Contribution of Pir Sufi Abubakar (1846-1939) to undivided Bengal/ অবিভক্ত বাংলায় পীর সূফি আবুবকরের (১৮৪৬-১৯৩৯) অবদান

Abstract

Abu Bakar was a cleric or pir of the Muslim community. He was born in 1846 AD at Furfura in Hooghly district of Bengal. He was a central figure in Muslim Bengal in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Various movements were formed around him at that time. He was able to make a special contribution to the spread of education in the Muslim society of Bengal. The education rate among Muslims in Bengal in the 19th century was very low. An account by A.F. Ahmed suggests that the level of education among Muslims in Bengal in the nineteenth century and even in the first half of the twentieth century was very poor and their backwardness considerable. According to Ahmed's calculations, in 1875 the number of Muslim students in schools in Bengal was 29% and the number of Hindu students was 71.1%. Muslim participation in higher education was even lower. In 1875, the number of Muslim students at the college level was 5.4% and Hindu students were 93.6%. Less than 2% of educated Muslims knew English. But the number of Hindu students knowing English was about 5%. The picture was almost the same in terms of employment. In 1871 the number of Muslim employees in Bengal was 5.9%. On the other hand, the rate of Hindus was 41%. Abu Bakar realized the backwardness of this education in Muslim society and devoted himself to spreading education among Muslims. He initially advocated the expansion of madrasa education, but eventually supported English education and science education. In the expansion of education, he established Old Scheme Madrasas, established New Scheme Madrasas, emphasized on women and children education, emphasized on the mother tongue Bengali education, sponsored the spread of newspapers, helped in the spread of spiritual education, etc. But why did he take all these measures? What steps did he take for this? What was the result?  —Answers to all these questions are attempted in this article through analytical review.