Shah Abd al-Aziz al-Dihlawi

Shah 'Abd al-Aziz al-Dihlawi was the eldest son of the Indian theologian Shah Wali Allah al-Dihlawi. He was born at Delhi in 1159/1746 (his chronogram name is Ghulam Halim) and died there in 1239/1824. ¹

He studied mainly with his father. After his father died in 1176/1762 he taught at the Madrasa Rahimiyya, which his grandfather had founded. As a teacher, preacher and writer he had considerable influence on the religious thought of his time. ¹

In Arabic he wrote Sirr al-Shahadatayn, on the merit of martyrdom gained through the death of Husayn; Akhyar al-Nas, a collection of traditions on the virtues of the first four caliphs; Mizan al-'Aqa'id, a short statement of creed with his commentary; a work on the science of hadith; Bustan al-Muhaddithin, a bibliography of hadith literature; and a two-part collection of fatawa. In Persian he wrote the Tuhfa Ithna 'Ashariyya, which the entry describes as a refutation of Shi'i doctrines and a continuation of his father's controversy, and Fath al-'Aziz, a commentary on parts of the Qur'an. His Malfuzat, the table talk recorded by his pupils, was translated into Urdu. ²