Br Hamid Hussain is no more!

Hamid Hussain is seated here next to Ameer-e-Jamaat

Janab Syed Hamid Hussain is no more. Inna lillahi va inna ilaihi rajiwoon. 
He passed away in the wee hours of Friday morning in Bangalore after a brief illness. 

Janab Hamid Hussain Sahib (60) was suffering from cardiac complications and had been admitted to Acura Nursing Home in Bangalore three days ago. He is believed to have suffered multiple cardiac arrests and was also a diabetic. 

Hamid Sahib is a native of Sindhanoor in Raichur district and has been an active worker of Jamaat-e-Islami Hind since his college days. An MA graduate, Hamid Sahib also served as the first secretary of Students Islamic Organisation of India in Karnataka in 1982 and subsequently joined Jamaat and served it in various capacities.

He has been functioning as a state office bearer of the Jamaat since 1988. Except for a brief period, when he was the Muavin Ameer-e-Halqa, Hamid Sahib has served as the secretary of the Karnataka and Goa division of the JIH during the tenure of Maulana Mahmood  Ahmed Khan, Maulana Iqbal Mulla, Marhoom Ibrahim Sayeed Sahib and the present incumbent Br Abdullah Javed.

He has alwas been soft-spoken, dedicated and low-profile activist of the organization and had also attended the All India conference of Jamaat members in Delhi last month.

He had also visited Mangalore just a week ago on some organizational work. He is survived by wife, three sons and two daughters.  

A galaxy of Jamaat leaders, including Abdullah Javed Sahib have grieved his death and expressed condolences to his family.

I first met him in 1990 in JIH Karnataka state office. Since then I have met him seven or eight times on various occasions. Each and every time he used to hug me wholeheartedly and show his affection. He was from the first generation of the Tahreek. He is very very soft spoken.  I met him in Delhi Ijtema-e-arkan in Delhi. We stayed in New Markaz Building and Janab M P Basheer Ahmed Sahib was incharge of it. And the gentle, gentle and very gentle Syed Hamid Hussain Sahib was assisting him. His smiling face still lingers in my mind. May Allah shower His blessings upon him and bestow him a place in Jannah.

More here and  here 
And read Abdullah Javeed's inspiring piece on Marhoom Hamid Hussain Sahib in Zindginau. Here

Jamaat-e-Islami Hind launches multi-lingual Dawah website

Jamaat-e-Islami Hind has launched a multi-lingual and multi purpose dawah website. It is full of videos of speeches, events and presentations. They have categorised in four groups viz Quran, General, Issues and Prophet Muhammad(Pbuh). The contents are in the languages Hindi, Kannada, Marathi, Telugu, Malayalam, Urdu and English.

In a simple ceremony the Naib Ameer of the Jamaat Moulana Muhammad Jaffer Sahib inaugurated the website today in Indian Law Institute in New Delhi. Moulana Muhammad Iqbal Mulla Sahib welcomed the gathering and expressed his hope that this site fulfill a big demand in the world of internet. The chief guest of the evening Mr Zafar Islam Khan editor Milli Gazette highlighted the trends in the field of mass communications and lamented the negligent role being played by the Muslims in the field. He also gave useful tips to the organisors of the website.

Br Yavar Rahman and Br Absar ul Huq explained the various features of the website. In the end Br Jaleel Asghar proposed a vote of thanks.

UPDATES

Moulana Muhammad Jaffer Sahib in his presidential speech said, "What we see today is that the media is hell bent on playing a negative role. The media strives to scuttle the rise of Islam in all possible ways. This is the trend everywhere in the world. But, contrary to the expectations of the media persons Islam is spreading fast everywhere. The constitution of our nation has given each and every citizen the right to profess, practise and preach any religion of his choice. Each and every citizen has been given the right to express his views. But it does not mean that one has the right to indulge in slander against other community or persons employing sacrilegious and uncivilized methods. If you do not agree with others, you have freedom to express your views in a possitive way." The revered Moulana also stressed, "Today the media has grown leaps and bounds. All these technological advancements should be utilised in the cause of Islam"

To visit the site click here

Periyar Dasan has embraced Islam!

It is the most pleasant, sweet news of the decade.

Veteran scholar, orator and master of words Professor Periyar Dasan has embraced Islam. He is Professor Abdullah now. All praise to Allah.

According to ARAB NEWS he has planned to perform Umrah. The details of the report by MD RASOOLDEEN are as follows:

Dr. Periyadarshan, who has changed his name to Abdullah, told Arab News Friday that Islam is the only religion in the world that follows a book directly revealed from God.

He said that as a student of comparative religions he believes books of other faiths have not been directly revealed to mankind from God. He said the Holy Qur’an is still in the same format and style as it was revealed to the Prophet Muhammed (pbuh) from Almighty Allah.

He also acted in the famous Tamil film “Karuthamma” about the killing of newborn baby girls in some remote villages in India. The production received national award from the Indian government.
“I was well known in India for my atheist theology and later I became to realize that religion is the only way out for human beings both in this world as well as in the hereafter,” he said.
Dr. Abdullah will be performing Umrah on Saturday on his first visit to the holy cities of Makkah and Madinah

I remember the day when I first saw him speak in a Eid Milan programme or Seerah programme organised by the Vaniyambadi Jamaat-e-Islami Hind (JIH) people, some eighteen, nineteen years back. The memory of Vaniyambadi programme has etched in my memory because it was the first time wall posters of the function were pasted all over the town. The name பெரியார் தாசன் in big, big letters made a lasting impact in my mind.

And I met him five or six years before in connection with a seminar on Human Rights. It was an adventure as we chased his car following him from his office and met in some xerox shop. Unfortunately, he was not available for our dates and we missed his speech which was full of wit and wisdom.

Whenever we at JIH Chennai sit to organise dawah based programmes, invariably the name Periyar Dasan would crop up.

And now here comes the good news. Allah is Great.

Strangely, my mind is filled with the memories of Valampuri John now. He too was a legendery Tamil orator and prolific writer. He has penned a mesmerising book நாயகம் எங்கள் தாயகம் on the life history of Propher Muhammad (PBUH). It was written in poetic form and was very enchanting. He had also wrote another book on Islam ''இஸ்லாம் இந்த மண்ணுக்கேற்ற மார்க்கம்" He lavishly praised Islam. One could not forget his speech in the South India Conference of Jamaat-e-Islami Hind held at Bangalore in 1999. Moulana Ejaz Ahmed Aslam Sahib translated his speech then.

Unfortunately, Mr John was not blessed with the bounties of Islam. He passed away a non-believer. I had met him in his last days when he was recuparating from his disease in Porur Ramachandra Hospital. He had become very thin. His eyes, cheek, chin.. Oh! It was very pathetic. He was seeing death with his eyes.

We were there to visit him and for iyadat. He poured out his feelings. He said many things which are very personal. Suddenly he trembled and requested to read holy verses of Quran and blew over him. எனக்கு ஓதி ஊதி விடுங்கள்!, he said. In our group Janab K M Siraj Ahmed Sahib was the eldest. He volunteered and recited Ayats and duas and blew them over him. Mr John broke and cried silently. அவருடைய கண்களிலிருந்து கண்ணீர் வழிந்தோடியது! I could not forget that scene till this date.

Dr KVS Habeeb Muhammad was with us. He consoled him and uttered words of comfort. We returned with a heavy heart. We prayed for him.

Janab H Abdur Raqeeb was our Ameer-e-Halqa then. When he came to know about it, he literally packed up Moulana Qutbuddeen Ahmed Baqavi Sahib to Porur alongwith Arifullah Sahib to pray and offer spiritual solace to Mr John.

The ways of Allah are strange Indeed. He is the One who guides. It is His choice.


Read : Seshachalam to Periyar Dasan to Abdullah!
Read : Periyar Dasan Abdullah's journey towards Islam! 
Read : Periyar Dasan's wife to embrace Islam!
Read : Am I ready to face my Lord? 
Read : Periyar Dasan, Moosa Kaka and Maryam Jameelah!
 

Jamaat-e-Islami Hind, Khair-e-Ummah and the black belt!!

Last Sunday when I was working in my office, an young lad came to see me. He was bubbling with enthusiasm, vigour and passion. His face showed it all. "I've applied for the Rukunniyat - membership of the Jamaat-e-Islami Hind. I hope that I would join the Iyakkam - movement formally by the end of the year." I looked at him intently and tried to find something which was missing.
Then I narrated him the story of the black belt. It was a story which should be told million times. The story goes like this:
Once there was a martial artist. He got trained in Karate from a guru. After many years of rigorous training and practise , he approached his guru with a fond hope that the Guru would award him a Black Belt. But he was told that he had to pass one more test.
"What is the significance of the Black Belt?" asked the Guru. "If you can answer this question correctly, I shall give you the Black Belt."
The young martial artist smiled confidently and replied. "It's the reward for my hard work!"
To his surprise, the Guru shook his head disapprovingly and said, "You are not ready for the Black Belt. You may return after one year."
A year later, the martial artist approached his Guru. Guru asked the same question. Though the artist was puzzled, he answered, "It's a symbol of distinction..... the highest achievement in our art"
The Guru didn't give him the Black Belt. He told him to come with the correct answer next year.
The following year the young artist returned to the Guru. As usual the Guru asked, "Have you understood the importance of the Black Belt?"
"Yes, Master," replied the artist. "I've realized that it is not the end but the beginning of a never-ending journey of discipline, hardwork and the pursuit of excellence"
"Here's your Black Belt" said the Guru, smiling happily. "You have finally understood its true significance."
Similar is the case of Rukunniyat - membership in the Jamaat. Rukunniyat is not an honour. It is the beginning of a never-ending journey of discipline, hardwork, commitment and the pursuit of excellence. Similarly the responsibilities of Ameer-e-Muqami, Nazim-e-Ilaqa, Ameer-e-Halqa are not symbol of honour. Rather they are the beginning of a never-ending journey of discipline, hardwork and the pursuit of excellence.
That is the reason, why posts, offices are not celebrated in the Jamaat circles. I distinctly remember the day when Mr X broke and started crying profusely when he was informed that he was the one who was chosen for the job. Our history is replete with full of such instances. Moulana Naeem Siddiqui in his "Tahreek-e-Islami ki ibtitaayi daur" has grasped the spirit more vividly.
Tail piece : Have you noticed it? The Khair-e-Ummah thought is being put forward by everybody. Tablighi people, Tariqa parties, Muslim leaguers and everybody quote the verse and declare tha the Muslim Ummah is the Khair-e-Ummah. Nobody talks about the tag attached to it. The immense responsibility of enjoining virtues and forbidding evils. Does the message of the black belt story fit here?
Also read : Mutton, eggs and Jamaat-e-Islami Hind!
: A memorable evening with Moulana Farooq Khan Sahib!

Interview : Dr M. Rafat on "Islamic Movement in India in Modern Times"

Dr Muhammad Rafat

Recently Dr. Muhammad Rafat, Ameer-e-Halqa of Jamaat-e-Islami Hind JIH Delhi has given an interview to Janab Parvaz Rahmani, Editor Dawat. Dr.Rafat is from Uttar Pradesh and has been attached with the JIH for the past three, four decades. He is also a member of Markazi Majlis-e-Shoora and Markazi Majlis-e-Numaindgan of JIH. He has doctorate in Physics and teaches to engineering students in Jamia Millia Islamiya Delhi. He is very articulate and soft spoken man.

In his aforesaid interview he has shed light on the present scenario of the Islamic Movement in India. The interview is simply superb. It is very crispy, enlightening and thought provoking. I could not resist the temptation to translate in Tamil and share it with my Tamil knowing friends.
I have met him a couple of times. He is very humble, polite and as they say in Tamil he would never அதிர்ந்து பேச மாட்டார்.
He is a very knowledgeble person and well read man. Earlier I had translated one of his beautiful essay on 1857 and the status of Muslims then.
Herewith I have attached the gif images of the same.
Kindly share it with other brothers. Please write me your views and impressions if time permits.

A memorable evening in Delhi...!

I want to share with you an insight which I got from Moulana Muhammad Farooq Khan.

Moulana Muhammad Farooq Khan is the member of Majlis-e-Numaindgan (central council of representatives) of Jamaat-e-Islami Hind. He is one of the old vanguards of the Tahreek-e-Islami and resides in Delhi. He has written a lot of books in Urdu and Hindi. He is well versed in both the languages. He has translated Quran in Hindi. But his magnum opus is Kalam-e-Nubuwat, a collection of Ahadith in five, six volumes. He could be easily termed as the living legend in the field of Islamic literature. As I have been reading his books for the past two decades, I feel very close to him. For me, not a day passes without reading Kalam-e-Nubuwat. Besides I have been translating his works in Tamil. Chehal Hadhis has been published as Nabi mozhi Narpadhu.
I have met him on two occasions. Once when he delivered a lecture in an all India SIO meet. Next in his room in the second storey of an non-descript building in Old Delhi. I had made up my mind to meet him when I boarded the train in Chennai. By the grace of Allah, we got ourself free at the last day. My colleagues wanted to roam the historic places in Delhi. I cajoled them and virtually dragged them to the room of Moulana Farooq Khan Sahib. It was a brief meeting but It was a memorable evening. Moulana was sitting amidst books.
What he said could be summed up as the following:

There are three essential needs which mould a personality. Without fulfilling this needs one cannot become a wholesome personality.
The three needs are as follows.
First, You ought to have some thing to do.
One cannot remain idle. It is not human nature to remain idle. Man has to do something. Idle mind is devil's workshop. Men do various things. Men get engaged in various occupations to keep themselves occupied. The list of trades, professions, crafts, jobs and careers never ends. But the best thing to do is to do dawah. The best career option is to get engaged in Dawah.
Second, You ought to have some thing to love.
One cannot live with profession, job or business alone. Day in and day out you do a lot of things. But that is not sufficient to nourish your inner soul. Your heart longs to love and to be loved. Naturally men love. Their love knows no bounds. Men love their wives, their sweet little children, their apparels, their face, their language, their organisation, their country, their matinee idol and the list goes on. But the best of them is the love towards God. Love of God is the supreme thing in life. It is the ultimate. You have to research and find out whom does God love? And strive to become one. Besides you should love your Creator more than anything and everything in this mundane life.
Third, You ought to have some thing to hope.
Man exists because of his hope. He may do a lot of things. He may love his job. He may be passionate about many things. But still he needs some thing to hope. Why does he work? Why does he go to faraway lands? Why does he do so many things? Because of Hope. Because of hope that one day he would get a beautiful palace overlooking the sea shore. Of hope that he would be driving in the latest model of car. Of hope that his offsprings would get decent education. The list of hopes and dreams is simply endless.
But the best thing to hope is hope of falah in the Hereafter.
I still remember the day when Moulana Farooq Khan Sahib conveyed this message in his own style; in his own choice of sweetest, chaste words in Urdu. Br Shabeer Ahmed, present Ameer-e-Halqa and Br Muhammad Yahya of AIITA were with me. I remember the haste with which I jostled down the words in an old diary.

Moulana gave me the diary as I asked him paper to take notes. The diary with notes is with me. I will share with you the other notes when next time, Insha Allah.

A blessing to the Tsunami victims!!

SAFE HOMES: Collector R.Palanisamy handing over the keys of permanent houses built by TNRC at Chinna Kottakuppam in Villupuram district on Saturday. He is flanked by H. Abdur Raqeeb, Gen. Secy IFT and K. Dhanraj, MP

A blessing to the Tsunami victims!!
A report by T Azeez Luthfullah

The Tamil Nadu Relief Committee (TNRC) handed over 38 houses to the victims of Tsunami in the village Kottaikuppam near Puducherry today.
Mr A Shabbir Ahmed president JIH presided over the simple ceremony arranged in connection with the noble occasion. Dr. R. Palaniswamy I.A.S, Villupauram District Collector handed over the keys of the newly constructed houses to the victims. Mr. H. Abdur Raqeeb, General Secretary, Islamic Foundation Trust(IFT) and member CAC JIH felicitated the organisors and lauded their efforts. He said that the beneficiaries should have a resolve to educate all their children. He hoped a model colony would emerge shedding light of hope and wisdom to the whole of the Kottaikuppam as well as the state. Mr. P. Danraj local MP and Mrs Banumathi Jayamoorthy, local Panchayat Chief congratulated the people behind the mission and pledged all kind of helps to their similar efforts. Mr. Ahmed Meeran a self made man and a committed philanthropist from Chennai and Moulavi Faizur Rahman Madani, Principal, Women's Arabic College, Kottaikuppam also spoke at the occasion.

The TNRC had purchased 1.1 acre and constructed the houses, each measuring 325 sq.ft., at a total cost of Rs 1.25 crore.The habitation has been named as “Samarasam” (harmony/equality). The beneficiaries are fish vendors and petty shopkeepers.
The community hall would be utilised for imparting adult education, giving free tuition to students and counselling for livelihood measures.

TNRC owes its existence to Tsunami, the mass killer. Yes, TNRC was formed when killer waves attacked the shores of Tamil Nadu some years back. TNRC immediately sprung into action and established 100 temporary shelters in lightening speed in Nagapattinam, which was the worst affected town in Tamil Nadu. It also provided Relief Kits comprising of rice, foodgrains, bucket, utensils, soaps, blankets, mattresses etc to 7000 families. When the focus of the world deviated from Tsunami, TNRC continued its mission and got itself engaged in rehabilitation work. Under its innovative and progressive livelihood scheme 500 families were provided with assistance both in cash and kind. TNRC gave top class fibre boats with high power engine and world class fishing nets to sixteen families in Pulicat, a fishing village near Chennai. The smiles on the faces of the boat owners of Pulicat is the everlasting testimony of the pioneering efforts of TNRC. Similarly TNRC established a dairy farm with fifteen fat cows in pudupattinam as a part of its rehabilitation shemes. Keeping the future generations in mind TNRC diversified its efforts and provided educational aid and School kits to 2000 students. The greatest achievement of TNRC stands in the form of Samarasam Nagar in Nagore where it built 100 beautiful houses. Each and every house had been constructed in 400 sq. feet area in a 1300 sq. feet plot. It comprises a drawing room, a hall, a bed room, kitchen, toilet and bathroom with stair case to the terrace. A spacious verandah and sit out is an added attraction.The Tamil Nadu Water and Drainage department (TWAD) has constructed an elegant overhead tank with a capacity of 30,000litres of drinking water and has provided a street pipe for every fifteen (15) houses. The Tamil Nadu Electricity Board (TNEB) has provided prompt domestic connection and has also erected twenty eight street lamp posts.

The cluster of houses presents a glorious spectacle with the line up of similar looking, beautifully crafted and neatly painted glittering houses dotting the lines. The newly formed colony has been provided with a park and a play ground for the children with all the required facilities too. The colony has been named aptly Samarasam Nagar. Samarasam means peace and harmony.

Now TNRC has added another colourful feather to its crown by distributing 38 houses in Kottaikuppam..! Let us laud their effort and pray for them!!