Shamail Nadwi

Shamail Ahmad Abdullah Nadwi is an Indian Islamic scholar, mufti and author, born on 7 June 1998 in Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir, India, and raised in Kolkata, where he still resides. He graduated from Darul Uloom Nadwatul Ulama in Lucknow, founded the online Markaz al-Wahyain in 2021 and the Wahyain Foundation in 2024, and became widely known in December 2025 for his public academic debate "Does God Exist?" with the poet and lyricist Javed Akhtar at the Constitution Club of India in New Delhi, which was broadcast on YouTube and quickly went viral. ^{1 2 3}

The Urdu Wikipedia article describes him as considered, in the subcontinent's scholarly circles, to be affiliated with Sunni, Hanafi and Deobandi thought, and the English article's infobox gives his denomination as Sunni Islam, his jurisprudence as Hanafi and his movement as Deobandi and Nadwi. ^{4 1}

He was born in Srinagar but was raised primarily in Kolkata, where most of his early education and upbringing took place; his family background includes maternal roots in Baramulla, Jammu and Kashmir, and paternal roots in Kolkata. ^{1 2}

He memorised the Qur'an in his early teens, and his early religious education took place largely at home under scholars including Ibtida Alam Nadwi and Nadeem Nadwi. He completed schooling up to the eighth grade at an English-medium school in Kolkata and later passed his matriculation through open schooling. ¹

In 2015 he enrolled at Darul Uloom Nadwatul Ulama in Lucknow, completing the Alimiyyah programme in 2017, then a specialisation in Qur'anic exegesis (tafsir) and Qur'anic sciences in 2018–2019, followed by formal training in ifta in 2019–2020, which earned him the title of mufti. ^{1 2}

From 2020 to 2022 he undertook a two-year programme titled Tahafut al-Malahidah, examining Western philosophical thought and contemporary critiques of religion, under the supervision of Yasir Nadeem al Wajidi. ¹

After completing his formal Islamic education in India, he pursued higher studies at the International Islamic University Malaysia, where he was enrolled in doctoral research in Islamic Revealed Knowledge and Human Sciences as of 2025. ^{1 3}

In 2021 he founded Markaz al-Wahyain, an online platform offering courses in Qur'anic studies, hadith, Islamic jurisprudence and related subjects, with structured programmes for adult learners. ^{1 3}

In 2024 he established the Wahyain Foundation, a non-profit based in Kolkata which, according to media reports, focuses on educational activities and addresses questions related to religion and atheism through organised programmes, including study modules on contemporary atheistic thought. ^{1 3}

He has served as a khateeb at the Kobi Bagan Mosque in Kolkata, where he delivered sermons and conducted Qur'anic tafsir sessions. ¹

His official website offers a fatwa service, structured courses and one-to-one consultations in languages including Urdu, English and Arabic, and presents his books and lectures. ³

In August 2025, several Muslim organisations, including the Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind, objected to an invitation extended to Javed Akhtar for a literary programme organised by the West Bengal Urdu Academy, linking the objections to Akhtar's publicly stated atheistic views. The Wahyain Foundation, led by Nadwi, publicly invited Akhtar to a debate on the existence of God, and Nadwi was reported as stating that the Foundation had issued no threats and had expressed its position through the invitation. ¹

In December 2025 the debate took place at the Constitution Club of India in New Delhi, moderated by journalist Saurabh Dwivedi; it lasted nearly two hours, was broadcast on YouTube, and accumulated more than 1.5 million views within six hours of release, according to media reports. ¹

Coverage by BBC Urdu and the Deccan Chronicle described the exchange as an academic dialogue centred on philosophical questions of metaphysics, morality, free will and human suffering: Nadwi argued that the question of God's existence is metaphysical rather than scientific, emphasising moral responsibility, free will and the limits of empirical reasoning, while Akhtar, from an atheist perspective, questioned divine justice in light of human suffering, particularly the deaths of children in conflict zones. ¹

Nadwi stated in an interview that he had received messages from young people and non-Muslims after the debate describing renewed interest in religious questions, adding that while some individuals reported personal changes in belief, no official data was available to substantiate broader claims. ¹

His works include Masʾala-e-Ghulāmī aur Islām ("The Issue of Slavery and Islam"), reviewed by the Urdu journal Hira Online in December 2024. ¹

This section should be read as a presentation of different positions reported by the sources, not as a verdict of the museum on them.

Writing in The Indian Express, political theorist Yogendra Yadav argued that framing the exchange primarily as a debate on the existence of God risked shifting attention from questions he considered more pressing in contemporary India, such as the declining intellectual and moral quality of religious leadership and the entanglement of religion with political power, while expressing respect for the debate's civility and wide public interest. ¹

Writing in the same newspaper, scientist and writer Gauhar Raza defended the debate's relevance, describing it as an example of civil and restrained public disagreement and arguing that public discussion of God's existence continues to hold social significance where scientific rationality and secular values face challenges. ¹

After his increased media visibility in December 2025, an undated clip of his earlier remarks circulated on social media, in which he was reported to have expressed theological views emphasising religious principles in relation to governance and law, prompting wider media discussion of religious freedom, constitutional values and secularism in India. A report by Khabargaon said he questioned the prioritisation of secular institutions over Islamic law and discussed whether believers should accept court verdicts that conflict with Shariah. ¹

Congress leader Rajiv Shukla was reported to have criticised the remarks, stating that the Constitution must remain supreme, and the Muslim Students Organisation was reported as saying that Nadwi's views did not represent Indian Muslims and conflicted with constitutional principles. ¹

He was also quoted commenting on Pakistan, stating that it could not be regarded as an Islamic state because of what he described as the lack of effective implementation of Islamic law there; the remarks were discussed by commentators in India and Pakistan. ¹

He maintains an active presence on YouTube, Instagram and Facebook, discussing religious, ethical and philosophical topics; the founder's harvest recorded about 720,000 subscribers for his YouTube channel (@muftishamail) in October 2026, a platform figure that changes constantly. News coverage after the December 2025 debate noted increased public attention to his online content, particularly on atheism and contemporary religious questions. ¹

• The defined sources cited above, registered in data/source/.
• Later translations and edits of this article need periodic review with clear update dates.