He translated the Holy Quran into Persian, Which enabled a great number of people to understand and disseminate the meaning of Holy book.
hah Waliullah was born on 21 February 1703 to Shah Abdur Rahim, during the reign of Emperor Aurengzeb. He was known as Shah Walliullah because of his piety. He was a prominent Sufi and scholar of Delhi. He memorized the Qur'an by the age of seven. Soon thereafter, he mastered Arabic and Persian letters.[4] He was married at fourteen.[4] By sixteen he had completed the standard curriculum of Hanafi law, theology, geometry, arithmetic and logic.[4]
He lived during the time when Fatawa-e-Alamgiri[5] was being compiled and he was asked to join the team of scholars that was working on it. However he joined the team for a very brief period of time and then dissociated himself from the task.
His father, Shah Abdur Rahim was the founder of the Madrasah-i Rahimiyah. He was on the committee appointed by Aurangzeb for compilation of the code of law, Fatwa-e-Alamgiri.[6] His grandfather, Sheikh Wajihuddin, was an important officer in the army of Shah Jahan.
He had a son who was also a famous religious scholar, Shah Abdul Aziz. He went to Saudi Arabia to do Hajj.
Death and legacy
He died on Friday 29 Muharram 1186 AH/ 20 August 1762 at Zuhr prayer in Old Delhi, aged 59.
His works relate to aqidah and fiqh Hanafi. He states:Some people think that there is no usefulness involved in the injunct of Islamic law and that in actions and rewards as prescribed by God there is no beneficial purpose. They think that the commandments of Islamic law are similar to a master ordering his servant to lift a stone or touch a tree in order to test his obedience and that in this there is no purpose except to impose a test so that if the servant obeys, he is rewarded, and if he disobeys, he is punished. This view is completely incorrect. The traditions of the Prophet and consensus of opinion of those ages, contradict this view.[5]
Works
(The Sacred Knowledge), ed. D. Pendlebury, trans. G. Jalbani, The Sacred Knowledge, London: Octagon, 1982.[7]
Al-Khayr al-kathir (The Abundant Good), trans. G. Jalbani, Lahore: Ashraf, 1974.[7]
Hujjat Allah al-baligha (The Profound Evidence of Allah), Lahore: Shaikh Ghulam Ali and Sons, 1979. Considered his most important work. First published in Rae Bareily, India in 1286 Hijri.[8] This book explains how Islam was found suitable for all races, cultures and people of the world and how successfully it solves social, moral, economic and political problems of human beings.
Sata'at (Manifestations), trans. into Urdu by S.M. Hashimi, Lahore: Idarah Thaqafat Islamiyya, 1989; trans. into English by G. Jalbani, Sufism and the Islamic Tradition: the Lamahat and Sata'at of Shah Waliullah, London