One of the relatively less-recognized yet exceptional researchers of our time was the humble and unassuming Mawlana Muḥammad Nāfīʿ (may Allah have mercy on him), a resident of the small city of Chinnoit outside of Faisalabad in Pakistan. Due to my teacher and current spiritual guide’s connection to both the city and Mawlana Nāfiʿ, I was fortunate enough to have met him before he passed away. Although I remember little about the encounter, I do recall how unassuming and humble he was. Given my teacher’s immense praise for him, I was expecting someone much more intimidating. Mawlana Muḥammad Nāfiʿ was accommodating, kind, and cheery, and gave no impression through his demeanor of his immense scholarship.
Mawlana Nāfiʿ (may Allah have mercy on him)’s most famous work is a four-volume exposition on the amicable relationship between the Companions, particularly between Abū Bakr, ʿUmar, ʿUthman, and the Ahl al-Bayt. A critically important work that makes sense of the erroneous and malicious claims of enmity between them, I was recommended to read this work when I was still in my initial years of study abroad. The work was originally written in Urdu. To make it accessible to the Arabic-speaking world, Mawlana Luqmān Ḥakīm, at the behest of our teacher Mufti Muḥammad Taqī ʿUthmānī, abridged and translated the first three parts into Arabic. I consider this Arabic abridgment necessary extracurricular reading for all Islamic seminary students.
Unfortunately, the work was inaccessible to the English-speaking world despite its audience including the Muslim layperson. I was thus more than overjoyed to discover that contributors to the website http://www.mahajjah.com (a critical resource for everyone interested in Sunni-Shi’a issues) have translated all four volumes of the Urdu original into English and posted it at no cost online. I have posted their brief intros to the book as well as links to the pdfs of the English translation below from the mahajjah.com website. I pray that they are able to publish and widely distribute a hard copy version soon.
– Bilal Ali Ansari
Chicago, IL
2-12-2020
“The scholarly masterpiece of Molana Muhammad Nafi’ comprising of four volumes wherein he highlights the relationship between the Sahabah and Sayyidina ‘Ali radiya Llahu ‘anhum, his affinity towards them and their recognition of his virtue, as well as the role he played during their khilafah. The first volume deals specifically with his relationship with Sayyidina Abu Bakr radiya Llahu ‘anhu, and also addresses a number of Shia misconceptions regarding the first khalifah of Islam.
The second volume deals specifically with his relationship with Sayyidina Umar radiya Llahu `anhu, and also addresses a number of Shia misconceptions regarding the second khalifah of Islam.
The third volume deals specifically with his relationship with Sayyidina Uthman radiya Llahu `anhu, and also addresses a number of Shia misconceptions regarding the third khalifah of Islam.
The fourth volume deals specifically with The Allegations Of Nepotism Against Sayyidina Uthman radiya Llahu `anhu, and also addresses a number of Shia misconceptions regarding the third khalifah of Islam.”
Volume 3: The ʿUthmānī Section
Volume 4: Answering the Allegations of Nepotism against ʿUthmān
For a full table of contents of each volume, please visit the mahajjah.com website.
at-Tahawi 