Hazrat Allamah Anwar Shah Kashmiri rahmatullahi alayh

The Childhood of Hazrat Allamah Anwar Shah Kashmiri rahmatullahi alayh

Birth:

The lineage of Hazrat Allamah Muhammad Anwar Shah Sahib Muhaddith Kashmiri rahmatullahi alayh meets with Hazrat Shaykh Mas'ud Narwari Kashmiri whose real lineage goes to Baghdad. He then came to Multan, then Lahore and then chose to stay in Kashmir.

His Childhood:

At the age of four and a half Hazrat Allamah Anwar Shah sahib began to learn the Qur'an from his respected father, Hazrat Maulana Muhammad Mu'azam Shah. Besides the Qur'an, at the age of six, Hazrat had finished several books in Farsi. He then began to further his studies in Arabic and Farsi through Maulana Ghulam sahib.

When the father of Hazrat Allamah Anwar Shah sahib began to teach him Mukhtasar al Qudoori (a great book of Hanafi Jurisprudence) he narrates, “He would ask me some rulings that would be impossible to answer without having revised over more detailed books prior. I had to constantly stop him from asking me such questions. In the end, his strength in knowledge and thinking became such that I became distressed! I then had to send him to another scholar. That scholar too became distressed and sent him back!” And so, Hazrat’s father, Hazrat and his elder brother (Yasin Shah) then went to the mountains of Kashmir to do I’tikaf with one very pious person who was known to be a Aarif billah. When the Aarif billah saw the young Hazrat Allamah Shah sahib, he asked his father (Maulana Muhammad Mu’azam), “Is this your son? He is going to be an extremely strong, capable scholar in the future.”

Once, Hazrat was revising over a few books of Mantiq and Nahw, coincidentally, A big scholar had passed by him and picked up the books to see what Hazrat was studying. When he looked at the books, he saw that Hazrat had written his own hawaashi (notes in the margins) on the page and he was only a mere child. At that spectacle, sharp nature, great understanding the scholar said without being prompted by anyone, “This child will become the Razi and Ghazali of his time! (meaning he will surpass the other Ulama and be recognised by all for his immense knowledge and piety.)”

He had the treasures of having a peaceful nature, beautiful manners and righteous actions from the start. By seeing the state of his piety, the people of Kashmir became in doubt and question as to whether Hazrat Allamah Anwari Shah sahib was the Mahdi or not. This got to the extent that the noble father and respected family members of Hazrat Allamah Anwar Shah would have to reject this misunderstanding.

At one point, Hazrat Anwar Shah Kashmiri himself relates, “At the age of twelve, I gave my first Fatwa and at the age of nine, I had finished the revision of Nahw and Fiqh. (Then recited the verse) ‘This is Allah’s grace, He gives it to whom He wishes.’”

At the age of three, Hazrat had been in the service of thousands of countless Ulama and pious people and had sought knowledge from them. And after a while, when he understood that the thirst of knowledge had been quenched from the various knowledge and skills he had learnt, he enrolled in the Daraluloom Deoband at the age of sixteen after hearing learning of its celebrated rank in India. In Deoband, Hazrat had stayed there for four years benefitting from the most senior and famous scholars of that era in knowledge and spirituality. At the age of twenty, he received a most respected and distinguished sanad (authorization). From his prominent teachers, some are listed below:

Hazrat Maulana Mahmud Hassan Sahib, Hazrat Maulana Khalil Ahmad Saharanpuri, Hazrat Maulana Muhammad Ishaaq Sahib, Hazrat Maulana Ghulam Rasul Sahib Hazaarwi. May Allah have mercy on them all. Ameen.

This is the childhood of Hazrat Allamah Anwar Shah Kashmiri translate from the book, "Baro Ka Bachpan".