Ḥabībullāh Qurayshī ( bn, হাবিবুল্লাহ কুরাইশি; 1865 – 1943) 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 ...

Islamic scholar and educationist of the

Deobandi Deobandi is a revivalist movement within Sunni Islam, adhering to the Hanafi school of law, formed in the late 19th century around the Darul Uloom Madrassa in Deoband, India, from which the name derives, by Muhammad Qasim Nanautavi, R ...

movement. He was the founding director-general of

Al-Jamiatul Ahlia Darul Ulum Moinul Islam Al-Jāmiʿah al-Ahliyyah Dār al-ʿUlūm Muʿīn al-Islām ( ar, الجامعة الأهلية دار العلوم معين الإسلام), popularly known as the Hāṭhazārī Madrasa ( bn, হাটহাজারী মাদ্রাসা) ...

Early life and family

Habibullah Qurayshi was born in 1865, to the

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 ...

Mianji family in Qazipara, Chariya village,

Hathazari Hathazari ( bn, হাটহাজারী) is an upazila of Chattogram District in Chattogram Division, Bangladesh. Geography Hathazari is located at . It has 52,594 households and a total area of 251.28 km2. The main river is Halda River ...

Chittagong District Chittagong District, renamed the Chattogram District, is a district located in the south-eastern region of Bangladesh. It is a part of the Chattogram Division. The port city of Chattogram, which is the second largest city in Bangladesh, is ...

. His father, Matiullah Mianji Qurayshi, was an

alim Alim (''ʿAlīm'' , also anglicized as ''Aleem'') is one of the Names of God in Islam, meaning "''All-knowing one''". It is also used as a personal name, as a short form of Abdul Alim, "''Servant of the All-Knowing''": Given name * Alim ad-Din ...

. The family traced their ancestry to

Marwan ibn al-Hakam Marwan ibn al-Hakam ibn Abi al-As ibn Umayya ( ar, links=no, مروان بن الحكم بن أبي العاص بن أمية, Marwān ibn al-Ḥakam ibn Abī al-ʿĀṣ ibn Umayya), commonly known as MarwanI (623 or 626April/May 685), was the fo ...

, the fourth

Umayyad The Umayyad Caliphate (661–750 CE; , ; ar, ٱلْخِلَافَة ٱلْأُمَوِيَّة, al-Khilāfah al-ʾUmawīyah) was the second of the four major caliphates established after the death of Muhammad. The caliphate was ruled by the ...

caliph and a member of the

Arab The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Western Asia, ...

tribe of

Quraysh The Quraysh ( ar, قُرَيْشٌ) were a grouping of Arab clans that historically inhabited and controlled the city of Mecca and its Kaaba. The Islamic prophet Muhammad was born into the Hashim clan of the tribe. Despite this, many of the Qur ...

. He lost his mother at the age of five, and was the only child of his parents.

Education

Qurayshi first studied the

Quran The Quran (, ; Standard Arabic: , Classical Arabic, Quranic Arabic: , , 'the recitation'), also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation in Islam, revelation from God in Islam, ...

with Imamuddin Mianji and other books with Masiullah. He then enrolled at the Mohsinia Madrasa, which was the only higher Islamic educational institute in

Chittagong Chittagong ( /ˈtʃɪt əˌɡɒŋ/ ''chit-uh-gong''; ctg, চিটাং; bn, চিটাগং), officially Chattogram ( bn, চট্টগ্রাম), is the second-largest city in Bangladesh after Dhaka and third largest city in B ...

at the time. After completing Jamat-e-Duam, he proceeded to study 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 ...

North India North India is a loosely defined region consisting of the northern part of India. The dominant geographical features of North India are the Indo-Gangetic Plain and the Himalayas, which demarcate the region from the Tibetan Plateau and Central ...

. After spending some time there, he joined the Jameul Uloom in

Kanpur Kanpur or Cawnpore ( /kɑːnˈpʊər/ pronunciation (help·info)) is an industrial city in the central-western part of the state of Uttar Pradesh, India. Founded in 1207, Kanpur became one of the most important commercial and military stations o ...

, where he spent 7 years studying under

Ashraf Ali Thanwi Ashraf Ali Thanwi (often referred as Hakim al-Ummat and Mujaddid e Millet; 19 September 1863 – 20 July 1943) was a late-nineteenth and twentieth-century Sunni Islam, Sunni scholar, jurist, thinker, Mujaddid, reformist and the revival of classic ...

. Completing his education thereon, Qurayshi 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 Thanwi who instructed him to return to Bengal and establish a

hujra A mehmaan khana ( Hindustani مہمان خانہ, मेहमान ख़ाना, bn, মেহমান খানা) is a drawing room where guests are entertained in many houses in North India, Bangladesh and Pakistan. Alternative names i ...

near his home for spiritual asceticism. In this state, he spent 2 years.

Mahmud Hasan Deobandi Mahmud Hasan Deobandi (also known as Shaykh al-Hind; 1851–1920) was an Indian Muslim scholar and an activist of the Indian independence movement, who co-founded the Jamia Millia Islamia university and launched the Silk Letter Movement for t ...

and Ishaq Bardhamani were also his teachers.

Career

Having returned to Chittagong, Qurayshi met

Abdul Wahid Bengali ʿAbd al-Wāḥid Bengālī ( bn, আব্দুল ওয়াহেদ বাঙ্গালী; c. 1850—1905) was a 19th-century Muslim theologian, teacher and social reformer. He was one of the initiators of the Deobandi movement into Ben ...

Sufi Azizur Rahman Ṣūfī ʿAzīzur Raḥmān ( bn, সুফি আজিজুর রহমান; 1862—1922) was a Muslim theologian, teacher and reformer. After being influenced by Abdul Wahid Bengali in his student life, he became associated with the sprea ...

and

Abdul Hamid Madarshahi Fakhr al-Islām ʿAbd al-Ḥamīd ibn Rustam ʿAlī al-Madārshāhī ( ar, فخر الإسلام عبد الحميد بن رستم علي المدارشاهي; 1869–31 March 1920), commonly known as Abdul Hamid Madarshahi ( bn, আব্দ� ...

. They discussed the importance of establishing a

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 '' ...

. Subsequently, Qurayshi sent a latter to his pir,

, regarding the plans. With the permission of his teacher, Qurayshi established a small building for teaching purposes (now located just west of the present Chariya Madrasa). With the advice of his colleagues, the madrasa was relocated to a place near the present-day Panka Masjid in Hathazari Bazar. For several reasons, there was a need for another relocation. In 1899, he finally co-founded

along with the three scholars and through the assistance of locals. When the scope of work increased over time, Qurayshi became the madrasa's inaugural director-general as instructed by Thanwi. He served in this position until 1941.

Death

Habibullah Qurayshi died in 1943. His

janaza Funerals and funeral prayers in Islam ( ar, جنازة, Janazah) follow fairly specific rites, though they are subject to regional interpretation and variation in custom. In all cases, however, sharia (Islamic religious law) calls for burial o ...

was led by Said Ahmad Sandwipi. He was then buried next to the grave of Zamiruddin Ahmad, at the Hathazari Madrasa's central cemetery, and is now known as Maqbara-e-Habibi.

References

{{Authority control 20th-century Muslim scholars of Islam Hanafi fiqh scholars Sunni Muslim scholars of Islam Darul Uloom Deoband alumni 1943 deaths 1865 births Deobandis CS1 maint: ignored ISBN errors People from Hathazari Upazila 19th-century Bengalis 20th-century Bengalis Bengali Muslim scholars of Islam Bangladeshi people of Arab descent Founding members of Darul Ulum Hathazari Director general of Darul Uloom Hathazari Disciples of Ashraf Ali Thanwi

Early life and family

Education

Career

Death

See also

References