Founder

Founder of Darul Uloom Maulana Muhammad Imran Khan Nadwi Azhari

Noor Mohammad Sahab reached Bheikanpur with his family in the revolution of 1857 AD. He was received by the Nawab there. After some time, his destiny attracted him to the Darul Iqbal (promising state of future) Bhopal.

In the state of Bhopal, knowledge and scholars were highly valued, they were welcomed and looked upon with great respect and dignity, especially his two innocent sons. The people were very impressed with the memorization and recitation skills of young boys. The eldest son Hafiz Qari Mahmood Sahab became the superintendent of mosques and charities and became famous for his truthfulness and righteousness.

Mufti Abdul Hadi Sahab, the youngest son and grandfather of the late Maulana, was a great scholar. His skill in recitation and tajweed was impeccable. His discussion with Qari Abdul Rehman Sahab Panipati is famous in which Qari Panipati Sahab gave him his certificate. Abdul Hadi Sahab translated the famous book of recitation “Shatabiyah” under the name of “Hidayat-ul-Quraa”, compiled several Arabic sermons and presided over various notable positions in the state. He was appointed as Mufti of the state on August 26, 1919 AD and held this position till the end of his life. His passion for the pilgrimage of Hajj compelled him to go on this arduous journey and on April 11, 1929 AD, left for Makkah, despite his deteriorating health. During Hajj, on May 10, 1929 AD, he bid farewell to this world and was buried in Jannat-ul-Mualla, to the feet of Hazrat Khadija-tul-Kubra.

Maulana’s father Hafiz Muhammad Ilyas Khan Sahab was a great scholar, administrator and thinker. He was appointed as the superintendent of mosques and charities after the death of his uncle Qari Hafiz Mahmood Sahab on June 1, 1924 AD. Nawab Hameedullah Khan appreciated his administrative abilities and handed over the department of Islamic endowments to him on August 26, 1931 AD.

He used his wise judgment and extraordinary intellect to bring great reforms in these departments and started receiving a stipend from the year 1940 AD onwards.

He passed away on December 2, 1941 AD / Zil Qaida 12, 1360 AH. According to his will, Nazim Nadwatul Ulama Dr. Abdul Ali Sahab offered funeral prayers and burial took place in Daliganj cemetery.

The unparalleled management skills that were seen in the late Maulana are the result of the training of his late father and of Maulana Masood Ali, the late former manager of Darul Musannifeen.

Maulana’s uncle and father-in-law Hafiz Mohammad Idrees Khan became the Khatib of Jama Masjid after his late father and after the death of his elder brother Hafiz Mohammad Ilyas, he was appointed as the superintendent of mosques, charities and endowments of Islam. He passed on to heavenly abode on December 23, 1948 AD / Safar 20, 1368 AH.

Maulana’s birth

Maulana Muhammad Imran Khan was born in Bhopal on August 13, 1913 AD, his father named him Muhammad Imran. He memorized the Holy Quran in his childhood and at the age of 9 He offered Taraweeh prayers in Masjid Shakoor Khan (Madhya Pradesh’s world famous preaching centre). He completed his primary education first in Jahangiria school then in Alexandra school. For higher studies in religion, Darul Uloom Nadwatul Ulama was selected for him.

The late Maulana was admitted to Nadwatul Ulama on June 1, 1926 AD. He entered the second grade of Arabic, from that day till the year 1958 AD he had a continuous practical relationship with Nadwa for 32 years.

He was lucky to have studied at Nadwa in its golden period. In his time, Nawab Hasan Ali Khan Sahab son of Nawab Siddique Hasan Khan was the director of Nadwa, Syed Sulaiman Nadwi was the secretary of education and Maulana Haider Hasan Khan was the principal.

From the very beginning, Maulana Imran Sahab’s intellectual and managerial abilities began to be seen by all. Less than a year had passed in Nadwa when he published a handwritten journal “Al-Haatif” and in 1933 AD, when he reached the last year of Fazilat, another handwritten journal called “Al-Munqalib” was published by him.

He was also the President of the Students’ Association for two years and he gained immense popularity among the students and teachers alike. He impressed everyone with his communication and administrative skills.

In 1933 AD, he obtained the degree of Fazilat with the First Division and the First Position. Considering his extraordinary administrative and academic abilities, he was made Administrator of Nadwa on November 6, 1933 AD, when he was only 20 years old.

Through the “Obaidullah Khan Scholarship ” of the State of Bhopal, he left for Cairo (Egypt) on October 16, 1937 AD for further studies, where he was admitted in special department of Arabic literature to the great Al-Azhar University, the oldest and most prized possession of the Islamic World. He cleared the exams in 1939 AD with First Division and First Position. He was the first Indian student to get this degree; earlier, Indian students were admitted to a diploma course called “Aalimiya-al-Ghuraba”.

Maulana’s success was no less than a feat. All the Egyptian newspapers published this news with Maulana’s picture and also wrote words of appreciation. Most of the Indian newspapers printed this news diligently and Hazrat Maulana Syed Sulaiman Nadwi mentioned Maulana’s success in ‘Shazraat’ of ‘Maarif’ in golden words. When Maulana returned to India, he was warmly welcomed in Lucknow, Delhi and Bhopal. He was offered a few high-ranking posts in Bhopal but he preferred the service of his alma mater, Nadwatul Ulama and joined with a renewed determination, enthusiasm and zeal.

When Maulana Haider Hasan Khan, principal of Nadwatul Ulama was called back to Tonk State, the late Maulana was appointed Acting Principal of Nadwatul Ulama on February 1, 1941 AD. Then on April 26, 1942 AD according to the resolution of the Board of Directors, he became the Principal of Nadwatul Ulama and held this position till 1958 AD.

After the partition of the country, the situation took a turn for the worse, especially for those states where there were Muslim rulers, and especially for the state of Bhopal, where all religious, scholarly and non-religious activities were funded by the state budget. Prior to the inclusion of Bhopal state into the Centre, a local Tableeghi Jamaat called Jamaat-e-Hidayat-e-Muslimeen worked towards the task of preaching and considered imparting of Islamic knowledge to all as their duty. The Director of this Jamaat was Hazrat Maulana who was actively involved in Muslim community’s wellbeing and education. He also desired for an establishment that acts as a training centre in which preaching along with education was facilitated. All these objectives and goals did not seem achievable after the abolition of the state on June 1, 1949 AD. It was announced by the Government in March 1950 AD that no religious education will be continued in Ahmadiyya University but rather, it will function just as a secular school. This announcement increased the uneasiness of the late Maulana. At that time Allama Syed Sulaiman Nadwi was a judge in Bhopal. Maulana Sahab expressed his desire of establishing a religious seminary with Syed Sulaiman Sahab and he happily encouraged this idea. A meeting was held in the Jama Masjid in April 1950 AD in which Syed Sahab announced the commencement of Darul Uloom in his speech. A Madrasa came into existence the very next day at Masjid Shakoor Khan. Three months later, on July 20, 1950 AD the Madrasa was shifted to the Tajul Masajid and was renamed as Darul Uloom Tajul Masajid. After the Darul Uloom was relocated, the construction work of the mosque continued little by little. The late Maulana repeatedly insisted on completing the construction of the mosque and made several noteworthy attempts. He travelled to Kenya and collected Rs. 200,000 after which Maulana also visited important and major cities of India. He also visited England in 1974 AD and the United States and Canada in 1980 collecting a sum of Rs. 70-75 lakhs. With this amount and God’s will, he completed the magnificent work of construction of the grand Tajul Masajid.

The effect of living a life of constant struggle was adversely affecting his health day by day. He suffered from many diseases including Angina. Even though his health was not so good, he always followed the advice of his Sheikh that never take hold of the bed otherwise the bed will take hold of you. Hence, he was always restlessly working without worrying about his health. He was going to work at Darul Uloom even on his last day; his driver Abdul Rasheed had already arrived to pick him up, 20 minutes before his demise. With a sudden cardiac arrest, Maulana transcended to the heavens peacefully on the morning of October 18, 1986 AD at 10.30 am. His funeral prayer was at 9 pm, held at Lal Parade Ground and attended by roughly 1.5 lakh attendees. He was buried at his final resting place at Hazrat Pir Nanhe Mian’s private graveyard.

Important Works of Life

A glimpse of the many important tasks by Maulana Sahab are mentioned here. To completely elaborate the tasks and endeavours initiated by him, a book could be written but here are a few things mentioned briefly:

Nadwa

Love for Nadwa and sacrifice of every precious thing for it, he kept his promise to Allama Syed Sulaiman Nadwi to serve Nadwa for all his life. He was a pioneer of Nadwa movement and Allama Shibli’s thoughts. In the turbulent times of the 20th century, the efforts of the late Maulana were instrumental in bringing the boat of Nadwa safely to shore.

When he moved from Lucknow to Bhopal, most of the people were upset by this decision, but the good that was hidden in the will of God was revealed in such a way that because of Maulana, a great centre of religious education was established in Central India. He brought Nadwa with him to Bhopal and established the one like of it, thus he was never really separated from the Nadwa movement. Details of his services for Darul Uloom Tajul Masajid can be seen in the link called History of our website.

Construction of Tajul Masajid

Tajul Masajid is one of the largest mosques not only in India but in the world, whose construction could not be completed due to unavoidable circumstances. Undoubtedly, its completion and intensification was apparently not possible without courage, wealth and time. Everyone contributed in their own capacity but Hazrat Maulana’s efforts for Darul Uloom are beyond ordinary. To see more details, visit the link called History of our website.

Dawah and Preaching

Today the blessings of Tableegh and Ijtima all over the world need no introduction but few people know that the work of spreading this work from a limited area to the whole of Central India is the result of Maulana’s hard work. It is not uncommon for this call to appear on the world map from Bhopal itself. Hazrat Maulana belonged to the founder of the jamaat, Hazrat Maulana Ilyas. Maulana Muhammad Yusuf was his close friend. Hazrat Maulana maintained a special relationship with other elders of the jamaat.

Maulana’s scholarly ability

Usually the part of practical deeds predominates in your remembrance but the fact remains that Maulana’s temperament was purely scholarly. His avid research and literary style can be easily seen in his writings. (Student the relationship between the pen and the pen has gone up in the time of Abdul Majid Daryabadi’s attention was drawn to you only through an essay of your student).

It is true that the late Maulana wrote less because of his busy schedule, but what he wrote is of a higher literary and scholarly quality. His articles were published in Al-Nadwa and other magazines, newspapers and Nishan-e-manzil the spokesman of Darul Uloom Tajul Masajid. His writings and speeches, which are frequently printed in Nishan Manzil, will be brought to the website. A collection of Maulana’s articles have been published in the year 2000, as well as four volumes of his letters which have been published in full. It is worth mentioning that the language of his articles is so simple and unpretentious that it touches the heart and mind of the reader. Collecting and publishing his writings is also a must. With the help of Allah Almighty, this work will be completed, God willing. (In-Sha-Allah)