AFTER the 1857 war, the religious harmony of South Asia, including Sindh, went through severe strains.

During these hard times, Maulvi Muhammad Azim Sheda Solangi (1870-1988), an eminent religious scholar and social worker, was born in the Gul Buriro Warah village, Larkana district. After completing primary education in Sindhi and Persian, he joined the Madressah of Pir Jhando Sharif where he studied Shariah, Islamic jurisprudence, mathematics, history, philosophy and psychology under the supervision of Maulana Ubaidullah Sindhi (1872-1944), a scholar, revolutionary and freedom fighter.

Under his influence he joined the Hari committee as its founder member. He was also associated with Khilafat and Hijrat Tehriks.

During his Haj in 1956, the Saudi government acknowledging his scholarship, offered him vice-chancellorship of the Islamic University, which he politely declined. His Seerat-i-Mustafa in Sindhi, also translated into English, is a tour de force which earned him laurels.

Maulvi Sahib extensively travelled to Iran, Afghanistan, Iraq, Egypt and Jordan. Being a disciple of Maulana Ubaidullah Sindhi, he was tolerant in his religious approach. His guest house in the Nasirabad village always remained open to scholars of different schools of thought.

Today when extremism and religious bigotry has become a norm of society, people deeply miss a scholar like Maulvi Sahib, an icon of religious harmony in Sindh.

Manzoor Hussain Kureshi

Karachi

Published in Dawn January 28th, 2015

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