{{short description|Bangladeshi politician}} {{Other uses|Athar Ali (disambiguation)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=January 2023}} {{Infobox religious biography | honorific_prefix = [[Mawlana]] | name = Athar Ali | native_name = আতহার আলী | native_name_lang = bn | honorific_suffix = | image = Athar Ali Bengali.jpg | image_size = | image_upright = | smallimage = <!--If this is specified, "image" should not be.--> | smallimage_alt = | birth_date = 1891 | birth_place = [[Beanibazar|Ghungadiya]], [[Bengal Presidency]], [[British Raj|British India]] | death_date = {{Death date and age|df=yes|1976|10|6|1891||}} | death_place = Darul Uloom Madrasa, [[Mymensingh]], Bangladesh | alt = | caption = | order = | office = | status = <!--If this is specified, overrides Incumbent.--> | term_start = | term_end = <!-- Add data only when the actual term has ended, not for terms which will end in the future. (Per usage guideline.) --> | monarch = | president = | governor_general = | primeminister = | succeeding = <!--For President-elect or equivalent--> | parliamentarygroup = | constituency = | majority = | predecessor = | successor = | prior_term = | party = [[Nizam-e-Islam]] | education = Jhingabari Alia Madrasah<br/>[[Jamia Qasmia Madrasa Shahi]]<br/>[[Madrasa-e-Aliya, Rampur]]<br/>[[Mazahir Uloom]]<br/>[[Darul Uloom Deoband]] | teacher = [[Ashraf Ali Thanwi]], [[Anwar Shah Kashmiri]] and [[Shabbir Ahmad Usmani]] | students = [[Maulana Ahmad Ali Khan]] | influenced = Waliur Rahman| | religion = Islam }} '''Athar Ali''' ({{langx|bn|আতহার আলী}}; 1891 – 6 October 1976) was a Bangladeshi Islamic activist, author, teacher, and politician. He participated in the [[Indian independence movement]], and was former president of the [[Nizam-e-Islam Party]]. Ali was also a ''khalifah'' of [[Ashraf Ali Thanwi]], one of the founders of the [[Deobandi movement]].<ref name=dud/><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.islamtime24.com/2019/07/05/জামিয়া-ইমদাদিয়া-কিশ���রগঞ্/|language=bn|date=5 July 2019|title=জামিয়া ইমদাদিয়া কিশোরগঞ্জ: সমৃদ্ধ ইতিহাসের এক বৈচিত্র্যময় প্রতিষ্ঠান|author=Tariq bin Mujib|trans-title=Jamia Imdadia Kishoreganj: A diverse institution with a rich history}}{{Dead link|date=September 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Harun |first=Mizan |url=https://www.noor-book.com/%D9%83%D8%AA%D8%A7%D8%A8-%D8%B1%D8%AC%D8%A7%D9%84-%D8%B5%D9%86%D8%B9%D9%88%D8%A7-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AA%D8%A7%D8%B1%D9%8A%D8%AE-%D9%88%D8%AE%D8%AF%D9%85%D9%88%D8%A7-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A7%D8%B3%D9%84%D8%A7%D9%85-%D9%88%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B9%D9%84%D9%85-%D9%81%D9%8A-%D8%A8%D9%86%D8%BA%D9%84%D8%A7%D8%AF%D9%8A%D8%B4-%D9%84%D9%84%D8%B4%D8%A7%D9%85%D9%84%D9%87-pdf |title=Rijal sanau al-tarikh wa khadamu al-Islam wa al-ilm fi Bangladesh lil-Shamilah |publisher=Darul Bayan |year=2018 |location=Dhaka |pages=259–170 |language=ar |access-date=9 June 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230312022416/https://www.noor-book.com/%D9%83%D8%AA%D8%A7%D8%A8-%D8%B1%D8%AC%D8%A7%D9%84-%D8%B5%D9%86%D8%B9%D9%88%D8%A7-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AA%D8%A7%D8%B1%D9%8A%D8%AE-%D9%88%D8%AE%D8%AF%D9%85%D9%88%D8%A7-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A7%D8%B3%D9%84%D8%A7%D9%85-%D9%88%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B9%D9%84%D9%85-%D9%81%D9%8A-%D8%A8%D9%86%D8%BA%D9%84%D8%A7%D8%AF%D9%8A%D8%B4-%D9%84%D9%84%D8%B4%D8%A7%D9%85%D9%84%D9%87-pdf |archive-date=12 March 2023 |url-status=live}}</ref>
==Early life== Ali was born into a [[Bengali Muslim]] family in the village of Ghungadia Nawangaon, [[Beanibazar]], [[Sylhet District]], [[Bengal Presidency]], [[British India]]. His father, Azim Khan, was a [[Moulvi]]. Ali completed his primary and secondary education at the Jhingabari Alia Madrasah.
He then moved to [[North India]] where he studied the [[Islamic sciences]] at the [[Jamia Qasmia Madrasa Shahi]] in [[Moradabad]], the Madrasa Aliya of [[Rampur State]] and subsequently the [[Mazahir Uloom]] in [[Saharanpur]].<ref name="ali">{{cite Banglapedia|author=Siddiqi, ABM Saiful Islam |article=Ali, Maulana Ataher}}</ref> He then did [[Hadith studies]] at the [[Darul Uloom Deoband]] under [[Anwar Shah Kashmiri]] and [[Shabbir Ahmad Usmani]], which he graduated from in 1338 AH (1919–1920 CE).<ref name=dud>{{cite book|chapter=Memoir of the Graduates of the Dar al-Ulum, Deoband: Maulana Athar Ali Bengali|pages=101–102|title=History of the Dar Al-Ulum Deoband|volume=2|year=1980|publisher=Idara-e Ihtemam|chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/DUDbook_64/DudVolTwo-Pg001-329/page/n101/mode/}}</ref> Ali then served under [[Ashraf Ali Thanwi]] from whom he studied the [[Batin (Islam)|Batin]] for three years and gained [[Khalifah (Sufism)|Khilafat]] from.<ref name=emd>{{cite book |script-title=bn:হাদীছের তত্ত্ব ও ইতিহাস|page=26|language=bn |publisher=Emdadia Library |chapter=2.2 বঙ্গে এলমে হাদীছ |author=Mawlana Nur Muhammad Azmi |trans-title=Information and history of Hadith |trans-chapter=2.2 Knowledge of Hadith in Bengal}}</ref>
==Career== [[File:Shohede mosjid.jpg|thumb|The Shahidi Mosque in Kishoreganj was the residence of its former imam Athar Ali]] [[File:আল জামিয়াতুল ইমদাদিয়া, কিশোরগঞ্জ.jpg|thumb|Al-Jamia al-Emdadia Madrasa founded by Athar Ali Bengali]] Ali's career began with teaching at madrasas in Bengal such as the Jhingabari Alia Madrasah in [[Sylhet]], [[Jamia Islamia Yunusia]] in [[Brahmanbaria]] and the Jamia Millia in [[Comilla]]. By 1909, he was working as an [[imam]] of the [[Shahidi Mosque]] in [[Kishoreganj]]. In 1945, Ali established the Jamia Emdadia Madrasa in Kishoreganj on the premises of the mosque. He also later founded the Darul Uloom Madrasa in [[Mymensingh]].<ref name=dud/>
His participation in politics began with the [[1947 Sylhet referendum]] campaigns which led to the incorporation of [[Sylhet Division|Sylhet]] into the [[Dominion of Pakistan]]. He was first a member of the [[Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam]] party. In 1952, he was elected as the president of the [[Nizam-e-Islam Party]]. Ali's party, which formed a coalition under the [[United Front (East Pakistan)|United Front]], succeeded during the [[1954 East Bengal Legislative Assembly election]]s, gaining 36 total seats in the National Assembly. Ali was a Member of Parliament in the 2nd [[National Assembly of Pakistan]] for the Kishoreganj West constituency.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Assembly |first1=Pakistan National |title=Parliamentary Debates. Official Report |date=1958 |page=104 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qXIdAAAAIAAJ&q=Moulana+Athar+Ali |language=en}}</ref> He had worked for including Islam in the legal system.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Binder |first1=Leonard |title=Religion and Politics in Pakistan |date=1963 |publisher=University of California Press |page=372 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yzn850u5-r0C&q=Moulana+Athar+Ali&pg=PA372 |language=en}}</ref> He also advocated for the restoration of democratic rights during the presidency of [[Ayub Khan (general)|Ayub Khan]] and was subsequently imprisoned.<ref name="ali"/>
He was released before the start of the [[Indo-Pakistani War of 1965|1965 Indo-Pakistani War]], and drifted away from politics. He began focusing more on propagating Islamic teachings to the [[Bengali Muslims|Bengali Muslim]] masses through public lectures.<ref name="ali"/>
==Bibliography== He wrote a number of books relating to [[Islam]]. These include:<ref name="ali"/> *{{langx|bn|পর্দা ও ইসলাম|Pôrda O Islam|[[Purdah]] and Islam}} *Al-Wajru wa an-Nazru *{{langx|bn|ইসলামী শাসন কেন চাই?|Islamī Shashôn Kenô Chai?|Why do I want Islamic rule?}} *{{langx|bn|বাস্তব ক্ষেত্রে সমাজতন্ত্র|Bastôb Kkhetre Shômajtôntrô|Socialism in reality}} *{{langx|bn|ইসলামে অর্থবন্টন ব্যবস্থা|Islame Ôrthôbônṭôn Bebôstha|System of economic distribution in Islam}}
==Death== Ali died on 6 October 1976 in the premises of a madrasa that he had founded, the Jamia Al Islamia, Chorpara in [[Mymensingh]], [[Bangladesh]], as a result of paralysis.<ref name=dud/>
== See also == * [[List of Deobandis]]
==References== {{Reflist|30em}}
== Further reading == * {{Cite thesis |last=Haque |first=Abul Mashakin Mohammad Anwarul |url=http://reposit.library.du.ac.bd:8080/xmlui/handle/123456789/2774 |title=Bangladeshi Ulama in Politics and Social Welfare: 1935–1971 |date=2001 |publisher=[[University of Dhaka]] |location=Bangladesh |language=bn |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250403121153/reposit.library.du.ac.bd:8080/xmlui/handle/123456789/2774 |archive-date=3 April 2025 |url-status=live |degree=PhD |pp=316–332}}
{{Hanafi scholars}} {{Islam in South Asia}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bengali, Athar Ali}} [[Category:Pakistani MNAs 1955–1958]] [[Category:1891 births]] [[Category:1976 deaths]] [[Category:People from Beanibazar Upazila]] [[Category:Politicians from Sylhet Division]] [[Category:Bangladeshi Islamists]] [[Category:Bangladeshi Islamic religious leaders]] [[Category:Nizam-e-Islam Party politicians]] [[Category:20th-century Bengali people]] [[Category:Bengali-language writers]] [[Category:Darul Uloom Deoband alumni]] [[Category:Mazahir Uloom alumni]] [[Category:Deobandis]] [[Category:Bangladeshi Sunni Muslim scholars of Islam]] [[Category:20th-century Muslim scholars of Islam]] [[Category:Madrasa Shahi alumni]] [[Category:Students of Anwar Shah Kashmiri]] [[Category:Disciples of Ashraf Ali Thanwi]]