Draft:Mir Fida Hussain

Rais Mir Fida Hussain
Mir Fida Hussain Nagrami was an Indian Socio-Religious Reformer and practicing lawyer in District Court of Rae Bareli, Uttar Pradesh. He was born on 14th December, 1845 in Nagram, Lucknow in a Rizvi Sadat talukdar family.

Education
He received his early education from his father Basit Ali who was a scholar of his time in Rae Bareli. Mir Fida Hussain moved to Allahabad and obtained the degree of Ph.D. in Arabic Literature with a gold medal in 1870. Beside Arabic, Fida Hussain had mastery over Urdu, Persian and English languages. In 1875, he sailed to England to prepare for and appear in Indian Law examinations. The competition was one of the stiffest, in the world at that time because any plan to cross the seas and travel to Europe was bound to meet with the strongest opposition from the Indian society. Preparations for the examination was tough, as he had to pick up many subjects not taught in India. Moreover, Fida Hussain was also subject to racial discrimination. Mir Fida Hussain was called to the bar from Lincoln’s Inn. After being called to the English bar, he returned to India in 1876 and studied Wakf Validating Act (VI of 1913) and started practicing in Rae Bareli District Court.

Work
He had an experience spread over 12 years as a practicing Barrister at the Rae Bareli District Court. His talents were immediately recognized and within a short period he made his mark as an administrative lawyer of Rae Bareli. In 19th century, with the advent of British imperialism, he was bestowed with princely title of Rais by Governor of United Provinces Sir Harry Graham Haig.

Contributions
Mir Fida Hussain will long be remembered for his contributions towards the improvement of the position of his townsmen, particularly in the field of women's education in Nagram. He was also engaged on religious and social issues with the Muslim masses. He was moved by the pathetic condition of the community. He believed that the root cause of the backwardness of Muslims lies in its distance from education and knowledge. He therefore resolved to spread education and knowledge on modern lines and waged a community wide war against illiteracy and ignorance.

Socio-Religious Work
Mir Fida Hussain spent his life in developing the shia beliefs, constructing mosques, shrines, and other holy sites. He built Imambargah Kothi in 1894 which is a beautiful reflection of Indo-Persian architecture in India, which is the most notable among his contributions towards religion. He also founded the Anjuman e Abbasiya in 1906 with an aim to give educational assistance and scholarships to needy and poor asna ashari students and was instrumental in making them financially strong. He developed the idea of the social, cultural and historical contingencies of religious knowledge in sociology. He was also politically popular in Oudh of United Province at that time. He often gifted rosary of stones, spoons of aqeeq stone, dagger, etc to many governors of his time.

Legacy
Mir Fida Hussain married Azmatun Nisa Begum d/o of Syed Maqsood Ali. He had six sons named Mohd Askari, Hasan Askari, Baqir Mehdi, Jafar Mehdi, Nasir Mehdi, Asghar Mehdi respectively and 3 daughters named Ameer Bano, Shabbir Bano and Safdari Bano. Ameer Bano married to a Deputy Collector, Shabbir Bano married to hakeem and Safdari Bano married to Honary Collector. Mir Fida Hussain died on 13th April, 1918 in Nagram surviving a widow Azmantun Nisa’n, six sons of whom two were minors, and three daughters of whom two were minors and buried in his ancestral graveyard beside his father and mother. He will always be remembered as a reformer who spent his life in developing the Shia beliefs. Among his sons, Baqir Mehdi, Jafar Mehdi and Nasir Mehdi’s families are presently living in Lucknow and Nagram, Hasan Askari family living in Karhan and Delhi and Asghar Mehdi’s family living in Pakistan, Canada and Australia.