Syed Ehtisham Ahmed Nadvi (also known as S. E. A. Nadvi) is a scholar of the

Arabic language 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

Islamic studies Islamic studies refers to the academic study of Islam, and generally to academic multidisciplinary "studies" programs—programs similar to others that focus on the history, texts and theologies of other religious traditions, such as Easter ...

, specialising in Arabic

literary criticism Literary criticism (or literary studies) is the study, evaluation, and interpretation of literature. Modern literary criticism is often influenced by literary theory, which is the philosophical discussion of literature's goals and methods. Th ...

. He is the winner of the 1992 President's Award for Literature, and the author of books on Arabic, Urdu and

Persian literature Persian literature ( fa, ادبیات فارسی, Adabiyâte fârsi, ) comprises oral compositions and written texts in the Persian language and is one of the world's oldest literatures. It spans over two-and-a-half millennia. Its sources h ...

, including course books taught in

Indian universities The higher education system in India includes both private and public universities. Public universities are supported by the Government of India and the state governments, while private universities are mostly supported by various bodies and ...

Early life and education

Syed Ehtisham Ahmed Nadvi was born in the village of Makhdoompur in Amethi,

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 ...

, India, into a well known family of

Indian Muslim Islam is India's second-largest religion, with 14.2% of the country's population, approximately 172.2 million people identifying as adherents of Islam in 2011 Census. India is also the country with the second or third largest number of Muslim ...

intelligentsia belonging to the Syed-Qidwai clan. Other members of this clan include Ali Mian. Nadvi graduated from the

Darul-uloom Nadwatul Ulama Darul Uloom Nadwatul Ulama (translated as, House of Knowledge and Assembly of Scholars University) is an Islamic seminary in Lucknow, India. It was established by the Nadwatul Ulama, a council of Muslim scholars, on 26 September 1898. This edu ...

Lucknow Lucknow (, ) is the capital and the largest city of the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh and it is also the second largest urban agglomeration in Uttar Pradesh. Lucknow is the administrative headquarters of the eponymous district and division ...

. He obtained his master's degree in Arabic from the

Aligarh Muslim University Aligarh Muslim University (abbreviated as AMU) is a Public University, public Central University (India), central university in Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh, India, which was originally established by Sir Syed Ahmad Khan as the Muhammadan Anglo-Orie ...

, and subsequently his PhD from the same institution. Nadvi was the Head of the Arabic Department at the

University of Calicut The University of Calicut, also known as Calicut University, is a State ownership, state-run public university headquartered at Tenhipalam in Malappuram district of the state of Kerala, India. Established in 1968, it is the first university to ...

Kerala Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South ...

, and retired in 2000. During his tenure, he supervised the PhD theses of some notable scholars such as Bahauddeen Muhammed Jamaluddeen Nadwi. A ''festschrift'' in his honour appeared in 2003.

References

Living people Indian Islamists Year of birth missing (living people) Darul Uloom Nadwatul Ulama alumni Deobandis {{India-academic-bio-stub