Hifzur Rahman Seoharwi (1900 – 2 August 1962) was an Indian Sunni Islamic scholar and an activist of the

Indian independence movement The Indian independence movement was a series of historic events with the ultimate aim of ending British Raj, British rule in India. It lasted from 1857 to 1947. The first nationalistic revolutionary movement for Indian independence emerged ...

, who served as the fourth general secretary of the

Jamiat Ulama-e-Hind Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind or Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind () is one of the leading organizations of Islamic scholars belonging to the Deobandi school of thought in India. It was founded in November 1919 by a group of Muslim scholars including Abdul Bari Fi ...

. He fought against British rule for 25 years (1922-1947) and spent eight years in jail. As a politician, he opposed the partition of India, and served as a member of the Indian Parliament for the

Indian National Congress The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party but often simply the Congress, is a political party in India with widespread roots. Founded in 1885, it was the first modern nationalist movement to emerge in the British Em ...

from

Amroha (Lok Sabha constituency) Amroha Lok Sabha constituency is one of the 80 Lok Sabha (parliamentary) constituencies in Uttar Pradesh. Assembly segments At present Amroha Loksabha Constituency consists of following Assembly Constituencies : Members of Parliament El ...

from 1952 to 1962.

Biography

Hifzur Rahman Seoharwi was born in 1900 (1318 AH) in a

Zamindar A zamindar ( Hindustani: Devanagari: , ; Persian: , ) in the Indian subcontinent was an autonomous or semiautonomous ruler of a province. The term itself came into use during the reign of Mughals and later the British had begun using it as a ...

family in

Seohara Seohara is a town and a municipal board situated between Sahaspur and Dhampur in Bijnor district in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. Geography Seohara is located at . It has an average elevation of 211 metres (692 feet). Seohara ...

, a city and municipal board in the

Bijnor district Bijnor district is one of the 75 districts in the state of Uttar Pradesh in India. Bijnor city is the district headquarters. The government of Uttar Pradesh seeks it to be included in National Capital Region (NCR) due to its close proximity to ...

of the Indian state of

Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh (; , 'Northern Province') is a state in northern India. With over 200 million inhabitants, it is the most populated state in India as well as the most populous country subdivision in the world. It was established in 1950 ...

. His father Haaji Shamsuddin was an assistant engineer in Bhopal state and then in Bikaner state. Seoharwi was initially home-schooled and later enrolled in

Madrasa Shahi Madrassa Shahi (alternatively known as Jamia Qasmia) is an Islamic seminary in Moradabad, Uttar Pradesh. It was established in 1879 by the poor Muslims of Moradabad under the supervision of Islamic scholar, Muhammad Qasim Nanautawi, who also est ...

Moradabad Moradabad () is a city, commissionary and municipal corporation in Moradabad district of Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. Moradabad is situated on the banks of the Ramganga river, at a distance of from the national capital, New Delhi and 344 ...

. He graduated in the traditional

Dars-e-Nizami Dars-i Nizami is a study curriculum or system used in many Islamic institutions (madrassas) and Dar Ul Ulooms, which originated in the Indian subcontinent in the 18th century and can now also be found in parts of South Africa, Canada, the United S ...

from the Madrasa Faiz-e-Aam in

. He studied there under Abdul Ghafoor Seoharwi, Ahmad Chishti and Sayyid Aftab Ali. Later in 1922, he moved to

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 ...

and specialized in ahadith under

Anwar Shah Kashmiri Anwar Shah Kashmiri (known with honorifics as ''Sayyid Muḥammad Anwar Shāh ibn Mu‘aẓẓam Shāh al-Kashmīrī''; 16 November 1875 – 28 May 1933) was a Kashmiri Muslim scholar and jurist who served as the first principal of Madrasa Ami ...

and graduated in 1923 (1342 AH). In 1938, Seoharwi co-founded the

Nadwatul Musannifeen Nadwatul Musannifeen ( en, Council of Writers) was an academic research institution and publishing house in Delhi. The institution was co-founded by scholars including Atiqur Rahman Usmani, Hamid al-Ansari Ghazi, Hifzur Rahman Seoharwi and Saeed ...

along with

Atiqur Rahman Usmani Atīqur Rahmān Usmānī (1901 – 12 May 1984) was an Indian Muslim scholar and an activist of Indian independence movement who co-founded Nadwatul Musannifeen and the All India Muslim Majlis-e-Mushawarat. Usmānī was an alumnus of the Darul ...

Hamid al-Ansari Ghazi Hāmid al-Ansāri Ghāzi (1909 – 16 October 1992) was an Indian Muslim scholar, author and a journalist, who co-founded the Nadwatul Musannifeen and served as the editor of bi-weekly newspaper Madina. He was the son of Muhammad Mian Mansoor Ans ...

and

Saeed Ahmad Akbarabadi Saeed Ahmad Akbarabadi (1908 – 24 May 1985) was an Indian Islamic scholar and an Urdu-language author who co-founded the Nadwatul Musannifeen. He served as the Dean of the Faculty of Theology in Aligarh Muslim University. Akbarabadi was an a ...

. He was appointed the general secretary of the

in 1942 after Abdul Haleem Siddiqi. Seoharwi died of cancer on 2 August 1962. His funeral prayer was led by

Qari Muhammad Tayyib Muhammad Tayyib Qasmi (known as Qari Muhammad Tayyib) was an Indian Sunni Islamic scholar who served as Vice Chancellor of Darul Uloom Deoband for more than half a century. He was grandson of Muhammad Qasim Nanautavi, the founder of the Darul ...

, the Principal of

. Tributes came from Indian Prime Minister

Jawaharlal Nehru Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru (; ; ; 14 November 1889 – 27 May 1964) was an Indian anti-colonial nationalist, secular humanist, social democrat— * * * * and author who was a central figure in India during the middle of the 20t ...

, ministers, and dozens of other members of the Indian Parliament. His funeral prayer was witnessed by a crowd of two hundred thousand people. His resting place is located in Munhadiyan,

New Delhi New Delhi (, , ''Naī Dillī'') is the capital of India and a part of the National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, Parliament House ...

where

Shah Waliullah Dehlawi Quṭb-ud-Dīn Aḥmad Walīullāh Ibn ʿAbd-ur-Raḥīm Ibn Wajīh-ud-Dīn Ibn Muʿaẓẓam Ibn Manṣūr Al-ʿUmarī Ad-Dehlawī ( ar, ‎; 1703–1762), commonly known as Shāh Walīullāh Dehlawī (also Shah Wali Allah), was an Islamic ...

is also buried. Hifzur Rahman Academy in Jeddah was established in his memory.

Literary works

Seoharwi‘s books include: *''Akhlaq aur Falsafa-e-Akhlaq'' * ''Azadi: Bunyadi Insani Haq'' *''Balagh-e-Mubeen'' *''Hukumat Ka Deeni Tasawwur'' *''Fard aur Ijtima'iyat'' *''Islam ka iqtesadi Nizam'' *''Qasas al-Quran'' * ''Qur'ani Usool-e-Ma'ashiyaat'' *''Rasul-e-Karim'' * ''Seerat-e-Nabwi ki Zarurat wa Ahmiyyat'' * ''Waqt ki Qadr-o-Qeemat''

References

Bibliography

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Seoharwi, Hifzur Rahman 1900 births 1962 deaths Darul Uloom Deoband alumni Deobandis Founders of Indian schools and colleges Indian independence activists Indian Islamic religious leaders Indian Sunni Muslim scholars of Islam Madrasa Shahi alumni Maturidis Nadwatul Musannifeen Students of Anwar Shah Kashmiri Uttar Pradesh politicians Burials at Mehdiyan People from Bijnor district