Official Blog of Darul Uloom Ulama

Beginning around the year 100 A.H (700 CE), as an academic discipline originally belonging to “Ahl al-Hadith” (The People of Hadith) and the Science of Hadith (Ulum al-Hadith/Usul al-Hadith/Mustalah al-Hadith) and its scholars, the “Muhadditheen,” an “Ijazah,” (Arabic: الإِجازَة‎, literally “permission” or “authorization”), is a certification and license authorizing its holder to transmit a certain text or subject of knowledge, issued by a higher religious authority (usually an indirect student of the Prophet Muhammad or a famous Muslim scholar). It is particularly associated with the transmission of Islamic religious knowledge (aside from scientific or secular knowledge), and the license usually implies that the student has acquired this knowledge from the issuer of the Ijazah through first-hand oral and face-to-face instruction.

An Ijazah providing an unbroken chain (sanad) of certified transmitters going back to the original author of a piece of knowledge often accompanies texts of Hadith, Fiqh and Tafsir, but also appears in mystical, historical, and philological works, as well as other literary collections. While Ijazah is primarily associated with Sunni Islam, the concept also appears in other sects of Islam and there are 5 sects of Muslims in Islam that have been particularly strict about preserving the Ijazah/Sanad system, Ahl al-Hadith, Ahl al-Fiqh, Salafi Muslims, Sufi Muslims, and Shia Muslims. After political turmoil during The First Fitna (when Caliph Uthman ibn Affan was assassinated at the hands of rebels), the falsification and fabrication (mawdu’at) of hadith began and spread at an alarming rate (as Muslim schism increased and groups in conflict created and used fabricated ahadith as propoganda against other groups of Muslims) and the Ulama began to pay more attention to hadith methodology and the reliability of hadith transmitters and hadith transmission.

Hadith fabrication became so widespread in less than 100 years after the passing of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam, that Muhammad Ibn Sirin, famous Tabi’i, polymath and Islamic scholar, said, “In early times, if any one would narrate a hadith, nobody asked him about his sanad. Afterwards, when the (First) Fitna spread, then people started asking for isnad (sanad).” (Muhammad Ibn Sirin, Introduction to Sahih Muslim by Imam Muslim).” An Ijazah is a type of academic degree, and is often issued only at Islamic higher education institutions called madaris. The linguistic definition of Ijazah is “permission,” while its technical meaning is, “Permission to narrate.” The historical purpose of Ijazah when the tradition of Ijazah/Sanad began, was to establish a piece of information, or in some cases entire books of information with a documented and strong chain of transmission (sanad) and the Ijazah/Sanad system was the means by which hadith scholars preserved the integrity and soundness of knowledge through oral and written transmissions, always stating in their time, “This knowledge is your religion, so be careful from whom you take your religion,” and, “Were it not for isnad, anyone could have said anything they wanted.”

All foremost early Muslim scholars reached a consensus that no Muslim was allowed to say: ‘The Messenger of Allah (upon him blessings and peace) said this or that,’ until one acquired the actual narration of that hadith from the students of the students of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam himself. Obtaining an Ijazah usually takes place at the end of a course of study but can also be granted after a single reading, or even a single meeting devoid of reading, but only for those whom a shaykh deems qualified, so in this way giving Ijazah is an “Amanah,” a sacred trust, not to be easily broken. The Ulama also agreed that Ijazah is impermissible for anyone other than someone who is highly proficient in that knowledge and aware of how to handle it. There are many different types of Ijazah and various preconditions that determine their validity. A “sanad” on the other hand, (literally ‘chain’), is in its linguistic meaning means a chain or something that connects one thing to another and its technical meaning means Muslims who are connected to other Muslims (by scholastic lineage), and sanads (asaneed) were also granted around the same time that Ijazah began being granted because one is usually not granted one without the other one except in certain cases, and anyone granted Ijazah is called a “Mujeez,” literally one who has been granted Ijazah. It is also very important to know that the Ulama decided to give each sanad a “Ranking” (a rank of either a High sanad or a Low sanad), depending on certain characteristics of the sanad. So consequently, Muslims in the Ijazah/Sanad system don’t just have ijazah and a sanad, every Muslim granted Ijazah and a sanad also has either a high sanad (high quality sanad), or a low sanad.

An example of a sanad that has been preserved throughout history (a sanad linking Mujeezs to the author of the famous Hadith collection Sahih Bukhari):

-Maulana Ismail Shah narrates from,

– Maulana Abdul Jabbar who narrates from,

– Maulana Ishaq Luckhnawi (RH) who narrates from,

– Maulana Muhammad Abdullah (RH) who narrates from,

– Sheikh Khair Muhammad (RA) who narrates from,

– Sheikh Anwar Shah Kashmiri (RA) (RA) who narrates from,

– Sheikh Mahmoodul Hasan Deobandi (RA) who narrates from,

– Sheikh Mohammed Qasim Nanotwi (RA) who narrates from,

– Sheikh Abdul Ghani Mujaddidi (RA) who narrates from,

– Sheikh Shah Ishaq Dehalwi (RA) who narrates from,

– Sheikh Shah Abdul-Aziz Dehalwi (RA) who narrates from,

– Sheikh Shah Waliullah (RA) who narrates from,

– Sheikh Abu Tahir Madani (RA) who narrates from,

– Sheikh Ibraheem Kurdi (RA) who narrates from,

– Sheikh Ahmed Al-Qashashi (RA) who narrates from,

– Sheikh Abu-Mawahib Ash-Shannari (RA) who narrates from,

– Sheikh Muhammad Ibn Ahmed Ibn Muhammad Ar-Ramali (RA) who narrates from,

– Sheikh Abul-Fadhal Yahya Ibn Zakariyya Ansari (RA) who narrates from,

– Sheikh Ibnul Haj’ar Asqalani (RA) (RA) who narrates from,

– Sheikh Ibraheem Ibn Ahmed At-Tanookhi (RA) who narrates from,

– Sheikh Ahmed Ibn Abi Talib (RA) who narrates from,

– Sheikh Siraj Al-Hussain Ibn Mubarak Az-Zabidi (RA) who narrates from,

– Sheikh Isa Ibn Abdul-Awwal Ibn Isa (RA) who narrates from,

– Sheikh Abdur-Rahman Ibn Muzaffar (RA) who narrates from,

– Sheikh Abdullah Ibn Ahmed (RA) who narrates from,

– Sheikh Muhammad Ibn Yusuf (RA) who narrates from,

– Sheikh Muhammad Ibn Isamel Al-Bukahri (RA) who narrates from,

– Sheikh Humaidi Abdullah Ibn Zubair (RA) who narrates from,

– Sheikh Sufyan (RA) who narrates from,

– Sheikh Yahya Ibn Saeed Ansari (RA) who narrates from,

– Sheikh Muhammad Ibn Ibraheem (RA) who narrates from,

– Sheikh Alqamah Ibn Waqas (RA) who narrates from,

– Sayyidina Umar Ibn Khattab (RA) who narrates from,

– Prophet Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wasallam

There are 2 other unique features of the Ijazah/Sanad system found in the academic tradition of Islam, the features of “Tahammul,” and “Ada,” Reception and Delivery respectively. These two terms in their technical meanings outline the methods, rules and regulations by which hadith scholars and Muslims have historically taken knowledge, verified knowledge, and passed it on legitimately to other Muslims. These two terms define both the methods and the rules and regulations set forth by the Ulama in order to regulate how Muslims take knowledge, verify knowledge, and pass on the knowledge safely and securely through the Ijazah/Sanad system. Just think of the Ijazah/Sanad system like anything else who’s purpose is to protect something when it isn’t traveling, and when it begins traveling makes sure it gets from point A to point B safely, this is what the Ijazah/Sanad system accomplishes, and why so many Muslims who truly love Islam and their ummah rely upon it and preserve it (because they know the knowledge they receive from it is Orthodox and correct) because a true Muslim is a Muslim who only wants what they think is good for their ummah and for Islam. Hadith scholars (Muhadditheen) in the time of the Tabi’een and Taba al-Tabi’een set certain conditions that must be met by anyone who receives and carries hadith or other Islamic knowledge and then delivers or transmits it to others. These conditions are basically concerned with the legal capacity of the receivers and transmitters of hadith. They stipulated that one who receives a hadith must be a discerning person (Aqli) who has attained an age (usually between 5 and 15 depending on the particular madhhab interpreting the rules) that enables him to listen to and retain the hadith and convey it to others. The precise age is a subject of disagreement but the legal capacity of a receiver of hadith is known to be different to legal capacity for purposes of civil and commercial transactions. A discerning child of seven, and according to some, five, years of age may not be capable of concluding a transaction or contract and yet may be able to comprehend what he hears and retain it or even transmit it to others. Most have specified that the child should be able to understand speech addressed to him and be able to give an answer. The child in question may write what he hears or may not and the Ulama have not specified any particular age for purposes of writing. Because of this understanding the Companions and others have thus accepted the hadith transmitted by famous Sahabi Mahmud b. al-Rabi who said:

When I was a boy of five, I remember, the Prophet, peace be on him, took water from a bucket (used for drawing water out of a well) with his mouth and threw it on my face.

More stipulations began to rise and the question of whether or not a non Muslim could be a recipient of hadith arose and was answered in the affirmative provided that he is a Muslim when he transmits the hadith to others. The Ulama lamented that a kafir is thus qualified to receive hadith but not to transmit it, because to accept hadith transmitted by a disbeliever would mean that Muslims are bound by his report that consequently becomes a part of their religion, which is unacceptable.

The Ulama also stipulated that one who transmits hadith must also be a person of just character (Adl). Possession of just character or Adala, although often linked with observance of religious duties, avoidance of major sins, some particularly degrading minor sins or even profanities that are not necessarily sinful yet degrading, such as being in the company of corrupt persons, indulging in is also known by virtue of the fact that a person’s speech is in agreement with the work of those who are known to be upright and retentive. An occasional discrepancy or disagreement is of no consequence provided that the general calibre and purpose of one’s work is agreeable when compared to the works of recognised and reliable transmitters. If instances of conflict and discordance are frequent, the quality of dabt will be difficult to establish.

Transmission of hadith is consequently not accepted from a person who fails to fulfil the five conditions of Ada which are Islam (the transmitter must be a Muslim), majority, sound intellect (Aql), just character and retentiveness (can memorize the transmitted knowledge and keep it in memory from the time he or she receives it to the time he or she transmits the knowledge to another without writing the knowledge down even one time) – whereas there is basically one precondition of reception (Tahammul) which is basically intellectual discernment (al-tamyiz). We now turn to the methods of reception (Tahammul) or receiving Islamic knowledge. There are 8 recognized and recorded methods of Tahammul or ways that Muslims have historically received hadith and other Islamic knowledge and still receive hadith and other Islamic knowledge today. They are, from highest ranking (in authority) to lowest ranking in authority:

1. Sama’a (Direct Hearing) (which always comes with Ijazah and thus may be referred to as simply Ijazah) – A method of Tahammul where a Shaykh (a student of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam or a famous scholar) reads a text or hadith to a student or has read a text or hadith to a student and they have listened aurally.

2. Qira’at al-Shaykh (Reading To The Shaykh) (which also always comes with Ijazah) – A method of Tahammul where a student reads a hadith or text to a Shaykh while he listens and verifies the accuracy of his record and then gives the student Ijazah to narrate it.

3. Ijazah (Permission) – A method of Tahammul where a Shaykh permits a student to transmit a hadith or text and there is no reading (transmission) of the text or listening of the text.

4. Munawala (Presentation) – A method of Tahammul where a Shaykh presents a written record of a hadith or text he has Ijazah to narrate to one of his students or a student presents a written record of a hadith or text to the Shaykh who then verifies the accuracy of the record and gives the student Ijazah to narrate it.

5. Mukataba (Letter) – A method of Tahammul where a Shaykh writes a hadith or text in a letter and sends it to a student and gives the student Ijazah to narrate the contents of it.

6. Ilam (Declaration) – A method of Tahammul where a Shaykh informs one of his students that he (the Shaykh) was given Ijazah to narrate a hadith or text and doesn’t mention anything specifically about giving his student permission to narrate that text but the permission could be implied.

7. Wasiyya (Bequest) – A method of Tahammul where a Shaykh makes a bequest on his deathbed for one of his students to narrate a hadith or text from him and gives him Ijazah to narrate it.

8. Wijada (Finding) – A method of Tahammul where a student of a Shaykh finds a hadith or text in his Shaykh’s handwriting and narrates it without hearing or listening or being formally granted Ijazah from his Shaykh to narrate it.

Benefits of Being a Mujeez

There are many benefits to being a Mujeez, some of the benefits are:

1. The Mujeez is check-tested by a certified higher religious authority for their understanding of transmitted knowledge.

2. The Mujeez is check-tested by a certified higher religious authority for their memorization of transmitted knowledge.

3. The Mujeez becomes a certified indirect student of the author of the transmitted knowledge and his or her students in an unbroken historically documented chain.

4. The Mujeez becomes a new Hafiz or guardian of the transmitted knowledge since he or she becomes the last person in the sanad for that knowledge or text, and since the rank of his or her sanad may be the highest or only high sanad available in the entire world for that particular text or transmitted knowledge.

5. The Mujeez gains a sanad and thus he or she’s name becomes a part of the text of a hadith or another piece of knowledge when it reads “[Their name] Narrated: “The Messenger of Allah said…,” Narrated Sahih Bukhari #?

6. The Mujeez gains a Thabat (a series of chains of transmission going back to the author of transmitted knowledge based on the number of chains of transmission his or her direct teacher has acquired for that particular knowledge).

7. The Mujeez gains a sanad of a certain quantitative and/or qualitative quality which can make him or her rank higher in authority than other Mujeezs in that particular piece of transmitted knowledge, which can establish his or her authority and identity more easily.

8. The Mujeez can more easily encourage Muslims to study with her or him since Muslims will know that his or her knowledge has been check-tested (often through rigorous and exhaustive tests) and certified and certified by the best of the Ulama the students of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam.

And many more benefits.

In conclusion, the Ijazah/Sanad system (starting around 100 AH) was the system that the Tabi’een and Taba al-Tabi’een established to protect the Muslim nation from the dissemination and spreading of incorrect knowledge (by ensuring that knowledge is only transmitted by certified students of authoritative Islamic figures and scholars), and to pass on Orthodox Islamic information from Muslim to Muslim safely and securely and it is the ancient system that the elite scholars and faithfuls of the Muslim ummah still preserve and respect today.

And Allah knows best.

-Darul Uloom Ulama principal Sheikh Umar Inayatullah Hanafi al-Maturidi

Biography of Darul Uloom Ulama principal Mufti Umar Inayatullah Hanifah al-Maturidi al-Hanafi

Mufti Umar Inayatullah Hanifah al-Maturidi al-Hanafi, Founder and principal of Darul Uloom “Darul Uloom Ulama,” Islamic non-profit organization “ConcerningIslam.org” and “The An-Nisa Foundation for Women and Children,” is an American Islamic jurist and scholar, and consultant on religious affairs with specialized knowledge of the Islamic faith. His organization offers both basic and comprehensive Islamic education as well as his consulting expertise. His organization also support more than 50 organizations worldwide, responsible for the medical treatment, food distribution, and basic housing of impoverished men, women and children of all religious faiths all around the world. Mufti Umar is also a donor and serious philanthropist himself who has produced over 1,000 voluntary community service hours.

Mufti Umar has extensive experience as a consultant for a wide range of hosts on personal and Islamic jurisprudence (legal) issues with his passion being in the science of Islamic principles (Usul) and Islamic jurisprudence (Fiqh), and as a Christian convert to Islam with an intense devotion to the religion of Islam, he is widely respected and admired among world-renowned Traditional and Contemporary Islamic scholars.

Always involved in religious activity and faith, Mufti Umar was born on November 19, 1412 AH (1990 CE) in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, starting life as a Native American spiritualist turned Christian, the youngest of 2 brothers and sisters. By the age of 9, Mufti Umar began teaching philosophy and religion and proselytizing under the permission of his then human rights activist grandmother who was widely known for debating famous activists and various religious officials, and even himself took up some of her battles and debates at the age of 9 winning his first debate. And at the age of 11, Mufti Umar joined an Evangelical church and until the age of 18 involved himself in full-time Evangelical youth-ministry/missionary activities in the Christian religion, before living with a Jewish family and becoming learned in Judaism while serving in the military in 2010.

With his love for religious studies and deep interest in all aspects of philosophy and religious faith, he then studied Catholicism (following the untimely death of his then significant other), gained a formal education in Christian and Biblical studies at the Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, and then went into Islamic Studies in 2009 before officially converting to the Islamic faith in 2013. A forever student of religion, Mufti Umar earned his first certification in Islamic Studies in 2014 after his conversion, is a graduate of a well-known Islamic Studies University, and currently teaches a wide range of Islamic and Arabic related subjects including Tajwid (Recitation Rules of the Holy Qur’an), Tafsir (Interpretation and Understanding of the Verses of the Holy Qur’an), Usul al-Fiqh (Principles of Islamic Jurisprudence), Sirah (Biographical Information of the Prophet Muhammad), Khilaf al-Aqidah (Methodology of the Traditional Schools of Islamic Theology), Khilaf al-Fiqh (Methodology of the Traditional Schools of Islamic Jurisprudence), Usul al-Hadith (Principles of Hadith Science), Tarikh al-Islamiyyah (Islamic History), as well as Comparative Religion, Philosophy, and Quantum Physics.

Some interesting details about Mufti Umar:

Mufti Umar became Muslim on the day of Jummuah

Mufti Umar became Muslim in the month of Ramadan

Mufti Umar became Muslim on the day of the Battle of Badr

Mufti Umar became Muslim on the day the Prophet Muhammad (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) entered Madinah (modern day Saudi Arabia)

Mufti Umar was born on the birth day of the Prophet Muhammad (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him)

Mufti Umar was born on the day the Prophet Muhammad (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) received his first Wahy (revelation) of the Qur’an

Mufti Umar was born on the day the Prophet Muhammad (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) began his immigration from Makkah to Madinah (now Madinah, Saudi Arabia)

Also, to date, Mufti Umar has over 5,000 ijazahs (licenses) to transmit ancient Islamic knowledge and ancient Islamic texts (granted to him by senior Islamic scholars), is a collecter of several ancient Islamic manuscripts, and is certified in subjects related to the Qur’an including the Hafs Qur’an (Hafs reading of the Qur’an), Hadith, Fiqh, Tafsir, Adab, Ta’leem, and many other subjects, and is a big proponent of Classical Islamic teaching and learning methods such as the Talaqqi/Halaqah and Ijazah/Sanad learning methods. Having been granted Ijazah, Mufti Umar is a student of the students of the students of the Prophet Muhammad (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) himself and the student of over 2,000 Islamic scholars worldwide. Mufti Umar has also studied Deism, Shintoism, Esoteric Buddhism, Taoism, Confucianism, Sikhism, Jainism, Hinduism, Gnosticism, Animism, and many other religions and ways of life.

Mufti Umar is also a Hafiz al-Qur’an, Hafiz of Hadith (knowing over 100,000 hadith), and plans to spend his entire career issuing legal edicts (verdicts) within the Islamic legal system as a Mufti with the highest level of Islamic authority and plans to take the office of Qadi (Judge) in a 2021 local election.

Official Blog of Darul Uloom Ulama

Application Form for Enrollment into Darul Uloom Ulama Nazirah Alim Course

What is Ijazah? – The Ijazah/Sanad System

List of Some Upcoming Works by Darul Uloom Ulama principal Sheikh Umar Inayatullah Hanafi al-Maturidi

Biography of Darul Uloom Ulama principal Sheikh Umar Inayatullah Hanifah al-Maturidi al-Hanafi