In
Maqalat al-Kawthari, one article is devoted to showing the misguidance of the
Qadiyanis. Towards the end of the article, ‘Allamah Zahid al-Kawthari (1879 –
1951) only mentions ‘Allamah Anwar Shah al-Kashmiri (1875 – 1933) and his associates, Mawlana Murtada Hasan al-Chandpuri (1868 –
1951) and Mufti Shafi‘ al-‘Uthmani (1896 – 1976), as those who defeated the
Qadiyani heresy in India in writing. Allama zahid Al Kauthari says:
May Allah (Glorified is He) elevate the rank of the lost soul of Islam, the penetrating hadith-scholar, Shaykh Muhammad Anwar al-Kashmiri in the rooms of the Gardens [of paradise], and may He repay him with the reward of those who defended the borders of the religion of Islam, for indeed he uprooted the Qadiyanis with his irrefutable arguments, and he created a barrier before the terrible evil of the moderate of them and the extreme of them in India, by compiling beneficial books in refutation of them in various languages.
He researched in his book Ikfar al-Mulhidin the matter of anathematising them and their ilk. At its conclusion is found around seventy seven quotes similar [to the quotes] that have preceded from the writings of the aforementioned Ghulam Ahmad the false claimant to prophethood, quoting from the books of this deviant while identifying the pages from them by the selection of the eminent teacher, Mawlana Sayyid Murtada [Hasan al-Chandpuri] al-Hindi, and along with those texts are their translations into Arabic by the pen of the earnest teacher, Mawlawi Muhammad Shafi‘ al-Deobandi. Awareness of [even] one of them is enough to be certain of the speaker and his partisans having left the fold of Islam.
(Maqalat al-Kawthari, p. 271-2)
While discussing the deviant belief that the Prophet ‘Isa (upon him peace) has died and will not descend, ‘Allamah al-Kawthari writes:
And in ‘Aqidat al-Islam fi Hayat ‘Isa ‘alayhi al-salam by our master, the oceanic-scholar, al-Kashmiri, is a detailed explanation of the ways the Book indicates to what the people of truth are upon, so whoever wants more detail should refer to that. (Maqalat al-Kawthari, p. 266)
Besides ‘Aqidat al-Islam (and its commentary Tahiyyat al-Islam) and Ikfar al-Mulhidin, ‘Allamah Anwar Shah al-Kashmiri also authored al-Tasrih bi ma Tawatara fi Nuzul al-Masih in refutation of the Qadiyanis. In this book, he collected all the narrations proving the bodily descent of ‘Isa at the end of time. The book was edited and published by Shaykh ‘Abd al-Fattah Abu Ghuddah.
‘Allamah al-Kawthari also said ‘Allamah al-Kashmiri’s work on the issue of raf‘ al-yadayn is one of the best on the topic:
From the best of what was written on this topic is Nayl al-Firqadayn and Bast al-Yadayn both of them by our master, the great scholar, the deep ocean, Muhammad Anwar Shah al-Kashmiri, Allah have mercy on him. (Ta’nib al-Khatib, p. 166)
On specific works on hadith-proofs for the Hanafi school, he also has a book on reciting behind the imam in prayer (Fasl al-Khitab fi Mas’alati Umm al-Kitab), and another on Witr (Kashf al-Sitr ‘an Salat al-Witr); and he was also an aide to ‘Allamah Nimawi’s Athar al-Sunan to which he made further notes after the author’s death with the title al-Ithaf li Madhhab al-Ahnaf.
Finally, Shaykh ‘Abd al-Fattah Abu Ghuddah wrote in the introduction to his edition of al-Tasrih bi ma Tawatara fi Nuzul al-Masih:
Our shaykh, the researcher, al-Kawthari said: “After the shaykh, the imam, Ibn al-Humam, there appeared none equal to him [i.e. ‘Allamah Anwar Shah al-Kashmiri] in eliciting rare points of discussion from hadiths – and this is a long period of time!” (al-Tasrih bi ma Tawatara fi Nuzul al-Masih, p. 26)
May Allah (Glorified is He) elevate the rank of the lost soul of Islam, the penetrating hadith-scholar, Shaykh Muhammad Anwar al-Kashmiri in the rooms of the Gardens [of paradise], and may He repay him with the reward of those who defended the borders of the religion of Islam, for indeed he uprooted the Qadiyanis with his irrefutable arguments, and he created a barrier before the terrible evil of the moderate of them and the extreme of them in India, by compiling beneficial books in refutation of them in various languages.
He researched in his book Ikfar al-Mulhidin the matter of anathematising them and their ilk. At its conclusion is found around seventy seven quotes similar [to the quotes] that have preceded from the writings of the aforementioned Ghulam Ahmad the false claimant to prophethood, quoting from the books of this deviant while identifying the pages from them by the selection of the eminent teacher, Mawlana Sayyid Murtada [Hasan al-Chandpuri] al-Hindi, and along with those texts are their translations into Arabic by the pen of the earnest teacher, Mawlawi Muhammad Shafi‘ al-Deobandi. Awareness of [even] one of them is enough to be certain of the speaker and his partisans having left the fold of Islam.
(Maqalat al-Kawthari, p. 271-2)
While discussing the deviant belief that the Prophet ‘Isa (upon him peace) has died and will not descend, ‘Allamah al-Kawthari writes:
And in ‘Aqidat al-Islam fi Hayat ‘Isa ‘alayhi al-salam by our master, the oceanic-scholar, al-Kashmiri, is a detailed explanation of the ways the Book indicates to what the people of truth are upon, so whoever wants more detail should refer to that. (Maqalat al-Kawthari, p. 266)
Besides ‘Aqidat al-Islam (and its commentary Tahiyyat al-Islam) and Ikfar al-Mulhidin, ‘Allamah Anwar Shah al-Kashmiri also authored al-Tasrih bi ma Tawatara fi Nuzul al-Masih in refutation of the Qadiyanis. In this book, he collected all the narrations proving the bodily descent of ‘Isa at the end of time. The book was edited and published by Shaykh ‘Abd al-Fattah Abu Ghuddah.
‘Allamah al-Kawthari also said ‘Allamah al-Kashmiri’s work on the issue of raf‘ al-yadayn is one of the best on the topic:
From the best of what was written on this topic is Nayl al-Firqadayn and Bast al-Yadayn both of them by our master, the great scholar, the deep ocean, Muhammad Anwar Shah al-Kashmiri, Allah have mercy on him. (Ta’nib al-Khatib, p. 166)
On specific works on hadith-proofs for the Hanafi school, he also has a book on reciting behind the imam in prayer (Fasl al-Khitab fi Mas’alati Umm al-Kitab), and another on Witr (Kashf al-Sitr ‘an Salat al-Witr); and he was also an aide to ‘Allamah Nimawi’s Athar al-Sunan to which he made further notes after the author’s death with the title al-Ithaf li Madhhab al-Ahnaf.
Finally, Shaykh ‘Abd al-Fattah Abu Ghuddah wrote in the introduction to his edition of al-Tasrih bi ma Tawatara fi Nuzul al-Masih:
Our shaykh, the researcher, al-Kawthari said: “After the shaykh, the imam, Ibn al-Humam, there appeared none equal to him [i.e. ‘Allamah Anwar Shah al-Kashmiri] in eliciting rare points of discussion from hadiths – and this is a long period of time!” (al-Tasrih bi ma Tawatara fi Nuzul al-Masih, p. 26)
