Shah Oliur Rahman ( bn, শাহ ওলিউর রহমান, fa, ; 1916 — 2006) 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, writer, politician and female education activist.

Early life and education

Oliur Rahman was born in 1916 to a Bengali Muslim family in the village of Batiail in

Kanaighat Kanaighat ( bn, কানাইঘাট) is an upazila of Sylhet Division of Bangladesh. It is the second-largest upazila (sub-district) of Sylhet District after Gowainghat Upazila. It is named after the town of Kanaighat, which is also the only ...

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 was the son of

Ibrahim Ali Tashna Shāh Muḥammad Ibrāhīm ʿAlī ( bn, শাহ মোহাম্মদ ইবরাহীম আলী; 1872 – 11 September 1931) was a Bengali Islamic scholar, poet and activist of the Khilafat Movement. He wrote poetry in the Bengali, Ur ...

, an Islamic scholar, and Asiya Khatun. His paternal grandfather, Mawlana Mufti Shah Abdur Rahman Qadri was descended from Shah Taqiuddin, a 14th-century Sufi missionary and companion of Shah Jalal.

Sylheter Dak ''The Daily Sylheter Dak'' ( bn, সিলেটের ডাক) popularly known as the ''Sylheter Dak'', is a local daily newspaper in Bangladesh, published from Sylhet in the Bengali language. The ''Sylheter Dak'' was founded on 18 July 1984. T ...

, 16 January 2009, page 8 His education began at the Umarganj Primary School, and then at Imdadul Uloom Umarganj madrasa established by his father. In 1937, he completed his ''fazil'' certification from Gachhbari Jamiul Uloom Kamil Madrasa. The following year, he migrated to the

Rampur State Rampur State was a 15 gun-salute princely state of British India. It came into existence on 7 October 1774 as a result of a treaty with Oudh. Following independence in 1947, Rampur State and other princely states of the area, such as Bena ...

where he enrolled at the Rampur Alia Madrasa, completing Hadith studies under Mawlana Abdul Khalil and

Quranic exegesis Tafsir ( ar, تفسير, tafsīr ) refers to exegesis, usually of the Quran. An author of a ''tafsir'' is a ' ( ar, مُفسّر; plural: ar, مفسّرون, mufassirūn). A Quranic ''tafsir'' attempts to provide elucidation, explanation, in ...

under Ahmed Ali Lahori.

Career

From 1956, Oliur Rahman dedicated his life to teaching and spent the rest of his life as the principal of Imdadul Uloom Umarganj madrasa. He played an important role in strengthening the foundation of Maktab education. In 1968, he founded and directed a Nadiyatul Quran Board training camp; the first of its kind in

. He also organised a weekly women's ''ijtema'' (Islamic conference) in the same year. He established ''Madrasatul Banat'', one of the first women's madrasa in Sylhet, in 1981.Women For Muslim Education Guide,

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 ...

, T.B. It provided education to women regarding '' tajwid'', further Islamic studies,

Bengali literature Bengali literature ( bn, বাংলা সাহিত্য, Bangla Sahityô) denotes the body of writings in the Bengali language and which covers Old Bengali, Middle- Bengali and Modern Bengali with the changes through the passage of time ...

, mathematics, dictation, morals and handicraft. In 1972, he started the first women's ''jalsa'' (Islamic gathering) in Bangladesh. Oliur Rahman wrote several books relating to female education including ''Islahun Neswan'', ''Taharatun Neswan'', ''Talimun Neswan'', ''Haq Prachar'', ''Islah'', ''Hedayater Dawatnama''and ''Muslim Mahila Shikkha''.

Political career

Prior to the

independence of Pakistan The Pakistan Movement ( ur, , translit=Teḥrīk-e-Pākistān) was a political movement in the first half of the 20th century that aimed for the creation of Pakistan from the Muslim-majority areas of British India. It was connected to the per ...

, Oliur Rahman was associated with the All-India Muslim League. After independence, he joined the Nizam-e-Islam Party at the call of his '' murshid'' Athar Ali. He also founded two organisations of his own in 1979; Anjuman-e-Islah al-Muslimeen and Ittehad-ul-Ulama.

Personal life

Oliur Rahman first gave bay'ah to Nisar Ali, but after his death, he pledged allegiance to Athar Ali, a student and

khalifa 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. Khalifa ...

(spiritual successor) of

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 ...

until the latter's death in 1976. He then pledged allegiance to Muhammadullah Hafezzi.Muslim Jahan (in Bengali), 4 February 2009

Death

Oliur Rahman died on Friday 20 January 2006 at 10:30pm.

References