Abdur Rahim(1867 – 1952)
Sir Abdur Rahim, renowned for his clear thinking, intellectual abilities and political leadership, was a contemporary of eminent Muslim leaders of Bengal, an eminent jurist, an outstanding Muslim scholar and an influential Muslim leader who endeavoured to preserve and promote the interests of the Muslims of the Indian subcontinent in general and that of Bengal in particular.
“India is as much the home and the only home of us, the Indian Musalmans, as of our Hindu and other fellow countrymen. India’s political advancement and prosperity is as much, therefore, our concern and as near to our hearts, as to those of her other citizens. It is our duty and privilege equally with the rest of India’s population to serve India. The constitution of the country should be so designed as to help the political and economic advancement of all India’s citizens and remove once for all those causes of communal selfishness, distrust and jealousies which are such a disquieting feature of the present situation, by calling forth whole-hearted services of the representatives of all communities in the great national task.”
These words of Sir Abdur Rahim have beautifully summed up his approach to life and political philosophy. A man of his words, he became renowned for his clear thinking, intellectual abilities and political leadership. A contemporary of eminent Muslim leaders of Bengal like Maulvi Abdul Karim of Sylhet, Munshi Muhammad Meherullah, Nawab Sir Syed Shamsul Huda, Nawab Syed Nawab Ali Chowdhury, Mawlana Muhammad Akram Khan and Nawab Sir Salimullah Khan Bahadur, Sir Abdur Rahim was an eminent jurist, an outstanding Muslim scholar and an influential Muslim leader who endeavoured to preserve and promote the interests of the Muslims of the subcontinent in general and that of Bengal in particular. He tried to achieve this without seeking to undermine the rights and interests of the Hindus of the subcontinent. In that sense, he was one of the great Muslim leaders and politicians of his generation although his life, work and achievements are not very widely known today.
Abdur Rahim was born into a wealthy and prominent Muslim family of Midnapur district (located in present-day Indian State of West Bengal). His father, Maulvi Abdur Rab, was a Zamindar (landholder) who inherited a considerable amount of wealth and estate from his father who, in turn, worked for the British Government as a Deputy Collector and in so doing he became a wealthy and prominent local Muslim leader…………
Read the biographical entry in THE MUSLIM HERITAGE OF BENGAL: The Lives, Thoughts and Achievements of Forty Great Muslim Scholars, Writers and Reformers of Bangladesh and West Bengal by Muhammad Mojlum Khan
ISBN-10 : 1847740596
ISBN-13 : 978-1847740595
Publisher : Kube Publishing Ltd (12 Nov. 2013)