Muhammad Asjad Raza Khan (born 16 October 1970), He is also known as Ameer-e-Ahle Sunnat & Huzoor Qaid-e-Millat, Is an Indian Islamic scholar who belongs to the Barelvi movement and a descendant of Ahmed Raza Khan Barelvi and son and successor of Akhtar Raza Khan, former Grand Mufti of India.[1][2][3] He is the Principal of Jamiatur Raza.[4]
Early life
Asjad Raza Khan was born as Muhammad Munawwar Raza Muhamid to Akhtar Raza Khan, then Grand Mufti of India on 16 October 1970 same as 15 Shaban 1390 at Mohalla Khwaja Qutub, Bareilly district of Uttar Pradesh.[5][6]
Lineage
| Raza Ali Khan | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| first marriage | second marriage | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| I. Khanum (daughter) | Naqi Ali Khan | Mustajab Begum | Bibi Jaan | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Ahmed Raza Khan | Hassan Raza Khan | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Hamid Raza Khan | Mustafa Raza Khan | Hussain Raza Khan | Hasnain Raza Khan | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Ibrahim Raza Khan | Murtaza Raza Khan | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Akhtar Raza Khan | Uvais Raza Khan | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Asjad Raza Khan | Shoeib Raza Khan | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Faiz Raza Khan | Kaif Raza Khan | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Statements and views
Extreme ideologies must be repelled
After the bombings in Sri Lanka in 2019, Asjad Raza issued a strongly worded statement condemning the attacks and urging all nations to "repel the evil" and combat terrorist ideologies.[7]
Demanding a ban on Zakir Naik
Upon Zakir Naik being named as one of the influencers of the bombers in a terrorist attack in Bangladesh, Asjad said:
“India is the land of Sufism. Dr Naik speaks the language of terrorism. His thoughts are not Islamic, but related to (fundamentalist) Wahhabism. Back in 2008, we had demanded that the central and state governments to impose a ban on his speeches and programmes. Sufi Barelvis are united against him."[8]
Asjad Raza also appealed to Muslim youth to refrain from listening to his speeches.[9][10]
Refusal to recite the National Song
Asjad Raza opposed the forced singing of the Vande Mataram song on Indian Independence Day at minority run educational institutions due to it being "un-Islamic", despite being ordered to by the Uttar Pradesh government.[11][12][13]
Controversy
In July 2021, After the secret meeting of Asjad Raza's son-in-law and the Yogi Adityanath his uncle Mannan Raza Khan alias Mannani Miyan strongly opposed Asjad Raza. He had even raised questions on the position of Asjad Raza. Mannani said that my nephew Asjad Raza is not worthy of the post of Qazi Al Hindustan. If he wants to hold this post then show his education certificate. Mannani said that those who have no identity of their own are using the name of the Dargah, I oppose this. He said that if my brother Akhtar Raza Khan were alive today, he would have regretted a lot. Mannani also said that Asjad Raza is doing all this to get his son-in-law red light. Mannan Raza said that Asjad Raza has sold the community. Mannani further said that Asjad Raza should resign from the post of Qazi Al Hindustan and dissolve Jama'at Raza-e-Mustafa and hand over all the documents to the family members.[14][15][16]