About Jamia
Past & Present
When the people of the world had forgotten Allah and were sinking under the weight of sin, the final Prophet, Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him), appeared in the holy city of Makkah bearing the light of divine revelation. To guide people back to the path of religion, he chose the house of Hazrat Arqam (may Allah be pleased with him) as the centre for propagating that revealed knowledge. In Islamic history this house is known as Darul Arqam — the very first madrasa of revealed knowledge in Islamic history. Compelled by the persecution of the disbelievers of Makkah, the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) migrated to Madinah. There he first built a mosque, named Masjid-e-Quba, and afterward built another mosque, known today as Masjid-e-Nabawi. To propagate the faith, he established a centre of religious learning (dars-gah) around Masjid-e-Nabawi. In this way, for some four hundred years, the practice of religious education remained centred on the mosque.
Afterward came Madrasa-e-Mahmudia, founded by Sultan Mahmud of Ghazni; then the Madrasa-e-Mahmudia of Nishapur, the Nizamiyyah of Baghdad, Jami'ul Azhar of Egypt, Jamia Qairawan of Tunisia, Jamia Cordoba of Spain, and Darul Uloom Deoband of India, along with other renowned religious institutions — all of them extended forms of that same mosque-centred system of education.
When determined efforts were underway to uproot Islam forever from the hearts of the Muslims of this land, among the great figures who, in various parts of the Indian subcontinent, kindled the torch of religious knowledge in resistance to that conspiracy was the then-eminent scholar of religion, Hazrat Maulana Obaidul Haq Nanupuri Sahib (rahimahullah). With the aim of carrying forward the Deobandi school of thought, he established, at Kalu Munshirhat in his own village of Nanupur under Fatikchhari Thana — Chattogram's gateway for the entry of Islam into Bangladesh — on the north side of what is today the Baitul Aman Jami Masjid, a madrasa named "Hemayatul Islam," following the Dars-e-Nizami syllabus, and he served as its founding director until his death. The madrasa advanced rapidly. Within a short time, true seekers of knowledge began gathering there to acquire religious learning. Students at this madrasa studied the Dars-e-Nizami curriculum up to Jamat-e-Chaharum (the fourth year) before going on to complete their remaining studies at larger institutions such as Darul Uloom Deoband and Darul Uloom Moinul Islam, Hathazari.
The madrasa's educational activities continued in this way. Among the other teachers of the madrasa at that time were Maulana Obaidul Haq Sahib's own worthy son, Hazrat Maulana Ziaul Islam Sahib (rahimahullah); Hazrat Maulana Mahmudul Wali Sahib (rahimahullah); and the distinguished khalifa of Darul Uloom Deoband's graduate and Pakistan's Muftiye Azam, Maulana Mufti Shafi (rahimahullah) — Hazratul Allama Maulana Amir Uddin Sahib (rahimahullah) of Maijbhandar. All of them were spiritual sons of Hazrat Maulana Obaidul Haq Sahib. He passed away at the age of 82. After his passing, his own son, Hazrat Maulana Ziaul Islam Sahib, took charge of the madrasa, but he too left this world for his Lord's court a short while later. After his passing, the madrasa gradually began to decline. At that time responsibility for running the madrasa fell to his younger brother, Hazrat Maulana Mazharul Islam Sahib (rahimahullah), and at one point the madrasa's activities came to a halt.
With the madrasa built by the hands of his beloved teacher now lost, his special student, Hazrat Maulana Amir Uddin Sahib (rahimahullah), became determined to establish a new madrasa. Hazrat Maulana Mahmudul Wali Sahib (rahimahullah) and devout Muslims of the locality at every level began searching for a suitable site on which to lay the madrasa's foundation. After much searching and lengthy deliberation, at last, on the guidance of the finest saint of that era — the founder of Jamia Islamia Patiya, Qutbud Da'wah wal Irshad Maulana Mufti Azizul Haq Sahib (rahimahullah) — and through the tireless assistance of the locality's devout Muslims, in particular the influential local educationist and social worker Janab Alhaj Master Muhammad Fazlur Rahman Sahib, it was decided to begin the madrasa's activities at the enclosed prayer-house (ebadatkhana) site on the western side of today's Jamia.
In his beloved teacher's honour, the madrasa was named "Obaidia Hafizul Uloom." Placing their trust in the Lord of the Worlds, teaching began at the madrasa on Monday, the 29th of Shawwal 1377 Hijri, corresponding to 1957 CE. Qari Hamed Sahib of Bhujpur (rahimahullah) was also with them at that time. Later, as space became insufficient, a long bamboo structure was built on the site where the Jamia's mosque now stands, and the madrasa carried on in this way. Maulana Abu Sufyan Sahib (rahimahullah) and Maulana Hafez Jamal Uddin Sahib (rahimahullah) subsequently joined them, and through their combined effort the madrasa gradually advanced. Among those who gave special support at the madrasa's founding were the late Dr. Abdul Mannan Sahib, Alhaj Abdus Salam Sahib, Janab Shamsul Huda Saodagar Sahib, Janab Alhaj Abul Kashem Saodagar, Alhaj Badiul Alam Saodagar, and Janab Alhaj Muazzem Hossain Saodagar Sahib — their contribution remains recorded in golden letters in the pages of memory to this day.
Afterward, at the madrasa's annual gathering on the 6th of Shawwal 1379 Hijri, Hazrat Mufti Azizul Haq Sahib of Patiya (rahimahullah) came as a guest. There, the madrasa's then-director, Allama Amir Uddin Sahib (rahimahullah), requested Hazrat Mufti Sahib to appoint Hazrat Sultan Ahmad Nanupuri (rahimahullah) as the madrasa's Muhtamim. Hazrat Mufti Sahib replied that he was already attached to another institution and so could not be brought here directly — though, yes, he could give some time while travelling between Dharmapur and Babunagar.
Then, on the 15th of Ramadan 1380 Hijri — one week before Hazrat Mufti Sahib's (rahimahullah) passing — Maulana Amir Uddin Sahib (rahimahullah) went to Patiya Madrasa and, having expressed his intention to travel for Hajj after Ramadan, once again requested that Hazrat Sultan Ahmad Nanupuri (rahimahullah) be given as the madrasa's director. Hazrat Mufti Sahib (rahimahullah) replied: tell Sultan that if he is ever free from Babunagar, he should come to Obaidia. For some time after this, until Hazrat Nanupuri's (rahimahullah) arrival at the madrasa, Hazrat Maulana Amir Uddin (rahimahullah) remained in charge of the madrasa's direction, and upon Nanupuri's (rahimahullah) arrival, he warmly accepted him as chief director. Later, when Dawra-e-Hadith began in 1393 Hijri, he taught the lessons of Sahih Muslim until his death. Hazrat Allama Shah Sultan Ahmad Nanupuri Sahib (rahimahullah) arrived in Nanupur as Muhtamim on the 5th of Shawwal 1380 Hijri. At that time the madrasa's condition was extremely fragile and precarious — instruction extended only as far as Kafiya. It is worth noting that the senior scholar and senior teacher of Jamia Obaidia, Maulana Yusuf Sahib (Amtali, may Allah preserve him), is the very person who received his lessons in the book Kafiya directly from Hazrat Nanupuri when he first arrived in Nanupur from Babunagar. Including the maktab, the whole madrasa had only 100–150 students, and 5–6 teachers — Hazrat Maulana Amir Uddin Sahib (rahimahullah), Hazrat Mahmudul Wali (rahimahullah), Hazrat Maulana Abu Sufyan (rahimahullah), Hazrat Maulana Sulaiman (rahimahullah), and Hazrat Qari Afsar Ahmad (rahimahullah), among others. The boarding arrangements were extremely poor — at times only a little dal-bhat was available, and at other times the students had to go without.
Moreover, the madrasa had no mosque, pond, field, or building of its own. Hazrat Nanupuri (rahimahullah) at that time walked to and from the madrasa from his own home in Dharmapur, a journey of nearly eight to ten miles each day. Sometimes Hazrat would come having eaten only a little stale rice; at other times he spent the whole day fasting, because the financial state was truly dire. As for the madrasa's own buildings — there was only a rickety hut some twenty to twenty-five hands long, swaying constantly in the north-south wind, barely holding its own. When a storm once struck, it was destroyed entirely. The madrasa's teachers and students together, with great hardship, built a mud house on the site. When the rains came and water got in, that too was ruined, and it had to be repaired again and again. In this way, amid great hardship, this institution's infancy passed.
Through Hazrat Nanupuri's (rahimahullah) sincerity, competence, and extraordinary spiritual strength, that small Obaidia Hafezul Uloom madrasa gradually transformed into Jamia Islamia Obaidia, a name known today across the Arab world, the wider world of Islamic learning, and the globe entire. Owing to physical illness, some thirteen years before his death, around 1406 Hijri corresponding to 1984, Hazrat Nanupuri (rahimahullah) appointed his distinguished khalifa — the enduring spiritual figure and Khatib-e-Islam, Allama Shah Jamiruddin (rahimahullah) — as the worthy Muhtamim and director. Khatib-e-Islam Allama Shah Jamiruddin (rahimahullah) was a man of extraordinary character, an eminent scholar of religion, an illumined figure of the spiritual world, and a man of pure character shaped by Hazrat Nanupuri's (rahimahullah) own hand, and a guide upon the path of guidance. Seeing in him extraordinary organisational skill, scholarly competence, and firmness of faith, Hazrat Nanupuri (rahimahullah) appointed him director of this vast Jamia, placing this responsibility upon him and thereby setting his own mind at ease. And having witnessed, with his own eyes, more than a decade of his flawless leadership before his death, Hazrat Nanupuri Hujur (rahimahullah) departed this world on Saturday, the 13th of Rabi' al-Akhir 1418 Hijri, corresponding to the 16th of August 1997.
From then on, Hazrat Shah Jamir Uddin (rahimahullah) carried out the duties of this Jamia's chief director with the utmost sacrifice, dedication, and skill. Through his tireless labour and skilful management, this Jamia rose to a summit of progress. Under his direction, Jamia Obaidia witnessed extraordinary advancement — progress both outward and inward, in quality and in form alike. Just as, academically, it came to hold a gathering of skilled and learned teachers across the necessary and time-appropriate levels and departments of education, and became a singular centre of spiritual practice and spirituality, so too did it advance in construction: a ring of tall buildings rising on every side like towering peaks, a vast field at the centre, a grand three-storey mosque, three further small mosques to the north and east, a modern air-conditioned guest house, a pond with paved banks on every side, and a large, handsome kitchen. Round-the-clock electricity and generator arrangements were put in place. Every point of the Jamia's vast grounds is now monitored by the most modern CC cameras, creating a secure environment. Always, the murmur of thousands upon thousands of seekers of knowledge reciting "Qala Allah" and "Qala ar-Rasul" fills the air. Above all, a serene, cool, captivating, heavenly atmosphere prevails — a wondrous blessing indeed from Allah, the Almighty, one that truly delights the hearts of visitors and travellers alike.
Alongside religious education, this institution also provides training in computer skills, calligraphy, tailoring, and bookbinding, along with various other handicrafts and technical trades, with the aim of raising its students to be capable, contributing citizens of the country.
Students studying here are given tuition-free education, along with free housing and all necessary textbooks. At present the Jamia has around 8,000+ students, and around 150+ teachers and other staff.
Afterward came Madrasa-e-Mahmudia, founded by Sultan Mahmud of Ghazni; then the Madrasa-e-Mahmudia of Nishapur, the Nizamiyyah of Baghdad, Jami'ul Azhar of Egypt, Jamia Qairawan of Tunisia, Jamia Cordoba of Spain, and Darul Uloom Deoband of India, along with other renowned religious institutions — all of them extended forms of that same mosque-centred system of education.
When determined efforts were underway to uproot Islam forever from the hearts of the Muslims of this land, among the great figures who, in various parts of the Indian subcontinent, kindled the torch of religious knowledge in resistance to that conspiracy was the then-eminent scholar of religion, Hazrat Maulana Obaidul Haq Nanupuri Sahib (rahimahullah). With the aim of carrying forward the Deobandi school of thought, he established, at Kalu Munshirhat in his own village of Nanupur under Fatikchhari Thana — Chattogram's gateway for the entry of Islam into Bangladesh — on the north side of what is today the Baitul Aman Jami Masjid, a madrasa named "Hemayatul Islam," following the Dars-e-Nizami syllabus, and he served as its founding director until his death. The madrasa advanced rapidly. Within a short time, true seekers of knowledge began gathering there to acquire religious learning. Students at this madrasa studied the Dars-e-Nizami curriculum up to Jamat-e-Chaharum (the fourth year) before going on to complete their remaining studies at larger institutions such as Darul Uloom Deoband and Darul Uloom Moinul Islam, Hathazari.
The madrasa's educational activities continued in this way. Among the other teachers of the madrasa at that time were Maulana Obaidul Haq Sahib's own worthy son, Hazrat Maulana Ziaul Islam Sahib (rahimahullah); Hazrat Maulana Mahmudul Wali Sahib (rahimahullah); and the distinguished khalifa of Darul Uloom Deoband's graduate and Pakistan's Muftiye Azam, Maulana Mufti Shafi (rahimahullah) — Hazratul Allama Maulana Amir Uddin Sahib (rahimahullah) of Maijbhandar. All of them were spiritual sons of Hazrat Maulana Obaidul Haq Sahib. He passed away at the age of 82. After his passing, his own son, Hazrat Maulana Ziaul Islam Sahib, took charge of the madrasa, but he too left this world for his Lord's court a short while later. After his passing, the madrasa gradually began to decline. At that time responsibility for running the madrasa fell to his younger brother, Hazrat Maulana Mazharul Islam Sahib (rahimahullah), and at one point the madrasa's activities came to a halt.
With the madrasa built by the hands of his beloved teacher now lost, his special student, Hazrat Maulana Amir Uddin Sahib (rahimahullah), became determined to establish a new madrasa. Hazrat Maulana Mahmudul Wali Sahib (rahimahullah) and devout Muslims of the locality at every level began searching for a suitable site on which to lay the madrasa's foundation. After much searching and lengthy deliberation, at last, on the guidance of the finest saint of that era — the founder of Jamia Islamia Patiya, Qutbud Da'wah wal Irshad Maulana Mufti Azizul Haq Sahib (rahimahullah) — and through the tireless assistance of the locality's devout Muslims, in particular the influential local educationist and social worker Janab Alhaj Master Muhammad Fazlur Rahman Sahib, it was decided to begin the madrasa's activities at the enclosed prayer-house (ebadatkhana) site on the western side of today's Jamia.
In his beloved teacher's honour, the madrasa was named "Obaidia Hafizul Uloom." Placing their trust in the Lord of the Worlds, teaching began at the madrasa on Monday, the 29th of Shawwal 1377 Hijri, corresponding to 1957 CE. Qari Hamed Sahib of Bhujpur (rahimahullah) was also with them at that time. Later, as space became insufficient, a long bamboo structure was built on the site where the Jamia's mosque now stands, and the madrasa carried on in this way. Maulana Abu Sufyan Sahib (rahimahullah) and Maulana Hafez Jamal Uddin Sahib (rahimahullah) subsequently joined them, and through their combined effort the madrasa gradually advanced. Among those who gave special support at the madrasa's founding were the late Dr. Abdul Mannan Sahib, Alhaj Abdus Salam Sahib, Janab Shamsul Huda Saodagar Sahib, Janab Alhaj Abul Kashem Saodagar, Alhaj Badiul Alam Saodagar, and Janab Alhaj Muazzem Hossain Saodagar Sahib — their contribution remains recorded in golden letters in the pages of memory to this day.
Afterward, at the madrasa's annual gathering on the 6th of Shawwal 1379 Hijri, Hazrat Mufti Azizul Haq Sahib of Patiya (rahimahullah) came as a guest. There, the madrasa's then-director, Allama Amir Uddin Sahib (rahimahullah), requested Hazrat Mufti Sahib to appoint Hazrat Sultan Ahmad Nanupuri (rahimahullah) as the madrasa's Muhtamim. Hazrat Mufti Sahib replied that he was already attached to another institution and so could not be brought here directly — though, yes, he could give some time while travelling between Dharmapur and Babunagar.
Then, on the 15th of Ramadan 1380 Hijri — one week before Hazrat Mufti Sahib's (rahimahullah) passing — Maulana Amir Uddin Sahib (rahimahullah) went to Patiya Madrasa and, having expressed his intention to travel for Hajj after Ramadan, once again requested that Hazrat Sultan Ahmad Nanupuri (rahimahullah) be given as the madrasa's director. Hazrat Mufti Sahib (rahimahullah) replied: tell Sultan that if he is ever free from Babunagar, he should come to Obaidia. For some time after this, until Hazrat Nanupuri's (rahimahullah) arrival at the madrasa, Hazrat Maulana Amir Uddin (rahimahullah) remained in charge of the madrasa's direction, and upon Nanupuri's (rahimahullah) arrival, he warmly accepted him as chief director. Later, when Dawra-e-Hadith began in 1393 Hijri, he taught the lessons of Sahih Muslim until his death. Hazrat Allama Shah Sultan Ahmad Nanupuri Sahib (rahimahullah) arrived in Nanupur as Muhtamim on the 5th of Shawwal 1380 Hijri. At that time the madrasa's condition was extremely fragile and precarious — instruction extended only as far as Kafiya. It is worth noting that the senior scholar and senior teacher of Jamia Obaidia, Maulana Yusuf Sahib (Amtali, may Allah preserve him), is the very person who received his lessons in the book Kafiya directly from Hazrat Nanupuri when he first arrived in Nanupur from Babunagar. Including the maktab, the whole madrasa had only 100–150 students, and 5–6 teachers — Hazrat Maulana Amir Uddin Sahib (rahimahullah), Hazrat Mahmudul Wali (rahimahullah), Hazrat Maulana Abu Sufyan (rahimahullah), Hazrat Maulana Sulaiman (rahimahullah), and Hazrat Qari Afsar Ahmad (rahimahullah), among others. The boarding arrangements were extremely poor — at times only a little dal-bhat was available, and at other times the students had to go without.
Moreover, the madrasa had no mosque, pond, field, or building of its own. Hazrat Nanupuri (rahimahullah) at that time walked to and from the madrasa from his own home in Dharmapur, a journey of nearly eight to ten miles each day. Sometimes Hazrat would come having eaten only a little stale rice; at other times he spent the whole day fasting, because the financial state was truly dire. As for the madrasa's own buildings — there was only a rickety hut some twenty to twenty-five hands long, swaying constantly in the north-south wind, barely holding its own. When a storm once struck, it was destroyed entirely. The madrasa's teachers and students together, with great hardship, built a mud house on the site. When the rains came and water got in, that too was ruined, and it had to be repaired again and again. In this way, amid great hardship, this institution's infancy passed.
Through Hazrat Nanupuri's (rahimahullah) sincerity, competence, and extraordinary spiritual strength, that small Obaidia Hafezul Uloom madrasa gradually transformed into Jamia Islamia Obaidia, a name known today across the Arab world, the wider world of Islamic learning, and the globe entire. Owing to physical illness, some thirteen years before his death, around 1406 Hijri corresponding to 1984, Hazrat Nanupuri (rahimahullah) appointed his distinguished khalifa — the enduring spiritual figure and Khatib-e-Islam, Allama Shah Jamiruddin (rahimahullah) — as the worthy Muhtamim and director. Khatib-e-Islam Allama Shah Jamiruddin (rahimahullah) was a man of extraordinary character, an eminent scholar of religion, an illumined figure of the spiritual world, and a man of pure character shaped by Hazrat Nanupuri's (rahimahullah) own hand, and a guide upon the path of guidance. Seeing in him extraordinary organisational skill, scholarly competence, and firmness of faith, Hazrat Nanupuri (rahimahullah) appointed him director of this vast Jamia, placing this responsibility upon him and thereby setting his own mind at ease. And having witnessed, with his own eyes, more than a decade of his flawless leadership before his death, Hazrat Nanupuri Hujur (rahimahullah) departed this world on Saturday, the 13th of Rabi' al-Akhir 1418 Hijri, corresponding to the 16th of August 1997.
From then on, Hazrat Shah Jamir Uddin (rahimahullah) carried out the duties of this Jamia's chief director with the utmost sacrifice, dedication, and skill. Through his tireless labour and skilful management, this Jamia rose to a summit of progress. Under his direction, Jamia Obaidia witnessed extraordinary advancement — progress both outward and inward, in quality and in form alike. Just as, academically, it came to hold a gathering of skilled and learned teachers across the necessary and time-appropriate levels and departments of education, and became a singular centre of spiritual practice and spirituality, so too did it advance in construction: a ring of tall buildings rising on every side like towering peaks, a vast field at the centre, a grand three-storey mosque, three further small mosques to the north and east, a modern air-conditioned guest house, a pond with paved banks on every side, and a large, handsome kitchen. Round-the-clock electricity and generator arrangements were put in place. Every point of the Jamia's vast grounds is now monitored by the most modern CC cameras, creating a secure environment. Always, the murmur of thousands upon thousands of seekers of knowledge reciting "Qala Allah" and "Qala ar-Rasul" fills the air. Above all, a serene, cool, captivating, heavenly atmosphere prevails — a wondrous blessing indeed from Allah, the Almighty, one that truly delights the hearts of visitors and travellers alike.
Present Geographic Location
Blessed is the soil of this place by the dust of the sacred footsteps of countless saints and great souls. Under the tread of such noble, ideal figures, it is as though countless fountains and springs have flowed down from the mountain country since time immemorial. Thirty kilometres north of Chattogram city, in the village of Nanupur under Fatikchhari Thana — a place brimming with charming natural beauty — upon this sacred soil stands, spread across a vast area, the far-reaching Islamic university of religious education, "Jamia Islamia Obaidia."The Present Jamia's Diverse Educational Activities
Jamia Islamia Obaidia is a renowned Islamic educational institution of the subcontinent. This institution has today gained broad recognition across the world. It enjoys wide renown in Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Qatar, Malaysia, the United States, and various other countries besides. The ulama educated at this institution are rendering diverse and extensive service to Islam in all of these countries. At this institution, from the primary level through Dawra-e-Hadith (equivalent to a Master's degree), beyond Islamic education there are advanced-level departments in Tafsir, Hadith, Fiqh, Tajweed, Arabic literature, and numerous other contemporary subjects besides.Alongside religious education, this institution also provides training in computer skills, calligraphy, tailoring, and bookbinding, along with various other handicrafts and technical trades, with the aim of raising its students to be capable, contributing citizens of the country.
Students studying here are given tuition-free education, along with free housing and all necessary textbooks. At present the Jamia has around 8,000+ students, and around 150+ teachers and other staff.