Tag Archives: Mohammed Wajihuddin – Journalist

First UPSC coaching centre for poor Muslim girls in Mumbai

Community Involvement / Social Issues, Education, Education - Gold Medallists, Toppers, Merits, Achievers (wef. June 12th, 2023), Women/Girls(since May26-2021), , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Mumbai, MAHARASHTRA:

First UPSC coaching centre for poor Muslim girls in Mumbai
The free coaching centre on Mohammed Ali Road boasts residential facilities for out-of-town girls

Muslim girl aspirants of civil services have just got a reason to rejoice. The Fatimabai Musa Patel Competitive Examination Training Centre for Women (residential and non-residential) at Mohammed Ali Road, opening this week, fulfils an old need of the community.

Initially accommodating 20 residential and around 30 non-residential candidates, the Centre helps give wings to many girls who aspire to become civil servants and want to give the tough IAS and provincial services exams a shot.

“The need for a proper place exclusive for the girls who want to prepare for UPSC and MPSC exams has been felt for a long. Some like-minded people have joined hands to prepare this facility,” said former MLA Bashir Musa Patel who owns this place and has dedicated it to the memory of his mother Fatimabai.

Though Patel and a few other good Samaritans came forward to create this Centre, the motivating force is former CEO of Haj Committee of India and ex-registrar, Mumbai University, Dr Maqsood Ahmed Khan. With experience of mentoring civil services aspirants at the Haj House’s coaching centre, Khan was suited to show the path here too.  “They roped me in to do honourary mentorship here. We have already selected candidates. Initially most of the candidates are those who previously appeared for the UPSC entrance examinations but didn’t succeed and wanted to prepare again,” said Khan.

On Friday, the Centre’s director Zubia Shaikh, through a power-point presentation, explained the abysmal low representation of Muslims in the civil services. According to the Sachar Commission Report, the representation of Muslims in the civil services is only 3%.

“This Centre will propel girls to reach their goals. Even if some don’t succeed in these tough examinations, the very dream and preparations will equip them to face challenges in life,” said Shaikh.

Two candidates who cracked UPSC exams last year and were allotted IPS cadre-Mavis Tak and Tahseen Banu Dawadi-too addressed the small gathering virtually. Both are preparing again to upgrade their UPSC ranks.

“The facility created here for the girls is very important. It is not possible to prepare for this examination at home as you need the right environment, guidance, mentorship and company of fellow aspirants,” said Tak who graduated from Mira Road-based Royal College.

Soon after Tak, daughter of a freelance translator cracked the UPSC exams, several organisations and individuals, including Mira Road based ex-MLC Muzaffar Hussain and Royal College, felicitated her and her parents. In her interview to TOI, she had said that her father was the main motivating force as he had dreams of becoming an IAS. “He wanted me to achieve what he could not,” Tak had told TOI.

Hijab-wearing Dawadi comes from Karnataka and said that hijab was no hindrance to education and qualifying for the UPSC. Ayesha Kazi who is awaiting her UPSC final results this year said a centre like this where girls felt secured, confident and comfortable was needed to encourage others to aim for a career in civil services.

The Centre is getting community’s applause. Philanthropist Kaderbhai Fazlani lauded the amenities.

“The densely populated Muslim pockets in the city do not have enough facilities for students, especially girls, to concentrate and study for UPSC exams. More such centres are needed at different pockets in the city,” said businessman Sabir Nirban.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> News> City News> Mumbai News / by Mohammed Wajihuddin, TNN / February 26th, 2023

News warrior of a different kind

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NEW DELHI :

At a modest house in South Delhi’s leafy Sarita Vihar colony, a tall, handsome man woke up early in the morning to read a bunch of newspapers religiously. He didn’t only read whatever “readable” news and views a dozen newspapers in Hindi, Urdu and English carried, but also shared them with the wider world. For five years–ceaselessly, tirelessly.

His huge circle of friends, from Birmingham to Barabanki, Miami to Mumbai, Seattle to Singapore devoured the selected news and views this selfless, soft spoken news warrior shared with such dedication and devotion. I don’t know any other person on the planet doing this with such consistency for five long years. Yes, some of us news premi pick up news randomly and share them with a few friends.

Shafique Ul Hasan, a senior journalist-turned-advertising professional, completed five years of sharing the news clippings on June 24 this year. Among hundreds of friends who value his work and have congratulated Shafique Bhai—that is how most of us address him—on reaching this milestone include filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt, writer-politician Shashi Tharoor, former bureaucrat and ex-VC of Jamia Millia Islamia Najeeb Jung. They all underlined the importance of Shafique Bhai’s work—making available some of the important news and opinion pieces at one place. In our crazily busy schedule, many of us have forgotten what and how to read news. In the age of social media explosion, it has become very important to decide what news and views one should consume. At a time when fake news and viral videos are shared with an ulterior motive, Shafique Ul Hasan’s work assumes significance.

It all started with the news of Hafiz Junaid’s lynching. The young, kurta-pajama clad maulvi was returning home after shopping for Eid when a group of boys accosted him in train, beat him up so badly that he succumbed to injuries. The news shocked us. Most of us silently mourned the loss of an innocent’s life due to demonization of Muslims. Had fellow passengers intervened, young Junaid’s life could have been saved. But the hate-mongering has made us so insensitive and numb that we don’t react till the trouble reaches our own doorsteps. “This is not our problem,” we dismiss and move on. We forget the episode till a fresh case of mob violence hits the headlines.

Shafique Bhai reacted to the lynching of young Junaid in a different way. It affected him so deeply and intensely that he decided to do something beyond mourning his death silently. He made clippings of the horrific news and shared them with some of his friends on WhatsApp. And then he thought more. “What can I do to stop this madness? What power do I possess to make an intervention?”, he asked himself.

Most of us don’t realise the hidden power we possess. The strength lies in communicating the pain too. If we share some genuine, truthful news, this too is a service. Taking out morchas and petitioning authorities are not the only forms of protest. A protest is registered if news about an unkind, unjust thing or event is shared with a purpose to create awareness and help form an informed opinion. Shafique Ul Hasan decided to share the news clips from newspapers in the morning daily.


He made it part of his daily routine. So, he didn’t miss sharing the clippings even if he was travelling, in India or abroad, attending wedding celebrations or birth parties, vacationing in Europe or in the Middle East. “Once during our holiday in Europe I ensured that I woke up in the morning according to Indian time and made clippings from digital editions of the newspapers while my wife was fast asleep. Not many of my friends realized that they had shared those clippings sitting in Paris or London,” he told me recently.

Significantly, Shafique Bhai’s services have been acknowledged and appreciated widely. Many individuals and organizations have feted him for this yeomen service. Among those who have awarded him for this service include Sirajuddin Qureishi of New Delhi-based India Islamic Cultural Centre (IICC), several NGOs and organisers of a programme celebrating 200 years of Urdu Journalism recently in New Delhi.

Meanwhile, sticking to a fixed schedule for long and sitting for a few hours without a break daily began to take a toll. Shafiqul Hassan’s health got affected. His BP shot up and had to be hospitalized before his condition could have worsened. He didn’t stop from doing what he loved to do even while he recuperated in a hospital. Despite protests from his lovely family, he didn’t take a break. He resolved to complete at least five years of sharing the news and views clippings. He fulfilled the promise he had made to himself.

Meanwhile, a few well-meaning friends advised him to monetize it. Since many websites and other news outlets charge money for their products, it would have been quite fair had Shafiqul Hassan too put a price to his services. “No. I don’t want to make any money out of it. It will be free of cost till whatever time I do it,” he told me.

But he had to take a break. Many of us told Shafique Bhai to take a long break after completing five years of this selfless service. He deserves to pay attention to his health, his business and spend more quality time with family. He has announced that much-deserved break. I suggest he finds a mechanism through which he resumes this service in a more organized way. He needs to get a team of computer savvy individuals who can work with him. Rather than doing everything himself, he should delegate work to subordinates. He should now work more as a supervisor. But to create such a team, some funds will be needed. Shafique Bhai is a self-respecting man. He will never seek charity or any other funds to set up a professional team for news/views gathering and dissemination. It is the duty of all concerned citizens to ensure that such a corpus is created and this work resumes.

Mohammed Wajihuddin is a senior journalist, now associated with the Times of India, Mumbai. His write-ups are popular with wide range of readers.

source: http://www.siasat.com / The Siasat Daily / Home> Opinion / by Mohammed Wajihuddin / June 27th, 2022

Mumbai: Association of Muslim Professionals announces scholarships for 100 ‘Covid-19 orphans’

Business & Economy, Community Involvement / Social Issues, COVID 19 - Community of Soldiers, Education, Leaders, SCHOLARSHIPS, , , , , , , , ,

Mumbai, MAHARASHTRA :

Association of Muslim Professionals President Aamir Edresy.

Mumbai:

City-based NGO Association of Muslim Professionals ( AMP) has announced scholarships of Rs 10,000 to each of the ‘100 Covid-19 orphans’ in the country.

AMP president Aamir Edresy said that the help is part of their “Basic School Education Assistance Programme” launched a couple of months ago.

“The pandemic claimed breadwinners in many families, leaving school-going children anchorless. Some of the families are so desperately poor that, if financial help is not provided to them, their children will drop out from schools. We are stepping in with help initially for 100 children,” said Edresy.

He added that AMP’s wide network across the country would help it verify the applicants and reach out to them with help.

The AMP is also using IndiaZakat.com, India’s first zakat-based crowdfunding platform, to collect funds to support more orphaned children.

“To ensure that more students can be helped, we have started a fundraiser to collect more funds on our Crowd Funding Platform IndiaZakat.com to support many more students,” said Javed Syed who heads AMP’s Zakat Fund section.

Founded in 2008, AMP has its presence now in 150 cities and  towns across the country. So far, it has helped 30,000 youths get jobs and provided financial support to over 3000 families.

It has also reached out to many through its mentorship programmes.

Iftekhar Bidkar, the core member of AMP and IndiaZakat.com, appealed to people to make this campaign a success by giving their support. He requested people to come forward and support this cause on the crowdfunding platform Indiazakat.com

AMP is a platform for professionals and volunteers to share their knowledge, intellect, experience, and skills for the overall development of not just the community but also the society at large. It aimed at empowering the underprivileged educationally, socially, politically and financially.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> News> City News> Mumbai News / by Mohammed Wajihuddin, TNN / September 01st, 2021

Mumbai tailor’s ‘little’ daughters walk tall with big dreams of becoming doctors

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Mumbai, MAHARASHTRA :

For years their diminutive stature made some wonder if they would do anything meaningful with their lives, but the Idrisi sisters—Zubaida (23) who is 3.5-foot tall and Humaira (22) who is 3.9—have already become mini-celebrities in their Nagpada neighbourhood. They qualified in this year’s medical entrance exam (NEET) and recently secured their MBBS admission; Humaira has got into Topiwala Nair Medical College at Mumbai Central and Zubaida at Government Medical College in Jalgaon.

The Idrisi sisters who live with three other siblings and parents—father Ahsanullah who is a tailor and mother Rukhsar a homemaker—in the crowded Kazipura near Nagpada junction could have not made it to the MBBS course but for a chance meeting with Ashfaque Moosa of Khidmat Charitable Trust last year.

A local NGO runs a dispensary in a corner of P T Mane Garden at Nagpada, which Zubaida and Humaira visited to pick up medicine for their grandmother. Moosa, who is called Ashfaque Bhai, was at the dispensary then and asked the two about their education. On hearing that they had abandoned their dream to be doctors and subsequently graduated in science from the nearby Maharashtra College, Ashfaque Bhai told them not give up on it. “If a six-footer needs 600 marks in NEET to get into MBBS, you need less than half of that,” he joked. On further enquiries, the sisters found their condition was covered in the reserved category of “differently disabled” and they could take a shot at NEET.

“Ashfaque uncle hamari gudiyon ke liye farishta bankar aae (Ashfaque uncle came as an angel for my dolls),” says the sisters’ burqa-clad mother Rukhsar. “He showed them the path and my beloved daughters never looked back since the day they met him.”

Ashfaque Bhai says the girls had full support of their poor parents but were discouraged from even trying to clear NEET. “Someone told them to become lab technicians or join BUMS, a Unani medicine course. But I saw the burning desire in them and that desire only needed a proper direction,” says Ashfaque Bhai who helps arrange scholarships for needy and deserving students.

Next, with a revived MBBS dream in their eyes, the sisters landed up at a coaching institute in Ghatkopar and were almost turned away by a staffer citing their “inadequate” height when the director saw them and asked them to wait. Their photographs were sent to the institute’s headquarters in Kota, which approved their admission with 60% concession in fees. Every day, the sisters would travel by crowded local trains from Byculla to Ghatkopar and back, till the lockdown began. They even took help of lectures on YouTube. “They got so involved in studies that I had to remind them about dinner and lunch,” says their mother. “My dolls have made us proud.”

Rukhsar says she and her husband found out about the insufficient growth hormones in Zubaida and Humaira after they turned five and stopped growing. One doctor said their treatment would cost over Rs 11 lakh. “We had no money to go for costly treatment but I wanted my daughters to get educated and stand on their feet as I didn’t want them to depend on anybody’s mercy or charity,” says Rukhsar.  

Career counselor Kazim Malik, who knows the sisters well, says they will need to work hard to complete MBBS, which they have resolved to do to achieve great heights.

Mohammed Wajihuddin, a senior journalist, is associated with The Times of India, Mumbai. This piece has been picked up from his blog.

source: http://www.siasat.com / The Siasat Daily / Home> Featured News / by Mohammed Wajihuddin / November 30th, 2020

Hyderabad madrassa empowers girls with course on fatwa

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Hyderabad, TELANGANA :

Highlights 

  • Madrassa Jamiatul Mominath in Moghalpura is imparting education to women on a course on fatwa.
  • It is Hyderabad’s first and only institute that trains women to become muftias.
  • Instruction is imparted in the Darul Ifta, or fatwa department
  • __________________________________________________

MadarasaMPOs28feb2018

Hyderabad :

Over a dozen students, all clad in burqas, are in a small classroom.Their teacher, dressed identically, keeps a close watch.Everyone is on the floor while books on Hadith (traditions of the Prophet), commentaries on the Quran and tomes on fatwas line the walls.
This is the Madrassa Jamiatul Mominath in Moghalpura, which is the city’s first and only institute that trains women to become muftias. Instruction is imparted in the Darul Ifta, or fatwa department.

Fatwa is an opinion that Muslims seek on a range of subjects, including marriage, menstruation, divorce, adoption, property issues, and rituals like namaz and roza.Countless madrassas in the country–such as UP’s Darul Uloom Deoband–run training courses, but most of them are for men.

“There are several questions that women hesitate to ask muftis. We thought women would be more comfortable discussing their issues with muftias. That’s why we introduced this one-year course 12 years ago,” said Hafiz Mastan Ali, Jamiatul Mominath’s founder.

Set up in 1991, the madrassa has 2,500 students today , of whom 400 are hostellers. The muftia course began with only five girls, but this year, the department is training 15.So far, the madrassa has produced 318 muftias.

The fatwa department’s head, Nazima Aziz, said making girls muftias is empowerment. “Once an alima (female graduate) completes fazila (post-graduation), she is eligible for the fatwa course.”

Aziz explained that the course is divided into five segments: prayers, women’s personal issues, limitations (what women can and can’t do), property issues and current issues. ” A fatwa is given in the light of Quran commandments and the Prophet’s traditions. Muftis try their best to be neutral while giving judgments on disputes. If someone is not satisfied with the decision, he or she can consult another mufti or muftia,” she said.

The girls share Aziz’s opinion on the importance of their role. A muftia in the making, Suraiya Shakeel Khan wants to help women. “I can guide people on religion.” Khadeeja Fatima feels she would get more respect in the community once she becomes a muftia. Most of them, like Aziz, are in favour of setting up more Darul Iftas for women across the country .

Interestingly, Aziz and her students backed the All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB)’s stand on triple talaq. “Talaq in one sitting should be discouraged, but it cannot be banned as that will be tantamount to interference in sharia laws,” said Mohammed Hasnuddin, head of Mominath’s fatwa department for men. “We don’t agree that talaq is a sword dangling over the heads of women. It’s an option to end an oppressive marriage and should be used as last resort.”

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News> City News> Hyderabad News / by Mohammed Wajihuddin / TNN / January 09th, 2017