Research Work on Enayetpuri

Sufism or tasawwuf, since its institutionalized period in the 8^th century, has never become successful in getting rid of the clutches of criticism. Grounded in the esoteric underlying meaning of some passages of the Quran and corroborated by the Traditions, Sufism, as is commonly called by the Western Orientalists, is no longer an alien element today borrowed from popular folk religious practices; rather, its essence lies in the Islamic tradition. Practised by a large Islamic community across the world, particularly those of the Indian subcontinent as a mystic path to the realization of practical, moral and spiritual ideals of life within the Islamic tradition, Sufism continues to contribute a great deal to the global religious resurgence in the backdrop of religious extremism, fanaticism and fundamentalism that seem to oppose what is understood as the core of the mystical dimension of Islam.

Academic or institutional research on religions in Bangladesh is relatively a new adventure by some recent academics. The late Prof Joseph T O’Connell, Prof Emeritus of the University of Toronto, Canada, initiated such a research work with his colleagues at Dhaka University as a Visiting Professor of the Dept of World Religions, University of Dhaka, Bangladesh. Jahangirnagar University published a research article entitled Some Aspects of Khwaja Enayetpuri’s Sufism.

PRINTED WORKS: The Daily Ittefaq Newspaper made this news that over 1 million devotees were served in the biggest kitchen of Bangladesh on January 13, 2019 on the occasion of the holy Urs.Dr Azam Khan, Associate Professor of Bogra Govt Azizul Haque College has pursued PhD at the Kushtia Islamic University on Khwaja Enayetpuri’s Life and Philosophy.

Dr Azam Khan’s PhD thesis on Khwaja Enayetpuri has been published  Islamic Foundation, Dhaka, in book format. He has also done some works on Enayetpuri in this MPhil thesis. Meem Mizan, a faculty of Rajshahi University, is doing MPhil on Khwaja Enayetpuri’s Life and Works. Edited by Prof Arvind Sharma and published Springer, The Encyclopedia of Indian Religions – a tome of a large number of scholarly articles – contains an excellent article on Khwaja Enayetpuri. This Encyclopedia contains as many as 20 articles of Dr Golam Dastagir on such topics as Sufism, Umma, Nafs, Sawm, Salat, Tawhid, etc. Khwaja Enayetpuri is the only Sufi Saint in Bangladesh, a short article of whose life is incorporated in Biographical Encyclopedia of Islamic Philosophers, edited by Oliver Leaman, Continuum, London, 2006. International Association of Sufism, a well-reputed Sufi Center in California, USA publishes a Sufi Journal called Sufism: An Inquiry. The journal has published some articles on Khwaja Enayetpuri.

Dr Golam Dastagir published a book entitled Sufism and Social Integration: Connecting Hearts – Crossing Boundaries by Kazi Publications, Inc., Chicago, 2015, in collaboration with Mohammad Faghfoori, Professor, George Washington University. This book contains numerous articles on Khwaja Enayetpuri. The book is available at Amazon.com and at all major Libraries of the world-class Universities.

For works in Bengali, see Dr Golam Dastagir’s Bangladeshe Sufivad (Sufism in Bangladesh)  published by Haqqani Publishers, Dhaka, 2011. The book is catalogued at the Library of the University of Toronto, CanadaThe Dept of Philosophy, Jahangirnagar University, Dhaka, Bangladesh annually brings out a research journal entitled Copula. The volume 19 of this journal published an article on Khwaja Enayetpuri’s Some Aspects of Sufism.Khwaja Enayetpuri Centre for Research in Sufism is a renowned centre established by Dr Golam Dastagir at the Enayetpur Darbar Sharif, which is a home to hundreds of rare books on Sufism. Wikipedia is another source of information on Khwaja Enayetpuri.

Every month, first Friday, Dr Golam Dastagir in association with Jalal Uddin (China) is conducting “Sufi Discourse” on Zoom Online with a large number of participants across the world. This academic talk focuses on different aspects of Sufism of the Mujaddediya Tariqah followed by open discussion. The maiden Sufi Talk on Zoom was held on November 6, 2020, at the initiative taken by Jalal Uddin – devotee of the Enayeturi Tariqah and a PhD scholar in China. The talks are recorded and will be available for the public soon through the Facebook pages. The talk entitled “Salek” was presented by Golam Zakaria – a Lecturer in Islamic Studies. The talk on “Maqam” (spiritual stage) was presented by Dr Azam Ali Khan, while the talk on “The Relation between Mashuk and Ashik” was presented by Dr Armaan Mujaddedi from India. ‘

DOCUMENTARIES: The following are the documentaries made on Khwaja Enayetpuri’s life and works: The 100th Urs Sharif at the Enayetpur Biswa Shanti Manzil. The program was produced by Khwaja Nargis Hossain. This is another Documentary made by Rubayat Hossain, the popular filmmaker of “Under Construction,” “MeherJan,” etc. Dr Golam Dastagir, former Chairman and Professor of the Dept of Philosophy, Jahangirnagar University, Dhaka, Bangladesh has been engaged in research on Khwaja Enayetpuri’s Sufism for more than three decades. He held visiting position at the Centre for South Asian Studies, University of Toronto and New College, University of Toronto, Canada. He also held a position of Visiting Professor at the University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Currently, he teaches in Toronto, Canada. For further inquiries, contact Prof Golam Dastagir, Director, Khwaja Enayetpuri Sufi Society: Email: info.kess21@gmail.com