Remembering an Aalim -letter

A hadith of the Holy Prophet says "The demise of a learned scholar is the death of an entire world"

Allama Iqbal has poured out in this verse, "Don’t deem it easy because after the revolution of heavenly bodies for years that the appearance of a human being on earth becomes possible".

When such worthy human beings pass away, the earth has to wait for many years for the birth of such gems of humanity. Maulana Abdul Dayyan ,who succumbed to heart failure on January 3,2008, was one of such human being. Maulana Abdul Dayyan known as Mufti-e-Azam of Chitral was born in a religious family of Jangbazzar in Chitral in1919. His father Maulana Abdul Raouf and his grand father Maulana Haji Ali Mardan were famous for their piety in the whole area. After getting his early education from his father and having learnt the Holy Quran by heart, his thirst for knowledge made him the student of Maulana Mustajab a well-known scholar and saint of his time.

Getting education in those days was an uphill task which cannot be compared to the convenient availability of education in the present time but the young Abdul Dayyan had the zeal and fervor of a true student. He had to travel for miles everyday to the far off village Ayun.

After studying different subjects at Chitral for twelve years, he had to stay at Akora Khatak under the guidance of Molvi Abdul Haq for two years. But Maulana Abdul Dayyan’s quest for knowledge did not cease and he traveled to the distance city of Dehli  India craving to complete his Daura –e- Quran and Hadith there. He was fortunate to be honored by the erudite tutorship of Maulana Hussain Ahmad Madani and Maulana Aizaz Ali at madarssa Amenia India. After a few years he returned to his hometown with the enthusiasm of disseminating religious education to his own people. Being a man of ascetic mind he kept himself away from the courtly life and chose teaching, as a profession in the newly established Darululoom of Chitral .He was also selected as the Mufti-e-Azam of Darulifta, Chitral. He solved the problems of the people relating to Islamic jurisprudence. He taught in the fore mentioned institution for more than thirty years and trained thousands of Ulamas at Chitral.

Mufti Abdul Dayyan practiced what he preached. He was God fearing, honest, amiable, unostentatious and had unprejudiced attitude towards all and sundry. He led a simple life and did not sit idle like the so-called heavyweight champions of religion. People could see him working in his field during sowing and harvesting season. To keep himself spiritually intact, he observed all the additional fasting of the year enjoined by our Holy Prophet peace be upon him. As he was the imam of his mosque, he recited the whole Quran in his sweet voice while leading the prayers of Taraweeh during the holy month of Ramadan and sat for Aitakaaf every year. He was generous to his finger tips and he gave away all his GP fund and pension money secretly to the needy and the poor.

These qualities won the hearts of people for him and thousands of his followers attended his funeral with grieved hearts, despite snow fall and cold weather. In brief, his whole life displayed a true picture of a true Islamic scholar which can be emulated by the Ulemas and common man alike.

Maulana Abdul Dayyan left behind four sons and two daughters. Prof; Abdul Sami, Prof; Abdul Jamil , Prof; Dr. Samiul Haq and Abdul Hasseeb are his bereaved sons. Amoung his grand sons are Dr.Mehfooz Elahi, Dr. Atta Elahi , Abdul Hameed (M.Sc Forestry), Hafiz Inamul Haq , Hafiz Izharul Haq (students of International Islamic University), Basharat Sami and Assad Sami (students of Ayub Medical College Abbottabad). May Allah bless his soul with eternal peace and grant the bereaved family patience to bear the loss and the spirit to emulate his life style.

Saidul Abrar

Muglandeh Chitral