Karam Shah al-Azhari

Muhammad karam Shah al-Azhari
محمد کرم شاہ الأزھری
Born	Muhammad Karam Shah (1918-07-01)1 July 1918 Bhera (currently Pakistan)
Died	7 April 1998(1998-04-07) (aged 79) Islamabad, Pakistan
Alma mater	Al-Azhar University
Children	Shaykh Muhammad Amin al-Hasanat Shah, Hafeez Ul Barkat Shah, Major Ibrahim Shah, Mohsin Shah, Dr. Abulhassan Shah Al-Azhari, Farooq Bahawal Haq Shah

Part of a series on
Barelvi movement
Ideology and influences
Sunni Islam Maturidi theology Hanafi fiqh
Key figures
Ahmed Raza Khan Barelvi Hassan Raza Khan Naeem-ud-Deen Muradabadi Hamid Raza Khan Jamaat Ali Shah Mustafa Raza Khan Qadri Maulana Abdul Hamid Qadri Badayuni Mohammad Abdul Ghafoor Hazarvi Ahmad Saeed Kazmi Amjad Ali Aazmi Ziaul Mustafa Razvi Qadri Akhtar Raza Khan
History/Movement
All India Sunni Conference Majlis-e-Tahaffuz-e-Khatme Nabuwwat
Notable Scholars
Past Shah Turab ul Haq Muhammad Fazlur Rahman Ansari Khwaja Qamar ul Din Sialvi Shah Ahmad Noorani Abdul Sattar Khan Niazi Arshadul Qaudri Syed Shujaat Ali Qadri Shamsul-hasan Shams Barelvi Maulana Ziauddin Madani Muhammad Alauddin Siddiqui Muhammad Shafee Okarvi Muhammad Waqaruddin Qadri Akhtar Raza Khan Khadim Hussain Rizvi Muhammad Arshad Misbahi Yaseen Akhtar Misbahi Present Qamaruzzaman Azmi Ameen Mian Quadri Syed Shujaat Ali Qadri Hamid Saeed Kazmi Muhammad Raza Saqib Mustafai Kanthapuram A. P. Aboobacker Musliyar Ziaul Mustafa Razvi Qadri Sibtain Raza Khan Asjad Raza Khan Ilyas Qadri
Institutions
India Jamiatur Raza Manzar-e-Islam Al Jamiatul Ashrafia Al-Jame-atul-Islamia Jamia Naeemia Moradabad Jamia-tul-Madina Al Madeena Islamic complex Markazu Saquafathi Sunniyya Jamia Nizamia Jamia Amjadia Razvia Madrasa Faizul Uloom Darul Huda Islamic University Jamia Shahbazia Madrasa-e-Aliya, Rampur Pakistan Hizbul Ahnaf Ashraf ul Madaris Jamia Nizamia Ghousia Aleemiyah Institute of Islamic Studies Jamia Naeemia Lahore Mohi-ud-Din Islamic University Mohi-ud-Din Islamic Medical College Dar-ul-Madinah Schools Minhaj University Lahore United Kingdom Al-Mustafa Islamic Cultural Centre Ireland Bangladesh Jamia Ahmadiyya Sunnia Kamil Madrasa Sri Lanka Madrasa Faiz-e-Raza South Africa Imam Ahmed Raza Academy Darul Uloom Pretoria
Notable Channels
Noor TV (UK) Madni Channel
Notable works
Kanzul Iman-Quran translation Tafsir Zia ul Quran Fatawa-e-Razvia Bahar-e-Shariat Husamul Haramain Zujajat al-Masabih Manaqib-al-Jaleela Zia un Nabi
Notable Organisations
Jama'at Raza-e-Mustafa Dawat e Islami Mohiuddin Trust World Islamic Mission Jamiat Ulema-e-Pakistan Jamaat Ahle Sunnat Sunni Tehreek Tanzeem-ul-Madaris Sunni Ittehad Council Sunni Students' Federation Aalmi Tehreek-e-Namoos-e-Risalat Majlis-e-Tahaffuz-e-Khatme Nabuwwat Central Jamaat-e Ahl-e Sunnat Tanzeem ul Madaris Raza Academy Dargah-e-Ala Hazrat All India Sunni Jem-iyyathul Ulama All India Ulema and Mashaikh Board Muslim Charity Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan Idara-e-Shariah
Islam portal
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Muhammad Karam Shah al-Azhari (1 July 1918 – 7 April 1998) was an Islamic scholar of Hanafi jurisprudence, Sufi, and Muslim leader. He is known for his work Tafsir Zia ul Quran fi Tafsir ul Quran, (Transl. The light of the Quran in the Exegesis of the Quran). It is commonly referred to as Zia ul Quran.^[1] He also wrote Zia un Nabi, a biography of Muhammad in seven volumes.^[2]

He was a spiritual guide of the Chishtiyya Sufi order.^[3][4]

Muhammad Karam Shah was born on 1 July 1918 at Bhera, Sargodha District, British India.^[3] He finished his basic education in his hometown Bhera in 1936. Then he learned Persian and Arabic languages. Then on the advice of Khwaja Qamar ul Din Sialvi (1906 – 1981), he went to Muradabad, in 1942 for the study of hadith. He graduated from the University of the Punjab in 1945 and then went on to Egypt for higher religious education at Al-Azhar University. He received his master's degree in Islamic Law.^[3]

He wrote "Zia un Nabi", a 1995 Urdu biography of Muhammad.^[3][5] in seven volumes. It was translated into English by Muhammad Qayyum Awan.^[6] He wrote Tafsir Zia ul Quran, an Urdu interpretation of the Quran in 5 volumes.^[7][8][9]

He reorganized the Islamic institution Dar al Ulum Muhammadiyyah Ghausiyyah established by his father in Bhera (Sargodha) and brought major changes in the syllabi of religious education. He was of the view that modern education also should be learned along with religious education.^[3]

Karam Shah al-Azhari was an active participant in the Pakistan movement and vigorously campaigned in the Indian provincial elections, 1946 for All India Muslim League.^[3]

He also served as a justice on the Supreme Court of Pakistan until his death in 1998 and had served on its Shariat Bench.^[3] He became a justice of the Federal Shariat Court, when it was first established in 1981.^[3][10]

• Tafsir Zia ul Quran (1995) (in five volumes)^[11]
• Zia un Nabi (1995) (a biography of Muhammad in seven volumes)^[3]

• Sitara-e-Imtiaz (Star of Excellence) by the Government of Pakistan
• Pakistan Post Office issued a commemorative postage stamp to honor him in its 'Men of Letters' stamp series (2004)^[12]

Muhammad Karam Shah al-Azhari died on 7 April 1998 after being ill for nearly a year.^[3]

• Muhammad Karam Shah al-Azhari's book on goodreads.com website
• Profile of Muhammad Karam Shah al-Azhari on dmgbhera.net website Archived 22 September 2019 at the Wayback Machine