Muhammad Hamidullah | |
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Born | 9 February 1908 Hyderabad State, British India |
Died | 17 December 2002 (aged 94) Jacksonville, Florida, United States |
Alma mater | Jamia Nizamia, Osmania University, Bonn University, Sorbonne University |
Era | Modern era |
Region | Islamic scholar |
Main interests
|
Islamic law, International Law, Quranic Tafsir and Hadith |
Notable ideas
|
Evolution of Islamic, International Law |
Influenced
|
Muhammad Hamidullah (Urdu: محمد حمیداللہ), (9 February 1908 – 17 December 2002) D. Phil., D. Litt., HI, was a Muhaddith, Faqih, scholar of Islamic law and an academic author with over 250 books. A prolific writer, his extensive works on Islamic science, history and culture have been published in several languages and many thousands of articles in learned journals. His scholarship is regarded by many as unparalleled in the last century. A double doctorate (D.Phil and D.Litt) and a polymath, he was fluent in 22 languages including Urdu (his mother tongue), Persian, Arabic, French, English, German, Italian, Greek, Turkish, Russian etc. He learned Thai at the age of 84.
Hamidullah was from the Deccan area of British India and was born in Hyderabad, capital city of then Hyderabad State, (now Hyderabad, Telangana, India), and hails from a family of scholars, the youngest amongst three brothers and five sisters. His family's roots lie in the Nawayath community, his ancestors were eminent scholars in their own right.
He earned his BA, LLB and MA at Osmania University. He travelled to Germany and was awarded D.Phil by Bonn University in 1932. After serving in the faculty of Bonn as a lecturer in Arabic and Urdu for a short time, he went to France and registered at Sorbonne University for his second doctorate. He was awarded D.Litt by the university after 11 months. He taught international law at Osmania University between 1936 and 1946.