Aḥmad Rizā Khān Barelwī (1856–1921) was a Sunnī Muslim scholar of the Ḥanafī school, born in Bareilly, Rohilkhand, in north India. He was born just a year before the failed Indian revolt led in the name of the aged Mughal ruler, Bahādur Shāh Ẓafar, against East India Company rule. Its failure ushered in Crown rule in 1858 and led in 1877 to the proclamation of Queen Victoria as Empress of India. Aḥmad Rizā's life was thus lived out in the context of British colonial rule in India. Barring two pilgrimages to Mecca and some brief visits to cities within India, Aḥmad Rizā lived out h…