QIJIS:

Qudus International Journal of Islamic Studies

Volume 6, Issue 1, February 2018
LIFE AND WORKS OF DR. MUHAMMAD
HAMIDULLAH: AN OVERVIEW

Samee-Ullah Bhat
Shah-i-Hamadan Institute of Islamic Studies University of Kashmir
[email protected]

Abstract

Dr. Muhammad Hamidullah was a prolific author whose

imposing life in the field of writing was characteristically
distinguished from other personalities and who devoted
his life to religious and academic works and inspired many
scholars for serving the cause of Islam. In modern times, it
is also surprising enough for every scholar who observes
the circumstances in which Dr. Hamidullah lived on one
hand and the large number of valuable works produced
by him about different subjects on the other hand with
high academic standards. He has almost covered the
whole range of Islamic studies in his writings and tried to
explore true picture of Islam and its fundamental sciences.
Although the dimensions of his works spread over all
these spheres- theology, the holy Qur’an, Hadith, Fiqh,
Islamic History and culture, ethics, politics, economics
but hadith, Fiqh, Sirah and Islamic History were his
favorite subjects. His contributions to these subjects were
universally recognized in academic circles from the point
of richness of material and high standard of research. In
this research paper, an attempt is made to illustrate the
life of Dr. Muhammad Hamidullah in a brief manner on
one hand and an analysis of his major works on Sirah has
been discussed on the other hand.
Samee-Ullah Bhat

Keywords: Life, Works , Sirat Ibn Ishaq, and Battlefields

of the Prophet

A. Introduction
Dr. Muhammad Hamidullah was one of those towering
scholars of the Indo-Pak subcontinent who left great impact on
the Muslim world through his significant contributions to the
fundamental sciences of Islam and sincere services to the society
at large. Although, he belonged to Hyderabad (A P, India) but he
passed major parts of his life in Paris occupying himself with
delivering lectures and writing books on the important aspects
of the Islamic sciences (Qur’an, Hadith, and Fiqh). It goes to his
credit that he had command on different well-known languages
of the world including Arabic, Persian, Urdu, English, and French
and was also familiar with Turkish, Russian, Latin and German
languages. In the field of Islamic history and Sirah, his works
are mainly related to the Sirah of Prophet Muhammad (SAW)
in French, English and Urdu. The significant contribution of Dr.
Hamidullah to Sirah literature is that he has written on such
aspects of Sirah which were not touched by other scholars. With
regard to the Sirah literature another significant contribution
was collection and compilation of the documents of the times of
Prophet (SAW) which included the text of his letters and that of
his agreements with the people of Makkah and different tribes of
Madinah and adjoining areas. In this research paper, an attempt
has been made to describe an overview of his life and major works
on Sirah of the Prophet Muhammad (SAW) in an analytical way.

B. Discussion
1. Life of Dr. Muhammad Hamidullah: A Brief Overview
Dr. Muhammad Hamidullah was born in an illustrious
family of scholars, jurists, writers and Sufis. His father, Mufti
Abu Muhammad Khalilullah, was a scholar of considerable
accomplishments. He migrated from Madras to Hyderabad where
he was appointed director of the revenue Department and set

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up the first non-interest financial institution and passed away in

1943 C.E. (Momin, 2006: 21).
Dr. Hamidullah was born in 1908 CE in Hyderabad. He was
the youngest among the three brothers and five sisters, who were
all well versed in Arabic, Persian and Urdu, as well as in Islamic
learning. He received his early education at home, first from his
sisters and then from his father. Later he was admitted in the
Madrasah Nizamiyyah where he passed the examination of molvi
Kamil with distinction in 1924 C.E. His father had misgivings
about Western education. Aware of his father’s antipathy towards
English education, the young Hamidullah secretively sat for the
matriculation examination and, when the results were declared,
topped the list of successful candidates. His father, who came
to know about his son’s dazzling success through the local
newspaper, sent for him. The young scholar came to the father
with trepidation, fearing that he would get a reprimand for
having appeared for an English examination and that too without
the father’s permission. However, the young Hamidullah got a
pleasant surprise when, instead of scolding, his father expressed
his whole-hearted appreciation and joy over his son’s achievement
and told him to carry on with his education. His father’s affection
and encouragement kept him in good stead in the years to come.
Dr. Hamidullah joined Osmania University as a student
in 1924 C.E and passed the B.A. in 1928 CE and LL.B and M.A.
examinations with the first division in 1930 CE. He was awarded a
fellowship by the Osmania University to pursue doctoral studies in
International Islamic law. When he studied the material available
in the libraries of Hyderabad, he was allowed to proceed abroad
to study in libraries of Hijaz, Syria, Palestine, Egypt and Turkey.
In Egypt, he met some Orientalists from Bonn University who
invited him to get his doctorate from Bonn, Germany. Finally, he
was permitted by Osmania University, for which he was preparing
his thesis, to proceed to Bonn and submit the same thesis for a
doctorate. He did it in August 1933 CE after completing only two
terms (nine months) in the University. There, he selected only

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Samee-Ullah Bhat

the last part of the work, dealing with the neutrality, to print
and get the degree. The topic of his thesis was Die Neutralitat im
Islamischen Volkerrecht (Neutrality in Islamic International Law).
After spending some time in Germany, he came to Paris in
1934 where he registered at the Sorbonne University for another
doctoral degree on an allied subject “Early Muslim Diplomacy”. In
a short period of eleven months, Sorbonne University conferred
on him the degree of D. Litt. The full title of his dissertation is
La diplomatie musulmane a I’epoque du Prophete et des Khalifes
Orthodoxe (Muslim diplomacy in the time of the Prophet of Islam
and his orthodox successors).
In recognition of his outstanding ability and proficiency in
several oriental languages, he was appointed a lecturer in Arabic
and Urdu at Bonn University (http://www.renaissance.com.pk/
Febobti2y4.html). Before his stay in Europe, Hamidullah had
an opportunity to visit Istanbul. He visited the famous libraries
and museums of Istanbul and saw thousands of rare Islamic
manuscripts in Arabic, Persian and Turkish languages.
In 1985 CE, he was awarded Hilal-e-Imtiaz, the highest civilian
award of Pakistan as a token of appreciation for his outstanding services
to the cause of Islam. The award included a substantial monetary
amount. But he donated the whole award money to Islamic Research
Academy, International Islamic University, Islamabad, in recognition of
which the Institute named its library after Dr. Muhammad Hamidullah.
He was nominated for the prestigious King Faisal Award, but he
declined it saying that “he feared that if he were to accept any worldly
reward for his modest work, he may not get his due in the hereafter
and be left with only his sins in his book of deeds and, therefore, ‘I
keep telling everyone I don’t want these awards” (Ahmad, 2003: 20).
Dr. Hamidullah’s selflessness and complete detachment from worldly
allurement was reminiscent of the example set by the Muslim scholars
and sages of earlier times.

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2. Works of Dr. Muhammad Hamidullah on Sirah: An

Overview
Dr. Muhammad Hamidullah was a prolific writer and his
works may be considered as encyclopedic ones. As a dedicated
researcher and great Islamic scholar, he contributed to all the
major branches of the Islamic sciences particularly Qur’an,
Hadith, Islamic jurisprudence and Sirah in different languages.
He is one of those eminent scholars of the modern period who
had left very deep impact on the academic life of the Muslims of
the entire world. His writings covered major subjects of Islamic
studies including al-Qur’an, Hadith, Islamic jurisprudence, Sirah
of the Prophet Muhammad (SAW), history of the formative
period of Islam and International law of Islam. His works are
also considered very important from the point of view of their
high standard of research and rich material about the subject
concerned. His works are based mainly on the original sources.
While utilizing the sources, he did not simply borrow material
from them but also adopted critical attitude towards them. It also
goes to the credit of Dr. Hamidullah that his works are not confined
to any particular language. These are available in the well-known
languages of the world such as Arabic, Urdu, Persian, and English,
French and Turkish (Momin, 2003: 85). With regard to his works,
what is more important to see is the value of their contents which
shows his excellence in different subjects of Islamic studies and
his command over the well-known languages of the world? It may
be realized from the detailed study of his works and analysis of
their contents. Here, we are only attempting at an overview of
some of his main works related to Sirahof the Prophet (SAW).
a. Sirah Ibn Ishaq
Sirah Ibn Ishaq (Arabic) which has been edited by Dr.
Hamidullah is a significant contribution to Sirah literature. This
is actually a critical edition of one of the earliest Sirah works of
the Prophet Muhammad (SAW) written by Ibn Ishaq (d. 151A.H/
768C.E) (Faruqi, 2004: 147).It goes to the credit of Dr. Hamidullah

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that he discovered this important work on Sirah which was

untraceable for about 13 centuries. Its manuscript was not
available in complete form in any library. Two parts of the work
were preserved in the Library of Maktabah Quruyain, Fas (Fez)
and one was available in Zahiriyyah Library of Damascus. Dr.
Muhammad Hamidullah closely scrutinized these three parts of
the manuscript and prepared its critical edition under the title
“Sirah Ibn Ishaq Mussamah ba Kitab al-Mubtada wal-Mab’ath
wal Maghazi”(Zafarullah, 2004: 77-79). In the introduction of
the work, the learned editor has given many important issues
including Arabs’ concept of historiography in pre and post-Islamic
period, origin of the Sirah writing, early Sirah literature and life
and works of Ibn Ishaq (Hamidullah, 2001: 357-392).This is also a
notable work of Dr. Hamidullah on Sirah that he critically studied
Sirah Ibn Hisham and brought out weak aspects of this book.
According to him, Ibn Hisham has not given all riwayat of Ibn Ishaq.
Dr. Hamidullah not only pinpointed them but also recorded them
in the edition of Sirah Ibn Ishaq. He also stated that Ibn Hisham
quoted the traditions given by Ibn Ishaq on the authority of Ziyad
Ibn Bakkai (d.l83 A.H. / 799 C.E.). But, no narrator of this name is
referred to in the manuscripts of Maktabah Quruyain (Fas) and
Zahiriyyah Library (Damascus) (Hamidullah, 2001: 388).
The work was first published from Ma’ahad al-Darasai
wal-Abhath lil-Tadib (Rabat) in 1976(Zafarullah, 2004: 77-79).
Its Urdu translation by Nur-i-llahi was first published in second
volume of the Nuqush Rasul (SAW) Number (a quarterly Journal
of Lahore) in Jan. 1985. The work was also published in the book
form from Milli Publications (Delhi) in 2000 and Centre Culturel
Islamique (Hyderabad) in2001 (Faruqi, 2004: 147).
b. Muhammad Rasūlullah (SAAS)
Muhammad Rasūlullah (SAAS) of Dr. Hamidullah is an
important English work on Sirah of the Prophet Muhammad
(SAW) and is quite useful for common readers. The special feature
of the book is the objective and realistic approach of the author
towards various aspects of the Prophet’s life. For instance, it was

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generally held by the Western as well as some Eastern scholars

that the Prophet (SAW) was born on Monday 20 April, 571 C.E.,
while Dr. Muhammad Hamidullah considers Monday, June 569
as the actual date of his birth (Hamidullah, 1974: 1). Besides, it
is generally held that Hadhrat Khadija (R.A) was forty years old
at the time of her marriage with the Prophet Muhammad (SAW).
But, Dr. Hamidullah is of the opinion that Hadhrat Khadija (RA)
was 28 year old at that time. This shows a difference of only
three years between the respective ages of husband and wife. In
support of his standpoint, he stated: “This latter report seems
to be corroborated by the biological facts that she gave birth to
seven children, three sons and four daughters after her marriage
with the Prophet (SAW): Taiyib, Qasim, Tahir, Zainab, Ruqaiyah,
Umm-e-Kulthum and Fatimah” (Hamidullah, 1974: 9).
In addition to the above, the Ascension(Mi’raj) of the
Prophet (SAW)is believed to be physical by a majority of
Muslims. Dr. Hamidullah said: Let us not envisage it (Ascension)
as a touristic affair, but of spiritual import”. He argues that the
Qur’an itself has used the word ru’ya, a vision for this event.
And the Prophet (SAW) says “It happened while 1 was in a state
between sleep and wakefulness” (Hamidullah, 1974: 18). Further,
according to Dr. Hamidullah this experience had been enjoyed
by Enoch (Idris), Abraham (Ibrahim), Jacob (Yaqub), and several
other Prophets too (Hamidullah, 1974: 52). Moreover many other
new facts discovered and presented by Dr. Hamidullah in the book
are different from the views of other scholars.
The work was published from various places including
Centre Culturel Islamique (Paris), Habib and Company
(Hyderabad) in 1974, and Hazafah Publication (Karachi) in 1979.
It was translated into Urdu by Nazir Huq, former chief editor of
Mashriq (Lahore), and published in Rasul Number of the reputed
Urdu, Journal Nuqush (Karachi) in Vol. 2, 1982 (Hamidullah,
1974:  52).

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c. The Battlefields of Prophet Muhammad

The Battlefields of the Prophet Muhammad (English) of
Dr. Hamidullah was written for the first time in French language
under the title Le Champs de Bataille an Temp dii Prophet and was
published from Revue Des Etudes Islamiques (Paris) in 1939.
The author himself produced English version under the title The
Battlefields of the Prophet Muhammad and got it published in
Islamic Review (London) during 1952-53. The work was published
separately in the book form from different places in India and
Pakistan including Centre Culturel Islamique (Hyderabad,
1959, 1973, 1983) and Zaifah Publications (Lahore, 1979). The
Urdu version ‘Ahd-e-Nabawi ke Maiddn-e-Jang prepared by
author himself and was published for the first time in Majmu’ah
Tahqiqat-e-’Ilmiyah,the Urdu Journal of Osmania University
(Hyderabad) in 1940. In 1945, it was published as a separate
book from Intezamiyah Press (Hyderabad). The book became so
much popular in the academic circle that it was translated into
several languages including Arabic, Persian, Turkish, Malayalam
and Sindhi. The work is divided into nine Chapters’ namely
(Hamidullah, 1973: 3):
1. Preliminary Remarks
2. Badr
3. Uhud
4. Battle of Ditch
5. The Conquest of Makkah
6. The Battle of Hunain and Taif
7. Wars with Jews
8. Military Intelligence in the Time of Prophet Muhammad
(SAW)
9. Military Department of the Muslim State in the Time of the
Prophet Muhammad (SAW)
In this book Dr. Muhammad Hamidullah discussed the life
of Prophet (SAW) as a Commander-in-Chief of the Muslim army.
He did not follow the traditional method to show that the battles
were conquered merely by miracles. He presents a detailed

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comprehensive study of Prophet’s strategies and achievements

in the battlefields. In the introduction of the book he writes
(Hamidullah, 1973: 1):
“1 never refer to the miracles of the Prophet Muhammad (SAAS) in
my description of his “great exploits”. My humble reply is that I am
dealing with a general and comprehensive life of the messenger
of Islam in order to discuss this point. If he had achieved his
success by miracles only, his life could not be an Uswah Hasanah,
a practical example to be followed by the common man, which it
was according to the Qur’an. Unless this human aspect of cause
and effect is put before the common man- who does not and
cannot rely on miracles, but has to help himself in the struggle of
existence- he will not find the conduct of the Prophet Muhammad
(SAW) a worthy and a practicable example to imitate”.

The most important aspect of the work is that it was written

on the basis of authentic sources of Islamic history including Sirah
Ibn Ishaq, Sirah Ibn Hisham, Tarikh al-Tabari, Tafsir al- Tabari,
Tabaqat Ibn Sa’d, Wafa al-Wafa Li al-Samhudi, Maghazi al-Waqidi
etc(Hamidullah, n.d.: 57-58). Dr. Hamidullah also visited Madinah,
Makkah and Taif in 1932 and 1939 to determine the locations
of various battlefields. He measured the exact locations of these
battlefields in the light of the data preserved in the early Islamic
texts and prepared maps and graphs. The work also highlighted
the political and diplomatic background of the various battles and
examined their impact.

C. Conclusion
From the above discussion, it can be concluded that Dr.
Muhammad Hamidullah was one of those eminent scholars of the
Indo-Pak subcontinent of the modern times who is well known
for his prominent contributions all over the world. It goes to
the credit of Dr. Muhammad Hamidullah that he has left more
than 150 published books and thousands of research papers
and articles in different languages. Dr. Hamidullah, a leading and
distinguished figure of contemporary times devoted his works
to Sirah and Islamic history. His edited manuscript of Sirah Ibn
Ishaq is an outstanding contribution to make the classical Sirah

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Samee-Ullah Bhat

works easily available. Many of his other prominent works are

even on Sirah which are written with comprehension and on
the basis of primary sources and most of his writings on history
mark the distinction of authenticity of sources, exactness and
lucidity of style.Some of the modern scholars have highlighted the
significance of the work so much that they compared his academic
contribution with that of Abu Nasr al-Farabi, Abu Hamid al-Ghazali
and Shah Waliullah  Dehlawi.

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REFERENCES

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Mashur Kutub-e-Sirat Ka Ta’aruf Aur Unke Mundarjat”,
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June 2004.
Hamidullah, Muhammad. 2001. Sirah Ibn Ishaq.Hyderabad: Centre
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_________. 2010. Muhammad Rasulullah (SAW). Mili Publications.
_________.1986. The Prophet’s Establishing a State and His Succession.
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_________. 1973. The Battlefields of the Prophet Muhammad.
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_________. 2003.Professor Dr. Muhammad Hamidullah.Islamic

Culture (Hyderabad), Vol. 77, No. 4, Oct.
Zafarullah, Khalid. 2004. Dr. Muhammad Hamidullah Ki Khidmat-
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