Shibli Numani

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Allamah Shibli Numani (* 1857 in Azamgarh , India , † 1914 ) was an Islamic scholar and theologian.

He was the son of wealthy parents. His father was a successful lawyer and also made money in the indigo trade. That is why the son was given a good education. Numani studied Arabic and Persian and especially perfected his Urdu , which was just becoming the literary language for Muslim writers and poets, as well as for Hindu authors. He was also instructed in Koran studies, as well as Islamic law and Islamic theology. In addition, he dealt with the subjects of history, philosophy and poetry.

Life

At the age of 19, the Orthodox Hanafi Muslim made the pilgrimage to Mecca . Shibli Numani was a strong proponent of Sharia law , but also an opponent of the Wahhabi movement. A few years later Numani accepted a professorship at Aligarh University. The founder of this university was Sayyid Ahmad Khan , who wanted to encourage the Muslims of India to adopt western culture and education to a greater extent. For this reason, English was the main language spoken at the university and education was provided according to Western standards. Oddly enough, Numani, although raised strictly Orthodox, was strongly drawn to Sayyid Ahmed Khan and his reforms. Nevertheless, he tried to shift the focus from the English language and culture at the university back to the Islamic culture and Arabic language. He stayed as a professor at the university for many years and only switched to the Ministry of Education in Hyderabad after Ahmed's death , where he accepted a position as a consultant. From this post he initiated many reforms for the Indian education system. In 1908 he became director of Jami'a Nadwa al-'Ulum in Lucknow . After five years in this position, however, his more modern training methods aroused the annoyance of some conservative members of the Indian ulama and he had to leave the university.

He was drawn back to his hometown of Azamgarh . Here Shibli Numani opened an Islamic academy called Dar al-Musannifin , or House of Scribes .

Until his death, Shibli Numani spent his time developing this academy, which soon became an important center for Islamic science and research, especially in the field of literature and the history of the Indian subcontinent. Before his death in 1914, the academy was renamed Shibli Academy .

Numani always tried to remind Muslims of their culture and origins and thereby strengthen Muslim society. He was a strong supporter of the idea of ​​a large pan-Islamic umma and an opponent of the British occupation, although he was somewhat loyal to the British. Even though Shibli Numani and Syed Ahmed Khan both campaigned for Muslim society, their views differed greatly in some cases: While Syed Ahmed Khan wanted to adapt Islam more to Western life and the Western way of thinking, Shibli campaigned to preserve Islam and only to a certain extent to adapt Western ideas to him.

Numani wrote numerous books throughout his life, the last of which, Sirat an-Nabi, is considered to be his best work. Before his death he wrote four volumes in this series; four more were completed by his student Syed Sulaiman Nadvi .