Belayet Hossain

Belayet Hossain Birbhumi (; 1887 — 9 December 1984) was a Bangladeshi Islamic scholar, author and academic. He served as a professor at the madrasas of Dhaka, Chittagong and Calcutta.

Early life and education Hossain was born in 1887 to a Bengali family of Muslim Syeds in the village of Saugram in Birbhum district, Bengal Presidency (now in West Bengal). His great-grandfather Syed Alauddin was a qadi under a local Pathan zamindar dynasty in Birbhum, whilst his grandfather Mir Muhammad Qabil served as a private tutor to the dynasty. His father, Syed Mesbahuddin Birbhumi, enrolled him at the Isha'atul Uloom madrasa in Mangalkot, where Hossain studied under the likes of Maulana Muhammad Mangalkoti. In 1905, he moved to Dacca for further studies, and even studied privately for some time with Maulana Mohammad Fazl-e-Karim Burdwani, former headteacher of Mohsinia Madrasa. He enrolled at the Mohsinia Madrasa in 1907 and passed from Jamat-e-Ula in 1909. After that, Hossain joined the Madrasah Alia at Rampur State in India. He studied under the likes of Maulana Muhammad Tayyab Arab Makki, Maulana Abdul Aziz, and Maulana Muhammad Amin. He studied ma'qulat with Maulana Fazl-e-Haq Rampuri and completed his Sihah-e-Sittah with Maulana Munawwar Ali. He graduated from this institution in 1913.

Career Birbhumi began his career on 1 May 1913 as a teacher at the Mohsinia Madrasa in Dhaka. He moved to Chittagong Madrasa in 1922, and briefly returned to Dhaka once again. Four years later, Birbhumi moved to Calcutta on 1 July 1926 and became an assistant maulvi at the Calcutta Alia Madrasa, eventually becoming a professor in the following year and its Head Maulana in 1942. Among his notable students were Maulana Ramzan Ali, Maulana Abdur Rahim Murshidabadi and Mufti Amimul Ehsan Barkati.

Death Birbhumi died in Dhaka on 9 December 1984, leaving behind a son and daughter. He was buried at the Hajibari Graveyard next to Malibagh Mosque in Bangsal Thana.