Abdul Momin Shaykh-e-Imambari ( bn, আব্দুল মোমিন শায়খে ইমামবাড়ী; 1930 – 8 April 2020) was a

Bangladeshi Bangladeshis ( bn, বাংলাদেশী ) are the citizens of Bangladesh, a South Asian country centered on the transnational historical region of Bengal along the eponymous bay. Bangladeshi citizenship was formed in 1971, when the ...

Islamic scholar In Islam, the ''ulama'' (; ar, علماء ', singular ', "scholar", literally "the learned ones", also spelled ''ulema''; feminine: ''alimah'' ingularand ''aalimath'' lural are the guardians, transmitters, and interpreters of reli ...

, teacher and politician. He was a former president of

Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Bangladesh Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Bangladesh (Bengali: জমিয়তে উলামায়ে ইসলাম বাংলাদেশ) is a Bangladeshi Islamist Party registered with Bangladesh Election Commission. Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Bangladesh was ...

Early life and education

Abdul Momin was born in 1930, to a

Bengali Muslim Bengali Muslims ( bn, বাঙালি মুসলমান; ) are adherents of Islam who ethnically, linguistically and genealogically identify as Bengalis. Comprising about two-thirds of the global Bengali population, they are the sec ...

parents Muhammad Abdus Sattar and Gulbahar Bibi in the village of Purangaon in

Nabiganj Nabiganj ( bn, নবীগঞ্জ, Nobīgonj) is an Upazila of Habiganj District in the Division of Sylhet, Bangladesh. History After the Conquest of Gour in 1303, many disciples of Shah Jalal migrated and settled in present-day Nabiganj wher ...

, Habiganj subdivision (then located under the

Sylhet district Sylhet ( bn, সিলেট), located in north-east Bangladesh, is the divisional capital and one of the four districts in the Sylhet Division. History Sylhet district was established on 3 January 1782, and until 1878 it was part of Bengal Pro ...

). He studied at the Jāmiʿah Saʿdiyyah Raidhar and Jāmiʿah Islāmiyyah Imambari

madrasa Madrasa (, also , ; Arabic: مدرسة , pl. , ) is the Arabic word for any type of educational institution, secular or religious (of any religion), whether for elementary instruction or higher learning. The word is variously transliterated '' ...

s, before setting out to

Hindustan ''Hindūstān'' ( , from '' Hindū'' and ''-stān''), also sometimes spelt as Hindōstān ( ''Indo-land''), along with its shortened form ''Hind'' (), is the Persian-language name for the Indian subcontinent that later became commonly used by ...

where he enrolled at the

Darul Uloom Deoband The Darul Uloom Deoband is an Islamic seminary (darul uloom) in India at which the Sunni Deobandi Islamic movement began. It is located in Deoband, a town in Saharanpur district, Uttar Pradesh. The seminary was established by Muhammad Qasim ...

seminary. He studied in Deoband for six years, graduating from the faculty of

Hadith studies Hadith studies ( ar, علم الحديث ''ʻilm al-ḥadīth'' "science of hadith", also science of hadith, or science of hadith criticism or hadith criticism) consists of several religious scholarly disciplines used by Muslim scholars in th ...

. Among his teachers there were

Hussain Ahmed Madani Hussain Ahmad Madani (6 October 1879 – 5 December 1957) was an Indian Islamic scholar, serving as the principal of Darul Uloom Deoband. He was among the first recipients of the civilian honour of Padma Bhushan in 1954.

, Ibrahim Baliyavi, Syed Fakhrul Hasan and Merajul Haq. He pledged

bay'ah ''Bayʿah'' ( ar, بَيْعَة, "Pledge of allegiance"), in Islamic terminology, is an oath of allegiance to a leader. It is known to have been practiced by the Islamic prophet Muhammad. ''Bayʿah'' is sometimes taken under a written pact ...

to Madani and was authorised with ''

khilafat A caliphate or khilāfah ( ar, خِلَافَة, ) is an institution or public office under the leadership of an Islamic steward with the title of caliph (; ar, خَلِيفَة , ), a person considered a political-religious successor to th ...

'' (spiritual succession) in 1957.

Career

He returned to Bengal after completing his studies, and spent eight years as teacher at Jāmiʿah Islāmiyyah Imambari. He then taught at the Balidhara madrasa in Dinarpur for a year, and then at the Umednagar Title Madrasa in Habiganj and the Jamia Madania of

Bishwanath Bishwanath ( bn, বিশ্বনাথ) is an upazila of Sylhet District in the Division of Sylhet, Bangladesh. History One of the palaces of Gour Govinda, the last Hindu ruler of Sylhet, was situated in present-day Bishwanath. Its ruins ar ...

, teaching at both for two years respectively. He was then appointed as the principal of the Jāmiʿah Madaniyyah Nabiganj, and he took on this role for four years. In 1989, he returned to the Imambari madrasa, and served as its principal and '' Shaykh al-Hadith'' (Professor of Hadith studies) until 2010. He then served as the ''Shaykh al-Hadith'' of Hossainia Madrasa for a year. In 2012, Imambari became the ''Shaykh al-Hadith'' of Jamia Darul Qur'an in

Sylhet Sylhet ( bn, সিলেট) is a metropolitan city in northeastern Bangladesh. It is the administrative seat of the Sylhet Division. Located on the north bank of the Surma River at the eastern tip of Bengal, Sylhet has a subtropical climate an ...

for the rest of his life.

Political career

Imambari was aligned with the

Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam ( ur, جمیعت علماءِ اسلام, abbreviated as JUI) was founded by Shabbir Ahmad Usmani as an offshoot of the Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind (JUH) on 26 October 1945. History The original Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind was formed in Bri ...

, having been a member of its student wing Jamiat Tulaba-e-Arabia from an early age. He became the acting president, and later president, of the Jamiat's Habiganj District branch. On 24 June 2000, he was elected as the patron of

. After the death of

Ashraf Ali Bishwanathi Ashraf Ali Bishwanathi (1928–2005) was a Bangladeshi Deobandi Islamic scholar, educator, politician and religious writer. He was called "Baba-e Jamiat" in order to lay the foundation of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Bangladesh in East Pakistan and prese ...

in 2005, a joint conference was held on 4 September between the Jamiat's working council and ''

shura Shura ( ar, شُورَىٰ, translit=shūrā, lit=consultation) can for example take the form of a council or a referendum. The Quran encourages Muslims to decide their affairs in consultation with each other. Shura is mentioned as a praisewort ...

'' in which Imambari was elected as the president of the nationwide political party. In 2017, he inaugurated a rally on the road from

Teknaf Teknaf ( bn, টেকনাফ ''Ṭeknaf'') is an upazila of Cox's Bazar District in the Division of Chittagong, Bangladesh. It forms the southernmost point in mainland Bangladesh (St. Martin's Island is the southernmost point). The name of the ...

in solidarity with the

Rohingyas The Rohingya people () are a stateless Indo-Aryan ethnic group who predominantly follow Islam and reside in Rakhine State, Myanmar (previously known as Burma). Before the Rohingya genocide in 2017, when over 740,000 fled to Bangladesh, an ...

who had escaped

Myanmar Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John C. Wells, Joh ...

as a result of religious persecution. The rallies were supported by the Bangladeshi parliamentarian

Shahinur Pasha Chowdhury Shahinur Pasha Chowdhury ( bn, শাহীনুর পাশা চৌধুরী; born 1985) is a Bangladeshi politician and a former Jatiya Sangsad member representing the Sunamganj-3 constituency during 2005–2006. He was elected a membe ...

Death and legacy

Imambari died on 8 April 2020.

Muhiuddin Khan Muhiuddin Khan ( bn, মুহিউদ্দিন খান; 1935–2016) was an Islamic scholar from Bangladesh and editor of ''Monthly Madina''. Khan was also a Quranic commentator, journalist, poet, writer and translator. He translated for t ...

was his disciple, and Ubaydullah Faruq pledged ''

'' to him during his lifetime, eventually becoming his ''

khalifah Khalifa or Khalifah (Arabic: خليفة) is a name or title which means "successor", "ruler" or "leader". It most commonly refers to the leader of a Caliphate, but is also used as a title among various Islamic religious groups and others. Khalif ...

'' (spiritual successor). His son, Emdadullah, is a Mawlana. A

dua In Islam, ( ar, دعاء , plural: ' ) is a prayer of invocation, supplication or request, even asking help or assistance from God. Role in Islam Muslims regard this as a profound act of worship. Muhammad is reported to have said ...

ceremony was held at the Jamia Madania madrasa of

dedicated to Imambari on 27 September 2020, organised by Shibbir Ahmad Bishwanathi and Hasan bin Fahim.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Imambari, Abdul Momin Deobandis 1930 births 2020 deaths People from Nabiganj Upazila Darul Uloom Deoband alumni 20th-century Muslim scholars of Islam 20th-century Muslim theologians 20th-century Bengalis 21st-century Muslim scholars of Islam 21st-century Muslim theologians 21st-century Bengalis Bangladeshi Sunni Muslim scholars of Islam Bengali Muslim scholars of Islam Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Bangladesh politicians Disciples of Hussain Ahmad Madani