Shah Abdul Hannan: A Monumental Personality, an Institution (Part-1)

Shah Abdul Hannan was a well-known personality in Bangladesh. He was a civil servant, an Islamic thinker, writer, economist, educator, preacher and a social reformer. 

He was born on 23rd September, 1939, in the city of Mymensingh, Bangladesh. He came from the renowned Shah family of Katiadi in Kishoreganj. His father Shah Abdul Mannan was a government official. His mother Anwara Mannan was a poet who published two books.

Shah Abdul Hannan spent his life in service to humanity. He dedicated his time to a relentless study of Islam, paramount intellectual activism Dawah and for the creation of many institutions in Bangladesh. Shah Abdul Hannan accomplished many things in his life. He held many high positions both within the government and outside of it. He met people from different socio-economic backgrounds - ranging from the very top echelon of the society to those in the bottom of the ladder. Yet he treated everyone equally and greeted all with his characteristic exuberance, humility and candor. Every page of his life was a cache full of love for Islam. Wherever he went and  whomever he met, he preached the message of morality, love and Islam like a luminiscent light. He touched thousands of people with the warmth of his behavior, the depth of his intellectual acumen and with an acute sensitivity to understanding the pain and the need of other people. 

As a top public servant of Bangladesh, Shah Abdul Hannan worked for the people and the country tirelessly,  creating many breakthroughs like introducing new forms of taxation which transformed the revenue-generation capacity of the country for decades to come. As an Islamic economist, he authored books on the subject, played an active role in establishing Islamic banking in Bangladesh and worked for the reduction of poverty in the country. As a social activist he either built or worked as an impetus to build more than a dozen academic, research and medical institutes creating new horizons  in the society. As a political advocate he relentlessly advised top leaders of the Islamic and other political parties, influencing many twists and turns in the political field of the country. Above everything, Islam was the cornerstone of Shah Abdul Hannan’s life. As an intellectual, Islamic thinker and reformer who wrote hundreds of articles, taught hundreds of his students, he engendered a paradigm shift in the society changing generations through instilling knowledge, awareness and relentless insistence on study, dawah and activism. He became a role model of Dawah. Through thousands of indoor classes and emails, YouTube videos, lectures, seminars, and newspaper-writings, Shah Abdul Hannan addressed a wide range of issues of concern for the society. These included women's rights, human rights, contemporary issues and Islamic solutions, Usul al fiqh and Islamic economics. Combining his social influence with good human conduct, tireless preaching, lecturing and writing, Shah Abdul Hannan made a difference, creating many waves of changes in the society and mindsets of people. His key advice to his students which he used to promote as a kind of slogan was: “Read, read, read - write, write, write - dawah, dawah, dawah”.

part-1 of 4, to be continued...

(Click here for Part-2)
(Click here for Part-3)
(Click here for Part-4)