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Syed Rashid Ahmed Jaunpuri (1889-2001) was a Sufi saint, author, scholar of Hadith and Quran, and Muslim missionary in Bangladesh. He was also a poet of Urdu ghazals, nazm, hamd and naat, his pseudo name being Fani. As a sufi master he was initiated in Qadiriyya, Chishti, Naqshbandi, Naqshbandiyya-Mujaddidiyya, Shadhili, Uwaisi, Qalandariyya, Saberiyya and Nizamiyya.

All his life, he preached an ideal which upheld that Islam was a unified whole of Shariat, Tariqat, Haqiqat and Marefat; short of any one of these Islam was incomplete. As a spiritual leader he practiced what he preached and he preached what the Prophet of Islam stood for. He earned his own living and refused to depend on the charity of his admirers and followers. He lived in Bangladesh almost incognito.

Parental Lineage
Syed Rashid Ahmed Jaunpuri is a grandson of Shah Karamat Ali Jaunpuri whose lineage is traced back to Hazrat Abu Bakr Siddique, the first political successor of Islam. From his father’s side, he traces his lineage to Hazrat Ali, the fourth successor of Islam. His grandfather Shah Karamat Ali Siddiqui Jaunpuri had settled first in Noakhali, Bangladesh and then in Rangpur. Shah Karamat Ali Jaunpuri preached Islam in Bengal and Assam during the mid nineteenth century and his grandson claimed to have carried on the same mission in Bangladesh.

Miracle at Birth
Just forty days after his birth, a Fakir came to their house in Mollatuli, Jaunpur and told his father that he had come under orders from Hazrat Mohiuddin Abdul Qader Jilani (ra) to take the child. His father Shah Abdul Latif Ahmed felt some kind of hesitation, but his mother Hafizunnessa Ayesha, the youngest daughter of Shah Karamat Ali Jaunpuri, immediately agreed to the proposal and handed over the new born baby to the Fakir. The Fakir returned him after a year or so.

Education
His mother Hafizunnessa Ayesha binte Shah Karamat Ali was his first teacher and instrumental in his religious education. His father Syed Abdul Latif Ahmed was also a saintly person. His formal Islamic education started at a masjid adjacent to their house and Madrasah Siddiqia. He got the Qur’an by heart (became a hafez and a Qari) only at the age of thirteen. When he was eighteen, he came to Kolkata with his maternal uncle and Murshid Hazrat Abdul Awal Siddiqui Jaunpuri and stayed at 7 Jannagar Road, Park Circus, Kolkata. He got himself admitted to Madrasah Alia, Kolkata and passed his Entrance and later F.A. examinations from this institution which was founded by the British in 1780. He went to Cairo for higher education and studied tafsir and other difficult Islamic studies  at the University of Al-Azhar. He came back to Kolkata after two years. When he was 35, he made a voyage to California, U.S.A and studied Homeopathy in Los Angeles.

Family Life
When he was 20, he married one of his distant cousins, Syeda Shahnaz Begum who died in 1941 bearing one son and three daughters. None of his children were alive when he migrated to Bangladesh. In the mid-sixties he married Rabeya Khatun, an inhabitant of Ghoshpur of Howrah District, Kolkata. He built a small house in Mirpur Section 12, near Baitus Salam masjid. It was he who laid the foundation of this masjid. In his house, he set up a homeopathy medicine shop and started his practice. Soon his fame as a good doctor spread throughout the area.

Since his second wife Rabeya Khatun was barren and he did not have any children by her, he married Aqia Begum, the daughter of Mr Mohammad Shamsher Ali, of Genda, Savar in suburban Dhaka. He lived in this village for some time. He had one son and three daughters by his third wife.

He adopted Helena Begum in 1965, an orphan, whose parents died of hunger in dire poverty.

On 13th August, 2001 he married Umme Kulthum Monowara Zerin, daughter of Sheikh Wajed Ali, who hailed from Howrah, Kolkata. They had no children and he died later in the year.

Spiritual Quest
After education from his mother and father Syed Rashid Ahmed became a disciple of his maternal uncle Hazrat Syed Abdul Awal Siddiqui Jaunpuri who was a great scholar on Islam and Sufism in his later teens. Later in his life he also obtained and served many other spiritual masters and received their blessings and became their successor. Among his teachers Naim Ata Shah Bokhari, a descendant of Imam Muhammad al-Bukhari, the great compiler of Hadith; Syed Umar Uddin Multani, Hazrat Syed Abu Nasr Madani, Syed Noor Mohammad Multani, Hazrat Abdul Masjud Jabbalpuri, Hazrat Shah Syed Sultan Ahmed Shahjahanpuri are notable and mentioned.

From 1996 onwards he performed Hajj with his disciples and admirers.In Medina they had their ancestral home in the south-west of the Haram Sharif. In late 80s he started to address the Friday congregation Baitur Rahim mosque as preacher.

Travels and Life in Solitude
He traveled widely in North India and visited places of interest. In his life he came into contact of 445 highly spiritual human beings. . He traveled deep inside the Sundarbans seeking solitude.

Death
On 2nd September, 2001 Sunday, he felt pain in his chest and was taken to Ayesha Memorial Hospital, Mahakhali. His condition improved on Monday and Tuesday. But in the early hours of Wednesday, 5th September, his condition deteriorated and he was taken to the National Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases (Suhrawardy Hospital) where he breathed his last at 11 am. He lived nearly his 113th year.

Tomb
He was laid to rest in the graveyard adjacent to the Baitur Rahim masjid at a predesignated spot. Later the 120 ft minaret of the masjid was built on his grave.

Works
Syed Rashid Ahmed Jaunpuri is the author of 4 books on topics such as Islam, Sufism, Religion and Islamic philosophy. M Harunur Rashid, who met Syed Rashid Ahmed Jaunpuri, was associated with him and eventually became his devotee wrote a number of works based on his philoshophy and vision.


 * As Author
 * Satyer Prokash (Revelation of truth), Published by Retd. Lt. Colonel Khandaker Ataur Rahman. 1994, Dhaka
 * Istafsar wa Jawaab (A Book of Catechism), Published by Lamisa Books. 1997, Dhaka
 * Quran, Hadith O Suiftatter Bhumika (Introduction to Quran, Hadith and Sufism), Published by Syed Rashid Ahmed Mission Foundation. 2005, Dhaka. ISBN: 984-32-1938-4
 * Tariq Al-Haq (The way of the Truth), Published by Syed Rashid Ahmed Mission Foundation. 2006, Dhaka. ISBN: 984-32-3085-3


 * Works About Syed Rashid Ahmed Jaunpuri
 * Vruner Ma Manusher Allah Ebang Annanya Sanglap (Foetus's Mother, Man's Allah and Other Dialogues: A book of dialogues illustrating the Philosophy of Hazrat Syed Rashid Ahmed Jaunpuri) by M. Harunur Rashid. Published by Lamisa Books. 1996, Dhaka
 * Niruddesh Nadi Antaheen Sagar O Annanya Sanglap (The Lost River, The Boundless Sea and Other Dialogues: A Book of dialogues illustrating the Philosophy of Hazrat Syed Rashid Ahmed Jaupuri) by M. Harunur Rashid. Published by Lamisa Books. 1997, Dhaka
 * Ichchaheen Ghare Ichchar Bashabash Ebang Annanya Sanglap (Desire in a Desireless Abode and Other Dialogues: A Book of dialogues illustrating the Philosophy of Hazrat Syed Rashid Ahmed Jaupuri) by M. Harunur Rashid. Published by Lamisa Books. 1997, Dhaka
 * Ma'Arefus Sunan by Maulana Muhammad Fazle Rab. Published by Syed Rashid Ahmed Islami Academy. 1997, Dhaka.
 * Beduiner Lal Ut Ebang Annanya Sanglap (Bedouin's Red Camel and Other Dialogues: A Book of dialogues illustrating the Philosophy of Hazrat Syed Rashid Ahmed Jaupuri) by M. Harunur Rashid. Published by Lamisa Books. 1997, Dhaka
 * Jiboner Gandi, Mrityur Thikana Ebang Annanya Sanglap (The Bounds of Life, Death's Destination and Other Dialogues: A Book of dialogues illustrating the Philosophy of Hazrat Syed Rashid Ahmed Jaupuri) by M. Harunur Rashid. Published by Lamisa Books. 1999, Dhaka.
 * Syed Rashid Ahmed Jaunpuri (RA) er Dharmadarshaner Bhumika (A Preface to the Religious Philosophy of Syed Rashid Ahmed Jaunpuri) by M. Harunur Rashid. Published by Lamisa Books. 2004, Dhaka.
 * Dialogue on Islam: Syed Rashid Ahmed Jaunpuri on The Form and Spirit of Islam by M. Harunur Rashid. Published by Lamisa Books. 1999, Dhaka. ISBN: 984-31-0584-2
 * Swapner Moroke Ichchar Basabas (Poems dedicated to Syed Rashid Ahmed Jaunpuri) by M. Harunur Rashid. Published by Anupam Prakashani. 2002, Dhaka. ISBN: 984-404-207-x
 * Syed Rashid Ahmed Jaunpuri (ra) Smarak Grantha ( Memorial Volume) Edited by M. Harunur Rashid. Published by Pathak Shamabesh. 2013, Dhaka. ISBN: 978-984-8866-84-9