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Saturday, May 31, 2008

H. Abdur Raqeeb awarded best Journalist award!




H. Abdur Raqeeb awarded best Journalist award!
T. Azeez Luthfullah
The News :
H. Abdur Raqeeb, Editor of Samarasam Tamil Fortnightly was awarded 'The best Journalist Award' by the Islamiya Tamil Ilakkiya Kazhagam.
The award was conferred upon H. Abdur Raqeeb in the First State Conference of Islamiya Tamil Ilakkiya Kazhagam (Tamil Islamic Literary Organization) held in Trichirappalli on 17 and 18th of May 2008.
Islamiya Ilakkiya Kazhagam is the pioneer literary Organization in the State. So far it has organised ten World Tamil Islamic Literary conferences.
As the State conference was being organised for the first time, it evoked tremendous response. Anybody who is somebody in the Tamil Islamic literary field was there. The historic Jamal Mohammad College, the venue of the conference, was flooded with the hordes and hordes of writers, poets, journalists, authors, teachers, Ulemas and social activists. The men behind this momentous occasion were Kaviko Abdur Rahman, a legendery poet and S M Hidayathullah, a literary activist and author.
The Award : The best Journalist award comprised of a citation, a shield and a cash award of Rs. 5000/-.
The Magazine:
Samarasam Tamil Fortnightly is the trendsetter and frontrunner in Tamil Muslim Journalistic arena. A popular literary critic has aptly commented that the history of Tamil Muslim Journalism could be divided into two parts. viz Before Samarasam and After Samarasam. Before the advent of Samarasam, Muslim magazines used to be read by Muslims only. The content of these magazines were limited to the confines of Masle Masayil. Samarasam broke the ice and leaped into the next phase. Many other magazine followed suit. Samarasam is being sent to more than 350 govt libraries all over Tamil Nadu. Forty percent of the readership is Non-Muslim. Samarasam has succeeded in striking a chord with non-Muslim readers. It receives letters from its non-Muslim readers and it regularly publishes articles of veteran non-Muslim writers too.
The Man: Moulana M A Jameel Ahmed was the Editor of Samarasam for more than a decade. When young and energetic H Abdur Raqeeb took over the mantle from him, he introduced many new concepts. Being a perfectionist Raqeeb was not satisfied. So, to equip himself, he enrolled himself as a student in M.A. Mass Communication and Journalism in University of Madurai at the age of 44 and passed the exams. This shows his burning desire and passion in the field. He was always attached to the magazine and pour his soul and spirit in it. He has written innumerable articles. He is also the author of Azhaippiyal Sindanaigal (Dawah Insights) a handy guide for those who do dawah.
Mr. Abdur Raqeeb has nowadays taken up the onerous responsibility of making Islamic banking a living reality in India. He has been appointed as the convenor of Islamic Banking Committee by the Markaz. He is also a member of Markazi Majlis-e-Shoora and has served the tahreek in various capacities.

Tuesday, May 20, 2008

UPSC, Muslims and Jains

UPSC results, Muslims, Jains and some mind boggling questions
T. Azeez Luthfullah

Rank No. Roll No. Name

30 001405 MARIAM FARZHANA SADHIQ
69 027638 RASHID MUNIR KHAN
82 005201 MOHD ZUBAIR ALI HASHMI
86 004170 RIZVI SARAH AFZAL AHMED
116 041221 SHAIKH ARIF HUSEN
169 144801 S AJEETHA BEGUM
181 014954 TAFSEER IQUBAL
202 006821 HAMID AKHTAR
290 076789 ABDUL HAKEEM M
295 023554 RAYEES MOHAMMAD BHAT
311 005173 SADRE ALAM
313 028721 ALTAF HUSSAIN
385 066385 ATESHAM ANSARI
403 004075 LEYAQAT ALI AAFAQUI
404 084682 WASEEM UR REHMAN
418 077161 ABU IMRAN
445 316822 MD SADIQUE ALAM
479 025808 JAKIR HUSAIN
515 029521 MD PARWEJ ALAM
535 110574 SHAMMAS HAMEED
604 025528 MD SHADAB AHMED
608 065127 MASOOM ALI SARWAR
642 004421 MUSHTAQUE AHMED
643 041561 MD FAISAL
647 073749 ILYAS K P A
This is the list of Muslim Canditates who have passed with flying colours in the written part of Civil Services (Main) Examination, 2007 held by the Union Public Service Commission in October-November, 2007 and the interviews for Personality Test held in March-May, 2008, and who have been recommended for appointment to Indian Administrative Service, Indian Foreign Service, Indian Police Service and Central Services, Group ‘A’ and Group ‘B’.
First of all let me congratulate them. Hats off to Sister Mariam Farzhana Sadhiq who stands first among the successful canditates. All other twenty three brothers and a sister deserve congratulations.
Next, the details. The total number of canditates passed this year is 734. The total number of Muslim canditates is 25. ie 3.41%
The percentage of successful Muslim canditates continues to be around 3 to 5 % for the past 20 years. Whenever the UPSC results are announced I analyse and scan the list to find out the Muslim names. I have been doing it for the past fifteen years. It never reached the three digits. It never reached fifty.
I always end up frustrated, disappointed and disheartened. Questions, piercing, penetrating, intimidating questions boggle my mind. They rob my peace of mind. To be honest, I cannot find answers. Now I want to share them with you. Whether it will rob your peace of mind or not, I don't care. I want to relieve them. I would be happy if some of you could answer them.
The questions are as follows: What is the reason behind this stale performence? Why is this pathetic, insipid and faded performence repeated year after year? Who is responsible for this lacuna? What are the shortcomings? What are the deficiencies?
Don't we have enough graduates? Do our youth lack ambition? Who prevents them? Who debars them? Nobody. Then what bothers them? What is the remedy? Where lies the solution? If our youth are not aware of UPSC, whose responsibility is it anyway, to guide, counsel and motivate them? What is the role of SIO and Tahreek in this context? Where do they stand?
Tail piece : Two weeks back I came across a news item in the TOI chennai edition. It was about coaching classes for the canditates appearing for the November 2008 exam. The classes were being conducted by Jains for Jain students. Remember the Jains are the most wealthy, prosperous and enterprising community in India. You could find them anywhere. They are successful in every field. Do we have a lesson there?

Also read : A success story of a Muslim girl!!

Wednesday, May 14, 2008

seven wonders

Seven wonders of the world.
Tariq Azeez

Good morning Sir!
The students screamed.
The teacher acknowledged the greetings and sat in his chair.
His name is Aabid waheed.
He is very different .
He is well versed in his subject ie Maths.
But occasionally he used to share his comments and views.
That day he was in a mood to share his views.
So instead of teaching mathematics he started giving a lecture on the seven wonders of the world. The students listened to him in rapt attention.
They enjoyed his choice of words, his style and everything.
He unleashed plenty of informations, statistics, interesting tit bits about the seven wonders of the world. At the end of the speech, the students were asked
to list what they considered to be the Seven
Wonders of the World. Though there was some
disagreement, the following received the
most votes:

1. Egypt's Great Pyramids
2. The Taj Mahal in India
3. The Zam Zam well of Makkah
4. The Jamia Masjid of Delhi
5. The Masjid Faisal of Islamabad
6. The Qutb Minar of Delhi
7. China's Great Wall

While gathering the votes, the teacher noted that one student, Atoofa Nasiha, a quiet girl, hadn't turned in her paper yet.
So he asked Atoofa whether she was having trouble with her list.
Atoofa replied, "Yes, a little. I couldn't quite make up my mind because there were so many." The teacher said, "Well, tell us what you have, and maybe we can help."

Atoofa hesitated, then read, "I think the Seven Wonders of the World are:

1. to touch...
2. to taste...
3. to see...
4. to hear... (She hesitated a little, and then added...)
5. to feel...
6. to laugh...
7. and to love.

The room was so quiet, you could have heard a pin drop. Aabid waheed, the well informed teacher's eyes swelled with tears.
Alhumdulillah Allah Akber he exclaimed.


May this story serve as a gentle reminder to all of us that the things we overlook as simple and ordinary are often the most wonderful - and we don't have to travel anywhere special to experience them.
A Letter Which I Forgot to Write

By: T. AZEEZ LUTHFULLAH

You might have known Dr. Hameedullah. He was a world renowned Islamic scholar. Born in Chennai, he was an illustrious son of brother of Qazi Ubaidullah, the first Chief Qazi of Tamil Nadu.
He grew up in Hyderabad, then migrated to France and spent most of his life in Paris. Allah bestowed him the honour of translating the Holy Qur’an into the French language. Besides, he did extensive research on the life history of Prophet of Islam. He wrote innumerable articles on Seerah. His work on the battles of Prophet Muhammad (may Allah bless and greet him) is his magnum opus. He is revered as the most authentic voice on Seerah. As a writer on Seerah literature, he could well be called another Sulaiman Nadwi.
I would like to share a bit of information on Seerah that Dr. Hameedullah has presented in one of his works.
It is a piece of statistical information. Dr. Hameedullah has written the following: “During the years that followed the Hudaibiyah Treaty, the Prophet sent emissaries to the Roman Emperor, the Persian Emperor, the Ruler of Egypt, the King of Abyssinia, the chiefs of ash-Sham and the leaders and chiefs of various tribes and clans. In this way the Prophet had written more than 250 letters.”
Read this piece of information once again. Repeat it. What is the most significant information does it highlight? How many letters? 250 i.e. two hundred and fifty letters!
This is just a number, you feel. It straightaway reaches your head. It does not affect your heart. Does it?
Come, Ponder over this piece of information, once again.
Letter writing at the period of Prophet Muhammad was not a joke.
First of all, when you sit down to write a letter you would need paper. Paper was not a commodity which was easily available. Next, you need a pen. You didn’t have a gel pen or jotter pen or even a fountain pen in that era. It would be a finely carved stick, which you would dip into the manually prepared ink to make indelible marks on the paper. So you would need an ink bottle too!
Even if you had paper, a pen and ink, you could not accomplish the task unless you had the services of a katib (writer). In those days finding a katib in Makkah was no ordinary task. Katibs were very few. The situation in Madinah too was no better. So Prophet Muhammad understood this need and immediately assigned certain sahaba to learn the art of writing. In this way the Holy Prophet groomed more than 42 katibs. He assigned different tasks to different sahaba. Somebody was delegated to maintain accounts of the Baitul Mal. Somebody else was appointed to write and keep important documents. Some senior sahaba were assigned to write the Quranic verses as and when they were revealed. Some others were assigned to write letters.
Now coming back to the point, even if you had written a letter, the job was not over. The biggest challenge was to dispatch the same to the addressee. Over 14 centuries ago you didn’t have postal service at all. There was no Professional Couriers or Speed Post. You would need a qasid – a messenger – to deliver the letter. Someone, who was reliable, able and dynamic. You would have to make arrangements for his journey. You would have to provide him with a horse or a camel. You would also have to provide him with food, money, weapons as zad-e-rah for him.
The task does not end there. You didn’t have Highways, Super Expressways linking the major cities in those days. The roads were not laid. There were no milestones, etc. And you needed the services of the guides. They only knew the route. You would have to hire them. Remember, when Prophet Muhammad made Hijrah from Makkah to Madinah he had hired a non-Muslim as his guide.
Above all the qasid should be prepared to face any kind of eventuality. He should be ready to face bricks as well as bouquets.
So, writing a letter 1400 years ago was not a joke. You needed a paper, a pen, ink, writer – katib, qasid – messenger, provisions for the journey, mode of transport, guide, etc.
You have to read that piece of information given by Dr. Hameedullah in this perspective. You will realise the significance of that data then. Your heart would get mellowed. You would realise the magnitude and greatness of the effort of the Prophet Muhammad. He accomplished so much in such a short span of time. Subhan Allah!
Tail piece: Today writing a letter is not a gigantic task. It is as easy as having a cup of tea. Your letter reaches the destination within minutes. It is faster than the inter-continental ballistic missiles. Just touch the button. And it’s gone. Nowadays courier service has spread throughout the country. Not a single village is left out by the courier people. Besides, you have the Indian postal service with post offices throughout the length and breadth of this vast nation. And above all there is this S.M.S which is undoubtedly the toast of the day.
But,
Let me ask the pertinent questions.
Have we ever written any letter to our friend, colleague, and comrade inviting him to Islam?
Have we ever written any letter to our friend, colleague, and comrade, disseminating the message of the Qur’an?
Have we ever written any letter to any newspaper or magazine, disseminating something about the religion of Allah?

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alhumdulillah

All praise be to Allah. He created different types of fruits. Fruits of different tastes and savours. He kept the taste buds in the tongue. If the taste buds are not there, what would happen? You cannot differentiate between a mango and a banana. Each and every fruit would taste the same. Subhanallah!
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