Ishaq, Mawlana Muhammad

Ishaq, Mawlana Muhammad (1883-1938) a religious scholar and sufi, was born in Feni. Having received his primary religious education locally, he got himself admitted into the Alim class at a madrasa in Comilla from where he went to Makkah where at the Sawlatiyya Madrasa he studied Islam and Arabic language for eleven years, in association with Shaykhu';d-Dal';ail Abdul Haqq Muhajir Makki who made him an adopted son. Then while serving this madrasa as a teacher, he underwent vigorous sufistic practices for several years and eventually obtained Khilafat from the Shaykh.

After returning to home country he continued his sufistic practices for many years and advanced for along the sufi path. Several Karamat is said to have proceeded from him, and people began to approach him for spiritual guidance.

He travelled to Comilla, Noakhali, Barisal, Hatiya and Sandwip where many peop1e became his murids. Then when he renewed his b''a'y';'a't at the hands of Mawlana Abdur Rabb, the grandson of Maulana karamat ali jaunpuri of Jainpur, his sufi thoughts and practices were influenced by the jainpuris. In his book T'a;l'i'm-e-H'a'qq'a'n'i' W'a' Fuyud-e-Ish'a'q'i, written in Urdu, he gave an easy exposition of different sufi problems and of methods of Zikr and meditation.

Mawlana Ishaq had interest in social services. In 1936 he established an orphanage near his home and donated all of his immovable properties to it. This orphanage is called 'Ishaqiyya Yatimkhana'; after his name. He also financially assisted the establishment of idghas, mosques and madrasas. Although he kept himself aloof from active politics, he supported the freedom movement of Jami';at-e-Ulama-e-Hind of the sub-continent. He died on 19 November 1938. [MA Quasem] [Quasem, MA  Professor of Philosophy, Dhaka University]