Tag Archives: Abdul Rashid Agwan

“21st Century awaits Muslims’ constructive role” says author

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NEW DELHI :

In a book introduction programme held here on 2 November, the author of the book “Islam in 21st Century: The Dynamics of Change and Future-making”, Abdul Rashid Agwan anticipated that Muslims will play their constructive role in the third millennium as effectively as they played it in the past two millennia, especially during the current century.

The author based his optimism on extensive data he collected regarding recent developments in the Muslim World. He underlined that during the past decade or so the average literacy rate of Muslim countries has increased from 40 percent to 72 percent, the number of universities has gone up from 500 to 2137, the graduation enrolment rate and the rate of science research publications have been improving faster there than in other parts of the world. He also mentioned that the average GDP growth in OIC countries was 6 percent during the last decade in spite of  serious turmoil in parts of the Muslim World. He argued that powered by the increasing strength on many fronts and aided by sound vision and proper strategies, Muslims can shape a better future not only for themselves but also for the mankind at large.

Agwan further argued that the western strategies of oil wars and terrorism have not yielded much for the USA-led countries. They have rather caused the USA huge revenue loss, economic recession, failure in diplomacy, loss of credibility, widespread impoverishment of veterans who fought in Afghanistan and Iraq, revival of Russian clout in global affairs, total absence of America from Afghanistan’s mine auction. This was called “a decade from hell” by Time magazine. Agwan further mentioned that the situation has so much gone contrary to the western aspirations that the current century is gradually turning into an Asian Century rather than an American Century as envisaged under a unipolar world.

Journalist and author, Dr Zafarul-Islam Khan said in his presidential remarks that in spite of the positive growth story of many Muslim countries, the gap in terms of quality between the West and the Muslim world is still very wide and this calls for Muslims’ accelerated endeavours on all fronts of human development. He felt a dire need of promoting think-tank activities in the Muslim World and emphasised on innovation and science-research output. Dr Khan was critical regarding lack of freedom in many Muslim countries and wished that the Muslim leadership should rise to the occasion and generate a better environment for development and progress.

While presenting his keynote address on the occasion, well-known author Dr Javed Jamil welcomed the publication of this thought-provoking analysis of the present day standoff between the West and the Muslim World and also for coming out with some wise proposals as a roadmap. Dr Jamil aspired that academics should undertake deeper studies regarding the anti-human policies of the western world and make the global society aware about their pernicious impact on human life at large.

A written note of Dr Mohammad Rafat, professor in physics in Jamia Millia Islamia, was read out during the presentations. He stated that the given book could be included among those few works which have focused on the issue of change and future-making. He expected that Muslims will take proper initiatives and make conscious efforts in this fast-changing world and play their guiding role in future.

Advocate Aslam Ahmed Jamal, the assistant general secretary of All India Educational Movement, appreciated views of the author regarding the nature of change and stated that the book can make a prompting impact on the mind of educated Muslim youths who are serious to contribute some way in shaping human future.

Mohammad Moinuddin, former assistant registrar of Jamia Millia Islamia, briefed  the audience about various academic and social contributions of Abdul Rashid Agwan and appreciated that he wrote the book while bed-ridden for more than two years recovering from a crippling condition called paraplegia, which speaks of his optimism and also of the book that inculcates hope and optimism in its readers towards the realization of a better world not only for Muslims but also for the mankind at large.

The publisher of the book, Gloriords Publications, Shahabuddin Yaqub, wished that Muslims would develop deeper faith on God and deliver their best in future without bothering about the vicissitudes of time. He reminded that the very advent of Islam was from a wretched land sandwiched between two contemporary super-powers, Rome and Persia, which were reluctant to  rule Arabia but became its early causalities within a few decades. Therefore, he said, physical conditions are not that much important for the believers as regards future-making than the depth of their faith and commitment.  

(For more information about the book, visit islamin21stcentury.com)

source: http://www.milligazette.com / The Milli Gazette / Home> National> News / by The Milli Gazette / November 28th, 2014

Waqf power at work

Amazing Feats, Business & Economy, Community Involvement / Social Issues, Education, Inventions, Innovations (wef. Nov 30th, 2021), Leaders, Science & Technology, Scientists (wef. August 27th,m 2023), World Opinion, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

NEW DELHI / INDIA :

New battle-lines are being drawn in Parliament, and out of it, with waqf and its management at the centre of a major political slugfest.

New battle-lines are being drawn in Parliament, and out of it, with waqf and its management at the centre of a major political slugfest.

At this juncture, it is appropriate to recall the achievements of Hakeem Abdul Hameed, the founder of Jamia Hamdard, whose birth centenary was celebrated in December 2008, and the waqf he founded ~ the Hamdard (Waqf) Laboratories ~ is well into its ninth decade. Speaking during Hakeem saheb’s centenary celebrations at Jamia Hamdard, then Vice-President of India Hamid Ansari observed, “in our recent history Hakeem Abdul Hameed is probably the first, and the most successful, to resurrect the waqf concept in innovative ways so that a modern company was registered as a wakf institution whose income was to be used for public good in the areas of education, medical relief and the advancement of knowledge.

It was an important signal in the immediate aftermath of the painful Partition of India to thread together the religious element with socio-economic progress and alleviation of poverty.” The Vice-President added, “Since the 1930s and 1940s, over 25 educational research institutions were established, culminating in the Jamia Hamdard. The range is astounding ~ ranging from primary education to post-doctoral research, from Unani Medicine to Information Technology, from Islamic Studies to Business Management. Besides the university, the colleges and hospitals established for service to society, there are a set of institutions that bear testimony to his scholarly interests.

I refer to the Institute of History of Medicine, the Institute of Islamic Studies, the Ghalib Academy and the Institute of Federal Studies. Each of these has rendered significant service to scholarship.” Undoubtedly the list of achievements is long but as Hamid Ansari commented, “these achievements hold a mirror to the potential of what public-minded personalities can achieve through the institution of waqf for the socio-economic, educational and cultural betterment of the community. Future generations would behold Jamia Hamdard and Talimabad and wonder at the capacity, vision and dedication of an individual.” Truly so, for in ‘100 Great Muslim Leaders of the 20th century’, a publication of the New Delhi based Institute of Objective Studies (IOS), Dr Mohd Manzoor Alam provided a larger global context to understanding the achievements of Hakeem Abdul Hameed as an outstanding educationist and social reformer, along with his equally illustrious younger brother Hakeem Mohammad Said.

“In the face of formidable challenges which marked the lives of a selected 100 great Muslim men and women of the 20th century,” wrote Dr Alam in the preface, “their lives, struggles and contributions reflect the response of Muslims to the multiple challenges over the century…the ‘100 Great’ belonged to five continents and they came from different cultural and linguistic backgrounds, they were inspired by the eternal values and principles of Islam and the precepts of their illustrious forebears in the annals of Islamic history.” Through the tumultuous decades of the 20th century, Dr Alam observed that the ‘100 great Muslim leaders’ were unwavering in their “faith in the Holy Quran describing Muslims as ‘good people’, whose mission on earth is to help others live a meaningful life.

Even in the darkest hour the world of Islam was not plaued by a dearth of men and women who had the stature, mettle and competence to rise to the occasion. The two revered Hakim brothers ~ Hakeem Abdul Hameed and Hakeem Mohammad Said ~ who revived the Unani or Greco-Arab system of medicine and created two institutions, the Hamdard in India and its twin in Pakistan, are inspiring examples of leadership. They did not really belong to any one place. This is aggravated by Western colonial redrawing of the Muslim world map: Hakeem Abdul Hameed in India and Hakeem Mohammad Said in Pakistan were, in fact, two sides of a single sub-continental picture of Islamic excellence.”

The lifetime achievements of Hakeem Abdul Hameed were myth-busters: it had been an enduring myth of the 20th century that the Muslim world had been in deep slumber, their state of somnolence stretching back to centuries. Said Dr Manzoor Alam, “the 20th century instead turns out to be a period of extraordinary intellectual, moral and social awakening and struggle across the Muslim world with societies from Malaysia to Morocco trying hard to reform, promote and practice Islam as a living reality that could guide them through difficult times.” The Hamdard story began over a century ago when Abdul Hameed’s father, Hakeem Hafiz Abdul Majeed, established the Hamdard Dawakhana in 1906.

The vision was implicit in the name. Hamdard means ‘the sharing of pain’ and willingness to mitigate it was to be the motto of future generations as well. The vision was also to break the exclusivity of medicinal preparation of each Unani Hakim and make it available to the masses through modern laboratories along scientific lines. A traditional system of medicine was thus modernised with a nationalist inspiration and an indigenous base. “For this reason, Hakeem saheb can rightly be called a Mujaddid (or reformer) of Unani medicine,” said Ansari in the centenary speech.

Writing in ‘Muslim Mirror’, Abdul Rashid Agwan detailed the story. After Independence in 1947, Hamdard University or Jamia Hamdard has been the first institution that was established and managed on the basis of waqf income. In 1948, the manufacturing and selling unit of Hamdard Daw – akhana, Hamdard (Waqf) Laboratories, was converted into an endowment. Its deed dated 28 August 1948 provided for “Qaumi Income” (Public income) and “Khandani Income (Family income). However, the concept of family income was abolished by a declaration of the Settler/ Founder-Wakif Mutawalli in 1985, with retrospective effect from 1 January 1973. From the profits of the company, Hamdard Tibbi College was set up in 1963 in Old Delhi which later shifted to its present 90-acre campus in Tughlaqabad. In order to effectively manage and utilize the income accrued from Hamdard Waqf Laboratories for the promotion of its objective, Hamdard National Foundation was created on 12 May 1964 to disburse company profits to promote interests of society.

All profits of the company were obligated to go to the Foundation. Both Hamdard and the Foundation were registered under Section 12A of the Income Tax Act. Coinciding with the establishment of the Hamdard National Foundation in India, Hamdard Waqf Laboratories Pakistan also formed Hamdard Foundation Pakistan the same year. Its founder, Hakeem Muhammad Said, expressed the mission in these words, “Hamdard … has chosen to serve through activities for the promotion of good health and education ~ the twin pillars of progress.” Through the 1950s and 60s, when educational institutions namely, Indian Institutes of Technology, Indian Institutes of Management, AIIMS and Jawaharlal Nehru University ~ were being established with Government resources and with the focus of providing a new nation the benefit of modern science and education, Hakeem Abdul Hameed was single-handedly building schools, colleges and the university under the Jamia Hamdard banner, relying on internal resources of Hamdard Waqf Laboratories, and focused on rejuvenating the millennia-old Greco-Arab medicine which came to be simplistically known as Unani medicine. In this long process of reviving ancient knowledge, Hakeem saheb’s original contribution was the use of modern scientific methods and technology for the standardisation and manufacture of Unani medicine. “Quite early in life, when he was studying medicine at the Tibbia College, he was deeply impressed by the systematic and methodical approach of Hakeem Ajmal Khan towards the classification and standardisation of Unani medicines,” the IOS publication narrated. The Hakeem brothers travelled across Asia and Europe in the 1950s closely observing modern methods and techniques of drug making. They were convinced of the relevance and necessity of using modern technology for medical experimentation and manufacture of Unani medicines. At Hamdard Laboratories, Hamdard University, Hamdard Nursing Home and Majidia Hospital, these modern methods and technology were put into good use, ensuring the regimen of Unani system of medicine could co-exist with modern science and technology.

“This integrated, holistic approach to diagnosis and therapy is one of the most original and outstanding contributions of Hakeem Abdul Hameed,” the IOS publication stated. Eleven books on Unani medicine: Arab medicine and its relevance to modern medicine; Earth, elements and man: Search for a solid foundation of the theory and practice of medicine; and the magnum opus Qarabadin-e-Hamdard or Hamdard Pharmacopoeia are testimony to Hakeem Abdul Hameed’s medical observations, experiences and researches. In the 1980s, he initiated path breaking research on Ibn Sina’s Al-Qanun fit-Tibb or The Canon of Medicine. The 3-volume study was made available in multiple languages, including English.

Several national and global awards were bestowed on Hakeem Abdul Hameed who lived an austere life on campus till the age of 91, with a Gandhian determination to build the new nation through promotion of medicine, modern education and public charity. Like Sir Syed Ahmed Khan and Hakeem Ajmal Khan, Hakeem Abdul Hameed remains a towering personality whose contribution to modern education and medicine is second to none. It is in the domain of waqf management that Hakeem saheb gave modern India a new path for sustainable, equitable development.

(The writer is a researcher writer on history and heritage issues and a former deputy curator of Pradhanmantri Sangrahalaya)

source: http://www.thestatesman.com / The Statesman / Home> Opinion / by Raju Mansukhani, New Delhi / October 07th, 2024

Kargil War Remembered, Heroes Forgotten

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NEW DELHI :

26 July was observed as the 16th anniversary of the so-called Kargil War or the Operation Vijay which occurred in 1999.

In this three month long war which began on 3 May, the Indian army operation was declared accomplished on 26 July and hence the date is marked as the Kargil Day or ‘Vijay Diwas’ to be particular and has an immense significance in Indian history.

PM Modi said on the eve of the anniversary, “I salute all the brave soldiers who lost their lives in the Kargil war, for their sacrifice and valor, on the occasion of Kargil Vijay Diwas. Kargil war though fought on borders had significant contribution from every village, every town of the country.”

Like him his cabinet colleague and the Minister of Finance Arun Jetly twitted yesterday, “Today, we remember & salute our brave soldiers who gave supreme sacrifice to protect the motherland in the Kargil war.” However, he was reminded by the followers that he was not correctly remembering the day; it was the next one, 26 July. One follower retorted on his tweet, “Sir Kargil Divas is tomorrow, not today dnt be exited to tweet but think twice b4 try to grab voter attention.”

These instances may be found illustrious enough how the national leaders take “supreme sacrifices” of war heroes in a disingenuous way. They are even not publically sure about the date of the sacrifice, then what much should be expected of them. May their act was inadvertent but it gives a message of oblivion.

The American poet Richard Watson Gilder hoped in his composition, “The ballads of martyrs be sung/at each anniversary of martyrdom/so that generations to follow value/the sacrifice of our Heroes./….Lest we forget.”

One Indian poet has paid his homage to the martyrs in these words, “Shaheedon ke chitaon par lagenge her baras mele. Watan pe marne walon ka yehi baqi nishan hoga (On the pyres of martyrs, celebrations shall take place every year, memorial of those shall be kept intact this way for surrendering their lives on the nation).”

However, not only the national leaders but even the public belies such romantic expectations.

CaptHaneefuddinMPOs30sept2016

Let  us understand this reality from the instance of one hero of the Kargil War, Captain Haneef Uddin, Veer Chakra (P).

He was an officer of the 11th Battalion, The Rajputana Rifles of the Indian Army laid down his life defending the country at an altitude of over 18000 ft in 1999. When he died on 6 June as one of the first causalities of the War but with much strategic gains, he was less than 25 years of age.

Times of India reported on 23 July when his corpse reached Delhi, “Thousands of Delhiites lined the streets of the capital to salute their brave hero, Captain Hanifuddin, who laid down his life fighting intruders in the Kargil region. When the body was brought to the Sajjadanashin Dargah in Nizamuddin, Hindus and Muslims stood side by side to pay their respects to the martyr. Since people had lined up on both sides of the road, it took almost an hour for the cortege to traverse the short distance between the Dargah and the cemetery. People seemed overwhelmed with the reported heroics of the soldier. “The country is blessed with such brave sons who sacrifice their lives like this,” said a mourner. The captain from the Rajputana Rifles was buried with full army honors as befitting a war hero.”

“16 years on” laments his memorials Facebook account, “Do we still remember? The road leading to Captain Haneef Uddin’s house was named after him. His name engraved on a stone to tell the world, ‘Here lived the Hero’. Then one day, the stone was replaced with a shabby metallic board, at a height convenient for people to stick posters. Alongside, a big blue board was also put up later, but even then no one thought of giving the Martyr the respect due to him. Same is the condition of the school named after Captain Haneef Uddin. No one knows! We honor our Martyrs so that future generations take inspiration but this is how we remember our Martyrs.”

Captain Haneef was a science graduate, multifaceted talent and trained computer expert of Delhi University from its Shivaji College where he himself was crowned as ‘Mr Shivaji’ during his studies before joining the Indian Military Academy in 1996. He was commissioned into the army on June 7, 1997. Exactly two years later he died.

There is no doubt that he could have pursued some other lucrative career or would have become an all-imposing politician and deliver sermons on nationalism seeing his popularity in the college, but he chose to devote himself for the defense of his country and ultimately offered it his supreme sacrifice. His name denotes, “someone single-minded in his religion”. He was truly single-minded in his religion, patriotism.

During parliamentary elections, Narendra Modi created a controversy by using the name of another Kargil hero Vikram Batra for electioneering, quoting his famous rhetoric “Ye dil mange more.” Disgusted with his non-serious and populist stance Batra’s mother joined AAP in annoyance. Sadly, neither Modi nor the AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal could take a little pain to go to Haneef’s house which is not far from their official residences and pay homage to the young man, who left his mother in utter pain and lasting sorrow for defending the motherland. They could have even sent someone to register their concern. But, there is a noticeable silence from both of them and also from their followers. No RSS, no Bajrangdal, no Shiva Sena or any other patriotism vigilantes and no Congress secularists are around. Even, Muslim organizations are as distant on the occasion as others.

At the time of Kargil War I was in my home town in Rajasthan. One day I was waiting for any public transport to reach home from some other place. Hopelessly, after waiting much for it, I signaled to a rider nearing me to give me lift on his bike. He cooperated. He happened to be an RSS Pracharak of our district.

Finding me to be a Muslim he said, “Sir, it is the right time that Muslims should show their patriotism by donating blood to the Kargil combatants.”

I retorted, “Mister, the blood already donated for the purpose is being sold in Delhi from where I am here. Don’t worry, we will make bigger sacrifice for the nation than you, if the time so arise.”

This episode makes me thoughtful and I wonder whether the nation which forgets the highest sacrifice of its citizens like Captain Haneefuddin deserves even a small drop of blood from its people.

Haneef’s father died when he was only seven years old. His widow and Haneef’s mother, Hema Aziz, valiantly responded seeing his dead body, “As a soldier Haneef served his country with pride and dedication. There cannot be a greater statement on his valor than his death which came fighting the enemy.”

Like Captain Haneefuddin, many other Muslim soldiers surrendered their lives on the anvil of Kargil War along with many other fellow countrymen from the cross sections of society. A few names may be noted from the available list: Lance Naik Ahmed Ali, Lance Naik Gulam Mohammed Khan, Havaldar Abdul Karim, Rifleman Mohamad Farid, Rifleman Mohamad Aslam, etc.

It is a common speculation that none of them would have been remembered on the day, including over 500 others.

It has been marked by different commentators that Muslim martyrs’ number should be any figure between 10-25% of the overall casualties, officially endorsed as 527. Since it was explicitly disproportionate to the presumed number of Muslim soldiers in the Indian army, less than 1%, it unbelievably surprised many and also raised election time controversies: who led to the Kargil victory, Muslims or Hindus? The Kargil War is also known for ‘coffin scandal” wherein allegedly people in the establishment at that time took undue advantage in their procurement. Consequently, the erstwhile defense minister had to resign.

The Kargil Day comes and reminds us of many things. It makes us fresh with the great sacrifices of the war heroes and inspires us to make similar sacrifice for a noble cause. It saddens us seeing hypocritical rhetoric from podiums. It makes us ashamed on knowing, how many people use war and war heroes for political and communal goals.

The poet apprehended “Lest we forget” and we really forgot them.

Sorry martyrs! We didn’t deserve your grace!!

Contributor is a social activist, analyst and author of many books including his recent one, Islam in 21st Century: The Dynamics of Change and Future-making

source: http://www.countercurrents.org / CounterCurrents.org / Home / by Abdul Rashid Agwan / July 27th, 2015