Wikipedia's first sentence called it “indian islamic sunni hanafi scholar of the deobandi school”. Today it says “indian sunni muslim scholar”. The one-line description Wikipedia serves to search engines and AI systems read “Indian Islamic scholar Muḥammad”. It now reads “Indian Islamic scholar and Sufi (1863–1943)”.
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Machine-checked against the full current article on 2026-08-03.
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The opening as it read in 2025
Ashraf Ali Thanwi (often referred as Hakimul Ummat and Mujaddidul Millat ; 19 August 1863 – 20 July 1943) was an Indian Sunni Muslim scholar, jurist , thinker, reformist and a revivor of classical Sufi in the Indian subcontinent during the British Raj . He was a central figure of Islamic spiritual , intellectual and religious life in South Asia and continues to be highly influential today. He wrote over a thousand works including Bayan Ul Quran and Bahishti Zewar . He was also one of the chief proponents of the Pakistan Movement . He graduated from Darul Uloom Deoband in 1883 and moved to Kanpur , then Thana Bhawan to direct the Khanqah-i-Imdadiyah, where he resided until his death. His training in Quran , hadith , fiqh studies and Sufism qualified him to become a leading Sunni authority among the scholars of Deoband . His teaching mixes Sunni orthodoxy, Islamic elements of belief and the patriarchal structure of the society. He offered a sketch of a Muslim community that is collective, patriarchal, hierarchical and compassion-based. "Salafī Challenge and Māturīdī Response: Contemporary Disputes over the Legitimacy of Māturīdī kalām" . Die Welt des Islams . 60 ( 2– 3). (১৮৯৪—১৯৮২) - এর সংক্ষিপ্ত জীবনচরিত". মাশায়েখে চাটগাম . A critical study of select Urdu Tafasir of 20th Century (PhD thesis).
This is Wikipedia's own text, saved in our repository. Their copy of it is revision 1294058953.
The opening as it stood in 2010
Molana Ashraf 'Alī Thānwī (August 19, 1863 – July 4, 1943) ( ) was an Indian Islamic Sunni Hanafi scholar of the Deobandi school.
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 370326750.
The opening as it stood in 2015
( Learn how and when to remove this message ) Ashraf 'Ali Thanwi (August 19, 1863 – July 4, 1943) ( ) was an Indian scholar of the Deobandi school whose religious contributions are still useful to Deobandi scholars.
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 667317233.
The opening as it stood on October 6, 2023 1 passage from the previous snapshot no longer appear
Indian Islamic scholar and Sufi (1863–1943) Ashraf Ali Thanwi (often referred as Hakimul Ummat and Mujaddidul Millat (19 August 1863 – 20 July 1943) was a late-nineteenth and twentieth-century Sunni scholar, jurist , thinker, reformist and the revival of classical Sufi thought from Indian subcontinent during the British Raj , one of the chief proponents of Pakistan Movement .He was a central figure of Islamic spiritual , intellectual and religious life in South Asia and continues to be highly influential today.As a prolific author, he completed over a thousand works including Bayan Ul Quran and Bahishti Zewar .He graduated from Darul Uloom Deoband in 1883 and moved to Kanpur , then Thana Bhawan to direct the Khanqah-i-Imdadiyah, where he resided until the end of his life.His training in Quran , Hadith , Fiqh studies and Sufism qualified him to become a leading Sunni authority among the scholars of Deoband .His teaching mixes Sunni orthodoxy, Islamic elements of belief and the patriarchal structure of the society.He offered a sketch of a Muslim community that is collective, patriarchal, hierarchical and compassion-based."Salafī Challenge and Māturīdī Response: Contemporary Disputes over the Legitimacy of Māturīdī kalām" .Die Welt des Islams . 60 ( 2– 3). (১৮৯৪—১৯৮২) - এর সংক্ষিপ্ত জীবনচরিত". মাশায়েখে চাটগাম .
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 1172925543.
Today
Wikipedia's first sentence called it “indian islamic sunni hanafi scholar of the deobandi school”. Today it says “indian sunni muslim scholar”. The one-line description Wikipedia serves to search engines and AI systems read “Indian Islamic scholar Muḥammad”. It now reads “Indian Islamic scholar and Sufi (1863–1943)”. Read the current article and compare.
2010
2015
2020
Oct '23
2025
Counts in the opening at each snapshot. Green: the word gained ground. Red: it was cut. Grey: no change.
What Wikipedia says this is
Every article opens by defining its subject. This one was redefined since 2010, and today's defining sentence is their current revision.
Then
indian islamic sunni hanafi scholar of the deobandi school
Now
indian sunni muslim scholar
Sections that no longer exist
Present on October 6, 2023, absent today, with no near-matching heading in the current article and the article shorter overall, so this is not a renamed heading or a topic absorbed into a fuller treatment. 1 section of 400 characters or more gone since October 6 2023, with the article 699 characters shorter.
Works and contribution
Struck red text is no longer in the article; dotted amber text was rewritten. Every revision id links to Wikipedia's copy; the text shown is our own saved copy. Data: /data. Wikipedia text is CC BY-SA; quoted for the record; not affiliated with Wikipedia.
