Karamat Ali Jaunpuri

He played a major role in propagating to the masses of Bengal and Assam via public sermons, and wrote over forty books.

[2] Muhammad Ali Jaunpuri was born in the neighbourhood of Mulla Tola in Jaunpur, North India on 18 Muharram 1215 A. H. (12 June 1800 CE).

[3] It is claimed that he was the 35th direct descendant of Abu Bakr, the first Rashidun caliph,[4] with his ancestors migrating from Baghdad to Jaunpur in the early 19th century.

His younger brother, Shah Rab Ali Jaunpuri, was a faqir and khalifah of Syed Ahmad Shaheed.

After taking his father's permission, Jaunpuri pledged bay'ah to Sayyid Ahmad of Raebareli, who was the founder of the Tariqah-e-Muhammadiya movement.

[4] On the very first week of service, Sayyid Ahmad instructed him to get involved in the work of guidance and bestowed the Khilafah (succession) letter with the spiritual genealogy through Shah Ismail Dehlvi.

[11][note 1] His religious activities were spread across northern India in places like Jaunpur, Azamgarh, Sultanpur, Ghazipur and Faizabad.

Instead of adhan and prayers, the mosque was used for worldly gatherings like baraat, clubbing and marriage ceremonies regardless of religion.

Similarly, after Jamia Masjid Jaunpur, he started a series of Friday sermons which continued for many years after his death.

[14] Starting in Calcutta, he travelled to various places including Dhaka, Mymensingh, Dinajpur, Faridpur, Noakhali, Chittagong, Goalpara, Dhubri, Kamrup and Rangpur.

Instead, he issued a fatwa declaring the colonised territory as a Dar al-Aman as the British government allowed freedom of religion.

An incomplete list of his works: During his travels in Rangpur in 1873, Jaunpuri fell ill and subsequently died on 2 Rabi' al-Thani 1290 AH (30 May 1873 CE).