Learning About Iman by Siddiq Hasan Khan al-Qanuji (Dar Al-Arqam)

In the words of the author, this small treatise, Ta ‘limul (man (Learning About Iman), is the explanation of complete Iman, which is the means of entering Paradise. The first thing he mentioned at the start of this treatise in a summarised explanation of the famous badith of Jibril. He then goes on to mention a summarised definition of man, the virtue of the statement of Tawlid as well as other issues pertaining to “Agidab in a concise manner.

This treatise was authored on 1305/1888. Wednesday the 9th of Jümadul Äkhirah in the year Shaykh Siddiq Hast Khan was born in 1832 in his mother’s village, Banis Barele. He was of noble linage which traced back to the Prophet (%) and he ended up becoming a Sunni scholar of high eminence during his era. At 21 years of age, he travelled to the centre of Islämic knowledge in his region, Delhi. During his studies he mastered the Arabic language, Figh, Tafsir, Hadith and other sciences from the likes of Shäh ‘Abd al-‘Aziz. Dehlawi and Shaykh ‘Abd al-Qadir Muhaddith Banärsi. In 1871, while he was in the service of the state of Bhopal, he gained the status of Nawab (Viceroy) which is a royal title indicating a sovereign ruler and essentially acted as the head of state. With his new-found authority he launched orphanages, Masjids and research centres for the propagation of Islamic academic works etc. He made every effort to prevent and exterminate crime in order to promote peace and security within his region. He spent lots of money on buying the manuscripts of Tafsir In Kathir, Fathul Bari Sharb Sahil al-Bukhäri and Naylul Awtar etc. He spent 50,000 rupees (of his era) on Fathul Bari alone which shows that he was funding a significant amount of wealth towards these ventures. Before this, these books were not obtainable in the Indian Subcontinent. Due to all of this effort, Bhopal flourished in becoming the centre for the scholars of hadith and knowledge for a certain period of time. His Fathud Bayan Fi Magasid al-Qur an, Fathul ‘Allam Bi Shark Bulighul Maram, Makärim ul-Akblag, Ieihaf An-Nubala and Abjad al- Ulim are great examples of his vast knowledge and eloquence in Islamic authorship.