Hazrat Maulana Wahiduddin Khan Sahib: Remembering the Holy Life of a Humble Saint, Islamic Scholar, Spiritual Teacher and Peacemaker
By Prof. Henry Francis
B. Espiritu, New Age Islam
28 April
2021
Maulana Wahiduddin Khan Saheb’s Extensive Islamic
And Philosophical Researches Led Him To Conclude That The Need Of The Present
Era Is To Present Islamic Teachings In The Style And Language That Is Both
Spiritually Authentic To The Teachings Of Islam As Well As Relevant To Our
Present World Situation
Main Points:
1. Hazrat Maulana Wahiduddin Khan Sahib lived his earthly life for 96
meaningful years in the service of Islam and humanity.
2. Maulana Wahiduddin Khan Saheb was an exemplary Islamic spiritual master,
saint of peace.
3. Maulana Wahiduddin Khan Sahib is internationally recognized for his
contributions to world peace.
4. The 500 Most Influential Muslims" has named him “Islam’s Spiritual
Ambassador of Peace to the World.”
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It is with
great sadness, deep sorrow and profound loss to have read from the news of
Hazrat Maulana Wahiduddin Khan’s passing on to Eternity on the 12th of Holy
Ramadhan 1442 AH (Islamic calendar) or 22nd April 2021 AD. We pray: “Inna Lillah Wa Inna Ilayhi Rajiun”.
“Verily we belong to Allah; and verily to Him do we return” (Holy Qur’an Surah
Baqarah: 156). Hazrat Maulana Wahiduddin Khan Sahib (Quddissa Sirruhul Aziz Wa
Rahmatullah Taala Alayh [May Allah honour and bless his sacred memory and grant
him the best of Allah's mercies]) lived his earthly life for 96 meaningful
years in the service of Islam and humanity. He was an exemplary Islamic
spiritual master, saint of peace, prolific author of Islamic books and Muslim
aalim (scholar) who preached Islam as the religion of peace and harmony being
the mission of his life and as the theme of his vast scholarly Islamic
literature and spiritual books.
I and my
wife Belinda were indeed privileged to have met Hazrat Wahiduddin Khan Sahib in
person, kiss his blessed hands and receive his blessings including the gifts of
books authored by him when we visited him in his home in New Delhi, India. To
remember our sacred encounter with Hazrat Maulana Wahiduddin Khan Sahib, I will
narrate at length our blessed visit and more than two hours audience with him
in that hot Indian summer of the year 2017.
In the morning of 23 July 2017, I and my wife
visited and had spiritual audience (Ziyarat
Wa Sohbat) with the late Hazrat Maulana Wahiduddin Khan Sahib (Quddissa
sirruhul Aziz Wa Rahmatullah Taala Alayh [may Allah honour and bless his sacred
memory and grant him the best of Allah's mercies]) in his residence at
Nizamuddin West, New Delhi, India. Hazrat Maulana Wahiduddin Khan Sahib is
internationally recognized for his contributions to world peace. He has
received, among others, the Demiurgus Peace International Award, the Padma
Bhushan Award, the Rajiv Gandhi National Sadbhavna Award and the National
Citizen's Award. The book, "The 500 Most Influential Muslims" has named
him “Islam’s Spiritual Ambassador of Peace to the World.” In January 2021, he
was awarded Padma Vibhushan Award, India's second-highest honorific award for
its civilian citizens.
"Prof.
Henry Francis B. Espiritu and his wife Prof. Dr. Belinda F. Espiritu having
audience with Hazrat Maulana Wahiduddin Khan Sahib at his residence on 23 July
2017."
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Hazrat
Maulana Wahiduddin Khan Sahib was born in Azamgarh, Uttar Pradesh, North India
on 1 January 1925. From his early years, he showed passionate interest for both
traditional Islamic knowledge and Western philosophies. As a result, all his
books show masterful synthesis of Islamic teachings with the practicality
demanded by contemporary modern life. His extensive Islamic and philosophical
researches led him to conclude that the need of the present era is to present
Islamic teachings in the style and language that is both spiritually authentic
to the teachings of Islam as well as relevant to our present world situation.
He has
authored over 400 books on Islam in English, Urdu, Arabic and various
languages, with themes such as prophetic wisdom, contemplative and active
spirituality, tolerance, inter-religious dialogue, interfaith harmony and
peaceful co-existence in a multi-ethnic, multiracial, secular and pluralistic
society. The most recent books he had written when he turned 90 years old are
as follows: “The Prophet of Peace: The Teachings of Prophet Muhammad”; “Jihad,
Peace and Inter-Community Relations in Islam”; “Islam and Peace”; “The Ideology
of Peace”; "Non-Violence and Peace Building in Islam"; and “The Age
of Peace”. The last book he authored and published a month before his
passing-on to Eternity is entitled: “The Final Journey”. These books not only
offer a peaceful solution to the challenges of terrorism and extremism, but
also help people understand the true teachings of peace and harmony in Islam
and the meaning or significance of one’s earthly life on earth as genuinely propounded
by the Holy Qur’an and the Sunnah (Holy Practices and Traditions of the Prophet
Muhammad).
To spread
relevant practical spiritual wisdom based on tolerance, mutual understanding,
amity, concord, peace and harmony worldwide, Hazrat Maulana Wahiduddin Khan
Sahib established the Centre for Peace and Spirituality (CPS). This international
organization aims to promote and reinforce the culture of peace through
authentic Islamic spirituality that is based on the tenets of the Holy Qur’an
and the Traditions (Sunnah) of the Holy Prophet Muhammad. Under Hazrat
Maulana’s support and inspired by his spiritual wisdom and guided by his
myriads of books, literature, video-talks, journal articles and the activities
of the centre: peace and inter-faith efforts to help the people of India and
the world, the Maulana Sahib clearly underlined and emphasized the importance
of peace, tolerance, pluralism and co-existence in our globalized world…
Belinda and I arrived at Hazrat Maulana
Wahiduddin Khan Sahib’s home in Nizamuddin West, New Delhi in the early morning
of 23 July 2017, while he was giving a lecture entitled: “The Concept of the
Hereafter from the Qur’anic Perspective” which was beamed to TV channels across
the Indian Subcontinent. After his lecture, Belinda and I were given the chance
by Maulana’s trusted spiritual student who is the moderator of Maulana’s TV
program as well as the operations administrator of the Centre for Peace and
Spirituality (CPS), Dr. Rajat Malhotra Ji for us to freely interact with the
Maulana Sahib and ask our questions to him. We felt so privileged to be with
the Maulana Sahib and to discuss with him the current situation besetting the
Muslim world. Hazrat Maulana Wahiduddin Khan Sahib enlightened us by his words
and more so by his deep aura of love and ambiance of spirituality surrounding
his revered, profound and venerable person. The Maulana gifted us with his
latest books and blessed us by touching our heads with his right hand. I felt
that the world stood still and the blessing of the Maulana Sahib enveloped my
very existence at that very moment when the Maulana Sahib blessed me by
touching my head with his holy hand. We were also given the privilege to kiss
Maulana Sahib’s holy hand in compliance to the Prophetic Sunnah of kissing the
holy hands of Islamic scholars and saints. We then had our picture-taking with Hazrat
Maulana Wahiduddin Khan Sahib and some of the Delhi members of CPS which were
present during our visit.
After our memorable and blessed audience with
Hazrat Maulana Wahiduddin Khan Sahib, Brother Dr. Rajat Malhotra Ji and his
very hospitable wife, Sister Stuti Malhotra Ji introduced us to the daughter
and the son of Hazrat Maulana who are themselves also servants of Islam and to
the cause of world peace, interfaith dialogue and harmony. They are Prof. Dr.
Farida Khanam Sahiba and Jenab Saniyasnain Khan Sahib. Prof. Dr. Farida Khanam
is a well-known speaker, writer and translator. She is an Associate Professor
at the Department of Islamic Studies, Jamia Millia Islamia University, New
Delhi. Under the guidance of her father, Hazrat Maulana Wahiduddin Khan Sahib,
she has rediscovered genuine Islam from its original sources, the Holy Qur'an
and the Sunnah and is herself an accomplished prolific author of Islamic books
and academic articles in peer-reviewed journals on the subject of Islamic
Studies in India and abroad. For the past two and a half decades, she has been
writing her books and translating the books of Hazrat Maulana Wahiduddin Khan
Sahib from Urdu to English. She is the Chairperson of CPS International (Centre
for Peace and Spirituality). She has dedicated her life to the mission of
spreading the true face of Islam based on peace and spirituality and is the
foremost authority in understanding the philosophical and spiritual works of
her revered father, Hazrat Maulana Wahiduddin Khan Sahib. Moreover, Dr. Farida
Khanam Sahiba is a regular contributor of articles to newspapers and presents
the true teachings of Islam to the world through academic lectures, television
and radio presentations. Likewise, Hazrat Maulana Wahiduddin Khan Sahib’s son, Dr.
Saniyasnain Khan Sahib, is both the Trustee and Secretary of CPS International,
and is a regular contributor of articles in various newspapers and magazines.
He has a weekly TV program, "Islam for Kids" on ETV Urdu and is a
co-host of "Kahaniyan Quran Se"
(Stories from the Quran) which is being telecast on ZEE Salaam TV Channel. As
an author of Islamic books for children, he has written and published over 200
books for children on subjects related to Islam, the life of the Holy Prophet
Muhammad, the lives of Allah's prophets as narrated in the Holy Qur'an and the
lives of Prophet Muhammad's Blessed Companions. Through the publication arm
which Dr. Saniyasnain Khan Sahib founded, The Good Word Books Publishing, he
printed all the books of Hazrat Maulana Sahib, Dr. Fareeda Khanam’s as well as
his very own Islamic books for children.
During our
visit, Dr. Farida Khanam Sahiba gave Belinda and me two books written by her as
mementos. These are: “Sufism: An Introduction” and “A Study of World
Religions”, while Dr. Saniyasnain Khan Sahib gave us two of his very beautiful
children’s hardbound books on Islam as his mementos to us. These are: “365
Prophet Muhammad Stories” and “Goodnight Stories from the Qur’an”…
We were so
enriched and spiritually fulfilled during our visit and spiritual audience with
the late Hazrat Maulana Wahiduddin Khan Sahib (Quddissa Sirruhul Aziz Wa
Rahmatullah Taala Alayh [May Allah honour and bless his sacred memory and grant
him the best of Allah's mercies]). I considered our visit and audience to
Hazrat Maulana Sahib, as the highest peak of our journey to India in the year
2017 since we were able to receive the blessings, holy advices (Naseehat) and blessed sight (Deedar) to a great saint and friend of
Allah the All Merciful (Waliullah Taala). We cherish this visit and our
audience with Hazrat Maulana Sahib for the rest of our lives. We were so
blessed that we were able to meet in person Hazrat Maulana Wahiduddin Khan
Sahib, a great Waliullah
(friend/saint of Allah). We were so blessed to have kissed his holy hands and
to receive his blessings on our heads on that auspicious day of 23 July 2017.
May our Beloved Allah be pleased with the life of Hazrat Maulana Wahiduddin
Khan Sahib and may He reward him with the highest spiritual station reserved
for all His faithful servants and lovers in Jannat
ul Firdaus wa Naim (Gardens of Paradise of Divine Nearness). Ameen Summa
Ameen!
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(NOTE: References for this essay and factual
information on Hazrat Wahiduddin Khan Sahib are taken from the Centre for Peace
and Spirituality Website as well as from the brochure: "Who Is Maulana
Wahiduddin Khan: A Brief Biography".)
Prof. Henry Francis B. Espiritu is Associate
Professor-7 of Philosophy and Asian Studies at the University of the
Philippines (UP), Cebu City, Philippines. He was former Academic Coordinator of
the Political Science Program at UP Cebu from 2011-2014. He was former
Coordinator of Gender and Development (GAD) Office at UP Cebu from 2015-2019.
His research interests include Islamic Studies particularly Sunni
jurisprudence, Islamic feminist discourses, Islam in interfaith dialogue
initiatives, Islamic environmentalism, Classical Sunni Islamic pedagogy, the
writings of Imam Al-Ghazali on pluralism and tolerance, Islam in the Indian
Subcontinent, Turkish Sufism, Ataturk Studies, Ottoman Studies,
Muslim-Christian Dialogue, Middle Eastern Affairs, Peace Studies and Public
Theology.
URL: https://newageislam.com/islamic-personalities/hazrat-maulana-wahiduddin-khan-sahib/d/124748
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