Hormuz Ullah Shayda

Hormuz Ullah Shayda (27 June 1903 – 2 December 1990) was a Bengali Islamic scholar, researcher, professor and poet.
==Early life and education==
Hormuz Ullah was born on 27 June 1903, to Bengali Muslim parents Muqim Ullah and Begum Daulatunnesa in the village of Turkhola in Sylhet District. His family was not well-off and so he had to rely on scholarships throughout his student life. The idea of receiving an education was threatened after the death of his elder brother, Suruj Ali. Baikuntha Babu, his teacher at the local primary school, noticed Hormuz Ullah's talent as he had topped the class exams from class one to class five, and therefore urged his father not to cease his studies. Hormuz Ullah was able to be admitted to the Rebati Raman High School in Moglabazar by means of the All-Assam Education Board Scholarship which offered scholarships to only 25 students. However, he left the school to join the Daudia Junior Madrasa in Daudpur after his mother's persistence. At the Daudpur madrasa, he studied Quran, hadith, literature, Arabic grammar, fiqh, Bengali, Urdu, Persian and mathematics. The Assam Board offered only twenty scholarships for Hedayatun Nahw (class 8), and Hormuz Ullah topped his class and received it. He also topped the class for Jamat-e-Jami (class 10).
Hormuz Ullah was then admitted to Sylhet Government Alia Madrasah in 1917 where he completed Islamic studies for two years up until fazil level. During his time in Sylhet, he first stayed in Kalighat Boarding for some time, then at the residence of Jitu Miah in Sheikhghat, then at the home of Habibullah in Bhatalia, and finally at the home of Syed Abdul Majid. A few days before his fazil exams, Hormuz Ullah was affected by the kala zar epidemic. Despite this, the Assam Board offered its only scholarship for fazil students to Hormuz Ullah in addition to a gold medal for his excellent exam results.
After taking 19 injections, Hormuz Ullah then set for the Calcutta Alia Madrasa in 1925. He stayed for ten to fifteen days at the home of Muhammad Husayn Sylhet, one of the teachers at the madrasa, in 11 Emdad Ali Lane. He then moved to room 40 in Iliet Hotel. He would have to go to hospital twice a week to receive injections. In Calcutta Alia Madrasa, he completed the Sihah-e-Sittah and 171 books of tafsir. The Anjuman-e Al-Islah student society was formed during his time in Calcutta. They would hold their weekly meetings every Saturday in the presence of the principal. Hormuz Ullah was nominated as its secretary-general in his third year. He was awarded with the title of Mamtazul Muhadditheen in 1928, receiving first-class (third place) in the honours list. During his time in Calcutta, he gave bay'ah to Mullah Safiullah and received training from him in ilm-e-tasawwuf. 
==Career==
Shayda began his career as the principal of Panti High Madrasa in Kushtia, Nadia district. In 1932, he became a teacher of Hadith studies at his alma mater, the Calcutta Alia Madrasa. During this time, he conducted research of unpublished books handwritten in various languages and created a catalogue. His research led to an invitation from the Nizam of Hyderabad who offered him a research scholarship and create a catalogue for books pertaining to chemistry. He accepted this offer, and returned to Calcutta thereafter, teaching various subjects such as hadith, tafsir, Arabic literature, Islamic jurisprudence, principles of Islamic jurisprudence, rhetoric, logic, Urdu and Persian.
After the Partition of Bengal in 1947, Shayda relocated to the Government Madrasah-e-Alia in Dhaka. After teaching there for some time, Shayda later became the principal of the Sylhet Government Alia Madrasah. He was appointed as the superintendent of Alia madrasas on 1 March 1950. He retired in 1958. In 1959, he participated in a debate in Goalabazar regarding the pronunciation of the Arabic letter ḍād. He also debated on the same topic in Habibpur in the same year and in Munshibazar in 1960.
He set off for the Hajj pilgrimage in 1963, and engaged in religious discussions with the ulama of Medina. The Medinan authorities were impressed with his knowledge after he challenged an incorrect quotation of hadith of Prophet Muhammad and requested him to stay in Medina permanently, although Shayda refused this offer. 
Returning from Hajj, Hormuz Ullah toured South Asia, delivering tafsir seminars across India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Nepal and Bhutan. Hormuz Ullah was a proficient poet, and wrote qasidas in Bengali, Arabic, Persian and Urdu. He entered a Persian poetry competition overseen by Muhammad Iqbal in which competitors were given five minutes to display their talent. Iqbal was so impressed with Hormuz Ullah's poetry that he was allowed to continue for half an hour, eventually winning the competition and being awarded by Iqbal with the laqab (pen name) of 'Shayda'.
Shayda eventually established a building in Jalalpur Bazar dedicated to tafsir seminars and started regularly delivering them every Thursday afternoon from November 1975. The first entire tafsir was completed in November 1979. He also delivered tafsir classes in Islampur Jame Mosque in Fenchuganj and Daudpur Jame Mosque near his village. He came out of retirement and became a teacher at the Shafat Ali Senior Madrasa in Bhanugach for four years due to Md. Keramat Ali's persistence. Shayda was also invited to various ceremonies as a guest of honour such as the Inaugural Jalsa of Shompashi Madrasa, and the Inaugural Jalsa of Satpur Kamil Madrasah. On 11 May 1967, a conference was held at the Shah Jalal Dargah. A memorandum strictly calling for the prohibition of shirki practices was signed by the leading Islamic scholars from Sylhet including Hormuz Ullah Shayda, Mushahid Ahmad Bayampuri, Abdul Latif Chowdhury Fultali, Ibrahim Chatuli and Nur Uddin Gohorpuri. 
Towards the end of his life, Shayda was nominated as the first Chairman of Daudpur Union Council without any formal election being necessary.
==Death and legacy==
Hormuz Ullah Shayda died on 2 December 1990. Prior to performing his janaza, Abdul Latif Chowdhury Fultali referred to him as a 'maqbul ashiq-e-rasool'. He was buried in Bahrul Uloom near Daudpur Jame Mosque. His isaal-e-thawaab is held annually and the current guardian of his tomb is Muhammad Habibur Rahman. His grandson, Faiz Ahmad, is the khatib of Shah Manzur Jame Mosque in Musargaon. The Allama Hormuz Ullah Shayda (Rh.) Hafizia Madrasa and Orphanage, and Allama Hormuz Ullah Smriti Council were established in his honour. As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, a virtual dua mahfil was organised by the Anjuman-e Al-Islah USA.
Category:1903 births
Category:Islamic scholars
Category:Researchers
Category:Professors
Category:Poets
Category:1990 deaths