Ahmed Ali Enayetpuri () was a

Bengali Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to: *something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia * Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region * Bengali language, the language they speak ** Bengali alphabet, the w ...

writer, journalist, and politician.

Early life and education

Ahmed Ali was born on 21 January 1898, 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 ...

family in the village of Enayetpur in

Jessore District Jessore District, List of renamed places in Bangladesh, officially Jashore District (; ), is a Districts of Bangladesh, district in southwestern Bangladesh. It is bordered by India to the west, Khulna District, Khulna and Satkhira District, Satk ...

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 ...

. The family had Iraqi ancestry. His father, Shah Abed Ali (d. 1956), was a Mawlana and his mother's name was Sayeda Khatun. He studied at the Shajiali Lower Primary School under Pandit Dvijabar Charkabarti and others. After that he enrolled at the Jessore District School, studying until class 8. His father realised Ali's lack of interest and enrolled him at the

Calcutta Alia Madrasa Aliah University (AU; , ) is a Public university, public State university (India), state university in New Town, West Bengal, India. Previously known as Mohammedan College of Calcutta, it was elevated to university in 2008. History The Aliah ...

instead. In Calcutta, Ali completed

Islamic studies Islamic studies is the academic study of Islam, which is analogous to related fields such as Jewish studies and Quranic studies. Islamic studies seeks to understand the past and the potential future of the Islamic world. In this multidiscipli ...

and learnt

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

under Mawlana Gul Muhammad Khan and Mawlana Bashir Ahmad. However, instead of completing his studies at the

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 ...

, Ali came under the influence of

Mohammad Abu Bakr Siddique Moḥammad Abū Bakr Ṣiddīque al-Qurayshī (15 April 1845 – 17 March 1939) was a Bengali Islamic scholar and the inaugural Pir of Furfura Sharif in West Bengal. He is regarded by his followers, who are scattered across eastern India and Bang ...

, the inaugural Pir of

Furfura Sharif Furfura Sharif (also known as Furfura, and Furfura Darbar Sharif) is a village in Jangipara community development block of Srirampore subdivision in Hooghly District in the state of West Bengal, India. It is a holy place for some Bengali Musli ...

. Siddique taught him Islamic theology,

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

and

Urdu Urdu (; , , ) is an Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in South Asia. It is the Languages of Pakistan, national language and ''lingua franca'' of Pakistan. In India, it is an Eighth Schedule to the Constitution of Indi ...

. Enayetpuri later self-learned English too and was conferred the title of ''Shamsul Ulama''. Not long after his studies, his ''pir'' instructed him to give public speeches, calling towards Islam.

Career

Enayetpuri founded Sariat (also spelled Sariyat), a monthly magazine, in 1924 and became its editor. He renamed the newspaper Sariat-i-Islam. It was the sole

Hanafi The Hanafi school or Hanafism is the oldest and largest Madhhab, school of Islamic jurisprudence out of the four schools within Sunni Islam. It developed from the teachings of the Faqīh, jurist and theologian Abu Hanifa (), who systemised the ...

publication in Kolkata. It was dogmatic. He served as the editor of the Sariat-i-Islam for 32 years. In 1934, the

British Raj The British Raj ( ; from Hindustani language, Hindustani , 'reign', 'rule' or 'government') was the colonial rule of the British The Crown, Crown on the Indian subcontinent, * * lasting from 1858 to 1947. * * It is also called Crown rule ...

awarded him the title of

Khan Sahib Khan Sahib - a compound of Khan "Leader" and Sahib "Master" - was a formal title of respect and honour, which was conferred mainly on Muslim, and also on Parsi, Irani, and Jewish subjects of the British Indian Empire. It was a title one deg ...

. He served as a member of the Jessore District Board. In 1937 he was elected to the

Bengal Legislative Assembly The Bengal Legislative Assembly () was the largest legislatures of British India, legislature in British India, serving as the lower chamber of the legislature of Bengal Presidency, Bengal (now Bangladesh and the Indian state of West Bengal). It ...

from

Jhenaidah Jhenaidah () is a city in the Khulna Division of south-western Bangladesh. Jhenaidah is the headquarters of Jhenaidah Sadar Upazila and Jhenaidah District. The city has a population of about 140,000, making it the 34th largest city in Banglades ...

constituency as a candidate of the

All India Muslim League The All-India Muslim League (AIML) was a political party founded in 1906 in Dhaka, British India with the goal of securing Muslim interests in South Asia. Although initially espousing a united India with interfaith unity, the Muslim League lat ...

. In the assembly he introduced a bill to make primary education free. He was awarded the title of

Khan Bahadur Khan Bahadur – a compound of ''Khan'' "Leader" and ''Bahadur'' "Brave" – was an honorary title in British India conferred on Indian subjects who were adherents of Islam or Zoroastrianism. The equivalent title for Hindus, Buddhists and India ...

in 1938.

Death

Enayetpuri died on 4 January 1959 in Enayetpur, Jessore District,

East Bengal East Bengal (; ''Purbô Bangla/Purbôbongo'') was the eastern province of the Dominion of Pakistan, which covered the territory of modern-day Bangladesh. It consisted of the eastern portion of the Bengal region, and existed from 1947 until 195 ...

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# ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Enayetpuri, Ahmed Ali 1898 births 1959 deaths Bengali Muslim scholars of Islam People from Jessore District Politicians from Khulna Division Bengali politicians Bengali writers Pakistani writers 20th-century Bengalis Bengal MLAs 1937–1945