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Pall of gloom and sadness has descended on the hearts of multitudes of Muslims of Tamil Nadu with the sad news of the death of Dr Abdullah former Periyar Dasan on Monday. (Inna lillahi wa inna ilaihi rajeewoon). He was 63 and survived by two wives and two sons Mr Valavan and Mr Suradha. He had been ailing for the past forty eight days in and out of hospital.
Dr Abdullah had been known as Periyar Dasan and was a legendery Dravidian leader, orator, author, psychologist, professor of philosophy and above all a diehard Islamist.
Periyardasan was born as Seshachalam in a hindu Mudaliyar family in a nondescript remote village of erstwhile North Arcot District. He was an ardent fan of Periyar EVR since his college days. Once Periyar visited his college. Young Seshachalam wrote a poem welcoming Periyar. His Tamil Professor appreciated it. "Poem is good. But your name Seshachalam is not appropriate. It sounds brahminical", the professor said. Young Seshachalam then and there rechristened himself as Periyar Dasan. (Slave of Periyar). Since then there is no end for his passion for dravidian movement. Gradually he got evolved into a most powerful orator of the Dravidian thoughts and athiesm.
This went on for many decades. He embraced Buddhism and got involved very deeply in it. He translated a holy book on buddhism in Tamil.
He embraced Islam in Riyadh on March 12, 2010 in a dramatic manner. He had made the trip with the sole intention of embracing Islam. He wanted to embrace Islam in the land of its birth. With in a week he made Umrah and his arrival in the fold of Islam was welcomed by the Tamil Speaking world with great enthusiasm. Since then he was continuously on the run with attending meetings, programmes, workshops conveying the message of Islam.
He had many wishes, desires which remained unfulfilled. He had wanted to translate the mater-piece of Seerah literature "Muhammad, the prophet of Islam" by Mohammad Haykal in Tamil. He had shared this dream with his friends many times. He wanted to write a book on his journey towards Islam. He wanted to write on psychology with Islamic perspective. He was of the view that the western thoughts and works on human mind had got entrapped in Nafs-e-Ammara alone. Very few ventured into Nafs-e-Lawaama.. And none of them had tasted the bliss of Nafs-e-Mutmainna. He wanted to write on it. He was of the opinion that the paramount problem facing the modern man is more psychological than material. We have to liberate the mankind from the clutches of Nafs-e-Ammara more than anything else, he would assert. He wanted to write a series of articles on this subject in Samarasam Tamil Fortnightly. I had suggested a title Alai paayum manasu..! (Wavering Mind.. Behaktaa dil..) He got excited with the title and liked it very much. Alas, that wish too was not materialised..!
He wanted to write on the life history of the Prophet of Islam. Some few months back too he expressed his desire to cut short his tours, speeches, programmes etc and dedicate himself to purely research and academic work on Islam. That too remained a unfulfilled desire on his part.
His only accomplishment was a documentary film on Periyar's affection towards Islam. He had captioned the film with a provocating title "Did Periyar embraced Islam?". At one of the functions he had expressed another weird desire. He wanted to make a documentary film on life and times of Umar bin Khattab (ra), recalls Sirajul Hasan, Chief Editor of Samarasam Tamil Fortnightly.
He wanted to do so many things. He lead an active life. People used to book him six months in advance for programmes, conferences, meetings, functions. Hardly a Sunday was without any programme for him..! Once I asked him the reason for his hectic activity..! Why do you strain yourself? Why don't you sit, relax, ponder and devote your time for writing? He brushed my query with his mysterious smile and said "I had been the torch-bearer of atheism in Tamil Nadu. Thousands of youngsters had become athiest because of my speeches. I want to reach out to them and save them from the fire of hell. I don't want to be the reason for their calamity.." His tone became serious and he uttered those words with eyes swelled with tears.
Another worry which was eating him out day in and day out was that his concern of his family members. He was deeply worried and was very much sad about his failure to enlighten his wife and kids with the right path..
May Allah reward him with jannat Ameen.
He wanted to write on the life history of the Prophet of Islam. Some few months back too he expressed his desire to cut short his tours, speeches, programmes etc and dedicate himself to purely research and academic work on Islam. That too remained a unfulfilled desire on his part.
His only accomplishment was a documentary film on Periyar's affection towards Islam. He had captioned the film with a provocating title "Did Periyar embraced Islam?". At one of the functions he had expressed another weird desire. He wanted to make a documentary film on life and times of Umar bin Khattab (ra), recalls Sirajul Hasan, Chief Editor of Samarasam Tamil Fortnightly.
He wanted to do so many things. He lead an active life. People used to book him six months in advance for programmes, conferences, meetings, functions. Hardly a Sunday was without any programme for him..! Once I asked him the reason for his hectic activity..! Why do you strain yourself? Why don't you sit, relax, ponder and devote your time for writing? He brushed my query with his mysterious smile and said "I had been the torch-bearer of atheism in Tamil Nadu. Thousands of youngsters had become athiest because of my speeches. I want to reach out to them and save them from the fire of hell. I don't want to be the reason for their calamity.." His tone became serious and he uttered those words with eyes swelled with tears.
Another worry which was eating him out day in and day out was that his concern of his family members. He was deeply worried and was very much sad about his failure to enlighten his wife and kids with the right path..
May Allah reward him with jannat Ameen.
