Abdur-Rahman ibn YusufMufti Abdur-Rahman ibn Yusuf Mangera has been studying the traditional Islamic sciences and writing scholarly works for most of his life. He completed the bulk of his studies at Darul Uloom Bury, North England, where he memorized the Qur’an by age fifteen and thereafter went on to complete a rigorous, six-year Shari‘a program. He graduated from this program with authentic certifications (ijaza) in numerous Islamic disciplines, including Arabic, Islamic jurisprudence, and hadith (with particular emphasis on the six authentic books of hadith (Sihah Sitta) and the Muwattas of Imam Malik and Imam Muhammad). His teachers at Darul Uloom Bury included Shaykh Yusuf Motala and other students of Shaykh al-Hadith Mawlana Muhammad Zakariyya Kandhlawi (may Allah have mercy on him.
After graduating, the author traveled to South Africa, where he attended Madrasah Zakariyyah part-time to gain specialized training in answering legal questions (ifta’) under Mufti Rada al-Haq. While in South Africa, he also completed a B.A. with honors in Islamic studies at Rand Afrikaans University, Johannesburg, under Professor Abdur-Rahman Doi, Ph.D.
He then traveled to Syria, where he received a second certification in Qur’anic recitation and memorization, this time from Shaykh ‘Abd al-Razzaq al-Halabi, who possessed a short, unbroken chain of transmission (sanad) to the Messenger of Allah in this subject. He also received a certification from Shaykh Adib Kallas (may Allah have mercy on him) after reading Mulla ‘Ali al-Qari’s Sharh al-Fiqh al-Akbar and attending lectures on other classical texts of Islamic creed (‘aqida).
He spent the following year in Mazahir Uloom, Saharanpur, India, where he received formal authorization to issue legal rulings (fatawa), which required a close study of part or all of a number of classical jurisprudential texts, including, among others, Ibn Nujaym’s Al-Ashbah wa ’l-Naza’ir and ‘Allama Haskafi’s Al-Durr al-Mukhtar (along with its commentary, Radd al-Muhtar, by ‘Allama Ibn ‘Abidin al-Shami). During this time, Mufti Abdur-Rahman also attended classes on the principles of hadith (usul al-hadith), studying ‘Allama Lakhnawi’s Al-Raf‘ wa ’l-Takmil fi ’l-Jarh wa ’l-Ta’dil and parts of Imam Suyuti’s Tadrib al-Rawi.
The author acquired additional certifications in hadith from such great scholars as Shaykh Muhaddith Habib al-Rahman al-A‘zami (through his student Shaykh Mufti Zayn al-‘Abidin), Shaykh Abu ’l-Hasan ‘Ali Nadwi, and Shaykh Muhammad al-‘Awwama. May Allah continue to bless those of his teachers who are still alive and have mercy on those who have passed on to the next life.
To date, Mufti Abdur-Rahman has written (1) Fiqh al-Imam: Key Proofs in Hanafi Fiqh (1996), (2) Provisions for the Seekers (2005), a translation and commentary of the Arabic work Zad al-Talibin, a small collection of short hadiths compiled by Mawlana ‘Ashiq Ilahi from ‘Allama Tabrizi’s Mishkat al-Masabih, (3) Prayers for Forgiveness: Seeking Spiritual Enlightenment through Sincere Supplication (2004), a translation of Al-Istighfarat al-Munqidha min al-Nar, a collection of seventy prayers for forgiveness transmitted from Hasan al-Basri, (4) Imam Abu Hanifa’s Al-Fiqh al-Akbar Explained (2007), a translation of Al-Fiqh al-Akbar along with Abu ’l-Muntaha al-Maghnisawi’s commentary and selections from ‘Ali al-Qari’s commentary, including Abu Hanifa’s Kitab al-Wasiyya, (5) Salat Salam: In Praise of Allah’s Most Beloved (2007), a manual of blessings and peace upon the Prophet Muhammad , (6) co-authored Reflections of Pearls (2005), and edited Imam Ghazali’s Beginning of Guidance (Bidayat al-Hidaya) (2010).
He presently serves as imam of a London mosque and continues to work on scholarly publications through White Thread Press (www.whitethredpress.com) while also undertaking his PHD research at SOAS (University of London). Some of his fatawa can be found at www.sunnipath.com and fatawa and lectures at www.zamzamacademy.com.
All lectures by Abdur-Rahman ibn Yusuf → 
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