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Muhammad Taqi Usmani was born on 5 October 1943 in Deoband, a city in
the Saharanpur district of Uttar Pradesh, India.
In 1958, Usmani passed the Fazil-e-Arabi (Arabic language
examination) with distinction, administered by the Punjab Board. In 1959 he
graduated from the `Alim course at Darul Uloom Karachi. He then specialised
in fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence) under the guidance of his father, the Grand
Mufti of Pakistan and of Darul Uloom Karachi, Muhammad Shafi, receiving his
Takhassus degree (equivalent to a PhD) in fiqh and ifta (issuance of
Islamic legal opinions) from Darul Uloom Karachi in 1961, earning the title
of Mufti. He graduated from the University of Karachi with a Bachelor of
Arts in 1964, then received a Bachelor of Laws with distinction from the
University of Karachi in 1967. He received a Master of Arts in Arabic
literature, with distinction, from the University of Punjab in 1970.
Usmani received ijaza to teach hadith from Islamic scholars including
Muhammad Shafi, Idris Kandhalvi, Muhammad Tayyib, Saleemullah Khan, Rashid
Ahmad Ludhianvi, Sahban Mahmud, Zafar Ahmad Usmani, Muhammad Zakariya
Kandhalvi, Hasan al-Mahshat, and others.
Usmani pioneered the concept of Islamic banking in Pakistan when he
established the Meezan Bank. Usmani has authored a number of books in
Arabic, Urdu, and English on Islamic topics in addition to a large number
of articles on Islamic banking and finance published in a number of
journals and magazines.[citation needed]
In March 2004, United Arab Emirates Vice President and Prime Minister
Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum presented an award to Taqi Usmani in
recognition of his lifetime service and achievement in Islamic finance
during the annual International Islamic Finance Forum (IIFF) in
Dubai.[citation needed]
In accordance with the tradition of the scholars of Deoband and
recognising the importance of tasawwuf, Usmani's bay'ah was accepted by
Abdul Hayy Arifi and Maseehullah Khan. Usmani is currently a mentor to
numerous spiritual aspirants all over the world and delivers weekly
lectures on self-improvement at Darul Uloom Karachi on Sundays between Asr
Salaah and Maghrib Salaah.
He currently teaches Sahih al-Bukhari, fiqh, and Islamic economics at
Darul Uloom Karachi and is known for his Islahi Khutbat. He was a key
member of a team of scholars which helped declare Ahmadis (Qadianis), as
non-Muslims by Pakistan's National Assembly during the era of former
Pakistani president, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, in the 1970s. During the
presidency of General Zia ul Haq, he was instrumental in drafting laws
pertaining to Hudood, Qisas, and Dayiat. He strongly opposed the Women's
Protection Bill. According to him, it was designed to distract attention
from issues such as flaws in the law enforcement system.[citation needed]
According to a comment piece in The Times, Usmani "believes that
aggressive military jihad should be waged by Muslims 'to establish the
supremacy of Islam' worldwide." and "Muslims should live
peacefully in countries such as Britain, where they have the freedom to
practise Islam, only until they gain enough power to engage in
battle". On 23 October 2009, he published a response to alleged
misrepresentations of his views on Jihad. To a question whether he had
issued any fatwas saying “Muslims living in the West conduct violent jihad
against the infidels at every opportunity.” he declared: "I never made
any such statement either in writing or verbally nor issued any so-called
fatwa. Nor is there any sentence to that effect in any of my writings,
including “Islam and Modernism”. If this statement is attributed to me in Mr.
Norfolk’s interview with me, it is not but a blatant lie, because I never
said this during the interview." In Norfolk's piece in The Times this
quote was not made. Usmani did write in his book “Islam and Modernism”
about aggressive jihad that: “The question is whether aggressive battle is
by itself commendable or not. If it is, why should the Muslims stop simply
because territorial expansion in these days is regarded as bad? And if it
is not commendable, but deplorable, why did Islam not stop it in the past?”
and that peace agreements with non-Muslims in power is acceptable if:
"If Muslims do not possess the capability of "Jihad with
power" agreement may be made till the power is attained."
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