Sulaiman Nadvi

Sulaiman Nadvi Nadvi was born on 22 November 1884 in Desna, a village of Nalanda District, Bihar, India (then in the Patna District, in the Bengal Presidency of British India). His father, Hakeem Sayyed Abul Hasan was a Sufi.[1][3]

Sulaiman Nadvi was influenced by Shibli Nomani at Lucknow. In 1906, he graduated from Nadva. In 1908, Nadvi was appointed as an instructor of Modern Arabic and Theology at Dar-ul-Uloom Nadva. His contemporary at Nadva was Abul Kalam Azad who had come from Calcutta and also joined the Nadva.[1] Both Sulaiman Nadvi and Abul Kalam Azad were favorite pupils of Maulana Shibli Nomani.[1] Sulaiman Nadvi became one of the biographers of the Prophet of Islam and a historian during his own lifetime.[1] Alllama Iqbal, too was a great admirer of his erudition and used to refer to him as Ustad ul Kul (Teacher of all), and is said to have approached him on religious matters.[4]

Aligarh Muslim University conferred on him the honorary degree of Doctorate of Literature (DLitt) in 1941.[1]

In 1933, he published one of his major works, Khayyam. The nucleus of this book was an article on the noted Persian scholar and poet Omar Khayyam.[5][6][3]

Sulaiman Nadvi, along with others who favored Hindu-Muslim unity in British India, suggested that the term "Urdu" be abandoned in favour of "Hindustani" because the former conjured up the image of a military conquest and war whereas the latter had no such symbolic baggage.[7]

Sulaiman Nadvi founded Darul Musannifeen (Academy of Authors), also known as the Shibli Academy, at Azamgarh. The first book published there was Ard-ul-Quran (2 volumes).[1][3]

In June 1950, Nadvi moved to Pakistan and settled in Karachi. He was appointed Chairman of Taleemat-e-Islami Board to advise on Islamic aspects of Pakistan's Constitution. He died on 22 November 1953 in Karachi at the age of 69.[8][3]

However, his son Salman Nadwi asserts that they didn't move to Pakistan with the intention of migration. Right after they reached Pakistan, Sulaiman Nadwi's health deteriorated and he tried unsuccessfully to get his permit extended from the Indian embassy, which caused grief and pain.[9]

Nadvi's works include:

• Ahl-us-Sunnah-wal-Jamā‘ah[8]
• The Arab Navigation, lectures delivered in Bombay during March 1931.
• Khayyam (about the contributions of Omar Khayyam, published in 1933)[1][3]
• Khutbat-e-madras[3]
• Rahmat-e-Aalam[8]
• Seerat-e-Aisha[3]
• Sirat-un-Nabi (Life of the Prophet) by first Shibli Nomani, the teacher of Sulaiman Nadvi. Shibli started writing this book, which was later finished by Sulaiman Nadvi after Shibli’s death in 1914.[1][3]

• Shibli Nomani
• Muhammad Ali Jauhar
• Khilafat Movement
• Allama Muhammad Iqbal