Established in 1914 by Maulana Shibli Nomani, the institute, like many others associated with the Muslim community in India, has fallen on bad days due to the state’s apathy and the community’s disinterest
ASAD MIRZA
WHEN we talk about the rich heritage of Urdu books, all Urdu-lovers bemoan that the government was not doing enough to save and promote Urdu – a language which binds at least 70% of Indians, socially and literally.
Yet, only a few Urdu lovers dare introspect on what they are doing for the preservation and promotion of the language. Their concern becomes abundantly clear by the decreasing sale of Urdu books and newspapers. Further, they are doing very little to save institutions which have been the flagbearers in propagating and saving the language by publishing books on different topics in Urdu. The answer is pretty obvious: nothing concrete except bemoaning and using hollow words.
One such institution is Darul Musannefin Shibli Academy. Just like the Raza Library of Rampur or the Khuda Baksh Library of Patna, it has a vast repertoire of books in private collections of individuals and organisations throughout India.
Darul Musannefin is a research academy based in Azamgarh, Uttar Pradesh. Its aim was to add authentic historical literature in Urdu so that people could have easy access to history. It was started as Darul Musannefin but later was named after its founder Shibli Nomani.
Maulana Shibli Nomani, a Sunni scholar established it in February 1914. After failing to establish it in Lucknow the academy was established in Azamgarh at Maulana Nomani’s mango orchard. Under the guidance of Maulana Hamiduddin Farahi, it started working on 21 November 1914, three days after Maulana Nomani’s death. Other founders included Maulana Syed Sulaiman Nadvi, Maulana Abdus Salam Nadvi and Maulana Masood Ali Nadvi.
The academy is a leading institution of Oriental, Islamic and Mediaeval Indian Studies, and Azamgarh’s pride. It occupies nine acres of land donated by Shibli and his relatives. The centrepiece is a beautiful whitewashed building housing a massive library of over 1.5 lakh books and around 700 manuscripts, some of them rare, and an office. Staff housing, a mosque and a conference hall stand apart.
Treasure Trove
The academy’s library is a treasure trove. Its spacious central hall is furnished with sofas and chairs, which have been graced by personalities ranging from Mahatma Gandhi to Jawahar Lal Nehru, Indira Gandi, or in other words virtually every Indian prime minister and president, except the present dispensation, and scores of other Indian and foreign dignitaries. “Here have sat dozens of famous dignitaries,” academy’s senior fellow Mohammed Umair Siddique Nadvi, told this writer on his recent visit to the acclaimed institute.
A page from Monisul Arwah, a book on Sufi saint Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti by Dara Shikoh’s sister Jahanara.
Mohammed Umair showed the writer rare books and manuscripts, including Persian translations of Ramayan and Mahabharata, and Sirr-e-Akbar, a Persian translation of the Upanishads by Mughal prince Dara Shikoh, a great scholar. The excellent condition in which most of these rare books have been preserved over the decades shows the dedication of the institution’s staff despite meager resources. The gold-embossed titles and pages decorated with gold borders still retain their sheen.
Another gem is Monisul Arwah, a book on Sufi saint Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti by Dara Shikoh’s sister Jahanara. “This is our most prized possession which Maulana Shibli found at an old bookshop in Lucknow and bought for Rs 100 in 1906. It was very dear to him and was displayed at an international exhibition of rare manuscripts in Paris,” says Nadvi.
There’s a section where testimonies of some famous visitors, including Mahatma Gandhi, Madan Mohan Malaviya and Maulana Azad, are kept. Motilal Nehru and Jawaharlal Nehru, stayed at the academy several times during their visits to Azamgarh. When Gandhi first visited it in the 1920s, the academy’s founding secretary, Maulana Syed Sulaiman Nadvi, took him on a round of the library using lantern light since the electricity supply was erratic.
Another famous visitor was Bi Amma, mother of Muhammad Ali Jauhar and Shaukat Ali, freedom fighters and Khilafat Movement leaders, better known as Ali brothers.
But while the academy is Azamgarh’s pride, it faces a severe financial crunch. It has only one librarian, 48-year-old Saleem Javed, son of the academy’s former director Maulana Ziauddin Islahi, to look after the vast collection.
“I do whatever I can, but it is not possible for one person to look after so many books. I opened my eyes on this campus and have been working here for around 25 years, and will continue to do so.” says Javed, apparently resigned to his and the institute’s fate.
A page from Akbar Nama.
The funding crunch prevents the management from hiring more staff and expediting the translation and digitisation of titles from Arabic, Persian and Urdu into other Indian languages and English.
The future of Darul Musannefin
The academy’s primary purpose is to protect and propagate the scientific, authentic history and rational interpretations of Islam. It also upholds Hindu-Muslim harmony or the much talked about Ganga-Jamuni Tehzeeb, and sheds light on the life and times of Maulana Shibli, yet so far no one has come forward to help the institute and its committed staff to restore it to its former glory. Before Independence, it received grants from the rulers of Hyderabad and Bhopal, and others. But now that those streams have dried up, many say the cash-starved institution should look beyond its four walls.
Maulana Shibli had donated his land with a mango orchard and persuaded close relatives to donate parcels of their land for Darul Musannefin, the library, printing press and publication of Maarif, the monthly journal founded in July 1916.
Since Urdu is shrinking, the library’s patrons have dwindled over the years. Today, it would help if more people started subscribing to Maarif for Rs 10,000 as a life member or even if subscribing to the same for Rs 400 or Rs 1,800 towards annual or five-year subscription, as a corpus of Rs 10 crore can bail out the institution and help implement its development plans. In this regard any of the big business houses can also help, as part of their CSR responsibility.
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Asad Mirza is a New Delhi-based senior journalist and a media consultant. He can be contacted at asad.mirza.nd@gmail.com
