Qazi Mu'tasim Billah Bahar ( bn, কাজী মুতাসিম বিল্লাহ বাহার; 15 June 1933 – 15 July 2013) was a
Bangladeshi Islamic scholar
In Islam, the ''ulama'' (; ar, علماء ', singular ', "scholar", literally "the learned ones", also spelled ''ulema''; feminine: ''alimah'' ingularand ''aalimath'' lural are the guardians, transmitters, and interpreters of religious ...
, teacher, author and politician. He was the principal of
Jamia Shar'iyya Malibagh for over four decades, a former professor at the
University of Dhaka
The University of Dhaka (also known as Dhaka University, or DU) is a public research university located in Dhaka, Bangladesh. It is the oldest university in Bangladesh. The university opened its doors to students on July 1st 1921. Currently i ...
and the founding principal of
Jamia Islamia Darul Uloom Madania in
Jatrabari, Dhaka. He has written many books and articles in the
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 o ...
and pioneered the introduction of a Bengali-medium among the
Qawmi madrasa
Qawmi Madrasah ( bn, কওমী মাদ্রাসা, ar, المدرسة القومية, al-Madrasah al-Qawmiyyah) is an adjective describing one of the two major madrasah educational categories in Bangladesh. The Qawmi madrasahs are not ...
s of Bangladesh.
Early life and family
Qazi Mu'tasim Billah Bahar was born on 15 June 1933, to a
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 ...
family of
Qadi
A qāḍī ( ar, قاضي, Qāḍī; otherwise transliterated as qazi, cadi, kadi, or kazi) is the magistrate or judge of a '' sharīʿa'' court, who also exercises extrajudicial functions such as mediation, guardianship over orphans and mino ...
s in the village of Gopalpur in
Kaliganj,
Jhenaidah subdivision, which was then a part of the
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 ...
's
Jessore District. Other sources claim that he was born in the village of Zamzampur in
Jessore Sadar.
His father, Qazi Sakhawat Husayn, was an
Islamic scholar
In Islam, the ''ulama'' (; ar, علماء ', singular ', "scholar", literally "the learned ones", also spelled ''ulema''; feminine: ''alimah'' ingularand ''aalimath'' lural are the guardians, transmitters, and interpreters of religious ...
and politician, and his mother's name was Qurratun Nesa. His grandfather, Qazi Abdul Wadud, and great-grandfather, Qazi Rawshan Ali, were also prominent
Sufis
Sufism ( ar, ''aṣ-ṣūfiyya''), also known as Tasawwuf ( ''at-taṣawwuf''), is a mystic body of religious practice, found mainly within Sunni Islam but also within Shia Islam, which is characterized by a focus on Islamic spirituality, r ...
in the greater Jessore region.
Education
Mu'tasim Billah's education began under his parents, and then at the Gopalpur primary school. He studied there until class 2, when he moved to his maternal home where he studied until class 4. After that, Mu'tasim Billah became a student at his father's workplace, the Lauri-Ramnagar Alia Madrasa in
Manirampur
Manirampur is a census town in Chanditala I CD Block in Srirampore subdivision of Hooghly district in the state of West Bengal, India.
Geography
Location
Manirampur is located at:
Gangadharpur, Manirampur, Masat, Jangalpara, Dudhkalmi, ...
where he completed his ''Fazil'' qualification. In 1953, he set off for
Hindustan
''Hindūstān'' ( , from '' Hindū'' and ''-stān''), also sometimes spelt as Hindōstān ( ''Indo-land''), along with its shortened form ''Hind'' (), is the Persian-language name for the Indian subcontinent that later became commonly used by ...
after
Ramadan to study at the
Darul Uloom Deoband seminary in
Saharanpur
Saharanpur is a city and a municipal corporation in Uttar Pradesh, India. It is also the administrative headquarters of Saharanpur district.
Saharanpur city's name was given after the Saint Shah Haroon Chishti.
Saharanpur is declared as on ...
, where he enrolled at the Faculty of Arts. In 1956, he enrolled at the Faculty of
Hadith studies
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 ...
and gained a
sanad from
Hussain Ahmed Madani
Hussain Ahmad Madani (6 October 1879 – 5 December 1957) was an Indian Islamic scholar, serving as the principal of Darul Uloom Deoband. He was among the first recipients of the civilian honour of Padma Bhushan in 1954. . Among his teachers in Deoband were Hussain Ahmed Madani, Ibrahim Baliyavi,
Izaz Ali Amrohi
Izaz Ali Amrohi ( ur, ; November 1882 – 1955) was an Indian Islamic scholar who served as the second and ninth Grand Mufti of the Darul Uloom Deoband. His book ''Nafahtul Arab'' is taught in madrassas including the Darul Uloom Deoband.
Biogr ...
and
Muhammad Tayyib Qasmi
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 ...
, Bashir Ahmad Khan and Jalil Ahmad Kairanvi. In Bangladesh, he studied under
Tajammul Ali, Qamaruddin Silhati and
Ashraf Ali Dharmanduli
Sharīf ( ar, شريف, 'noble', 'highborn'), also spelled shareef or sherif, feminine sharīfa (), plural ashrāf (), shurafāʾ (), or (in the Maghreb) shurfāʾ, is a title used to designate a person descended, or claiming to be descended, fr ...
.
[
]
Teaching career
Mu'tasim Billah returned to Bengal in 1957 after graduating, and began his career as a teacher at the Lauri-Ramnagar Alia Madrasa. In 1959, he joined the Bara Katara Madrasa in Dhaka
Dhaka ( or ; bn, ঢাকা, Ḍhākā, ), formerly known as Dacca, is the capital and largest city of Bangladesh, as well as the world's largest Bengali-speaking city. It is the eighth largest and sixth most densely populated city i ...
, and subsequently the Jamia Imdadia in Kishoreganj
Kishoreganj is a city and the headquarters of Kishoreganj District
Kishoreganj ( bn, কিশোরগঞ্জ) is a district in Dhaka Division, Bangladesh. Earlier it was a Mohkuma (মহকুমা) under the Mymensingh district. It ...
in 1962. He was appointed as the '' Shaykh al-Hadith'' (Professor of Hadith studies) of the Katlasen Alia Madrasa in Mymensingh
Mymensingh ( bn, ময়মনসিংহ) is the capital of Mymensingh Division, Bangladesh. Located on the bank of Brahmaputra River, about north of the national capital Dhaka, it is a major financial center and educational hub of north- ...
towards the end of 1966. Mu'tasim Billah established his own 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 '' ...
, the Jamia Islamia Darul Uloom Madania in 1969 at the suggestion of Abdullah Darkhawasti. From its establishment, he served as its principal and ''Shaykh al-Hadith'' for eight years. He then returned to Katlasen Alia Madrasa in 1977. He also served as a teacher at the Jamia Hussainia Arzabad madrasa in Mirpur for one year in 1979. The following year, Mu'tasim Billah was appointed as the principal of Jamia Shar'iyya Malibagh. During his time in Malibagh, he was also a professor at the University of Dhaka
The University of Dhaka (also known as Dhaka University, or DU) is a public research university located in Dhaka, Bangladesh. It is the oldest university in Bangladesh. The university opened its doors to students on July 1st 1921. Currently i ...
's department of Islamic Studies where he covered ''Sahih Muslim
Sahih Muslim ( ar, صحيح مسلم, translit=Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim), group=note is a 9th-century ''hadith'' collection and a book of '' sunnah'' compiled by the Persian scholar Muslim ibn al-Ḥajjāj (815–875). It is one of the most valued b ...
''. He resigned after one and half years as a result of violations of religious precepts in teaching authority. Towards the start of 1992, he was a teacher at the Daratana Madrasa in Jessore, and the principal and ''Shaykh al-Hadith'' of Jamia Islamia Tantibazar in 1994. He returned to his two positions at Malibagh in 1997, and served there for the rest of his life.[
He also travelled across the country often to give public speeches. Among his famous speeches is the one-hour Mizan Maydan speech in Feni and his six-hour ]Seerah
Al-Sīra al-Nabawiyya (), commonly shortened to Sīrah and translated as prophetic biography, are the traditional Muslim biographies of Muhammad from which, in addition to the Quran and Hadiths, most historical information about his life and th ...
speech in Bhaluka, Mymensingh
Mymensingh ( bn, ময়মনসিংহ) is the capital of Mymensingh Division, Bangladesh. Located on the bank of Brahmaputra River, about north of the national capital Dhaka, it is a major financial center and educational hub of north- ...
.[
]
Literary contributions
Mu'tasim Billah is credited for popularising the use of the native 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 o ...
within the Islamic education system of Bangladesh
Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...
. Immediately returning form Deoband in 1957, he formulated a Bengali-medium system for Qawmi madrasa
Qawmi Madrasah ( bn, কওমী মাদ্রাসা, ar, المدرسة القومية, al-Madrasah al-Qawmiyyah) is an adjective describing one of the two major madrasah educational categories in Bangladesh. The Qawmi madrasahs are not ...
s in erstwhile East Pakistan
East Pakistan was a Pakistani province established in 1955 by the One Unit Policy, renaming the province as such from East Bengal, which, in modern times, is split between India and Bangladesh. Its land borders were with India and Myanmar, wi ...
. Mu'tasim Billah was known to have studied the works of many Bengali authors such as Qazi Nazrul Islam and Farrukh Ahmad, and initiated a culture of Bengali newspapers, annual magazines and literary conferences within the madrasa ecosystem. He inspired a generation of writers among Bangladeshi scholars. Although he was criticized in the contemporary era for changing the traditional method, later the practice of his thought spread throughout the madrasa ecosystem. He was the first to shape the curriculum of the Qawmi madrasas in such a manner. Among his other activities was the exclusion of the elementary prose literature book "''al-Ḳalyūbī''" from the syllabus and the inclusion of the Qasas an-Nabiyyin in the syllabus.
He was known to have memorised hundreds of poems in Bengali, 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 ...
, and 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 ...
. Many of his works pertaining to tafsir
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 ...
and hadith
Ḥadīth ( or ; ar, حديث, , , , , , , literally "talk" or "discourse") or Athar ( ar, أثر, , literally "remnant"/"effect") refers to what the majority of Muslims believe to be a record of the words, actions, and the silent approva ...
have been published by the Islamic Foundation Bangladesh
Islamic Foundation Bangladesh ( bn, ইসলামিক ফাউন্ডেশন বাংলাদেশ) is a government organization under the '' Ministry of Religious Affairs'' in Bangladesh working to disseminate values and ideals of Is ...
as well as annotated translations of the Qur'an
The Quran (, ; Standard 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 from God. It is organized in 114 chapters (pl.: , s ...
and the Kutub al-Sittah
The ''Kutub al-Sittah'' ( ar-at, ٱلْكُتُب ٱلسِّتَّة, al-Kutub as-Sittah, lit=the six books) are six (originally five) books containing collections of ''hadith'' (sayings or acts of the Islamic prophet Muhammad) compiled by six ...
. Mu'tasim Billah was also a member of the Islami Bishwakosh's editorial board. Although most of his works are in Bengali, he also wrote in the Arabic and Urdu languages. In his final year the Urdu-medium Darul Uloom Deoband, he competed in an annual writing competition where he wrote a research paper titled "Mawjuda Aalmi Kashmakash Aur Us Ka Hal". Six of his works have been published, with three remaining unpublished in Bengali, Urdu and Arabic respectively.[
Mu'tasim Billah was a long-time member of the ]Islamic Foundation Bangladesh
Islamic Foundation Bangladesh ( bn, ইসলামিক ফাউন্ডেশন বাংলাদেশ) is a government organization under the '' Ministry of Religious Affairs'' in Bangladesh working to disseminate values and ideals of Is ...
's editorial board, having edited 42 of the Foundation's books and reviewed 51 books. Among his written works are:
#ইসলামের দৃষ্টিতে জন্ম নিয়ন্ত্রণ (Islamer Drishtite Jonmo Niyontron)
#বৈচিত্র্যের মাঝে ঐক্যের সুর (Boichtrer Majhe Oikker Shur, two volumes)
#জমিয়ত পরিচিতি (Jamiat Parichiti)
# Kitab al-Adab (Bengali translation)
# Tanwir al-Mishkat (Bengali translation with annotations)
# Hedaya (Bengali translation of Kitab al-Athar volume 4)
#মসজিদের মর্মবাণী (Masjider Mormobani, Bengali translation)
#রদ্দে মওদুদিয়্যাত (Radd-e-Mawdudiyyat, unpublished refutation)
#বৈচিত্র্যের মাঝে ঐক্যের সুর (Boichtrer Majhe Oikker Shur, remaining volumes)
Political career
Mu'tasim Billah was never associated with politics in his student life, although his family were actively connected with the Jamiat Ulema-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 F ...
and 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 E ...
. His father would take him to Jamiat conferences advocating against partition
Partition may refer to:
Computing Hardware
* Disk partitioning, the division of a hard disk drive
* Memory partition, a subdivision of a computer's memory, usually for use by a single job
Software
* Partition (database), the division of a ...
, and his paternal and maternal grandfathers were also Jamiat members. His ''murshid
''Murshid'' ( ar, مرشد) is Arabic for "guide" or "teacher", derived from the root ''r-sh-d'', with the basic meaning of having integrity, being sensible, mature. Particularly in Sufism it refers to a spiritual guide. The term is frequently use ...
'' Hussain Ahmed Madani
Hussain Ahmad Madani (6 October 1879 – 5 December 1957) was an Indian Islamic scholar, serving as the principal of Darul Uloom Deoband. He was among the first recipients of the civilian honour of Padma Bhushan in 1954. was the President of the party. After the independence of Pakisan, Mu'tasim Billah became a member of the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam
Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam ( ur, جمیعت علماءِ اسلام, abbreviated as JUI) was founded by Shabbir Ahmad Usmani as an offshoot of the Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind (JUH) on 26 October 1945.
History
The original Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind was formed in Br ...
's central committee and constitution formulation subcommittee. During the Bangladesh Liberation War, he played an active role for the welfare of Bengalis and declared the deceased freedom fighters as martyrs
A martyr (, ''mártys'', "witness", or , ''marturia'', stem , ''martyr-'') is someone who suffers persecution and death for advocating, renouncing, or refusing to renounce or advocate, a religious belief or other cause as demanded by an external ...
and harassed women as '' mazluma''. Following independence, he publicly opposed the politics of Syed Nazrul Islam
Syed Nazrul Islam ( bn, সৈয়দ নজরুল ইসলাম, Soiyod Nozrul Islam; 1925 – 3 November 1975) was a Bangladeshi politician and a senior leader of the Awami League. During the Bangladesh Liberation War, he was declared a ...
and Tajuddin Ahmad
Tajuddin Ahmad ( bn, তাজউদ্দীন আহমদ; ; 23 July 1925 – 3 November 1975) was a Bangladeshi politician and statesman. He led the Provisional Government of Bangladesh as its prime minister during the Bangladesh Liberat ...
. He met with President Sheikh Mujibur Rahman
Sheikh Mujibur Rahman ( bn, শেখ মুজিবুর রহমান; 17 March 1920 – 15 August 1975), often shortened as Sheikh Mujib or Mujib and widely known as Bangabandhu (meaning ''Friend of Bengal''), was a Bengali politi ...
alongside Asad Madni and Abdur Rashid Tarkabagish
Khandakar Abdur Rashid ( bn, খন্দকার আব্দুর রশীদ), better known as Abdur Rashid Tarkabagish ( bn, আব্দুর রশীদ তর্কবাগীশ; 27 November 1900 – 20 August 1986) was a Bangladesh ...
, and Madni requested that the president allows the re-opening of madrasas in Bangladesh, explaining that the Muslim world
The terms Muslim world and Islamic world commonly refer to the Islamic community, which is also known as the Ummah. This consists of all those who adhere to the religious beliefs and laws of Islam or to societies in which Islam is practiced. I ...
is not having positive opinions about him. Mu'tasim Billah then consoled the president stating that the general scholars of Bangladesh were free from anti-independent movements and that they should not be harassed. Sheikh Mujibur Rahman promised Mu'tasim Billah that he will take his request on board.[
]
Personal life
After completing his studies in Deoband, Mu'tasim Billah 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 gi ...
to Hussain Ahmed Madani
Hussain Ahmad Madani (6 October 1879 – 5 December 1957) was an Indian Islamic scholar, serving as the principal of Darul Uloom Deoband. He was among the first recipients of the civilian honour of Padma Bhushan in 1954. in 1957. Despite being a 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 a ...
, Madani used to refer to Mu'tasim Billah as a " Mujtahid of the fourteenth century A. H.". Madani died on 5 December of that year and he then returned to Bengal two to three months later. In Bengal, he became a ''murid
In Sufism, a ''murīd'' (Arabic مُرِيد 'one who seeks') is a novice committed to spiritual enlightenment by ''sulūk'' (traversing a path) under a spiritual guide, who may take the title murshid, '' pir'' or ''shaykh''. A ''sālik'' or Su ...
'' of Tajammul Ali, who later granted him khilafat
A caliphate or khilāfah ( ar, خِلَافَة, ) is an institution or public office under the leadership of an Islamic steward with the title of caliph (; ar, خَلِيفَة , ), a person considered a political-religious successor to th ...
(spiritual succession).[
On 12 June 1959, Mu'tasim Billah married the daughter of Shah Sufi Haji Abdul Hamid of Collegepara in Magura. They had four sons and one daughter (d. 2011). His eldest son, Qazi Arif Billah is a teacher at the Mahbub Hefzkhana and his second son, Qazi Mahmud, is a mosque and madrasa custodian. His third son, Mawlana Qazi Mansur, is based in ]Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the A ...
and his fourth son, Qazi Maruf, is based in Jessore.[
]
Death and legacy
Mu'tasim Billah died on 15 July 2013. 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 performed in Khilgaon Balur Math by his student Abdur Rahman Hafezji of Mymensingh
Mymensingh ( bn, ময়মনসিংহ) is the capital of Mymensingh Division, Bangladesh. Located on the bank of Brahmaputra River, about north of the national capital Dhaka, it is a major financial center and educational hub of north- ...
at noon. After the prayer, he was buried at the Shahjahanpur Graveyard in Dhaka
Dhaka ( or ; bn, ঢাকা, Ḍhākā, ), formerly known as Dacca, is the capital and largest city of Bangladesh, as well as the world's largest Bengali-speaking city. It is the eighth largest and sixth most densely populated city i ...
. In 2017, the Jamia Shariyyah Malibagh madrasa published a book in memory of his life and contributions.
See also
*Abul Hasan Jashori
Abul Hasan Jashori ( bn, আবুল হাসান যশোরী; 1918 – 8 July 1993) was a Bangladeshi Islamic scholar, politician, author, teacher and freedom fighter. He was the founding principal and Shaykh al-Hadith of the Jamia Ezaz ...
* Muhammad Wakkas
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mutasim Billah, Qazi
Deobandis
1933 births
2013 deaths
People from Jhenaidah District
Darul Uloom Deoband alumni
20th-century Muslim scholars of Islam
20th-century Muslim theologians
20th-century Bengalis
21st-century Muslim scholars of Islam
21st-century Muslim theologians
21st-century Bengalis
Academic staff of the University of Dhaka
Bangladeshi Sunni Muslim scholars of Islam
Bengali Muslim scholars of Islam
Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam politicians
Disciples of Hussain Ahmad Madani
Bengali-language writers
Bengali writers