Sir Abdullah al-Mamun Suhrawardy (31 May 1877 – 13 January 1935) was a Bengali

Islamic scholar In Islam, the ''ulama'' ( ; also spelled ''ulema''; ; singular ; feminine singular , plural ) are scholars of Islamic doctrine and law. They are considered the guardians, transmitters, and interpreters of religious knowledge in Islam. "Ulama ...

barrister A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdiction (area), jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include arguing cases in courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, jurisprud ...

, and academic. He was the Tagore Law Lecturer in 1911 and involved in notable educational work. Abdullah was the first Indian to attain a PhD degree in English from

Calcutta University The University of Calcutta, informally known as Calcutta University (), is a Public university, public State university (India), state university located in Kolkata, Calcutta (Kolkata), West Bengal, India. It has 151 affiliated undergraduate c ...

Early life and education

Suhrawardy was the eldest son of

Ubaidullah Al Ubaidi Suhrawardy Ubaidullah Al Ubaidi Suhrawardy (, ; 1832 – 9 February 1885) was a Bengali Islamic scholar, educationist and writer from Midnapore. He is regarded as the Father of modern Islamic education in Bengal and was awarded with the title of ''Bahr ul ...

and was born at his Dhaka Madrasah residence in 1877. His younger brother was Lt. Col. Dr. Hassan Suhrawardy. Since primary school, he was a brilliant student, winning a number of stipends and scholarships throughout his school and college career. He graduated with honours in Arabic, English and Philosophy in 1898, obtaining a first class in his special subjects and standing the first of his year both in the B.A. and M.A. examinations of

. He was also the first to obtain a PhD degree from

in 1908. While studying for the Bar, he achieved an M.A. degree from the London University and used to add to his slender allowance from India by lecturing on Arabic letters and jurisprudence, subjects to which he contributed in his later writings and teachings much of value and freshness.

Career

Deeply impressed by his contact with the Muslims of the Near East, he founded and was the first secretary of the Pan-Islamic Society of London. He took some part in the expression of Indian Muslim opinion on the

Morley–Minto Reforms The Indian Councils Act 1909 (9 Edw. 7. c. 4), commonly known as the Morley–Minto or Minto–Morley Reforms, was an Act of Parliament (United Kingdom), act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that brought about a limited increase in the i ...

. On returning to Calcutta to practice at the Bar, he was elected to the reformed Bengal Legislative Council. While the

Montagu–Chelmsford Reforms The Montagu–Chelmsford Reforms or more concisely the Mont–Ford Reforms, were introduced by the colonial government to introduce self-governing institutions gradually in British India. The reforms take their name from Edwin Montagu, the Sec ...

were being formulated, Suhrawardy was selected to be a member of the Reforms Franchise Committee that toured India under the chairmanship of Lord Southborough. He continued to serve on the enlarged Bengal Legislature and was deputy president from 1923 to 1926. He was then elected to the Indian Legislative Assembly of which he continued to be a member till his death in 1935. He founded therein the Central Muslim Party and the All-India Muslim Legislators Association (formed on the suggestion of

Aga Khan III Sir Sultan Muhammad Shah (2 November 187711 July 1957), known as Aga Khan III, was the 48th Imamate in Nizari doctrine, imam of the Nizari Isma'ili, Ism'aili branch of Shia Islam. He was one of the founders and the first permanent president of ...

) and was its joint-secretary from 1920 to 1926. He was for many years secretary of the Indian Muslim Association of Bengal and in 1920 succeeded Sir

Muhammad Shafi Muhammad Shafi (24 January 1897 – 6 October 1976), often referred to as Mufti Muhammad Shafi, was a Pakistani Sunni Islamic scholar of the Deobandi school, a Hanafi jurist and mufti, he was also an authority on shari'ah, hadith, Qur'anic ...

as secretary of the All-India Muslim Association. He also took part in the work of the National Liberal Federation until in 1924 his Islamic zeal led to his acceptance of the presidency of the Khilafat Committee, Calcutta. Suhrawardy never countenanced civil disobedience or boycott of government and held firmly to the principles of corporate communal expression with which he had been identified. Hence he accepted the nomination of Government, as a member of the Legislative Assembly, to the Indian Central Committee which in 1928-9 cooperated with the

Simon Commission The Indian Statutory Commission, also known as the Simon Commission, was a group of seven members of the British Parliament under the chairmanship of John Simon. The commission arrived in the Indian subcontinent in 1928 to study constitutional ...

. He took strong exception to what he regarded as the arbitrary conduct of the proceedings by the chairman, Sir C. Sankaran Nair. A Supplementary Note that he handed in for publication did not appear in the Report, but was officially published (with the omission of some "purple patches" reflecting on the chairman) a few months later. Publication of ''The Sayings of Muhammad'' in 1905 prompted the start of correspondence between al-Suhrawardy and Count Lev Tolstoj, which continued until the latter's death. According to one of Tolstoy's daughters (information from the preface to the reprint edition of the ''Sayings'') a copy of the ''Sayings'' was found in one of the pockets of the overcoat he was wearing when he died.

Writings and academia

Suhrawardy's major works include ''Sayings of Muhammad'' (1905 with a reprint in 1938), ''First Steps in Muslim Jurisprudence'' (1906) and ''Outlines of the Historical Development of Muslim Law''. He also took a share in local self-government activities in the Tollygunge municipality and the Midnapore district board from 1920 till 1923. Suhrawardy was knighted in 1931. Suhrawardy was also regularly contributed to magazines like Nabanoor and The Kohinoor.

Private life

Suhrawardy was married to Sahebzadi Ahmedi Begum, a daughter of Sahebzada Mirza Mohamed Ali Nakey. Mirza Mohamed Ali was an elected member of

Bengal Legislative Council The Bengal Legislative Council ( was the legislative council of Bengal Presidency. It was the legislature of the Bengal Presidency during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. After reforms were adopted in 1937, it served as the upper house of ...

from the constituency of 24-Pargana Municipal South appointed in June 1921.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Suhrawardy, Abdullah Al-Mamun 1877 births 1935 deaths Bengali lawyers 20th-century Muslim theologians Suhrawardy family University of Calcutta alumni Indian Knights Bachelor 19th-century Indian Muslims Lawyers awarded knighthoods Members of the Central Legislative Assembly of India Bengali Muslims 19th-century Bengalis 20th-century Bengalis Scholars from Kolkata Bengali knights