Muhammad Rafi Usmani (21 July 1936 – 18 November 2022) was a Pakistani Islamic scholar, jurist, and author of the Deobandi school, recognized as the Grand Mufti of Pakistan and serving as president of Darul Uloom Karachi, a leading seminary he helped develop into a major center for Islamic learning.[1][2] Born in Deoband, British India, to the prominent scholar Muhammad Shafi Usmani, he graduated from Darul Uloom Deoband with traditional training in Islamic sciences, including fiqh and hadith.[3][4] Following his father's establishment of Darul Uloom Karachi in 1951, Usmani assumed leadership as principal for over 50 years after Shafi's death in 1976, expanding its academic programs and influence among Sunni scholars in Pakistan.[5][6]Usmani's scholarly contributions emphasized jurisprudence, exegesis, and hadith, authoring works that advanced Deobandi interpretations while serving as vice president of Wifaq ul Madaris al-Arabia, an umbrella body for Deobandi seminaries.[7][6] He issued fatwas on contemporary issues, maintaining a focus on orthodox Sunni positions, and was regarded as a leader of Ahlus Sunnah wal Jama'ah in Pakistan, prioritizing textual fidelity over modern reinterpretations.[5] His tenure at Darul Uloom Karachi solidified its role in producing muftis and educators, with thousands attending his funeral in Karachi, reflecting widespread respect among traditionalist Muslim communities.[1][7]
Early Life and Family Background
Birth and Upbringing
Muhammad Rafi Usmani was born on 21 July 1936 in Deoband, a town in the Saharanpur District of British India known as a hub of Islamic scholarship.[1][8] He was named Muhammad Rafi by the prominent Deobandi scholarAshraf Ali Thanwi, reflecting the family's deep ties to the ulama tradition.[8][3]As the eldest son of Mufti Muhammad Shafi, a leading jurist who served as Grand Mufti of Darul Uloom Deoband and later became Pakistan's first Grand Mufti, Usmani was raised in a household centered on Islamic studies and jurisprudence.[9][8] His father's position at the seminary exposed him from childhood to rigorous religious discourse and the intellectual environment of Deoband's scholarly community.[9]Usmani's early upbringing occurred amid the Usmani family's longstanding legacy in Deobandi scholarship, fostering his initial immersion in Quranic studies and fiqh before the family's relocation following the 1947 partition of India.[1] This period laid the groundwork for his lifelong commitment to Islamic legal scholarship within a familial and institutional framework emphasizing traditional Sunni orthodoxy.[9]
Family Lineage and Influences
Muhammad Rafi Usmani was born on July 21, 1936, in Deoband, British India, into the Usmani family, a lineage of Deobandi scholars originating from the town of Deoband itself.[1][10] His father, Mufti Muhammad Shafi (1897–1976), was a leading Hanafi jurist who served as Grand Mufti of Darul Uloom Deoband from 1932 to 1935 and later became the first Grand Mufti of Pakistan after founding Darul Uloom Karachi in 1951.[11][12] Shafi's father, Muhammad Yasin Usmani, numbered among the earliest students of Darul Uloom Deoband, embedding the family in the institution's foundational scholarly tradition.[12]Usmani was named Muhammad Rafi by Ashraf Ali Thanvi, the influential Deobandi reformer and Sufi master known as Hakeemul Ummah, whose works on fiqh, tafsir, and spiritual purification shaped much of the movement's intellectual framework.[10][9] This naming reflected early recognition of his potential within the family's scholarly milieu. As the elder brother of Muhammad Taqi Usmani (born 1943), another prominent Deobandi jurist, Rafi Usmani grew up alongside siblings in an environment prioritizing rigorous Islamic study, with the family migrating to Pakistan in 1947 amid the partition.[1][10]Key influences included his father's emphasis on practical fatwa issuance and hadith scholarship, as Shafi authored extensive works like Ma'ariful Qur'an and trained students in Deobandi methodology.[11] The household's immersion in Hanafi jurisprudence, Maturidi theology, and Sufi practices—tracing to Deoband's founders like Mahmud Hasan Deobandi—instilled a commitment to orthodox Sunni scholarship resistant to modernist deviations.[12] Usmani's adherence to these paternal and institutional influences later defined his role as a mufti focused on authentic Islamic rulings over contemporary adaptations.[9]
Education
Studies in Deoband and Pakistan
Muhammad Rafi Usmani was born on 21 July 1936 in Deoband, British India, into a scholarly family associated with the Deobandi movement. He commenced his early Islamic education at Darul Uloom Deoband, the premier seminary of the Deobandi tradition founded in 1866, where he pursued foundational studies in Quranic recitation, basic fiqh, and other preliminary subjects typical of the Dars-e-Nizami curriculum.[9][3] These initial years at Deoband, prior to the partition of India, laid the groundwork for his lifelong commitment to Hanafi jurisprudence and Hadith scholarship, influenced by the institution's emphasis on traditional Sunni orthodoxy.[13]Following the partition of India in 1947, Usmani migrated with his family to Pakistan in 1948, settling in Karachi. There, he continued his education, obtaining the Maulvi Fazil degree—a advanced certification in Islamic studies—from the University of the Punjab, which recognized his proficiency in classical Arabic texts and Islamic sciences.[14] Subsequently, he enrolled at Darul Uloom Karachi, established in 1951 by his father, MuftiMuhammad Shafi, as a continuation of the Deobandi educational model in the new nation. At this seminary, Usmani specialized in Islamic jurisprudence (fiqh), ifta (fatwa issuance), and advanced Hadith studies, completing the full Dars-e-Nizami program.[14][13]Usmani graduated from Darul Uloom Karachi in 1960, marking the culmination of his formal religious training in Pakistan. This period equipped him with expertise in issuing legal rulings within the Hanafi school, a skill he later applied in teaching roles at the same institution during the 1960s, where he instructed on Hadith, ifta, and the Dars-e-Nizami syllabus.[12][3] His education bridged traditional madrasa learning with formal academic validation from a state university, reflecting the adaptive strategies of Deobandi scholars post-partition to sustain scholarly continuity amid geopolitical upheaval.[14]
Key Teachers and Curriculum
Usmani's early education commenced at Darul Uloom Deoband, where he memorized approximately half of the Quran before the partition of India in 1948.[9][15] After migrating to Pakistan on May 1, 1948, he completed his Quranic memorization at Masjid Bab al-Uloom and pursued advanced studies at Darul Uloom Karachi, founded by his father, Mufti Muhammad Shafi.[15]He followed the traditional Dars-e-Nizami curriculum, a structured program originating in the 18th century under scholars like Mullah Nizamuddin, emphasizing Hanafi jurisprudence, hadith sciences, Arabic linguistics, logic, and rational sciences.[16][4] This included preliminary stages with Quran recitation, tajwid, basic Arabic grammar (sarf and nahw), and Persian for administrative texts, progressing to intermediate texts on rhetoric (balagha), logic (mantiq), and philosophy (falsafa), and culminating in advanced works such as fiqh compendia (Hidayah, Fatawa Alamgiri), usul al-fiqh, tafsir (Tafsir al-Jalalayn), and major hadith collections.[16] He passed the molvi (Islamic scholarship) and munshi (Persian clerical) examinations as part of this regimen.[4]Among his prominent teachers in hadith were Rashid Ahmed Ludhianvi for Sahih al-Bukhari and Akbar Ali for Sahih Muslim, scholars affiliated with Deobandi institutions who transmitted these core Sunni texts through rigorous oral and textual analysis.[3] Usmani specialized in ifta (jurisprudential rulings) at Darul Uloom Karachi around 1960, under the guidance of senior faculty including his father, focusing on practical application of Hanafi fiqh to contemporary issues.[9] This training equipped him to issue fatwas, emphasizing evidence-based reasoning from primary sources like Quran, hadith, and classical commentaries over unsubstantiated custom.
Migration to Pakistan and Early Activism
Settlement After Partition
Following the partition of British India on August 14, 1947, Muhammad Rafi Usmani and his family migrated from Deoband to Pakistan as part of the widespread movement of Muslims fleeing communal violence and seeking stability in the new Islamic state. At the time, Usmani was 11 years old and had already begun memorizing the Quran at Darul Uloom Deoband.[16] The family specifically arrived on May 1, 1948, and settled in Karachi, Pakistan's principal port city and emerging center for Muslim intellectuals displaced by partition.[3][13]In Karachi, the Usmanis established a foothold amid the challenges of postwar resettlement, including housing shortages and economic disruption affecting millions of muhajirs (migrants). Rafi Usmani promptly resumed his education, completing the full memorization of the Quran (hifz) that same year at Masjid Bab al-Uloom.[3] His father, Mufti Muhammad Shafi Usmani—a leading Deobandi jurist who had resigned from Darul Uloom Deoband in 1943 to support the Pakistan Movement—prioritized institutional revival, founding Darul Uloom Karachi in 1951 (1371 AH) to replicate the Deobandi curriculum and train scholars for the young republic.[11][17] This madrasa, initially housed in modest facilities, became the family's scholarly base, enabling Rafi to transition from basic Quranic studies to advanced Islamic sciences under his father's guidance.[11]The settlement reflected broader patterns among Deobandi ulama who viewed Pakistan as a tabula rasa for implementing sharia-influenced governance, free from Hindu-majority constraints. Mufti Shafi's role in early state committees on Islamic constitutionalism further anchored the family's influence, though initial years involved adapting to urban Karachi's diverse migrant influx without state subsidies for religious institutions.[11] By the mid-1950s, Darul Uloom Karachi had grown into a key hub, underscoring the Usmanis' rapid integration and commitment to preserving orthodox Hanafi-Maturidi scholarship amid Pakistan's formative secular-Islamic tensions.[18]
Initial Scholarly Engagements
Following his migration to Pakistan on May 1, 1948, Muhammad Rafi Usmani resumed and completed his advanced Islamic studies at Darul Uloom Karachi, graduating in 1960 alongside his brother Muhammad Taqi Usmani.[15][12] Immediately thereafter, from approximately 1380 AH to 1390 AH (corresponding to the 1960s CE), he commenced teaching the full Dars-e-Nizami curriculum at the same institution, covering core texts in fiqh, hadith, tafsir, Arabic grammar, and logic to cohorts of students preparing for scholarly roles.[9] This early instructional role established him as a key educator in Pakistan's Deobandi tradition, emphasizing rigorous textual analysis and practical application of Hanafi jurisprudence.Concurrently, Usmani initiated engagements in ifta, dedicating substantial time during his initial teaching phase to drafting fatwas on contemporary issues, drawing on the methodologies of his predecessors at Darul Uloom Deoband and Karachi.[5] These activities involved training emerging scholars in fatwa composition and jurisprudential reasoning, fostering a cadre of muftis attuned to local Pakistani contexts while adhering to classical Hanafi principles.[3] His contributions in this period laid groundwork for later leadership, as the seminary, founded by his father Muhammad Shafi in 1951, grew into a major center for Deobandi learning with thousands of students.[9]
Involvement in the Soviet-Afghan War
Participation in Jihad Against Communism
Mufti Muhammad Rafi Usmani traveled to Afghanistan during the Soviet-Afghan War in the late 1980s to support the mujahideen resistance against the communist Soviet occupation. His firsthand involvement included documenting battlefield conditions and mujahideen operations, as recorded in his travelogue Ya tere pur asrar bande, which serves as a key historical account of the jihad's progress.[5]In this work and his subsequent publication Jihad in Afghanistan against Communism (Karachi: Darul-Ishaat, 1992), Usmani detailed specific engagements, such as the mujahideen offensives leading to the liberation of Khost in 1991 and battles around Jalalabad, drawing on observations from his time in the region.[19][20] These accounts emphasize the religious imperative of defensive warfare against atheistic communism, portraying the conflict as a collective Muslim duty to repel invasion.[21]Usmani's efforts extended to encouraging Pakistani students and scholars to join the cause, aligning with broader Deobandi mobilization for the anti-Soviet struggle from 1979 to 1989, during which over 3,000 Pakistani volunteers reportedly participated alongside Afghan fighters.[5] His writings from this period, including speeches like "Afghanistan Jihad aur hamare faraid," framed the jihad as an obligation under Islamic jurisprudence for able-bodied Muslims to aid oppressed coreligionists.[5]
Motivations and Contributions
Mufti Rafi Usmani's motivations for engaging in the Soviet-Afghan War were rooted in the Deobandi interpretation of Islamic jurisprudence, which framed the Soviet invasion of December 1979 as an existential threat to Muslim sovereignty and faith. He viewed the conflict as a defensive jihad (jihad al-daf') against an atheistic communist regime backed by the USSR, whose ideology explicitly rejected monotheism and sought to impose secular governance on Afghan Muslims. In his writings, Usmani emphasized that the invasion violated Islamic principles of territorial integrity for Dar al-Islam, obligating capable Muslims to aid the mujahideen as a collective religious duty (fard kifaya) that could become individually binding (fard ayn) under dire circumstances. This stance aligned with broader fatwas from Pakistani Deobandi scholars, who argued that failing to resist such aggression equated to complicity in the erosion of Islamic rule.[5][21]Usmani's contributions included direct participation in the Afghan theater, as documented in his personal memoirs, where he recounted frontline experiences alongside Pakistani volunteers supporting mujahideen factions. From 1988 to 1991, he serialized these accounts—detailing battles, logistical challenges, and the valor of fighters—in the Darul Uloom Karachi monthly Al-Balagh, the daily Jang, and Al-Sharia, reaching a wide Pakistani audience and bolstering recruitment and moral support for the cause. These were compiled into the 1992 book Jihad in Afghanistan against Communism, a travelogue-cum-manifesto that not only chronicled key events like the liberation efforts in Khost and Jalalabad but also articulated theological justifications for sustained jihad, highlighting the strategic role of Pakistani mujahideen in expelling Soviet forces by 1989. Through these efforts, Usmani helped legitimize and propagate the narrative of the war as a successful Islamic resistance against superpower imperialism, influencing Deobandi networks in Pakistan.[15][22][19]
Scholarly Career
Leadership at Darul Uloom Karachi
Mufti Muhammad Rafi Usmani served as the third president (nazim) of Darul Uloom Karachi from 1986 until his death on 18 November 2022.[23][6] As the eldest son of the seminary's founder, Mufti Muhammad Shafi Usmani, he succeeded Abdul Hai Arifi in the role, maintaining the institution's commitment to Deobandi scholarship and Hanafi jurisprudence.[2][3]Under Usmani's leadership, Darul Uloom Karachi expanded its academic and administrative scope, advancing from a post-Partition migrant institution into a major center for Islamic learning with thousands of students.[24] He oversaw key departments including the Dar al-Ifta (fatwa council), where he issued rulings on contemporary issues while upholding traditional methodologies, and the curriculum emphasizing Quran recitation, Hadith, and fiqh.[24][1] His tenure emphasized institutional stability amid Pakistan's political changes, fostering scholarly output through the seminary's monthly magazine Al-Balagh and supporting affiliated publications.[3]Usmani also acted as patron and rector, guiding the seminary's response to modern challenges such as sectarian tensions and state relations, including defending practices like displaying national symbols at the institution's mosque.[1][25] His dual focus on administrative oversight and personal teaching reinforced Darul Uloom's role in training ulama for Pakistan and beyond, with the seminary graduating hundreds annually during his presidency.[24][26]
Appointment as Grand Mufti of Pakistan
Mufti Muhammad Rafi Usmani was appointed Grand Mufti of Pakistan in 1995 by clerics and scholars representing the Deoband school of thought, following the death of his predecessor, Mufti Wali Hasan Tonki, on February 3, 1995.[1][14] The role, while not a formal government position, is recognized within Deobandi circles as the preeminent authority for issuing fatwas on Islamic jurisprudence across Pakistan, reflecting consensus among senior ulama rather than state nomination.[1]Usmani's selection underscored his longstanding expertise in fiqh and hadith, honed through decades at Darul Uloom Karachi, where he had served as rector since succeeding his father, Mufti Muhammad Shafi, in the 1970s.[3] Prior to the appointment, he had already gained prominence for training muftis and contributing to ifta (jurisprudential rulings), positioning him as a natural successor in the eyes of the appointing scholars.[3]In this capacity, Usmani participated in national bodies such as Pakistan's Central Ruet-e-Hilal Committee for moonsighting, further cementing his influence on religious observances.[14] He held the title until his death on November 18, 2022, during which time he issued rulings on contemporary issues while maintaining adherence to Hanafi-Deobandi orthodoxy.[1][14]
Writings and Intellectual Contributions
Major Publications
Usmani was a prolific author, producing approximately 27 books in Urdu and Arabic, many of which serve as textbooks in Islamic seminaries. His writings primarily addressed Islamic jurisprudence (fiqh), contemporary economic issues from an Islamic perspective, and practical guides for rituals such as Hajj. These works reflect his expertise in Hanafi fiqh and Deobandi scholarship, often drawing on classical texts while applying them to modern contexts.[13][3]One of his prominent contributions is Nawādir al-Fiqh, a two-volume set compiling rare and novel rulings in fiqh, covering topics such as prayer timings in non-Muslim regions, zakat calculations, and evidentiary laws in Islamic courts. This work is valued for its detailed analysis and has been published by institutions affiliated with Darul Uloom Karachi.[27]Rafiq-e-Hajj (translated into English as Companion of Hajj), published around 2014, provides a step-by-step guide to Hajj rituals, emphasizing correct performance based on Hanafi jurisprudence; it is among the most referenced books on Hajj rulings and has been translated for wider accessibility.[28][29]In the realm of Islamic economics, Usmani authored treatises comparing capitalist, socialist, and Islamic systems, such as works translated as The Three Systems of Economics, critiquing modern financial practices against Sharia principles including zakat and riba prohibition.[30] His Ahkām-e-Zakāt details zakat obligations, rates, and distribution, arguing against alterations to traditional rates despite economic pressures.[29]Other notable publications include Fiqh May Ijma Ka Muqam, exploring the status of consensus (ijma) in fiqh, and Fiqh Aur Tassawuf Aik Taaruf, bridging jurisprudence and spiritual purification (tassawuf). These texts underscore his efforts to reconcile orthodoxy with practical challenges, often used in curricula at Darul Uloom institutions.[27][13]
Themes in His Works
Usmani's scholarly output, comprising approximately 27 books in Arabic and Urdu, centers on Islamic jurisprudence (fiqh), particularly within the Hanafi school, emphasizing practical rulings derived from classical texts and their adaptation to contemporary scenarios.[9] In works like Nawādir al-Fiqh, a compilation of fiqh treatises and selected fatwas, he addresses nuanced legal issues, underscoring the primacy of textual evidence from Quran and Sunnah in resolving disputes.[31] Similarly, Ahkām-e-Zakāt details obligatory almsgiving protocols, questioning the permissibility of altering zakat rates amid economic shifts, thereby highlighting fiscal obligations as immutable divine imperatives rather than policy variables.[32][27]A recurrent theme is the intersection of Islamic law with modern societal challenges, as seen in fatwa collections tackling prayer timings in non-Muslim regions like Europe, evidentiary standards in courts, and prohibitions on photography due to emulation of divine creation.[27][33] Usmani maintains that such adaptations must preserve core prohibitions, rejecting innovations that dilute orthodoxy; for instance, he rules against camera images as impermissible unless necessitated by dire utility, prioritizing avoidance of idolatry risks.[33] His annotations in Al-Tālīqāt al-nāfi'ah alā fath al-mulhim exemplify rigorous hadith exegesis, refining interpretations of prophetic traditions to bolster fiqh derivations.[32]Social governance emerges prominently in Islām mai aurat ki hukmrāni, where Usmani critiques female rulership as incompatible with sharia precedents, invoking historical caliphal models and prophetic hadiths to argue for male leadership in public authority roles to avert fitna (discord).[32] Economic critiques feature in analyses of European systems—feudalism, capitalism, and socialism—contrasted against Islamic principles of equitable distribution and prohibition of riba (usury), portraying the latter as divinely ordained alternatives to secular materialism.[34]Hadith sciences recur, as in his Urdu work on writing hadith during the prophetic era, defending early compilation practices against orientalist dismissals while affirming oral primacy in transmission.[35] These themes collectively reinforce taqlid (adherence to scholarly precedent) against reformist deviations, positioning Usmani's corpus as a bulwark for traditional Sunni scholarship amid globalization.[9]
Theological Positions and Debates
Views on Jihad and Defensive Warfare
Usmani endorsed jihad as a defensive obligation in response to foreign invasion, exemplified by his active participation in the Soviet-Afghan War during the late 1980s, where he joined Afghan mujahideen fighters against communist occupation, later documenting these experiences to highlight the legitimacy of armed resistance to protect Muslim lands.[21] In his publication Jihad in Afghanistan against Communism, he framed the conflict as a justified religious duty to repel aggressors, aligning with Hanafi jurisprudence that renders defensive jihad (jihad difa'i) fard ayn—individually obligatory—upon Muslims when their territory faces existential threat, without requiring prior state declaration in cases of direct invasion.[21]He maintained a strict distinction between legitimate defensive warfare and terrorism, asserting that "we do not consider jihad as terrorism in the parameters of Shariah," emphasizing that true jihad adheres to rules of engagement sparing non-combatants and requiring legitimate authority. Usmani co-authored and presented the Paigham-e-Pakistan fatwa in 2017, a 22-point declaration signed by over 1,800 Pakistani scholars condemning suicide bombings, attacks on civilians, and violence against the state as haram, classifying such acts as hirabah (brigandage) rather than jihad, punishable under Sharia with severe penalties like execution.[36][37]Under his view, offensive jihad (jihad ibtida'i) for expansion requires caliphal authorization and is secondary to defense, but he prioritized state sovereignty in modern contexts, stipulating that declarations of armed jihad fall under governmental prerogative to prevent anarchy, while defensive measures against internal threats like Khawarij-like insurgents must suppress rebellion to safeguard society.[36] This position reflects Deobandi orthodoxy, privileging empirical conditions of threat over abstract ideology, and critiques vigilante interpretations that conflate personal grievance with religious warfare.[36]
Stances on Islamic Orthodoxy and Modern Challenges
Mufti Rafi Usmani maintained a staunch commitment to Islamic orthodoxy as defined by the Ahl al-Sunnah wal-Jama'ah tradition, particularly within the Hanafi school of jurisprudence and Maturidi theology, viewing the Deobandi approach not as a distinct sect but as a faithful adherence to the Quran, Sunnah, and the consensus of early Muslim scholars.[38] He emphasized taqlid, or adherence to qualified mujtahids of the madhhab, rejecting unqualified independent reasoning that could lead to deviations from established rulings.[38] In his writings and fatwas, Usmani defended the authenticity of Hadith transmission from the Prophetic era, underscoring the need to preserve textual integrity against modern skeptical challenges to traditional sources.[35]Addressing modern challenges, Usmani issued fatwas applying classical fiqh principles to contemporary issues, such as prayer timings in non-tropical regions like Europe, where he permitted adjustments based on Sharia-analogous methods like the shadow-length criterion while prohibiting arbitrary innovations.[39] He ruled against altering core Sharia prescriptions, such as maintaining fixed Zakat rates despite economic pressures, arguing that such changes would undermine divine legislation.[39] On evidentiary laws, Usmani advocated integrating Islamic standards into modern legal frameworks, prioritizing witnesstestimony and confessions over secular procedural reforms that dilute Sharia's hudud punishments.[39]Regarding technology and media, Usmani navigated the permissibility of digital imaging while upholding prohibitions on image-making derived from Prophetic hadiths against taswir, or emulation of Allah's creation. He deemed analog photography generally impermissible except for necessities like passports or security documents, but allowed digital photos and videos on the grounds of their non-permanent, non-sculptural nature, provided they avoided indecency or full animate depictions without need; professional photography of humans or animals remained largely prohibited, with allowances only for partial body parts excluding the face or head.[33] Drawings of animate beings followed similar strictures, permitted in educational contexts only for inanimate objects or dire necessities.[33]Usmani critiqued secular legal systems for their incompatibility with Islamic governance, asserting that hudud penalties, such as those for theft or adultery, could not be subordinated to modern human rights frameworks without violating Sharia's supremacy; he advocated for full implementation of divine law over Western-inspired secularism, which he saw as a barrier to authentic Islamic rule.[40] His positions consistently prioritized causal fidelity to scriptural sources over accommodations to globalization or cultural relativism, reflecting a broader Deobandi resistance to bid'ah, or religious innovations, that alter established worship practices.[38]
Recognition and Influence
Honors and Scholarly Acknowledgments
Usmani received the honorific title of Mufti-e-Azam (Grand Mufti) of Pakistan through a consensus ijma' of prominent Deobandi scholars, in recognition of his authoritative rulings and contributions to fiqh, Hadith exegesis, and Quranic tafsir.[41] This title, distinct from any governmental appointment, underscored his preeminence among Pakistani ulama, as affirmed by his brother Mufti Taqi Usmani during funeral remarks on November 20, 2022.[41]Contemporary scholars and institutions acknowledged Usmani's expertise by consulting him on complex juristic matters, including fatwas on blasphemy and moon-sighting, where he was described as Pakistan's most authoritative faqih.[42] His endorsements appeared in collective Deobandi statements, such as those on unified Ramadan observances, reinforcing his role in upholding Hanafi orthodoxy against modernist deviations.[43] No formal civil awards from the Pakistani state were conferred upon him, aligning with his focus on religious rather than secular honors.
Impact on Pakistani and Global Muslim Scholarship
Mufti Muhammad Rafi Usmani's tenure as the third president of Darul Uloom Karachi from 1986 until his death in 2022 positioned him as a central figure in Pakistani Islamic education, where he oversaw the training of thousands of scholars in core disciplines including Hadith, fiqh, and ifta.[3] From the 1960s onward, he taught advanced courses in Hadith and the Dars-e-Nizami curriculum, emphasizing practical jurisprudence, and from 1391 AH (1971 CE) specifically delivered lectures on Sahih Muslim while mentoring students in issuing fatwas.[3][13] Under his leadership, the institution expanded to accommodate approximately 10,000 students across 73 acres, fostering a disciplined environment that produced ulama equipped to address contemporary fiqh challenges within the Deobandi tradition.[13]His authored works, numbering 27 volumes in Arabic and Urdu, focused on fiqh, Hadith exegesis, and tafsir, and became integral to seminary curricula not only in Pakistan but also in India, Bangladesh, South Africa, the United Kingdom, and the United States, thereby extending Deobandi interpretive methods to diaspora communities.[3][13] As patron of Wifaq ul Madaris Al-Arabia Pakistan and a recognized leader among Ahlus Sunnah wal Jama'ah ulama, Usmani influenced the standardization of orthodox Hanafi-Maturidi positions on ritual purity, inheritance, and ritual prayer, countering modernist reinterpretations prevalent in some South Asian contexts.[44][5] These efforts reinforced Deobandi scholarship's emphasis on textual fidelity over speculative theology, impacting Pakistani madrasa networks that train clerics for mosques and courts.[44]Globally, Usmani's role as Grand Mufti of Pakistan from 1992 amplified his reach through fatwa issuance on issues like defensive jihad and suicide bombings, where he contributed to collective scholarly declarations affirming traditional prohibitions, influencing Deobandi-affiliated institutions in Afghanistan and beyond via shared jurisprudential lineages.[45] His writings and training methodology supported the transnational Deobandi emphasis on ijtihad within madhhab bounds, aiding scholars in adapting classical sources to modern disputes without compromising causal links to primary texts like the Quran and Sunnah.[3] This legacy persists in the continued use of his texts for ifta training, sustaining a scholarly continuum that prioritizes empirical adherence to prophetic precedent over secular legal paradigms.[44]
Criticisms and Controversies
Accusations from Secular and Liberal Critics
Secular and liberal critics, including analysts from organizations such as the International Crisis Group, have accused Mufti Muhammad Rafi Usmani of enabling violent extremism through his leadership of Darul Uloom Karachi, a major Deobandi seminary with branches across Pakistan.[46] These critics contend that under Usmani's presidency since the 1990s, the institution provided practical support to jihadi organizations, such as permitting them to preach in its mosques and collect donations, thereby contributing to the production of thousands of radicals despite official denials.[47] Usmani has been portrayed as a prominent Islamist whose oversight facilitated such activities, exacerbating Pakistan's security challenges amid broader concerns over Deobandi madrasas' role in fostering militancy.[48]Critics have further highlighted Usmani's public defenses of the Taliban as evidence of sympathy toward militant ideologies. In a 2001 statement, he questioned widespread criticism of the Taliban regime in Afghanistan, asserting personal knowledge of its leaders and rejecting portrayals of them as ignorant, which secular observers interpreted as downplaying their human rights abuses and theocratic excesses.[49] Following Pakistan's 2009 military operations in Swat against Taliban forces, Usmani issued strong condemnations of the government's actions, advocating a return to negotiations rather than confrontation, a position that liberal commentators viewed as undermining state efforts to combat insurgency and prioritizing Islamist solidarity over national security.[48]Usmani's stances on blasphemy laws have drawn particular ire from human rights advocates and secular voices, who accuse him of perpetuating intolerance toward religious minorities. In response to the 2018 Supreme Court acquittal of Asia Bibi, a Christian woman charged under blasphemy provisions, Usmani published an open letter emphasizing the infallibility of divine law while allowing for human error in testimony or adjudication, implicitly questioning the verdict's validity and urging caution in its implementation.[50] Critics, including international media outlets, argued this rhetoric fueled public unrest and review petitions by hardline groups like Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan, reinforcing a legal framework they see as prone to misuse and stifling free expression.[51] As a member of Pakistan's Council of Islamic Ideology, Usmani's influence on such matters has been cited by liberals as emblematic of clerical resistance to reforming discriminatory statutes inherited from the Zia-ul-Haq era.[52]These accusations portray Usmani as emblematic of traditionalist ulama obstructing Pakistan's modernization, with detractors from secular circles emphasizing his role in sustaining a parallel religious authority that challenges liberal democratic norms, though such critiques often overlook his fatwas condemning suicide bombings and specific terrorist acts.[45]
Responses and Defenses of Traditional Positions
Mufti Muhammad Rafi Usmani responded to secular and liberal criticisms of strict blasphemy penalties by emphasizing the sanctity of prophetic honor in Islamic jurisprudence, rooted in hadith narrations prescribing severe punishment for insults against Muhammad. In an open letter published on November 11, 2018, following the Supreme Court's acquittal of Asia Bibi under Section 295-C of the Pakistan Penal Code, Usmani asserted that divine law remains infallible despite potential human errors in witnesses or adjudication, urging an appeal to a larger bench and inclusion of sharia experts to rectify perceived judicial flaws. He argued that blasphemy evokes profound outrage among Muslims precisely because it contravenes core prophetic traditions, which Hanafi scholars like himself interpret as mandating qisas-like retribution to preserve communal faith.[54]Usmani further defended traditional positions by advocating peaceful enforcement of sharia norms amid protests, cautioning against violence while demanding Asia Bibi's placement on the Exit Control List to prevent flight, thereby prioritizing Islamic legal imperatives over international human rights pressures critiqued by liberals as overriding sovereignty.[54] In a November 9, 2018, address, he invoked the principle of doubt favoring the accused under Islamic evidentiary standards but maintained that acquittals based on inconsistent testimony undermine the ummah's religious consensus on blasphemy's gravity, calling for public hearings with the Council of Islamic Ideology to reaffirm orthodoxy against secular reinterpretations.[54]Regarding accusations of extremism in defensive jihad, Usmani balanced support for ideological resistance to perceived moral erosion—such as during the 2007 Lal Masjid siege—with condemnation of vigilante tactics, stating that while the underlying struggle against un-Islamic governance must persist, unlawful methods lead to communal destruction and deviate from fiqh-approved warfare rules.[55] This stance countered liberal portrayals of traditional ulama as inherently militant by grounding defenses in classical texts, which permit armed response only under legitimate authority and strict proportionality, not individual or chaotic action.Usmani also rebutted claims that Deobandi adherence constitutes sectarian deviation, clarifying in speeches that it represents fidelity to Ahl al-Sunnah wal-Jama'ah's Hanafi-Maturidi framework rather than innovation, dismissing modernist equations of orthodoxy with extremism as misrepresentations ignorant of subcontinental scholarly continuity.[56] Through fatwas and lectures at Darul Uloom Karachi, he consistently prioritized empirical adherence to Quran and hadith over politically motivated reforms, attributing liberal critiques to Western-influenced erosion of causal links between divine revelation and societal order.[9]
Death and Legacy
Final Years and Passing
In his later years, Mufti Muhammad Rafi Usmani continued to lead Darul Uloom Karachi as its president, managing administrative responsibilities while maintaining his commitments to teaching, authoring religious texts, and issuing fatwas.[5] He also sustained involvement in Pakistan's religious institutions, serving on the Central Ruet-e-Hilal Committee for moon sighting, the Council of Islamic Ideology, and as an adviser to the Federal Shariat Court's appellate bench.[57]Usmani had been battling a prolonged illness in the period leading up to his death.[1] He passed away on November 18, 2022, in Karachi at the age of 86.[1][44]Funeral prayers for Usmani were held the following day at Darul Uloom Karachi, drawing thousands of mourners including religious scholars, political figures, and the public; he was buried in the institution's premises.[14][10]
Enduring Contributions to Deobandi Thought
Mufti Muhammad Rafi Usmani's enduring contributions to Deobandi thought centered on reinforcing traditional methodologies in fiqh, hadith, and Arabic rhetoric through teaching, authorship, and institutional leadership. His pedagogical role at Darul Uloom Karachi, where he instructed in Dars-e-Nizami texts during the 1960s and advanced courses in hadith and ifta from 1391 AH (1971) onward, produced thousands of scholars trained in classical Hanafi jurisprudence and textual exegesis, including lectures on Sahih Muslim that emphasized rigorous source criticism and application to contemporary fiqh dilemmas.[3][9]Usmani's authorship of over 27 books in Arabic and Urdu provided foundational resources for Deobandi curricula, with his Urdu translation and commentary on Inayat Ahmad's Ilm al-Sigha—a key text on Arabic eloquence and syntax—adopted in madrasas across Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, the United Kingdom, South Africa, and the United States, thereby standardizing interpretive tools essential to Deobandi textual fidelity.[9][3] Other works, such as treatises on hadith compilation during the Prophetic era, defended orthodox positions against revisionist claims by underscoring early Muslim practices of oral primacy supplemented by selective writing, influencing Deobandi defenses of sunnah authenticity.[35]As Mufti-e-Azam Pakistan from 1992 until his death in 2022, Usmani issued fatwas that upheld Deobandi orthodoxy on issues like ritual innovation and economic transactions, drawing directly from classical mutun while navigating modern contexts, which his students and successors continue to reference in ifta councils.[1] His vice presidency in Wifaq ul Madaris al-Arabia Pakistan further entrenched these contributions by promoting uniform Dars-e-Nizami implementation nationwide, countering eclectic influences and ensuring Deobandi thought's resilience through structured scholarly replication.[1] Under his rectorship of Darul Uloom Karachi from 1986, the institution expanded to encompass approximately 10,000 students over 73 acres, amplifying the dissemination of his trained methodologies.[9]