Shah Nuri Bengali

Shāh Nūrī Bengālī ( bn, শাহ নূরী বাঙ্গালী, fa, ; died 1785), also known as Shāh Bahāʾ ad-Dīn, was an 18th-century Bengali Islamic scholar and author from Dhaka. He is best known for his magnum opus, ''Kibrīt-e-Aḥmar'', which was written in the Persian language.

Early life and education

Nuri was born into a Bengali Muslim family from the village of Babupura in Dhaka, the capital of Mughal Bengal. The 20th-century Bangladeshi historian Syed Muhammed Taifoor describes the family to have been "very old and learned citizens of Dhaka". Both his father, Shaykh Abdullah Mujaddidi and grandfather Mawlana Shaykh Ghulam Muhammad Mujaddidi, were ''saliks'' at the Khanqah of Babupura and taught the Islamic sciences at the Babupura madrasa. As his grandfather was a ''murid'' (disciple) of the Punjabi scholar Ahmad Sirhindi, they belonged to the Mujaddidiyah suborder of the Naqshbandi Sufi order. Other than his father, among his grandather's renowned disciples were Shaykh Abdullah Jahangirnagari and Shaykh Lutfullah Meherpuri who were teachers at the Lalbagh Mridha Madrasa. His sister, Mariam Saleha, constructed the historic Mariam Saleha Mosque of Babupara in 1706.

He was educated in the city's madrasa, which was founded by Bengal's governor Shaista Khan in Pathartali Katra, four miles away from Maghbazar. After that, he enrolled at the Furqaniyyah Dar al-Ulum Madrasa in Motijhil, Murshidabad, which was founded by Nawazish Muhammad Khan. Following his studies in Motijhil, he became a ''murid'' (disciple) of Baghu Dewan. During his education he studied books such as ''Mashariq al-Anwar `ala Sahih al-Athar'', a book on Hadith by Qadi Iyad, and ''Sharh Matali`'', a book on logic by Qutb ad-Din al-Razi.

Career

In 1775, he wrote a book titled ''Kibrīt-e-Aḥmar'' (Red Sulphur) in the Persian language. However, Saghir Hasan al-Masumi argues that it was written in 1763. The book was focused on ''tasawwuf'', but also contained biographies of contemporary Sufis, such as a list of the ''murids'' of the Babupura Khanqah.

Nuri returned to Dhaka in 1779, where he set up a new ''khanqah'' in Maghbazar. He spent his life disseminating Islamic values to his followers at the khanqah. Many of the Naib Nazims of Dhaka and the later Nawabs of Dhaka were disciples of Shah Nuri and his descendants. In particular, Shah Nuri was the pir and murshid of Naib Nazim Jasarat Khan.

Death and legacy

Nuri died in 1785 and was buried in Maghbazar, Dhaka. The historian Taifoor was of the opinion that he died in 1774, although this is inconsistent with the date of completion of Nuri's book. He had four sons, all of whom died in their childhood except the fourth; Abul Wafa Shah Muhammadi (d. 1835), who succeeded him as the Gaddi nasheen of Maghbazar Khanqah. His sons were buried next to him in a mazar (mausoleum). Khwaja Abdullah of the Nawab family requested to be buried next to Nuri, and is now buried towards his right.

During this period, such books would be copied by hand rather than printing. One manuscript of Nuri's book was hand-written by Sadruddin Ahmad of Mahuttuli. This is now preserved at the Hakim Habibur Rahman Collection of the Dhaka University Library. A girl's school in Dhaka has been named after him as Shahnuri Model Girls High School in Shahshab Bari Road.

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bengali, Shah Nuri
Bengali Muslim scholars of Islam
People from Dhaka
18th-century Bengalis
18th-century Muslim theologians
1785 deaths
Hanafis