Muhammad Yusuf Taþulawë (born 9 September 1954), generally written as Mufti Yusuf Tawli, is an Indian Sunni Muslim scholar of the Deobandi tradition, a mufti, and a long-serving teacher of hadith and fiqh at Darul Uloom Deoband, where he also held academic administrative roles including Nazim-e-Taÿlimat (2016âÂÂ2019). He has authored more than two dozen works in Urdu and ArabicâÂÂamong them the multi-volume al-FatÃÂwàal-Yà «sufiyyah, Ashraf al-HidÃÂyah (on the fourth part of al-HidÃÂyah), and commentaries on Tafsir al-Baydawi and al-Fawz al-Kabir. TaþulawëâÂÂs Urdu poetry has been anthologized in Nadëm Aḥmad Aná¹£ÃÂrëâÂÂs Shiÿr-i Faqëh (2019). Spiritually, he is a recognized khalëfah of Mahmood Hasan Gangohi, and he established the publishing house Maktabah Faqëh al-Ummat for issuing his and others' scholarly works.
Muhammad Yusuf Taþulawë was born on 9 September 1954 in Tawli, Muzaffarnagar district, Uttar Pradesh, to Azëmuddin.
He received his early education at Darul Uloom Husainiya, Tawli. In 1972 (1392 AH), he enrolled at Darul Uloom Deoband and graduated from the final hadith class (Dawrah-yi Hadith) in 1974 (1394 AH). He completed ifta training the following year under Mahmood Hasan Gangohi.
His hadith teachers included: Sharif Hasan Deobandi (Sahih al-Bukhari, Part I), Mahmood Hasan Gangohi (Bukhari, Part II), Abdul Ahad (Sahih Muslim), Sharif Hasan Deobandi (Jami' al-Tirmidhi), Muhammad Husain Bihari (Sunan Abi Dawud), Naûim Ahmad Deobandi (Sunan al-Nasa'i), Naseer Ahmad Khan (Tahawi's Sharh Maûani al-Athar), Mirajul Haq Deobandi (Shama'il at-Tirmidhi), Nizamuddin Azami (Muwatta Imam Malik), and Anzar Shah Kashmiri (al-Shaybani's Muwatta). In ifta he further studied with Nizamuddin Aûzami and Ahmad ûAli Saeed Nagënavi.
After graduation, Taþulawë taught for three years at Madrasa Muradiya, Muzaffarnagar, and then for seven years at Darul Uloom Chilla, Amroha, where he taught senior classes including hadith texts.
He was appointed a teacher at Darul Uloom Deoband in Shawwal 1405 AH (July 1985), progressed to the senior (ûulyÃÂ) level by 1430 AH (2009), and additionally served for many years as superintendent of the student hostel (Nazim Dar al-Iqama). He was appointed Nazim Taûlimat (head of academic affairs) in Safar 1438 AH (November 2016) and served until Dhu al-Qa'dah 1440 AH (July 2019).
He also established a publishing house, Maktabah Faqëh al-Ummat, through which a number of his works and other scholarly writings have been issued.
He was also known for his Urdu poetry. A chapter on his poetic contributions is included in Nadëm Aḥmad Aná¹£ÃÂrë's work Shiÿr-i Faqëh: Deoband se wÃÂbastah baÿẠmashhà «r muftiyÃÂn-i kirÃÂm aur unkë Urdà « shÃÂûirë kàtazòkirah (2019), covering pages 244âÂÂ265.
In 1395 AH (1975 CE), Taþulawë pledged allegiance (bayÿah) to his teacher Mahmood Hasan Gangohi for spiritual training (tazkiyah wa sulà «k). He regularly corresponded with him to seek guidance and spent extended periods, including the month of Ramadan, in his company. In 1403 AH (1983 CE), he received authorization (ijÃÂzah) and khilÃÂfah from Gangohi, and was subsequently included among his recognized deputies (khulafÃÂþ).
In April 2024, Bangladeshi media reported that Taþulawë was among the senior scholars who joined Shaykh IbrÃÂhëm Afrëqë's Ramadan iÿtikÃÂf and related programs in Bangladesh. Later that year, he was also listed among the scholars addressing the annual two-day IslÃÂḥë Jor gathering at Darul Uloom Madaninagar, Dhaka.
In November 2023, Taþulawë addressed an online conference on al-Quds, where he described the protection of Al-Aqsa Mosque as a collective religious duty of Muslims and urged unity on the issue.
Taþulawë has authored more than two dozen works ranging from multi-volume commentaries to concise treatises. His writings cover fiqh, theology, tafsir, hadith, logic and grammar. Among his major works are:
In addition, he produced works such as IghnÃÂþ al-Ḥizb ÿan Masþalat ImkÃÂn al-Kidhb, al-KalÃÂm al-Munazzam fë Tawá¸Âëḥ màfë al-Sullam, Dars al-SirÃÂjë, Dars ÿAqëdat al-ṬaḥÃÂwë, Dars-e-ḤusÃÂmë, and partial commentaries on Tafsir al-Jalalayn, Muwattaâ Imam Malik and Sunan al-Nasa'i. He also wrote treatises such as Tanqëḥ al-AfkÃÂr fë Taḥqëq IsbÃÂl al-IzÃÂr, DalÃÂþil al-Nubuwwah (on Mahmood Hasan GangohiâÂÂs Guldasta-yi SalÃÂm), Uá¹£à «l al-Taÿbër (principles of dream interpretation), and annotations on al-JurjÃÂnë's al-TaÿrëfÃÂt and al-Ḥamawë's Ghamz ÿUyà «n al-Baá¹£ÃÂþir.