Allama Hazrat Saiyid Sulaiman Nadvi r.a

Sulaiman Nadvi was born on November 22, 1884 in Desna village of Patna, British India. His father, Hakeem Sayyed Abdul Hasan was a pious Sufi and , known for his learning and piety, was highly respected in the locality.His first teachers were Khalifa Anwar Ali of Desna and Maulvi Maqsood Ali of Ookhdi. Later he received his education from his elder brother, Hakeem Sayyed Abu Habeeb and his father, who was a physician at Islampur near Patna. In 1899 he went to Phulwari Sharif (Bihar) where at the famous Khanqah-e-Mojeebia he became a disciple of Maulana Mohiuddin and of Shah Sulaiman Phulwari. From there he went to Darbhanga where he studied for a few months at Madrasa-e-Imdadia.In 1901, he was admitted into Dar-ul-Uloom Nadva at Lucknow, which was recognized as the foremost institution of religious and Arabic education in the subcontinent. He studied for seven years at Nadva and and came in contact with such eminent scholars as Maulânâ Farooq Chirayyakoti, Sayyid Muhammad Ali of Monghyr, Maulânâ Hafizullah and Allâmah Shibli Nu'mâni, who were much impressed by his talent, intelligence, and diligence.Young Sulaiman's first article, Waqt (Time) was published in the monthly Urdu Journal Makhzan edited by Sir Sheikh Abdul Qadir. In 1905, Maulana Shibli came to Lucknow as Secretary of Nadva. Sulaiman came under the influence of Shibli whose literary heir he was destined to be. There was another student at Nadva at this time who came from Calcutta. He was none but Abul Kalam Azad. Both Sulaiman and Azad were favourite pupils of Maulana Shibli Nomani. Soon Sulaiman was chosen to carry on Maulana Shibli's work. In 1906, he graduated from the Nadva. Shibli appointed Sayyed Sulaiman sub-editor of journal, An-Nadwa. In 1908, Sulaiman Nadvi was appointed an instructor of Modern Arabic and Dogmatic Theology at Dar-ul-Uloom Nadva.Aligarh Muslim University conferred on him the honorary degree of Doctorate of Literature (DLitt) in 1940.

Service to Islâm

Sulaimân Nadwi, whose life had been an uninterrupted devotion to scholarship and literary pursuits, was called upon to devote his energies to the service of Islâm and his country.The first quarter of the twentieth century was a period of trials and tribulations for the Indian Muslims in particular. The political scene was tense, surcharged with revolution. The caliphate held by the Turkish Sultan was at stake. The Western powers were conspiring to do away with the "Sick Man of Europe." The wars in the Balkans and Tripoli and ultimately World War I, were all pointing to this end. In India too, the Indian National Congress and especially the All-India Khilafat Committee, under the dynamic and inspiring leadership of Maulânâ Muhammad Ali, had created a stir throughout the length and breadth of the subcontinent which led to an unprecedented awakening of the masses. Sayyid Sulaimân Nadwi, too, could not resist responding to the national call. In 1920, he joined a Khilafat Delegation, headed by Maulânâ Muhammad Ali, to London, for securing equitable and just treatment of Turkey at the hands of the victorious Allies.
In 1924, when the Sharif of Makkah and King Ibn Saud of Najd were at war, Sultan ibn Saud sought the help of the Khilafat Committee to settle the dispute. A delegation, headed by Sayyid Sulaimân Nadwi, which included Maulânâ Muhammad Ali and Shoaib Qureshi went to Hijâz in 1926 and fearlessly placed the views of Indian Muslims before Sultan ibn Saud for establishing a truly democratic rule in the Holy Land. In 1926, Sayyid Sulaimân presided over the memorable annual session of Jamiat-ul-Ulema at Calcutta, which considered the deteriorating Hindu-Muslim relations in the subcontinent due to the Shuddhi-Sanghattan Movement started by the Shardhanand-Malaviya Group. The same year, the Maulânâ, at the invitation of King Ibn Saud, headed a delegation of celebrated Muslim leaders, including Maulânâ Muhammad Ali and Shaukat Ali, to Makkah to participate in the Motamar-i-Alam-i-Islami (World Islâmic Conference). Delegations of almost all Muslim countries participated in the conference and Sayyid Sulaimân Nadwi had been elected the Vice-President of the Conference. On his return from Makkah, he retired from active politics and decided to devote his heart and soul to literary pursuits only.
Sayyid Sulaimân Nadwi had started his career as the sub-editor of An-Nadwa, a well-known magazine devoted to religious research. In 1910 he joined as an assistant editor and lead writer of the celebrated Al-Hilâl of Maulânâ Abul Kalâm Âzâd. He wrote some of its best editorials, including one on the Cawnpur Mosque incident which electrified the Indian Muslims. But his association with Al-Hilâl lasted two years only. In 1914, when the Shibli Academy was established and its official organ, the Ma'ârif started publication, he became its founding editor. This magazine, during the last 44 years of its existence maintained an enviable record of high-class articles.
The greatest achievement of Sayyid Sulaimân Nadwi was the establishment of Darul Musannafîn (House of Writers), also known as the Shibli Academy, at Azamgarh, which became the pioneer in the field of literary and historical research in the subcontinent. He attracted around him a large number of talented scholars who carried on the literary mission of his illustrious teacher, Shibli Nu'mâni, with unabated zeal. This institution of learning founded in 1914 continues to spread its luster throughout the subcontinent and during the last 48 years of its existence has published some outstanding works on diverse branches of knowledge. Maulânâ Sulaimân Nadwi dedicated his life to the service of learning and kept his uninterrupted association with the Shibli Academy, Azamgarh. During this period he spent an austere life at Azamgarh, busy in writing books which inspired an entire generation.

Migration to Pakistan

After partition of India, Sayyaed Sulaiman Nadvi migrated to Pakistan in June 1950 and settled in Karachi.The pleadings of the Prime Minister of India not to leave India could not dissuade him from going to Pakistan where he was immensely needed to guide the framing of a truly Islâmic constitution. On arrival in Karachi, he was made President of the Islamic Talimat Board, attached to the Constituent Assembly. He had come to Pakistan with an ambitious plan in his mind of establishing an Academy of Islamic Studies in Karachi that could rival the Shibli Academy of Azamgarh (UP). But he was not destined to live there long and died three years after, in 1953. His death was mourned throughout the world of Islam and the loss of this great scholar, historian, and religious writer was universally acknowledged. His death created a void in the literary life of the subcontinent that cannot be easily filled.
He was appointed Chairman of Taleemat-e-Islami Board to advise the Islamic aspects of Pakistan's constitution. He died on November 22, 1953 in Karachi at the age of 69.

In the end time of his life he became a *mureed* disciple of Maulana Ashraf Ali Thanvi R.A. and got Khilafat from him.