About Hazrat Mahmud Hasan Sb.

Mahmud Hasan Deobandi (also known as Shaykh al-Hind; 1851–1920) was an Indian Muslim  scholar and an activist of the independence movement, who co-founded the Jamia Millia Islamia and launched the Silk Letter Movement for the freedom of India. He was the first student to study at the Darul Uloom Deoband. His teachers included Muhammad Qasim Nanautawi and Mahmud Deobandi, and he was authorized in Sufism by Imdadullah Muhajir Makki and Rashid Ahmad Gangohi.

Mahmud Hasan sb. served as the principal of the Darul Uloom Deoband and founded organisations such as the Jamiatul Ansar and the Nizaratul Maarif. He wrote a translation of the Quran in Urdu and authored books such as Adilla-e-Kāmilah, Īzah al-adillah, Ahsan al-Qirā and Jahd al-Muqil. He taught hadith at the Darul Uloom Deoband and copyedited the Sunan Abu Dawud. His major students include Ashraf Ali Thanwi, Anwar Shah Kashmiri, Hussain Ahmad Madani, Kifayatullah Dehlawi, Sanaullah Amritsari and Ubaidullah Sindhi.

Mahmud Hasan sb.  was a staunch opponent of the British Raj. He launched movements to overthrow their power in India but was arrested in 1916 and imprisoned in Malta. He was released in 1920, and was honoured with the title of “Shaykh al-Hind” (The Leader of India) by the Khilafat committee. He wrote religious edicts in support of the Non-cooperation movement and travelled various parts of India, to enroll Muslims in the freedom movement. He presided the second general meeting of the Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind in November 1920 and was appointed its president. The Shaikh-Ul-Hind Maulana Mahmood Hasan Medical College is named in his memory. In 2013, the Government of India released a commemorative postal stamp on his Silk Letter Movement.

Mahmud Hasan sb.  presided over the second general meeting of the Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind, which was held in November 1920 in Delhi. He was appointed the president of the Jamiat, a position he could not serve due to his death after few days [on 30 November]. The general meeting was held over three days starting from 19 November, and Mahmud Hasan’s sb. presidential speech was read aloud by his student Shabbir Ahmad Usmani. Mahmud Hasan sb.   advocated a Hindu-Muslim-Sikh unity and said that, if Hindus and Muslims unite, acquiring freedom was not much more difficult. This was the last conference that Mahmud Hasan sb.  attended.