Mawlana Muhammad Sarfraz Khan Safdarr By Abu Asim Badrul Islam

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Salaf, Imām Mawlānā Muḥammad Sarfarāz Khān Ṣafdar departed from this
world. It was not merely the departure of a man, but the departure of a true
exemplar of piety, fear of Allāh, sincerity, steadfastness, contentment,
simplicity, humbleness, affection, compassion, sympathy, empathy, service to
the Dīn of Allāh and service to the creation of Allāh. It was the departure of a
man the likes of whom the world seldom witnesses - one who will, perhaps,
never be replaced. In the words of Shaykh Muftī Muḥammad Rafīʿ Usmānī,
“The passing of our revered teacher, the imām of the Ahl al-Sunnah, Ḥaḍrat
Mawlānā Muḥammad Sarfarāz Khān Ṣafdar (may Allāh have mercy upon him),
is indeed a great tragedy for the world of Islāmic academia. The departure of
this sign of the great ʿulamā of Deoband (Akābir) is indeed a terrible loss.” 51
The bier carrying Imām Mawlānā Muḥammad Sarfarāz Khān Ṣafdar was
brought to the D.C. High School of Gakhar (Gujrānwāla) in the morning. The
area was covered by a sea of people. According to some reports, no less than a
hundred thousand people participated in his funeral prayer. 52
May Allāh, Most Gracious, have mercy on his soul, reward him with the best of
rewards and grant him entrance to the most magnificent garden of Paradise,
for, indeed, he lived a life of abstinence, shunning all worldly comforts and
pleasures, sacrificing his almost century-long life for Islām and the Muslims.
َ من ْ ُ ْ ِ ِ َ المؤمنين ِ َ رجال َ َ ُ صدقوا َ ما َ َ ُ عاهدوا االله َّ َ َ ْ ِ عليه َ ِ ُ ْ فمن ْهم َ ْ من َ َ قضى َ ْ َ ُ نحبه َ ِ ُ ْ ومن ْهم َ ْ من َ ي َ ُ ن ْتظر َ َ وما َ َّ ُ بدلوا َ ْ تبديلا
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Among the Believers are men who have been true to their covenant with Allāh; of them
some have completed their vow (by sacrificing their lives in the way of Allāh), and some
(still) wait, but they have never changed (their determination) in the least. (al-Qurʾān
33:23)
50
Mawlānā Abū ʿAmmār Zāhid al-Rāshidī, Haḍrat Wālid-e-Muḥtaram se wābista chand yādēn, in the
Monthly al-Sharīʿah, special edition (Gujrānwāla, 2009).
51
Shaykh Muftī Muḥammad Rafīʿ Usmānī, letter of condolence published in the Monthly al-Sharīʿah,
special edition (Gujrānwāla, 2009).
52
Mawlānā ʿAbd al-Qayyūm Ḥaqqānī, Wa mā kāna Qaysun hulkuhū, in the Monthly al-Sharīʿah, special
edition (Gujrānwāla, 2009).
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