Screening Ṣiddīq Ḥasan Khān’s Library 215
its to the grave of the Prophet in Medina. Another prominent member
of the Ahl-i Ḥadīth, Muḥammad Bashīr Sahsawānī (d. 1908), became
famous for criticising these customs.^167 He was born around 1839 in
the traditional quarter (qaṣba)^168 of Sahsawān, district Badayun (today
Uttar Pradesh). His first studies comprised disciplines like logic, the
Arabic language, philosophy and medicine. His contacts to Sahsawān’s
leading Ahl-i Ḥadīth scholar Amīr Ḥasan Sahsawānī (d. 1874)^169 made
him one of the fiercest and most controversial figures of the move-
ment. Before Muḥammad Bashīr Sahsawānī came to Bhopal, he trav-
elled throughout India (e. g. Bihar and Assam), where he constantly
sharpened his rhetorical abilities and his knowledge as a preacher. He
became known to a wider public after entering a debate with ʿAbd
al-Ḥayy Lakhnawī Farangī Maḥallī (d. 1887)^170 on the subjects of visit-
ing the Prophet’s grave and the unity of God (tawḥīd). ʿAbd al-Ḥayy
and Ṣiddīq Ḥasan Khān had debated the issue of ijtihād and taqlīd
before.^171 This might be why Ṣiddīq Ḥasan had invited Muḥammad
Bashīr Sahsawānī to come to Bhopal. In Bhopal, Muḥammad Bashīr
was offered a position in the financial administration. He later worked
as controller of the entire educational system of the principality. After
a short while, he resigned from his post and started to teach Hadith
and tafsīr and regularly preach in several local mosques. His contro-
versial style of preaching and his religious outlook led to various pub-
167 For a biography, see Ḥasanī, Nuzhat al-khawāṭir, vol. 8, p. 415; Sayf, Taḥrīk-i
Ahl-i ḥadīth, pp. 379–382. Muḥammad Bashīr was among the Indians men-
tioned in Mashahīr ʿulamāʾ Najd, pp. 472–477.
168 The qaṣbas in India were often located along important trading routes. Fol-
lowing South Asian Muslim historiography, they were often founded by Sufis,
who were actively involved in Islamic mission and conversion to Islam. On the
reaction of the population of the qaṣbas, mostly consisting of Islamic teachers
or scholars, to the British rule see Malik, Islamische Gelehrtenkultur, pp. 105–
125 (chapter on the qaṣba as a “place of Islamic tradition”). On Muslim culture
in Indian qaṣbas of Awadh see Hasan, Mushirul: From Pluralism to Seperatism.
Qasbas in Colonial Awadh, New Delhi (Oxford University Press) 2004.
169 For a biography, see Ḥasanī, Nuzhat al-khawāṭir, vol. 7, p. 79; Nawshahrawī,
Tarājim, pp. 239–241. Sahsawānī and Ṣiddīq Ḥasan shared a network of teach-
ers of Hadith.
170 Ḥasanī, Nuzhat al-khawāṭir, vol. 8, pp. 234–237. On his role as one of the
leading Ḥanafī scholars of the 19th century, see Robinson, Francis: ‘Ulama of
Farangi Mahall, Delhi (Permanent Black) 2001, pp. 121–125, 151.
171 Ṣiddīq Ḥasan wrote Shifāʾ al-ʿayy ʿan mā awradahu al-Shaykh ʿAbd al-Ḥayy.
ʿAbd al-Ḥayy Ḥasanī refuted Ṣiddīq Ḥasan’s book with his own Ibrāz al-
ghayy al-wāqiʿ fī shifāʾ al-ʿayy.
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