Ali, Mirza Muhammad Yusuf

Ali, Mirza Muhammad Yusuf (1858-1920) litterateur, Islamic revivalist and social reformer, was born in 1858 at Aliabad in durgapur upazila, rajshahi, the son of Munshi Mashiatullah. He studied at Sreedharpur Madhyabanga Vidyalay and Rajshahi Normal School, but passed the Entrance (1887) as a private candidate. He sat for the FA Examination (1891) but failed. He learnt Arabic, Urdu and Persian on his own. He taught at various schools, including the Bengali School in Cooch Bihar, Loknath School and Rangpur Government Normal School, and was for some time a School Inspector. He was the founder secretary of the Rajshahi nur-al-iman samaj (1884), Anjuman-e-Hemayate Islam (1891), Rajshahi Zila Mussalman Shiksa Samiti (1918). He was closely associated with the Pradeshik Mussalman Shiksa Samiti and Bangiya Islam Samiti. He also edited a number of magazines and journals, among them, Nur-al-Iman (1900), Shiksa Samachar and Shiksa Samabay (1919). He was the founder of Pallibandhab Patrika and co-founder of soltan (1926).

His writings were inspired by Islamic revivalism. Among his books are Dugdha-Sarobar (l891), Nur-al-Iman (1900) Khoshkhabar, Antimkaler Kartabya. He also translated Imam Ghazzali's Kimiaye Sa'adat into Bangla as Saubhagya Sparshamani. He died on 30 May 1920. [Badiuzzaman]