The Loftiness of the Chain of Transmission of
Mawlānā Faḍl al-Raḥmān Ganj Murādābādī (may Allah have mercy on him)
22 January 2026
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Introduction and Background
Some time ago, this writer authored an article concerning the hadith chain of transmission (isnād) of Mawlānā Muḥammad Yaḥyā Nadwī (may Allah have mercy on him). In that article, it was demonstrated that, in the latter period of his life, no other chain matched his in terms of loftiness (ʿulūw al-isnād) and sound continuity of transmission.
By the grace of Allah, the article was published widely and received exceptional appreciation in scholarly circles. In particular, the late scholar’s students and those who received authorisation (ijāzah) from him expressed profound joy and heartfelt satisfaction upon learning of this distinguished chain — and all praise belongs to Allah for this.
However, within the scholarly climate of the Indian subcontinent there exists a group who lack the capacity to compete with others in knowledge and virtue, yet whenever someone attains a special distinction or superior merit, they make it their habit to belittle and diminish it. Accordingly, some individuals began claiming, in order to undermine the importance of this chain, that Mawlānā Faḍl al-Raḥmān Ganj Murādābādī (may Allah have mercy on him) did not receive authorisation from Shāh ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz Muḥaddith Dihlawī (may Allah have mercy on him).
This claim is based purely on ignorance and envy. In principle, such baseless allegations are not worthy of response. Nevertheless, some sincere well-wishers requested that, on this occasion, the relevant textual evidence and proofs concerning this authorisation be gathered together, so that scholars and students of hadith might benefit generally, and the truth might become manifest.
In response to this sincere and beneficial request, this article has been written, so that the truth may appear with its proofs and the path of guidance may become clear for those who seek fairness.
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Precedents in Defending Authentic Transmission
When similar doubts were raised regarding the auditions (samāʿāt) of Abū al-ʿAbbās Aḥmad ibn Abī Ṭālib al-Ḥajjār, the leading hadith master of his age, al-Ḥāfiẓ Ibn Nāṣir al-Dīn al-Dimashqī, authored an independent treatise titled al-Intiṣār li-Samāʿ al-Ḥajjār to dispel them.
Likewise, in our own era, when doubts arose concerning whether Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Razzaq al-Khaṭīb had received authorisation from Abū al-Naṣr al-Khaṭīb, I authored the treatise al-Taṣwīb li-Riwayat al-Khaṭīb in reply.
History thus repeats itself. Today, once again, I am compelled to write in order to establish the authenticity of Mawlānā Faḍl al-Raḥmān Ganj Murādābādī’s authorisation from Shāh ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz Muḥaddith Dihlawī.
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The Eminence of the Scholars in This Chain
It must be kept in mind that both al-Ḥajjār and al-Khaṭīb were counted among ordinary teachers, yet scholars still deemed it important to verify their authorisations. The chain under discussion here, however, is by no means an ordinary chain: every individual in it belongs to the ranks of leading scholars and eminent researchers.
Those acquainted with Mawlānā Muḥammad Yaḥyā Nadwī will testify that he was a scholar of vast reading, deeply attached to books, with an exceptional love for learning. His gatherings were usually filled with books and scholarly discussions. When he travelled in the Arab world, scholars and students there expressed astonishment at his profound engagement with books.
His teacher, Mawlānā ʿAbd al-Laṭīf Sambhalī, was a teacher at Nadwat al-ʿUlamāʾ, its first muftī, and the teacher of the eminent scholar and researcher Sayyid Sulaymān Nadwī.
Likewise, the lofty rank of Mawlānā Faḍl al-Raḥmān Ganj Murādābādī in knowledge and hadith is clearly evident from the many works written about him and from the long list of his distinguished students. After him in this chain come figures such as Shāh ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz and Shāh Walī Allāh, whose scholarly and hadith stature needs no elaboration.
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Early Documentation and the Testimony of al-ʿAṭṭār al-Makkī
When I authored al-Jāmiʿ al-Muʿīn fī Ṭabaqāt al-Shuyūkh al-Mutqinīn wa-l-Mujīzīn al-Musnidīn, this doubt had not yet arisen. For that reason, I did not gather in detail the textual proofs of the authorisation in the biography of Mawlānā Faḍl al-Raḥmān, but sufficed with citing the statement of al-ʿAllāmah Abū al-Khayr al-ʿAṭṭār al-Makkī.
Al-ʿAṭṭār reports in al-Nafḥ al-Miskī that Mawlānā Faḍl al-Raḥmān met Shāh ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz, heard from him the famous “first-hadith” (al-musalsal bi-l-awwaliyyah), requested permission to dictate notes on its explanation, and that Shāh ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz granted him authorisation orally before his departure from Delhi.
Abū al-Khayr al-ʿAṭṭār was regarded as the foremost authority in isnād and ijāzāt of his time. Both ʿAbd al-Ḥayy al-Kattānī and ʿAbd al-Ḥayy al-Ḥasanī praised him highly and benefited from him directly.
He resided both in India and Makkah, stayed for long periods with Mawlānā Faḍl al-Raḥmān, read many hadith books with him, authored a dedicated register of his chains entitled Ithāf al-Ikhwān bi-Asānīd Mawlānā Faḍl al-Raḥmān, and recorded extensive details about him in his biographical dictionary al-Nafḥ al-Miskī, explicitly stating his transmission from Shāh ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz.
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Multiple Independent Chains and Written Authorisations
Al-ʿAṭṭār explicitly writes that Mawlānā Faḍl al-Raḥmān narrates all the works and transmissions of Shāh Walī Allāh through his son Shāh ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz, who granted him comprehensive authorisation.
He further confirms that Mawlānā Faḍl al-Raḥmān heard the first-hadith directly from Shāh ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz.
The same affirmation appears in Thabat al-Kuwait and in the correspondence of Mawlānā Muḥammad ʿAbd al-Bāqī Lakhnawī, who received a written ijāzah from Mawlānā Faḍl al-Raḥmān explicitly stating that it was based on the authorisation of Shāh ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz.
Numerous further attestations are found in:
• Nashr al-Ghawālī min al-Asānīd al-ʿAwālī
• al-Dalīl al-Mushīr
• The catalogues (fahrasa) of ʿAbd al-Ḥayy al-Kattānī
• The works and transmissions of Shaykh Abū Bakr al-Ḥabashī
• The narrations of Shaykh ʿAbd al-Fattāḥ Abū Ghuddah
All of these sources explicitly state that Mawlānā Faḍl al-Raḥmān narrates from Shāh ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz, who narrates from his father Shāh Walī Allāh.
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Final Conclusion
In summary, almost all the reliable books of authentication, chains of transmission, and registers of authorisations explicitly and firmly establish that Mawlānā Faḍl al-Raḥmān Ganj Murādābādī (may Allah have mercy on him) indeed received authorisation from Shāh ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz Muḥaddith Dihlawī (may Allah have mercy on him).
If all these texts and references were gathered together, they would constitute an independent monograph on this subject. Moreover, Urdu biographical and historical sources repeatedly affirm the same fact.
Therefore, in order to avoid unnecessary length, it suffices to state that this authorisation is not merely established, but is supported by abundant evidence, meaning-level continuity (mutawātir maʿnawī), and is universally recognised and accepted among the scholars.
And Allah knows best what is correct.
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