Sayyid Mumtaz Ali Deobandi (27 September 1860 – 15 June 1935) was an
Indian
Indian or Indians may refer to:
Peoples South Asia
* Indian people, people of Indian nationality, or people who have an Indian ancestor
** Non-resident Indian, a citizen of India who has temporarily emigrated to another country
* South Asia ...
Sunni Muslim scholar and an advocate of women rights in the late nineteenth century. He was an alumnus of Darul Uloom Deoband. His book ''Huquq-e-Niswan'' and the journal '' Tehzeeb-e-Niswan'' that he started with his wife Muhammadi Begum are said to be pioneering works on women rights.
Biography
Sayyid Mumtaz Ali was born on 27 September 1860 in Deoband,
British India
The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...
. He was a fellow and contemporary of
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 ...
Lahore
Lahore ( ; pnb, ; ur, ) is the second most populous city in Pakistan after Karachi and 26th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 13 million. It is the capital of the province of Punjab where it is the largest city ...
and established a publishing house "Darul Isha'at". On 1 July 1898, he released a journal ''Tehzeeb-e-Niswan'' under the editorship of his wife Muhammadi Begum. This journal later discontinued in 1949. In 1898, he started a publishing house called " Rifah-e-Aam Press" in Lahore which is said to the first press in Lahore whose owner was a Muslim. In 1905, he started a journal, called, ''Mushīr-e-Mādar'' (Advisor to the mother), and then the children's journal ''Phūl'' (Flower) in 1909, and laid the foundation of children's literature in
Urdu
Urdu (;"Urdu" ''
Mumtaz Ali was honoured with title of "Shams-ul-Ulama" by the
Government of British India
A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state.
In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is a ...
American historian, Gail Minault argues in her article "Sayyid Mumtaz Ali and 'Huquq un-Niswan': An Advocate of Women's Rights in Islam in the Late Nineteenth Century" that, Mumtaz Ali's "''Huquq-e-Niswan'' was undoubtedly too far in advance of its times. Given the current debate about the importance of Muslim personal reform, however, it is well to remember this early champion of women rights in the shar'iat." Commending Mumtaz Ali's work, ''Tafṣīl al-bayān fī maqāṣid al-Qurʼān'', former
Grand Mufti of Jerusalem
The Grand Mufti of Jerusalem is the Sunni Muslim cleric in charge of Jerusalem's Islamic holy places, including the Al-Aqsa Mosque. The position was created by the British military government led by Ronald Storrs in 1918.See Islamic Leadershi ...
,
Amin al-Husseini
Mohammed Amin al-Husseini ( ar, محمد أمين الحسيني 1897
– 4 July 1974) was a Palestinian Arab nationalist and Muslim leader in Mandatory Palestine.
Al-Husseini was the scion of the al-Husayni family of Jerusalemite Arab notab ...
, comments that "such book does not exist even in the Arab world".This 6 volume work of Mumtaz Ali on the Quran also received praise from scholarly figures including
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 ...
,
Abul Kalam Azad
Abul Kalam Ghulam Muhiyuddin Ahmed bin Khairuddin Al-Hussaini Azad (; 11 November 1888 – 22 February 1958) was an Indian independence activist, Islamic theologian, writer and a senior leader of the Indian National Congress. Following In ...
and
Syed Sulaiman Nadwi
Syed Sulaiman Nadvi (—; 22 November 1884 – 22 November 1953) was a Pakistani historian, writer and scholar of Islam. He co-authored ''Sirat-un-Nabi'' and wrote ''Khutbat-e-Madras''.
Javed Anand
Javed Anand (born ca. 1950) is an Indian journalist and civil rights activist who founded the Mumbai-based Sabrang Communications in 1993. He is married to Teesta Setalvad and they co-edit the monthly ''Communalism Combat''.
Early years
Javed ...