Syed Waheed Ashraf

Syed Waheed Ashraf
Syed Waheed Ashraf
Title	Allama, Shaikhe Tariqat
Born	(1933-02-04) 4 February 1933 (age 83)
Nationality	Indian
Era	Present
Region	India
Religion	Islam
Main interest(s)	Sufism
Notable work(s)	Sufism, Urdu and Persian quatrains (Rubai) and Naat, Persian and Urdu literary criticism, Islamic studies
Children	Three sons, one daughter

Syed Waheed Ashraf is an Indian Sufi scholar and poet in Persian and Urdu. Ashraf received his B.A., M.A. and PhD (1965) degrees from Aligarh Muslim University. The title of his doctoral dissertation was A Critical Edition of Lataife Ashrafi. After serving at a number of Indian universities (Punjabi University at Patiala, M.S. University of Baroda and the University of Madras), Ashraf retired as head of the department of Arabic, Persian and Urdu at the University of Madras in 1993. Fluent in seven languages (Pahlavi, Persian, Arabic, Urdu, English, Hindi and Gujarati), he writes in Urdu, Persian and English, has written, edited or compiled over 35 books and a number of research articles, and has been honoured in India and abroad. Ashraf has focused on upholding and propagating the principles and practices of Sufism.

Ashraf traces his lineage to a family of Syeds in Kachhauchha Sharif, a small town in the district of Ambedkar Nagar, eastern Uttar Pradesh. He was born on 4 February 1933, the third child of librarian Syed Habeeb Ashraf and Syeda Saeeda. Habeeb worked in the village library; although he was enrolled at Firangi Mahal, a madrasa in Lucknow, he did not complete his education due to the death of his father. He was well-versed in Ilmul Jafar and Ilmul Ramal (Islamic geomancy). Habeeb wrote to his eldest son, Syed Amin Ashraf (who was stationed in Aligarh), six months before his death asking him to be home on 3 February 1972 for his burial.

Syeda Saeeda was the daughter of a Unani doctor in the village. Before her marriage, she assisted her father in the preparation of drugs in his dispensary and acquired a knowledge of Unani medicine (particularly diseases of women and children).

Habeeb and Syeda had four sons and three daughters. The two elder sons were Syed Amin Ashraf and Syed Hameed Ashraf. The youngest son (and their fifth child) was Syed Ashraf. Their daughters were Syeda Mahmooda, Syeda Masooda and Syeda Raheen. Syed Amin Ashraf received his PhD in English literature from Aligarh Muslim University, and later taught in the same department. Amin Ashraf is regarded as an accomplished poet in Urdu ghazals. He has compiled three poetic collections – Jadae Shab, Bahare Ijaad and Qafase Rang – and a collection of his papers in a book, Bargo Bar. He has received awards from Ghalib Academy, New Delhi and Uttar Pradesh Urdu Academy in Lucknow. Several critical essays about his poetry have been published. Their second son, Syed Hameed Ashraf (who died in 1993), studied Shariah at Al Jamiatul Ashrafia Mubarakpur and Darul Uloom Deoband, received B.A., M.A. and M.Phil degrees in Arabic literature from Aligarh Muslim University and taught at a number of Indian madrasas. Syed Waheed Ashraf learned Islamic theology from his brother, Syed Hameed Ashraf.