Mawlana Muhammad Sarfraz Khan Safdarr By Abu Asim Badrul Islam

It is said regarding Imām Ibn Mālik, the grammarian (naḥwī), author of the
Alfiyyah in the science of naḥw, that he committed to memory several verses of
poetry on the day he died. Some have specified that they were eight verses,
communicated to him by his son. 44
Father of servants of the Book of Allāh
Allāh had blessed Imām Mawlānā Muḥammad Sarfarāz Khān Ṣafdar with many
children, all of whom are ḥuffāẓ 45 of the Holy Qurʾān. Most of his children are
also gifted ʿulamā, serving the Dīn in various capacities. 46 One of his daughters
committed the Holy Qurʾān to memory at the age of forty. 47 Imām Ṣafdar was
not himself a ḥāfiẓ of the Holy Qurʾān, but his recollection of passages and
verses, particularly those pertaining to any aspect of the Sharīʿah, was
incredible. Shaykh al-Ḥadīth Mawlānā Zāhid al-Rāshidī recalls how once, during
the early days of his career, his father, Imām Ṣafdar, had to painfully explain to
his congregation on the first night of Ramaḍān that due to not being able to
find a ḥāfiẓ of the Holy Qurʾān he would have to lead the tarāwīḥ prayer with
the shorter sūrats of the Holy Qurʾān. He says that later, there came a time
during the life of his father when he and his brothers once counted the
number of ḥuffāẓ amongst the offspring of Imām Mawlānā Ṣafdar. They came to
a total of more than forty. 48
As for his students, it is estimated that Imām Mawlānā Ṣafdar had taught
approximately 30,000 students either directly or indirectly throughout his
academic life. 49
Journey to the Most Gracious
On the night of 9 th Jumādā ‘l-Ūlā 1430 AH, corresponding to 5 th May 2009, at
approximately 1 o’clock in the morning 50 the great imām, the remnant of the
44
Ibid, pp. 71.
45
Plural of ḥāfiẓ.
46
Dr. Ḥāfiẓ Maḥmūd Akhtar, Ēk ʿahd sāz shakhsiyyat, in the Monthly al-Sharīʿah, special edition
(Gujrānwāla, 2009).
47
Mawlānā Muḥammad Aslam Shaykhūpūrī, Chand muntashir yādēn, in the Monthly al-Sharīʿah, special
edition (Gujrānwāla, 2009).
48
Mawlānā Abu ʿAmmār Zāhid al-Rāshidi, Haḍrat Wālid-e-Muḥtaram se wābista chand yādēn, in the
Monthly al-Sharīʿah, special edition (Gujrānwāla, 2009).
49
Mawlānā Muḥammad ʿĪsā Manṣūrī, Imām-e-Ahl-e-Sunnat ki Riḥlat, in the Monthly al-Sharīʿah, special
edition (Gujrānwāla, 2009).
36