Nowadays students and those who are interested in undertaking the journey of spirituality often seem more immediately interested in the teachers qualifications rather than in their own inner being and qualities. We hear about religious scholars, sages, mystics and saints who are simultaneously linguists, economists or scientists. That is to say they are cognizant of all physical and metaphysical secrets. Imam Ahmad Raza Khan (may Allah be pleased with him) possessed this kind of versatility. He was the fountainhead of our culture whose ideas and thoughts are among the most potent in Islamic history. He did not produce any new belief, nor propound any new doctrine or ideology. How could he do so? He was a deep ocean of the knowledge of the glorious Quran and the Hadiths. The Reviver of this Century and his followers main purpose was to revive the Beloved of Allah's Sunna.
Thus they followed in the footsteps of the Prophet and his Companions, thereby reviving the 'traditional' Sufi way.
The hierarchy of Saints, the appearance of a reviver (Mujaddid) once every century, and the presence of 'ulama' that keep the beloved Prophet's (Allah bless him and give him peace) Sunna alive are further links in the 'rope of God'.
The Ahle Sunnat writings, guided by Imam Ahmad Raza (may
Allah be pleased with him) were marked by a remarkable tone of certainty,
regardless of which group or sect of Muslims were being rebutted.
Many of the leading lights of the Ahle Sunnat leadership in the late nineteenth and early
twentieth centuries were caretakers of Sufi shrines, and belonged to a world in which the
intercessionary power of Saints and family ancestors was taken for granted. Ahmad Riza's
conceptions about the Prophets role as mediator with Almighty Allah and his
miraculous achievements were in line with Sufi concepts of spiritual authority and power.
Imam Ahmad Raza (may Allah be pleased with him) was indeed a
disciple of the Beneficent Almighty Allah. He said, "Acquisition of all these
knowledges is the beneficence of my Master, the last Prophet of Allah Muhammad
Mustafa (Allah bless him and give him peace)". He also said that with due respect,
glory and praise be to Allah Almighty, if his heart splits in two, by Allah one would be
inscribed "There is no God but Allah" and on the other would be found
"Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah". (al-Malfooz: vol 3, page 88)
In 1322/1904 he founded Dar-al-Uloom Manzar-i-Islam in Bareilly (UP, India), which played
an educational and important role under his influence. This institution is also one of the
institutions where His Eminence, Fakhrul Islam Allama al-Hajj Hafiz Maulana Muhammad
Ibrahim Khushtar Siddiqui Qadiri Razvi (may Allah sanctify his soul) acquired his traditional education. Imam Ahmed Raza
Khan (may Allah sanctify his soul) infused the zeal of preaching and missionary work to all his Caliphs, disciples, and
pupils.