| Wadud, Kazi Abdul
(1894-1970) educationist and writer, was born on 26 April 1894
in Baghmara village in Pangsha, Faridpur. His father, Kazi Sagiruddin,
was a railway stationmaster. Abdul Wadud initially studied at the Jagannathpur
Minor School. In 1913 he passed his Entrance from the Dhaka Collegiate
School. Subsequently, he passed his IA (1915) and BA (1917) from Presidency
College, Calcutta and MA (1919) in Economics from Calcutta University.
In 1920, he joined Dhaka Intermediate College as a professor of Bengali.
Kazi Abdul Wadud was one of the pioneers of the buddhir
mukti andolan (movement for the awakening of the intellect)
that started in 1926 in dhaka
through the muslim
sahitya samaj (Muslim literary society). He edited
its journal shikha. He also wrote articles for the journal,
expressing his liberal and pragmatic thoughts. In 1940 he became
editor of the Textbook Committee, Calcutta, retiring from the
post in July 1951.
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Kazi Abdul Wadud |
He was deeply influenced by thoughts and ideas of Goethe
(1749-1832),
Rammohun roy (1772-1833) and rabindranath
tagore (1861-1941). He attempted to arouse the spirit of free
and rational thought and a secular attitude among Bengali Muslims.
Abdul Wadud's most important contribution is perhaps
his Vyavaharik Shavdakos (1953), a practical dictionary which analyzes
Bangla words derived from Arabic, Persian and Turkish. It also includes
words extensively used in Bengali Muslim society.
His other books reflect the width of his interests,
and range from books on Islam to books on Indian and western literary
figures. His books include Mir Paribar (1918), Naba Paryay
(first part 1926, second part 1929), Rabindra Kavyapath (1927),
Samaj O Sahitya (1934), Hindu Musalmaner Birodh (1935),
Path O Bipath (1939), Ajkar Katha (1941), Kaviguru Goethe
(first and second part, 1946), Nazrul Pratibha (1949), Svadhinata
Diner Upahar (1951), Shashvata Banga (1951), Vyavaharik
Shavdakos (1953), Banglar Jagaran (1956), Sharat
Chandra O Tarpar (1961), Kaviguru Rabindranath (first part
1962, second part 1969), Hazrat Mohammad O Islam (1966) and Pabitra
Quran (first part 1966, second part 1967), Creative Bengal
(1950), Tagore's Role in the Reconstruction of Indian Thought.
Abdul Wadud died on 19 May in 1970 in Calcutta and was buried in Gobra
Cemetery. [Khondkar Sirajul Haque] |
