Publisher's Preface

عرض ناشر

بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَٰنِ الرَّحِيمِ

Hazrat Bahr al-Ulum Muhammad Abdul Qadeer Siddiqui Hasrat (rahimahullah) was a matchless personality of Hyderabad — a man in whose memory the scholars and teachers of learning themselves found comfort. He was born on Wednesday, 24 Rajab 1288 AH (13 October 1871 CE) in Hyderabad, Deccan, the celebrated city of knowledge. He passed the final Maulvi and Munshi examinations from Punjab University with distinction. Then he returned to Hyderabad, where he became widely known in the educational circles of the Deccan. When Jamia Usmaniya was established, he was appointed Professor and Head of the Department of Religious Sciences by royal decree of the Nizam's government, and his tenure of service there continued uninterruptedly for more than ten years.

He began his magnificent complete Qur'anic commentary — 'Tafsir Siddiqui' — in Pakistan, and its printing had reached completion there. The task of its final production was accomplished, with the grace of Allah, and it reached Hyderabad in 1979. The Academy, on its own part, proved by researching the treatise 'Mas'ala Adam-e-Naskh-e-Quran' that no verse of the noble Qur'an has been abrogated. His works in Arabic on specific jurisprudential topics — including a translation of Ibn Arabi's legal treatise — brought him fame at Darul-Tarjuma, Jamia Usmaniya. Among his writings on Islamic wisdom are: Islamiyya, al-Ma'arif, al-Irfan al-Tawfid (in Persian), and Irfan (a maktubat collection).

He was a master of Urdu, Persian, and Arabic, and composed poetry in Urdu and Hindi. His collected works have been published under the title 'Kulliyat-e-Hasrat.' He departed to the mercy of Allah on 22 Shawwal 1381 AH (28 March 1962 CE). — Muhammad Abbas Alamdar Siddiqui, Administrator, Hasrat Academy and Kutub Khana Bahr al-Ulum, Siddiq Colony, Hyderabad.