1. Shibli Nomani was an Indian Islamic scholar, poet, philosopher, historian, educational thinker, author, orator, reformer and critic of orientalists during the British Raj.
27 Facts About Shibli Nomani
1. 2.
Shibli Nomani is regarded as the father of Urdu historiography.
3.
Shibli Nomani wrote several biographies of Muslim heroes, convinced that Muslims of his time could learn valuable lessons from the past.
4.
Shibli Nomani collected much material on the life of Muhammad, and completed the first two volumes of the planned work, Sirat al-Nabi.
5.
Shibli Nomani was born on 4 June 1857 in Bindwal near Azamgarh into a Muslim Rajput family, his ancestor Sheoraj Singh being a Bais who accepted Islam many generations ago, to Habibullah and Moqeema Khatoon.
6.
Shibli Nomani was named after Abu Bakr al-Shibli who was a Sufi saint and a disciple of Junayd Baghdadi.
7.
Shibli Nomani's teacher was Muhammad Farooq Chirayakoti, a rationalist scholar.
8.
Shibli Nomani therefore had reasons to be both attracted and repelled by Aligarh.
9.
Shibli Nomani taught Persian and Arabic languages at Aligarh for sixteen years, where he met Thomas Arnold and other British scholars from whom he learned first-hand modern Western ideas and thoughts.
10.
Shibli Nomani travelled with Thomas Arnold in 1892 to the Ottoman Empire including Syria, Turkey and Egypt and other locations in the Middle East and got direct and practical experience of their societies.
11.
Shibli Nomani's scholarship influenced Thomas Arnold on one hand, and on the other he was influenced by Thomas Arnold to a great extent, and this explains the modern touch in his ideas.
12.
Shibli Nomani initiated many reforms in the Hyderabad education system.
13.
Shibli Nomani introduced reforms in the school's teaching and curriculum.
14.
Shibli Nomani stayed at the school for five years, but the orthodox class of scholars became hostile towards him, and he had to leave Lucknow to settle in the area around his hometown, Azamgarh in 1913.
15.
Shibli Nomani bequeathed his bungalow and mango orchard and motivated the members of his clan and relatives to do the same and had succeeded.
16.
Shibli Nomani wrote letters to his disciples and other eminent persons and sought their co-operation.
17.
Shibli Nomani and Syed Ahmed wished for the welfare of Muslims and wanted to have Western thinking and style come along with it.
18.
However, Sir Syed wanted to save the Muslims from the wrath of the British rulers after their active participation in the War of Independence of 1857, called the "Sepoy Mutiny" of 1857 by the British colonialist rulers, whereas Shibli Nomani wanted to make them self-reliant and self-respecting by regaining their lost heritage and tradition.
19.
Shibli Nomani opposed the ideology of Sir Syed and that is why he was debarred from the services of Muhammadan Anglo-Oriental College.
20.
Shibli Nomani had two daughters, Rabia Khatoon and Jannutul Fatima, and one son, Hamid Hassan Shibli Nomani.
21.
Shibli Nomani had another son who died soon after birth, and five daughters.
22.
The Shibli Project, undertaken by the Department of Arabic at Jamia Millia Islamia, aims to preserve the legacy of Shibli Nomani and make his works accessible to a wider audience.
23.
The Shibli Nomani Project seeks to promote compatibility among the disciplines of Urdu, Islamiyat, and History.
24.
One of the highlights of the Shibli Nomani Project is an exhibition on his life and contributions.
25.
Shamsur Rahman Faruqi, the poet, author, critic and literary theorist argued that Shibli Nomani's work has been unjustly dealt with:.
26.
Shibli Nomani was inspired by the progress of science and education in the West.
27.
Shibli Nomani wanted to inspire the Muslims to make similar progress by having recourse to their lost heritage and culture, and warned them against getting lost in Western culture.