Syed Najibul Bashar Maizbhandari () is the chairman of

Bangladesh Tarikat Federation The Bangladesh Tarikat Federation (; BTF) is a Sufi political party in Bangladesh founded by Syed Nazibul Bashar Maizvandary, Syed Najibul Bashar of the Maizbhandaria tariqah and some Pir-Mashaikh of Bangladesh. Formation The Bangladesh Tarika ...

and former Member of Parliament of the Chittagong-2 constituency.

Early life

Syed Najibul Bashar Maizbhandari was born on 2 December 1959, 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 ...

Syed Syed may refer to: * Seyd, alternative for Sayyid (name) * Alternative for Sayyid, an honorific title * Ahsan Ali Syed (born 1973), Indian businessman * Ghulam Murtaza Syed (1904-1995), prominent Sindhi politician * Ibrahim Bijli Syed (born 1939) ...

family of

saintly Saintly (21 September 1992 – 16 December 2016) was an Australian Thoroughbred racehorse who was named Australia's champion racehorse in 1997. A giant chestnut gelding by Sky Chase out of All Grace (by Sir Tristram), he was bred by his tra ...

heritage belonging to the ''

Maizbhandaria The Maizbhandari (), or sometimes Maijbhandari (), order or '' tariqa'' of Sufism within Sunni Islam was founded in the late 19th century by the Bengali Sufi saint Ahmad Ullah Maizbhandari from Chittagong. It is the only Sufi order to have or ...

Tariqah A ''tariqa'' () is a religious order of Sufism, or specifically a concept for the mystical teaching and spiritual practices of such an order with the aim of seeking , which translates as "ultimate truth". A tariqa has a (guide) who plays the r ...

'' in

Fatikchhari Fatikchhari is a town and municipality in Chittagong District in the division of Chittagong, Bangladesh. It is the administrative headquarters and urban centre of Fatikchhari Upazila Fatikchhari () is an upazila of Chittagong District in Chitta ...

Chittagong District Chittagong District (), ( Chatgaiya: Sitang/Chatga), officially Chattogram District, is a district located in south-eastern Bangladesh. It is a part of the Chittagong Division. Due to its geographical location, Chittagong is classified as a s ...

East Pakistan East Pakistan was the eastern province of Pakistan between 1955 and 1971, restructured and renamed from the province of East Bengal and covering the territory of the modern country of Bangladesh. Its land borders were with India and Burma, wit ...

(now

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 ...

). He is a son of the ''Sufi Peer'' Syed Shafiul Bashar Maizbhandari who himself is the son of Syed Ghulamur Rahman Maizbhandari. His mother is Syeda Ashrafunnesa Begum. His ancestors migrated from

Medina Medina, officially al-Madinah al-Munawwarah (, ), also known as Taybah () and known in pre-Islamic times as Yathrib (), is the capital of Medina Province (Saudi Arabia), Medina Province in the Hejaz region of western Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, ...

Gaur The gaur (''Bos gaurus''; ) is a large bovine native to the Indian Subcontinent and Southeast Asia, and has been listed as Vulnerable species, Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List since 1986. The global population was estimated at a maximum of 21,000 ...

, the former capital of medieval Bengal, via

Baghdad Baghdad ( or ; , ) is the capital and List of largest cities of Iraq, largest city of Iraq, located along the Tigris in the central part of the country. With a population exceeding 7 million, it ranks among the List of largest cities in the A ...

and

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, but spread chiefly to the west, or beyond its Bank (geography ...

. Maizbhandari's recent lineage is as follows: Syed Najibul Bashar, son of Syed Shafiul Bashar, son of Syed Ghulamur Rahman, son of Syed Abdul Karim Shah, son of Syed Tayyabullah, son of Syed Abdul Qadir, son of Syed Hamiduddin. Hamiduddin was the appointed ''

Imam Imam (; , '; : , ') is an Islamic leadership position. For Sunni Islam, Sunni Muslims, Imam is most commonly used as the title of a prayer leader of a mosque. In this context, imams may lead Salah, Islamic prayers, serve as community leaders, ...

'' and ''

Qadi A qadi (; ) is the magistrate or judge of a Sharia court, who also exercises extrajudicial functions such as mediation, guardianship over orphans and minors, and supervision and auditing of public works. History The term '' was in use from ...

'' of

, who moved to Patiya in

due to an epidemic. Syed Abdul Qadir was appointed the ''Imam'' of Azimnagar in Fatikchhari. Maizbhandari completed his education up until he gained his

Higher Secondary School Certificate Higher Secondary Certificate (HSC), Higher Secondary School Certificate, Higher Secondary Education Certificate (HSEC) or Intermediate Examination is a secondary education qualification in Bangladesh, India and Pakistan. It is equivalent to the f ...

Career

During 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 Jamaa ...

s, Maizbhandari successfully won a seat in the

Chittagong-4 Chittagong-4 is a constituency represented in the Jatiya Sangsad of Bangladesh. Since 6 August 2024 the constituency is ''Vacant''. Boundaries The constituency encompasses Sitakunda Upazila and Bangladesh Military Academy and Chattogram City Co ...

constituency as an

Awami League The Awami League, officially known as Bangladesh Awami League, is a major List of political parties in Bangladesh, political party in Bangladesh. The oldest existing political party in the country, the party played the leading role in achievin ...

candidate. However, he later became affiliated with the

Bangladesh Nationalist Party The Bangladesh Nationalist Party (), popularly abbreviated as BNP (), is a major List of political parties in Bangladesh, political party in Bangladesh. It was founded on 1 September 1978 by President of Bangladesh, President Ziaur Rahman, wit ...

. He represented them as a candidate for the same constituency in the

2001 Bangladeshi general election General elections were held in Bangladesh on 1 October 2001. The 300 seats of the Jatiya Sangsad were contested by 1,935 candidates representing 54 parties and 484 independents. The elections were the second to be held under the caretaker govern ...

, but did not win a seat. In 1997, BNP Chairperson

Begum Khaleda Zia Begum Khaleda Zia (born August–September 1945) is a Bangladeshi politician who served as the prime minister of Bangladesh from 1991 to 1996 and again from 2001 to 2006. She was the first female prime minister of Bangladesh and the second fema ...

declared him the convener of the party's ulama organization, the Jatiotabadi Ulama Dal He left the Bangladesh Nationalist Party in 2005 because the party had formed an alliance with the

Jamaat-e-Islami Jamaat-e-Islami is an Islamist fundamentalist movement founded in 1941 in British India by the Islamist author and theorist Syed Abul Ala Maududi, who was inspired by the Muslim Brotherhood. It is considered one of the most influential Isla ...

, which Maizbhandari accuses of supporting terrorists who attack ''

dargah A Sufi shrine or dargah ( ''dargâh'' or ''dargah'', Turkish: ''dergâh'', Hindustani: ''dargāh'' दरगाह درگاہ, ''dôrgah'') is a shrine or tomb built over the grave of a revered religious figure, often a Sufi saint or dervi ...

s'' (Sufi shrines); Maizbhandari is the president of the Bangladesh Dargah Mazar Federation, an association of shrines. In the same year, he founded the

political party which had experienced its first elections in 2008 with 45 candidates but no seats won in parliament. On 5 January 2014, Maizbhandari won a seat in the Chittagong-2 representing his party and managed to keep this seat again in the

2018 Bangladeshi general election General elections were held in Bangladesh on 30 December 2018 to elect 300 directly-elected members of the Jatiya Sangsad. The result was another landslide victory for the Awami League-led Grand Alliance (Bangladesh), Grand Alliance led by Sheik ...

. He is the Chairman of Bangladesh Tarikat Federation, ailed of the

References

Bangladesh Tarikat Federation politicians Living people 1959 births 10th Jatiya Sangsad members Bangladeshi political party founders People from Fatikchhari Upazila Politicians from Chittagong Division Bangladeshi Sufis Bangladeshi people of Arab descent Bengali Muslim scholars of Islam Former Bangladesh Nationalist Party politicians {{Chittagong-politician-stub