Fakhr al-Islām ʿAbd al-Ḥamīd ibn Rustam ʿAlī al-Madārshāhī (Arabic: فخر الإسلام عبد الحميد بن رستم علي المدارشاهي; 1869–31 March 1920), commonly known as Abdul Hamid Madarshahi (Bengali: আব্দুল হামিদ মাদার্শাহী) or simply Abdul Hamid,[2] was a Bengali Islamic scholar, author and educationist.[3] He was one of the pioneers of introducing the Deobandi movement in Bengal and is noted for being one of the founding fathers of Al-Jamiatul Ahlia Darul Ulum Moinul Islam in Hathazari.[4][5]
Early life and education
Sheikh Abdul Hamid was born in 1869 to the Bengali Muslim aristocratic Sheikh family of the village of North Madarsha in Hathazari, Chittagong District, Bengal Presidency, they are a landed clan. His parents were Sheikh Rustam Ali Munshi and Begum Suajan. He traces his lineage to Sheikh Muhammad bin Hafeez, an Arab Muslim missionary who had arrived at the Port of Chittagong centuries prior, initially settling in the Jahanabad mahalla of Sitakunda where he established himself as a local zamindar (landowner). As the result of a local epidemic, Hafeez's descendant Sheikh Murad migrated to the village of Baroauliya, and Murad's descendant Sheikh Shamsher Ali Taluqdar settled in his maternal home in Madarsha, Hathazari.[6]
Madarshahi's early education began at his home and later at the local maktab, where he gained religious education and learnt the Qur'an. He then joined the local primary school until class five, later enrolling at the Mohsinia Madrasa in Chittagong city. It is said that he topped the class exams every year at the Mohsinia Madrasa.[7] He completed books such as the Mishkat al-Masabih in this madrasa.[1]
During his time at the Mohsinia Madrasa, Madarshahi was familiarised with Abdul Wahid Bengali and became greatly influenced by him, eventually co-operating in his reformation movement. He participated in various religious seminars and debate conferences, and started to become known as a debater. Thereafter, he was bestowed the title of Fakhr al-Islām (Glory of Islam) and Munāẓir-e-Islām (Debater of Islam).[1] From very early on, he founded a small maktab in Khandaqia where he provided religious education to children, as well as the elderly. Madarshahi also played an important role in establishing maktabs in other areas.[11]
^ abcdal-Kumillai, Muhammad Hifzur Rahman (2018). "الشيخ الفاضل العلامة الكبير مجاهد الملّة مولانا عبد الحميد بن الشيخ رستم علي المدَارْشَاهي الجاتجامي" [The honourable Shaykh, the great Allama, striver of the nation, Mawlānā ʻAbd al-Ḥamīd, son of the Shaykh Rustam ʿAlī al-Madārshāhī al-Jātjāmī]. كتاب البدور المضية في تراجم الحنفية (in Arabic). Cairo, Egypt: Dar al-Salih.
^Aminul Islam, S. M.; Islam, Samar (January 2014). বাংলার শত আলেমের জীবনকথা [Biographies of hundreds of Bengal's scholars]. Bangla Bazar, Dhaka: Baighar. pp. 47–52. ISBN9847016800481.((cite book)): CS1 maint: ignored ISBN errors (link)
^Qasimi, Mazharul Islam Uthman (2015). বিখ্যাত ১০০ ওলামা-মশায়েখের ছাত্রজীবন [The student life of 100 renowned scholars and theologians] (in Bengali) (3rd ed.). BAD Comprint and Publications. pp. 66–67.
^Jahangir, Salahuddin (2017). বাংলার বরেণ্য আলেম [Elite scholars of Bengal] (in Bengali). Vol. 1 (1 ed.). Middle Badda, Adarsha Nagar, Dhaka: Maktabatul Azhar. pp. 87–94.
^ abNizampuri, Ashraf Ali (2013). The Hundred (Bangla Mayer Eksho Kritishontan) (1st ed.). Salman Publishers. pp. 55–56. ISBN978-112009250-2.
^Kabir, Humayun (December 2009). "Replicating the Deobandi model of Islamic schooling: the case of a Quomi madrasa in a district town of Bangladesh". Contemporary South Asia. 17 (4): 415–428. doi:10.1080/09584930903275884. S2CID145197781.
^"NBR Reports"(PDF). With its impeccable Deobandi credentials, Hathazari madrasa ranks among the top ten madrasas in the subcontinent in terms of its academic standards and reputation.
