Syed Waheed Ashraf

Syed Waheed Ashraf

Syed Waheed Ashraf
Title Allama, Shaikhe Tariqat
Born (1933-02-04) 4 February 1933
Nationality Indian
Era Present
Region India
Religion Islam
Main interest(s) Sufism
Notable work(s) Sufism, Urdu and Persian quatrains (Rubai) and Naat, Persian and Urdu literary criticism, Islamic studies
Children Three sons, one daughter

Syed Waheed Ashraf[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18] is an Indian Sufi scholar and poet in Persian and Urdu. Ashraf received his B.A., M.A. and PhD (1965) degrees from Aligarh Muslim University. The title of his doctoral dissertation was A Critical Edition of Lataife Ashrafi. After serving at a number of Indian universities (Punjabi University at Patiala, M.S. University of Baroda and the University of Madras), Ashraf retired as head of the department of Arabic, Persian and Urdu at the University of Madras in 1993. Fluent in seven languages (Pahlavi, Persian, Arabic, Urdu, English, Hindi and Gujarati), he writes in Urdu, Persian and English, has written, edited or compiled over 35 books and a number of research articles, and has been honoured in India and abroad.[19][20][21][22][23][24] Ashraf has focused on upholding and propagating the principles and practices of Sufism.

Biography

Parents

Ashraf traces his lineage to a family of Syeds in Kachhauchha Sharif, a small town in the district of Ambedkar Nagar, eastern Uttar Pradesh. He was born on 4 February 1933, the third child of librarian Syed Habeeb Ashraf and Syeda Saeeda. Habeeb worked in the village library; although he was enrolled at Firangi Mahal, a madrasa in Lucknow, he did not complete his education due to the death of his father. He was well-versed in Ilmul Jafar and Ilmul Ramal (Islamic geomancy). Habeeb wrote to his eldest son, Syed Amin Ashraf (who was stationed in Aligarh), six months before his death asking him to be home on 3 February 1972 for his burial.

Syeda Saeeda was the daughter of a Unani doctor in the village. Before her marriage, she assisted her father in the preparation of drugs in his dispensary and acquired a knowledge of Unani medicine (particularly diseases of women and children).

Siblings

Habeeb and Syeda had four sons and three daughters. The two elder sons were Syed Amin Ashraf and Syed Hameed Ashraf. The youngest son (and their fifth child) was Syed Ashraf. Their daughters were Syeda Mahmooda, Syeda Masooda and Syeda Raheen. Syed Amin Ashraf received his PhD in English literature from Aligarh Muslim University, and later taught in the same department. Amin Ashraf is regarded as an accomplished poet in Urdu ghazals. He has compiled three poetic collections – Jadae Shab, Bahare Ijaad and Qafase Rang – and a collection of his papers in a book, Bargo Bar. He has received awards from Ghalib Academy, New Delhi and Uttar Pradesh Urdu Academy in Lucknow. Several critical essays about his poetry have been published. Their second son, Syed Hameed Ashraf (who died in 1993), studied Shariah at Al Jamiatul Ashrafia Mubarakpur and Darul Uloom Deoband, received B.A., M.A. and M.Phil degrees in Arabic literature from Aligarh Muslim University and taught at a number of Indian madrasas. Syed Waheed Ashraf learned Islamic theology from his brother, Syed Hameed Ashraf.

Education

Ashraf received his primary education from the village madrasa and graduated from middle school in Baskhari, a small town near his home, in 1948. He received his high-school certificate from Mohd. Hasan Inter College in Jaunpur District. After high school, Ashraf suspended his studies for seven years due to poor health. He then earned his undergraduate, postgraduate and doctoral degrees (1965) from Aligarh Muslim University.

Professional career

After receiving his PhD, Ashraf was a temporary lecturer at Punjabi University in Patiala for a year before returning to Aligarh University as a UGC senior research fellow. In 1971, he received a permanent faculty position as a lecturer at M.S. University of Baroda in Gujarat. In 1977, Ashraf joined the University of Madras as a reader in Persian. He became a professor in 1982, and retired as head of the department of Arabic, Persian and Urdu at the University of Madras in 1993.

Spiritual odyssey

Ashraf was devoted to Sufi literature. After completing his education at Aligarh Muslim University, he gave spiritual allegiance (baith) to Syed Qadeer Ahmad Ashrafiul Jilani in Kichaucha Sharif. He was initiated into the Ashrafiya order, and Jilani made him his successor (khalifa). Ashraf delivered lectures on Masnavi Maulan Rum at his home in Baroda.

Works

Books

Sufism and Islamic studies

Urdu
Persian
English

Poetry

Urdu
Persian

Criticism

Urdu
Persian

Letters

English

Awards and honours

References

  1. ↑ QUALIFIED MANPOWER IN ISLAMIC STUDIES' published by the Islamic Research Institute, Rabat, Morocco, in 1993.
  2. ↑ INTERNATIONAL WHO IS WHO OF POETS' Edition III, published by the International Biographical Centre, Cambridge, in 1992.
  3. ↑ 'INTERNATIONAL WHO IS WHO OF INTELLECTUALS' Edition IX, published by the International Biographical Centre, Cambridge, in 1993.
  4. ↑ SELECTED VERSES OF 19 POETS OF THE WORLD', published by International Poetry Letter Argentina, in 1991
  5. ↑ 'INTERNATIONAL WHO'S WHO IN POETRY 2005, Europa Publications Routledge, Taylor and Francis Group, Page No.67
  6. ↑ 'PERSIAN CLASSICAL AND MODERN POETRY, Compiled by Ramin Khanbagi, International Society for Iranian Culture, ISBN 1592670385, Page No 10,Published by Global Scholarly Publications, NewYork, 2004.
  7. ↑ DR. SYED WAHEED ASHRAF KI RUBAI NIGARI' by Dr. Azhar Alam, published with the financial assistance from the Fakhruddin Ali Memorial Committee, Govt. of Uttar Pradesh in 2002
  8. ↑ 'JAHANE URDU RUBAI' by Aleem Saba Navedi, Tamil Nadu Urdu Publication, Chennai, in 2011.
  9. ↑ 'URDU NAZM KE SILSELEY' by Aleem Saba Navedi,PAGES 213 & 497 Tamil Nadu Urdu Publication, Chennai, in 2008.
  10. ↑ 'RAUSHAN QALAM (TANQEEDI MAZAMEIN)' by Aleem Saba Navedi, Educational publishing house, Delhi, Pages 26–27, in 2011.
  11. ↑ 'JAHANE NOORE MOHAMMADI (NAATIYA SHAIRI KE MAZMOOM PER MAZAMEEM' by Aleem Saba Navedi, Pages 69–70 Tamil Nadu Urdu Publication, Chennai, in 2011.
  12. ↑ 'TAMIL NADU MEIN URDU' by Aleem Saba Navedi, Tamil Nadu Urdu Publication, Chennai, in 1998.
  13. ↑ 'TAQAREEZ' by Talha Rizvi Barq,(Pages 81–86), Publisher Allama Qateel Oriental Library, Markaze Tahqeeq, Danapur Cantt, Patna, 2011.
  14. ↑ 'NAAT AUR ADABE NAAT' by Kokab Noorani Aukharvi, (Pages 252–260), Publisher Mehr Muneer Academy (International), Karachi, 2004.
  15. ↑ 'AN OVERVIEW OF SUFI LITERATURE IN THE SULTANATE PERIOD' by Dr. Bruce B Lawrence, Khuda Bakhsh Oriental Public Library, Patna.
  16. ↑ 'EAST-WEST VOICES (Anthology), Edited by Dr. V.S. Scanda Prasad,Chetana Books, 2 August 650, Kavoor Road, Kapikad, Bijai, Mangalore, India – 575,004.
  17. ↑ 'TAFHEEMO TAJZIA-Tanqeedi Muqalaat Ka Majmua' by Prof. Farooq Ahmad Siddqiue, Pages 54-63, Published by Makoff Printers, Turkman Gate Delhi 6 (2015),ISBN 978-93-84269-12-8.
  18. ↑ 'YAADE RAFTGAAN' by Zaheer Qadri Saba Barodavi, Page No. 10, 135 Memon Colony Ajwa Road, Baroda (2007)
  19. ↑ Certificate of Honour from the President of India in recognition as an eminent scholar of Persian in 1995
  20. ↑ Gujarat Gaurav Puraskar from Urdu Sahitya Academy of Gujarat in 2005
  21. ↑ Cited in 'DATA OF EXPERTS IN ISLAMIC STUDIES' published by The Islamic Research Institute, Rabat, Morocco
  22. ↑ Cited first among the selected nineteen poets of the world by the Literary Organization,' Poetry Letter of Argentina'in1991
  23. ↑ Cited in 'International Who is Who of Poets' published by the International Biographical Centre, Cambridge, 1992
  24. ↑ Cited in 'International Who is Who of Intellectuals', published by the International Biographical Centre, Cambridge in 1993
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