The Accusation of Kufr Against Mawlana Thanawi

Question

Is it true — Allah forbid — that Mawlana Ashraf ‘Ali Thanawi made one of his disciples recite the kalima with his own name? If this is so, what is the ruling of the Sacred Law regarding him? Would both the disciple and the spiritual guide thereby have gone out of Islam? Is it true that the ulama of the Haramayn, upon examining the text of the book Hifz al-Iman, issued a fatwa declaring him a kafir? Did he insult the noble Prophet ﷺ in the book Hifz al-Iman?

Answer

The respected Hazrat Mawlana al-Qari, al-Hafiz, al-Hajj Ashraf ‘Ali Thanawi was Hakim al-Umma (the physician of the [Muslim] community), a very great man of piety; he combined within himself the spiritual affiliations (nisbas) of the Chishtiyya, Qadiriyya, Naqshbandiyya and Suhrawardiyya.

Source: Fatawa Mahmudiyya

Preview. The full text opens with JavaScript enabled.