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Sadrush Shariah Hazrat Allamah Mufti Amjad Ali Āzmi (Alaihir Rahmah) son of Maulana Hakīm Jamāluddeen (Alaihir Rahmah), was born in 1296 AH / 1879 CE in the town Ghosi in Āzamgarh, UP, Hindustān. He studied the elementary books from his respected grandfather Maulana Khuda Bakhsh (Alaihir Rahmah) and his elder brother Maulana Muhammad Siddīq (Alaihir Rahmah). Thereafter, with their advice, he went to Jaunpūr, the city of knowledge and wisdom, and he benefitted so much from Hazrat Imām-ul-Hikmah Maulana Hidāyatullāh Khān Sāhib Jaunpūri (Alaihir Rahmah) that he himself became a benefit to students. After that, the renowned Madrassat-ul-Hadīth, Pilibhīt of Hazrat Maulana Wasi Ahmad Muhaddith Sūrati (Alaihir Rahmah) became his destination of completion.
His inherited zeal for the science of medicine brought him to Lucknow (both his father and grandfather were experts in the science of medicine). In 1323 AH he attained knowledge of medicine from Hakīm Abdul Wali. From 1323 AH to 1327 AH he taught lessons at Madrassat-ul-Hadīth, Pilibhīt, the Madrassah of his teacher Muhaddith Sūrati (Alaihir Rahmah). And for one year he ran a clinic in Patna, Azīmabād until A’la Hazrat Imām Ahle Sunnat Imām Ahmad Raza Fāzil-e-Bareilwi (Alaihir Rahmah) needed a teacher in Bareilly Shareef. Hazrat Muhaddith Sūrati (Alaihir Rahmah) sent him from Patna, Azīmabād to Bareilly Shareef.
And what happened thereafter? What happened was that A’la Hazrat Imām Ahmad Raza (Alaihir Rahmah) turned a red ruby into a treasure of rubies and a stream into an ocean. A’la Hazrat (Alaihir Rahmah), the greatest Faqīh (Islamic Jurist) of his time, blessed Hazrat Allamah Mufti Amjad Ali Āzmi (Alaihir Rahmah) with the title of Sadrush Shariah. Furthermore, upon seeing him night and day continuously engrossed in religious preoccupations, his contemporaries called him a ‘work machine’.
He was blessed with the good fortune of pledging allegiance at the righteous hands of Imām Ahmad Raza (Alaihir Rahmah) in Silsila ‘Āliya Qādrīya Razvīya. He pledged such a sincere allegiance that for eighteen years he remained in the noble presence of his accomplished Murshid.
In 1343 AH he excused himself for the position of principal of Dārul Uloom Mo’īniya Usmāniya, Ajmer Shareef, and was not interested in abandoning the nearness to the threshold of his Murshid, until Sāhib-e-Sajjādah Huzoor Hujjat-ul-Islam Hazrat Hāmid Raza Khan (Alaihir Rahmah) granted him permission upon the request of Maulana Sayyid Sulaimān Ashraf.
He reached the rank of perfection in the annihilation of his Murshid and was also blessed by Imām Ahmad Raza (Alaihir Rahmah) with Khilāfat. A’la Hazrat (Alaihir Rahmah) bore witness to his noble personality and religiousness by saying, “My Amjad is mature in his splendour.” He was such an Islamic Jurist that Sadrush Shariah became established as the greatest part of his name. He carried out the propagation and publication of the laws of Shariah his entire life, which eventually culminated into the publication of his voluminous masterpiece and unparalleled Urdu encyclopedia of Hanafi Fiqh entitled Bahār-e-Shariat. His contemporaries acknowledged this work of his as the evergreen garden of Shariah.
He was such a teacher that he and his students made a great impact on the teaching world of the last century. The number of his students are numerous, amongst whom Muhaddith-e-Āzam Pakistan Maulana Sardār Ahmad Lāilpūri, Hāfiz-e-Millat Maulana Hāfiz Abdul Azīz Muhaddith Mubārakpūri, Raees-e-Odisha Huzoor Mujāhid-e-Millat Maulana Habīb-ur-Rahmān, Amīn-e-Shariat Maulana Shāh Rafāqat Husain, Fāzil-e-Jalīl Maulana Sayyid Ghulām Jīlāni Meerti, Munāzir-e-Āzam Maulana Hashmat Ali Khān Lucknowi, Sadr-ul-Mudarriseen Maulana Ghulām Yazdāni, Shaikh-ul-Hadīth Maulana Mufti Taqaddus Ali Khān, Faqīh-e-Asr Maulana Mufti Ijāz Wali Khān Qādri, Shaikh-ul-Hadīth Maulana Abdul Mustafa Āzmi, Maulana Sayyid Āle Mustafa Mārehrawi and Allamah Abdul Mustafa Azhari (Radiallahu Ta’ala Anhum Ajma’een), to mention a few, became renowned.
On Monday, 2 Dhul Qa’dah 1367 AH, in the company of Huzoor Mufti-e-Āzam Hind Maulana Shāh Mustafa Raza Khān (Alaihir Rahmah), he reached Bombay at night, with the intention of performing Hajj and Ziyārat. On the same night at 12:26am, he passed away and attained the perpetual good fortune of Hajj and Ziyārat, as per the Hadith in which it has been stated that the one who leaves his house to perform Hajj or Umrah and passes away, Allah Ta’ala will grant the reward of Hajj or Umrah for him until the Day of Judgement. {Shu’ab-ul-Imān}
May Allah Ta’ala elevate the status of Hazrat Sadrush Shariah (Alaihir Rahmah) and grant us the ability to practice upon his teachings, Allahumma Āmeen.
{Compiled from Tazkira-e-Jameel written by Muballigh-e-Āzam Hazrat Allamah Ibrahim Khushtar Siddīqui Qadri Razvi (Alaihir Rahmah)}