Imami Madarsas and 'Karbala' Revolution

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Dr. Mazhar Naqvi

Imami madarsas have played a very crucial role in keeping the Hussaini Mission alive across the globe. These madarsas have not only produced renowned orators (zakirs) and scholars but also encouraged extensive research on various aspects of Karbala revolution to silence those who frequently try to air anti-Ahle-bait tendencies on flimsy grounds. The establishment of these madarsas paved way for religious and intellectual networks that strived to revive the real Islam at a time when British were bent upon shattering Muslim brotherhood in colonial India. The credit for starting the first such madarsas goes to king Amjad Ali Shah. It was known as Madarsa Shahi but could not survive for long.

It was   followed by establishment of Imania Arabic College in Varanasi (India). It was established as an Imami Religious Seminary for extending Islamic studies and higher religious education on 15 December 1866 AD. Founded by Maulvi Khursheed Ali Khan, on the proposal of Qazi Maulana Syed Bande Ali Khan, the last Islamic Chief justice of Varanasi. He provided land for this purpose and the construction was completed under his supervision in 1870 AD. . It is an educational, non-profit, charitable institution serving the community continuously for over a century and a half. It has produced a large number of religious scholars, preachers, professors, authors, orators (Zakirs/K), poets (S) and religious activists. The intuition has to its credit the publication of rare books such as Haqnuma (A booklet published officially by Jamia-e-Imania on Platinum Jubilee of Mehfil-E-Husaini in 2009), Wasiyatnama written by the founder Late Maulvi Khursheed Ali Khan, Waqfnama written by Muradan Bibi, Khursheed-e-Khawar  by Maulana Syed Saeed Akhtar Rizvi, Matla-E-Anwar authored by  Maulana Syed Murtaza Husain Sadrul-Afazil.

Sultan-Ul-Madaris is another madarsa that has greatly contributed to propagation of Imam Hussain’s message. Established in 1892 by Ayatollah Syed Muhammad Abul Hasan, madarsa was erected under the supervision of philanthropist of Nawab Mehdi Hasan Khan. Sultan-Ul- Madaris is the second Imami religious school of Lucknow. The first one was Madrasatul Imamia with Jamia Nazmia being the third. This institution has the distinction of producing religious luminaries like Maulana Syed Mohammad Shakir Naqvi Amrohvi, Maulana Syed Ibne Haider, Maulana Mahmud Ahmad, Maulana Mohd Mujtaba Husain, Maulana Syed Shahenshah Husain, Maulana Syed Mohammadd Ghafir Baqarai, Maulana Murtuza Parvi, and Maulana Syed Mohammad Afzaal Naqvi. The contribution of these cholars to Imami faoith and its popularity by and large remains matchless.

Madrasatul Waizeen (College of Preachers) is another centre of Islamic education of Lucknow. Erected in memory  Sahibzada Mohammad Ali Ahmad Khan Sahib, brother of Maharaja Mohammad Ali Mohammad Khan of Mahmudabad through a Wakf( registered) in 1919,madarsa flourished under the leadership of Shams-Ul-Ulema Ayatollah Syed Najmul Hasan. In The Muslim Review: An English Monthly Magazine Of Madrasatul Waizeen, volume XI, number 3 (September 1932 describes his contribution as:

"Under the patronage of Shams-Ul-Ulema Ayatollah Syed Najmul Hasan Sahib, Mujtahid, this Islamic missionary movement has been working since 1920. Its field of operations has not been confined to India and Burma but its missionaries have done a good deal of work in Zanzibar, Uganda, Mombasa, Darussalam, Singapore, Shanghai”

 Madrasatul Waizeen had started sending missionaries to Africa. They were specially trained for preaching and propagating Imami faith. They toured and prepared a ground for promoting Azadari expeditiously in East Africa and extended their activities as far south as Madagascar, and Somalia.

Tanzeem-Ul- Makatib also deserves a mention in this context. Strictly speaking it is not madarsa like Nazmia or Sultanul Madaris but its contribution to Imami faith is tremendous. It is basically an organization devoted to religious awareness among Imamis of India. Based in Lucknow, Tanzeem runs hundreds of educational units in a number of Indian provinces. The organization also runs higher religious education centers, namely Jamia Imamia for boys and Jamet-uz Zahra for girls. These centers follow Hauza Syllabus. Tanzeem also conducts educational conferences that serve as short-term training camps for those desirous of attaining perfection in Imami faith. (Reference available on request)