Abū Sayyid Muḥammad Ḥusayn Baṭālvī (c. 1840–1920) was an Indian Islamic scholar of the Ahl-i Hadith movement during the late 19th and early 20th-century in British India.
A native of Batala in the Punjab, he became a student of Syed Nazir Husain Dehlawi and is considered one of the founders of the Ahl-i Hadith alongside him and Siddiq Hasan Khan.
In his childhood, he received elementary education, from Molvi Gul Ali Shah, a Shia, these were the times when Mirza Ghulam Ahmad also attended the same teacher.
[3] He received further religious education from Abdullah Ghaznavi at Amritsar, before proceeding to Delhi where he studied Hadith, logic and grammar from Syed Nazir Husain.
When Sir Charles Umpherston Aitchison, Governor of the Punjab from 1882 to 1887,[8] left the area in April 1887, he gave Muhammad Hussain, a certificate testifying to his ability and learning.
Batalvi wrote an application to the then Viceroy of India Robert Bulwer-Lytton, 1st Earl of Lytton that they be called Ahl-e-Hadith rather than Wahhabi, which was granted on 19 January 1887.
[12] Batalvi advocated "to wield the pen" rather than resorting to the use of force and militant means, He wrote: Some of our Muslim brothers believe that the present misfortunes of the followers of Islam cannot be removed without the sword.
In such a useless and weak condition, to consider them as a nation is to exceed the imagination of Shaikh Chilli [a proverbial, comical figure in Urdu fiction].
Muhammad Hussain Batalvi wrote: In our opinion, from the point of view of the modern age, this book stands unique in the history of Islam.
[17] And the author of Barahin-e-Ahmadiyya is committed to the shariah of Muhammad, pious and upright in view of the experience and testimony of supporters and opponents alike.
"[22] He also admitted [In the Court the District Magistrate Gurdaspur (1899)] having published the following: In the alleged murder lawsuit[24] against Ghulam Ahmad, instituted by Henry Martyn Clark in the Court of District Magistrate Captain Montagu William Douglas Muhammad Hussain Batalvi, appeared on the side of the prosecution, and sided with Dr Clark of the Church Mission Society against Ghulam Ahmad[25] Batalvi also accused Ghulam Ahmad of sedition and rebellious intentions towards the British Government,[26] likening him to the Mahdi of Sudan and warning the Government in the following words: His deception is proved by the fact that in his heart he considers it lawful to put an end to the authority of a non-Muslim government and to plunder its belongings … Therefore, it would not be proper on the part of the Government to rely on him and it would be necessary to be aware of him, otherwise such harm might be suffered at the hands of this Mahdi of Qadian as was experienced at the hands of the Sudanese Mahdi.It is not possible to write about Muhammad Hussain Batalvi, without mentioning his lifelong struggle against the Ahmadiyya Movement of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad.
As stated above, the claims of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad to be the Promised Messiah and declaring the death of Jesus son of Mary, had very much perturbed Muhammad Hussain Batalvi.
The debate lasted for twelve long days, and was attended by about 300 persons, including the local gentry and dignitaries like the editors of the Punjab Gazette, Sialkot, and the Nur Afshan, Ludhiana.
Magistrate of the town; M. Miran Bakhsh, accountant; Shahzada Abdul Majid, Dr. Mustafa Ali, Kh.Muhammad Sattar Shah, Kh.
[35] Mirza Ghulam Ahmad predicted: [Transcription-Persian: Aye paye takfeer e ma bastha kamar, khana ath veeran too dar fikre digar] In December 1991, Hadi Ali Chudhryi, an Ahmadiyya, conducted a research to locate the tomb of Muhammad Hussain Batalvi .
Among the many important people interviewed, besides businessmen, local elders, newspaper reporters, government officials of the city of Batala, was also the eminent personality Prof. K N Thomas.