Abdul Bari Nadvi

Maulana Abdul Bari Nadvi was born in 1886 in the Barabanki district near Lucknow in the UP Province of India. His father Hakim Abdul Khaliq was a spiritual follower of Maulana Mohammad Naeem Farangi Mahli. His younger brother Saad-ud-Din Ansari was among the founding members of the Jamia Millia Delhi in 1928. Maulana Abdul Bari Nadvi died in Lucknow on January 30, 1976. He is survived by four sons and two daughters.

Education and career

After his early education at a local madressah he went to Nadwa-tul-Ulama for his higher education. He earned reputation as an established academic in the field of philosophy and religion and taught at Gujarat College in Ahmedabad, Dakkan College in Pune, and Osmania University in Hyderabad where he retired as Professor and Head of the Philosophy Department. He was one of the most capable students of Allama Shibli Nomani and a contemporary of Syed Sulaiman Nadvi, Maulana Abdul Salam Nadvi, Maulana Abdul Majid Daryabadi, Maulana Manazir Ahsan Gilani. He wrote extensively on religion and philosophy and translated works of numerous western philosophers such as Berkeley, Hume, Descartes, Dewey, Henry Bergson, William James, and G. F. Stout. Some of his works were included in the religion and philosophy course work at the undergraduate and postgraduate levels at Osmania University.

Maulana Abdul Bari Nadvi received his academic training from people like Allama Shibli Naumani and grew in the company of greats like Syed Sulaiman Nadvi and Abdul Majid Daryabadi. His religious education was attained from Maulana Ashraf Ali Thanavi and Maulana Hussain Ahmad Madni, both of whom were students of Sheikh-ul-Hind Maulana Mahmood-ul-Hassan. His formal spiritual association (bait) was with Maulana Madni but he received his training from Maulana Thanavi. After his retirement from the University in Hyderabad, he took up extensive religious research and writing, resulting in a number of published books and papers.

Gandhiji and Abdul Bari

Gandhiji meet Abdul Bari on 11 March 1919, when he visited Lakhanw. At that time Gandhiji discusses Hindu Muslim problems with Bari Saheb. Gandhi mentioned this in his one article in "Navjivan" 14 September 1919 page 28. In that article Gandhiji appreciated Adbul Bari's thoughts about communal harmony.

Written works

Some of his books and papers include:

English translations

• Manual OF Ethics (John Dewey), translated into Urdu in 1932, Usmania University Hyderabad
• Introduction to Metaphysics (Henry Bergson), translated into Urdu in 1931, Usmania University Hyderabad
• Principles of Human Knowledge (Berkeley), translated into Urdu in 1919, Dakkan College Poona
• Manual of Psychology (G. F. Stount), translated into Urdu in 1927, Usmania University Hyderabad
• Human Understanding (David Hume), translated into Urdu in 1938, Usmania University Hyderabad
• Discourse on Method and Meditations on First Philosophy (René Descartes), translated into Urdu in 1932, Usmania University Hyderabad
• William James, some writings from 1902–1910, translated into Urdu in 1937, Usmania University Hyderabad

Urdu books

• برکلے اور اس کا فلسفہ (Berkeley and his Philosophy), written in 1918, Dakkan College Poona
• مذہب اور عقلیات (Religion and Wisdom/Meditation), paper presented in Mohammadan Education Conference in Surat India 1924
• معجزات انبیا اور عقلیات جدیدہ (Miracles of the Prophets and Modern Thought), chapter written in Allam Shibli Naumani's Seerat-ul-Nabi, 1920
• علم الاخلاق
• مذہب اور سائنس (Religion and Science), 1970
• تجدید معاشیات -
• تجدید دین کامل
• تجدیدتصوف و سلوک -
• تجدید تعلیم و تبلیغ
• نظام صلاح و اصلاح

Arabic books

• بین التصوف والحیات
• الدین والعلوم العقلیہ
• المنھج السلامی لتربیت النفس

References

Navgivan, weekly,14 September 1919, page 28