Sharaf ad-Dīn Abū Tawʾamah ( ar, شرف ٱلدِّيْن أبُو تَوْأَمَة, bn, আবু তাওয়ামা) was an Islamic scholar, author and

muhaddith 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 ...

based in

the subcontinent The Indian subcontinent is a physiographical region in Southern Asia. It is situated on the Indian Plate, projecting southwards into the Indian Ocean from the Himalayas. Geopolitically, it includes the countries of Bangladesh, Bhutan, India ...

. He played a large role in disseminating Islam in eastern Bengal, establishing one of the country's first

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. According to A. F. M. Abdur Rahman, in addition to his proficiency in

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

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a 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. E.Watson; Walter ...

, he became well conversant in the local

Old Bengali language Bengali ( ), generally known by its endonym Bangla (, ), is an Indo-Aryan language native to the Bengal region of South Asia. It is the official, national, and most widely spoken language of Bangladesh and the second most widely spoken of ...

of the time.

Life

Abu Tawwama was born into a Sunni Muslim family from Bukhara in modern-day

Uzbekistan Uzbekistan (, ; uz, Ozbekiston, italic=yes / , ; russian: Узбекистан), officially the Republic of Uzbekistan ( uz, Ozbekiston Respublikasi, italic=yes / ; russian: Республика Узбекистан), is a doubly landlocked co ...

, a city located on the Silk Road famed as a centre of scholarship. His brother was Hafiz Zayn ad-Din who he later migrated with across

Greater Khorasan Greater Khorāsān,Dabeersiaghi, Commentary on Safarnâma-e Nâsir Khusraw, 6th Ed. Tehran, Zavvâr: 1375 (Solar Hijri Calendar) 235–236 or Khorāsān ( pal, Xwarāsān; fa, خراسان ), is a historical eastern region in the Iranian Plat ...

to study Islamic theology and the natural sciences. He is said to have married at the age of 45 and had a daughter in Bukhara who locals refer to as Makhdum-e-Jahan. After completing his education to a good level, he decided to move to

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders ...

in circa 1260, where he taught for 10 years with the permission of Sultan

Ghiyas ud din Balban Ghiyas ud din Balban (1216–1287, reigned: 1266–1287) ( ur, ); (Hindi: ग़ियास उद-दीन बलबन); ( IAST: ''Ghiyās ud-Dīn Balban'') was the ninth sultan of the Mamluk dynasty of Delhi. Ghiyas ud Din was the ''reg ...

. In circa 1270, Abu Tawwama and his family were requested by the Sultan to move to the city of

Sonargaon Sonargaon ( bn, সোনারগাঁও; pronounced as ''Show-naar-gaa''; lit. ''Golden Hamlet'') is a historic city in central Bangladesh. It corresponds to the Sonargaon Upazila of Narayanganj District in Dhaka Division. Sonargaon is on ...

in Bengal, where Islam was not properly settled among the populace. Others have theorised that the reason for moving was because the

Sultan of Delhi The following list of Indian monarchs is one of several lists of incumbents. It includes those said to have ruled a portion of the Indian subcontinent, including Sri Lanka. The earliest Indian rulers are known from epigraphical sources fou ...

feared that the scholar's influence was becoming a threat to his dominion and so exiled Abu Tawwama to Sonargaon. Abu Tawwama, Zaynuddin and their family then set off for Bengal, passing through

Maner Sharif Maner also spelled Maner Sharif, is a Block and satellite town in Patna Metropolitan Region. It is part of the Patna district in the Indian state of Bihar. Maner Sharif lies 24 km west of Patna, the capital of Bihar on NH-922. The tow ...

Bihar Bihar (; ) is a state in eastern India. It is the 2nd largest state by population in 2019, 12th largest by area of , and 14th largest by GDP in 2021. Bihar borders Uttar Pradesh to its west, Nepal to the north, the northern part of West ...

where they stayed for 4 years serving alongside Yahya Maneri. Maneri's son, Ahmed Maneri, became a disciple of Abu Tawwama and joined him on the journey to Sonargaon. Having finally reached Sonargaon, Abu Tawwama established a seminary and a

in the city; turning Sonargaon into a notable centre of Islamic education in

. Ahmed Maneri studied here for 22 years as his disciple, and Abu Tawwama later gave his daughter's hand in marriage to him. They had a son called Zaki Maneri. Abu Tawwama wrote a book on spirituality called "''Maqāmat''". The

book on Islamic jurisprudence titled Nām-i-Haq is attributed to either Abu Tawwama or one of his disciples.

Death and legacy

Tawwama died in 1300 and was buried in a small tomb located in Mograpara,

. The madrassah no longer exists though its ruins can be found in the Dargabari area.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tawwama, Abu 1300 deaths Sufi saints Sufi teachers Sufi writers 13th-century Muslim scholars of Islam Hanafis Bengali Sufi saints 13th-century Indian Muslims Sufism in Bangladesh People from Bukhara Year of birth missing People from Sonargaon Upazila