Muhammad Yusuf Taulawi


Muhammad Yusuf Taʾulawī, generally written as Mufti Yusuf Tawli, is an Indian Sunni Muslim scholar of the Deobandi tradition, a mufti, and a long-serving teacher of hadith and fiqh at Darul Uloom Deoband, where he also held academic administrative roles including Nazim-e-Taʿlimat. He has authored more than two dozen works in Urdu and Arabic—among them the multi-volume al-Fatāwā al-Yūsufiyyah, Ashraf al-Hidāyah, and commentaries on Tafsir al-Baydawi and al-Fawz al-Kabir. Taʾulawī’s Urdu poetry has been anthologized in Nadīm Aḥmad Anṣārī’s Shiʿr-i Faqīh. Spiritually, he is a recognized khalīfah of Mahmood Hasan Gangohi, and he established the publishing house Maktabah Faqīh al-Ummat for issuing his and others' scholarly works.

Early life and education

Muhammad Yusuf Taʾulawī was born on 9 September 1954 in Tawli, Muzaffarnagar district, Uttar Pradesh, to Azīmuddin.
He received his early education at Darul Uloom Husainiya, Tawli. In 1972, he enrolled at Darul Uloom Deoband and graduated from the final hadith class in 1974. He completed ifta training the following year under Mahmood Hasan Gangohi.
His hadith teachers included: Sharif Hasan Deobandi, Mahmood Hasan Gangohi, Abdul Ahad, Sharif Hasan Deobandi, Muhammad Husain Bihari, Naʻim Ahmad Deobandi, Naseer Ahmad Khan, Mirajul Haq Deobandi, Nizamuddin Azami, and Anzar Shah Kashmiri. In ifta he further studied with Nizamuddin Aʻzami and Ahmad ʻAli Saeed Nagīnavi.

Career

After graduation, Taʾulawī taught for three years at Madrasa Muradiya, Muzaffarnagar, and then for seven years at Darul Uloom Chilla, Amroha, where he taught senior classes including hadith texts.
He was appointed a teacher at Darul Uloom Deoband in Shawwal 1405 AH, progressed to the senior level by 1430 AH, and additionally served for many years as superintendent of the student hostel. He was appointed Nazim Taʻlimat in Safar 1438 AH and served until Dhu al-Qa'dah 1440 AH.
He also established a publishing house, Maktabah Faqīh al-Ummat, through which a number of his works and other scholarly writings have been issued.

Poetry

He was also known for his Urdu poetry. A chapter on his poetic contributions is included in Nadīm Aḥmad Anṣārī's work Shiʿr-i Faqīh: Deoband se wābastah baʿẓ mashhūr muftiyān-i kirām aur unkī Urdū shāʻirī kā taz̲kirah, covering pages 244–265.

Spiritual affiliation

In 1395 AH, Taʾulawī pledged allegiance to his teacher Mahmood Hasan Gangohi for spiritual training. He regularly corresponded with him to seek guidance and spent extended periods, including the month of Ramadan, in his company. In 1403 AH, he received authorization and khilāfah from Gangohi, and was subsequently included among his recognized deputies.
In April 2024, Bangladeshi media reported that Taʾulawī was among the senior scholars who joined Shaykh Ibrāhīm Afrīqī's Ramadan iʿtikāf and related programs in Bangladesh. Later that year, he was also listed among the scholars addressing the annual two-day Islāḥī Jor gathering at Darul Uloom Madaninagar, Dhaka.

Views on Palestine

In November 2023, Taʾulawī addressed an online conference on al-Quds, where he described the protection of Al-Aqsa Mosque as a collective religious duty of Muslims and urged unity on the issue.

Selected works

Taʾulawī has authored more than two dozen works ranging from multi-volume commentaries to concise treatises. His writings cover fiqh, theology, tafsir, hadith, logic and grammar.
Among his major works are:al-Fatāwā al-Yūsufiyyah Ashraf al-Hidāyah Jawāhir al-Farāʾid sharḥ Sharḥ al-ʿAqāʾid Badāʾiʿ al-Kalām fī Bayān ʿAqāʾid al-Islām Taqrīrāt al-Taʾulawī ʿalā Tafsīr al-Bayḍāwī Fayḍ al-Khabīr al-Qawāʿid al-Fiqhiyyah al-Maḥmūdah Ḥāshiya ʿalā Fatāwā Rashīdiyyah
In addition, he produced works such as Ighnāʾ al-Ḥizb ʿan Masʾalat Imkān al-Kidhb, al-Kalām al-Munazzam fī Tawḍīḥ mā fī al-Sullam, Dars al-Sirājī, Dars ʿAqīdat al-Ṭaḥāwī, Dars-e-Ḥusāmī, and partial commentaries on Tafsir al-Jalalayn, Muwatta’ Imam Malik and Sunan al-Nasa'i. He also wrote treatises such as Tanqīḥ al-Afkār fī Taḥqīq Isbāl al-Izār, Dalāʾil al-Nubuwwah, Uṣūl al-Taʿbīr, and annotations on al-Jurjānī's al-Taʿrīfāt and al-Ḥamawī's Ghamz ʿUyūn al-Baṣāʾir.