Hafiz Muhammad Ahmad

Hafiz Muhammad Ahmad (also known as Muhammad Ahmad Nanautawi) (1862-1930) was an Indian Muslim scholar, Vice Chancellor of Darul Uloom Deoband, and Grand Mufti of the Hyderabad State from 1922 to 1925.
Name and lineage.
His ism (given name) was Muhammad Ahmad. His "nasab" (patronymic) is: Muhammad Ahmad ibn Muhammad Qāsim ibn Asad Ali ibn Ghulam Shāh ibn Muhammad Bakhsh ibn Alāuddīn ibn Muhammad Fateh ibn Muhammad Mufti ibn Abd al-Samī ibn Muhammad Hāshim.
Biography.
Ahmad was born in 1862 in Nanauta to Muhammad Qasim Nanautavi. He attended Madrasa Manba-ul-Ulum in Gulauthi and then Madrasa Shahi, Moradabad. He later returned to Darul Uloom Deoband where he studied with Mahmud Hasan Deobandi. He studied parts of the "Jami` at-Tirmidhi" with Muhammad Yaqub Nanautawi and specialized in hadith with Rashid Ahmad Gangohi. He was a disciple of Imdadullah Muhajir Makki.
At Darul Uloom Deoband, he taught "Mishkat al-Masabih", "Tafsir al-Jalalayn", "Sahih Muslim", "Sunan ibn Majah" for ten years, and served as Vice Chancellor for 35 years.
Ahmad was honored with the title of Shamsul Ulama by the British Government of India, which he returned in 1920. He also served Grand Mufti of Hyderabad State from 1922 to 1925.
Students.
Ahmad's students include Anwar Shah Kashmiri, Shabbir Ahmad Usmani, Ubaidullah Sindhi, Hussain Ahmad Madani, Kifayatullah Dehlawi, Sayyid Asghar Hussain Deobandi, Qari Muhammad Tayyib, Muhammad Shafi Deobandi, Manazir Ahsan Gilani and Syed Fakhruddin Ahmad.
Death and legacy.
Ahmad died in 1930 while travelling in a train near Nizamabad Junction railway station and was buried in a special graveyard Khitta-e-Salihin with the consent of Mir Osman Ali Khan. Ahmad's son Qari Muhammad Tayyib was Vice Chancellor of Darul Uloom Deoband for fifty years.