Shamsul Haque Faridpuri
Shamsul Haque Faridpuri (; 189621 January 1969) was an Islamic scholar, educationist, and social reformer. He was the founder-principal of Jamia Qurania Arabia Lalbagh. He also founded many other madrasas and mosques. Organisations which he initiated include; "Khademul Islam Jamat" and "Anjuman-e-Tabligh-al-Quran". Early life and education. Faridpuri was born on a Friday in the year 1896, to a Bengali Muslim family in the village of Ghoperdanga (later Gawhardanga) in erstwhile Faridpur District, Bengal Presidency, British Raj (now in Bangladesh). His mother's name was Amena Khatun. His father, Munshi Muhammad Abdullah, was noted  to have been a participant of the Indian Rebellion of 1857. Faridpuri's grandfather Chiragh Ali was a disciple of Syed Ahmad Shaheed and took part in the Battle of Balakot against the Sikhs. Faridpuri first began his preschool education under the local Hindu pandit of Patgati. He then studied in Tungipara and Sutiakathi School where he completed his primary education. In 1915, he was the best performer for class 6 in the annual exams at the Baghariya High School in Noapara. He then joined for class 7 at the Calcutta Alia Madrasa and in 1919 he passed the entrance  exam for the Anglo-Persian department. With a scholarship, Faridpuri enrolled at the Presidency College Calcutta for a few days before being interrupted by Mahatma Gandhi's non-cooperation movement. As a result, Faridpuri left the college and set off for Thana Bhawan where he met Ashraf Ali Thanwi. Under Thanwi's advice, Faridpuri enrolled at the Mazahir Uloom seminary in Saharanpur where he completed Islamic studies up to a bachelors level. He then moved on to study at Darul Uloom Deoband where he studied tasawwuf under Thanwi and hadith under Anwar Shah Kashmiri, Ejaz Ali and Hussain Ahmed Madani  until 1927. Faridpuri also gained khilafat from Zafar Ahmad Usmani and Abdul Ghani. Career. After completing his education, Faridpuri returned to his homeland in Bengal where he became a prominent teacher of hadith. He became the principal of Jamia Islamia Yunusia in Brahmanbaria in 1928 until 1935 when he founded the Gazalia Madrasa in Bagerhat. He then moved on to Ashraful Uloom in Bara Katara, Dhaka from 1936 until 1950. He founded the Jamia Islamia Darul Uloom Khademul Islam in his home village of Gawhardanga in 1937. In 1940, he founded "Khademul Islam Jamat" (Congregation of the Guardians of Islam ), an organisation which promoted the implementation of Islamic ideals. He also founded the "Anjuman-e-Tabligh-al-Quran" (Association of Quranic Preaching) to challenge the activities of Christian Missionaries that were actively propagating to Muslims in the region. Faridpuri was an advocate of campaigns such as the Pakistan Movement and the Tablighi Jamaat. The "Idaratul Ma`arif" was a centre for Islamic research that was established by Faridpuri. From 1951 up until his death, he taught hadith classes in Jamia Qurania Arabia Lalbagh. He also founded the capital's Jamia Arabia Imdadul Uloom in Faridabad in 1956. Shamsul Haque Faridpuri Shamsul