Ahmed Ali Enayetpuri ( bn, আহমদ আলী এনায়েতপুরী) was a

Bengali Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to: *something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia * Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region * Bengali language, the language they speak ** Bengali alphabet, the w ...

writer, journalist, and politician.

Early life and education

Ahmed Ali was born on 21 January 1898, to a Bengali Muslim family in the village of

Enayetpur Enayetpur is a town in Sirajganj District, Rajshahi Division, Bangladesh. Enayetpur lies near the banks of the river Jamuna, about northwest of Dhaka, near the Jamuna Bridge. Description Enayetpur is famous for an Islamic saint named Shah Suf ...

Jessore District Jessore District (Bengali: যশোর, pronounced Jaw-shore, Anglicised: Jessore), officially spelled Jashore District from April 2018, is a district in the southwestern region of Bangladesh. It is bordered by India to the west, Khulna Distr ...

Bengal Presidency The Bengal Presidency, officially the Presidency of Fort William and later Bengal Province, was a subdivision of the British Empire in India. At the height of its territorial jurisdiction, it covered large parts of what is now South Asia and ...

. The family had Iraqi ancestry. His father, Shah Abed Ali (d. 1956), was a Mawlana and his mother's name was Sayeda Khatun. He studied at the Shajiali Lower Primary School under Pandit Dvijabar Charkabarti and others. After that he enrolled at the Jessore District School, studying until class 8. His father realised Ali's lack of interest and enrolled him at the Calcutta Alia Madrasa instead. In Calcutta, Ali completed

Islamic studies Islamic studies refers to the academic study of Islam, and generally to academic multidisciplinary "studies" programs—programs similar to others that focus on the history, texts and theologies of other religious traditions, such as Easter ...

and learnt

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic languages, Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C ...

under Mawlana Gul Muhammad Khan and Mawlana Bashir Ahmad. However, instead of completing his studies at the

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 '' ...

, Ali came under the influence of Mohammad Abu Bakr Siddique, the inaugural Pir of

Furfura Sharif Furfura Sharif (also known as Phurphura, Furfura Darbar Sharif) is a village in Jangipara community development block of Srirampore subdivision in Hooghly District in the state of West Bengal, India. It is a holy place for some Bengali Muslims. ...

. Siddique taught him Islamic theology,

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

and

Urdu Urdu (;"Urdu"
''

Enayetpuri later self-learned English too and was conferred the title of ''Shamsul Ulama''. Not long after his studies, his ''pir'' instructed him to give public speeches, calling towards Islam.

Career

Enayetpuri founded Sariat (also spelled Sariyat), a monthly magazine, in 1924 and became its editor. He renamed the newspaper Sariat-i-Islam. It was the sole

Hanafi The Hanafi school ( ar, حَنَفِية, translit=Ḥanafiyah; also called Hanafite in English), Hanafism, or the Hanafi fiqh, is the oldest and one of the four traditional major Sunni schools ( maddhab) of Islamic Law (Fiqh). It is named aft ...

publication in Kolkata. It was dogmatic. He served as the editor of the Sariat-i-Islam for 32 years. In 1934, the

British Raj The British Raj (; from Hindi ''rāj'': kingdom, realm, state, or empire) was the rule of the British Crown on the Indian subcontinent; * * it is also called Crown rule in India, * * * * or Direct rule in India, * Quote: "Mill, who was himsel ...

awarded him the title of Khan Sahib. He served as a member of the Jessore District Board. In 1937 he was elected to the Bengal Legislative Assembly from

Jhenaidah Jhenaidah ( bn, ঝিনাইদহ) is a city in the Khulna Division of south-western Bangladesh. Jhenaidah is the headquarters of Jhenaidah Sadar Upazila and Jhenaidah District. The city has a population of about 252 thousand, making it the ...

constituency as a candidate of the

All India Muslim League The All-India Muslim League (AIML) was a political party established in Dhaka in 1906 when a group of prominent Muslim politicians met the Viceroy of British India, Lord Minto, with the goal of securing Muslim interests on the Indian subcontin ...

. In the assembly he introduced a bill to make primary education free. He was awarded the title of

Khan Bahadur Khan Bahadur – a compound of khan ('leader') and bahadur ('brave') – was a formal title of respect and honor, which was conferred exclusively on Muslim and other non-Hindu natives of British India. It was one degree higher than the title of K ...

in 1938.

Death

Enayetpuri died on 4 January 1959 in Enayetpur, Jessore District,

East Bengal ur, , common_name = East Bengal , status = Province of the Dominion of Pakistan , p1 = Bengal Presidency , flag_p1 = Flag of British Bengal.svg , s1 = East ...

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Enayetpuri, Ahmed Ali 1898 births 1959 deaths Bengali Muslim scholars of Islam People from Jessore District Politicians from Khulna Division Bengali politicians Bengali writers Pakistani writers 20th-century Bengalis Bengal MLAs 1937–1945