Shibli Nomani

Shibli Nomani (Urdu: علّامہ شِبلی نُعمانی‎ – ʿAllāmah Šiblī Noʿmānī; 3 June 1857 – 18 November 1914) was an Islamic scholar from the Indian subcontinent during the British Raj. He was born at Bindwal in Azamgarh district of present-day Uttar Pradesh.[4] He is known for the founding of the Shibli National College in 1883 and the Darul Mussanifin (House of Writers) in Azamgarh. Nomani was a scholar in Arabic, Persian, Turkish and Urdu. He was also a poet. He collected much material on the life of the Prophet of Islam, Muhammad but could write only first two volumes of the planned work the Sirat-un-Nabi. His disciple, Sulaiman Nadvi, made use of this material and added to it and also wrote remaining five volumes of the work, the Sirat-un-Nabi after the death of his mentor.[1][4]

Mawlānā Imam Allama Shibli Nomani
Shibli Nomani
Personal
Born	3 June 1857[1] Bindwal, Azamgarh district, British India (present day Uttar Pradesh, India)
Died	18 November 1914 (aged 57)[1]
Religion	Islam
Era	Modern era
Region	British India
Denomination	Sunni
Jurisprudence	Hanafi[2]
Creed	Maturidi[3]
Main interest(s)	Islamic philosophy Biography Education history Quran Languages
Notable idea(s)	Sirat-un-Nabi
Alma mater	Urdu Masters English masters Arabic Masters Persian masters German masters Turkish Masters
Muslim leader
Influenced by Shah Waliullah, Syed Ahmed Khan, Thomas Arnold[1]
Influenced Abul Kalam Azad, Syed Sulaiman Nadvi, Abdus Salam Nadvi , Hameeduddin Farahi, Amin Ahsan Islahi, Sajjad Ahmad Yeldram, Javed Ahmad Ghamidi, Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, Muhammad Ali Jauhar[1]

Early life

He was born into a Muslim Family to Sheikh Habibullah and Moqeema Khatoon.[1] Although his younger brothers went to London, England for education and later returned as a barrister, employed at Allahabad High Court.

Nomani received a traditional Islamic education. Nomani was named after Abu-Bakr Al Shibli who was a sufi saint and a disciple of Junayd Baghdadi. Nomani later Added Nomani to his name. His teacher was Maulana Muhammad Farooq Chirayakoti, a rationalist scholar who was an outspoken opponent of Sir Syed. This aspect of Nomani’s background perhaps explains his ambivalent relationship with Aligarh and Sir Syed. The Chirayakot connection is significant. David Lalyveld notes that Chirayakot was the center of ‘a uniquely rationalist and eclectic school of ulema’, who studied Mu’tazalite theology, the early Arab development of Greek science and philosophy, as well as such languages as Sanskrit and Hebrew.

Nomani therefore had reasons to be both attracted and repelled by Aligarh. Even after he had secured a post as a teacher of Persian and Arabic at Aligarh, he always found the intellectual atmosphere at the college disappointing, and eventually left Aligarh because he found it uncongenial, although he did not officially resign from the college until after Sir Syed’s death in 1898. [5]

In the Middle East

When he returned to India from the Middle East, he met Syed Ahmed Khan (1817–1898) who had just established Aligarh Muslim University. Nomani was offered and joined a teaching position at the university on 1 February 1882. He taught Persian and Arabic languages at Aligarh for sixteen years where he met Thomas Arnold and other British scholars from whom he learned first-hand modern Western ideas and thoughts. He travelled with Thomas Arnold in 1892 to Syria, Egypt, Turkey and other countries of the Middle East and got direct and practical experience of their societies. His scholarship influenced Thomas Arnold on one hand, and on the other he was influenced by Thomas Arnold to a great extent, and this explains the modern touch in his ideas. In Cairo, he met noted Islamic scholar Sheikh Muhammad Abduh (1849-1905).[6]

In Hyderabad and Lucknow

After the death of Sir Syed Ahmed in 1898, he left Aligarh University and became an advisor in the Education Department of Hyderabad State. He initiated many reforms in the Hyderabad education system. From his policy, the Osmania University of Hyderabad adopted Urdu as the medium of instruction. Before that, no other university of India had adopted any vernacular language as the medium of instruction in higher studies. In 1905, he left Hyderabad and went to Lucknow to become the principal of Nadwat tul-'Ulum (Nadwa). He introduced reforms in the school's teaching and curriculum. He stayed at the school for five years but the orthodox class of scholars became hostile towards him, and he had to leave Lucknow to settle in the area around his hometown, Azamgarh in 1913.[6]

Founding of Darul Mussanifin

Earlier at Nadwa, he had wanted to establish Darul Musannifin or the House of Writers but he could not do this at that time. He bequeathed his bungalow and mango orchard and motivated the members of his clan and relatives to do the same and had succeeded. He wrote letters to his disciples and other eminent persons and sought their co-operation. Eventually one of his disciples, Syed Sulaiman Nadvi fulfilled his dream and established Darul Musannifin at Azamgarh. The first formal meeting of the institution was held on 21 November 1914, within three days of his death.[1][7]

Nomani’s ideology

Nomani and Sir Syed Ahmed wished for the welfare of Muslims, and wanted to have Western thinking and style come along with it. However, Sir Syed wanted to save the Muslims from the wrath of the British rulers after their active participation in the War of Independence of 1857, called the "Sepoy Mutiny" of 1857 by the British colonialist rulers, whereas, Shibli wanted to make them self-reliant and self-respecting by regaining their lost heritage and tradition.[1]

Nomani was a staunch supporter of Pan-Islamism. He wrote poems and articles decrying the British and other Western powers when Turkey was defeated in the Balkan Wars and he urged the world Muslims to unite. In 1913, when the British Administration in India stormed the Kanpur Mosque, Shibli condemned them.

Aligarh movement

According to some scholars, Shibli was against the Aligarh movement. He opposed the ideology of Sir Syed and that is why he was debarred from the services of Muhammadan Anglo-Oriental College. Kamleshwar wrote a novel 'Kitne Pakistan' (How Many Pakistan?)[8] and in that novel he portrays Nomani as a narrow-minded Muslim theologian. In another book, 'Ataturk Fi Karbala by Arif ul Islam', the author alleged that Shibli was not happy with Sir Syed's policies and ideologies and was involved vehemently against Aligarh movement.[9] There does not appear to be evidence of any difference of opinion between Nomani and Sir Syed either in the former's writings or in the correspondence during the life-time of the latter. Shibli's first critical reference is not to Sir Syed but to Altaf Hussain Hali with reference to "Hayat-i-Javed" which Shibli referred to as "sheer hagiography" (sarasar madah sarai). It was only later, i.e. after 1907 that Shibli made many critical references to 'Aligarh College' and occasionally to the founder Sir Syed.

From these writings, one is inclined to agree with the reasons assigned by Shaikh Ikram for this change of attitude. These are:

(a) Nomani‘a desire to show that the traditionalist model of Nadwa was superior to that of Aligarh.

(b) Nomani‘a affection and reliance on Abul Kalam Azad who was allergic to Aligarh and Sir Syed Ahmad Khan. One of the primary objectives of 'Al Hilal' newspaper was "Aligarh ke Aiwan-i-Ghulami ko girana". Shibli and Azad's desire that promoters of the proposed Muslim University should not give up the demand for an all India affiliating jurisdiction.

(c) Lack of agreement on ideology between Shibli and Viqar-ul-Mulk. Shibli had deep affection for Mohsinul Mulk, who had appointed Shibli as the first Secretary of the Anjuman-i Taraqqi-i Urdu which started as a subsidiary of the All India Muslim Educational Conference.

(d) The effect of the Muslim families of Bombay on Shibli. These Muslim families were favorable to the ideology of Indian National Congress party. They were called 'pro-Congress' people.

Legacy and survivors

Nomani had two daughters, Rabia Khatoon and Jannutul Fatima, and one son, Hamid Hassan Nomani.[1] This son was born in 1882 and died in 1942. He had another son who died soon after birth, and five daughters.

They are:

• Naseem Jehan, retired director of health, Bangladesh, died in Karachi in 1994. She was married in 1940 to Dr Zafrul Huda of Dhaka University. He died in 1978 at Dhaka. They have one daughter.
• Shamim Jehan (died in Karachi in 2005), married in 1940 to Ehtesham Ahmed, who died in 1982. They have eight sons and seven daughters.
• Tehseen Jehan, married in 1940 to Shaukat Sultan, principal of Shibli National College, Azamgarh. She is living in Karachi, Pakistan these days. They have three sons and four daughters.
• Mohsina Sultana, married in 1950 to Amanullah Khan, director of industries, Uttar Pradesh, India. They have four sons and one daughter.
• Momina Sultan, married in 1952 to Captain Khan Sohail Sultan. They have four sons.

• Pakistan Postal Services issued a commemorative postage stamp in his honor in its 'Pioneers of Freedom' series in 1992.[10]

Works

Shibli was inspired by the progress of science and education in the West. He wanted to inspire the Muslims to make similar progress by having recourse to their lost heritage and culture, and warned them against getting lost in Western culture. "Ultimately, the Nadwa gave up its notions of uniting occidental and oriental knowledge and concentrated on Islamic scholarship, and on the dissemination of biographical and historical writing in Urdu. Shibli's own writings set the pattern for the latter."[1] In keeping with this goal, he wrote the following books;

• Sirat-un-Nabi[11] (Life of the Holy Prophet) Shibli Nomani started to write this book but he died in 1914, then his student Sulaiman Nadvi took over the responsibility of finishing it and finally completed this book.[4][7]
• Sirat an-Nu'man[4]
• Al-Faruq , (a biography of the Caliph Omar Farooq)[1][4]
• Al-Ma'mun,
• Al-Ghazali , (a biography of Imam Al-Ghazali)[12][7]
• Imam Ibn-e-Tamia (Edited by Mohammad Tanzeel-ul-siddiqi al-husaini ),
• Mawlana Rumi (a biography of Mawlana Rumi)[4][7]
• Aurangzeb Alamgir Par Ek Nazar- a book on the life of Mughal emperor Aurangzeb (1658-1707)[12][4][7]
• Sher-ul-ʻAjam, a history of Persian poetry
• "Ilm-Kalam", a history of Muslim theology
• Safar Nama e Rome-o-Misr-o-Sham - a travelogue of Rome, Egypt, Syria and Turkey along with his scholar companion Thomas Walker Arnold in 1892[12][4][7]

“Lot of injustice has been done to Shibli. While Maulana Aslam Jairajpuri pointed out errors in "Sher-ul-Ajam", it was not mentioned that Shibli was the first to write a biography of Maulana Rumi. Though differences between Sir Syed and Shibli are highlighted, but it has not been pointed out that in spite of Sir Syed's opposition to the writing of "Al-Farooq", Shibli never complained about it. Sir Syed lamented that Shibli's Persian poetry was never tested on its merit and was wrongly associated with his acquaintance with an enlightened intellectual lady of the time Madam Atiya Fyzee. He refuted Shaikh Mohammad Ikram's claim in this regard and subtly highlighted delicacy of Shibli's thought moulded into his Persian poetry"[13]

See also

• Hamiduddin Farahi (a student of Shibli Nomani)
• Abdul Bari Nadvi (a student of Shibli Nomani)
• Sulaiman Nadvi (a student of Shibli Nomani who later became a scholar and a historian)
• Hamiduddin Farahi, in English language- The biographical sketches in the Darul Musannefin Shibli Academy website
• Maulana Hamiduddin Farahi, in Urdu language– The biographical sketches in the Darul Musannefin, Shibli Academy website
• Muslim Rajputs

References

1. Profile of Shibli Nomani on shibliacademy.org website Published 11 March 2009, Retrieved 16 July 2020
2. Fyzee, Asaf Ali Asghar; Mahmood, Tahir (January 2008). Outlines of Muhammadan Law. ISBN 9780195691696. Retrieved 16 July 2020.
3. "Fikr o naẓar". GoogleBooks website. July 1985. Retrieved 16 July 2020.
4. Versatile Scholar Shibli Nomani remembered today Associated Press Of Pakistan website, Published 18 November 2019, Retrieved 16 July 2020
5. http://www.shibliacademy.org/Allama_Shibli_Nomani/Allama_Shibli_Nomani_by_Ian_Henderson
6. Profile of Shibli Nomani by Ian Henderson Douglas on shibliacademy.org website Published 16 March 2009, Retrieved 16 July 2020
7. Profile and publications of Allama Muhammad Shibli Nomani on Open Library.org website (Internet Archive) Retrieved 16 July 2020
8. Kitne Pakistan, Rajpal & Sons, 2004. ISBN 81-7028-320-5
9. Ataturk Fi Karbala, by Dr. Arif Ul Islam, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh, 2007
10. Detailed image of commemorative postage stamp to honor Shibli Nomani Retrieved 16 July 2020
11. Sirat-un-Nabi book on GoogleBooks website Retrieved 16 July 2020
12. Profile of Shibli Nomani on rekhta.org website Retrieved 16 July 2020
13. Shamsur Rahman Farooqi, Shibli Nomani Annual Extension Lecture 2011, Darul Musannefin Shibli AcademyAcademy, Azamgarh

External links

• Shibli Nomani, the biographical sketches in the Darul Musannefin, Shibli Academy website.
• 'Life of the Prophet' By Allama Shibli Nu'mani
• Kulliyat e Shibli by Shibli Nomani