Last Friday night prominent Faqih and an outstanding personality of Muslim world, head of Darul Uloom Korachi Hadhrat Mawlana Mufti Muhammad Rafi Usmani passed away.

He was the fourth son of the grand Mufti of Pakistan Hadhrat Mawlana Mufti Muhammad Shafi r.a..  He was the real follower of his father and his akabir and aslaf (religious predecessors).

He was the principle of Darul Uloom korachi for 50 years after death of his father. Also, he was the leader of the Ulama of ahlus sunnah wal jama'h in Pakistan.

Some of his special qualities are good taste, discipline, giving others their own rights, respecting rules, skillfulness, vigilance and carefulness. He refrained from vain actions and words. He did not like hurry in anything. 

As a teacher, he was very smart, clean, easy and soft-spoken. He ran the madrasa so excellently that sometimes it seemed that he was fit to run a country. As a grand Mufti, his ability was exposed when he analyzed Fatwas written by other big mufties and attracted attention to minor mistakes in them.

When he delivered khutbah at masjid on Friday, his speech was free from unnecessary discussions. His discussion was free of all kinds of munkar narrations, baseless stories, and objectionable statements. His discussion was easy and eloquent. At the same time, it came from the heart and hit the heart. As a mentor, he was humble, compassionate, experienced, and tolerant like his predecessors. He took account of himself before others.

In the sphere of management and knowledge, he was free of all kinds of extremism. He was balanced and moderate in all fields.

Despite being very busy with administrative works of madrasa, he kept on teaching, writing and giving Fatawa regularly. During the early period of his teaching, he spent more time in writing Fatwa. It is really very surprising that his Fatwa was compiled in 6 volumes, which was published by the name of Fatawa Darul Uloom korachi( Imdad as-sailin). Some of these Fatawa are very important and detailed, which are published in another 2 volumes, in the name of Nawadirul Fiqh. 

Mawlana Ismatullah wrote in the preface of Nawadirul Fiqh and Muhtaram Mawlana Ijaz Samdani in the introduction of Fatawa Darul Uloom about Hadhrat Mawlana Mufti Rafi Usmani r.a.-s booklets, articles, discourses. Hadhrat r.a.-s discourses are published in 9 volumes in the name of Islahi taqrire.

Mawlana Ismatullah and Mawlana Ijaz samdani wrote something about his biography. When I saw the list of responsibilities Hadhrat fulfilled for whole life or  for some days, I felt astonished and said

فَتَبٰرَكَ اللهُ اَحْسَنُ الْخٰلِقِیْنَ.

Ya tere pur asrar bande written by Hadhrat is an important document of Afghan Jihad. It is a travelogue of Afghanistan, where he wrote an important part of history of Afghan Jihad. 

دوسرا جهاد افغانستان اور همارے فرائض

جهاد كشمير همارى ذمه دارى

These are his speeches about Jihad; they resemble his fervor and religious esteem. 

دو قومي نظريه

اختلاف رحمت هے فرقه بندي حرام 

مسلك ديوبند كسي فرقه كا نام نهيں اتباع سنت كا نام  هے

From his booklets, these are very favorite to me.        

This is our good fortune that in the early days of Markazud Dawah, we sent the syllabus of Ifta to both hadhrats. Alhamdulillah, both of them liked our syllabus. Hadhrat Sadar sahib specially wants to know the differences between this syllabus and the syllabus of Darul Uloom Korachi. When I marked them, he agreed with me. And then two years later when he came to Bangladesh he came to our Markazud Dawah. Among Ulama of Bangladesh, Hadhrat Mawlana Dilawar sahib got more opportunity to benefit from him. Two or three articles that Hadhrat presented in the seminar of Majma al-Fiqh al-islami as a member of it are prepared by Mawlana Dilawar Shib. While editing and reviewing those articles, he was with Hadhrat for every moment, sometimes whole night. He has a close relationship with Hadhrat Sadar Sahib.   

The man who knows Hadhrat Sadar Sahib best in the world is his younger brother Shaikhul Islam Mufti Muhammad Taqi Usmani. I quote a few lines from one of his articles 

"Ulama of Pakistan gave him the title of Mufti Azam after Hadhrat Mufti Wali Hasan Tonki r.a. How accurate and correct this title is -his Arabic and Urdu articles, Fatawa, his extraordinary method of teaching, his balanced and moderate speeches are enough to witness it. 

Today when the list of Ulama is prepared, his name is placed on top of it Alhamdulillah. 

He as if sacrificed all of his ability of body and mind for construction and development works of Darul Uloom. Every wall and door of Darul Uloom will witness it. If I say every building of Darul Uloom without two or three is constructed under his direct supervision, it will not be exaggerated. He is not only for me but for whole Daru Uloom like a compassionate father.

Yade, al-balagh, Rabi al-thani 

It is a great fortune for me that while staying in Darul Uloom ( Shawal 1411-Muharram 1414) I was also able to be one of his students. Then on different occasions, I exchanged different ilmi letters. Each time I got from him compassion, encouragement. 

Hadhrat Shaikhul Islam led his janazah. He was buried in the old graveyard of Darul Uloom between his father and mother. 

أمطر الله تعالى على جدثه شآبيب الرحمة والرضوان، وأسكنه الفردوس في وسط الجنان، وألهم من بعده الصبر والسلوان.

Hadhrat shaikhul Islam wrote in his Twitter post- 

Innalillahi wa inna ilaihi rajiun. My brother, great personality of Muslim world Mufti Azam Mufti Muhammad Rafi Usmani died. He is greater than me in all sides. We were together for75 years since my student life. Today the relationship of 75 has come to an end. I have no language to express my feelings. May Allah grant him high dignity in Paradise.

Those who see both of Hadhrats know that how deep and well was their relationship. They have been in the same madrasa for this long period. They have completed many khidmah of ummah together. In this long period, there was no sign of displeasure in their relationship, which is very rare in the history of good behavior. May Allah give barakah in the life of Shaikhul Islam and make his shadow long with afiah and salamah upon ummah. Amin.