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{{short description|Bengali activist, journalist and philosopher (1875-1950)}}
{{infobox writer
| name = Maulana Maniruzzaman Islamabadi
| image = Maniruzzaman Islamabadi-en.jpg
| birth_date = 1875
| death_date = 1950
|death_place = [[Kolkata]], India
| birth_place = [[Patiya]], [[Chittagong District]], [[Bengal Presidency]], [[British Raj|British India]] (now [[Bangladesh]])
| language = Bengali
}}
'''Munīruzzamān Khān Islāmābādī''' ({{lang-bn|মনিরুজ্জামান খাঁন ইসলামাবাদী}}; 1875-1950), also known by the [[epithet]] '''Biplobi Maulana''' ({{lang-bn|বিপ্লবী মাওলানা||Revolutionary [[Maulana]]}}),<ref name=sang/> 1875–1950) was a Muslim philosopher, nationalist activist and journalist from Islamabad (now known as [[Chittagong]]) in [[Bengal Presidency]], [[British Raj|British India]] (present-day [[Bangladesh]]).<ref name=":0">{{cite Banglapedia|author=Hoque, Muhammad Inamul|article=Islamabadi, Maulana Maniruzzaman}}</ref><ref name=":1" /> He was among the founders of the [[Jamiat Ulama-e-Hind]].<ref name="wasif"/>

== Early life ==
Maniruzzaman Khan Islamabadi was born into a [[Bengali Muslim]] family in Araliar Char village under [[Barama union]]<ref name=sang>{{cite news |script-title=bn:বিপ্লবী মওলানা মনিরুজ্জামান ইসলামাবাদী |url=http://www.dailysangram.com/post/210221-%E0%A6%AC%E0%A6%BF%E0%A6%AA%E0%A7%8D%E0%A6%B2%E0%A6%AC%E0%A7%80-%E0%A6%AE%E0%A6%93%E0%A6%B2%E0%A6%BE%E0%A6%A8%E0%A6%BE-%E0%A6%AE%E0%A6%A8%E0%A6%BF%E0%A6%B0%E0%A7%81%E0%A6%9C%E0%A7%8D%E0%A6%9C%E0%A6%BE%E0%A6%AE%E0%A6%BE%E0%A6%A8-%E0%A6%87%E0%A6%B8%E0%A6%B2%E0%A6%BE%E0%A6%AE%E0%A6%BE%E0%A6%AC%E0%A6%BE%E0%A6%A6%E0%A7%80 |work=The Daily Sangram |date=30 October 2015 |language=bn}}</ref> in [[Patiya Upazila]] (present [[Chandanaish Upazila]]) of [[Chittagong]] district.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Rizvi|first1=S.N.H.|title=East Pakistan District Gazetteers|journal=Government of East Pakistan Services and General Administration Department|date=1965|issue=1|page=353|url=http://dl.nlb.gov.bd/greenstone/collect/admin-books/index/assoc/HASHe169/d1b0804f.dir/EAST%20PAKISTAN%20DISTRICT%20GAZETTEER%20CHITTAGONG%20-%20page%201.pdf|accessdate=7 November 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161220073104/http://dl.nlb.gov.bd/greenstone/collect/admin-books/index/assoc/HASHe169/d1b0804f.dir/EAST%20PAKISTAN%20DISTRICT%20GAZETTEER%20CHITTAGONG%20-%20page%201.pdf|archive-date=20 December 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref> As he became older, he taught at various traditional [[madrassas]].<ref name=":0" />

==Career==

=== Journalism and writing ===
Islamabadi began his career as a journalist by editing or managing [[Muslim]] reformist periodicals such as the ''Soltan'' (1901), ''Hablul Matin'' (1912), and journals such as ''Mohammadi'' (1903), ''[[The Kohinoor]]'' (1911), ''Basona'' (1904) and ''Al-Eslam'' (1913).<ref name=":0" /> He organised literary conferences at Chittagong in 1922 and 1930 amidst pomp and grandeur. One such conference under the banner of "Chittagong Literary Society" was chaired by [[Rabindranath Tagore]].<ref>{{Cite news |last = Das|first = Uday Shankar|date = 14 August 2013|title = Tagore: The Chittagong Connection|url = http://www.thedailystar.net/beta2/news/the-chittagong-connection-2/|newspaper = The Daily Star|access-date = 1 September 2013}}</ref>

=== Political activism ===
Islamabadi's activism started in 1904 with the "Islam Mission Samity" which had undertaken a course of action to preach awareness among [[Bengali Muslims]] of their [[Islamic culture|cultural heritage]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Chakrabarty |first=Bidyut |date=2004 |title=The Partition of Bengal and Assam, 1932-1947: Contour of Freedom |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=in1_AgAAQBAJ&pg=PT75 |location=Delhi |publisher=Routledge |pages=35–37 |isbn=1-134-33274-2}}</ref> Referring to the uneducated [[mullahs]]' reservation about learning [[geography]] on the baseless ground that the subject was created by the "''Kafir English,''" Islamabadi wrote:
{{quote|text=We wouldn’t be able to change our conditions, let alone make progress, until we would take the trouble to review out[sic] history and acquire essential knowledge about geography, science, industry, commerce and agriculture, et cetera.<ref name=":1" />}}
Islamabadi supported the [[Indian National Congress]] and took an active part in the movement for the annulment of the [[Partition of Bengal (1905)|Partition of Bengal]]. He also participated actively in the [[Non-cooperation Movement]] and [[Khilafat Movement]] and was the President of the provincial Congress Committee. He, along with [[Mohammad Akram Khan]] toured throughout Bengal and organized Khilafat meetings, particularly in [[Dhaka]] and Chittagong. In an article titled ''Asahojogita-o-Amader Kartbya'', Islamabadi declared that to protect Khilafat and to acquire [[Swaraj]] were the twin aims of the Khilafat movement. He was among the founders of the [[Jamiat Ulama-e-Hind]], and was appointed a member of its first executive council.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Wasif Dehlavi |first1=Hafizur Rahman |author1-link=Hafizur Rahman Wasif Dehlavi |title=Jamī'at-i Ulamā par ek tārīk̲h̲ī tabṣirah |pages=45|language=ur|oclc=16907808}}</ref>

He was one of the architects of the [[Bengal Pact]] of 1923. He left Congress politics in the 1930s and joined the [[Krishak Praja Party]] and was elected to the Bengal Legislative Assembly in 1937 from this party.<ref name=":0" />

=== Anjuman-i-Ulama-i-Bangala ===
In 1913, Moniruzzaman Islamabadi along with [[Maulana Abul Kalam Azad]], [[Mohammad Akram Khan]], [[Maulana Abdullahil Baqi]] and Dr [[Muhammad Shahidullah]] led the organizing of the [[Anjuman-i-Ulamah-i-Bangala|''Anjuman-i-Ulama-i-Bangala'']] with headquarters in [[Kolkata]].<ref name=":2" /> One of the objectives of this organization was popularizing [[Bengali language|Bengali]] language among the Muslim middle class. When the ''Anjuman-i-Ulama-i-Bangala'' merged into [[Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind]], in 1921, he became the founder of its branch in [[Bengal]], the ''Jamiat-i-Ulama-i-Bangalah''.<ref name=":2" /> He founded the Chittagong branch of the organization and himself became its president.<ref name=":0" />

Through the Anjuman, Islamabadi addressed social ills that plagued the Muslim society like [[dowry]], excessive [[mahr]] and young [[child marriage]], without registering the age of consent.<ref name=":2">{{cite book |last=Amin |first=S N |date=1996 |title=The World of Muslim Women in Colonial Bengal, 1876-1939 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VcAfpv6x0m4C&pg=PA119 |publisher=BRILL |page=119 |isbn=90-04-10642-1}}</ref> Due to its involvement Islamabadi's involvement{{clarify|date=December 2016}} with the Krishak Praja Party, the ''Anjuman'' viewed the [[All-India Muslim League|Muslim League]] as repugnant, lacking religiosity and "not being true Muslims." However, by the 1930s the organization became too innocent{{clarify|date=December 2016}} of the reality of a "dissociation of modernity and democracy" and many of its members, including Mohammad Akram Khan abandoned the organization and joined the Muslim League.<ref name=":3" /> This made Islamabadi a lonely voice, and he suffered from [[Depression (mood)|depression]].<ref name=":3" />

== Death and legacy ==
He was a critic of the [[Pakistan movement]] and lived his life at [[Kolkata]] after the [[partition of India]], where he died.<ref name="wasif">{{cite book |last1=Wasif Dehlavi |first1=Hafizur Rahman |author1-link=Hafizur Rahman Wasif Dehlavi |title=Jamī'at-i Ulamā par ek tārīk̲h̲ī tabṣirah |pages=118-119|language=ur|oclc=16907808}}</ref>

Islamabadi was a preacher who wanted to give Bengali Muslims a new identity by purifying the modern and invoking universal morality.<ref name=":3">{{Cite book |last = Samaddar|first = Ranabir |year=2009 |title = Emergence of the Political Subject|location = India|publisher = SAGE Publications Ltd|pages = 85–96|isbn = 9788132102908}}</ref> He wanted to establish an Islamic university in Chittagong but the lack of funds and circumstances of the time did not favor his efforts.<ref name=":0" />

== Works ==
Islamabadi's main objective to project the past glory of [[Islam]], its contributions to the progress of human civilization and thus inspiring the Bengali Muslims to change their conditions manifested in publications such as:
* ''Bhugol Shastre Musalman (Muslim contributions in geographical science)''
* ''Khagol Shastre Musalman (Muslim contributions in astronomy)''
* '' Korane Swadhinatar Bani (Messages of freedom in the Qur’an)''
* ''Bharate Islam Prachar (Spreading of Islam in India)''
* '' Musalman Amale Hindur Adhikar (Rights of the Hindus in Muslim Rule)''
* ''Muslim Birangana (Heroic Muslim women)''
* ''Turashker Sultan (Sultan of Turkey)''
* ''Aurangzeb''
* ''Nizamuddin Aulia''<ref name=":1">{{Cite news |last=Kabir |first=Nurul |date=1 September 2013 |title=Colonialism, politics of language and partition of Bengal PART XVII |url=http://newagebd.com/old_archives/special.php?spid=31&id=155 |newspaper=New Age |location=Dhaka |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141228114915/http://newagebd.com/old_archives/special.php?spid=31&id=155 |archive-date=28 December 2014}}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Islamabadi, Maulana Maniruzzaman}}
[[Category:Bengali Muslims]]
[[Category:Bengali Muslim scholars of Islam]]
[[Category:1875 births]]
[[Category:1950 deaths]]
[[Category:Krishak Sramik Party politicians]]
[[Category:People from Chittagong]]
[[Category:Founders of Jamiat Ulama-e-Hind]]

Maniruzzaman Islamabadi - Revision history

->UserNumber at 21:30, 4 October 2021