Mullā Niẓām al-Dīn Muḥammad al-Sihālawī

(d. 1161 AH / 1748 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 Niẓām al-Dīn Muḥammad al-Sihālawī (d. 1748 CE), the namesake of this curriculum, stands tall as Ustād al-Hind (Teacher of India). What follows is a brief synopsis of his life.

Student Years, Teachers & the Niẓāmiyyah

Mullā Niẓām al-Dīn Muḥammad al-Sihālawī was the third son of Mullā Quṭb al-Dīn al-Shahīd, following his elder brothers Mullā Muḥammad Asʿad and Mullā Muḥammad Saʿīd. He studied with his father up to Sharḥ al-Jāmī (in grammar), after which he continued his education in various locations, including Dīwah (in the Bārā Bankī district), Jāʾis (in the Rāʾe Barēlī district), Banāras, and finally, Lucknow.

In Jāʾis, he studied under two renowned scholars: Mullā ʿAlī Qulī Jāʾisī and Mullā Muḥammad Bāqir, completing the majority of his core texts under Mullā ʿAlī.

He then traveled to Banāras to study advanced texts such as Sharḥ al-Mawāqif and others under his father’s distinguished student, Mullā Amān-Allāh Banārasī. Later, he continued his studies under Shaykh Ghulām Naqshband (d. 1714 CE), with whom he completed advanced works across various disciplines, including the final text in astronomy, Risālah Qūshjiyyah.

Shaykh Ghulām Naqshband Lakhnawī held his lessons and spiritual gatherings along the banks of the river Gomti in Lucknow, near the shrine of Shāh Pīr Muḥammad (d. 1668 CE). It is said that Mullā Niẓām al-Dīn completed his studies at the age of 25. 

He then returned to the Farangī Maḥall in order to begin his teaching career. His refinement of the instructional method was so impactful that the curriculum there came to be known after him as the Niẓāmiyyah.

Mullā Niẓām al-Dīn; Ustadh al-Hind—the Teacher of India

After completing his studies, Mullā Niẓām al-Dīn Muḥammad al-Sihālawī dedicated the rest of his life to teaching and writing. He began teaching at the Farangī Maḥall in Lucknow, and his circle of learning quickly gained renown across India. His classroom became a centre of knowledge and wisdom, drawing students from all directions. His excellence in teaching was unmatched in the region.

In fact, his reputation grew so vast that scholars from every corner—regardless of where they had previously studied—felt compelled to sit at the feet of Mullā Niẓām al-Dīn. It was not uncommon for students who had studied with other teachers in various cities to perform their fātiḥah-i farāgh with Mullā Ṣāḥib in order to gain scholarly credibility and distinction. Studying under him became a hallmark of academic prestige.

Sayyid Ghulām ʿAlī Āzād Bilgrāmī (d. 1786 CE), reflecting on his era, remarked that most Indian scholars trace their scholarly lineage back to him—and take pride in doing so. Whoever’s silsilah (chain of transmission) leads to him raises the banner of distinction among the fuḍalāʾ (the virtuous and learned).

Indeed, it is difficult to find a scholar in the Indian subcontinent—including present-day India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh—who is not connected to him, his sons, or his students in some way. It is for this reason that he is remembered as Ustadh al-Hind—the Teacher of all India.

Mullā Niẓām al-Dīn al-Sihālawī to Imām Abū al-Ḥasan al-Ashʿarī

Mullā Niẓām al-Dīn’s scholarly lineage traces back to Imām Abū al-Ḥasan al-Ashʿarī through 22 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:

  1. Mullā Niẓām al-Dīn Muhammad al-Sihālawī, Ustādh al-Kull (the teacher of all)

  2. Mullā Quṭb al-Dīn al-Shahīd

  3. Mawlānā Dāniyāl

  4. Mawlānā ʿAbd al-Salām al-Dīwī

  5. Mawlānā ʿAbd al-Salām al-Lāhorī

  6. ʿAllāmah Fathullāh al-Shīrāzī

  7. Mawlānā Jamāl al-Dīn Maḥmūd al-Shīrāzī

  8. Imām Jalāl al-Dīn Muḥammad al-Ṣiddīqī al-Dawwānī 

  9. Mawlānā Saʿd al-Dīn Asʿad al-Dawwānī

  10. Al-Sayyid al-Sharīf Abū al-Ḥasan ʿAlī ibn Muḥammad al-Jurjānī

  11. ʿAllāmah Mubārak Shāh al-Miṣrī

  12. ʿAllāmah Muḥammad ibn Muḥammad Abū ʿAbd Allāh Quṭb al-Dīn al-Rāzī

  13. Qāḍī ʿAḍud al-Dīn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Aḥmad al-Ījī

  14. Shaykh Zayn al-Dīn al-Hankī

  15. Qāḍī al-Bayḍāwī Nāṣir al-Dīn Abū Saʿīd ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿUmar al-Shīrāzī

  16. ʿAllāmah Tāj al-Dīn Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥusayn al-Urmawī

  17. Abū ʿAbd Allāh Muḥammad ibn ʿUmar ibn Ḥusayn, Imām Fakhr al-Dīn al-Rāzī

  18. ʿAllāmah Ḍiyāʾ al-Dīn ʿUmar

  19. ʿAllāmah Muḥammad ibn Yaḥyā

  20. Imām Muḥammad ibn Muḥammad, Ḥujjat al-Islām Abū Ḥāmid al-Ghazālī

  21. Imām al-Ḥaramayn, ʿAbd Malik al-Juwaynī

  22. Al-Ustād Abū Isḥāq Ibrāhīm ibn Muḥammad ibn Ibrāhīm al-Istfarāʾīnī

  23. Shaykh Abū al-Ḥasan al-Bāhilī

  24. Imam Ahl-i al-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 Students; Scholars of 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. For example:

  • Mullā Ghulām Muḥammad Muṣṭafā, son of Mullā Muḥammad Asʿad, son of Mullā Quṭb al-Dīn al-Shahīd al-Sihālawī

  • Mullā Aḥmad ʿAbd al-Ḥaqq, son of Mullā Muḥammad Saʿīd, son of Mullā Quṭb al-Dīn al-Shahīd al-Sihālawī

  • Mullā ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz, son of Mullā Muḥammad Saʿīd, son of Mullā Quṭb al-Dīn al-Shahīd al-Sihālawī

  • Mullā Aḥmad Ḥusayn and Mullā ʿAbd al-Ḥayy, sons of Mullā Muḥammad Saʿīd, son of Mullā Quṭb al-Dīn al-Shahīd al-Sihālawī

  • Mullā Muḥammad ʿAlī, Mullā Muḥammad Walī, and Mullā Muḥammad Ḥasan (famously known as Mullā Ḥasan), sons of Mullā Ghulām Muḥammad Muṣṭafā, son of Muḥammad Asʿad, son of Mullā Quṭb al-Dīn al-Shahīd al-Sihālawī

  • Mullā Muḥibb-Allāh, son of Mullā Aḥmad ʿAbd al-Ḥaqq, son of Mullā Muḥammad Saʿīd, son of Mullā Quṭb al-Dīn al-Shahīd al-Sihālawī

  • Mullā Muḥammad Yaʿqūb, son of ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz, son of Muḥammad Saʿīd, son of Mullā Quṭb al-Dīn al-Shahīd al-Sihālawī

Some of his other most notable students include:

  • Qāḍī Mubārak

  • Mullā Muḥammad Ḥasan (famously known as Mullā Ḥasan)

  • Mawlānā Baḥr al-ʿUlūm ʿAbd al-ʿAlī al-Farangī Maḥallī (his noble son)

  • Mīrān Kamāl al-Dīn al-Bangālī

  • Mullā Kamāl al-Dīn al-Sihālawī (son of Qāḍī Dawlat al-Sihālawī)

Each of these scholars was an ocean of knowledge in their own right and truly deserves to be written about in the English language. Yet, these names merely scratch the surface of the vast scholarly network that studied under Mullā Niẓām al-Dīn who went on to become India’s Muslim scholarship. 

His Spirituality & Sufi Affiliations

Mullā Niẓām al-Dīn al-Sihālawī was regarded as a unique scholar of his time, excelling not only in the outward sciences but also in the inward, spiritual sciences. He was extremely humble and modest in temperament. He never liked to consider himself superior to anyone in any way. If anyone praised him, he would rebuke them.

He was a devoted disciple of Shaykh ʿAbd al-Razzāq al-Bānsawī in the Qādirī Sufi order. Great logicians, philosophers, ḥadīth scholars, exegetes, and theologians likewise greatly benefited from his esteemed company and spiritual guidance. 

Mullā Niẓām al-Dīn’s devotion to his Pīr and spiritual guide was so profound that he would walk barefoot to Bānsa Sharīf as a gesture of reverence. He further expressed this veneration by authoring an important work titled Manāqib-i-Razzāqiyya in honour of Shaykh ʿAbd al-Razzāq.

​​Shaykh Bānsawī also held Mullā Niẓām al-Dīn in the highest esteem and would count him among those referred to in the divine words:

“Indeed, those who believed, and did good deeds...” (al-Qurʾān al-Karīm).

Sayyid Ghulām ʿAlī Āzād al-Bilgrāmī personally saw him on the 19th of Dhū al-Ḥijjah, 1148 AH, in the city of Lucknow. He remarked that Mullā Niẓām al-Dīn was a man who walked upon the path of the pious predecessors.

His Books & Writings 

Mullā Niẓām al-Dīn al-Sihālawī had extensive writings in both rational and transmitted sciences. His notable works include:

  • Al-Risālah fī Wuḍū’ al-Rasūl ﷺ

  • Two commentaries on Musallam al-Thubūt; al-Aṭwal & al-Ṭawīl

  • Commentary on Taḥrīr al-Uṣūl of ʿAllāmah Ibn al-Humām

  • Al-Ṣubḥ al-Ṣādiq

  • Commentary on al-Manār al-Uṣūl

  • Super-commentary on Sharḥ al-ʿAqā’id al-Jalāliyah/al-ʿAḍudiyah

  • Super-commentary on al-Ḥawāshī al-Qadīmah al-Jalāliyah

  • Super-commentary on Sharḥ Hidāyah (al-Ḥikmah) of Ṣadr al-Dīn al-Shīrāzī

  • Super-commentary on al-Shams al-Bāzighah

  • Commentary on al-Risālah al-Mubārazīyah

  • Al-Manāqib al-Razzāqīyah

His Noble Departure

He passed away on Wednesday, the 19th of Jumādā al-Awwal 1161 AH (1748 CE) and was buried in Lucknow.

It is a well-attested (mujarrab) practice that when a student struggling to grasp the meaning of a particular book brings it to the grave of Mullā Niẓām al-Dīn, opens it there, and directs his attention toward him, then—by the permission of Allah—the meanings of the book begin to unfold for him.

May Allah ﷻ have mercy upon Ustād al-Hind and elevate his ranks.

Al-Fātiḥah.



Bibliography 

Āthār al-Awwal min ʿUlamāʾ Farangī Maḥall

Maʾāthir al-Kirām

al-Asānīd al-ʿĀliyah li-ʿUlamāʾ al-Jāmiʿah al-Qādiriyyah

Mumtaz ʿUlamāʾ-i Farangi Mahall

Tadhkirah ʿUlamāʾ-i Farangī Maḥall

Bānī Dars-i Niẓāmī

Chronicles of the Khairabadi Family: Rediscovering Our Lost Heritage

From the Farangi Mahall to Makkah: A Pure Connection Etched in Time