Allamah Rasheed Turabi' was an Islamic scholar, religious leader, public speaker, poet and philosopher. He was born on 9th Jamadi-us-Sani 1326 / July 9, 1908 in Hyderabad, India.
He was the eldest son of Maulvi Sharaf Hussain Khan, a nobleman from Hyderabad. He got his basic Islamic education from his father who taught him till the age of 5. He did matriculation from Hyderabad, intermediate-high school from Shia College Lucknow, BA from Osmania University (Hyderabad, India), and MA in Philosophy from Allahbad University, India. He got his basic and advanced religious studies from Syed Abubakr ibn Shahab-e-Urezi (descendent of Imam Jafar Sadiq, Sadr-ul-Ulama Maulvi Syed Ghulam Hussain, Maulana Abbas Ali Sharif and Maulana Syed Sibte Hasan. He learned Urdu and Persian literature from Agha Mohsin Sheerazi, Ali Hyder Nazm Tabatabai, Allamah Zamin Kanturi, Agha Dai'yal Islam, and Agha Mohammed Kirmani. He learned Arabic language from Agha Tahir bin Mohammed, and Maulana Sadiq Hussain Majjan. His mentors in Urdu and Persian poetry were Agha Syed Hasan Isfahani, Allamah Zamin Kanturi, and Nawab Haider Yarjang Tabatabai. On the political side, he started his political career as a member of the working committee of Hyderabad Legislative Assembly and worked with Nawab Bahadur Yarjang. Later on, he was nominated by the founder of Pakistan Quaid-e-Azam Mohammed Ali Jinnah, as a member of the working committee of All India Muslim League, where he was involved in the organization of Muslim League and established its branches all over the South Asia. Simultaneously he had a responsibility to supervise the publication of newspapers and magazines of almost 600 states in then undivided India. He remained a member of the Hyderabad Assembly till 1942 and was associated with All India Muslim League till the independence of Pakistan. After independence he migrated to Pakistan in 1949, left active politics, and devoted himself only to religious erudition.
Allamah Rasheed Turabi had an accomplishment of having Ijazah of Riwayah and Narration from almost all of his contemporary Mashayekh mainly from Iran and Iraq, notably Ayatullah Sheikh Mohammed Mohsin al-Tehrani, Ayatullah Mohsin al-Hakim Tabatabai, Ayatullah Syed Hibbatuddin Shahristani, Ayatullah Syed Hadi al-Meelani, Ayatullah Syed Ibrahim al-Isfahani, Ayatullah Syed Shahabuddin Marashi Hussain Najafi, Aqaey AbulQasim Khoi, Allama Ayotullah Brojardi, and Ayatullah Syed Kazim Shariatmadari. He was knowledgeable and gifted in many areas of Islamic sciences such as Tafseer, Hadith, Usool, and Fiqh.
He was a literary authority on Arabic, Persian, and Urdu poetry. He memorized thousands and thousands of poetic lines, stanzas, verse paragraphs, and contos of different masters. A good evidence of his command can be seen in his speeches and writings. He delivered more than 5,000 religious lectures and speeches over the period of 57 years that he spent out of his 65 years of total life in the service of Ahlul Bayt. Allamah Rasheed Turabi introduced many dimensions to the Art of Oratory. The most sought after Urdu public speaker of his times, he was indeed a persuasive and brilliant orator. He was the first person who delivered religious speeches for 10 days or more on selected topics. During his life, he got numerous recognition from great shi'ite scholars of Rijal, and was considered as[citation needed] "Wizard in Ilm-ul Rijal". Allamah did not publish his master work on Ilm-ul-Rijal which he had already named as "Wasl-e-Qawl". Allamah Rasheed Turabi was a poet. His book ‘Tib e Masoomeen’ is a composition embodying a choice of antidotes from the Masoomeen (the 14 infallibles as per the shia belief). His another composition is ‘The forests of Hyderabad’ that was published in two volumes. Rasheed Turabi also wrote a poem ‘Jawab e Shikwa’ as a sequel to Allam Iqbal’s ‘Shikwa’, which stirred Allamah Iqbal to write his own ‘Jawab e Shikwa’. His another work was the idiomatic translation of Ali’s famous letter of instructions addressed to the then Governor of Egypt, Malik Ashtar. This letter from Amir-ul-Momineen, Ali-ibne-Abu Talib, is a guiding light in just and fair governance and has been regarded by eminent Muslim scholars –like Ibn-i-Abil Hidaid (655 A.H), Ibn-iAbduh, and Allama Mustafa Bek Najib as a basic guide in Islamic administration.
In his majalis and speeches, people used to come from all over the country and the region to listen to him. Allamah Rasheed Turabi had received the title of Allamah (The Most Intellectual) from the living Shi'ite scholars of his time who acknowledged his wisdom and application methods. In his 65-year of lifetime, he delivered more than 5,000 religious speeches, created poetic work of exquisite character, and wrote many books and articles. He had a library that contained thousands of books and hundreds of rare manuscripts.
His brother, Dr. Mazhar Ali Khan, was a professor of English and the Pro-Vice Chancellor of Peshawar University. Among Allamah Rasheed Turabi’s fourteen children, his legacy is being continued by his sons, Allamah Aqeel Turabi, who was an eminent scholar and his other son, Dr. Salman Turabi, who is a scholar. His son Naseer Turabi is an Urdu poet.
Allamah Rasheed Turabi died on 22 Ziqada 1393 / December 18, 1973
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