Qazi Mu'tasim Billah

Refined Memorial Biography: Qazi Muʾtasim Billah Bahar

Qazi Muʾtasim Billah Bahar was born on 15 June 1933 in Gopalpur village of Kaliganj, then part of Jhenaidah subdivision in Jessore District under the Bengal Presidency. Some accounts mention Zamzampur in Jessore Sadar as an alternate birthplace. His father, Qazi Sakhawat Husayn, was a respected Islamic scholar and politician, and his mother was Qurratun Nesa. He came from a long line of notable Sufi scholars, including his grandfather Qazi Abdul Wadud and great‑grandfather Qazi Rawshan Ali, known in the broader Jessore region (en.wikipedia.org).

He pursued religious studies initially under his parents and at a local primary school, then completed advanced religious training at Lauri‑Ramnagar Alia Madrasa in Manirampur. In 1953, he traveled to Darul Uloom Deoband in India, where he studied under eminent scholars such as Hussain Ahmad Madani, Ibrahim Balyawi, Izaz Ali Amrohi, and Muhammad Tayyib Qasmi, receiving a sanad in Hadith studies in 1956 (en.wikipedia.org).

Upon his return to Bengal in 1957, Qazi Muʾtasim Billah embarked on a distinguished teaching career. He taught at Lauri‑Ramnagar Alia Madrasa, Bara Katara Madrasa in Dhaka, and Jamia Imdadia in Kishoreganj. Around 1966, he became Shaykh al‑Hadith at Katlasen Alia Madrasa in Mymensingh. In 1969, he founded Jamia Islamia Darul Uloom Madania in Jatrabari, Dhaka, serving as its principal and chief Hadith instructor until 1977. That same year, he resumed teaching in Mymensingh before, in 1980, becoming principal of Jamia Sharʾiyya Malibagh, a post he held until his death in 2013. During his tenure, he also briefly taught at the University of Dhaka’s Department of Islamic Studies, covering Sahih Muslim, but resigned after about a year and a half due to concerns over religious propriety in the teaching authority (en.wikipedia.org).

Qazi Muʾtasim Billah made significant contributions to Islamic scholarship and pedagogy in Bangladesh. He was a prolific author of books and articles in Bengali and notably pioneered the introduction of Bengali‑medium instruction within the Qawmi madrasa system—a practice that later spread across the country. His innovations included integrating Bengali literary culture into religious institutions by encouraging newspapers, annual magazines, and literary conferences among madrasa students, and revising curricula to better suit local needs (en.wikipedia.org).

He passed away on 15 July 2013 in Dhaka. His funeral prayer (janaza) was held at Khilgaon Balur Math by his student Abdur Rahman Hafezji at noon, followed by burial at Shahjahanpur Graveyard in Dhaka. In 2017, Jamia Sharʾiyya Malibagh published a commemorative volume in his memory (en.wikipedia.org).

Qazi Muʾtasim Billah Bahar’s legacy endures through the many religious scholars and educators he mentored, and through the enduring influence of his reforms in Islamic education in Bangladesh.