islamic history

Maulana Syed Abul Hasan 'Ali Nadwi

Maulana Syed Abul Hasan 'Ali Nadwi, one of the most prolific writers and original thinkers of our time, author of well over fifty books in various languages, and an undisputed and scholar of rare distinction, passed into the mercy of Allah in Ramadan 23rd, 1420/31st December 1999. Perhaps the demise of such an illustrious sun of Islam on the eve of the new western millennium spells a message to the Muslim world that they will have to plough through the coming century without the guidance of such erudite leaders who were regarded as authorities in the past. This is enough to shake us from our slumber. Indeed, as the hour approaches, the men of eminence will dwindle into extinction. As the poet, rejoicing in his past heritage, says: "These were our predecessors, so O Jarir, produce their likes when you gather."


Early life and education
Maulana Nadwi was born on the 5th December 1913 in a family which had a long tradition of selfless service to Islam like Syed Ahmad Shahid. His father, Shaikh Hakim Abdul Hai, was also such a scholar, who amongst other writings, produced an eight volume encyclopedic biographical work entitled Nuzhatul Khawatir, containing biographical notices of some 5000 scholars, theologians, and jurists of India. Maulana Nadwi received his early education at home, and later joined the Nadwatul 'Ulama where he qualified with distinction. He specialized in Hadith under the tutelage of Maulana Husain Ahmad Madani and Tafsir under Maulana Ahmad 'Ali Lahori. The renowned Indian Sufi, Shaikh 'Abdul Qadir Raipur, honored him with the mantle of Khilafat.

Maulana Nadwi started his academic career as a teacher of Arabic literature and Qur'anic exegesis, but later expanded to include history, Hadith, and other disciplines too.

Works and thought
It is said that the worth of a person is sometimes only realized after the vacuum he leaves is perceived after his demise. Whilst this may be not the case with the older generation of Muslim scholars, the upcoming generation will surely realize the worth of Maulana's works and thinking and use it as a bastion and revolving point of their thoughts. In his lifetime, Maulana, who was fondly known as 'Ali Mia, won the acclaim of not only the Indian race, but the Arabs took a special appeal to his writings. This was mainly because he selected Arabic more than Urdu, his vernacular, as his main vehicle of disseminating his thought, writing, and lectures. He ranked from the foremost of scholars in the Islamic world, and rightly deserved the position.

Maulana was invited to deliver various topics in the Hijaz in various Islamic disciplines. His book: "Islamic Concept of Prophethood,” derives from such a lecture tour in 1963. The intellectual elite of the time attended these lectures. Every lecture was introduced by the then Dean of the faculty of Education - 'Atiya Muhammad Salim, and concluded by an applaud and comment by the now late Shaikh 'Abdul 'Aziz bin Baz. In this book, Maulana, avoiding the usual scholastic euphemism and doctrinal subtleties, proved that the material and spiritual prosperity of any order hinged upon their concept of following divine guidance; and amongst other things, through text and rational evidence, the finality of Prophethood. Incidentally, a few years thereafter, the Pakistani government was confronted with the idea of pronouncing the Ahmadi minority population as infidels. At this stage, Maulana provided vital motivation in explaining as to why a sect who claim to believe in Allah and other requisites of Islam, be expelled from it's pale by rejecting the finality of the Prophet of Muhammad (Sallallahu 'Alaihi Wa Sallam). In another brief but incisive exposition called: 'Religion and Civilisation,' Maulana, after explaining the various basis of civilisation - materialistic, intellectual, philosophical, and mystic - proved how these were inadequate to meet the needs of mankind. A further more charismatic basis is needed, and this is prophethood.

Maulana's appreciation was only limited to his country. The English-speaking and French-speaking world also realized his worth. This prompted Maulana to undertake many journeys in Western countries in order to assess the situation whence he delivered many learned speeches to the lay class and academic class alike. Fortunately, some of his speeches have been preserved in publications like 'Speaking Plainly to the West,' and 'Western Civilization: Islam and Muslims,' the latter which brings the reader to grips with a fresh all-engulfing civilization along with the conflicts of the spiritual East and the materialistic West. As a word of advice on page 13 of this book, Maulana said: "Whenever an Islamic country has tried to seek protection from the onslaught of modern civilization by keeping itself to itself and shunning even the really valuable advantages offered by the West, as for instance, in the field of modern sciences and technological inventions, it has invariably proved to be of no avail." Discussing the various issues in his usual inimitable and thought-provoking style, Maulana would introduce fresh themes and interesting research which made his discussions more informative and dynamic, besides merely presenting a clear-cut view on any issue. His eloquent exposition of intricate concepts made the comprehension of Islam intelligible to western-educated people who, not unoften, find it difficult to follow the metaphysical issues explained in a religious frame of reference.

Of the book, 'Islam and the World,' Sayyid Qutb rightly remarked: "If by reading this book, the Muslim is filled with shame and contrition for his criminal neglect and carelessness, he also becomes acutely aware of the tremendous potentialities that have been given to him, and begins to feel an overpowering desire to regain the world leadership he lost through his own neglect and lack of appreciation of it's quality." Whilst commenting on Maulana's methodology, Qutb further commented that although Maulana spoke of the general depravity of the Muslims (which came about as a lack of leadership), he always attributed it to the prevalence of ignorance and lack of a clear understanding of Islam. In materiality terms, this is unacceptable; but in Islamic terms, the world today endures the ignorance that is found in every phase of history, and unless one adopts the conviction that Islam alone can save humanity from degradation, all is lost. The book had been written with no pre-conditions or influence of ideology and environment, philosophy or religions prejudices - a trait which western historians tend to adhere to, thus shedding their accounts of human value and rendering it prone to many travesties and aberrations.

Although Maulana was well versed in many fields of Islam, his greatest contribution was to the history and cultural studies of Islam. It pained him to note that at a time when the western revolutionaries were adulated in academic circles, claims were being made that Islam never produced, besides it's Prophet, men who revived Islam on a global scale. In order to fill this void, he compiled his 'Saviours of Islamic Spirit' (trans. Mohiuddin Ahmad) in four volumes which seemingly deals with separate individuals, but every one of them was portrayed as a reviver and restorer of Islam on a global scale in a particular aspect. Maryam Jameelah reported that this was his magnum opus, whilst Impact International commented then that this book dispelled the misconceived notion that the attempt for the renovation and rejuvenation of the Islamic faith lacked in coherence and continuity.

Institutional positions and affiliations
Maulana was a founder member of the Muslim World League (Rabita), a member of the Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC), a member of the World Supreme Council of Mosques, and a member of the Fiqh Council of Rabita. He was also a member of Advisory Council of the Islamic University of Madinah al-Munawwarah, a member of its Supreme Council, and a member of the Academy of Arts and Letters of Damascus, Syria. He was also a founder member of the League of the Islamic Literature in India.

This was in addition to his participation in many other activities through Islamic organizations and institutions such as the World Assembly of Muslim Youth (WAMY). In India, he was the founder member and first rector of Nadwatul Ulama, and president of the Academy of Islamic Research and Publications. He was highly respected by 'Ulama and political leaders alike, and in 1980, he was awarded the prestigious King Faizel Award for serving Islam. He was also awarded the Sultan Hassan Bolkhaih International Prize and an 'Islamic Scholarship' plaque by Oxford university in 1999.

May Allah rest his soul in eternal peace - Ameen.


quoted from: Khalid Dhorat, 19/01/2007

posted by Ikhsan_Albanjari @ 8:26 AM