Wahīd al-Zamān Ḥaydarābādī – Beliefs, Status, and the Ahl al-Ḥadīth Position
Source: Fatāwā ʿIlmiyyah (Tawḍīḥ al-Aḥkām), Vol. 2, p. 428
Question:
What is your research regarding Wahīd al-Zamān Ḥaydarābādī?
Answer:
Al-ḥamdu lillāh, waṣ-ṣalātu wa-s-salāmu ʿalā Rasūlillāh. Ammā baʿd:
- Wahīd al-Zamān initially was an extreme muqallid.
- Later, his inclination shifted somewhat toward a semi-Sunni stance.
- In the final period of his life, he became a Tafdīlī-type Shīʿī.
Status in the View of Ahl al-Ḥadīth Scholars:
- According to Ahl al-Ḥadīth ʿulamāʾ, Wahīd al-Zamān was extremely weak and matrūk al-ḥadīth.
- His narrations are unacceptable, and Ahl al-Ḥadīth scholars have rejected his statements and writings.
For further details and scholarly criticism, see:
- Ḥayāt Wahīd al-Zamān by ʿAbd al-Ḥalīm Chishtī (p. 101)
- Majmūʿah Rasāʾil by Master Muḥammad Amīn ʿUkkārwī, Ḥayātī Deobandī (Vol. 1, p. 6; Vol. 3, p. 97)
- Tajalliyāt Ṣafdar (Vol. 1, p. 621)
His Beliefs:
- He believed that for a layperson, taqlīd of a mujtahid or muftī without specifying a particular one was obligatory. (Nuzul al-Abrār, p. 7)
- He dared to call some Companions (RA) “fāsiq” — may Allāh protect us from such deviation. (Nuzul al-Abrār, Vol. 3, p. 94)
Summary:
- Wahīd al-Zamān is matrūk al-ḥadīth.
- Ahl al-Ḥadīth completely disassociate themselves from his books and statements.
Status Among Deobandīs:
- Deobandī scholars accept Wahīd al-Zamān’s translation.
- Muḥammad Yaḥyā Ṣiddīqī (son-in-law of Shabbīr Aḥmad ʿUthmānī Deobandī) wrote:
“It was decided that Mawlānā Wahīd al-Zamān’s Urdu translation be placed in the second column. My advice was included in its inclusion, as ʿAllāmah ʿUthmānī himself liked this translation.”
(Faḍl al-Bārī Sharḥ Urdu Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī, Vol. 1, p. 23)
For further research, see:
- Mahnāmah al-Ḥadīth no. 23 (pp. 36, 40)
- Amīn ʿUkkārwī kā Taʿāqub (1st ed., pp. 49–50)
هٰذا ما عندي والله أعلم بالصواب
