Research and Editing of the manuscript “Al zafrul Hameediyah Fi Ithbat-il Khilaphah of Alama Hafiz Abdul Jameel (Died: 1946)

Abstract

Allama Abdul Jameel (1864-1946) of Toru, a village of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, was a notable religious scholar of the subcontinent in his era. He remained Sadar Mudarris (Principal) in various renowned Madaris of subcontinent such as madrasa Ma’dan ul Ulum, Rampur (1890-91), Dar ul Ulum-e-Latifiya Vellor (now Chinai) (1891-94), and Madrasa Fatehpur Dehli (1895-1900). He was the teacher of prominent Ulema like Mulana Anwer Shah Kashmeri (1875-1935), a renowned religious scholar of the subcontinent. Despite being in the circles of great scholars and holding key administrative positions, his intellectual works have not been brought forth to the academia and still are preserved in the shape of manuscripts. One of his master pieces is the manuscript entitled as “Al-Zafarul Hameediyah Fi Athbatil Khilaphah” which preserves much of the treasured of Islamic knowledge regarding the issue of the time. The manuscript discusses the Islamic Khilaphat with special reference to Khilaphat-e-Uthmaniya in the light of Quran, Hadith and his scholastic approach. However, the manuscript in its original form remains in great danger of deterioration. If it is not preserved in time, this might be a great loss of a rich source of yet unfamiliar knowledge and history. Therefore, this paper aims to edit and preserve the manuscript so as to familiarize readers and researchers with a unique perspective of Islamic history of the subcontinent and to re-engage with the crucial subject of Khilaphat in today’s divisive Islamic world.