Muḥammad Waqqāṣ ibn Muḥammad Ismāʿīl al-Jasarī (Arabic: محمد وقاص بن محمد إسماعيل الجسري; 15 January 1952 – 31 March 2021), or simply known as Muhammad Wakkas (Bengali: মুহাম্মদ ওয়াক্কাস), was a Bangladeshi Islamic scholar, teacher, former Member of Parliament and State Minister. He was the founder of Jamia Imdadia Madaninagar Madrasa, the largest madrasa in South Bengal, accommodating roughly 2000 students.[1]
His education began at his local primary school, where he achieved the top position in the final exams. This impressed his mother, who then enrolled him at the Lauri Ramnagar Kamil Madrasa, a noted institution of South Bengal. He memorised the entire Qur'an off by heart in three months and was the highest scorer for the Alim exam of his board in 1967. He studied for his Kamil degree at the Bahadurpur Shariatia Alia Madrasa in Madaripur and was the highest scorer for his exam board for that too, in 1971. In 1972, he completed his Higher Secondary School Certificate at the Manirampur College.[1]
Tajammul Ali, his teacher and also the khalifa of Hussain Ahmed Madani, advised him to study at the Darul Uloom Deoband in North India. He remained in Deoband for four years, topped the exams for Mawquf Alayhi (1973), Takmil-e-Ulum-e-Diniyat (1975) and Ifta (1976), and gained the title of Mufti.[1]
Career
Political career
Wakkas was involved in politics during his time as a student, where his teacher often took him to Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam programmes. Whilst studying for his Kamil degree at Bahadurpur, Wakkas was elected as the vice-president of the Bahadurpur branch of Jamiat-e-Talaba-e-Arabia. After the independence of Bangladesh, he became the Nazim of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Bangladesh's Khulna branch. On Jamiat's decision, Wakkas briefly joined the Bangladesh Khilafat Andolan, founded by Hafezzi Huzur in 1981,[3] but later left it to return to the Jamiat.
In 1982, Wakkas established the Jamia Imdadia Madaninagar Madrasa in Manirampur. 7 years later, he founded a female branch of the madrasa. The faculty of Hadith studies began in 1995, and for females in 2003. In 2009, the institution became the largest madrasa in South Bengal after the opening of its Ifta department.[1] He was a member of Hefazat-e-Islam Bangladesh.[8]
Death and legacy
Wakkas died on 31 March 2021 at a hospital in Dhaka.[1]