with great power of memory. The Shaikh memorized the whole Qur’aan in three months, the Shaikh had also memorized countless number of hadith and pages of books such that, when he would dictate to writers, they would think that the Shaikh has memorized the entire library of Maktaba Raashidiya.
Political and religious situation in Sindh at that time
In the early days of Shah Sahib, the Indian subcontinent was under British rule. The British were well known for their policy of divide and rule, to that end, they had imposed saints and feudal landlords as rulers of Sindh to do their bidding.
Shirk, saint worship (sufism) and blind following was rife, followers of Quran and Sunnah upon salafiyyah were nowhere to be seen in the area. Under these circumstances giving the call, to Tawheed and following Hadith along with refuting the false beliefs of shirk and blind following, was like beckoning death.
Allaamah Sayyid Badiuddeen Shah ar-Raashidee’s (Rahimahullaah) achievements
It was under these aforementioned circumstances that the Shaikh started his work. It was a time when, in the whole of Sindh, not a single Ahlul-Hadeeth masjid could be found. Whereas at the time of Shaikhs death there were 800 masjids under the administration of Ahlul-Hadith. This was truly a blessing from Allaah and thereafter the fruits of the Shaikhs dawah.
The Shaikh utilised the following means of giving dawah:
1) Sermons
Shah Sahib (Rahimahullaah) was a good orator and was fluent in Sindhi, Urdu and Arabic languages. The main topics of Shah Sahib’s speeches revolved around monotheism, rejection of polytheism and innovations, adherence to the sunnah and rejection of blind following (Taqlid). In his youth Shah Sahib would give speeches lasting 3 to 4 hours and would recite the Qur’an in a sweet and melodious manner. His speeches took the form of sound reasoning and debate and the people would never get tired or feel bored by them. Shah Sahib also stayed in the two holy Mosques for many years. He would give daily lessons at the Haram in Makkah. Along with Arabic he would give speeches in Urdu and Sindhi languages as well.
2) Debates
In the environment in which Shah Sahib started his work in Sindh, it was inevitable that there would be opposition and need for debates. Shah Sahib held many debates in support of the truth and the rejection of falsehood. Many of Shah Sahib’s debates have been detailed in Ramuz -e-Raashidiyya, Shah Sahib also conducted written debates some of which have been published and some are unpublished.
3) Books
To promote the dawah of Tawheed and Sunnah Shah Sahib authored about 150 books in the Sindhi, Urdu and Arabic languages. Among his works the tafsir of the Qur’an “ Bad’ee at-tafaseer” is a great and outstanding service. It has been completed upto the beginning ayahs of surah al-Hujaraat and published in 10 volumes with an introduction. This book is an excellent work in supporting the Aqeedah of the salaf, adhering to the Sunnah and defending the truth. On the issues of Tawheed, Names and Attributes, supplication and intercession, the book “Tawheed-e-Khaalis” in the Urdu language is an exemplary piece of work.
In the Arabic language Shaikh Sahib started writing, in the style of Tafseer Jalalain, short commentaries in support of Tawheed, on each verse of the Qur’aan. This could only be completed up to the first few surahs.
In the Sindhi language Shaikh Sahib wrote the book “Tawheed-e-Rabbaani” to explain the doctrine of Tawheed that was simple and easy to understand.
4) Teaching
In the beginning Shah Sahib (Rahimahullaah) taught in his own school “Almadrasa al-Mohammadiyah”. From 1974 to 1978CE Shah Sahib lived in Makkah, there he used to teach books of Hadith and Tafseer in the Masjid al-Haram, where countless students and scholars from all over the world came and benefitted from him. During this period Shah Sahib was also a teacher at “Darul-Hadith al-Khairiyah” for some time. After returning to Pakistan, students from home and abroad used to come and benefit from Shah Sahib’s knowledge. It is for this reason that he is remembered as the Shaikh of Arabs and non-Arabs alike.
5) Students
Shah Sahib (Rahimahullah) had countless number of students, who spread the call of Tawheed and Sunnah all over the world. From amongst them are:
- Allaamah Muqbil bin Haadi al-Wadi’ee
- Shaikh Aasim Abdullaah al-Qaryuti
- Shailh Hassan Haider Yamani
- Shaikh Hamdi Abdulmajeed Salafi
- Shaikh Mohammad Musa Afreekee
- Shaikh Omar bin Mohammad bin Abdullaah as-Subayyil
- Shaikh Abdullaah bin Mohammad al-Harbi Shaheer
- Shaikh Rab’ee bin Haadi al-Madkhali
- Shaikh Wasi-ullaah Abbas al-Hindi
- Shaikh Mohammad Shah ar-Raashidee
- Shaikh Nur-ullaah Shah ar-Raashidee
- Shaikh Sa’eedi bin Mahdi al-Baghdadi
- Shaikh Abdulqadir bin Habibullaah as-Sindhi al-Madani
- Shaikh Hafiz Fathi Jhelumi
- Shaikh Ali bin Aamir Yamani
- Shaikh Nur-ullaah bin Shahbaz al-Hindi
- Shaikh Hassan Saudi
- Shaikh Aslam bin Mohammad al-Urdani
- Shaikh Saif-ur-Rahmaan bin Mustafa al-Makki
- Shaikh Salahuddeen Maqbool Ahmad
- Shaikh Shamsuddeen Afghani
- Shaikh Mohammad Rafiq al-Athari
- Shaikh Irshaadulhaq al-Athari
- Shaikh Hafiz Zubair Ali Zai
- Shaikh Abdullaah Naasir ar-Rehmaani
- Hafiz Mut’eeur-Rahmaan
- Shaikh Y’aqoob Husaawi al-Makki
- Shaikh Mohammad Hussain Dhaahiree
- Shaikh Mohammad Qaasim
Establishment of Raashidiyah Library
Shah Sahib (Rahimullaah) inherited a passion for reading and studying books. His ancestor Allaamah Syed Rushdullaah Shah Raashidee had laid the foundation of a library which contained countless rare manuscripts. A part of this library, consisting of about 1200 manuscripts, was handed over to the National Museum of Karachi. Shah Sahib’s father Sayyid Ehsaanullaah Shah ar-Raashidee (Rahimahullaa) was very fond of collecting books and he collected countless manuscripts as well as books in printed form. Shah Sahib had received some books from the family library after which Shah Sahib spent his entire life in pursuit of collecting books and this was the asset of his entire life’s work. Raashidiyyah Library was dedicated to his heirs in which there is a large collection consisting of thousands of books on various sciences and arts in both manuscript and printed form.
Establishment of Jamiat Ahlul Hadith Sindh
Shah Sahib (Rahimahullaah) established Jamiat Ahle Hadith Sindh to bring together the scattered members of Jamaat Ahle Hadith on one platform. Shah Sahib remained its ameer throughout until he passed away. The purpose of establishing Jamiat Ahle Hadith Sindh was to spread the message of Tawheed and Sunnah, to connect and bring the members together and to solve all their problems.
Love for Jamaat Ahle Hadith
Shah Sahib (Rahimahullaah) spent his wealth and life in the path of Allaah and had a great love for Ahlul Hadith, he had great concern for every member of the Jamaat, everyone thought that Shah Sahib loved him more than the others. By the grace of Allaah, he was very hospitable and shared in all the sorrows and joys of the congregation.
Death
Shah Sahib passed away in Musa Lane Layari Karachi, after Isha prayer on the night of 8th January 1996. The funeral prayer was held on the 9th of January 1996 at Jami Masjid Firdaus Azad Pir Jhandu New Saeed Abad. After the funeral prayer, he was buried alongside his father and elder brother Allaamah Muhibullaah Shah al-Raashidee in the village Pir Jhandu near New Saeed Abad. (May Allaah shower His Mercy on them all)