Najib Ali Choudhury

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Islamic scholar
and teacher

Najib Ali Choudhury (Bengali: নজিব আলী চৌধুরী) was a 19th-century Bengali Islamic scholar and teacher. He was notable for his founding of the Madinatul Uloom Bagbari, the first madrasa in the Barak Valley region.

Early life and ancestry

Choudhury was born to a

Sufi saint Shah Jalal.[2][3]

According to a handwritten manuscript by Choudhury's eldest son

mus'haf by Mir Husayn (dating to 1056 AH / 1647 CE), gilded by Muhammad Yusuf Ali. The emperor granted him jagirs near the village of Kaliganj, near present-day Karimganj district.[1]

Education and career

At some point, Choudhury became a disciple of

Sufi scholar of the Chishti Order. He is said to have fought alongside Makki against the British in the Battle of Shamli, a part of the greater Indian Rebellion of 1857. Upon the failure of the revolt however, both men left the Indian subcontinent and migrated to Mecca.[3][4] Choudhury was among the seventeen families that had emigrated from Sylhet, with other families being that of Syed Bakht Majumdar of Sylhet town, the Mians of Sonatia, the ancestors of Principal Habibur Rahman and the ancestors of Khan Bahadur Mahmud Ali (former Assam minister).[1]

Tradition states that while in Mecca, Choudhury dreamt he was visited by the

Greater Sylhet region, a reputation it maintains to the present-day.[3]

Death and legacy

Choudhury himself acquired considerable renown, with tales arising of him having possessed spiritual powers.[note 2] After his death, his grave became a shrine or Mazar, which is located in what is now Rauthgram, Karimganj district.[2][6]

He was the father of Abdul Hai Choudhury and Gulam Rob Choudhury, distinguished Islamic scholars in their own right. His descendant, Abdul Bari Choudhury, was appointed as the principal of Madinatul Uloom Bagbari in 1948 after returning from his studies at

Karimganj South.[2] Among Choudhury's other descendants are Jamil Ahmad Choudhury and Saeed Ahmad Choudhury, who are also teachers at Bagbari, as well as Abdul Ahad Choudhury, who taught at Karimganj High Madrasa.[1]

Notes

  1. ^ It is also known as the Darul Uloom Bagbari.[5]
  2. ^ One such legend states that several decades after his death, Choudhury had materialised in person to save one of his sons from danger.[6]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Qasemi, Ataur Rahman (2021), Choudhury, Tajul (ed.), একটি উজ্জল ইতিহাস (in Bengali), Madinatul Uloom Bagbari
  2. ^
    ISBN 978-1-64678-800-2
    .
  3. ^ a b c d Rahman, Md. Matiur; Bhuiya, Abdul Musabbir (2009). Teaching of Arabic language in Barak Valley: a historical study (14th to 20th century) (PDF). Silchar: Assam University. pp. 59–60.
  4. ^ Thanwi, Ashraf Ali (1982). "Imdad al-Mushtaq ila Ashraf al-Akhlaq". Islamic Culture. LVI (I). Islamic Culture Board: 321.
  5. ^ a b Khan, Bazlur Rahman (25 May 2012). "Madrasa Education System in South Assam". The Milli Gazette. Retrieved 4 February 2020.
  6. ^ a b Talukdar, Dilwar Hussain (2015). "A study on Sufi Saints in Karimganj District of Assam (1346-1947)" (PDF). Pratidhwani the Echo. III (IV). Dept. of Bengali, Karimganj College: 76. Archived from the original (PDF) on 30 September 2020. Retrieved 5 February 2020.
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