Sadeq Ali
{{Short description|Bengali writer}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2018}}
{{Infobox person
| embed =
| honorific_prefix = Munshi
| name = Muhammad Sadeq Ali
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| image = Halot-un-nabi-page1.gif
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| caption = Halat-un-Nabi by Sadeq Ali
| native_name = সাদেক আলী
| native_name_lang = bn
| pseudonym =
| birth_name = Shree Gour Kishore Sen
| birth_date = CE 1798 or 1801
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| death_date = CE {{death date and age|1862|1798}}
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| occupation = Munshi, judge, poet
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| notable_works = {{Plainlist|
- Halat-un-Nabi
- Mahabbatnama
- Hashor Michhil
}}
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Munshi Muhammad Sadeq Ali ({{langx|bn|মোহাম্মদ সাদেক আলী}}, Nagri: {{font|ꠍꠣꠖꠇ ꠀꠟꠤ|font=Surma|size=18px}}), born as Sri Gaur Kishore Sen ({{langx|bn|শ্রী গৌর কিশোর সেন}}), was a prominent Bengali Muslim writer, poet and district judge from 19th century Bengal.{{cite book |last=Sadiq |first=Mohammad |title=Sileṭi nāgrī: fakiri dhārār fasal |date=December 2008 |publisher=Asiatic Society of Bangladesh |isbn= |location=Dhaka |language=bn |script-title=bn:সিলেটি নাগরী: ফকিরি ধারার ফসল |oclc=495614347}} He is considered to be the most well-known writer to have used the Sylheti Nagri script and this is due to his magnum opus, Halat-un-Nabi (condition of the Prophet), which gained immense popularity in the Sylhet region and would later be transcribed in the Bengali script.{{cite book|last=Bhuiya|first=Md. Abdul Musabbir|title=Jalalabadi Nagri: A Unique Script & Literature of Sylheti Bangla|location=Badarpur, Assam|publisher=National Publishers|year=2000}}
Early life
Muhammad Sadeq Ali was born in a Bengali Baidya family around 1800 as Shree Gour Kishore Sen.{{cite web|url=http://www.sylheti.org.uk/halot-un-nobi-puthi|title=Puthi Halot-un-Nobi by Sadek Ali|website=Sylheti Translation and Research}}
In August 1818, he was taught the basics of Islam by Maulvi Muhammad Yusuf. Sadeq grew an interest in the Arabic and Persian languages, and so he studied under Mir Munshi Abul Fazl, a detective of the Hingazia thana.{{cite thesis|title=Foundational Maḥabbat-nāmas: Jāmī's Yūsuf u Zulaykhā in Bengal (ca. 16th–19th AD)|first=Thibaut|last=d’Hubert|chapter=The khādim and the munshī: Śāh Garībullāh and Sādek Ālī|chapter-url=https://brill.com/view/book/edcoll/9789004386600/BP000030.xml?lang=en&language=en#FN300072}}
He formally accepted Islam and changed his name to Muhammad Sadeq Ali. He also mentions that he was a follower of the Hanafi madhhab.
Career as a writer
{{Quote box|title=Ketab Halatunnabi
|quote=
gôfur rôhim alla qadir subôhan
Glorified is the Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful Allah, The Able
{{font|ꠍꠤꠔꠣꠞꠣꠄ ꠈꠥꠛꠤ ꠖꠤꠟꠣ ꠡꠣꠔ ꠀꠍꠝꠣꠘ|font=Surma|size=18px}}
sitarae khubi dila shat asman
With stars, He beautified the seven heavens
{{font|ꠏꠝꠤꠘꠦꠞ ꠈꠥꠛꠤ ꠖꠤꠟꠣ ꠇꠔ ꠌꠤꠎꠦ ꠀꠞ|font=Surma|size=18px}}
zôminer khubi dila kôtô chize ar
With many things, He beautified the earth
{{font|ꠡꠇꠟ ꠝꠢꠔꠣꠎ ꠈꠣꠟꠤ ꠉꠘꠤ ꠙꠞꠅꠀꠞ|font=Surma|size=18px}}
shôkôl môhôtaj khali gôni pôroar
We are all needy except the All-Sufficient Provider|source={{snds}}First stanza - Munshi Sadeq Ali|align=left|qalign=|salign =left}}
Sadeq Ali decided to take a reformist stance against the common Bengali Muslim literature of Sylhet which had used religious syncretism with Hinduism, in particular Vaishnavism, and Sufi Baul elements. Sadeq Ali then published his Mahabbatnama based on the story of Yusuf and Zulaikha taking inspiration from the earlier version by Shah Gharibullah of West Bengal.{{cite news|url=http://www.bhorerkagoj.com/print-edition/2018/11/30/223904.php |script-title=bn:মহব্বত নামা : ফার্সি থেকে বাংলা আখ্যান|last=Saleem|first=Mustafa |work=Bhorer Kagoj |date=30 Nov 2018 |language=bn}} He also wrote Hashor Michhil (Procession of Hashr), which also remains in circulation, continuing to be sold in shops in both Sylheti Nagri and Bengali scripts. as well as Radd al-Hind (Response to the Hindus), Kashf al-Bid'ah (Unveiling of Innovation), Pandenama, Dafeh al-Hujat, Hushiarnama and Rahasatul Islam.
Sadeq Ali later composed another puthi about the prophetic biography called Halat-un-Nabi in 1855, focusing more on scripture rather than more popular folk beliefs. It became a household item in every Bengali Muslim homestead in Greater Sylhet and Cachar, making it the most popular and widely printed book in the Sylheti Nagri script. Sadeq Ali wrote Radd-i-Kufr in 1874.{{cite book|last=Ahmed|first=Rafiuddin|title=The Bengal Muslims 1871-1906: A Quest for Identity|edition=2nd|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=1988|orig-year=First published in 1981|page=253|sbn=19-562203-0}}
Death and legacy
Long after Sadeq Ali's death in 1862, the Bangladesh Liberation War took place in 1971. A fire took place in Bandar Bazar, Sylhet town destroying the Islamia Press, which was the largest Sylheti Nagri printing press. However, Bengali script versions of the Halat-un-Nabi puthi continued to be in production and circulation.{{cite thesis|url=|title=Puthi-Pora: 'Melodic Reading' and its Use in the Islamisation of Bengal|last=Kane|first=David Michael|s2cid=158262463|publisher=School of Oriental & African Studies|date=2008}} The puthi was included in the Nagri Grantha Sambhar, a selection of Nagri puthis published by Utsho Prokashon in 2014.{{cite web|url= https://archive.ittefaq.com.bd/index.php?ref=MjBfMDFfMjNfMTRfMV8yXzFfMTAzMjY5|title=নাগরী লিপির গ্রন্থসম্ভার নিয়ে এল উত্স প্রকাশন|website=The Daily Ittefaq|language=bn|date=23 Jan 2014|access-date=7 Feb 2021|trans-title=Utsho Prokashon has come with a Nagri script book collection}}{{cite web|url=https://samakal.com/todays-print-edition/tp-last-page/article/140241040/%E0%A6%8F%E0%A6%95%E0%A7%81%E0%A6%B6%E0%A7%87%E0%A6%B0-%E0%A6%86%E0%A6%AC%E0%A6%B9|title=একুশের আবহ|website=Samakal|language=bn|date=23 Jan 2014|access-date=7 Feb 2021}}{{unreliable source?|date=July 2021}}
See also
References
{{Reflist|2}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Ali, Sadeq}}
Category:Year of birth uncertain
Category:People from Kulaura Upazila
Category:19th-century Indian Muslims
Category:Bengali-language poets
Category:19th-century Indian male writers