Naseer Ahmad Khan (scholar)

Naseer Ahmad Khan (1918–2010), also written as Maulana Naseer Ahmad Khan and Naseer Ahmad Khan Bulandshahri, was an Indian Islamic scholar and muhaddith. He served as a professor at Darul Uloom Deoband for about sixty-five years, out of which thirty-two years he taught Sahih al-Bukhari.

Early life and education
Naseer Ahmad Khan was born on December 23, 1919 AD (Rabi' Al-Awwal 21, 1337 AH) to Abdush Shakur Khan in Basi, Bulandshahr district, United Provinces of Agra and Oudh, British India.

Naseer Ahmad lost his father when he was four or five years old, After the death of his father, he was raised by his elder brother Bashir Ahmad Khan, as Bashir Ahmad Khan was a teacher at Madrasa Manba-ul-Uloom Gulaothi, Bulandshahr at that time. He got his younger brother, Naseer Ahmad Khan, enrolled in Manba-ul-Uloom.

In 1942 (1362 AH), when Bashir Ahmad Khan was appointed as a teacher in Darul Uloom Deoband, Naseer Ahmad also came to Deoband with him and enrolled in the Hadith course and studied Sahih al-Tirmidhi and Sahih al-Bukhari with Izaz Ali Amrohi, because at that time Hussain Ahmed Madani was detained in Naini Jail, Allahabad.

In 1943 (1363 AH), when Hussain Ahmad came to Deoband after being released from prison, Naseer Ahmad Khan read Sahih al-Bukhari, Sahih al-Tirmidhi, and other books from him for the third time, and after that, he stayed there for another two years and read many books on tajwid and qira'at, medicine, Islamic logic, and philosophy from different teachers.

At the Deoband seminary, his teachers include Hussain Ahmad Madani, Izaz Ali Amrohi, Bashir Ahmad Khan, Abdul Khaliq Multani, Abdul Haq Akorwi, Muhammad Tayyib Qasmi, Qazi Shamsuddin, Abdur Rahman Amrohvi, Hifzur Rahman Partapgarhi, and Muhammad Umar Deobandi.

He was an authorised disciple of Asghar Ali Sahaspuri, a authorised disciple and attendant of Hussain Ahmad Madani.

Career
After graduation, he was appointed as head reciter of a large seminary in Multan, but his elder brother Bashir Ahmad Khan did not agree to send him so far. In 1946 AD (1365 AH), Naseer Ahmad Khan was appointed as a temporary teacher at Darul Uloom Deoband, and after two years, on 28 Safar 1367 AH, he was appointed as a permanent teacher.

From 1946 AD (1365 AH) to 2008 AD (1429 AH), he taught in Darul Uloom Deoband for about sixty-five years according to the Islamic calendar and about sixty-three years according to the Gregorian calendar, and he taught books from the early books to Sahih al-Bukhari there.

Between 1971 AD (1391 AH) and 1977 AD (1397 AH), three books of hadith were related to him: Sharḥ Maʿāni al-Āthār, Sahih Muslim (Vol. 2), and Muwatta Imam Malik. Following the death of Sharif Hasan Deobandi, the Sheikh al-Hadith of Darul Uloom in 1977 AD (1397 AH), he was appointed as Sheikh al-Hadith. He taught both volumes of Sahih al-Bukhari for one year. Then, until his last year, he taught its first volume. He taught Sahih al-Bukhari for nearly thirty-two years   until 2008 AD (1429 AH), and there are approximately twenty-five thousand students who studied Sahih al-Bukhari with him.

From 1971 AD (1391 AH) to 1994 AD (1414 AH), for about twenty-three years, he also served as the Deputy Vice Chancellor of Darul Uloom Deoband. Also, from 1991 AD (1412 AH) to 2008 AD (1429 AH), he held the position of Principal of Darul Uloom Deoband for about eighteen years.

In 2008 AD (1429 AH), he submitted a request to resign from the responsibilities of Darul Uloom Deoband due to old age and various physical ailments. Accepting his request, he was succeeded by Saeed Ahmad Palanpuri. He was issued a monthly pension of ₹15,000 and retired from his delegated responsibilities.

Students
Naseer Ahmad Khan has thousands of students, including Wahiduzzaman Kairanawi, Mujahidul Islam Qasmi, Khursheed Alam Deobandi, Qamaruddin Ahmad Gorakhpuri, Saeed Ahmad Palanpuri, Arshad Madani, Abul Qasim Nomani, Usman Mansoorpuri, Riyasat Ali Zafar Bijnori, Abdul Khaliq Madrasi, Abdul Khaliq Sambhali, Muhammad Ameen Palanpuri, Mujeebullah Gondwi, Abdul Ali Farooqi, Mufti Abdul Razzaq, Salman Mansoorpuri, Wajid Hussain Deobandi, Naseem Akhtar Shah Qaiser, Nadeem al-Wajidi, Abdul Raūf Khan Ghaznavi, Ishtiaque Ahmad Qasm, Yasir Nadeem Al-Wajdi, Abdullah Maroofi, and Arif Jameel Mubarakpuri. From 1977 to 2008, around 28,000 alumni were produced by Darul Uloom during his tenure as Sheikh al-Hadith.

Astronomy
Naseer Ahmad Khan was an astronomy expert, as recognized by his contemporaries; he taught the famous book of this subject, Al-Tasreeh, for years at Darul Uloom; he also produced a periodical and a well-known book on the subject. He also wrote an annotation on Fathiyyah, a book in stronomy, which was published by Maktaba Darul Uloom. His students in this subject are scattered around the country and overseas, with one well-known name being Sameeruddin Qasmi, a resident of Manchester and the author of books in astronomy such as Samrat al-Falkiyyat, Ru'yat-e-Hilāl 'Ilm-e-Falkiyyat Ki Roshni Mein (Moon Sighting in the Light of Astronomy), and Sameeri Calendar.

Death and legacy
Naseer Ahmad Khan died at Deoband on February 4, 2010 AD (Safar 19, 1431 AH), at the age of about 95 years according to the Islamic calendar and 92 years according to the Gregorian calendar. Thousands of people attended the burial prayer at Darul Uloom Deoband, led by Usman Mansoorpuri, and he was buried in the Qasmi Cemetery.

At the time of his death, he was survived by five sons and two daughters. The sons include Zameer Ahmed Khan, Rafi Ahmed Khan, Aziz Ahmed Khan, Shakeel Ahmed Khan, Aqeel Ahmed Khan and all are Hafiz of Quran.