Muhammad Wakkas | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Member of 3rd/4thJatiya Sangsad | |
| In office 1986–1991 | |
| President | Hussain Muhammad Ershad |
| Succeeded by | Khan Tipu Sultan |
| Minister of Religious Affairs | |
| In office 1 August 1986 – 28 August 1988 | |
| President | Hussain Muhammad Ershad |
| Preceded by | Abdul Mannan |
| Succeeded by | Shamsul Islam |
| Secretary-General ofJamiat Ulema-e-Islam | |
| In office 1991–2016 | |
| Preceded by | Shamsuddin Qasemi |
| Succeeded by | Nur Hossain Kasemi |
| Member of 8thJatiya Sangsad | |
| In office 2001–2006 | |
| Prime Minister | Khaleda Zia |
| Preceded by | Khan Tipu Sultan |
| Succeeded by | Khan Tipu Sultan |
| Personal details | |
| Political party | Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Bangladesh Jatiya Party(1986-1996) Islami Oikya Jote(1991) Bangladesh Nationalist Party(2001-2008) |
| Personal life | |
| Born | (1952-01-15)15 January 1952 |
| Died | 31 March 2021(2021-03-31) (aged 69) |
| Alma mater | Darul Uloom Deoband |
| Religious life | |
| Religion | Islam |
| Denomination | Sunni |
| Jurisprudence | Hanafi |
| Teachers | Qazi Mu'tasim Billah |
| Movement | Deobandi |
Muhammad Wakkas (15 January 1952 – 31 March 2021) was a Bangladeshi Islamic scholar, teacher, former Member of Parliament and State Minister. He was the founder of Jamia Imdadia Madaninagar Madrasa, the largestmadrasa inSouth Bengal, accommodating roughly 2000 students.[1]
Muhammad Wakkas was born on 15 January 1952, to aBengali Muslim family in the village of Bijayrampur inManirampur,Jessore District,East Bengal. He was the youngest child of Muhammad Ismail and Nurjahan Begum.[2]
His education began at his local primary school, where he achieved the top position in the final exams. This impressed his mother, who then enrolled him at the Lauri Ramnagar Kamil Madrasa, a noted institution ofSouth Bengal. He memorised the entireQur'an off by heart in three months and was the highest scorer for the Alim exam of his board in 1967. He studied for his Kamil degree at the Bahadurpur Shariatia Alia Madrasa inMadaripur and was the highest scorer for his exam board for that too, in 1971. In 1972, he completed hisHigher Secondary School Certificate at the Manirampur College.[1]
Tajammul Ali, his teacher and also thekhalifa ofHussain Ahmad Madani, advised him to study at theDarul Uloom Deoband inNorth India. He remained in Deoband for four years, topped the exams for Mawquf Alayhi (1973), Takmil-e-Ulum-e-Diniyat (1975) and Ifta (1976), and gained the title ofMufti.[1]
Wakkas was involved in politics during his time as a student, where his teacher often took him toJamiat Ulema-e-Islam programmes. Whilst studying for his Kamil degree at Bahadurpur, Wakkas was elected as the vice-president of the Bahadurpur branch of Jamiat-e-Talaba-e-Arabia. After theindependence of Bangladesh, he became theNazim ofJamiat Ulema-e-Islam Bangladesh'sKhulna branch. On Jamiat's decision, Wakkas briefly joined theBangladesh Khilafat Andolan, founded byHafezzi Huzur in 1981,[3] but later left it to return to Jamiat.
Wakkas was advised by Shamsuddin Qasimi to participate in the1986 Bangladeshi general election as aJatiya Party candidate. In this election, he successfully gained a seat at theJessore-5 constituency. He kept this seat after the1988 Bangladeshi general election.[4][5] During his first term as a Member of Parliament, Wakkas also served as the country'sMinister of Religious Affairs.[6] He also later served as thewhip.
After the fall of Ershad's Jatiya Party, Wakkas stood for the1991 Bangladeshi general elections as a candidate under theIslami Oikya Jote alliance. He was unsuccessful in gaining a seat in this election, losing toKhan Tipu Sultan of theAwami League. It was also in this year that theJamiat Ulema-e-Islam Bangladesh had appointed him as secretary-general during their National Council at Arzabad Madrasa.
At theJune 1996 Bangladeshi general election, he stood up once more asJatiya Party candidate but failed to defeat Khan Tipu Sultan. He later joined theBangladesh Nationalist Party, and was elected to parliament following the2001 Bangladeshi general election, where he received 20,000 more votes than his rival Khan Tipu Sultan.[7] However, Sultan managed to defeat Wakkas in the2008 Bangladeshi general election.
In 1982, Wakkas established the Jamia Imdadia Madaninagar Madrasa inManirampur. 7 years later, he founded a female branch of the madrasa. The faculty ofHadith studies began in 1995, and for females in 2003. In 2009, the institution became the largest madrasa inSouth Bengal after the opening of itsIfta department.[1] He was a member ofHefazat-e-Islam Bangladesh.[8]
Wakkas died on 31 March 2021 at a hospital inDhaka.[1]