Syed Abul Hasan Ali Nadvi
Talim in Qadim Nezam The old system of education was not free from all kinds of defects and limitations. Several aspects of it can be considered and revised from a classical point of view. But due to the taste and religious vigor of the thinkers who were the originators and responsibilities of this system, it possessed certain characteristics which are now absent in the new system of education.
A few salient features are briefly discussed, many examples of which are spread over thousands of pages of the scientific and religious history of Hindustan. Here are some examples.
Ikhlas and Lilahiyat and ‘Ichar’ and self-sacrifice
Talim in Qadim Nezam
The hallmark and greatest characteristic of the old masters was sincerity and self-sacrifice. Since the reward after learning and teaching religious knowledge and the religious status of teachers and teachers were very clear to them, even as it became their faith and belief, a large part of them engaged in talim-taalam for the pleasure and reward of Allah Ta’ala. They considered it the best form of worship and the highest good fortune. Many of them had lives of contentment and worldly aversion and starvation and poverty. In the ancient biographies written on the Hindustani scholars, many touching incidents of Asatizaye Keram’s worldliness, self-sacrifice and extreme poverty have been mentioned.
Maulana Ghulam Ali Azad Bulgerami, a scholar on the history of Hindustan. In his book ‘Maasirul Kiram’, his teacher Mir Tufail Muhammad Bulgerami. According to the sources of Bulgeram, the famous Muhaddith Mir Sayyid Mubarak (d. 1115 A.H.) has mentioned an incident.
Ustaz Mir Tufail Muhammad Rah. Said, One day I appeared in the service of Mir Syed Mubarak. He fell while standing up for ablution. I quickly picked him up. After a while he regained consciousness. I asked the reason for this weakness. After repeated questioning and pressure, he said that he has been starving for three days and has not told anyone about it, nor has he accepted anything from anyone. It was very difficult to know the situation.
I immediately prepared some food and brought it. When he saw it, he first expressed great happiness and love and made dua. Then he said, if you don’t mind, let me say something. I said, say yes. He said, this kind of food is called Ishraf food in terms of Hadith. That is, the expectation and interest of the food that has arisen in the mind. Although it is permissible to eat this food according to Fiqh, even those who fast for three days are allowed to eat dead animals, but according to the principle of those who have renounced the world, it is not permissible to eat such food.
As soon as I heard this, I stood up and left the room with the food containers. After waiting for a while on the other side of the door, I brought it again and said, Hazrat! When I went back with this food, did you think that I would come back with them again? He said, no. I said, now this food is not the food of Ishraf. Because, now there was no expectation of this food. Hazrat was very happy with this trick of mine and said, You have shown amazing intelligence! Then he eagerly took the food. (Maasirul Kiram p. 96-97)
Although this is a rare and extraordinary event, there are so many cases of self-sacrifice and complacency of teachers in the history of Hindustan’s science and religion that it has become a tradition of this educational system. [Dr. Nuzhatul Khawatir, Maasirul Kiram, Tazkiraye Ulamae Hind and Nizam Taleem and Tarbiyat etc.]
I am mentioning another incident of Ikhlas and Ichar of the Ustaz, which is about a century later.
Talim in Qadim Nezam: Some Features- Maulana Abdur Rahim Saheb (died 1234 AH) Rah. He used to give charity in Rampur. Master Hawkings, an English officer of the Rohilla division, offered him a monthly salary of Rs.250 to teach in Bareilly College, which was more than the current Rs.1200 before 1957 AD. He then promised that the salary would be increased within a few days. You will also be promoted immediately.
But Abdur Rahim Saheb Rah. He gave the excuse that he got ten rupees per month from ‘Riyasat’. It will stop. Hawkings said, I promise to pay twenty-five times that salary. He said, I have a big tree in my house, whose fruit is very sweet and I like it very much. If Bareilly leaves too, I will not be able to eat the seeds of that tree. The poor English still did not understand the Maulana’s mind. so said
Talim in Qadim Nezam Your transportation can be arranged from Rampur. So you can eat the seeds of house plants. Maulana said, here is another thing, the students who study with me in Rampur will stop studying. And I will also be deprived of their service. English nachorabanda. Talim in Qadim Nezam He said, I will fix the allowance for those students.
They can study from you in Bareilly itself. Finally at this scholar Deen shot his last arrow, to which the Englishman had no answer. He said, “All these things are true, but what will I answer to Allah Ta’ala on the Day of Resurrection about accepting the exchange of religious teaching?” (Insani dunya after the Muslims ke Uruj and Gwal ka Ashar, Nuzhatul Khawati Barat p. 324)
Immersion in love
It is difficult to understand the immersion and concentration of the old teachers in Dars-Tadris without their direct examples and examples. Reading was the food of their soul and it became their worship. For a long period of life and more and more of the day and night, they were busy in reading.
Talim in Qadim Nezam Malikul Ulama Allama Ojihuddin Gujarati Rah. He has given gifts for about sixty-five and sixty-seven years. Maulana Abdus Salam Lahori Rd., Mola Abdul Hakeem Sialkuthi Rd., Maulana Ali Azgar Kanauji Rd. The period of teaching of others was sixty years.
Maulana Ahmad Amithabi aka Mola Jeewan Rah. He taught till the end of his life. In this way, the events of others are also preserved in the pages of history. Except for human needs and a little rest time, the Ustads spent their entire time in dars-tadris. Some also taught while eating and walking. Mola Abdul Quader Badayuni Rah. His teacher Maulana Abdullah Badayuni. Wrote about, when he used to go to the market to buy house, a group of students would also go with him. He used to teach them even then. (Muntakhabatut Tawarikh p. 56)
Maulana Abdul Hai Firingi Mohali Rah. He used to give time to the students even before the Fajr prayer and at that time also a lesson would be taught. Many more of the old teachers were teaching at this time.
Relationship with students
Talim in Qadim Nezam: Some Features- The relationship between the teachers and the students was so deep that it is difficult to find an example in the present era and in the current education system. Ustads considered students as their own children and in most cases took their guardianship and treated them as members of their family during meals. King Akbar’s royal physician and famous teacher Hakeem Ali Geelani. The author of ‘Tazkeray Ulamae Hind’ writes about him, ‘He was always engaged in teaching the students and did not eat without them. (Muntakhabut Tawarikh p. 51)
Talim in Qadim Nezam: Some Features- Ustazul Mulk Maulana Muhammad Afzal Jaunpuri had so much heart with his students that when his famous disciple Mullah Mahmud Jaunpuri passed away, he could not overcome the grief. Maulana Ghulam Ali Azad Bulgerami Rah. Writes – No one saw him smile for forty days. After forty days he also met his disciples. That is, he passed away. (Maasirul Kiram)
Talim in Qadim Nezam: Some Features- When Munshi Sadruddin Khan asked Malikul Ulama Abdul Ali Bahrul Uloom rah. to bring ‘Buhar’ and offered a lot of Azeefa, Maulana said, I have a hundred Talibul Ilm with me. I can’t go if they don’t have food. Munshi Sahib took charge of them too and Maulana went there.
Talim in Qadim Nezam: Some Features- The Nawab of Madras fixed a monthly allowance of one thousand rupees for him. All of his allowance would have been spent on the students. He could not send anything to his family in Firingi Mahal. Therefore his son Maulana Abdun Nafe visited Madras several times and spoke to his father several times about the matter. But failed and returned to Lucknow. Such incidents are not rare in the history of Hindustan. Moreover, many scholars of this era have also witnessed with their own eyes many incidents of love and sacrifice and generosity of their teachers of that era.
Student relationship with teacher
Talim in Qadim Nezam: Some Features- The relationship of the students with their teachers was so deep
Talim in Qadim Nezam: Some Features- In fact, he was the ultimate example of kindness, generosity and sincerity. This event will always be alive in the pages of history that once the news of the death of Ustazul Ulama Mola Nizamuddin Firingi Mohali was spread. Hearing this news, one of his disciples Sayyed Zarif Azimabadi went blind crying. Another disciple Sayyid Kamaluddin Azimabadi could not bear this grief and left the world. Later it was found that the news was wrong. (Discussion by Nuzhatul Khawatir, Maulana Abdun Nafeh, Volume 7)
Such cases are rare, however
Talim in Qadim Nezam: Some Features- Such cases of loyalty and devotion of students towards the teacher are the unique features of the old education system. The way the scholars of this genre discuss the teachers in their books, their deep and
Intimate love is expressed.
Evaluation of contemporary kings and princes
Talim in Qadim Nezam: Some Features- It was a feature of the old education system that contemporary kings, emirs and leading people of the society considered it their greatest fortune and means of salvation to be able to serve the Mukhlis Ustaz and prestigious scholars of that time.
Talim in Qadim Nezam: Some Features- In the history of the Muslim rule of Hindustan, there are many cases of king-kings and amirs-royals patronizing knowledge and giving status to scholars. Muhammad Kasem Rezapuri, the author of Tarikh Fereshta, writes, Once Malikul Ulama
Talim in Qadim Nezam: Some Features- When Shihabuddin Daulatabadi became very ill, the then Sultan Ibrahim Sharqi went to see him. He inquired about the physical condition. Arranged treatment and gave some necessary talks. Then he took a cup of water and turned it over Maulana’s head and drank the water himself. And said, O God! Send down upon me the calamity that is destined for Qazi Sahib and grant him health. (Dated Angel 4/677)
[Note: Then the Sultan fell ill and passed away and Qazi Sahib died that year in 840 AH. or two years after that in 842 A.D.]
Talim in Qadim Nezam: Some Features- After the death of Amir Fathullah Siraji, King Akbar expressed his state of mind and regret in this way – ‘If the Firingis (British) had captured him and demanded all the wealth of my king’s treasury as ransom, it would have been a very cheap and profitable transaction. It would have been a very small price in exchange for such a precious gem.’
Mola Abdul Hakeem Sialkuti was weighed by the then king twice with silver and Qazi Muhammad Aslam Harbi (father of Allama Mir Zaheed) with gold once. This was the then imperial method of recognition and evaluation of elites.
Talim in Qadim Nezam: Some Features- Maulana Wali Ullah Firingi Mohali, the author of the book ‘Agsane Arbaa’, has painted a picture of the royal reception of Maulana Bahrul Uloom in Madras like this – ‘When the palanquin reached Shahi Mahal, Maulana went down. The Nawab asked him to sit down. Then he carried the palanquin on his shoulders to the Shahi Mahal and seated him on his seat in the Shahi Masnad. Then he walked and said, “What is my qualification that you will step and light my house.”
Talim in Qadim Nezam: Some Features- Apart from the king-kings and amirs-viziers, the zamindars-jagirdars and the upper classes of the society considered it a great privilege to take charge of the madrasa and serve the Ulama Talaba. Due to their goodwill, courage and patronage of religious knowledge, numerous religious institutions were established across the country.
Talim in Qadim Nezam: Some Features- Maulana Ghulam Ali Azad Bulgerami describes the then condition of his own region ‘Awadh’. From that description the condition of other regions can also be inferred. He writes, ‘In the whole of ‘Awadh’ and ‘Allahabad’ there were in most cases ten miles or at most twenty miles after each other the quarters of the upper classes of the society, the wealthy or the people of high descent.
Those who were in the pay of sultans or amirs, were given their jagirs. They established mosques, madrassas and khanqahs, and Ustads and Mudarris were everywhere engaged in the spread of religious knowledge. They created great interest in science and religion. Those who were thirsty for knowledge used to travel in groups from one city to another for the purpose of acquiring knowledge and would engage in the acquisition of knowledge wherever there was an opportunity.
The able-bodied people of every region paid attention to those Talibul Ilams and considered it a great privilege to be able to do them any service. Shahjahan ‘ana-rallahu burha-nahu’ had a saying (meaning) ‘East is the city of Shiraz of our kingdom’. (Maasirul Keram p. 222)
Self-purification and relationship with Ahl Dil elders
Talim in Qadim Nezam: Some Features- A notable feature of the ancient educational system and its policy-makers was that they were devoted to self-purification and ta’alq ma’alah while basking in their scholarly depth, classical erudition, fame and high status. They are skilled and scholarly for acquiring knowledge
Talim in Qadim Nezam: Some Features- He considered it necessary to take refuge in the Ustaz, as well as to carry the shoes of Ahl Dil Bujurg-Mashayekh for the correction and correction of the calabash and to be a beggar in their court. Their reputation and dignity would not be hindered at all. On the one hand, they proved to be self-respecting and possessed of royal temperament in front of contemporary kings and emirs, and on the other hand, they were very humble in front of the kings and elders of Chatai.
A rare combination of self-abnegation and self-respect was a unique feature of the life and character of those Mukhlis Alims.
Talim in Qadim Nezam: Some Features- This aspect of Hindustan’s educational history cannot be ignored that the personalities who were given wide acceptance and immortal fame by Allah Ta’ala and ruled the scholarly dynasties all over Hindustan for hundreds of years must have had an Islahi relationship with some contemporary Saheb Dil Mukhlis Bujurg.
Talim in Qadim Nezam: Some Features- In the centers and genres of talim-tadris of Hindustan, the role of three sages was firstly the main one. After whom their students and their students have kept the lamp of knowledge burning in this land for centuries. These are the three famous teachers of Delhi: Allama Abdul Muqtadir Kindi Thaneswari (died 791 AH), his disciple Maulana Khazegi Dehlavi (died 809 AH) And Shaykh Ahmad Thaneswari (801 H.) Rah..
Talim in Qadim Nezam: Some Features- All these three sages were murids of Shaykh Nasiruddin Cherag Dehlab and received Tarbiyat. The second central figure of Talimi-Silsila was Allama Ojihuddin Ibn Nasrullah Gujarati. (d. 998), who taught ‘Makul and Mankul’ for sixty-seven years in Ahmadabad. During his lifetime his students ranged from Ahmedabad to Lahore
Talim in Qadim Nezam: Some Features- Ilmi Khidmat was spread in different places. As a result, Ustazul got the status of Asatiya during his lifetime. (Source, Tarikhe Gujarat, Credit: Maulana Syed Abdul Hai Rah.)
The famous dargahs of Jahanabad, Amithi, Jaunpur and Lucknow were illuminated by the light of this one lamp. This is Maulana Ojihuddin Rah. Was the initiated Khalifa of Shaykh Muhammad Gauchgayali. He received a lot of prayers from the Shaykh.
Talim in Qadim Nezam: Some Features- There were two other famous Ustads of this Silsila, Shah Pir Muhammad Lakhnabi and Maulana Ghulam Naxaband. Both of them were Bai’at of the Chishtiyya Tariqa and caliphate. Many madrasas and khanqahs were established through them. Finally, Daras and Nesab Talim were accepted all over Hindustan and spread to Afghanistan and Iran due to its famous promoter Mullah Nizamuddin Sahalbi. (died 1161 A.H.) was a Mureed and Khadem of Sayyid Abdur Razak Banshari, a Shaykh of the Qaderiya Silsila and was buried full of devotion and love for the Shaykh. His devotion and love has been expressed in every chapter of ‘Manakebe Razyakiya’.
Talim in Qadim Nezam: Some Features- Maulana Muhammad Kasem Nanutubi, the promoter of Darul Uloom Deoband and its countrywide Ilmi and Islahi trend. (d. 1297 A.H.) and Maulana Rashid Ahmad Ganguhi (d. 1323 A.H.) the second Murubabi of Darul Uloom (d. 1323 A.H.) were both authorized caliphs of Sayyid Taifa Haji Imdadullah Muhajer in Makki.
Talim in Qadim Nezam: Some Features- Maulana Muhammad Ali Mungeri, founder of ‘Nadwatul Ulama’ movement. Hazrat Maulana Fazle Rahman Ganjmuradabadi was the caliph of the late.
Talim in Qadim Nezam: Some Features- In essence, every step of the training chain in Hindustan was under the careful supervision of the contemporary Saheb Dil and elders related to the Saheb. And this relationship has given this educational system sincerity and sincerity and influence and acceptance.
Here is a notable O
Talim in Qadim Nezam: Some Features- There is something thought provoking, which can by no means be called mere coincidence. And that is that most of the famous scholars and great teachers had reforming relations with most of them were in such a condition that people of that time did not consider them as ‘Ahle Ilam’ in terms of systematic studies or fame.
Such as Maulana Muhammad Ismail Shaheed. And being the disciple of Sayyid Ahmad Shaheed, the greatest scholar of the age like Maulana Abdul Hai Burhani, being the disciple of Sayyid Abdur Razak Banchabi, the greatest personality of the age like Mullah Nizamuddin Sahalbi, and Maulana Muhammad Qasem Nanutubi. Imam Hajji Imdadullah Muhajire Makki Rah. This is a clear proof of their individuality, accurate research, courage and incomparable modesty. This Ikhlas and Lilahiyyat has given their work and service of this series expansion, stability and wide acceptance.
The depth of knowledge and the taste and merit of Mutala’a Tahqiq along with the feeling of spiritual thirst and need and the idea of its quenching, in a word the pursuit of knowledge as well as the pursuit of Ikhlas and the spirit of Ta’alaq Ma’alah is a bright feature of this old educational system, one of the results of which was that the people Along with this system, the responsible Alim and Ustaz were closely related and the common people were influenced by the Alim in their real life.
Talim in Qadim Nezam: Some Features- Secondly, because of these characteristics, they were freed from the materialistic thinking and tyranny of their respective eras and the opportunity of relationship with the king and the high class and various moral weaknesses, from which it is difficult to be freed by mere knowledge and intellect.
Talim in Qadim Nezam: Some Features- The immersion and sincerity and sincerity and self-sacrifice with which these scholars and teachers performed their religious duties for seven or eight hundred years and pushed the light from lamp to lamp had a great contribution to the companionship and guidance of the Ahl Dil Bujurgs and the initiation and self-purification, which They received from those spiritual centers and personalities.
Talim in Qadim Nezam: Some Features- Even in the recent past, it was the custom in madrasas that after acquiring knowledge and completing classical studies, the faregin students would associate themselves with some person or center with whom they or their teachers had faith and spiritual connection for the correction and improvement of their soul and soul. After that, he used to stay there for some time or complete this Shastra by going back and forth regularly, which was not possible during solitary studies.
Talim in Qadim Nezam: Some Features- As such, the students of Maulana Lutfulah Saheb’s Darsgah (which was an international class Darsgah in the latter days) used to attend the court of Hazrat Maulana Fazlur Rahman Ganjmuradabadi, the center of guidance and guidance in the eastern cities and Madrasas of North West Hindustan i.e. Deoband, Saharanpur and other Madrasas. And Darsgah Ulama Talaba used to appear in Thanabhavan, Ganguh and Raipur, where Haji Imdadullah Muhajire Makki Rah. And Hazrat Maulana Rashid Ahmad Ganguhi. And their caliphs were busy in this service.
(Translated by: Tawhidul Islam Tayyib)
