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Muhammadi Begum
Islamic scholar From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Muhammadi Begum (also known as Sayyidah Muhammadi Begum; 22 May 1878 – 2 November 1908) was a Sunni Muslim scholar, Urdu writer and an advocate of women education. She co-founded the Islamic weekly magazine Tehzeeb-e-Niswan, and was its founding editor. She is known as the first woman who edited an Urdu magazine. She was the wife of Sayyid Mumtaz Ali Deobandi.
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Biography
Muhammadi Begum was born on 22 May 1878 in Shahpur, Punjab.[1] She learned Urdu and she became a Hafiz as she memorized the Quran. She learned to write letters to remain in touch with her elder sister after she got married in 1886.[2]
In 1897, she became the second wife of Sayyid Mumtaz Ali Deobandi, an Islamic scholar and an alumnus of Darul Uloom Deoband.[3][4] She learned Arabic and Persian from her new husband and was privately educated in English, Hindi and mathematics.[5]
On 1 July 1898, the couple started a weekly magazine for women called Tehzeeb-e-Niswan, which is regarded as one of the pioneering works on women rights in Islam.[6] The magazine published radical ideas about divorce with enforced alimony and to end purdah and polygamy as it existed. She has been considered as India's first Muslim feminist woman[7] and the first woman who ever edited an Urdu magazine.[4] She edited Tehzeeb-e-Niswan until her death in 1908.[8]
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Literary works
Muhammadi Begum authored thirty books which included Shareef Beti, which dealt with the hazards of arranged marriages of children which often lead to enforced marriages.[5][1] Her other works include:[5]
- Aaj Kal
- Safia Begum
- Chandan Haar
- Aadab-e-Mulaqaat
- Rafeeqe Aroos
- Khaanadari
- Sughhar Beti
Death and legacy
Aged 30, Muhammadi Begum died at Shimla on 2 November 1908.[4] Her grandson Naeem Tahir compiled a biography Sayyidah Muhammadi Begum awr Unka Khandan (transl. Sayyidah Muhammadi Begum and her family).[9] Her son was Imtiaz Ali Taj who was born in 1900. She nicknamed him "Mera Taj" (My crown) and in time he would become a leading playwright and adopt her pet name for him, "Taj", as part of his own name.[10] Her daughter, Waheeda Begum, became the editor of her magazine after she died and after a few years Imtiaz Ali Taj took over.[11]
References
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