Molana Fazl-e-Haq Khairaba

He wrote Tahqeeq al-Fatwa Fi Abtal al-Taghwa in refutation of Ismail Dehlvi‘s Taqwiyat al-Iman and authored books such as al-Saurah al-Hindiyya.

Fazl-e-Haq was born into a family of Indian Muslims. He was born in 1796 or 1797 in Khairabad, Sitapur. His father was Sadr al-Sadur, the chief advisor to the Mughals regarding religious matters. He became a teacher by the age of 13. In 1828, he was appointed to the position of mufti in the Department of Qaza. Molana Fazl e Haq memorized the Quran in four months only. 

Besides being a scholar of Islamic studies and theology, he was also a literary persona, especially of Urdu, Arabic and Persian literature. More than 400 couplets in Arabic are attributed to him. He edited the first diwan of Mirza Ghalib on his request. He followed the Hanafi school of thought and was a theologian of the Maturidi school, he was also a poet.

On account of his deep knowledge and erudition, he was bestowed with the title of “Allama” and later was venerated as a great Sufi. He was also called the Imam of logic, philosophy and literature. He was considered by scholars to be the final authority on issuing fatwas or religious rulings.

He possessed a great presence of mind and was very intelligent. There are many stories about his repartee with Mirza Ghalib and other contemporary eminent poets, writers and intellectuals. He and his son Abdul al-Haq Khairabadi established Madrasa Khairabad in northern India, where many scholars got educated. He wrote Risala-e-Saurah al-Hindiyya in Arabic language and wrote an account of the rebellion called al-Saurah al-Hindiyya.

Khairabadi, in his career, had written various Masnavis against Wahhabis. In 1825, Khairabadi issued fatwas against Ismail Dehlvi for his doctrine of God’s alleged ability to lie (Imkan al-Kidhb). Ismail is considered as an intellectual ancestor of Deobandis. Darul Uloom Deoband founder Rashid Ahmad Gangohi later accepted Dehlvi’s doctrines of Imkan al-Kidhb by stating that God has the ability to lie. This doctrine is called Imkan al-Kidhb. According to this doctrine, because God is omnipotent, God is capable of lying. Gangohi supported the doctrine that God has the ability to make additional prophets after Muhammad (Imkan al-Nazir) and other prophets equal to Muhammad.

Allama Fazl-e-Haq Khairabadi refuted these theories and wrote that, according to the Qur’an and Hadith, Muhammad is the final prophet, and there can be no other prophet or “messenger” after him. To believe that there can be another Muhammad would necessitate that Allah did something apart from what he has stated in the Qur’an, that is, that Allah has lied. Lying is a flaw, and it is impossible for Allah to have a flaw.

Literary works

Khairabadi wrote Tahqeeq al-Fatwa Fi Abtal al-Taghwa refuting Ismail Dehlvi’s Taqwiyat al-Iman. His other works include:

• al-Hidayah al-Sayyidiyya
• al-Raudh al-Majud : Maslahi Wahdat al-Wujud Ki Buland Payah Takhliq
• al-Ḥashiyya lil-Mawlawi Fazl e Haq Khairabadi ʻala Sharh al-Salam lil-Qadi Mubarak
• al-Saurah al-Hindiyya

He was Farooqui. His father was Imam Fazl-e-Iman. One of his sons, Abdul Haq, was also a leading and respected scholar and was given the title of Shams al-Ulama. His grandson was Muztar Khairabadi. Renowned poet and lyricist Jan Nisar Akhtar was his great-grandson and Javed Akhtar, Farhan Akhtar and Zoya Akhtar all are his descendants.

Among his sons, Abdul Haq Khairabadi was a rational scholar and a teacher of Majid Ali Jaunpuri.

Molana Fazl e Haq Khair Abadi was the Mureed of Great sufi Saint Hazrat Shah Dhooman Dehlvi (Tazkira Ulema e Hind) 

(Khairabad is a town in the Sitapur district of Uttar Pradesh state of India.It is 8 km from Sitapur on National Highway 24 in the Awadh region of India, about 80 km from the state capital Lucknow. A Municipal board conducts the affairs of the town.)

He stayed for 22 months in captivity at Andaman, Allama wrote a number of eyewitness accounts in the form of verses in Arabic (Qaseeda), apart from a book al-Saurah al-Hindiyya which is an analysis of the war and events of 1857. This is also the first ever book on the events of 1857. Fazl-e-Haq Khairabadi died on August 19, 1861, in exile on the Andaman Islands.