Career[edit]

In 1948, Hamidullah was appointed by the Nizam as part of the delegation sent to London and the United Nations in [4] New York to seek support against the invasion of the Nizam's territories by Indian Forces. Subsequently he moved to Pakistan and was involved in writing of Pakistan's constitution, but did not to settle there as he found the cultural environment not to his liking. Nevertheless in 1985, he was awarded the Hilal-e-Imtiaz, the highest civilian award of Pakistan. The award included a substantial money amount but this was donated by him to the Islamic Research [6] Academy, Islamabad. In 1948 he returned to France, living there for the rest of his life, apart from travel to teaching posts he held in Turkey for a number of years. He also held a post with French National Centre for Scientific Research from 1954, which ended in 1978. Hamidullah was the last remaining citizen of the erstwhile Hyderabad State (which following 1956 reorganisation was divided into 3 on linguistic basis, and absorbed into other states of India, most being in Andhra Pradesh) and never obtained the citizenship of any other nation. Classed as a Refugee of Hyderabad by the French Government, which allowed him to stay inParis, he remained exiled from his homeland after its annexation by the Indian Government in [7] 1948. Hamidullah devoted his whole life to scholarship and did not marry. His ancestors and extended family are jurists, writers and administrators. His great grandfather Maulvi Mohammed Ghauth Sharful-Mulk (d. 1822 CE) was scholar of Islamic sciences, writing over 30 books in Arabic, Persian and Urdu, including a seven volume exegesis of the Qur'an. His maternal grandfather Qadi Mohammed Sibghatullah was a jurist and an scholar of repute writing an exegesis of the Holy Qu'ran as well as other books. He was also appointed [8] Chief Judge of Madras in 1855 CE. Hamidullah's father Mufti Abu Mohammed Khalilullah, was also scholar of Islamic jurisprudence, a director of revenue in the government of Nizam of Hyderabad, and the pioneer in establishing an interest-free banking system in [9] Hyderabad. Hamidullah is known for contributions to the research of Hadith history, translations of the Qur'an into multiple languages and in particular into French language (first by a Muslim scholar) and for the monumental biography of the Prophet Muhammadin French. He is also famous for discovering a missing work on Prophet Muhammad regarded as one of his great contributions to the Hadith literature. The earliest Hadith manuscript still extant today, Sahifa Hammam bin Munabbah, was discovered in a Damascus library. Hammam bin Munabbah being a disciple of [10] Abu Huraira one of the Sahaba. It proved, that the earliest manuscripts had been absorbed into the much bigger later compilations.