Masood Alam Nadwi

Masood Alam Nadwi (11 February 1910 – 17 March 1954) was a South Asian Islamic scholar, writer, journalist, and literary figure. He was the founding editor of the Arabic magazine Al-Ziya and a member of Jamaat-e-Islami. Following the Partition of India, he migrated to Pakistan, where he remained active in scholarly and intellectual work until his death.

Masood Alam was born on 11 February 1910 in the village of Ugawan, Nalanda district, Bihar. His father, Abd al-Fattah Abd al-Shakur, was a physician who emphasized his son’s education in the Arabic language from an early age. He began his studies under his father before attending a local modern school and later al-Madrasah al-‘Aziziyyah, where he obtained the qualification of Maulvi. He then studied at Madrasah Shams al-Huda in Patna, developing a strong interest in Arabic literature through access to Arabic journals. In 1928, after a brief period of study under Kifayatullah Dehlawi in Delhi, he came into contact with Sulaiman Nadvi, who encouraged him to join Darul Uloom Nadwatul Ulama in Lucknow. He graduated with the ‘Alimiyyah degree in 1929 and subsequently taught Arabic literature there for two years before returning to Bihar, where he introduced elements of modern education in his teaching.^[1]

In 1932, Sulaiman Nadwi and Taqi al-Din al-Hilali launched the Arabic-language magazine Al-Ziya from Nadwatul Ulama, with Masood Alam appointed as its first editor. Alongside this role, he continued teaching at the institution. By 1937, he had moved to Bijnor to work with the editorial board of the Urdu magazine Madina. He later returned briefly to Nadwatul Ulama and worked at the Khuda Bakhsh Oriental Library in Patna. Over the following years, he traveled across India, Iraq, the Hijaz, and later Pakistan, engaging in scholarship, translation, and writing. With the rise of Jamaat-e-Islami under Abul A'la Maududi, Masood Alam became associated with the movement. After the Partition of India in 1947, he migrated to Rawalpindi, Pakistan, where he continued to write and participate in Islamic intellectual circles. He died in Karachi on 17 March 1954.^[1]

Nadwi authored works in both Arabic and Urdu, focusing on Islamic history, Arabic literature, and contemporary intellectual discussions. His Arabic works include The Influence of Islam on Arabic Poetry, The History of Islamic Preaching in India, and The Present and Past of the Muslims of India, while his Urdu writings include The First Islamic Movement in India, A View on the Ideas of Ubaydullah Sindhi, Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab: The Misrepresented Reformer, Socialism and Islam, Arabic Translation (a grammar treatise), and Mahasin Sijjad, a biography of Abul Mahasin Muhammad Sajjad. In addition to these works, he translated several writings of Abul A‘la Maududi into Arabic.^[1]

• Kha, Kaleemur Rehman (1998). Maulana Masood Alam Nadvi Life & Work (1910-1954) (PhD thesis) (in Urdu). India: Department of Arabic, University of Lucknow. p. 1. hdl:10603/598603.
• Quraishi, Mohd Afaque (2023). Ishamatu Masood Alam Al Nadwi Fit Tarjamati Was Sihafatil Arabia Dirasutun Tahliliyah (PhD thesis) (in Arabic). India: Department of Arabic, Jamia Millia Islamia. p. 1. hdl:10603/604693.
• Rahi, Akhtar (1975). Masood Alam Nadvi (in Urdu). Pakistan: Mirza Basheer Ahmad Beg. p. 15.
• Fazli, Abdul Hameed (1998). Moulana Masood Alam Nadvi Hayat Aur Karname (in Urdu). New Delhi: Markazi Maktaba Islami Publishers. p. 16.
• Qasmi, Sharf Alam (2006). Allama Masood Alam Nadvi Shakhsiyat Aur Khidmat (in Urdu). Bihar: Rizwan And Brothers. p. 10.
• Arshad, Muhammad (2016). "Correspondence between Ghulam Rasool Mehr and the Nadvi Scholars". Bunyad. 7 (1): 133–183. eISSN 2709-9687.
• Nadwi, Talha Naimat (2015). Al-Ustadh Masood Alam al-Nadwi fi Daw’ Hayatihi wa Khidmatihi (in Arabic). India: Maktabat al-Hamd al-‘Ilmiyyah. p. 1.
• Islam, Habib Shahidul (2014). The Role Of Darul Uloom Nadwatul Ulema In The Field Of Arabic Journalism In India A Study (PhD thesis). India: Department of Arabic, Gauhati University. p. 224–225. hdl:10603/114360. Archived from the original on 29 November 2023. Retrieved 29 November 2023.
• P, Jubailiya (2020). Darul Uloom Nadwathul Ulama its Contributions to the Development of Arabic Language and Literature: an analytical study (PhD thesis) (in Arabic). India: Department of Arabic, University of Calicut. pp. 178–181. hdl:10603/306944. Archived from the original on 26 November 2023. Retrieved 29 November 2023.
• Rahman, Obaidur (2017). Musahamatu Darul Uloom Nadwatul Ulama Fi Nashril Lughatil Arabiati Wal Adabil Islami Wa Dauruha Fi Majalis Sahafati Wal Elam (PhD thesis) (in Arabic). India: University of Calcutta. pp. 243, 261–262. hdl:10603/314806. Archived from the original on 16 June 2023. Retrieved 11 November 2024.