Mawlana Muhammad Ishaq (; 1883 – 18 November 1938) 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 ...

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 ...

Sufi Sufism ( or ) is a mysticism, mystic body of religious practice found within Islam which is characterized by a focus on Islamic Tazkiyah, purification, spirituality, ritualism, and Asceticism#Islam, asceticism. Practitioners of Sufism are r ...

, author and philanthropist.

Early life and education

Ishaq was born in 1883 CE 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 Feni,

Noakhali District Noakhali District (), historically known as Bhulua (), is a Districts of Bangladesh, district in southeastern Bangladesh, located in Chattogram Division. It was established as a district in 1821, and officially named Noakhali in 1868. The distr ...

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 ...

. He received his primary religious education from the local religious institution. Then he got admitted into an

'alim 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 ...

course in

Comilla Comilla (), officially spelled Cumilla, is a metropolis on the banks of the Gomti River in eastern Bangladesh. Comilla was one of the cities of ancient Bengal. It was once the capital of Tripura kingdom. Comilla Airport is located in the Duli ...

. Later, he travelled to

Makkah Mecca, officially Makkah al-Mukarramah, is the capital of Mecca Province in the Hejaz region of western Saudi Arabia; it is the holiest city in Islam. It is inland from Jeddah on the Red Sea, in a narrow valley above sea level. Its metropo ...

where he got admitted into the

Madrasah as-Sawlatiyah Madrasah as-Sawlatiyah (, ''Madrasah aṣ-Ṣawlatīyah;'' or abbreviation: "al-Sawlatiyya") is an Islamic school in Mecca, Saudi Arabia. It is the oldest continuing school in Saudi Arabia. History Al-Sawlatiyya was founded in 1873 by Rahmatul ...

. He studied

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

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 ...

for eleven years in that institution, under Shaykhu'd-Dal'ail Abdul Haqq Muhajir Makki who treated him like his adopted son. Later, he was appointed as a teacher of that madrasa. He got

khilafat A caliphate ( ) is an institution or public office under the leadership of an Islamic steward with the title of caliph (; , ), a person considered a political–religious successor to the Islamic prophet Muhammad and a leader of the entir ...

from his teacher and returned to his own country.

Career

After returning to Bengal, Ishaq was also involved in sufistic practices. It is said that he had

karamat In Sufism, ''karamat'' (, singular ) refers to supernatural wonders performed by Muslim saints. In the technical vocabulary of Islamic religious sciences, the singular form ''karamat'' has a sense similar to ''charism'', a favor or spiritual g ...

. People began to approach him for spiritual guidance. He travelled to

Noakhali Noakhali District (), historically known as Bhulua (), is a Districts of Bangladesh, district in southeastern Bangladesh, located in Chattogram Division. It was established as a district in 1821, and officially named Noakhali in 1868. The distr ...

Barisal Barisal ( or ; , ), officially known as Barishal, is a major city that lies on the banks of the Kirtankhola river in south-central Bangladesh. It is the largest city and the administrative headquarter of both Barisal District and Barisal Divi ...

, Hatiya and

Sandwip Sandwip (, ) is an island located in the southeastern coast of Bangladesh in the Chittagong District. Along with the island of Urir Char and Bhasan Char, this is part of Sandwip Upazila. Description Sandwip is located in the north-east of the ...

. In these places many people became his murids. Later, he renewed his

bay'at ''Bayʿah'' (, "Pledge of allegiance"), in Islamic terminology, is an oath of allegiance to a leader. It is known to have been practiced by the Islamic prophet Muhammad. In Bedouin culture it was a procedure for choosing the leader of the tribe, ...

at the hands of Abdur Rab Jaunpuri who was the grandson of Karamat Ali Jaunpuri. After that he began to be influenced by Taiyunis. In 1936, Ishaq established the Ishaqiya Orphanage in Daganbhuiyan, Feni. He donated all of his immovable properties to this orphanage. Ishaq also gave financial help to establish

mosque A mosque ( ), also called a masjid ( ), is a place of worship for Muslims. The term usually refers to a covered building, but can be any place where Salah, Islamic prayers are performed; such as an outdoor courtyard. Originally, mosques were si ...

eidgah Eidgah or Idgah, also Eid Gah or Id Gah ( "site of Eid bservances; ; ; ; ) is a term used in South Asian Islamic culture for the open-air enclosure usually outside the city (or at the outskirts) reserved for Eid prayers offered in the morning ...

s and

madrasas 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 ...

. Ishaq wrote an

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 ...

book titled ''Ta'lim-e-Haqqani Wa Fuyud-e-Ishaqi''. In that book he described Sufi problems,

zikr (; ; ) is a form of Islam, Islamic ibadah, worship in which phrases or prayers are repeatedly recited for the purpose of remembering God in Islam, God. It plays a central role in Sufism, and each Sufi tariqa, order typically adopts a specific ...

and mediation. He kept himself away from active politics but supported the independence movement of

Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind or Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind ( ) is one of the leading organizations of Islamic scholars belonging to the Deobandi school of thought in India. It was founded in November 1919 by a group of Muslim scholars including Abdul Bari Fi ...

Death

Ishaq died on 18 November 1938.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ishaq, Muhammad Bengali Sufi saints People from Feni District 20th-century Urdu-language writers 1883 births 1938 deaths 20th-century Muslim theologians Madrasah as-Sawlatiyah alumni Hanafis