Muḥammadullāh ibn Idrīs ibn Akram ad-Dīn al-Miyānjī (Arabic: محمد الله بن إدريس بن أكرم الدين الميانجي;[1] 1895 – 6 May 1987), commonly known as Hafezzī Huzūr (Arabic: حافظجي حضور, Bengali: হাফেজ্জী হুজুর), was a Bangladeshi politician, Islamic leader and founder of the Bangladesh Khilafat Andolan.[2][3] He was the first religious figure to stand for the highest state office in Bangladesh.[4]
Muhammadullah studied at Fatehpur Primary School before proceeding to Chandraganj Madrasa where he studied for a year. He then studied for a year at Nawab Faizunnesa's madrasa in Laksam, and then enrolling at the Khilbais Madrasa in Lakshmipur. In Panipat, first under Qari Abdus Salam in 1913 and then under Qari Akhlaq Husayn in 1915, he completed his hifz. Muhammadullah completed the seven qira'at under Qari Abdul Alim ibn Qari Abdur Rahman Panipati.[5] He then moved on to study at Mazahir Uloom in Saharanpur from 1915 to 1922, where he completed Kutub al-Sittah. He gained a high-class certificate from Darul Uloom Deoband in 1923.[6]
Career
His entrance to politics started with the founding of the Nizam-e-Islam Party in 1952. In 1978, the President of BangladeshZiaur Rahman removed the ban on religion-based political parties in the country. In response, Hafezzi Huzur sent the President an open letter, requesting him to base the country's administration upon Islamic ideals.[7] Following the assassination of Ziaur Rahman, Hafezzi Huzur stood up as an independent presidential candidate in the 1981 elections. He finished third, gaining 1.79% of the total votes.[3]
In response to military rule, Hafezzi Huzur formed a committee, the Sammilita Sangram Parishad (Combined Action Committee), consisting of 11 Islamic parties.[10] He stood for the 1986 elections, in which he finished second with 5.69% of total votes.[11]
Muhammadullah died on 7 May 1987. His janazah was performed at the National Eidgah in Dhaka.[13]
In his honour, the erstwhile Mayor of DhakaMohammad Hanif renamed Phoenix Road (near Gulistan) to Mawlana Muhammadullah Hafezzi Huzur Road. This change was undone on 21 February 2017 by the Dhaka South City Corporation.[14] This action was a part of a campaign to rename places named after anti-independence individuals, suggested by the Bangladesh High Court.[15] Eyewitness accounts on the other hand, suggest that Hafezzi Huzur expressed support for the Bangladesh Liberation War referring to the Pakistan Army as oppressors.[16] Mawlana Imdadul Haq Araihazari also states that his involvement as a Bengali freedom fighter is due to Hafezzi Huzur's expression of support.[17][18]
References
^ abal-Kumillai, Muhammad Hifzur Rahman (2018). "الشيخ الفاضل محمد الله بن إدريس النواخالوي البنغلاديشي المعروف بحافظجي حضور" [The honourable Shaykh, Muhammadullah, son of Idrees, al-Nawakhalawi, of Bangladesh, famed as Hafezzi Huzur]. كتاب البدور المضية في تراجم الحنفية (in Arabic). Cairo, Egypt: Dar al-Salih.
^Islam, Syed Serajul (February 1987). "Bangladesh in 1986: Entering a New Phase". Asian Survey. 27 (2): 168. doi:10.2307/2644611. JSTOR2644611.
^ abAhamed, Emajuddin; D. R. J. A. Nazneen (August 1990). "Islam in Bangladesh: Revivalism or Power Politics?". Asian Survey. 30 (8): 802. doi:10.2307/2644499. JSTOR2644499.
^Islam, Muhammad Nazrul; Islam, Muhammad Saidul (20 March 2020). "Islam, Islamism, and democracy in Bangladesh". Islam and Democracy in South Asia: The Case of Bangladesh. Springer Publishing. p. 273.
^Azmi, Nur Muhammad. "2.2 বঙ্গে এলমে হাদীছ" [2.2 Knowledge of Hadith in Bengal]. হাদীছের তত্ত্ব ও ইতিহাস [Information and history of Hadith] (in Bengali). Emdadia Library. p. 31.
^Kabir, Humayun (2015). "Beyond Jamaat-e-Islami: The Political Rise of the Deobandis, the Mystic Leaders, and Islamism in Bangladesh". In Mattson, Ingrid; Tahir, Nawaz; Nesbitt-Larking, Paul (eds.). Religion and Representation: Islam and Democracy. Cambridge Scholars Publishing. p. 63. ISBN978-1-4438-7059-7.
^Riaz, Ali; Rahman, Mohammad Sajjadur (29 January 2016). Routledge Handbook of Contemporary Bangladesh. Taylor & Francis.
^Lyon, Peter; Manor, James, eds. (1983). Transfer and transformation: political institutions in the New Commonwealth. Essays in honour of W. H. Morris-Jones. Leicester University Press. p. 134.
^Kabir, Humayun (2015). "Beyond Jamaat-e-Islami: The Political Rise of the Deobandis, the Mystic Leaders, and Islamism in Bangladesh". In Mattson, Ingrid; Tahir, Nawaz; Nesbitt-Larking, Paul (eds.). Religion and Representation: Islam and Democracy. Cambridge Scholars Publishing. p. 64. ISBN978-1-4438-7059-7.
