Biography of Shaykh AbdurRasheed Raashid Hazarwi (1935-2020)

His family

Shaykh AbdurRasheed is from the Awan family, his father Shaykh AbdulMajeed and grand father Hakeem Muhammad Ishaq were respected scholars. The famous elder from their family was called Qutb Shah.

Shaykh AbdurRasheed was born in 1935 in Sarafa near Galiath in the suburb of Abbottabad. At the age of 3 his grand father, his father and mother passed away within a month, so he was taken in charge by his maternal grandfather Shaykh Wali Muhammad, who was a reputed religious scholar, while his younger brother and sister were being raised by his paternal aunts.

His studies

Shaykh AbdurRasheed Raashid studied in the Madrasah of Shaykh Muhammad Idrees for 4 years where he studied preliminary books such as “Bulugh Al-Maram”, some parts of “Mishkat” and others. He studied there up to 1947 and joined afterwards the Madrasah Dar Al-Ulum Ta’leem Al-Islam in the village of OdhanWala established by Sufi Abdullah. At this time Shaykh Abdul Hameed Hazarwi from his area was also studying there. Shaykh AbdurRasheed Raashid Hazarwi graduated from Dar Al-Ulum Ta’leem Al-Islam Odhanwala in 1954.

His teaching

Afterwards Shaykh AbdurRasheed Raashid Hazarwi went to Gujranwala to study in Jamiah Islamiyah from Hafiz Muhammad Gondalwi. In June 1954, he went to visit his younger brother Binyamin who was studying in Dar Al-Ulum Ta’leem Al-Islam Odhanwala and Sufi Abdullah requested him to teach there and leave his studies in Gujranwala. Thus upon his insistence he became teacher in Dar Al-Ulum Ta’leem Al-Islam where he taught up to 1979 for 25 years.

This Dar Al-Ulum was established in a Masjid in the village of Odhanwala but in 1963 Sufi Abdullah started to build a larger Madrasah in Mamu Kanjan to transfer his Madrasah there and some classes started there in 1963 after some rooms were built and all the classes moved in 1969 to Mamu Kanjan after the completion of the building. Afterwards Jamiyah Ta’leem Al-Islam was the Madrasah in Mamun Kanjan and the former Madrasah in Odhanwala was renamed Dar Al-Ulum Taqwiyatul Islam and Shaykh Muhammad Ya’qub Malhawi was given charge of it.

Shaykh AbdurRasheed Raashid Hazarwi went to Sahiwal in 1979 where he was the Imam in Masjid Thanaiyah. He would teach Hadith after Asr and Quran after Isha, and many people among laymen, students and teachers would attend his lessons on the Quran. In 1982, Shaykh Abdul Aziz who was the director of Daar Al-Hadith Okarah (established in 1954) requested Shaykh AbdurRasheed Hazarwi to teach in Daar Al-Hadith Okarah, so the Shaykh started teaching there and he would travel everyday from Sahiwal to Okara, and he kept his lessons in the evening in Masjid Thanaiyah in Sahiwal. The Shaykh taught from 1982 to his death in Daar Al-Hadith Okara for 38 years.

His famous teachers:

We count among Shaykh AbdurRasheed Raashid Hazarwi’s famous teachers:

1. Shaykh Shareefullah Khan Sawati
2. Shaykh Muhammad Ya’qub Malhawi
3. Hafiz Muhammad Gondalwi
4. Hafiz Abdullah Badheemalwi
5. Shaykh Abdullah Muzaffargarhi
6. Peer Muhammad Ya’qub Qureshi
7. Shaykh Muhammad Sadiq Khalil
8. Shaykh AbdusSamad Rauf
9. Shaykh AbdulKabeer
10.  Shaykh Muhammad Rafeeq

His famous students:

Shaykh AbdurRasheed Raashid Hazarwi had many students during his 63 years of teachings in Madaris, we count among his most famous students:

1. Hafiz Muhammad Shareef ( Faisalabad)
2. Hafiz Maqsood Ahmad (Islamabad)
3. Dr Muhammad Isma’eel Goraya (Multan)
4. Shaykh Tayib Mu’az (Faisalabad)
5. Shaykh Barq Tawheedi (editor of the monthly “At-Tawheed”)
6. Shaykh Hifz Ar-Rahman Lakhvi (Renala Khurd)
7. Hafiz Muhammad Idrees (Jeddah KSA)
8. Qari Muhammad Khalid (Riyadh KSA)
9. Syed Mas’ood Shah (Abbotabad)
10. Shaykh AbdulWaahid (Biltistan)

Tahreek Khatme Nubuwwat

Shaykh AbdurRasheed Raashid Hazarwi like many other scholars played an active role in the Tahreek Khatme Nubuwwat movement in 1974. He was at the time teacher in Jamiah Ta’leem Al-Islam Mamun Kanjan and he lead the rallies in Mamun Kanjan for which he was arrested, but released straight from jail as protesters had surrounded the jail. After Zulfiker Ali Bhutto declared Qadiyanis as Non Muslims, Shaykh AbdurRasheed Raashid Hazarwi was awarded by the government along other scholars for his services in Tahreek Khatme Nubuwwat.

His family

Shaykh AbdurRasheed Raashid Hazarwi married in 1958 and he had 6 sons, one passed away young and one was martyred insha Allah in the Jihad against Russians in 1989 in Sarobi near Kabul. His eldest son Muhammad Basheer is a businessman in Sahiwal, his second son AbdulKhabeer is working in KSA, his third son AbdulGhafoor BA is a teacher in Sahiwal. His fourth son Qari AbdurRahman Atiq graduated from Jamiyah Ta’leem Al-Islam MamunKanjan, he studied with his father from Shaykh AbdulGhaffar Hasan and Shaykh AbdusSattar Hammad. Shaykh AbdurRahman Atiq was assistant Professor in the International Islamic University Islamabad and moved for further studies to UK were he was Imam in Masjid Umar Nottingham and an active scholar of Markazi Jamiat Ahl e Hadith Uk. He is currently doing post graduate studies in Canada.

His efforts

With his teaching, Shaykh AbdurRasheed Rashid Hazarwi authored many articles in the magazines “Al-I’tisam”, “Tanzeem Ahl e Hadith”, “Ahl e Hadith”, “Tanzeem Ahl e Hadith” and others. He also established many Masajid in Sahiwal.

His death

Shaykh AbdurRasheed Raashid Hazarwi passed away on the 29 May 2020, after teaching for more than 63 years in Madaris (25 in Odhanwala and MamunKanjan and 38 years in Okarah), may Allah grant him Jannat Al-Firdaws, and grant his son Shaykh AbdurRahman Atiq the Tawfeeq to carry on his legacy!  

Source: “Gulistan Hadith” of Shaykh Ishaq Bhatti and others.