Maulana Anwar Shah Kashmiri was a native of Kashmir. He was born on 27th Shawwal, A. H. 1292/1875, in a Sayyid family. At the age of four and a half years he started reading the Quran under the instruction of his father, Maulana Syed Muazzam Ali Shah. He was fourteen years old when he left for Madrasah of Hazara.In 1311/1893 he came to Deoband. Then, in 1314/1896 he went to Rashid Ahmad Gangohi and besides obtaining a Sanad (certificate) of Hadith, he also acquired esoteric knowledge.
After graduating from Darul Uloom he taught for some time in Madrasah Aminia, Delhi. In 1320/1903 he went to Kashmir. There, in his district, he opened a Madrasah named Faiz-e A’am. In 1323/1905 he went to perform Hajj. In 1327/1909 he came back to Deoband. Till 1333, he went on teaching books of Hadith without taking any salary. He held the guardianship of Darul Uloom for nearly twelve years. He resigned from guardianship in 1346/1927 and went to the Madrasah of Dabhel in western India, where, till 1351/1932, he taught Hadith. He left his family in 1887 and moved into the Madrasah in India. In 1889, he relocated to Deoband, where he studied at the Darul uloom. In 1894, he began studying Hadith, work he continued after graduation from the Darul Uloom in Gangoh.
The valley of Kashmir has also produced the world famous Theologians and accomplished religious scholars. Among these Maulana Anwar Shah Kashmiri who was born in 1875 in Lolab area of the south-west Kashmir, merits special consideration. His father’s name was Peer Muhammad Muazam Shah and his mother was called Maalded.
Maulana Anwar Shah Kashmiri went outside Kashmir for higher studies and came back after receiving education and then started delivering sermons on various aspects of religion and theology.
During his pilgrimage to Mecca also he got great recognition for his erudition and knowledge of Islamic theology. He also went to AI-Azhar University in Egypt which has a great distinction among the Islamic Institutions of the world. On his way to Malta from Cairo he was detained for his radical thoughts on Islam and was imprisoned for two years. He returned India in 1920 and settled in Deoband (UP) where he was buried after his death, in accordance with his own will.