An Informal Meeting With Maulana Wahiduddin Khan: His Views On Urdu Journalism, Madrasas And Bringing Up Children
By S. Arshad, New Age
Islam
22 April
2021
Wahiduddin Khan Promoted Pluralistic Spirit Of Islam
And Was The First To Advise Muslims To Hand Over Babri Mosque To Hindus
Main Points
1. Maulana Wahiduddin Khan was one of the 500
most influencial Muslims of the world
2. He was awarded Padma Bhushan and Padma
Vibhushan
3. He wrote 200 books an a commentary of the
Quran
4. He was the first to advise Muslims to hand
over Babri mosque to Hindus
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Maulana Wahiduddin Khan
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Maulana
Wahiduddin Khan is no more. We have lost one of the greatest exponents of
Islam. With the news of his demise, I was carried back to the world of sweet
memories of a short but informal meeting with him.
It was in
July 2015 that I went to meet Maulana Wahiduddin Khan at his house in
Nizamuddin in Delhi. For years before I had the desire to meet one of the greatest
Islamic scholars of the contemporary world who had attracted the attention of
the Muslim intelligentsia and the common Muslims alike with his simple diction
and way of interpreting the message of Islam through his magazine Al Risala.
So it was
my privilege to meet him on that memorable day. He sat on a chair in the
balcony and rested his legs on a small stool kept before him. I sat on a chair
on his left. Since I had not gone to interview him but it was only a courtesy
call, our conversation only revolved round the current situation in the country
and on the problems facing the Muslims. For most of the time I listened to him.
He talked about his personal life and his approach towards bringing up
children. He also talked about Urdu journalism and madrasas. So it was an
informal meeting through which I came to know of his personal views on certain
political and communal issues.
Maulana
Wahiduddin Khan told me that he started his writing career with the mouthpiece
of Jamiat-e-Ulema Hind, Al Jamiat.
They had provided him with a room to live. He lived in the office of the
periodical and worked for it. But after some time, the magazine terminated his
service and so he had to leave the room provided by Jamiat. After that, he was
literally on the roads.
About his
attitude towards his children, he said that he never pampered his children
because he believed that pampering children renders them mentally weak and
dependent on the parents and the guardian. He said, "If my little son
would sleep without eating and my wife would try to wake him up to feed him, I
would say to her, "Leave him. Let him sleep. He wont die if he does not
eat."(Nahi Khayga To Mar Nahi Jayega.)
He also said that he used to travel to different countries of the world but he
never brought any gifts for their children from there for the same reason. He
always inculcated in them the feeling that they have to build their own career
and life. The result was that all of them were well settled and successful in
life.
Since
Maulana Wahiduddin Khan started his career as a journalist, he observed Urdu
journalism very closely and formed his own views on Urdu journalism. He was of
the view that Urdu journalism only played with the emotions of Muslims and did
not play a constructive role in the development of Muslims. He went on to say
that the entire Urdu journalism was yellow journalism. This was the degree of
his disillusionment with Urdu journalism.
He had his
own views on madrasas. I will not quote here his sentence to avoid a
controversy but he was not very appreciative of the role played by madrasas in
the social and educational development of the community. He was of the opinion
that madrasas could have played a greater role in educational, political and
social emancipation of Muslims of India.
Though it
was a short meeting, for me it was a memorable event. I got the opportunity to
talk with one of the greatest Islamic scholars of our time and pick some gems
from his treasure of knowledge and wisdom.
------
S.
Arshad is a columnist with NewAgeIslam.com
URL: https://newageislam.com/islamic-personalities/an-informal-meeting-with-maulana/d/124722
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