Shah Abdul Aziz Muhaddith Dehlavi (11 October 1746 – 5 June 1824; شاہ عبد العزیز دھلوی) was Muhaddith (scholar of Hadith) and Mujadid Sufi and reformer from India. He was of the Naqshbandi Sufi order which emerged from a tradition of violent backlash against the modernization of Sunni culture. This tradition inspired later Sunni scholarship, including Aziz’s father Shah Waliullah Aziz was the to declare Hindustan to be Darul Harb. Most of the Indian schools of Hadith learning which exist to the present day have the name of Shah ʿAbd-al-ʿAzīz at the head of their educational pedigree.
Shah Abdul Aziz was born on 25 Ramadan, 1159 AH (11 October 1746 AD) in Delhi in the reign of Mughal Emperor Muhammad Shah (1719-1748). Delhi was capital of the Mughal Empire. Shah Abdul Aziz was the eldest son of Shah Waliullah was only 17 years old when Shah Waliullah died. He took over as the teacher of Hadith in place of his father. He belonged to hanafi school of thought. He was a Muhaddith, mufassir and Mujtahid.
He declared India to be Darul Harb (land of war) under British dominion and pronounced that it was obligatory upon Hindus and Muslims to wage war for freedom (Jang-e-Hurriyat), liberty, justice and Inquilab (revolution) against the British government.
In his Fatwa he wrote that ousting the British should be the main objective; after that, it was legitimate for either Muslims or Hindus or both in conjunction to hold the reins of power.on the basis of it, Shah ʿAbd-al-ʿAzīz has been rightly viewed as a precursor of the Indian freedom movement.
