Rape is a Norm in India

And yet another 23-year-old girl was gang-raped in Bombay, India on August 22.
In 2010, Indian police recorded some 22172 cases of rape against women nationwide, compared with 84767 cases in the United States. While the US leads India in reported rape by a margin of 25 rapes per 100,000 reported cases, India is described as the rape capital of the world for the simple reason of under reporting.
India is a highly sexually perverted society as a child is exposed to sexual abuse from the very childhood. Boys, and girls, as young as five or even under, face constant sexual abuse at the hands of their immediate family members or friends of the family. Hardly anyone complains about them. Once they go to school, they face another round of sexual assault at the hands of their elders. In religious institutions and seminaries, regardless of their religious orientation, the situation is even worst. Not many children living in boarding houses may escape sexual assault sometime during their stay. Once they grow older and go to colleges, sexual assault increases and the victims exposed to it from their childhood feel ashamed to report it or talk about it. Gang rape, date rape, forced consent rape, deceptive rape, half rape, quarter rape are all common.
India is a misogynist society. Women, by and large, are often seemed to be hierarchically inferior to men. They are considered entirely subservient to men: a girl is governed by her father, a married woman by her husband, and a widow by her sons. Women are also depicted as being impure because they menstruate.

Women in classical religious texts are thus often perceived to be inferior beings, yet there are also images of women, for instance, in Hinduism, in the form of various goddesses, that is decidedly more positive. But it is the image of an inferior, submissive and a subservient woman that prevails the popular culture.

You just need to sit in a male-only gathering and listen to the discussion on women. Regardless of the background of the people in the gatherings, women and their sexuality are often subjects of usual vulgar discussions and no one is safe from the eyes of lecherous. No wonder, India strictly followed the practice of veiling women and still follows it in rural areas. Exposure of female flesh is an obvious reason for sexual arousal and masturbation in public is not uncommon even in buses and trains..

Strict laws are needed. But those who apply and implement these laws are men. Religious teachings focusing on the dignity of women are needed, but those claiming to be religious often violate that dignity first. It is a pathetic situation.

Seemingly, the age of the internet has taken the prevailing perversion to a new peak.  Most seem to be influenced by the culture created by pornography. In this situation, women find them totally helpless and at the mercy of perverted men. Many feel intimidated to speak up of the abuses they experience in their daily life. Many are afraid of being blamed. Perhaps, in this situation, those who veil themselves might find safer. But how would anyone guarantee their safety in places like homes, schools or colleges, which are usually considered safe? Perhaps, we need to look at our educational system, at our religious teachings and at our male dominant ethos that prepares the ground for assault and abuses on women and children.

Is Islam the Priority of Muslims?

Is Islam really the priority of Muslims? Is Muslim leadership really concerned about justice? And does the Muslim world really care for human life? Well, these questions can be raised in almost every religious community? Even in a non-religious community, they are valid.
Egypt saw the massacre through gunfire. Then Syria witnessed the killing through chemical weapons. Afghanistan has been witnessing it daily. Iraq is not behind. Israel has been inflicting death and destruction on the Palestinians. Somalia is volatile. Ethiopia and Thailand are experiencing increased violence and in Pakistan, the state and people have killed more citizens than killed by enemies in wars.
If only 10 percent of the revenue and aid money spent in supporting the armies in the Muslim world is spent on raising the standard of living through education, the situation would have been different today. But that is a different story.
If you read the statements of Muslim organizations and leadership you would easily conclude that they are concerned about justice.
If you hear the speeches of Muslim religious leaders, you would conclude they have the strongest and loudest voices in defense of Islam.
And if you talk to Muslim intellectuals you would be amazed at their commitment to human life and dignity.
So why are things not changing? Why are Muslims so ineffective? Why are Muslims so impatient?
The answers are not difficult to find out.

1.      Sincerity is not a good replacement of effective and efficient strategies.

2.      Dedication and commitment are not substitutes for preparations and planning.

3.      Words may stir our souls, but they do not cause change unless we act upon them.

4.      Scattered voices create noises, but voices in unison create a symphony.

1.1 Every Muslim is sincere in his or her understanding of Islam; there is no mechanism to detect an insincere heart. Every judgment is subjective. The only who knows his insincerity in our human world is the one who is insincere. However, we as a community lacks the skills to put our sincerity in their action. We want every Muslim to act in accordance with our understanding of Islam, yet we fail to develop a mechanism and a civil and peaceful method to communicate our viewpoint. We often resort to violence and defeat the very purpose of our sincere thought.

2.1 Muslim organizations want to change the world, their world in countries where they are active. Yet they are not prepared to plan for this change. They are still not clear what kind of society they want to create and how would they create it. They are not clear about an education system that would prepare the people for the future. Moreover, they have not provided skills to their people to transform their rhetoric into reality. They want to build a just society, yet, they often do violate the principles of justice when it comes to people of other religion or minorities, etc. They are selective in their tears.

3.1 Every Muslim organization and leader talks about unity. Yet few are willing to develop strategies to create unity at a practical level. They all are working for the same goal: to find a respectable status for Muslims and they are even doing identical work, yet they are not willing to come together to coordinate and cooperate.

4. Every one of them is saying the same thing and then squabbling over who said it first. They even fail to recognize the simple fact that a 100-watt bulb is much stronger than a zero watt bulb, even though both have their place in mitigating the impact of darkness.

So what needs to be done at least in America where Muslims are least sufferings the excruciating pains, compared with the Muslims all over the world?

a.       Muslim leadership should show more responsibility towards the people it claims to represent. They should develop effective lines of communication among them. They should communicate with each other on a structured and regular basis on issues Muslims are facing in the US and elsewhere.

b.      They should speak with one voice on issues pertaining to justice, human rights, and human dignity even if the voices challenge the behavior of some of the Muslim groups as well. If they have a national and regional board to coordinate their actions, this purpose can easily be achieved.

c.       At the time of any serious crisis anywhere in the Muslim world, they should release a position paper for our elected officials and public opinion makers to inform them of their perspectives and facts on the situation. This again can be coordinated through a centralized board.

d.       Through their coordinated efforts, they should try to educate their public representatives through concerted lobbying in Washington and States depending on the issue itself. For instance, if they are against the US Aid to Israel and Egypt, they should come up with a position paper and share it as a united voice of Muslim Americans with those who run the affairs of the country.

e.       In matters of relief fund raising, they should develop a national strategy to pool their resources to create jobs and opportunities in places where they want to do the relief work.

f.       This cooperation can even be established at the grassroots levels. Each community can create a network among its existing institutions and organizations and coordinate the fund raising events and other program to effectively use the resources.

The Muslim community has the human and material resources. It even has leaders who can move the people to action. It simply needs a mechanism through which its scattered resources can be effectively channelized for the betterment of people. It is achievable, but there is only one major hurdle, a hurdle that has always been there in all times and all situations. It is our own ego. The moment we can subdue it, we can see a different result for us and our world. However, the rhetoric that we hear from everywhere suggests that even those who are asking us to subdue our egos are victims of their own egos.

Egypt is Burning

The world, in general, has condemned the massacre the brutal Egyptian security forces committed against its own people. Shamelessly, the Egyptian ambassadors around the world have tried to justify the action by saying that the killing was necessary. What else can one expect from those who are paid to defend the killers?
Nothing justifies the killing of peaceful citizens. The barbarism showed by the Egyptian security forces cannot be condoned by any civilized human being. Even beasts show some mercy to their opponents. Without prosecuting those responsible for killing the innocents, the blood of the victims will never dry. Egyptian military and government have lost legitimacy to rule over the country, hence the criminals should be brought to justice under the international court of justice. This is the only way to restore decency and civility in Egyptian politics.
There are individuals and groups who have been trying to diffuse the situation and confuse people by making three specific arguments.
1. If the democracy is restored in Egypt, and Morsi is brought back to power, al-Qaeda will become strong and civil liberties of people will be curtailed
2. The Muslim Brotherhood is responsible for the massacre as they used children and women as a human shield.
3. The Muslim Brotherhood is lying about the number of dead.
Egyptians hard-fought democracy and the will of the people must be respected. Even if the argument that Morsi was not a good administrator and his government was not inclusive, he was still legitimately elected to run the country. Those opposed to him should have used democratic methods to bring him down. They should have campaigned for his recall through the ballot. They did not use it. Rather the opposition leadership conspired with the army to stage a coup. For almost four decades Egyptians were denied civil liberties, yet they managed to overthrow the Mubarak regime. There is no reason to believe that they would not have done the same with Morsi through democratic means. I do believe that Morsi's policies were inept, his style of management was incompetent and his approach to minorities was questionable, yet, the change should have come through the ballot and not through the barrel of the guns. The argument that al-Qaeda was gaining ground in Egypt during Morsi's period is an absurd argument that has no basis in facts. Al-Qaeda is as much an enemy of the Muslim Brotherhood as it is an enemy of the west.
The argument that the Muslim Brotherhood used children and women as the shield is also absurd. Women are as much part of the democratic process as men are. Their presence in the streets in defense of democracy speaks volumes of the change that has taken place in Egypt since the ouster of Mubarak. One cannot expect parents to leave their children unattended at home if they were participating in the campaign to restore democracy. The security forces should have shown extra caution while dealing with the situation. Rather than firing live bullets on unarmed and innocent civilians, they should have left the demonstrators to stay where they were. It is their right to demand justice in a peaceful manner. After all, the army was not dealing with the enemies of the state. It was dealing with its own people who are responsible for its continuity and sustenance. But the beastly manner in which the army acted, it has shown that it has no regard for civil liberties and is treating its own citizens as enemies.
The third argument about the number of dead is even more ridiculous. Every human life is sacred and it must be protected. Even the killing of one person deserves to be mourned. The Egyptian army has revealed its Mubarak era criminal nature and contempt for the sacred by committing a bloodbath and burning down a Masjid.
The people supporting the military should take this as a sign that the security forces will take similar action against anyone who does not toe the line of the army. It is this arrogance of power that has no place in the modern world. But the way to deal with such an element is through the peaceful, non-violent method. The Muslim Brotherhood supporters have every right to organize peaceful, non-violent marches and if they commit any act of violence against anyone, then the security forces and the judiciary have the authority to prosecute them, but deny them the right to voice their views openly and kill innocent people is tyranny and a crime against humanity.

Imagine just for one Ramadan and one Eid ul Adha if we do this

Imagine if Muslim Americans, yes Muslim Americans only, decide to do the following, how much change can be introduced in the world. Yes, change, that has become so elusive to Muslims, can come to us through our own efforts. This does not even need the resources of the rich Gulf and wealthy people.
Imagine
1. If all the Muslim relief agencies in the US pool their resources in one place,
2. If all those who are spending on lavish iftar parties in masajid and homes donate those resources to the relief agencies.
3. If all of us observe this month with simplicity, trying to emulate our Prophet in consuming food and donate whatever we save to relief agencies,
4. If all of us pool our zakat at one place rather than giving it individually to whomsoever we deem deserving,
5. If all of us give the equivalent to what we spend on Eid ul Fitr gifts to our relief agencies,
6. If the money that is spent on buying animals for eid ul Adha is donated to relief groups,
And imagine
7. If we can control our spending habits during these festivals by not spending the money on six flag mountain trips or Disney world, just for one Ramadan, this is what can be achieved.
a. Safe and clean drinking water in those areas where water is not easily available
b. A school for children within the walking distance of their living vicinity
c. A book, a pen and a notebook to every child
d. A decent full meal every day for every child
e. A small dispensary to every village
d. A small vocational center in every town 
e. A university to every country
And much more
But this would not happen with the current thinking among Muslims because
1. Each organization is concerned about its organizational goals regardless of the outcome
2. Each organization considers itself better than others,
3. There is no sense of urgency to the problems of people,
4, there is no proper planning and coordination,
5. There is no serious leadership among Muslims who can prepare them for this task,
6. There are no proper channels of communications among Muslims to prepare them for this role.
Thus the resources will be raised, the money will be spent, donations will be collected, zakat will be offered and help will be given, but the impact would not be felt the way it should have felt.
Consequently,
Things would not change and we would end up blaming each other and the conspirators for the ills that we have been exposed to. Someone rightly said: Those who fail to prepare, prepare to fail.
All this is doable, but the leadership is not coming.
The Islamic relief groups in America can take leadership if they have the vision. The idea was proposed in 2,000, but a Muslim political group took the idea and turned it into its own political action to convince the state department that it can monitor the relief work of Muslim relief agencies in the US and can report about their fundings etc.
So we are back to the stage of apathy and indifference.
Let us have a sumptuous iftar meal and pray to Allah to help the Muslim Umma to come out of its ills.

Boot Camp Ramadan

By Dr. Azher Quadir

(I am posting this article written by a dear friend. It is very thought provoking and it deserve a reading.)

Boot Camp Ramadan started today. Some registered for it a day earlier. For many it is all about prayer and fasting. To our favorite poet philosopher Iqbal, the perspective on praying is a little discomforting. As always Iqbal articulates the ardent wishes of the truth seeker in one verse and himself provides the response from the Divine in another in his most eloquent and provocative style.

Kabhi Ae Haqiqat-e-Muntazir! Nazar Aa Libas-e-Majaz Mein
Ke Hazar Sajde Tarap Rahe Hain Meri Jabeen-e-Niaz Mein
Jo Mein Sar Basajda Huwa Kabhi To Zameen Se Ane Lagi Sada
Tera Dil To Hai Sanam Ashna, Tujhe Kya Mile Ga Namaz Mein
___Iqbal

O Awaited Reality (Allah st) for once show yourself in material (visible) form as thousands of prostrations are agitating within my submissive forehead ( for obtaining proof of your existence) and in the next verse comes the stern response
when I laid down my head for prostration I heard a voice from the earth beneath announcing, 'your heart craves for idols (idols of materialism, wealth, power etc.) ' what can you get from your prayers?
As we begin boot camp Ramadan once again, hoping to strengthen our spiritual muscles and develop a stronger relationship with the Divine, Iqbal's message should remind us in no small way to reflect upon the many idols we have come to worship, either consciously or unconsciously in our contemporary lives of the day. The greed for wealth, the quest for goods, and the pursuit for power have become intimately integrated into our life styles and become our modern day idols. We are increasingly seekers of pleasure, obsessed with our needs, and oblivious of the misery or the misfortunes of others. We favor the practice of a narcissistic piety that tends to distance us from the troubles and tragedies of our neighbors, the struggles and sorrows of the poor, the plight and problems of the under served. This annual boot camp is therefore an important time to take a break from our crowded lives, to take stalk of our priorities and our pursuits.
The Quran reminds us repeatedly that the purpose of our creation is to worship Him who is the Creator of our universe. If worship is understood to serve Him and do His will, then is it possible to serve Him without serving His creation? The paradigm of worship that promotes our meditative behavior alone without inspiring us to serve fellow man is clearly incomplete. The dichotomy created between the spiritual and the secular is sadly mistaken and a disservice to the faith. The Quran also declares that those who truly worship and those who truly pursue His will are those who will form a model community and they shall be leaders. In a world full of so many competing ideologies, is it possible to lead with a paradigm that fails to see the full picture and remains obstinately incomplete? How much significance is there to our feel good worship which remains unaccompanied by its do good complement, which can address the problems of the world we live in? Yet we remain steadfastly convinced that this is what makes us pious and what makes us the models for mankind.
Boot camp Ramadan will be doubtful to do us much good if we continue to harbor the belief that piety is promoted exclusively through the practices of prayer and fasting. The price of piety and the prize of leadership are neither so cheap nor so easy to obtain. Much more is required and demanded of us if we are to be truly blessed with both. Those who traveled this journey before us, endured a lot more, sacrificed much more and struggled much harder to overcome powerful adversaries, to win unwinnable wars, to gain the trust and respect of their peers and to establish more just societies. We can be certain that for them, Boot camp Ramadan was more than getting up for Suhoors to party or getting together for Iftars to dialogue. Boot camp Ramadan was not just exhaustive nights of taraweehs for them either. Boot camp Ramadan was undoubtedly a transformational experience for them, which made them stronger in faith, gentler in compassion and more humbler in victory. It certainly transformed them from being unruly nomads to disciplined warriors. It transformed them from being victims of tribal loyalties to become devotees for inter-racial unity. It transformed them from the bondage of lands they loved to become citizens of the world they inhabited.
Recall that when Tareq (of Jabral Tareq fame) reached the shores of Spain he ordered his fleet to be burned down so there would be no possibility for his men to return home. Half a century later they were masters of the land they had come to call as their new home. Fast forward to our times, as another generation of Muslims landed on the shores of America to claim it as their home. Some half a century later our loyalties remain divided, our love for country uncertain, our political power non existing.
If our future is to be different we will need to retrace our footsteps in history to reflect a lot deeply on who we were once and who we have become. Boot camp Ramadan is a good time to do just that. Change can only come through an awareness of our paradigms, with a willingness to see the full picture. To recognize that the boundaries of worship are not confined to the walls of any mosque. That a line in the sand cannot be drawn between the spiritual and the secular. That character counts. That our purpose in life is to serve fellow man, starting from the fellowship of family where it all begins. This much at least the boot camp of Ramadan should produce. Otherwise it will become just another month of hungry days and sleepless nights.
We pray Allah (st) to forgive our sins and our shortcomings, our faults and our frailties, our trespasses and our indiscretions. We pray for His mercy as we right our wrongs, as we rise from our falls, as we strive to improve our souls and become better spouses, better parents, better friends and neighbors and better members of the communities we live in.
We started this argument with the pronouncements from Iqbal on prayer. We will conclude it (with an apology to all who are uninitiated in the language), with a few more inspiring words from Iqbal, which can be the rallying call for boot camp Ramadan. It is in the form of a qawwali rendered by the famed singer and qawwal Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan
Dayaare ishq mein apna muqaam paida kar
Naya zamana, nayay subha sham paida kar
In the realm of passion establish your special place
Create new mornings and new evenings (for your destiny)
May the blessings of change visit us this Ramadan in answer to our prayers.
Azher Quader
Executive Director,
Community Builders
July 10, 2013

Ramadan: Beyond Thirst and Hunger

Every year in the month of Ramadan, especially among a growing number of Muslim American households, Ramadan iftar parties have become an attractive event. With several different types of snacks and a lavish number of main entrees, the parties offer a spectacle of affluence, extravagance, and luxury. Why should it not be like this? After all, we are told that if you help a Muslim break his fast, you get huge rewards from Allah. So, all these parties and functions are for Allah as commanded by His prophet. Our reward increases with the presence of a Sheikh and probably with the increase in the number of dishes. 

But wait a minute? Most, I mean all, of the people who come to these parties are people who are well off, affluent and can easily afford to offer meals to others. Didn't the Prophet advise us to focus on those who are less affluent and less fortunate? Didn't Allah want the resourceful people to share their fortune with other less resourceful? Probably, Allah and His messenger might have meant that. But when we invite ordinary people who are not of our status and our class, we usually compromise our positions in the community. How can we, the affluent and less affluent be equal? We worked hard to earn what we have. We are entitled to enjoy the way we want to enjoy. Moreover, they are not aware of the etiquettes behaving in the company of the affluent.

This is how Ramadan is celebrated in some of the Muslim homes who have been endowed with resources. In our Mosques, depending on their size, the situation is different. Huge expenses are incurred by individuals and the management for iftar and meals. Many people justify these expenses, saying that Ramadan creates the spirit of brother and sisterhood and brings the entire community together. True! People feel rejuvenated and feel the spirit of the month by coming to the Mosque in large numbers, yet the resources that are spent could probably be used better. What if Mosques offer simple milk, water and dates for iftar and individual families bring extra food to share with those who are unable to afford it? It would require some organization and some serious efforts on the part of the management and families, but it would definitely create stronger solidarity. Rather than throwing lavish food, parties at the Mosque, if we follow simplicity and offer nutritious food supervised by nutrition experts, probably, we would utilize our resources better.

We do not have to wait for the entire community to have a consensus on these issues. Those who feel that such practices are genuine should follow them.

Let us look at the positive aspects of the month of Ramadan. For an entire month, we live in an environment where we are conscious of our creator every second, regardless of where we are, provided we are fasting or aware of the importance of fasting. It is a month where we can train ourselves in some of our behavioral aspects.

Some of our scholars remind us that we should focus on offering extra prayers and extra reading of the Quran. But in addition to these, there are two other aspects that were part of Prophet's behavior, yet ignored sometimes.

The prophet was very generous this month and he spent long hours seeking the protection and forgiveness of Allah. Obviously, the Prophet taught us that the month should be used to evaluate our own behavior and attitude towards ourselves and others and seek protection in the guidance of Allah. In other words, besides being generous, he taught us to ensure that we control our anger, egos, arrogance, and show humility, politeness, kindness, and forgiveness to others.

Fasting demonstrates our ability not only to conquer hunger, but also our capacity to control psychological aspects of our behavior, such as our reaction to things that we dislike. If we learned how to tame our ego, everything that we do will multiply in reward in our life and if we fail, then regardless of the number of nightly prayers and extra reading of the Quran, our fasting would not go beyond an exercise in controlling our hunger.

Here are a few suggestions that we can try to incorporate in our daily Ramadan and beyond.

We should:

• ... Not react immediately if we dislike anything. Rather, we would take time and try to respond in a calm and polite manner.
• ... Ignore those useless talks that serve no purpose.
• ... Ensure that we do not indulge in backbiting or demeaning anyone.
• ... Ensure that we show kindness to youngsters and respect to elders.
• ... Do not focus on food and consume things that are not nutritious because of Allah asks to be mindful of our health also.
• ... Control our anger, egos, arrogance, and trash-talking. 
• ... Do not hurt anyone and if we cross our limits, we would immediately apologize.
• ... Maintain quietness most of the time.
• ... Greet everyone with a sweet smile.
• ... Visit the mosque with our family at least once a week if possible. 
• ... Give our children a feel of Taraweeh prayers by praying with them this nightly prayer.
• ... Invite the poor and the needy families to our homes at least once in the month of Ramadan to honor them. 
• ... Be generous in sharing our resources to the poor and the neglected.
• ... Try to read the Quran with translation and understanding if we do not know Arabic and with reflections if we know Arabic.
• ... Spend some time alone to observe prayers and recite the Quran and reflect on our life.
• ... Focus on some of the suras of the Quran so that we could either memorize them or understand them in depth. 
• ... Invite some non-Muslim neighbors or colleagues to our homes to share the Ramadan spirit at Iftar time.
• ... Give the Zakat ul Fitr so that the money could be distributed in an organized manner to the poor and the needy. 
• ... Ensure that not a single prayer is delayed.
• ... Give one book on Islam to anyone who wants to learn more about Islam.
• ... Hug our children, our parents, and our dearest ones, to thank them for their presence in our lives and to remind ourselves of the importance of family.
• ... Ignore the minor or major behavioral issues of people and treat them with patience.
• ... Ensure that we would not visit internet sites that are provocative, or that promote immorality. 
• ... Help our spouses in home chores and avoid criticizing them for their mistakes.
• ... Always remember that all that we are doing is to fulfill our obligations to our Creator who seeks our well being in this life and the life hereafter.

A Tribute to My Father: Muhammad Muslim

Maulana Muhammad Muslim Saheb was one of the founders of Majlis-e-Mushawarat (the apex consultative body of Muslims) in India. He was a member of the Jamaat Islami's Shura Council for more than 3 decades and former editor of the Daily Dawat.  Here are my personal reflections on his life
By Dr. Aslam Abdullah
There were days when we did not have enough food to feed ourselves and he would advise us to learn how to live within means. There were occasions when he would ask us to donate the monetary gifts we received during Eid celebrations to the needy and the poor we never knew. There were times when he would buy us second-hand clothes from the flea market while wearing a Sherwani (long jacket) without a shirt,  because he had given that to someone he found shirtless in the streets. There were moments when we saw him giving a helping hand to a mehter (janitor) carrying human waste. There were also days when we saw him fasting for days because the food he would consume might serve his children or even guests. There were nights when he would ask us to sleep on the footpath out in the streets because there were homeless elders or children and women who had nowhere to go and they had to be accommodated in our home.
In our young and tender age, these images were imprinted in our minds but we did not know why he was doing what he was doing.
There were recollections when we saw him standing up late at night praying alone crying. There were mornings when we saw him focusing on a page of the Quran gazing at the horizon for hours not even responding to our questions. There were hours when we saw him waking up in the middle of the night writing on a piece of paper.
We observed all this, but we were unable to understand why he was doing what he was doing?
There were also times when we watched him go alone risking his life to pacify mobs that were advancing to Muslim homes to destroy them during Hindu-Muslim riots. There were occasions when we saw from the roof of our home his efforts on persuading angry Muslim mobs to spare the lives of Hindus who were living in our neighborhood. We knew what he was doing, but we did not understand why.
There were times when he would not return home for several days or months and years and we would not know where he was only to discover later that he was in prison for days or months or years of writing something that was objectionable to the authorities who had accused him of defying them.
But, we also saw him totally submissive and quiet when his elder brother would admonish him or yell at him for not informing him of the financial strains our household had gone through. He would smile and politely refuse any monetary support his own elder brother would offer in times of crisis.
We saw India’s President Shankar Dayal Sharma visiting our depleted one-bedroom house in the crowded Old Delhi offering condolences at the demise of his elder brother in the quietness of late-night and we also saw Inder Kumar Gujral, a powerful minister in the cabinet of Mrs. Indira Gandhi visiting our family when he was in prison during the emergency. We remember the times when Kuldip Nayar and other journalists would visit our house to have a discussion with him in the room while we were running around and we saw several prominent Muslim leaders and scholars sharing whatever food we had during long hours of discussion.
We grew up observing all this. I remember the day when I returned home shirtless and shoeless on a cold night, my mother asked me several questions. He was attentive to what I was saying. I told her that I had given my shirt and shoes to a person whom I found semi-naked in the streets of Delhi.
I saw his face light up and I still remember what he told me with a smiling face on that night: It sends goosebumps whenever I recollect that. He said; “this is the beginning of your understanding of Islam and the Quran.” I did not understand then how would giving a shirt and a shoe teaches me Islam and the Quran. Only when I learned to read the Quran with translation and then in the Arabic language, I realized what he had meant.
We learned Islam observing him. He never gave us long lectures on the importance of the Quran or Islam. He never recommended any specific books for us to develop our comprehension of the deen we were born in. We did not even have the money to buy the books published by his own organization and he would never ask for a free copy of any. But he taught us how to pray and how to read the Quran through personal example. We acquired our basic understanding of Islam and the Quran while imitating him.
Later on when we began to read what he was writing in Daily Dawat or had written in Daily Nadeem, a newspaper he was editing before moving to Delhi from Bhopal, his native town, we realized that he was probably writing his own journey to Islam because we had seen him walking that.
In his understanding of the deen, the dignity of human beings, regardless of their background was central. Islam’s essential message, as we discovered from his writings, is to create a community of believers that would not allow the weakest and the most vulnerable to suffer humiliation because of lack of means and resources. When his brother would tell him that it was impossible to change the world, his typical response was, “one has the capacity to change oneself.”
We discovered in his writings that he would advocate equality of human beings, regardless of gender or religious differences. All human beings are created by the will of Allah and all of them deserve a dignified existence.
We found out in his writings strong advocacy of the right to dissent in matters that are not already settled by the divine writ as explained by the Prophet. People would differ with him on many issues, but he would smilingly and politely conclude the conversation by saying “I hope you are right.” I never found him saying a disrespectful word against those who were against him.
We discovered in his writing acceptance of all genuine practices in Islam. We saw him visiting masjid of Shia community as well as the Bohra community and encouraging them to work with the Muslim community on broader issues to live a genuine Islam.
We also discovered in his writings the importance of modern education for expanding and explaining Islam’s basic message.
He wanted to see Muslims become an effective component of Indian society with full participation in all spheres of life permitted by Islam regardless. He advocated political participation, social welfare, academic excellence and unity of purpose within the Muslim community.
We saw him working long hours for helping Muslim organizations and groups thrashing out their differences and working for a common cause. People would come and talk about others in a hostile manner, and he would listen trying to persuade them to change their opinion of others. He would never repeat the assertions of people about each other. Rather, he would give a positive perspective on each organization and individuals.
We never saw him taking a day off from his work not even during his illness. He at one time was diagnosed with tuberculosis, but he continued to write his column even during the illness.
When he was active in organizing the Muslim Majlis-e-Mushawarat after the wave of bloody riots in different parts of India, he was accused by many including his friends to have compromised the position of his organization. Yet this did not change his relations with them. He was still their friend. Many of these people visited him at home and rebuked him of changing the nature of the work of his organization; he would patiently listen to them without defending himself personally.
He was not a scholar as he did not have big degrees attached to his name. He never went to an institute of higher learning. He did not memorize the entire Quran and he did not master any books of ahadith. But he knew how to respect knowledge. He lived it. He never sought any limelight for anything. He was an average person in terms of his educational skills as he had not gone beyond high school because of his family conditions. He had lost his parents when he was under the age of 4. He was raised by a friend of his grandfather. He studied Arabic, Persian, Urdu, English and Turkish from his grandfather. He never pretended to be a scholar. However, he used the knowledge that he gained from his basic understanding of the Quran and the teachings of the Prophet in an effective manner to the best advantage of his community and faith. He never hesitated to speak the truth, even if he was in the presence of a prime minister or anyone else.
His vision was simple. The Quran and the one who introduced the Quran to humanity are the sources to acquire basic traits of our character. Building character is a life long process and one should not wait until the perfection to start working for the ideals of the Quran. He devoted his life to this ideal. When he was part of the Khaksar movement, he was working for the same object and when he was part of the Jamat e Islami, his mission did not change.
He was a salaried employee of the Jamat-e-Islami’s newspaper Dawat. His request to all of his children was very simple: “give back every penny that I have earned as a salary from the organization.” So, after his death, one of our brothers took it upon himself to ensure that his request is lived. We know how happy our mother was when my brother returned home after returning the amount to the president of the organization.
I was in England working when I got the phone call from one of his friends about his demise. I had never thought that I would be away on that day because, during his long years of illness, I was the one who always had the honor of serving him in the hospital or home. When I called home, I was told by my younger brother that we did not have enough money to buy his shroud and buy the grave. We borrowed money to buy the shroud. The grave was given free by the in-charge of Dargah Shah Waliullah on the outskirts of Old Delhi. He left the world without complaints. He breathed his last on the prayer rug on which he had just concluded the early day prayer. There was not a single penny in his household on the day when he left this world. How rich he had left this world, we now realize.
He lived in a rented home with his wife and 11 children in a 10x10 room for 35 years without even thinking of buying a bigger home. He refused to move into a bigger home when his organization offered him that. We still rent the home. From the property that he had sold in his native home, he bought a piece of land in Delhi to be given to a person who was in need. He once was given a shop by his friend to run a bookstore in the most expensive area in Delhi, near the Jama Masjid. He gave this shop to the organization voluntarily because it was needed to distribute the literature.
He never complained about anything. He never talked about his financial conditions with anyone. But we often heard him apologizing to our mother for putting her through a life of hardship and challenges. We never heard him raise his voice in his home. We never heard him say anything hurtful to her or to us. We never saw him angry except on one occasion when I had asked him to use the influence of his friend in government to find me a position on the All India Radio. He told us to work for our own livelihood and not be dependent on his contacts to win any favors.
So, on July, 3, the day he passed away, I take the day off from everything else to spend time alone reflecting on his life and works quietly and reminding myself how deep his commitment was in the Quran and the messenger of Allah. We find him speaking to us in our imagination saying life and death of individuals do not alter the nature of the message of the Quran and the Prophet. “Do whatever you can, always raising the bars of work with sincerity and dedication without expecting any reward and you will leave this world rich and contented.”
May Allah inspire us to dedicate the life to the Quran and Sunnah the way he and many others before him and along with him lived.