The noble son of Tāj al-Sharī`ah Hazrat Muftī `Allāmah `Asjad Razā Qādirī (may his shadow be prolonged) is a man of excellence; the blessings that come from his relations with his ancestors play a great role in him.

He is the sole son and successor of Huzūr Tāj al-Sharī`ah Muftī Muhammad Akhtar Razā Khān Qādirī Azharī (may mercy be upon him). His name is ‘Muhammad Munawwar Razā Muhāmid’ but is known as ‘`Asjad Razā Khān al-Nūrī’. He remains active in both religious and national issues and leads the entire Muslim Ummah and thus, he is widely known as ‘Qā’id e Millat’ (leader of the nation).

His Birth & Name

He was born on the 14th of Sha`bān al-Mu`azzam, 1390 AH (1970 AD) in Mahallah Khwaja Qutub Bareilly. This was the first birth of the family of Huzūr Tāj al-Sharī`ah, so the relatives were extremely happy, especially Muftī e A`zam Hind (may mercy be upon him). After the birth, Muftī e A`zam Hind himself came to visit and put his saliva in the newborn’s mouth. He then inserted his finger in the newborn’s mouth and connected him to his spiritual chain. They named the newborn ‘Muhammad’ but agreed on calling him ‘Munawwar Razā Muhāmid’. They set his cognomen as ‘`Asjad Razā’ which he then became known as.

His lineage is as followed: the chief Qādi of India, the son of Tāj al-Sharī`ah `Allāmah Akhtar Razā, the son of Mufassir e Qur’ān Ibrāhīm Razā, the son of Hujjah al-Islām Hāmid Razā, the son of the Mujaddid (the reviver) of Islām, A`lā Hazrat Imām Ahmad Razā Khān (may there be mercy and favor upon them).

Amongst the family of A`lā Hazrat, the one who benefited most from his relation to his ancestors is his (Qā’id e Millat’s) noble father, Shaykh al-`Arab wa al-`Ajam Tāj al-Sharī`ah Muftī Akhtar Razā Khān Qādirī Nūrī Azharī. After him it is, he, Huzūr Qā’id e Milat `Allāmah `Asjad Razā Khān Qādirī who benefited the most due to his lineage from his grandmother being through Tājdār e Ahl e Sunnat Muftī e A`zam (Allāh is pleased with him) and his grandfather’s lineage being through Hujjah al-Islām `Allāmah Hāmid Razā Khān Qādirī Nūrī; both leading to Mujaddid e Islām A`lā Hazrat Imām Ahmad Razā Khān Qādirī, Muhaddith e Bareillvī. This connection is a great honor.

The reason this relation is so honorable is that the noble son of Huzūr Tāj al-Sharī`ah, Huzūr Qā’id e Millat `Allāmah Muftī `Asjad Razā Khān’s (may his shadow be prolonged) predecessor is Qutb e Waqt Mawlānā Razā `Alī Khān (may mercy be upon him). He was very well-known in the sciences of Fiqh and Tasawwuf. The Qutb e Waqt was a person of countless qualities such as his pertinent speech, immediate ‘salām’, piety, contentment, clemency, humility, abstraction, and uniqueness. He is the biological grandfather of Mujaddid e Islām, A`lā Hazrat Imām Ahmad Razā Khān Qādirī (Allāh is pleased with him).

The exegesis by the Mufassirūn (tafsīr experts) on the āyah “وكان أبوهما صالحا” (and their father was a righteous individual) of sūrah al-Kahf states that the father’s name was ‘Kāshih’ and he was a pious individual. Hazrat Muhammad bin Munkadir (may Allāh’s mercy be upon him) states, “through the good deed of an individual, Allāh protects his offspring, then their offspring, then their offspring, the individual’s family and his neighbors” (Tafsīr al-Khāzin, al-Kahf, Āyah 82, 3/221). Scholars say that the individual was the eighth or tenth great-grandfather of the children (Fatāwā Razawīyah, 23/240). Referring to this exegesis, A`lā Hazrat states, “There have only been four generations between Qutb e Zamān `Allāmah Razā `Alī Khān and this Faqīr (Ahmad Raza)”. What A’lā Hazrat is pointing out here is that if the blessings of a righteous individual of Banū Isrā’īl ran for ten generations, imagine how far the blessings of a righteous individual of the Muhammadan nation (Salla Allāhu `Alayhi wa Sallam) go. Huzūr Qā’id e Millat `Allāmah `Asjad Razā Khān Qādirī is only the sixth descendant of his great-grandfather, Qutb e Zamān `Allāmah Razā `Alī Khān.

During his infancy, Tājdār e Ahl e Sunnat Huzūr Muftī e A`zam Hind (Allāh is pleased with him) received special spiritual blessings from the prominent Sādāt (pl. of Sayyid; descendants of Rasūl Allāh Salla Allāhu `Alayhi wa Sallam) of the pure city of Marehra, specifically through Abu al-Husayn Nurī Miyān Marehrwī (Allāh is pleased with him). In the same manner, Huzūr Muftī e A`zam Hind (Allāh is pleased with him) transferred these blessings to Huzūr Qā’id e Millat while he was an infant.

Education & Development   

A wonderful `Aqīqah was held with the name ‘Muhammad’. At the age of four years, four months, and four days a marvelous Tasmīyah Khwānī (a gathering held for a child to commence the recitation of the Qur’ān) was arranged. Huzūr Muftī e A`zam had him recite the Tasmīyah (Bismillāh) and prayed that he becomes an Islamic scholar and a servant of Islām. He acquired his initial education from his noble mother and father. When he matured, he was enrolled in Islamia Inter College, Bareilly where he studied secular sciences until he completed intermediate education.

He studied most of the introductory books to religious sciences from Muftī Muhammad Nāzim `Alī Barabankawī and Hazrat Mawlānā Nizām al-Dīn Sāhib. He attained intermediate religious education from Hazrat Muftī Muzaffar Husayn Katiharī and other instructors from Jāmi`ah Nūrīyah, Bareilly. He studied the advanced books of religious sciences from his maternal uncle, Sadr al-`Ulamā Hazrat `Allāmah Muftī Tahsīn Razā Khān Qādirī (may mercy be upon him). He studied books such as Bukhārī Sharīf, Tahāwī Sharīf, Muslim Sharīf, al-Ashbāh wa al-Nazā’ir, Maqāmāt e Harīrī, Ajla al-I`lām, `Uqūd Rasm al-Muftī, Fawātih al-Rahmūt, Tawqīt, etc. from his father.

In 2001, on the occasion of `Urs e Razawī, Hazrat Mumtāz al-Fuqahā Muhaddith e Kabīr `Allāmah Ziya al-Mustafā conducted his Khatm e Bukhārī (a gathering held to congratulate students for their completion of Bukhārī Sharīf) in the courtyard of Jāmi`ah al-Razā, Bareilly. There, he was also crowned with the turban of scholarship (fadīlah) in the presence of countless scholars and Mashāikh (pl. of Shaykh).

In 2003, the noble son of Tāj al-Sharī`ah recorded a verdict (fatwa) regarding an issue on nursing. This verdict was then verified by Ustādh al-Fuqahā Hazrat `Allāmah Muftī Qādī Muhammad `Abd al-Rahīm Bastawī (may mercy be upon him), Muftī Nāzim `Alī Barabankawī, Muftī Muzaffar Husayn Katiharī, his noble father Tāj al-Sharī`ah Hazrat Muftī Muhammad Akhtar Razā Azharī (may mercy be upon him), and Rāqim al-Sutūr Muhammad Yūnus Razā. On this occasion, Hazrat (Tāj al-Sharī`ah) also ordered sweets and distributed them amongst the attendees.

Ijazah & Successorship

In 2004, on the occasion of `Urs e Razawī Imām Ahmad Razā Conference, Jāmi`ah al-Razā, Bareilly, Hazrat (Tāj al-Sharī`ah) granted him Ijāzah and Khilāfah in the Qādirīyah Razawīyah spiritual chain and officially appointed him as his successor. In 2013, Hazrat authorized him with all the Ijāzāt (pl. of Ijāzah) he had got from his Mashāikh, especially Muftī e A`zam Hind (may mercy be upon him).

In 2007, Mawlānā (Qā’id e Millat) instructed a one hour and fifteen-minute lesson on Mishkāt Shareef in Jāmi`ah al-Razā. His noble father praised him for this lesson, and the attendees congratulated him.

Marriage & Noble Children

Mawlānā `Asjad Razā Sāhib married the noble daughter of Amīn e Sharī`at Muftī Muhammad Sibtayn Razā Khān, Muftī e A`zam M.P. (may mercy be upon him) on Sunday, Sha`bān al-Mu`azzam 6th, 1411 AH (February 17th, 1991 AD). Mā Shā Allāh – he has two noble sons by the names of Muhammad Hussām Ahmad Razā and Muhammad Hummām Ahmad Razā, he also has four noble daughters.

The successor of Tāj al-Sharī`ah is a man of plenty qualities, which is the reason Huzūr Tāj al-Sharī`ah handed over all of his spiritual responsibilities to him. Others have also granted him with Ijāzah and Khilāfah, such as Amīn e Sharī`at Hazrat `Allāmah Sibtayn Razā Sāhib, Amīn e Millat Dr. Sayyid Amīn Miyān Barakātī (sovereign of Khānqah Barakātīyah, Marehra), and the successor of Fātih e Bilgram, Ra’īs al-Atqiyā Mawlānā Sayyid Oways Mustafā Wāsitī Qādirī (sovereign of Khānqah `Ālīyah Bilgram, Hardoi). They have also authorized and permitted him in Awrād, Wazā’if, A’māl, and Ashghāl (spiritual litanies and traditions).

He (Qā’id e Millat) was assigned the following positions during the blessed lifetime of Huzūr Tāj al-Sharī`ah, through which he spent his time serving the religion:

1) All India Jamā`at Razā e Mustafā:

He is the national chairperson of All India Jamā`at Razā e Mustafā, an organization founded by A`lā Hazrat himself. The services of this organization comprise national, social, economic, and domestic issues.

2) Markazī Dār al-Iftā

He serves as a director for the Markazī Dār al-Iftā. Through this platform, they answer hundreds of queries from around the world in the light of the Hanafī Fiqh. The verdicts are published in the Urdu, Arabic, Persian, English and Hindi languages.

3) Markazī Dār al-Qadā

Through this platform, he attends to issues related to moon sighting (Ru’yat e Hilāl) and resolving Islamic court cases. He was formerly the executive director of this platform but has now advanced to the position of ‘Qādī al-Quddāh fi al-Hind’ (Chief Qādī of India); al-Hamdu li-Allāh.

May Allāh grant blessing to the knowledge, lifespan, deeds, and devotion of the successor of Huzūr Tāj al-Sharī`ah, Qā’id e Millat Sarkār `Asjad Razā Khān (may his noble blessings live long) for the sake of His flawless beloved (Salla Allāhu `Alayhi wa Sallam). May He grant Maslak e A`lā Hazrat with significant progress, advancement, and success through his leadership and guidance. May He protect the lives, wealth, honor, integrity, faith and beliefs of all true Muslims. May He grant countless blessings to the knowledge, lifespan and deeds of all scholars, Huffāz (pl. of Hāfiz), and true Mashāikh. May He also grant the true Muslims the ability to work together with sincerity, unity, and harmony to remain strictly on the path of A`lā Hazrat.

Āmīn Yā Rab al-`Ālamīn, Bi-Jāhi Sayyid al-Mursalīn Salla Allāhu Ta`ālā `Alayhi wa Sallam.