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Karamat Ali Jaunpuri Hādi-e-Zamān[1] | |
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| Personal life | |
| Born | Muhammad Ali Jaunpuri (1800-06-12)June 12, 1800 CE (18Muharram 1215AH) |
| Died | May 30, 1873(1873-05-30) (aged 72) (3 Rabi' al-Thani 1290AH) Rangpur, Bengal Presidency |
| Resting place | Karamatia Mazar, Munshipara, Rangpur |
| Children | Hafiz Ahmad Jaunpuri Abdul Awwal Jaunpuri |
| Occupation | Theologian and social reformer |
| Relatives | Abdur Rab Jaunpuri (grandson) Abdul Batin Jaunpuri (grandson) Rashid Ahmed Jaunpuri (grandson) |
| Religious life | |
| Religion | Islam |
| Denomination | Sunni |
| Jurisprudence | Hanafi |
| Teachers | Shah Abdul Aziz Shah Ismail Dehlvi |
| Creed | Maturidi |
| Movement | Taiyuni |
| Muslim leader | |
| Predecessor | Syed Ahmad Shaheed |
| Successor | Hafiz Ahmad Jaunpuri |
Students | |
Influenced by | |
Karāmat ʿAlī Jaunpūrī (Urdu:کرامت علی جونپوری,Bengali:কারামত আলী জৌনপুরী; 12 June 1800 – 30 May 1873), born asMuḥammad ʿAlī Jaunpūrī, was a nineteenth-centuryIndian Muslim social reformer and founder of theTaiyuni movement. He played a major role in propagating to the masses ofBengal andAssam via public sermons, and wrote over forty books.Syed Ameer Ali is one of his notable students.[2]
Muhammad Ali Jaunpuri was born in the neighbourhood of Mulla Tola inJaunpur inUttar Pradesh inIndia on 18Muharram 1215A. H. (12 June 1800 CE).[3] It is claimed that he was the 35th direct descendant ofAbu Bakr, the firstRashidun caliph,[4] with his ancestors migrating fromBaghdad to Jaunpur in the early 19th century. His father, Abu Ibrahim Shaykh Muhammad Imam Bakhsh, was the only son ofShaykh Jarullah and Musammat Jamila Bibi. Bakhsh was a student ofShah Abdul Aziz and was employed as asheristadar at the Jaunpur Collectorate. Jaunpuri's mother, Musammat Bati Bibi, was the daughter of Shaykh Lutf-e-Ali. His younger brother, Shah Rab Ali Jaunpuri, was afaqir andkhalifah ofSyed Ahmad Shaheed.[5]
It is said that the nameKaramat was later prefixed to his name as people started to notice hiskaramat.[6] From his own books, it can be seen that he used to refer to himself as simply 'Ali Jaunpuri' or 'Ali Jaunpuri better known as Karamat Ali'.[7]
His lineage is recorded as follows: He is Ali, bin Abu Ibrahim Muhammad Imam Bakhsh, bin Jarullah, bin Gul Muhammad, bin Najib ad-Din, bin Muhammad Fazil, bin Muhammad Ali, bin Abu Muhammad, bin Abdullah, bin Abu al-Fath, bin Hamid, bin Muhammad Hafiz, bin Sayadullah Hafiz, bin Hafiz, bin Burhan ad-Din, bin Khwaja Ashraf, bin Khwaja Najib, bin Khwaja Sayfullah, bin Khwaja Shams ad-Din, bin Khwaja Bayazid, bin Khwaja Abdullah, bin Khwaja Sufi, bin Khwaja Muzaffar, bin Khwaja Mus'ab, bin Khwaja Sayf ad-Din, bin Khwaja Nasir ad-Din, bin Khwaja Abu Saham, bin Khwaja Abu Ali, bin Khwaja Umar, bin Khwaja Ibrahim, bin Khwaja Ahmad.[8][5] Khwaja Ahmad is claimed to have been a son ofMuhammad ibn Abi Bakr although this is not attested.
Jaunpuri's early education inArabic andPersian began with his father, and he later startedHadith studies and otherIslamic studies under QudratullahRadaulvi and Ahmadullah Anami. He studied reasoning with Ahmad Ali AbbasiChiraiyakoti and was taughttajweed andQur'an by Qari Sayyid Ibrahim Madani and Qari Sayyid MuhammadIskandarani,[9] eventually mastering allseven qira'at.[3] Jaunpuri was also taughtNastaliq andTughra calligraphy by Hafiz Abdul Ghani to such a degree that it was said he could writeAl-Ikhlas with thebasmala on a piece of rice and leave space to write his name as well. Apart from this, he also learned the martial arts and wrestling and the art of running sticks and knots from expert art teachers. Jaunpuri studiedfiqh underShah Abdul Aziz andShah Ismail Dehlvi.[3] He was also a student of Sakhawat Ali Jaunpuri (d. 1854).[10]
At the age of eighteen, Jaunpuri became interested intasawwuf. After taking his father's permission, Jaunpuri pledgedbay'ah toSayyid Ahmad ofRaebareli, who was the founder of theTariqah-e-Muhammadiya movement.[4] On the very first week of service, Sayyid Ahmad instructed him to get involved in the work of guidance and bestowed the Khilafah (succession) letter with the spiritual genealogy through Shah Ismail Dehlvi.[11][note 1]
His religious activities were spread across northern India in places likeJaunpur,Azamgarh,Sultanpur,Ghazipur andFaizabad. At that time, there was no daytimeadhan in Jaunpur, it could only be heard with the rising and setting of the sun. He reformed this un-Islamic ritual and with great effort issued adhan in mosques. There were also concerns behind the management of the historicJama Mosque, Jaunpur. Instead of adhan and prayers, the mosque was used for worldly gatherings likebaraat, clubbing and marriage ceremonies regardless of religion. Cattle were also tied in some parts of the Jamia Masjid. It continued for many years after until Jaunpuri managed to re-establish the five daily prayers at the mosque. Similarly, after Jamia Masjid Jaunpur, he started a series of Friday sermons which continued for many years after his death. Due to his preaching efforts, attempts were made to kill him several times but he escaped due to his skill in martial arts. He also established Madrasa Hanafia and Madrasat-ul-Quran in Jaunpur for the publication of religious knowledge. The first teacher of Madrasa Hanafia was Abdul Haleem Farangi Mohali (father of Abdul Hai Lucknowi).[12][9][11]
Under Sayyid Ahmad's instruction in 1822, Jaunpuri began preaching to theMuslim masses inBengal andAssam.[4][6][13] He played an important role in Arabic,Urdu and Islamic studies in the country.[14] Starting inCalcutta, he travelled to various places includingDhaka,Mymensingh,Dinajpur,Faridpur,Noakhali,Chittagong,Goalpara,Dhubri,Kamrup andRangpur.
For most of Karamat Ali Jaunpuri's career, he had to sail in Bengal and Assam for religious activities. For this reason, he established a travellingmadrasa within a large boat. His students lived in the boat and Jaunpuri used to bear their expenses and teach them there.[11]
TheTariqa-e-Muhammadiya split into two in 1867 with Jaunpuri leading a faction which came to be known as theTaiyunis.[15] The Taiyunis considered cooperating with the British authorities as the more ideal option rather than rebelling. Karamat Ali Jaunpuri and the Taiyunis were also opponents ofHaji Shariatullah'sFaraizi movement which declaredBritish India as aDar al-Harb (house of war) and discarded theFriday prayer andEid prayers. Instead, he issued afatwa declaring the colonised territory as aDar al-Aman as the British government allowedfreedom of religion. Hisfatwa was used by other Muslim scholars as well as Muslim modernists ofthe subcontinent likeNawab Abdul Latif and laterSyed Ahmad Khan to justify their loyalty and cooperation to theBritish Empire.[1] During his lifetime, Jaunpuri engaged in debate with the Faraizis, most prominentlyAbdul Jabbar Faraizi.[4] The first debate regarding the Friday prayer was held inBarisal in 1867, and this was followed up by a debate in 1879 by his sonHafiz Ahmad Jaunpuri inMadaripur. Over five thousand people attended the latter event and it was dubbed byNabinchandra Sen as theBattle of Jumuʿah.[citation needed]
Karamat Ali Jaunpuri married four times. He first married a lady of Jaunpur but she died. He married two women in Noakhali who also died during his lifetime. His fourth wife, originally from North India, settled in Rangpur with him.[1]
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Ideology/schools of thought |
Jaunpuri wrote roughly 46 books. 19 of them were compiled into the three-volume Zakhira-e-Karamat book. The remaining works are scarce. An incomplete list of his works:
During his travels inRangpur in 1873, Jaunpuri fell ill and subsequently died on 2Rabi' al-Thani 1290 AH (30 May 1873 CE).[3] He was buried near the Munshipara Jame Mosque in Rangpur.[4][6]
Jaunpuri left behind 14 children. Two of his sons, Hafiz Ahmad Jaunpuri andAbdul Awwal Jaunpuri gained prominence in Bengal later on.[16][17][18]
Jaunpuri had hundreds of spiritual successors (khalifas) including:
Institutions named after him include: