Firangi Mahal

Firangi Mahal (Hindi: फ़रन्गी महल, Urdu: فرنگی محل, "literally "French Palace" from Arabic فرنگی Firangi "Europeaner" a corruption of Frank") is a Religious Higher education school in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India.

Earliest History

The history of the Ansari family of Sehali or Sihali,BARABANKI DIST. who later achieved great renown as the Firangi Mahal family or the "Ulama-e-Farangi Mahal", is recorded in a book titled, "Tazkira-e-Ulama-e-Firangi Mahal".

The ancestors arrived in India from Herat, Afghanistan, and settled mainly in and around Panipat. In the mid-sixteenth century, they further spread to the Oudh province, during the reign of the great Mughal Emperor, Akbar the Great. They made their way to, and settled in a small village, Sehali, District Barabanki, Uttar Pradesh, India.

While the Mughal Emperor, Shah Jahan was still alive, a war of succession to the Mughal throne ensued. The Emperor's youngest son, and the governor of Deccan, Abu Muzaffar Muhiuddin Aurangzeb, was amongst the protagonists, and was the ultimate victor in this war and deposed his father. The Ansari family of Sehali is said to have professed loyalty to, and supported Aurangzeb "Alamgeer" during his campaigns in the war of succession as well as during his reign as the Mughal Emperor.

After the assassination of Mullah Qutab uddin Shaheed, (d. 1692) the family leader was Mullah Saeed bin Mullah Qutab Uddin who still saw the hostility of his relatives and decided that he is was going to depart from Sehali and find a home somewhere else. He went to Hyderabad,India to visit Emperor Aurangzeb.

Founding of the School

"Hamaarey Hindostaan ka Cambridge yehi hai" - Maulana Shibli Nomani, India's most eminent historian and scholar"

In Hyderabad, Mullah Asad bin Qutab Shaheed was at the court of Emperor Aurangzeb, who consulted him on Islamic matters. With the help of his brother, Mullah Asad who was living in Deccan at that time got a royal decree issued for the Governor of Lucknow to search of a desirable place to live in Lucknow. Mullah Saeed took this decree to Sehali. He met the Governor of Lucknow and chose two houses which were in the Mohallah “Ihatah Chiragh Baig”, these houses belonged to a French trader named Neal and after his departure, according to the law of the time, had come under the control of the government.

After a while this house and the area around it was given to Mullah Saeed bin Qutab uddin Shaheed and his brother Mullah Asad bin Qutab uddin Shaheed by the order of the Emperor. This royal decree is in the possession of Jamal Mian bin Maulana Abdul Bari and it clearly states the names of only Mullah Saeed and Mullah Asad. Mullah Nizam Uddin bin Mullah Qutab Uddin Shaheed and Mullah Raza bin Mullah Qutab Uddin Shaheed were young and their names could not be listed on this Royal Decree.

Along with the house, some land, in Baraicha and Bara banki was awarded specifically to Mullah Saeed. No exact account is available but all this land was lost by his decedents and now except for a small orchard in Sehali, none of this land belongs to the family. Mullah Saeed moved his whole family from Sehali to this house.

This eventually became the school today and its name Firangi Mahal is related to its former ownership by the Frenchman Neal. Firangi in Urdu now means "foreigner", but at this time Firangi was Arabic for a Frank.

Change In India

The members of Farangi Mahal exercised great influence over the development of Muslim religious thought in India between the 17th century and 20th century. This was the period when the world was changing and the peoples of India were exposed to the rising colonial powers of Europe. The European colonial powers were expanding their influence through their capabilities at sea, trade and exploration, and later they projected their economic and military power because of the Industrial Revolution. During this period, the great Mughal Empire had shrunk and disintegrated, and gradually India became subject to British influence and later rule.

The Muslims in India, in particular, faced the trauma of seeing their influence and power wane and also had to face, and learn to handle the challenges of a new era that acutely affected their culture and way of life. The Ulama (Heads of the religious school) of Firangi Mahal helped the Muslims of India understand the nature of this challenge, and helped them preserve their culture, way of life, and to deal with the very significant changes taking place in their surroundings.

"The learned and holy men of Farangi Mahall were the consolidators in the subcontinent of the rationalist traditions of Islamic scholarship derived from Iran. These were encapsulated in a renowned and widely-used syllabus which they created and which became the dominant system of Indian Islamic education from the eighteenth century."

"These traditions represented a confident and flexible Islamic understanding which, the Farangi Mahallis felt, had the capacity to preserve Islam even while selectively adopting social, cultural and technological changes from the West. Between 1780 and 1820 these traditions were arguably poised to bring forth some form of Islamic enlightenment. But over the course of nineteenth century they were overcome by the twin forces of Islamic reformism and Western education." ⁽²⁾

From Arabia to India

The Firangi Mahal family trace a direct, unbroken lineage to Abu Ayyub al-Ansari, a companion of Muhammad. Abu Ayyub al-Ansari belonged to the Bani Ghanam⁽¹⁾⁽²⁾ tribe from amongst the Khazraj of "Yathrib" (later "Madina, Medina or Madina un-Nabi"). This lineage is traced through another very famous scholar and poet, descendant of Abu Ayyub al-Ansari, Khajeh Abdollah Ansari of Herat, Afghanistan. ⁽¹⁾⁽²⁾

The lineage is described, and traced in the family history records ⁽¹⁾, as follows;

*Abu Ayyub al-Ansari
*Abu Mansoor al-Ansari al-Taabi'i
*Jaafar al-Ansari
*Ali al-Ansari
*Ahmad al-Ansari
*Muhammad al-Ansari
*Abu Mu'aaz al-Ansari
*Jaafar al-Ansari
*Abu Mansoor Ansari Balkhi
*Abu Ismail Khajeh Abdollah Ansari of Herat
*Jabar Muqarrab-Baari Ansari
*Ayyub Ansari
*Khajeh Auz Ansari
*Khajeh Shahabuddin Mahmood Ansari
*Khajeh Nizamuddin Ansari
*Khajeh Sultan Muhammad Ansari
*Khajeh Zaheeruddin Ansari
*Khajeh Jalaluddin Ansari
*Khajeh Shamsuddin Ansari
*Khawaja Pir Habibullah Ansari
*Khawaja Pir Muizzuddin Ansari
*Khawaja Pir Ghayasuddin Ansari
*Khawaja Dost Muhammad Ansari
*Khawaja Jamaluddin Ansari
*Khawaja Azizuddin Ansari
*Khawaja Dawood Ansari
*Khawaja Ishaaq Ansari
*Shaikh Khawaja Ismail Ansari
*Qutub al-Aalam, Shaikh Khawaja Alauddin Ansari, of Herat
*Shaikh Nizamuddin Ansari
*Sharfuddin Ansari
*Shaikh Muhiuddin Ansari
*Shaikh Fazlullah Ansari
*Shaikh Habibullah Ansari
*Mulla Shaikh Muhammad Hafiz Ansari
*Mulla Shaikh Ahmad Ansari
*Mulla Shaikh Abdul Kareem Ansari
*Mulla Shaikh Abdul Haleem Ansari
*Maulana Qutubuddin Ansari - The Qutub Shaheed

Around mid-sixteenth century Shaikh Makhdoom Nizamuddin Ansari travelled from Panipat to, and settled in, Oudh province of the Mughal Empire. As stated above, the family settled in Sehali, near Barabanki, and soon attracted students and pupils from the surrounding areas who were interested in acquiring religious education. The town of Sehali is about fourteen miles from Bansa - the abode of the famous, Shah Abdul Razzaq Bansavi, with whom in due course, the Ulama of Firangi Mahal were to develop a deep scholarly connection.

ee also

*Lucknow
*Ansari (nesbat)
*Islam in India
*Waris Pak
*Abu Ayyub al-Ansari
*Khajeh Abdollah Ansari

External links

* [http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=story_8-1-2003_pg3_6 Daily Times: Lucknow’s Farangi Mahal]

References

*(1)"Tazkira-e-Ulama-e-Firangi Mahal", Maulana Maulvi Muhammad Inayatullah Ansari, Firangi Mahali, Ishaat alUloom Barqi Press, Firangi Mahal, Lucknow, 21 July, 1930 (24 Safar, 1349 A.H.)
*(2)"The Ulama of Farangi Mahall and Islamic Culture in South Asia", Francis Robinson, Ferozsons (pvt) Limited, Pakistan. 2002.
*(3)"Baani-e-Dars-e-Nizaami", Mufti Rada Ansari, Lucknow. 1973.
*(4)"Qiyaam-e-nizaam-e-ta'leem", Altaf ur-Rehman Qidwai, Nami Press, Lucknow, India. 1924.
*(5)"Maqalaat-e-Shibli", Maulana Shibli Nomani, 1896.