Syed Ata Ullah Shah Bukhari (
سید عطاء اللہ شاہ بخاری)
(23 September 1892 – 21 August 1961), was a
Muslim Hanafi
The Hanafi school ( ar, حَنَفِية, translit=Ḥanafiyah; also called Hanafite in English), Hanafism, or the Hanafi fiqh, is the oldest and one of the four traditional major Sunni schools ( maddhab) of Islamic Law (Fiqh). It is named ...
scholar, religious and political leader from the
Indian subcontinent
The Indian subcontinent is a physiographical region in Southern Asia. It is situated on the Indian Plate, projecting southwards into the Indian Ocean from the Himalayas. Geopolitically, it includes the countries of Bangladesh, Bhutan, India ...
. He was one of the
Majlis-e-Ahrar-e-Islam's founding members. His biographer,
Agha Shorish Kashmiri
Agha Shorish Kashmiri (1917–1975; ) was a Pakistani scholar, writer, debater, and a leader of the Majlis-e-Ahrar-e-Islam party. He was a figure of the freedom movement in the British Raj, as well as the chief editor of the weekly ''Chattan'' ...
, states that Bukhari's greatest contribution had been his germination of strong anti-British feelings among the Indian Muslims. He is one of the most notable leaders of the Ahrar movement which was associated with opposition to
Muhammad Ali Jinnah
Muhammad Ali Jinnah (, ; born Mahomedali Jinnahbhai; 25 December 1876 – 11 September 1948) was a barrister, politician, and the founder of Pakistan. Jinnah served as the leader of the All-India Muslim League from 1913 until the ...
and
opposition to the establishment of an independent Pakistan, as well as opposition to the
Ahmadiyya Movement. He is considered as a legendary rhetoric, which made him famous among the Muslims.
Birth and education
Born in
Patna
Patna (
), historically known as Pataliputra, is the capital and largest city of the state of Bihar in India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Patna had a population of 2.35 million, making it the 19th largest city in India. ...
,
British India
The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...
, in 1892, he received his early religious education in what is now
Gujrat,
Pakistan
Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...
and learned the
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.: , si ...
by heart from his father Hafiz Syed Ziauddin. He migrated to
Amritsar
Amritsar (), historically also known as Rāmdāspur and colloquially as ''Ambarsar'', is the second largest city in the Indian state of Punjab, after Ludhiana. It is a major cultural, transportation and economic centre, located in the Maj ...
in 1914 when he was 22 years old. He completed his early education by subscribing to a purist view of Islam, and remained associated with the
Deoband School in
Saharanpur
Saharanpur is a city and a municipal corporation in Uttar Pradesh, India. It is also the administrative headquarters of Saharanpur district.
Saharanpur city's name was given after the Saint Shah Haroon Chishti.
Saharanpur is declared as on ...
district. Bukhari began his career as a religious preacher in a small mosque in
Amritsar
Amritsar (), historically also known as Rāmdāspur and colloquially as ''Ambarsar'', is the second largest city in the Indian state of Punjab, after Ludhiana. It is a major cultural, transportation and economic centre, located in the Maj ...
, and taught the Quran for the next 40 years. He shared friendship with a section of socialists and communists but did not accept their ideology completely. He was ‘imbued with a brilliant exposition of
romantic
Romantic may refer to:
Genres and eras
* The Romantic era, an artistic, literary, musical and intellectual movement of the 18th and 19th centuries
** Romantic music, of that era
** Romantic poetry, of that era
** Romanticism in science, of that e ...
socialism, and led Muslims to a restlessness activism'. He studied the
Sahih Bukhari in jail when he was imprisoned for an anti-government religious speech.
Religious and political career
He started his religious and political career in 1916. His speeches graphically portrayed the sorrows and sufferings of the poor, and would promise his audience that the end of their sufferings would come about with the end of British rule. As the first step of his political career, he began to participate in the movements of the
Indian National Congress
The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party but often simply the Congress, is a political party in India with widespread roots. Founded in 1885, it was the first modern nationalist movement to emerge in the British ...
in 1921 from
Kolkata
Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, the official name until 2001) is the Capital city, capital of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal, on the eastern ba ...
where he delivered a loaded speech and was arrested on 27 March 1921 because of that speech. He became an eyesore to the administration, and an official view about him said:
''Ata Ullah Shah is a man, who it is better to lock up in jail, away from Congress leaders than to parley with. He has spent a considerable part of his life preaching sedition. He is an amusing speaker, who can influence a crowd.'' After Nehru report Bukhari created All India
Majlis-e-Ahrar-e-Islam with
Mazhar Ali Azhar,
Chaudhry Afzal Haq
Chaudhry Afzal Haq (1891–8 January 1942) was born in a Muslim family, a writer, humanitarian, leader and co-founder of Majlis-e-Ahrar-e-Islam, and a senior political figure in the history of Indian subcontinent. He worked to help the poor a ...
,
Habib-ur-Rehman Ludhianvi,
Hissam-ud-Din,
Master Taj-uj-Din Ansari
Master Taj-ud-Din Ansari was a figure in the history of Indian subcontinent and a leader of All India Majlis-e-Ahrar-ul-Islam. After the partition of India he left politics and struggle for Khatm-e-Nubuwwat movement with Syed Ata Ullah Shah Buk ...
and
Zafar Ali Khan on 29 December 1929. Later on the prominent Brelvi orator
Syed Faiz-ul Hassan Shah also joined them too. He was also the founding father of Majlis-e-Ahrar, Indian nationalist Muslim political movement in India. In 1943, Ahrar passed a resolution
opposing the partition of India and "introduced a sectarian element into its objections by portraying Jinnah as an infidel in an attempt to discredit his reputation."
He led a movement against
Ahmadis and held an ''Ahrar Tableegh Conference'' at
Qadian in 21–23 October 1934. In 1949 he founded
Aalmi Majlis Tahaffuz Khatm-e-Nubuwwat
Aalmi Majlis Tahaffuz Khatm-e-Nubuwwat ( ur, عالمی مجلس تحفظ ختمِ نبوت) is an international Islamic organization. Founded by Syed Ata Ullah Shah Bukhari in 1954 in Multan when Majlis-e-Ahrar-e-Islam was banned due to Kha ...
and served as first Emir.
Bukhari was a central figure in the
Khatme Nabuwwat
Seal of the Prophets ( ar, خاتم النبيين, translit=khātam an-nabīyīn or khātim an-nabīyīn; or ar, خاتم الأنبياء, translit=khātam al-anbiyā’ or khātim al-anbiyā), is a title used in the Qur'an and by Muslims ...
Movement of 1953, which demanded that government of Pakistan declare the
Ahmadis as non-Muslims.
Oratory and poetry
He became known for his
oratory. He was also a poet and most of his poetry was in
Persian. His poetic verses were compiled by his eldest son
Syed Abuzar Bukhari
Syed Abu Muawiyah Abuzar Bukhari (سید ابو معاویہ ابوذر بخاری, died 24 October 1995) (real name: ''Syed Ata-ul-Mun'im Bukhari'') was a Muslim Pakistani scholar, intellectual, orator, poet, writer, and a former president of ...
in 1956 under the name of ''Sawati-ul-ilham''.
Death
Bukhari died on 21 August 1961.
[Janbaz Mirza, last chapter, ''hayat-e-ameer-e-Shariyat''] He is buried in
Multan, Pakistan. on Tareen Road near Gultex Showroom near Children Complex.
References
Sources
*
Syed Ata ullah shah bukhari ka aqeeda-e-khatm-e-nubuwwatSyed Ata Ullah Shah Bukhaqri ka khitab (Nawai-waqt Newspaper)Column of Professor Khalid Shibbir Ahmad*
*
*
ttp://www.nawaiwaqt.com.pk/E-Paper/Lahore/2012-06-29/page-9/detail-5 Syed Ata Ullah Shah Bukhari ki zindagi (Nawai-waqt Column)
{{Aalmi Majlis Tahaffuz Khatm-e-Nubuwwat
1892 births
1961 deaths
Critics of Ahmadiyya
Pakistani people of Bihari descent
Indian Sunni Muslims
Deobandis
Hanafis
Bihari politicians
Persian-language poets
Pakistani Sunni Muslim scholars of Islam
Writers from Patna
People from Multan
20th-century poets
Pakistani religious writers
Emirs of Aalmi Majlis Tahaffuz Khatm-e-Nubuwwat
Aalmi Majlis Tahaffuz Khatm-e-Nubuwwat people
Presidents of Majlis-e-Ahrar-ul-Islam