Abdus Salam Chatgami (1943 – 8 September 2021) was a

Bangladeshi Bangladeshis ( ) are the citizens and nationals of Bangladesh, a South Asian country centred on the transnational historical region of Bengal along the Bay of Bengal, eponymous bay. Bangladeshi nationality law, Bangladeshi citizenship was fo ...

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 ...

, educator, writer, and researcher. He served as the

Grand Mufti A Grand Mufti (also called Chief Mufti, State Mufti and Supreme Mufti) is a title for the leading Faqīh, Islamic jurist of a country, typically Sunni, who may oversee other muftis. Not all countries with large Sunni Muslim populations have Gra ...

in both

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

and

Bangladesh Bangladesh, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous country in the world and among the List of countries and dependencies by ...

Early life and education

Abdus Salam Chatgami was born in 1943, to a

Bengali Muslim Bengali Muslims (; ) 'Mussalman'' also used in this work./ref> are adherents of Islam who ethnically, linguistically and genealogically identify as Bengalis. Comprising over 70% of the global Bengali population, they are the second-largest ...

scholarly family in the village of Naldia in Anwara,

Chittagong Chittagong ( ), officially Chattogram, (, ) (, or ) is the second-largest city in Bangladesh. Home to the Port of Chittagong, it is the busiest port in Bangladesh and the Bay of Bengal. The city is also the business capital of Bangladesh. It ...

Bengal Presidency The Bengal Presidency, officially the Presidency of Fort William in Bengal until 1937, later the Bengal Province, was the largest of all three presidencies of British India during Company rule in India, Company rule and later a Provinces o ...

. His genealogy is as follows: Shaykh Abdus Salam, son of Shaykh Khalilur Rahman, son of Shaykh Abdul Khaliq, son of Shaykh Raushan Ali.

Education

His education initially began at his home in Naldia. He then joined the local

madrasa Madrasa (, also , ; Arabic: مدرسة , ), sometimes Romanization of Arabic, romanized as madrasah or madrassa, is the Arabic word for any Educational institution, type of educational institution, secular or religious (of any religion), whet ...

in his village, Al-Madrasa al-Azizia Al-Qasimia, in 1367 AH (1947-1948 CE) where he studied for three years. Chatgami then spent time earning with his father, Khalilur Rahman. In 1375 AH (1955-1956 CE), he enrolled at the Ihyaul Uloom al-Husaynia in the nearby village of Boalia where he was educated for three years. Chatgami then progressed onto

Al-Jamiatul Islamiah Azizul Uloom Babunagar Al-Jāmiʿah al-Islāmiyyah ʿAzīz al-ʿUlūm Bābūnagar (), better known simply as Babunagar Madrasah (), is one of the well-known Qawmi madrasahs in Chittagong. Established in 1924, situated at Babunagar, Fatikchhari, there are at present abo ...

where he spent four years. In 1967, he completed Dawra-e Hadith degree from Jamia Islamia Jiri. Among his teachers in Bengal were Abdul Wadud Sandwipi, Mufti Nurul Haq Chatgami, Grand Mufti Ahmadul Haq, Harun Babunagari,

Muhammad Yunus Muhammad Yunus (born 28 June 1940) is a Bangladeshi economist, entrepreneur, and civil society leader who has been serving as the Chief Adviser of Bangladesh, Chief Adviser of the Interim government of Muhammad Yunus, interim Yunus ministry, g ...

, Ali Ahmad Boalvi, Nurul Islam al-Jadid, Ahmad Husayn of Burumchhara, Muhammad Ismail of Naldia, Mawlana Abdus Subhan, Mawlana Muhammad Ali, Mawlana Ahmad Hasan, Mawlana Abdul Ghani, Mawlana Farrukh Ahmad, Qari Ahmadullah, Shaykh Abdul Jabbar, Kabir Ahmad Rauzani and Shaykh Salih Ahmad Chatgami. In the same year, he moved to

Karachi Karachi is the capital city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, province of Sindh, Pakistan. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, largest city in Pakistan and 12th List of largest cities, largest in the world, with a popul ...

and was admitted in

Jamia Uloom-ul-Islamia Jamia Uloom-ul-Islamia (, ''Jāmiā Ulūm-i Islāmīyā'' / , ''Jāmi‘at-ul-‘Ulūm-ul-Islāmīyah'') is an Islamic University in Binori Town, Banoori Town, Karachi, Pakistan. The university continues the tradition of the Darul Uloom system ...

for two years and studied under

Muhammad Yusuf Banuri Sayyid Muhammad Yousuf Banuri (7 May 1908 – 17 October 1977) was a Pakistani Islamic scholar, founder of Jamia Uloom-ul-Islamia and former President and Vice President of Wifaq-ul-Madaris al-Arabia, Pakistan from 30 May 1973 to 17 October 197 ...

. There he studied

Hadith Hadith is the Arabic word for a 'report' or an 'account f an event and refers to the Islamic oral tradition of anecdotes containing the purported words, actions, and the silent approvals of the Islamic prophet Muhammad or his immediate circle ...

for the second time, and subsequently ''

fiqh ''Fiqh'' (; ) is the term for Islamic jurisprudence.Fiqh
Encyclopædia Britannica ''Fiqh'' is of ...

''. Among his other teachers in Karachi were Allama Syed Hamid Miyan, Allama Idris Mirathi, Allama Fazl Muhammad Swati, Shaykh Badiuzzaman, Shaykh Muhammad Ishaq Sandelvi and Shaykh Syed Masabihullah Hazarvi. Chatgami received '' ijazat'' in

from Rasul Khan Hazarvi,

Zakariyya Kandhlawi Zakariyya Kandhlawi (; 3 February 1898 – 24 May 1982) was a mid-twentieth-century traditionalist Sunni scholar and an authority in the study of hadith, also known as Sheikh al-Hadith, hailing from India. He was an influential member and ideol ...

Muhammad Tayyib Qasmi Muhammad Tayyib Qasmi (known as Qari Muhammad Tayyib) was an Indian Sunni Islamic scholar who served as Vice Chancellor of Darul Uloom Deoband for more than half a century. He was grandson of Muhammad Qasim Nanautavi, the founder of the Darul ...

, Shamsul Haq Afghani,

Muhammad Idris Kandhlawi Idris Kandhlawi (; 20 August 1899 – 28 July 1974) was a Pakistani Sunni scholar during the mid-twentieth century, widely recognized for his contributions to various fields of Islamic studies, including hadith, Quranic studies, Islamic jurisprud ...

and

Abdul Haq Haqqani Abdul (also transliterated as Abdal, Abdel, Abdil, Abdol, Abdool, or Abdoul; , ) is the most frequent transliteration of the combination of the Arabic word '' Abd'' (, meaning "Servant") and the definite prefix '' al / el'' (, meaning "the"). It ...

Career

After completing education at

, he was appointed

mufti A mufti (; , ) is an Islamic jurist qualified to issue a nonbinding opinion ('' fatwa'') on a point of Islamic law (''sharia''). The act of issuing fatwas is called ''iftāʾ''. Muftis and their ''fatāwa'' have played an important role thro ...

in this seminary. Later he was promoted to Deputy Grand Mufti and later acting Grand Mufti. After the death of mufti

Wali Hasan Tonki Wali Hasan Tonki ( Urdu: ; 19243 February 1995) was a Pakistani Mufti, Islamic scholar, judge and writer. Early life and education Wali Hasan was born in 1924 to Mufti Anwarul Hassan Khan in Tonk district. His father and grandfather, Muhammad ...

, he became Grand Mufti. Besides his duty as Grand Mufti, he was also a teacher of

and

Khatib In Islam, a khatib or khateeb ( ''khaṭīb'') is a person who delivers the sermon (''khuṭbah'') (literally "narration"), during the Friday prayer and Eid prayers. The ''khateeb'' is usually the prayer leader (''imam''), but the two roles can ...

of Ahmad Usmani Jame Mosque. In 2000, he returned to

and joined the Hathazari Madrasa.

Literary works

His books include: *''Zawahirul Fatwa'' *''Makalat-e Chatgami'' *''Problems during COVID-19 pandemic and its Shariah provisions'' *''Boalvi Rah in the heart-warming aroma Malfuzate'' *''Number of Vitr prayers and rak'ats'' *''Sacrifice rules and urgent matters'' *''Tawheed and Resalat in Ahkam'' *''Aapka Suwal Aur Unka Jawab Ahadish Ki Roushani Mein'' *''The Basic Principles of Islamic Mayshat'' *''Purchase and sale of human organs in the eyes of Islam and modern medical science'' *''Maqbool Doa of Rahmate Alam (Sa.)'' *''Murawaza Islamic Banker'' *''Hayate Shaykhul Kul'' *''Tajkera-e Mukhlis''

Death

Chatgami died on 8 September 2021. The same day a meeting was held by a committee to appoint the next director-general of Hathazari Madrasa. Prior to his death, the committee decided he be the next director-general.

References