Muhammad Wakkas Explained

Honorific Prefix:Mufti
Muhammad Wakkas
Office:Member of 3rd/4th Jatiya Sangsad
Term Start:1986
Term End:1991
President:Hussain Muhammad Ershad
Successor:Khan Tipu Sultan
Office2:Minister of Religious Affairs
Termstart2:1 August 1986
President2:Hussain Muhammad Ershad
Termend2:28 August 1988
Predecessor2:Abdul Mannan
Successor2:Shamsul Islam
Office3:Secretary-General of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam
Termstart3:1991
Termend3:2016
Predecessor3:Shamsuddin Qasemi
Successor3:Nur Hossain Kasemi
Office4:Member of 8th Jatiya Sangsad
Primeminister4:Khaleda Zia
Termstart4:2001
Termend4:2006
Predecessor4:Khan Tipu Sultan
Successor4:Khan Tipu Sultan
Party:Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Bangladesh
Jatiya Party (1986-1996)
Islami Oikya Jote (1991)
Bangladesh Nationalist Party (2001-2008)
Module:
Embed:yes
Birth Date:15 January 1952
Birth Place:Bijayrampur, Jessore District, East Bengal, Pakistan
Death Place:Dhaka, Bangladesh
Religion:Islam
Denomination:Sunni
Jurisprudence:Hanafi
Movement:Deobandi
Alma Mater:Darul Uloom Deoband
Teachers:Qazi Mu'tasim Billah

Muḥammad Waqqāṣ ibn Muḥammad Ismāʿīl al-Jasarī (Arabic: محمد وقاص بن محمد إسماعيل الجسري; 15 January 1952 – 31 March 2021), or simply known as Muhammad Wakkas (Bengali: মুহাম্মদ ওয়াক্কাস), was a Bangladeshi Islamic scholar, teacher, former Member of Parliament and State Minister. He was the founder of Jamia Imdadia Madaninagar Madrasa, the largest madrasa in South Bengal, accommodating roughly 2000 students.

Early life and education

Muhammad Wakkas was born on 15 January 1952, to a Bengali Muslim family in the village of Bijayrampur in Manirampur, Jessore District, East Bengal. He was the youngest child of Muhammad Ismail and Nurjahan Begum.[1]

His education began at his local primary school, where he achieved the top position in the final exams. This impressed his mother, who then enrolled him at the Lauri Ramnagar Kamil Madrasa, a noted institution of South Bengal. He memorised the entire Qur'an off by heart in three months and was the highest scorer for the Alim exam of his board in 1967. He studied for his Kamil degree at the Bahadurpur Shariatia Alia Madrasa in Madaripur and was the highest scorer for his exam board for that too, in 1971. In 1972, he completed his Higher Secondary School Certificate at the Manirampur College.

Tajammul Ali, his teacher and also the khalifa of Hussain Ahmed Madani, advised him to study at the Darul Uloom Deoband in North India. He remained in Deoband for four years, topped the exams for Mawquf Alayhi (1973), Takmil-e-Ulum-e-Diniyat (1975) and Ifta (1976), and gained the title of Mufti.

Career

Political career

Wakkas was involved in politics during his time as a student, where his teacher often took him to Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam programmes. Whilst studying for his Kamil degree at Bahadurpur, Wakkas was elected as the vice-president of the Bahadurpur branch of Jamiat-e-Talaba-e-Arabia. After the independence of Bangladesh, he became the Nazim of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Bangladesh's Khulna branch. On Jamiat's decision, Wakkas briefly joined the Bangladesh Khilafat Andolan, founded by Hafezzi Huzur in 1981,[2] but later left it to return to the Jamiat.

Wakkas was advised by Shamsuddin Qasimi to participate in the 1986 Bangladeshi general election as a Jatiya Party candidate. In this election, he successfully gained a seat at the Jessore-5 constituency. He kept this seat after the 1988 Bangladeshi general election.[3] [4] During his first term as a Member of Parliament, Wakkas also served as the country's Minister of Religious Affairs.[5] He also later served as the whip.

After the fall of Ershad's Jatiya Party, Wakkas stood for the 1991 Bangladeshi general elections as a candidate under the Islami Oikya Jote alliance. He was unsuccessful in gaining a seat in this election, losing to Khan Tipu Sultan of the Awami League. It was also in this year that the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Bangladesh had appointed him as secretary-general during their National Council at Arzabad Madrasa.

At the June 1996 Bangladeshi general election, he stood up once more as Jatiya Party candidate but failed to defeat Khan Tipu Sultan. He later joined the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, and was elected to parliament following the 2001 Bangladeshi general election, where he received 20,000 more votes than his rival Khan Tipu Sultan.[6] However, Sultan managed to defeat Wakkas in the 2008 Bangladeshi general election.

Educational career

In 1982, Wakkas established the Jamia Imdadia Madaninagar Madrasa in Manirampur. 7 years later, he founded a female branch of the madrasa. The faculty of Hadith studies began in 1995, and for females in 2003. In 2009, the institution became the largest madrasa in South Bengal after the opening of its Ifta department. He was a member of Hefazat-e-Islam Bangladesh.[7]

Death and legacy

Wakkas died on 31 March 2021 at a hospital in Dhaka.

See also

Notes and References

  1. News: https://sylhetreport.com/?p=22735. bn:আলাপচারিতায়-জমিয়ত নেতা মুফতি মুহাম্মদ ওয়াক্কাস. bn. 28 October 2017. Sylhet Report. 30 August 2019. https://archive.today/20190831113906/https://sylhetreport.com/?p=22735. 31 August 2019.
  2. News: bn:জীবদ্দশায় ছেলেরা, এখন নাতিরা পদ নিয়ে দ্বন্দ্বে. bn. https://www.prothomalo.com/politics/%E0%A6%9C%E0%A7%80%E0%A6%AC%E0%A6%A6%E0%A7%8D%E0%A6%A6%E0%A6%B6%E0%A6%BE%E0%A6%AF%E0%A6%BC-%E0%A6%9B%E0%A7%87%E0%A6%B2%E0%A7%87%E0%A6%B0%E0%A6%BE-%E0%A6%8F%E0%A6%96%E0%A6%A8-%E0%A6%A8%E0%A6%BE%E0%A6%A4%E0%A6%BF%E0%A6%B0%E0%A6%BE-%E0%A6%AA%E0%A6%A6-%E0%A6%A8%E0%A6%BF%E0%A6%AF%E0%A6%BC%E0%A7%87-%E0%A6%A6%E0%A7%8D%E0%A6%AC%E0%A6%A8%E0%A7%8D%E0%A6%A6%E0%A7%8D%E0%A6%AC%E0%A7%87. Prothom Alo. Jahid, Salim. 28 November 2014.
  3. Web site: List of 3rd Parliament Members . . Bangladesh Parliament . bn . 3 November 2019.
  4. Web site: List of 4th Parliament Members . . Bangladesh Parliament . bn . 3 November 2019.
  5. News: Mufti Wakkas gets 6-month bail . 3 November 2019 . banglanews24.com . 17 February 2014 . en.
  6. Web site: Parliament Election Result of 1991, 1996, 2001 Bangladesh Election Information and Statistics . . Vote Monitor Networks . 3 November 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20081228235413/http://votemonitor.net/bangladesh/EADetails_1991_1996_2001.php?EA=89 . 28 December 2008 . dead .
  7. News: Mufti Wakkas granted bail . 3 November 2019 . Dhaka Tribune. 17 February 2014.