Muḥammad Waqqāṣ ibn Muḥammad Ismāʿīl al-Jasarī ( ar, محمد وقاص بن محمد إسماعيل الجسري; 15 January 1952 – 31 March 2021), or simply known as Muhammad Wakkas ( bn, মুহাম্মদ ওয়াক্কাস), was a Bangladeshi Islamic scholar, teacher, former Member of Parliament and State Minister. He was the founder of Jamia Imdadia Madaninagar Madrasa, the largest

madrasa Madrasa (, also , ; Arabic: مدرسة , pl. , ) is the Arabic word for any type of educational institution, secular or religious (of any religion), whether for elementary instruction or higher learning. The word is variously transliterated '' ...

in South Bengal, accommodating roughly 2000 students.

Early life and education

Muhammad Wakkas was born on 15 January 1952, to a Bengali Muslim family in the village of Bijayrampur in Manirampur,

Jessore District Jessore District (Bengali: যশোর, pronounced Jaw-shore, Anglicised: Jessore), officially spelled Jashore District from April 2018, is a district in the southwestern region of Bangladesh. It is bordered by India to the west, Khulna Distr ...

East Bengal ur, , common_name = East Bengal , status = Province of the Dominion of Pakistan , p1 = Bengal Presidency , flag_p1 = Flag of British Bengal.svg , s1 = East ...

. He was the youngest among the children of Muhammad Ismail and Nurjahan Begum. His education began at his local primary school, where he achieved the top position in the final exams. This impressed his mother, who then enrolled him at the Lauri Ramnagar Kamil Madrasa, a noted institution of South Bengal. He memorised the entire

Qur'an The Quran (, ; Standard Arabic: , Quranic Arabic: , , 'the recitation'), also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation from God. It is organized in 114 chapters (pl.: , sing. ...

off by heart in three months and was the highest scorer for the Alim exam of his board in 1967. He studied for his Kamil degree at the Bahadurpur Shariatia Alia Madrasa in

Madaripur Madaripur ( bn, মাদারীপুর ), being a part of the Dhaka Division, is a district in central Bangladesh. History Madaripur subdivision was established in 1854 under the district of Bakerganj. In 1873 it was separated from Bakerganj ...

and was the highest scorer for his exam board for that too, in 1971. In 1972, he completed his

Higher Secondary School Certificate The Higher Secondary School Certificate is a secondary qualification in Bangladesh, India and Pakistan. Higher Secondary Education The Board of Secondary and Higher Secondary Education in Bangladesh recognises "Higher Secondary Education" und ...

at the Manirampur College. Tajammul Ali, his teacher and also the

khalifa Khalifa or Khalifah (Arabic: خليفة) is a name or title which means "successor", "ruler" or "leader". It most commonly refers to the leader of a Caliphate, but is also used as a title among various Islamic religious groups and others. Khalifa ...

of Hussain Ahmed Madani, advised him to study at the

Darul Uloom Deoband The Darul Uloom Deoband is an Islamic seminary (darul uloom) in India at which the Sunni Deobandi Islamic movement began. It is located in Deoband, a town in Saharanpur district, Uttar Pradesh. The seminary was established by Muhammad Qasim ...

North India North India is a loosely defined region consisting of the northern part of India. The dominant geographical features of North India are the Indo-Gangetic Plain and the Himalayas, which demarcate the region from the Tibetan Plateau and Central ...

. He remained in Deoband for four years, topped the exams for Mawquf Alayhi (1973), Takmil-e-Ulum-e-Diniyat (1975) and Ifta (1976), and gained the title of Mufti.

Career

Political career

Wakkas was involved in politics during his time as a student, where his teacher often took him to Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam programmes. Whilst studying for his Kamil degree at Bahadurpur, Wakkas was elected as the vice-president of the Bahadurpur branch of Jamiat-e-Talaba-e-Arabia. After the

independence of Bangladesh Independence of Bangladesh was declared on 26 March 1971, celebrated as Independence Day, from Pakistan. The Independence Day of Bangladesh is celebrated on 26 March when Sheikh Mujibur Rahman declared the Independence of Bangladesh. The Bangladesh ...

, he became the

Nazim Subahdar, also known as Nazim or in English as a "Subah", was one of the designations of a governor of a Subah (province) during the Khalji dynasty of Bengal, Mamluk dynasty (Delhi), Khalji dynasty, Tughlaq dynasty, Mughal era ( of India who w ...

of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Bangladesh's

Khulna Khulna ( bn, খুলনা, ) is the third-largest city in Bangladesh, after Dhaka and Chittagong. It is the administrative centre of Khulna District and Khulna Division. Khulna's economy is the third-largest in Bangladesh, contributing $53 b ...

branch. On Jamiat's decision, Wakkas briefly joined the

Bangladesh Khilafat Andolan Bangladesh Khilafat Andolan ( bn, বাংলাদেশ খেলাফত আন্দোলন, , Bangladesh Caliphate Movement) is an Islamist political party in Bangladesh, founded by Hafezzi Huzur after the 1981 presidential elections. Ha ...

, founded by

Hafezzi Huzur Muḥammadullāh ibn Idrīs ibn Akram ad-Dīn al-Miyānjī ( ar, محمد الله بن إدريس بن أكرم الدين الميانجي; 1895 - 6 May 1987), commonly known as Hafezzī Huzūr ( ar, حافظجي حضور, bn, হাফেজ� ...

in 1981, but later left it to return to the Jamiat. Wakkas was advised by Shamsuddin Qasimi to participate in the

1986 Bangladeshi general election General elections were held in Bangladesh on 7 May 1986. A total of 1,527 candidates contested the election. The result was a victory for the Jatiya Party, which won 153 of the 300 seats. Voter turnout was 61.1%. Bangladesh Nationalist Party, th ...

as a Jatiya Party candidate. In this election, he successfully gained a seat at the

Jessore-5 Jessore-5 is a constituency represented in the Jatiya Sangsad (National Parliament) of Bangladesh since 2014 by Swapan Bhattacharjee, of the Awami League since 2018. Boundaries The constituency encompasses Manirampur Upazila. History The c ...

constituency. He kept this seat after the

1988 Bangladeshi general election General elections were held in Bangladesh on 3 March 1988. They were boycotted by several major parties, including the Bangladesh Awami League, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, the Communist Party of Bangladesh, Jamaat-e-Islami Bangladesh, the ...

. During his first term as a Member of Parliament, Wakkas also served as the country's Minister of Religious Affairs. He also later served as the

whip A whip is a tool or weapon designed to strike humans or other animals to exert control through pain compliance or fear of pain. They can also be used without inflicting pain, for audiovisual cues, such as in equestrianism. They are generally e ...

. After the fall of Ershad's Jatiya Party, Wakkas stood for the

1991 Bangladeshi general election General elections were held in Bangladesh on 27 February 1991. The Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) emerged as the largest party in parliament, winning 140 of the 300 directly-elected seats. The BNP formed a government with the support of the I ...

s as a candidate under the

Islami Oikya Jote The Islami Oikya Jote ( bn, ইসলামী ঐক্য জোট, ''Islami Oikko Joţ'', "Islamic Unity Front") is a political party in Bangladesh and is allied with the Four Party Alliance. History During the legislative elections of 1 ...

alliance. He was unsuccessful in gaining a seat in this election, losing to

Khan Tipu Sultan Khan Tipu Sultan (13 December 1950 – 19 August 2017) was a Bangladesh Awami League politician and three time Jatiya Sangsad member from Jessore-5 constituency. Early life Sultan was born in Dhamalia, Dumuria Upazila, Khulna District in the ...

of the

Awami League In Urdu language, Awami is the adjectival form for '' Awam'', the Urdu language word for common people. The adjective appears in the following proper names: *Awami Colony, a neighbourhood of Landhi Town in Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan *Awami Front, wa ...

. It was also in this year that the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Bangladesh had appointed him as secretary-general during their National Council at Arzabad Madrasa. At the June 1996 Bangladeshi general election, he stood up once more as Jatiya Party candidate but failed to defeat Khan Tipu Sultan. He later joined the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, and was elected to parliament following the

2001 Bangladeshi general election General elections were held in Bangladesh on 1 October 2001. The 300 single-seat constituencies of the Jatiya Sangsad were contested by 1,935 candidates representing 54 parties and including 484 independents. The elections were the second to be ...

, where he received 20,000 more votes than his rival Khan Tipu Sultan. However, Sultan managed to defeat Wakkas in the

2008 Bangladeshi general election General elections were held in Bangladesh on 29 December 2008. The two main parties in the election were the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), led by Khaleda Zia, and the Bangladesh Awami League Party, led by Sheikh Hasina. The Bangladesh Awa ...

Educational career

In 1982, Wakkas established the Jamia Imdadia Madaninagar Madrasa in Manirampur. 7 years later, he founded a female branch of the madrasa. The faculty of Hadith studies began in 1995, and for females in 2003. In 2009, the institution became the largest madrasa in South Bengal after the opening of its

Ifta Ifta is a former municipality in the Wartburgkreis district of Thuringia, Germany. Since 1 January 2019, it has been part of the town Treffurt Treffurt () is a small town in the western region of the Wartburgkreis district which belongs to the f ...

department. He was a member of

Hefazat-e-Islam Bangladesh Hefazat-e-Islam Bangladesh ( bn, হেফাজতে ইসলাম বাংলাদেশ) is an Islamic Advocacy group of madrassah teachers and students. In 2013, it submitted to the government of Bangladesh a 13-point charter, which inc ...

Death and legacy

Wakkas died on 31 March 2021 at a hospital in

Dhaka Dhaka ( or ; bn, ঢাকা, Ḍhākā, ), formerly known as Dacca, is the capital and largest city of Bangladesh, as well as the world's largest Bengali-speaking city. It is the eighth largest and sixth most densely populated city ...

References