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Abu Nasr Waheed

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Shamsul Ulama Mawlana
Abu Nasr Wahid
Personal life
Born21 September 1878
Sylhet, North-East Frontier, British India
Died31 May 1953(1953-05-31) (aged 74)
Dacca, East Bengal, Pakistan
Resting placeShah Saheb Lane Cemetery, Narinda, Old Dhaka
Parent
  • Jawed Bakht (father)
Alma materSylhet Govt. High School
Murari Chand College
Presidency College
RelativesFaizunnesa Choudhurani (great-grandmother-in-law)[1]
Religious life
ReligionIslam
DenominationSunni
JurisprudenceHanafi
Muslim leader
Students
Influenced by
Influenced
Arabic name
Personal (Ism)Muḥammad Waḥīd
محمد وحيد
Patronymic (Nasab)ibn Jāwīd Bakht
بن جاويد بخت
Teknonymic (Kunya)Abū Naṣr
أبو نصر

Abū Naṣr Muḥammad Waḥīd (Arabic: أبو نصر محمد وحيد, Bengali: আবু নসর মুহম্মদ ওহীদ; 21 September 1878 – 31 May 1953), or simply Abu Nasr Waheed, was a Bengali Islamic scholar, educationist, author and politician.[3] He is best known for his reformations to Islamic education in Bengal,[4][5] and development of Arabic language education among Bengali Muslims.[6] Wahid also served as the Education Minister of British Assam and a member of the Assam Legislative Assembly.

Early life and family

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Muhammad Wahid was born on 21 September 1878, to a middle class Bengali Muslim family in the Moulvi Bari of the Hawapara neighbourhood of Sylhet, which was then under the North-East Frontier in British India. His father, Muhammad Jawed Bakht, was a qari and khalifah of Karamat Ali Jaunpuri. His family were originally from the village of Kalaruka in Chhatak, Sunamganj.[7]

Education

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Wahid was initially homeschooled with an Islamic education by his father, Qari Muhammad Jawed Bakht. He then joined the Sylhet Government High School from where he completed his matriculation in 1892. He then gained admission to the local Murari Chand College where he received his FA in 1895. Wahid then enrolled at the Presidency College in Calcutta, undertaking a bachelor's and master's in Arabic language. He was the first Bengali Muslim to undertake degrees in Arabic under the British system, having graduated in 1897.[8] He did another BA from Dacca University.[9]

Career

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After completing his education, Wahid became a teacher at the Sylhet Government High School and among his students were Abdul Hamid and Basanta Kumar Das. After a while, Wahid returned to Calcutta to study law whilst teaching at the Calcutta Alia Madrasa. Among his students in Calcutta were Amiruddin Ahmad, A.S.M. Akram and Amin Ahmed.[2]

Wahid later abandoned his legal studies and became the professor of Arabic and Persian at the Cotton College in Gauhati, Assam. He also briefly taught logic and English. Among his students in Gauhati was Muhammed Saadulah. The government attempted to transfer Wahid to Hooghly Mohsin College, but this was stopped by Khwaja Salimullah, the Nawab of Dacca,[10] who assisted in Wahid transferring to Dacca Mohsinia Madrasa.[2] Wahid served as superintendent of the Dacca Mohsinia Madrasa from 1905 to 1919. In 1906, he travelled across the Muslim world in countries such as Turkey, Syria, Palestine and Egypt. He also toured European institutions, visiting Berlin, Budapest, Paris and Vienna.[11] On his return to the subcontinent, Wahid also visited Darul Uloom Deoband and the Islamic seminaries of Rampur and Lucknow. His travels were a means of surveying and researching different educational systems to inspire his Islamic educational reforms in Bengal. After consulting numerous ulama across the world, he formulated the reformed New Scheme madrasa system as the head of the Mohammedan Education Advisory Committee in 1914.[12] The scheme modernised Islamic education in Bengal.[13] In 1919, he became the first principal of Islamic Intermediate College in Dacca, with other Islamic Intermediate Colleges being found in Hooghly and Chittagong.[14] He was a member of the 13-member founding committee of Dacca University.[15] After its establishment in 1921, Wahid additionally served as a professor and the inaugural Head and founder of the Department of Arabic and Islamic Studies at the university. Wahid also founded the same department at a university in Patna, Bihar. Wahid served as secretary and as a member in many university committees such as the Madrasah Reform Committee in 1906, the Earle Conference in 1907, the Sharf Committee in 1909, the Nathan Committee in 1912 and many more.[16] Wahid retired in 1927. At his initiative in 1935, the Sylhet Government Alia Madrasah became the first madrasa in Bengal to receive kamil status.[17]

Wahid was also known to have brought to light a Shah Jalal Dargah inscription kept in the house of Sheikh Abdul Haq, his sister's father-in-law, in Ambarkhana, Sylhet. He presented it to Dacca Museum where it is still kept.[18][19]

Political career

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Wahid contested in the first parliamentary elections for the Assam Legislative Assembly and was successfully elected to the Sylhet Sadar constituency. He also served as Assam's education minister from April 1937 to February 1938 in the cabinet of Muhammed Saadulah.[citation needed]

Literary career

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Abu Nasr Wahid wrote many books in Arabic and Bengali, and was also fluent in English, Persian and Urdu. He wrote books on Arabic literature such as Barakat al-Adab and Mirqah al-Adab (for beginners),[20] and other books such as Khutbah an-Nabi, Salsil Qiraat, Nukhab (selected stories from Kalīla wa-Dimna, One Thousand and One Nights and Brethren of Purity),[21] Nukhab al-Ulum and Madarij al-Qiraat.[22] His most famous work in Bengali is Diniyat Shikkha (Religious Education). He also contributed to primary school Bengali textbooks.[23]

Personal life

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Wahid was married to Syeda Masuda Khatun, but after her death, he married her sister Syeda Ammatul Batool Nanni Begum. His father-in-law, Syed Abdul Jabbar of Taraf, a zamindar based in Comilla.[note 1] Wahid had two sons. His daughter, Afsari Begum, married Syed Ahmadullah, son of Syed Azizullah.[1] He embarked on the Hajj pilgrimage in 1934.[2]

Awards

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In 1909, Wahid was awarded the title of Shamsul Ulama.[24] He was made a cadre of the Indian Education Service in 1921.[7]

Death and legacy

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Wahid died on 31 May 1953, in Dacca, East Bengal. He was buried in the family cemetery of Shah Ahsanullah, the Pir of Musurikhala in Narinda.[8]

Notes

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  1. ^ Abdul Jabbar had relocated to Comilla after inheriting parts of the Bhauksar zamindari after his first marriage in 1870 to Syeda Ummatul Ela Afiyah Khatun, the granddaughter of Muhammad Ghazi Chowdhury of Bhauksar and Faizunnesa Choudhurani.[1]

References

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  1. ^ a b c Ahmad, Syed Kamaluddin (30 June 2021), তরফের সৈয়দ বংশ ও লাকসাম নবাব পরিবার (in Bengali)
  2. ^ a b c d Muhammad Mojlum Khan (21 October 2013). "Mawlana Abu Nasr Wahid". The Muslim Heritage of Bengal: The Lives, Thoughts and Achievements of Great Muslim Scholars, Writers and Reformers of Bangladesh and West Bengal. Kube Publishing.
  3. ^ Ahmed, Wakil (1983). "নব্যশিক্ষিত ব্যাক্তি: আবু নসর ওহীদ". উনিশ শতকে বাঙালী মুসলমানের চিন্তাচেতনার ধারা [The trend of Bengali Muslim thought in the 19th century] (in Bengali). Vol. 1. Bangla Academy. pp. 129–130.
  4. ^ Hussain, Syed Sajjad; Ashraf, Syed Ali (1979). Crisis in Muslim Education. London: Hodder and Stoughton.
  5. ^ Report of the Committee Appointed by the Bengal Government to Consider Questions Connected with Muhammadan Education. Calcutta, Bengal Presidency: Bengal Secretariat Book Depot. 1915. p. 56.
  6. ^ "Controlling Agencies: Merits of officers". Report on the Progress of Education in Eastern Bengal and Assam. 1904. p. 22.
  7. ^ a b কীর্তিমান শিক্ষাবিদ মাওলানা আবু নাসের ওয়াহেদ. Sahitya Sowgat (in Bengali). Archived from the original on 30 July 2021. Retrieved 8 April 2021.
  8. ^ a b Alam, AKM Nurul (2012). "Shamsul 'Ulema, Abu Nasar Waheed". In Sirajul Islam; Miah, Sajahan; Khanam, Mahfuza; Ahmed, Sabbir (eds.). Banglapedia: the National Encyclopedia of Bangladesh (Online ed.). Dhaka, Bangladesh: Banglapedia Trust, Asiatic Society of Bangladesh. ISBN 984-32-0576-6. OCLC 52727562. OL 30677644M. Retrieved 8 December 2024.
  9. ^ "University of Dacca: Errata". The Calcutta Gazette: 775. 30 September 1926.
  10. ^ Matiur Rahman (1971). From Consultation to Confrontation: A Study of the Muslim League in British Indian Politics, 1906-12. Luzac Publishing. ISBN 0718901487.
  11. ^ Hussain, S. M. (July 1934). Pickthall, Marmaduke (ed.). "Islamic education in Bengal". Islamic Culture: 443.
  12. ^ "The reformed madrassah scheme". Calcutta University Commission Report. Vol. 2. 1919. p. 121.
  13. ^ Siddiqi, ABM Saiful Islam (2012). "Madrasah". In Sirajul Islam; Miah, Sajahan; Khanam, Mahfuza; Ahmed, Sabbir (eds.). Banglapedia: the National Encyclopedia of Bangladesh (Online ed.). Dhaka, Bangladesh: Banglapedia Trust, Asiatic Society of Bangladesh. ISBN 984-32-0576-6. OCLC 52727562. OL 30677644M. Retrieved 8 December 2024.
  14. ^ Muslehuddin, ATM (2012). "Arabic". In Sirajul Islam; Miah, Sajahan; Khanam, Mahfuza; Ahmed, Sabbir (eds.). Banglapedia: the National Encyclopedia of Bangladesh (Online ed.). Dhaka, Bangladesh: Banglapedia Trust, Asiatic Society of Bangladesh. ISBN 984-32-0576-6. OCLC 52727562. OL 30677644M. Retrieved 8 December 2024.
  15. ^ Miah, Sajahan (2012). "University of Dhaka". In Sirajul Islam; Miah, Sajahan; Khanam, Mahfuza; Ahmed, Sabbir (eds.). Banglapedia: the National Encyclopedia of Bangladesh (Online ed.). Dhaka, Bangladesh: Banglapedia Trust, Asiatic Society of Bangladesh. ISBN 984-32-0576-6. OCLC 52727562. OL 30677644M. Retrieved 8 December 2024.
  16. ^ Chakraborty, Rachana (2012). "Nathan Commission". In Sirajul Islam; Miah, Sajahan; Khanam, Mahfuza; Ahmed, Sabbir (eds.). Banglapedia: the National Encyclopedia of Bangladesh (Online ed.). Dhaka, Bangladesh: Banglapedia Trust, Asiatic Society of Bangladesh. ISBN 984-32-0576-6. OCLC 52727562. OL 30677644M. Retrieved 8 December 2024.
  17. ^ Siddiqi, ABM Saiful Islam (2012). "Sylhet Government Aliya Madrasah". In Sirajul Islam; Miah, Sajahan; Khanam, Mahfuza; Ahmed, Sabbir (eds.). Banglapedia: the National Encyclopedia of Bangladesh (Online ed.). Dhaka, Bangladesh: Banglapedia Trust, Asiatic Society of Bangladesh. ISBN 984-32-0576-6. OCLC 52727562. OL 30677644M. Retrieved 8 December 2024.
  18. ^ Stapleton, Henry Ernest (August 1913). "Eastern Bengal notes and queries VI: Ghazi Saheb, the patron saint of boatmen and first Musalman invader of Sylhet". The Dacca Review. 3: 154.
  19. ^ Syed Mohammad Ali (1900). "A chronology of Muslim faujdars of Sylhet". The Proceedings Of The All Pakistan History Conference. Vol. 1. Karachi: Pakistan Historical Society. p. 275.
  20. ^ "A note on the Pupil's materials in the Drawing Class". The Calcutta Gazette: 1586. 20 August 1942.
  21. ^ "Statement of particulars regarding Books and Periodicals published in the United Provinces, registered under ACT XXV of 1867, during the quarter ending March, 1918". Government Gazette: The United Provinces of Agra and Oudh: 389. 1918.
  22. ^ Pakistan Bibliographical Working Group (ed.). "Textbooks for Arabic Language". The Pakistan National Bibliography (1947-1961). National Book Centre of Pakistan. p. 177.
  23. ^ "Bengali Language". The Calcutta Gazette: 22. 1935.
  24. ^ "Special Education". General Report on Public Instruction in Eastern Bengal and Assam. 1910. p. 24.

Further reading

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  • Al-Mamun, Muhammad Abdullah (2008). ব্রিটিশ আমলে বাংলার মুসলিম শিক্ষা সমস্যা ও প্রসার [Education problems and expansion for Muslims of Bengal during the British period] (in Bengali). Bangla Academy.
  • Abdus Sattar (2015). আলিয়া মাদ্রাসার ইতিহাস [History of Alia Madrasa] (in Bengali). Translated by Harun, Mostafa (3 ed.). Islamic Foundation Bangladesh. ISBN 978-9840609109.
  • Chowdhury, Dewan Nurul Anwar Hossain (1997). জালালাবাদের কথা [About Jalalabad] (in Bengali). Bangla Academy. ISBN 9840735276.
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