Abdul Latif Chowdhury Fultali

Abdul Latif Chowdhury (; 25 May 1913 – 16 January 2008), widely known as Saheb Qiblah Fultali, was a Bangladeshi Sufi Islamic scholar, theologist and philosopher who is the founder of the Fultali movement and is regarded as one of the most influential Islamic scholars in modern Bengali history. Considered to be a spiritual esotericist, he has millions of murids throughout the world who view him as a Murshid and Wali.
Early life and background.
Abdul Latif Chowdhury was born into a noble Bengali Muslim Sufi family in the village of Fultali, Zakiganj, Sylhet Division, Bengal Presidency (now Bangladesh), British India. His family is of Arab descent and were followers of the silsilah of Karamat Ali Jaunpuri.
His lineage is the following: Abdul Latif Chowdhury, son of Abdul Majid Chowdhury, son of Shāh Muhammad Hiron, son of Shāh Muhammad Dānish, son of Shāh Muhammad Sadeq, son of Shāh Muhammad Elāhi Bakhsh, son of Shah Muhammad Alā Bakhsh. Ala Bakhsh was a descendant of Shah Kamal Quhafah, a later companion of Shah Jalal, who in turn, descended from Abu Bakr, the friend of the Prophet Muhammad, through his eldest son Abdul-Rahman ibn Abi Bakr. According to Fultali's biographers, Bakhsh contributed to Ahmad Sirhindi's opposition movement against the Mughal emperor Akbar's theological opinions such as the Din-i Ilahi.
Education.
Fultali received his basic education from his own family, he was taught by his cousin, Fatir Ali, while studying at primary school. He was then admitted to Fultali Alia Madrasah, where he studied qirat and tajweed. In 1336 AH (1918 CE), Fultali enrolled in Rangauti Madrasah and studied there, successfully completing higher secondary education.
In 1338 AH (1920 CE), he enrolled into the Badarpur Senior Madrasah in Karimganj. For higher education, he studied Fanunnat at Rampur Alia Madrasah in Uttar Pradesh and completed various Islamic sciences. He then enrolled into Matlaul Ulum Madrasah to specialise in Hadith. He studied there for a few years and obtained first class, first position in the final Hadith exam in 1355 AH (1936 CE). He also attained degrees in Tafsir and Fiqh.
By 1355 AH (1936 CE), Fultali studied and obtained ijazah for Hadith after achieving outstanding results in the faculty of Hadith, he obtained first class honours. He also acquired masters in Ilm-e-Tafsir and Ilm-e-Fiqh. By the age of 18, Fultali had ijazah in the four principal tariqahs from his spiritual master Shah Muhammad Yaqub Badarpuri, who was a disciple of Hafiz Ahmed Jaunpuri. Fultali also studied the Quran with Tajwid (recitation) in Mecca.
Career.
In 1940, Fultali founded the Darul Qirat Majidiah Trust and institutionalized his effort to teach the perfect recitation of the Quran. Now there are more than two thousand branches of the trust throughout the world engaged in educating people in the field of Tajweed. As a result of riots in the 1950s, Fultali briefly migrated to Pakistan.
Abdun Nur Ali (1880-1963) of Gorkapon in Badarpur was a Mawlana who requested Abdul Latif Chowdhury Fultali to visit the mosque conjoined to Adam Khaki's shrine. In 1946, Fultali announced that he would be travelling to Badarpur to give a lesson on qira'at at Adam Khaki's mosque. Abd an-Nur Gorkaponi and his students purchased a horse for the scholar to ride on so the journey could be easier. Afterwards he joined the then Satpur Alia Madrasah and Isamati Alia Madrashah as a Muhaddith and taught Hadith.
Allama Saheb Qiblah Fultali was the best known and most influential spiritual leader among the British Bangladeshi community. He was based in Bangladesh, but made well-attended visits to the United Kingdom. Among these visits, In 1978, he established Madrasah-e-Darul Qirat Majidiah UK, which has since vastly expanded (now known as Darul Hadis Latifiah) in London. He was a founder of numerous organisations related to religion, culture and education and a patron to a number of humanitarian and charitable organisations.
Death.
On Thursday 16 January 2008 at 2:10 am, Allama Saheb Qiblah Fultali died in his home town of Sylhet due to natural causes. His janazah (Islamic funeral) took place the day after his death following Asr prayer led by his eldest son. Reports in Bangladesh estimate that between 2 and 2.5 million attended his janazah. It is also estimated that further hundreds of thousands of people joined the janazah across the Indian border.
An urs and mehfil (gathering) is held on the anniversary of Allama Saheb Qiblah Fultali's death every year at his village in Fultali and many other places around the world by his students and followers.