Biography of Shaykh Muhammad ibn Hashim Surti

Gujrat was a great place of knowledge in India, 3 great expert of Arabic literature were from there and they were all 3 Ahl e Hadith: Shaykh Abdul Aziz Memon, Shaykh Muhammad Surti and Shaykh AbdulMajeed Hariri.

In Gujrat in the village of Samrod, there was a great scholar Shaykh Muhammad ibn Hashim Samrodi Surti who was excelling in the science of Hadith, Fiqh, Tajweed, Arabic literature and other fields, he was born on the 16th December 1840. Among his teachers we count: Shaykh Raheemudin known as Faqeerullah Shah, Shaykh Abdullah Surti, Shaykh Husayn ibn Muhsin Yamani, Sayid Ali Ahmad Sondi, Shaykh Nazeerudin known as Ghulam Ali, Shaykh Mian Sayid Nazeer Husayn Dehlwi and Shaykh Mansoor Ar-Rahman who had ijazah from Qadhi Muhammad ibn Ali Shawkani.

Shaykh Muhammad ibn Hashim was very active in teaching, researching rare books of scholars and writing and doing Takhrij of books. Among his books we count:

1) “Nayl Al-Mina fi Taqseer Salah Bi Mina”
2) “Al-Aqwal Al-Yamaniyah fi Sharh Arab’een As-Sulayminyah” (Urdu prose)
3) ““Al-Aqwal Al-Yamaniyah fi Sharh Arab’een As-Sulayminyah” (Urdu poetry)
4) Translation of Sahih Al-Bukhari, 6 parts.
5) “Jawahir An-Nazam fil Faraidh”
6) He has a similar Urdu book on inheritance.
7) He wrote a book on the science of Arabic morphology
8) He translated in Urdu the Qaseedah At-Taaiyah of Allamah Abu Bakr Muqri
9) “Qaseedah fi Madh Khayr An-Nisa”
10) He wrote an epistle on Arabic grammar
11) “Misbah Al-Majalis fi Madh An-Nabi (saw)”
12) A Qaseedah about his teacher Shaykh Jamaludin Musa Surti
13) An Arabic Qaseedah about his teacher Shaykh Sayid Mian Nazeer Husayn Dehlwi.

Shaykh Muhammad ibn Hashim passed away on the 17 January 1898 from plague. His son Shaykh Abu Sa’adat Ali Ahmad Samrodi was also a renowned scholar who had ijaza from Mian Nazeer Husayn Delhwi, and Shaykh Abdul Jaleel Samrodi was the son of Shaykh Abu Sa’adat and grand son of Shaykh Muhammad ibn Hashim Samrodi.

Biography of Shaykh AbdulJaleel Samrodi

Shaykh Abdul Jaleel Samrodi was born in 1893 in Samrod. At the age of 5, plague affected the village of Samrod and many people from the village passed away and his family was decimated by it including his father and grand father. Only 7 members from his family in Samrod survived, 3 males: Shaykh AbdulJaleel, his paternal uncle and his paternal uncle’s son. 4 Women survived as well, his two sisters, his paternal aunt, and a daughter of his paternal uncle. Shaikh Muhammad Hashim had other sons outside Samrod.

In 1905 he went to Delhi to join the Madrasah of Mian Nazeer Husayn Dehlwi but he was only 12 and the Madrasah did not have classes for young students. Shaykh Abdul Aziz Memon was present there and he advised Shaykh AbdulJaleel to join the Madrasah of Shaykh AbdulWahab Dehlwi. His maternal uncle Shaykh Muhammad Surti was also residing in Delhi and he enrolled Shaykh AbdulJaleel in the Madrasah of Shaykh AbdulWahab Dehlwi. Shaykh Abdul Jaleel learned Islamic sciences from Shaykh AbdulWahab Dehlwi for 8 years and became among his preeminent students. He studied logic and philosophy from a Hanafi scholar in Fathpuri Masjid Delhi.

Shaykh AbdulJaleel Samrodi performed Hajj in 1912 at the age of 20 and when drinking Zamzam, he invoked Allah to reach the level of Imam Bukhari in Hadith and reach above the level of verification of Hafiz ibn Hajar. He said: “This was the invocation from the heart of this weak person and like a form of Junoon, but Allah has bestowed on this weak person such generosity in verification that I am unable to thank him.” He also said: “I would find sometimes after verification some matters that Hafiz ibn Hajar would not find.” He further said: “I am proud of it, and it is not my claim that I am better than him, no he is hundreds of thousands times superior to me, I don’t even reach the level of his shoes, the virtue belongs to the predecessors. This insignificant person does not perceive himself as similar to him, so what about dreaming to be superior to him? Nevertheless I do not blindly follow his verification like others do”

His students

After completing his studies, he returned to his hometown of Samrod and established an institute under the name “Madrasah Islamiyah Arabiyah Daar Al-Kitab wa Sunnah” in which teachers would teach beginners’ subjects to students. He himself would teach his students in his library and in his Masjid. Many students from all provinces would travel to study from him, even from Sumatra, Gao and Indonesia.

We count among his famous students: Shaykh Muhammad Ishaq Jalili Faydhabadi, Shaykh AbdulBarr ibn AbdilJaleel Samrodi, Shaykh AbdulMajeed Faizi, Hafiz Hameedullah Jalili, Shaykh AbdurRahman ibn AbdilJaleel Samrodi, Shaykh Ahmad Dehlwi, Shaykh AbdulWahid Dehlwi, Shaykh Shihabudin Mujahid, Shaykh Abdullah, Shaykh Azmatullah (UP), Shaykh Isma’eel, Shaykh AbdulMateen (Bengal) and many others.

The list of some of the writings of the Shaykh:

1) “Waseelah An-Najat fi Ittiba Sunnah Nabiyina Sayidina As-Sadat” (Arabic/Urdu)
2) “I’tiqad Al-Akabir fi Ijra As-Sifat ‘ala Zawahir” (Arabic)
3) “Al-Ba’ith Al-Hathith fi Fadl Ilmil Hadith wa Ahlihi Ad-Dahith” (Arabic)
4) “Zahrah Riyadh Al-Abrar” (Arabic/Urdu)
5) “I’lam Sunnan Al-Ghani fi Talkhis Ad-Dua’fa wal Matrukin min Kitab Abil Hasan Ad-Daraqutni” (Arabic)
6) “Ad-Daleel Al-Azhar fi Tahqeeq Ma’na Allahu Akbar” (Arabic)
7) “Al-Ghamghamah fi Suniyatil Tasmiyah Indal At’imah wa Ghayriha dunal Basmalah” (Arabic)
8) “Irsal Al-Bareed Li Qat’ Laghadeed Ahlil Taqleed wa Tardeed liman ‘Aza Ahlal Hadeeth ilal Qawl Al-Jadeed”
9) “Al-Ghamghamah ma’a Tarjmah Al-Jamjamah”
10) “Al-Fakihah Al-Fareedhah fi Jawaz Rafil Yaday ba’dal Fareedhah”
11) “Samsam Al-Muwahideen”
12) “Al-Insaf fi Anna ma Radahu Al-Ajburi Radan li Mazhab Al-Ahnaaf”
13) “Islah Al-Jarh Al-Mateen fi Tathleeth At-Tameen”
14) “Bue Ghuslayn iz Qatarat Ishreen”
15) “Naseem Riyaheen min Riyad Salihin Sharh Riyadh Salihin Imam Nawawi”
16) “Al-Khizi Al-Wajeel liman Sannafa Al-Jarh Al-Jameel”
17) “Al-‘Azab Al-Maheen li Qati Al-Wateen inda Rabbil Alameen Al-Muqalab bih Izhar Al-Haqq Al-Mubeen biRad Talbeesat Al-Muqalideen Ash-Saheer bih Fiqh Ahnaf ke Asrari Gar”
18) “Intiba An-Naaimeen bi Mujarad Wusul Rawaij Khurafat Al-Muqalideen”
19) “Nayl Al-Maram bi Izalatil Awham ‘an Asnan ma yudha min Baheematil An’am” (Tahqiq Al-Musinah)
20) “Ta’lim Ad-Deen Al-Ma’ruf bih Qawaneen Shar’ Muhammadi”
21) “Ihqaq Al-Haqq Al-Haqeeq”
22) “Tahzeer Al-Anam ‘an Wasawis mani’i Al-Qira’ah Khalfal Imam”
23) “Izhar Ainah Haqiqat”
24) “Al-Haqq As-Sahih As-Sareeh fi Masalah At-Taraweeh”
25) “Tams Al-‘Ayn fi Rad Dalail ‘adm Rafil Yadayn”
26) Dhaw Al-Masabih Hashiyah Mishkat Al-Masabih, which he wrote up to Kitab Al-Janaiz (Arabic)
27) Tarjmah Kitab Al-Qira’ah Imam Bayhaqi
28) Islami Kasoti (Gujrati)
29) Tamam Al-Khushu bi Idrak Ar-Ruku’
30) Al-Amr Ar-Rashad.

With these, Shaykh AbdulJaleel Samrodi had other books in Urdu and Gujrati. Many of the above books and other books not in this list have recently been compiled in 3 volumes under the name “Majmooah Rasail Allamah AbdulJaleel Samrodi” by Shaykh Mahmood ibn AbdilWahab ibn Ahmad ibn Mahmood ibn Muhammad ibn Hashim. Shaykh Mahmood’s grandfather Ahmad was Shaykh AbdulJaleel’s first cousin, his paternal uncle’s son, so also a grand son of Shaykh Muhammad ibn Hashim.

“Dhaw Al-Masabih” (Arabic) of Shaykh AbdulJaleel Samrodi has recently been published by Shaykh AbdurRahman Feraway in 3 volumes, with the Tahqiq of Shaykh AbdulWahab ibn Mahmood ibn AbdilWahab ibn Ahmad ibn Mahmood ibn Muhammad ibn Hashim Samrodi Surti) and Shaykh Ahrar Shareef.

Likewise “Al-Ghamghamah” (Arabic) has also been recently published with the Tahqiq of Shaykh Qasim ibn Ahmad At-Talashi, teacher in Madeenah University, and published by Daar al-Hadith Delhi.

His services

After completing his studies, Shaykh AbdulJaleel Samrodi took the chair of Khateeb of his grand father Allamah Muhammad ibn Hashim. With this he also debated many Christian priests and innovators. His debates lead many extreme innovators of the Jambosar village in the area of Broch Gujrat to become Ahl e Hadith. He debated many preeminent Brelwi scholars such as Chasmat Ali Brelwi, Sakandar Shah Mirathi and in 1946 he debated scholars of the Rizwi family in Shish Gharh Brelly.

Shaykh Abdul Jaleel with his Madrasah also established a library called “Maktabah Muhammadiyah Jaleeliyah”. This Maktabah contains very rare manuscripts collected by Shaykh Muhammad ibn Hashim Samrodi. Shaykh AbdulJaleel also collected many books and would spend most of his time in his library, reading and researching.

The scholars’ praise of Shaykh Abdul Jaleel’s knowledge:

1) On the 6th April 1947, Shaykh Thanaullah Amritsari wrote a letter to Shaykh AbdulJaleel Samrodi that he and Shaykh Abdul Aziz Memon should both come to Amritsar and decide between the scholarly dispute between Shaykh Thanaullah and Hafiz Abdullah Ropuri. This letter shows the importance given by Shaykh Thanaullah Amritsari to Shaykh Abdul Jaleel Samrodi and constitutes an acknowledgement of his great knowledge.

2) On a topic of jurisprudence, Shaykh Abul Qasim Sayf Banarsi and Shaykh AbdulJaleel Samrodi were writing to each other as they had different views, and when Shaykh Abul Qasim Sayf Banarsi received Shaykh AbdulJaleel Samrodi’s reply, he wrote to him after some time: “I have been looking for matters for a month and half and you have replied after few days, my intellect gets amazed how you manage to find such substance and how you compile it in a beautiful manner. This is a particular virtue upon you and we are deprived of such”

3) Shaykh AbdurRauf Rehmani Jandhagarhi wrote in a letter to Shaykh Samrodi on the 22nd August 1957: “After Sayf Al-Banarsi, the magnificence and pride of he Jama’at is remaining only through your courage. Where do we find such scholar of deep cognisance, Imam of the time?”

4) Shaykh AbdulWahab Dehlwi wrote in his introduction to Shaykh AbdulJaleel’s “Tahqiq Al-Musinah”: “My students similar to him are few”

5) Shaykh Muqtada Hasan Al-Azhari wrote in his introduction to “Al-Ba’ith Al-Hatith” p 11: “Shaykh Samrodi was a person of great determination, extremely precise, he would not bother about the one who would oppose him in research and verification. What lead him to this was his extensive knowledge and great cognisance of sources of Hadith and Fiqh”

6) Shaykh Marghoob Ahmad from the Deobandi school of thought replied to some of Shaykh AbdulJaleel’s epistles on throwing stones during Hajj, and Shaykh Abdul Jaleel Samrodi replied to him straight away quoting from 10 books of Hadith and Fiqh. Shaykh Marghoob Ahmad wrote a letter to Shaykh Samrodi on the 23rd January 1957 saying in it: “Dear Shaykh, you have replied in a quick time quoting from 10 books. This indicates the Shaykh’s great cognisance and knowledge of Mazahib (schools of thoughts of jurisprudence), may Allah increase you in faith, certitude and jurisprudence”

7) Shaykh AbdulJaleel Samrodi had studied Tafsir, Hadith, Jurisprudence, Arabic literature, Arabic grammar and morphology, and other sciences from Shaykh AbdulWahab Dehlwi and he had Ijazah in Hadith from him. Shaykh AbdulJaleel Samrodi also sought Ijazah in Hadith from Shaykh Sayid Muhammad Badrudin Dimashqi who was teaching in Damascus in the Madrasah Daar Al-Hadith Nabawiyah. Shaykh Badrudin Dimashqi read some of the Arabic writings of Shaykh Samrodi and was very impressed by the Shaykh’s knowledge and wrote in his Ijazah to him: “The noble Molana the precise Shaykh the Muhaqiq Al-Allamah Abu AbdilKabeer known as Abdul Jaleel Samordi, may Allah continue his benefit (to people), Ameen”

His great respect for scholars

Shaykh AbdulJaleel Samrodi had a great respect for Imams and scholars, for instance he would write “Imam A’zam (greatest Imam)” for Imam Abu Hanifah, he would write about Shaykh AbdulHai Luknawi: “Allamah Luknawi”, he would write about Nawab Siddiq Hasan Khan: “Nawab Walah Jah Bhopali”, he would write about Shaykh Thanaullah Amritsari: “Allamah Amritsari”, he would write about Shaykh AbdurRauf Jandhagarhi: “Khateeb Al-Ullama”, and about Shaykh Abdul Aziz Memon: “Adeeb Al-Hind Allamah Abdul Aziz Memon”, and about Shaykh Abdullah Ghaznawi: “Hazrat Molana Arif Billah Abdullah Ghaznawi”

His family

He married the daughter of his paternal uncle and had 3 sons and 3 daughters.

His death

Shaykh Abdul Jaleel Samrodi passed away on the 16th September 1972.

Sources: “Gulistan e Hadith” of Shaykh Ishaq Bhatti and introduction of Shaykh Mahmood ibn AbdilWahab to “Majmooah Rasail Allamah Abdul Jaleel Samrodi” and others.