Thaika Shuaib

Thaika Shuaib (29 July 1930 – 14 June 2021) was a South Indian Islamic scholar, spiritual guide, and author. In May 1994, he became the first Tamil Muslim to receive the National Award for "Outstanding Arabic Scholar". He was mentioned as one of The 500 Most Influential Muslims in the 2013/14, 2014/15, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2020 lists.

Background Shuaib was born in Kilakarai, South India. He comes from a family of Islamic scholars who have taught the Islamic sciences for centuries. His father, Thaika Ahmad Abdul Qadir (d. 1976) was a scholar and spiritual guide. His grandfather, Shahul Hamid (d. 1921) was a scholar and missionary. His granduncle was the ascetic and poet Abdul Qadir (d. 1913), and his great-grandfather was the renewer Sayyid Muhammad (d. 1316), widely known as "Imam al-‘Arus" or "Mappillai Lebbai Alim".

Education Shuaib's father took care of his upbringing at the Arusiyyah Seminary, and he was both his teacher and spiritual master. His father gave him several ijazah, or certificates of authority to teach Islamic law. After completing the traditional curriculum, he sat with the scholars of Al-Baqiyat As-Salihat Seminary and Jamalia Arabic College in South India, and Darul Uloom Deoband and Jamia Millia Islamia in North India.

He read Arabic and Persian at the University of Ceylon (Peradeniya). His research of the Arwi (Southern India and Sri Lanka) region earned him a M. A. and then a PhD from the Columbia Pacific University.

Career Shuaib started teaching Arabic language and Qur'an studies at the Arusiyyah Seminary whilst still at high school. He entered the teaching profession full-time after graduation.

Shuaib is a part of the traditional family business of trading in precious gems and stones.

The book recorded the history and contributions of Arwi (Tamil-speaking) Muslims to Islamic literature, education, propagation and spirituality through Arabic, Arwi, Persian and Urdu. It shed light on their cultural, political and social activities and achievements in their respective countries and abroad. It also featured a critical commentary of the Mawlid composition of Imam al-‘Arus Sayyid Muhammad b. Ahmad Lebbai entitled, "Minhat al-Sarandīb fī Madh al-Habīb".

Major works Arabic, Arwi, and Persian in Sarandib and Tamil Nadu: A Study of the Contributions of Sri Lanka and Tamil Nadu to Arabic, Arwi, Persian, and Urdu Languages, Literature, and Education, Madras:1993 Al Munjiyath: A Panacea for the Body and Soul, Chennai:2014 ahsanu-l mawa'iz wa azyanu-l malafiz, Kilakkarai:1954 Morning and Evening Invocations, USA and Singapore:2021

Minor treatises If not for the Prophet ﷺ (English), Kilakkarai:1956

In 2013, Shuaib was listed for the first time in The 500 Most Influential Muslims by Georgetown University’s Prince Alwaleed Bin-Talal Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding and the Royal Islamic Strategic Studies Centre of Jordan.

On 27 April 2016, the 7th President of Sri Lanka, Maithripala Sirisena, was the guest of honour at a function in Colombo, Sri Lanka, to felicitate Shuaib for his services rendered to Islam and for promotion of religious harmony.

Death Shuaib died on Tuesday, 15 June 2021, corresponding to the Hijri date 3 Dhu'l Qa'dah 1442.