The Forgotten History of Madrasah Sawlatiyya in Makkah

Maulana Rahmatullah Kayranvi (may Allah have mercy on him) (1818-1891) – the Indian origin scholar of the Islamic sciences including jurisprudence best known for his magnum opus ‘Izhar ul Huq or The Truth Revealed!‘ was a honorable warrior in the battle for freedom (also known as the Sepoy Mutiny or The 1857 Uprising) from the British occupied India which took place in 1857. The uprising failed due to various reasons, and Maulana Kayranvi who also happens to be a descendant of the third caliph of Muslims, Caliph Usman bin Affan (may Allah be pleased with him) migrated to Makkah Mukarrama via Mocha, Yemen (where he arrived aboard a ship from Bombay, India). He actually walked the distance of about 600 miles (970 kilometers) from Mocha, Yemen to Makkah which took him about 2 years !!

After having migrated to the sacred land, he intended to set up an Islamic seminary but scarcity of resources proved to be a real hurdle.

That’s until the help of Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala descended.

Begum Sawlatunnisa (may Allah have mercy on her), a woman known for her generosity and a descendant of the pious Muslim ruler of the erstwhile kingdom of Mysore in South India, Hadrath Tipu Sultan (may Allah have mercy on him) (1750-1799) who fought against the hegemony of the English till his last breath (he died a martyr on the battlefield fighting against them in the fourth Anglo Mysore war) and who is said to be the descendant of the tribe of Quraish of Makkah (the tribe the last Prophet of God, Prophet Muhammed (peace be upon him) belonged to) happened to visit the Holy land (probably for the pilgrimage) around that time.

While there, she received news regarding the setting up of the institution. She supported the proposal and donated a considerable amount of 30,000 (currency is not known, even though 30,000 rupees at that time too would have been a lot of money) for the noble cause. Maulana Rahmatullah Kayranvi attributed the school to her and named it ‘Madrasah Sawlatiyya’ (founded in 1875 / 1292 H) which continues to exist even to this day (a span of 138 years) and tens of thousands have been educated in the Islamic sciences since then.

Continue reading for conclusion and references...

http://theijtema.com/2013/12/17/madrasah-sawlatiyya/

:wa:

greenhill said:

Masya Allah.

They need not be remembered by people. How hard is that? How hard is it to be able to remain anonymous? To do it for Allah. Just how much is wasted riches and donations done for the sake of publicity?

Peace :shade:

Click to expand...

True brother..

greenhill said:

Masya Allah.

They need not be remembered by people. How hard is that? How hard is it to be able to remain anonymous? To do it for Allah. Just how much is wasted riches and donations done for the sake of publicity?

Peace :shade:

Click to expand...

It's good to know about the pious people of the past and what they did for Islam. They worked really hard to spread Islam. Just think of Imam Bukhari and how hard he worked to compile the hadith (his name is still on his book and no one hides that). Not to mention the great deeds done by the Sahaba. Today we know their names and the works they did. Never was an effort made to hide their names or good works so why should there be a problem the above article and other similar ones. In fact, the good works of the Muslims of the past should remind us HOW LITTLE WE ARE DOING TODAY! In the past, each copy of a book / leaflet had to be written painstakingly by hand but now they can be photocopied so easily. Yet, Islamic propagation is less today than back then. People are able to travel all over the world today so easily but very few do so for the sake of propagating Islam or even learning islam! If the likes of Imam Bukhari and Imam Shafiee could travel for the sake of Islam and do so many good deeds, then why can't they be done today?
Discussing what the people of the past did does not reduce their rewards. We have no proof that it was done for publicity. And yes, IMO we should remember (and remind each other) what those people did.