Fazlul Haque Amini

Fazlul Hoque Amini (c.1945 – 12 December 2012)^{[lower-alpha 1]} was an Islamic scholar and politician from Bangladesh. He served as a MP in the Parliament of Bangladesh^[7] from 2002 to 2007. He was an expert in the fields of Islamic jurisprudence (fiqh), hadith and tasawwuf. He also held a number of positions on the boards of qaumi madrasahs. He was also the principal of Jamia Qurania Arabia Lalbagh in Lalbagh, Dhaka, one of the largest Deobandi Islamic schools of Bangladesh.

Part of a series on
The Deobandi movement
Darul Uloom Deoband, India
Ideology and influences
Dars-i Nizami Maturidi theology Hanafi fiqh
Founders and key figures
Haji Imdadullah Muhajir Makki Muhammad Qasim Nanotvi Rashid Ahmad Gangohi Husain A. Madani Mahmud al-Hasan Ashraf Ali Thanwi Anwar Shah Kashmiri Muhammad Ilyas Kandhlawi Shabbir Ahmad Usmani Muhammad Zakariya Kandhlawi
Notable institutions
Darul ulooms and Madrasas Deoband Mazahir Uloom Nadwatul Ulama Dabhel Hathazari Madrassah Ashrafia Karachi Jamia Uloom-ul-Islamia Bury In'aamiyyah List of Deobandi universities
Centres (Markaz) of Tabligh
Nizamuddin Raiwind Dhaka Dewsbury
Associated Organizations
Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Majlis-e-Ahrar-e-Islam Tablighi Jamaat
Militant Organisations
Taliban Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan Sipah-e-Sahaba Jaish-e-Mohammed Lashkar-e-Jhangvi

Career

Mufti Amini was the chairman of a faction of Islami Oikya Jote (IOJ),^[1] and also a leader of Tehreek-e-Khatme Nabuwwat. He was a former component of the BNP-led four-party alliance.

Views

He has been a voice against the Women Development Policy of 2011^[8] and the Education Policy of 2012^[9] formulated by the Awami League government after coming to power in January 2009, saying those were anti-Islamic.^[10] Demanding cancellation of the policies, mainly for the women one, he campaigned among the Islamist parties and groups, and enforced shutdowns^[11] in April–May 2011 under the banner of Islami Ain Bastobayon Committee (coalition of parties to implement the Islamic laws).

On women, Amini, in his booklet, termed^[10] anti-Islamic the policy's section-23.5 that talks about women's equal opportunity and participation in employment, wealth, market and business. So is section 25.2, which seeks to give women full control over the wealth they accumulate through earning, inheritance, loans and market management, according to Amini.

At a gathering on 14 July 2011, Amini, speaking about the 15th Amendment to the Constitution, which among other things restored the principle of secularism and freedom of religion, said, "People will throw the constitution, from where the name of Allah has been dropped, into dustbin [sic]".^[12][13] He was sued for sedition for this remark, although he argued that it was a figure of speech.^[13][14] On 26 September 2011, the High Court ordered him to surrender to authorities immediately.^[15] He spent the remainder of his life under what he termed "house arrest", his movements confined by police to his home and the IOJ party office in Lalbagh Thana, Dhaka.^[6][16][17]

Amini's madrasa is now used as the Dhaka coordination office of Hefazat, who are similarly against the freedom of women. Watch and download a recent video of Shafi on women^[18]

WikiLeaks cable

A WikiLeaks cable^[19] describing a conversation of Amini with Chammas, the US ambassador in Dhaka of 14 December 2004, reveals many unknown thoughts of the IOJ leader.

Chammas wrote to Washington in the summary: "At a chance encounter with polcouns, IOJ chairman Fazlul Haq Amini denounced Jamaat Islami as power hungry, criticized the BDG on several fronts, opposed the proposed USD 2 billion Tata investment in Bangladesh, indicated the Awami League has offered him money to quit the ruling alliance, and described in general terms his vision for Bangladesh as a truly Islamic state. How, he asked, could IOJ could improve its image in the U.S. and why is the US Government anti-madrassah?"

Death

He died in Dhaka on 12 December 2012.^[1]

Following his death, his son, Abul Hasnat Amini, became actively involved with Hefazat-e-Islam.^[20]

Hefazat-e-Islam, led by Amini's teacher Ahmad Shafi, called for a 13-point movement against the government's policies and the demand of a blasphemy law.^[21]

See also

• Shah Ahmad Shafi - chief of Islamist group Hefajat-e-Islam Bangladesh

Notes

References

Further reading

• Griswold, Eliza (2005-01-23). "The Next Islamist Revolution?". The New York Times Magazine.