Learning About Iman
by as-Sayyid, al'Allamah Siddiq Hasan Khan al-Qanuji (1307/1890) The Nawab of Bhopal
In the words of the author, this small treatise, Ta’ limul Iman (Learning About Imán), is the explanation of complete Iman, which is the means of entering Paradise.
The first thing he mentioned at the start of this treatise is a summarised explanation of the famous hadith of Jibril. He then goes on to mention a summarised definition of Iman, the virtue of the statement of Tawhid as well as other issues pertaining to Aqidah in a concise manner.
This treatise was authored on Wednesday the 9th of Jamadul Akhirah in the year 1305/1888.
Shaykh Siddiq Hasan Khan was born in, 1832 in his mother's village, Banis Barele. He was of noble lineage which traced back to the Prophet (ﷺ) and he ended up becoming a Sunni scholar of high eminence during his era.
At 21 years of age, he travelled the centre of Islamic knowledge in his region, Delhi.
During his studies he mastered the Arabic language, Fiqh, Tafsir, Hadith and other sciences from the likes of Shah ‘Abd al-Aziz Dehlawi and Shaykh 'Abd al Qädir Mühaddith Banarsi. In 1871, while he was in the service of the state of Bhopal, he gained the status of Nawab (Viceroy) which is a royal title indicating a sovereign ruler and essentially acted as the head of state. With his new-found authority he launched orphanages, Masjids and research centres for the propagation of Islamic academic works etc. He made every effort to prevent and exterminate crime in order to promote peace and security within his region. He spent lots of money on buying the manuscripts of Tafsir Ibn Kathir, Fathul Bari Sharh Sahih al Bukhari and Naylul Awtar etc. He spent 50,000 rupees (of his era) on Fathul Bari alone which shows that he was funding a significant amount of wealth towards these ventures. Before this, these books were not obtainable in the Indian Subcontinent. Due to all of this effort, Bhopal flourished in becoming the centre for the scholars of hadith and knowledge for a certain period of time.
His Fathul Bayan Fi Maqasid al-Qur'an, Fathul 'Allam Bi Sharh Bulughul Maram, Makarim ul-Akblaq, Itihaf An-Nubala and Abjad al-Ulum are great examples of his vast knowledge and eloquence in Islamic authorship.