University of Madras. Photo: Jonas Buchholz ( Jbuchholz ), CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Madras_University_Senate_House.jpg)
Career
Gallery of Mohiaddin Alwaye
All India Radio. Photo: Lokantha, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Akashvani_Bhavan_in_New_Delhi.jpg)
University of Madras. Photo: Jonas Buchholz ( Jbuchholz ), CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Madras_University_Senate_House.jpg)
Mohiaddin Alwaye was an Indian Islamic and Arabic scholar, educator, writer, translator, journalist, and researcher. He taught at Al-Azhar University and the Islamic University of Medina, edited Arabic and English publications, translated Chemmeen into Arabic, and founded Azharul Uloom near Aluva, Kerala.
Background
Mohiaddin Alwaye was born on June 1, 1925, in Veliyathunad near Aluva in Kerala, India. His father, Sheikh Mackar Moulavi, was a religious scholar, preacher, and imam who taught religious studies and Arabic. Alwaye received his early religious education under his father's guidance before continuing at Islamic and oriental institutions in southern India.
His formative years unfolded in Kerala's long tradition of Arabic and Islamic learning, which was connected to the region's historic Muslim communities and maritime links with the Arab world. His later career extended those local scholarly traditions into India, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and international Arabic-language publishing.
Education
Alwaye earned the Moulavi Fadhil qualification in Islamic studies from Baqiath Salihath College in southern India. He then received the Afzul Ulema qualification in Arabic and related studies from Madras University in 1949, after which he began teaching at Rawdatul Uloom Arabic College in Kerala.
He continued his studies at Al-Azhar University in Cairo, one of the historic centers of Sunni Islamic scholarship. He obtained the Al-Alamiyyah qualification from the College of Usul al-Din in 1953 and later completed advanced study in philosophy and Islamic preaching. In 1971 he received a Ph.D. from Al-Azhar for research on the development of Islamic preaching in the Indian subcontinent.
Alwaye began his teaching career at Rawdatul Uloom Arabic College near Kozhikode after receiving his Afzul Ulema qualification in 1949. He later worked in the Arabic section of All India Radio in New Delhi, where his broadcasting and editorial activities accompanied research and writing on Indian-Arab cultural relations.
He returned to Cairo in the 1960s for advanced study and joined Al-Azhar's teaching and editorial work. From 1964 he taught Islamic studies in English at Al-Azhar colleges, including the Medical Faculty and the Girls College, and edited the English section of Al-Azhar Magazine. He also served in the office of Al-Azhar rector Ahmed Hassan Al-Bakouri and participated in examination and delegation-selection committees.
From 1970 he was chief editor of Sawt al-Hind, the Arabic magazine of the Indian Embassy in Cairo, which presented Indian culture and affairs to Arab readers. He joined the Islamic University of Medina in 1977 as a professor in the College of Da'wah and the Arabic Language Institute, and participated in educational programmes in the Philippines, Pakistan, and Guinea.
From 1985 he edited the Islamic section of Al-Khaleej Alyoum in Qatar. After returning to Kerala in the late 1980s, he directed the Islamic Research and Training Center at Shantapuram and became the first principal of Dawa College. In 1990 he founded Azharul Uloom near Aluva, an institution devoted to Islamic and linguistic studies.
Alwaye translated Thakazhi Sivasankara Pillai's Malayalam novel Chemmeen into Arabic, helping present a major work of Kerala literature to Arabic-speaking readers.
He edited the English section of Al-Azhar Magazine and contributed to Arabic periodicals on Islamic studies, Indian literature, Eastern philosophy, and Indian-Arab cultural relations.
His doctoral research at Al-Azhar examined the development of Islamic preaching in the Indian subcontinent and connected Arabic scholarship with the history of Islam in India.
He founded Azharul Uloom near Aluva in 1990, establishing a college centered on Islamic scholarship, Arabic, and higher religious education.
(A discussion of ideological issues confronting Muslim soc...)
Religion
Mohiaddin Alwaye was a Muslim scholar whose education, teaching, writing, and institutional work were grounded in Islamic theology, Arabic studies, and the tradition of Islamic religious education. His writings addressed the principles of Islam, Islamic preaching, the history of Islam in India, the Qur'an, prophethood, and religious responses to contemporary issues.
His religious outlook connected Islamic scholarship with education, translation, and cultural exchange. At Al-Azhar University he taught Islamic studies in English, edited the English section of Al-Azhar Magazine, and worked on presenting Islamic principles to English-speaking communities. His later educational institutions in Kerala continued this emphasis on Arabic, Islamic learning, and the preparation of religious scholars.
Views
Alwaye's writings joined Islamic theology with education, historical inquiry, and intercultural understanding. His studies of India, Arabic literature, and Islamic preaching treated knowledge of language, history, and society as important to religious communication.
His work also expressed a commitment to strengthening intellectual and cultural relations between India and the Arab world. In books and articles on Indian literature, Arabic scholarship, Islam, and Palestine, he presented religious and cultural questions through the perspectives of Islamic learning and comparative study.
Membership
Alwaye was associated with the Islamic Literature Society and the Ernakulam Islamic Society, serving as president or office-bearer of the latter. His organizational activities complemented his teaching, journalism, and work in Islamic education.
He also served as an adviser to the Muslim Educational Society and participated in forums that brought Muslim organizations together for educational and social discussion.
Islamic Literature Society
,
India
Served as president or senior office-bearer.
Ernakulam Islamic Society
,
India
1987
Served as an adviser.
Muslim Educational Society
,
India
Personality
Contemporary tributes described Alwaye as cordial, friendly, highly respected, and effective in scholarly, educational, and cultural work. His colleagues also characterized him as an able speaker and a scholar of Islamic history and world affairs.
Quotes from others about the person
Indian ambassador Apa B. Pant praised Alwaye's loyalty, efficiency, scholarship, public speaking, and cultural work in Cairo, describing him as respected by students and scholars at Al-Azhar. Ebrahim Sulaiman Sait later remembered his learning, cordial nature, and work for Muslim educational and social unity.
Interests
Arabic and Indian literature, translation, Islamic education, journalism, and Indian-Arab cultural relations.
Connections
Alwaye was the son of Sheikh Mackar Moulavi, a Kerala religious scholar, preacher, and imam who provided his early instruction in Islamic studies and Arabic. He later moved with his wife and two children to Cairo while pursuing advanced study at Al-Azhar.
His professional connections included Al-Azhar rector Ahmed Hassan Al-Bakouri, Indian diplomatic representatives in Cairo, and scholars and educators associated with Al-Azhar and the Islamic University of Medina. These relationships accompanied his work in Arabic journalism, Islamic education, and Indian-Arab cultural exchange.
Father:
Sheikh Mackar Moulavi
A religious scholar, preacher, and imam in Kerala who provided Alwaye's early religious and Arabic education.
child:
Muneera
References
Dr. Mohiaddin Alwaye — Life History
Biographical account of Alwaye's birth, education, teaching, journalism, Al-Azhar career, work in Medina and Qatar, return to Kerala, and death.
Contemporary Indian Literature
Digitized text containing biographical information about Alwaye, a list of his works, and an account of his education, editorial work, Al-Azhar service, and cultural activities.
1972
Dr. Mohiaddin Alwaye
Institutional website documenting Alwaye's life, scholarship, books, articles, and legacy.
