Mehmud Hasan - Early Life

Early Life

Mahmud al-Hasan was born in 1851 in the town of Bareilly (in modern Uttar Pradesh, India) to a family with a scholarly background. His father, Maulana Muhammad Zulfiqar Ali, was a scholar of the Arabic language and worked in the education department of the British East India Company's administration in the region.

As a child, Mahmud al-Hasan was with his father in Meerut during the Mutiny of 1857.

Mahmud al-Hasan received a traditional Islamic education with a strong emphasis on the study of Islam, the Persian language and Urdu. His primary education was under Maulana Mongeri, Maulana Abdul Latif, and later, his uncle, Maulana Mahtab Ali. While Mahmud al-Hasan was studying the books Mukhtasar al-Quduri and Sharh-i-Tahdhib, Darul Uloom Deoband was opened. His father sent him to the newly established school, where he was the first student. He completed his basic studies in 1286 AH (1869/1870), after which he lived in attendance to Muhammad Qasim Nanotvi, with whom he studied hadith. Afer that, he studied higher level books under his father. He graduated from Darul Uloom Deoband in 1873.

In 1874, Mahmud al-Hasan joined Darul Uloom Deoband as a teacher.