Yunus Jaunpuri
Indian Islamic Scholar (1937–2017)
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Muḥammad Yūnus Jaunpūrī (1937–2017) was an Islamic scholar, muhaddith and leading cleric of the Deobandi movement. He was a student and close disciple of Zakariyya Kandhlawi, a fellow Deobandi cleric and a prominent leader of the Tablighi Jamaat. Jaunpuri was also a senior professor of hadith at the Mazahir Uloom in Saharanpur, authoring works on the subject of hadith such as Nibrās al-Sārī.[1]
2 October 1937
Muḥammad Yūnus Jaunpūrī | |
|---|---|
Yunus Jaunpuri (center) during a ceremony in Saharanpur. | |
| Personal life | |
| Born | Muhammad Yunus bin Shabbir Ahmad al-Jaunpuri 2 October 1937 |
| Died | 11 July 2017 (aged 79) |
| Main interest(s) | Study of hadith, Tazkiyat al-Nafs, Sufism |
| Notable work | Nibrās al-Sārī ilā Riyāḍ al-Bukhārī |
| Religious life | |
| Religion | Islam |
| Denomination | Sunni |
| Jurisprudence | Ḥanafī |
| Creed | Atharī |
| Movement | Deobandi |
| Muslim leader | |
| Disciple of | Zakariyya Kandhlawi |
Influenced | |
Biography
Muhammad Yunus bin Shabbir Ahmad al-Jaunpuri was born in the city of Jaunpur on 2 October 1937.[2][3][4] Graduating from the Deobandi institution of Mazahir Uloom in 1961, he later became a student of leading Deobandi cleric and Tablighi Jamaat preacher, Zakariyya Kandhlawi.[2][4] After he had received an ijazah to teach his own classes and be authorized as a scholar, Jaunpuri taught the classical six hadith compilations, including Sahih al-Bukhari, at the Mazahir Uloom.[2][4][5] Due to his knowledge in the field of hadith sciences, Jaunpuri became a muhaddith and was appointed as the chief professor of hadith studies at the Mazahir Uloom and given the status of a leading cleric within the Deobandi movement.[2][4][5] He also delved into Sufism and asceticism, delivering lectures and classes about the concepts of Tazkiyat al-Nafs and self-purification.[5][6] Like majority of the Deobandis, Jaunpuri adhered to the Hanafi school and was a supporter of Sufism, but unlike most Deobandis, he adhered to the Athari school of theology, instead of Maturidism.[6][7]
Yunus Jaunpuri died on 11 July 2017 in Saharanpur. Over a million people, including his students, attended the funeral procession.[8][9][10] It was led by Talha Kandhlawi, a son of Zakariyya Kandhlawi.[7][10] International Islamic scholar, Mufti Menk, expressed grief over the demise of Jaunpuri.[8][11] Likewise, Fuzail Ahmad Nasiri, a Deobandi scholar and poet, expressed his grief and eulogized Jaunpuri, saying that he was an exemplary scholar in the field of hadith.[11]
Works
- Nibrās al-Sārī ilā Riyāḍ al-Bukhārī (The Lantern of the Night-Traveler to the Gardens of al-Bukhārī), a multi-volume commentary on Sahih al-Bukhari with explanations on how the narrations are adopted by Hanafi jurisprudence.[12] While writing the commentary, Jaunpuri includes footnotes from prominent Islamic khalaf such as Ibn al-Qayyim, Ibn Taymiyyah, Abu al-Layth al-Samarqandi, and 'Abd al-Hayy al-Laknawi, with the aim of quoting prominent scholars that are not restricted to the Hanafi school, as Jaunpuri intended for his work to reach an audience outside of Hanafi adherents.[12]
- Al-Yawāqīt al-Ghāliyah al-Aḥādīth al-‘Āliyah (The Precious Rubies of the Lofty Prophetic Traditions) a work in four volumes which is a compilation of lectures, essays and treatises written by Jaunpuri regarding the study of hadith and narrations from the Islamic prophet Muhammad.[7]