Shah Waliullah Dehlawi
Indian muslim scholar
Qutb ud-Din Ahmad ibn ʿAbd-ur-Rahim al-ʿUmari ad-Dehlawi (Arabic: قطب الدين أحمد بن عبد الرحيم العمري الدهلوي, romanized: Quṭb ad-Dīn Aḥmad ibn ʿAbd-ur-Raḥīm al-ʿUmarī ad-Dehlawī; 21 February 1703 – 20 August 1762), commonly known as Shah Waliullah Dehlawi (also Shah Wali Ullah), was an Islamic Sunni scholar and Sufi reformer who contributed to the Islamic revival in the Indian subcontinent and is seen by his followers as a renewer.
Early life and education
Ahmad was born on 21 February 1703 to Shah Abdur Rahim, an Islamic scholar in Delhi. He became known as Shah Waliullah because of his status as an Islamic scholar; he memorized the Qur'an by age seven. "Shah" was an honorific; Ahmad never became a ruler. He quickly mastered Arabic and Persian letters. Ahmad was married at age fourteen; by age fifteen, he had completed the standard curriculum of Hanafi law: theology, geometry, arithmetic, and logic. Two years later, he succeeded his father as dean of his Madrasah-i Rahimiyah. Shah Waliullah visited Makkah at age 29 years in 1732. Shah Waliullah's great-grandson was Shah Ismail Dehlvi, who had an impact on the Deobandi movement.
Views
Sunni Islam
Shah Waliullah defined Sunni Islam broadly, rather than confining it to a specific school of theology.
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