Kaukab Noorani Okarvi (Urdu: کوکب نورانی اوکاڑوی; born 17 August 1957) is a Pakistani religious scholar and writer of Ahle-Sunnat Wa Jamaa’at Sunni.
He is the son of Muhammad Shafee Okarvi,[1] who was the founder of the Jamaat Ahle Sunnat, the main Barelvi organisation of Pakistan.
[6] In his book, Deoband to Bareilly he writes, "To tell you the truth, I am a mere seeker of knowledge in the fields of religion, spirituality, and scholastic matters.
This little bit recognition of letters and words and the skills of experimenting with them that have come to me, it is mostly because of my environment which was due to my kind parents, paternal grandfather, maternal grandmother, teachers and holy people.
[6] He received his early religious and worldly education at Jaami’ah Ashraf ul Madaris in Okara.
He memorized the Quran at the age of eleven years, taught by Muhammad Abdul Lateef Amjad Sa’eedi.
During his school and college days he participated in various debates, Qirat and Na’at competitions and also received prizes for it.
Its main purpose was to inculcate religious principles, support poor students, and organize competitions of Qira’at, Na’at and speeches and to celebrate Islamic festivals.
In 1973, he passed his intermediate examination from Government National College, Karachi and he was awarded his advance degrees.
He often travels to far off villages and cities, during cold bitter nights and warm summers where people gather to listen to his speeches.
[10] In twenty eight years after the departing of his beloved father he has only been able to thoroughly explain seven parts of the holy Qur'an, due to his research in each topic in the Friday congregation in Jaame Masjid Gulzar-e-Habeeb, Karachi.
They are of a wide variety of topics including Islam and all its teachings, Urdu literature, fiction, science, history and general knowledge.
Therefore, initially part-time and then in 1984, after his father's death, Okarvi started giving formal orations and teaching.
[5][13] He started the Imaamat and Khitaabat of Jum’ah in the Jaame Masjid Gulzar-e-Habib, Gulistan-e-Okarvi (Soldier Bazaar) Karachi which still continues.
On every holy night, Muharram, Ramadan including Jum’atul Wadaa and Laielatul Qadr his passionate speeches are heard by many believers.
[14] Beside this he manages charities (Sadaqaat-e-Jaariyah) and two organizations for the printing of Islamic books: Karmaan Waalaa Publishers and Noorani Kutub Khaanah.
[17] He has preached in more than fifty-one countries, including Saudi Arabia, Syria, Jordan, Iraq, Egypt, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, Oman, Kenya, Zimbabwe, Malawi, Re-union, Lesotho, South Africa, Botswana, Swaziland, Mauritius, France, India, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Europe, Australia and US.
[5][17] In his book, From Deoband to Bareilly, he wrote: "Even earlier, I was greatly distressed by this thought but lately it increased even more when I visited the African countries.
"[19] The book was first published in English by Maulana Okarvi Academy (Al-A'lami) in South Africa and then in Urdu in Pakistan.