He was educated in the city's madrasa, which was founded by Bengal's governorShaista Khan in Pathartali Katra, four miles away from Maghbazar.[7] After that, he enrolled at the Furqaniyyah Dar al-Ulum Madrasa in Motijhil, Murshidabad, which was founded by Nawazish Muhammad Khan.[8] Shah Nuri then became a murid (disciple) of Baghu Dewan of Binni Bazar, Rajshahi. During his education he studied books such as Mashariq al-Anwar `ala Sahih al-Athar, a book on Hadith by Qadi Iyad, and Sharh Matali`, a book on logic by Qutb ad-Din al-Razi.[9]
Career
In 1775, he wrote a book titled Kibrīt-e-Aḥmar (Red Sulphur) in the Persian language.[10] However, Saghir Hasan al-Masumi argues that it was written in 1763.[11] The book was focused on tasawwuf, but also contained biographies of contemporary Sufis, such as a list of the murids of the Babupura Khanqah.[12]
Nuri returned to Dhaka in 1779, where he set up a new khanqah in Maghbazar. He spent his life disseminating Islamic values to his followers at the khanqah.[13] Many of the Naib Nazims of Dhaka and the later Nawabs of Dhaka were disciples of Shah Nuri and his descendants.[14][15] In particular, Shah Nuri was the pir and murshid of Naib Nazim Jasarat Khan.[3]
Death and legacy
Nuri died in 1785 and was buried in Maghbazar, Dhaka.[9] The historian Taifoor was of the opinion that he died in 1774, although this is inconsistent with the date of completion of Nuri's book.[3] He had four sons, all of whom died in their childhood except the fourth; Abul Wafa Shah Muhammadi (d. 1835), who succeeded him as the Gaddi nasheen of Maghbazar Khanqah. His sons were buried next to him in a mazar (mausoleum). Khwaja Abdullah of the Nawab family requested to be buried next to Nuri, and is now buried towards his right.[5][16]
During this period, such books would be copied by hand rather than printing. One manuscript of Nuri's book was hand-written by Sadruddin Ahmad of Mahuttuli.[17] This is now preserved at the Hakim Habibur Rahman Collection of the Dhaka University Library.[18] A girls' school in Dhaka has been named after him as Shahnuri Model Girls High School in Shahshab Bari Road.
References
^Mawlana Nur Muhammad Azmi. "2.2 বঙ্গে এলমে হাদীছ" [2.2 Knowledge of Hadith in Bengal]. হাদীছের তত্ত্ব ও ইতিহাস [Information and history of Hadith] (in Bengali). Emdadia Library. p. 24.
^al-Kumillai, Muhammad Hifzur Rahman (2018). "الشيخ الفاضل شاه نوري البنغالي" [The honourable Shaykh Shāh Nūrī al-Bangālī]. كتاب البدور المضية في تراجم الحنفية (in Arabic). Cairo, Egypt: Dar al-Salih.
^Hossain, Nazir (1981). কিংবদন্তির ঢাকা: Historical anecdotes about Dacca City, Bangladesh, ancient to the present, with a list of luminaries of the city (in Bengali). Azad Muslim Club (distributor National Book Centre). pp. 52–54.
^Bhuiyan, Mosharraf Hossain (1997). "The Mosque of Mariam Saleha". Journal of the Faculty of Arts: The Dhaka University Studies. 54 (2). University of Dhaka: 188.
^Nadvi, Abul Hasanat (1936). ہندوستان کی قدیم اسلامی درسگاہیں [Ancient Islamic schools of India] (in Urdu). Azamgarh, Uttar Pradesh: Ma'arif Press. p. 56.
^ abBegum, Shabnam (1994). "Arabic and Persian literature in Bengal during eighteenth century: Shah Nuri". Bengal's contribution to Islamic studies during the 18th century (Thesis). Aligarh Muslim University. pp. 101–102.
^al-Ma‛sumi, Muhammad Saghir Hasan (March 1967). "Bengal's contribution to Islamic learning". Journal of the Islamic Research Institute of Pakistan. VI. Pakistan: Islamic Research Institute of Pakistan: 162.
^As‛adi, Mahmud (1994). در درى: موقعيت ادبيات فارسى در جهان معاصر (in Persian). سازمان انتشارات كيهان. p. 69.
