A World Beyond the Galaxy : My Delightful Times with the Scholars of Deen

A World Beyond the Galaxy : My Delightful Times with the Scholars of Deen

by Nisaar Y. Nadiadwala on Wednesday, June 15, 2011 at 1:37am

 

    Eleven years ago when I had begun reading scholary works of Muslim authors, I received an Invitation from IRF ( I had not joined IRF then) to attend Dr Bilal Philips' talk on The Evolution of Fiqh. That evening I was invited to a personal meeting with Dr Bilal. He was a strong man with muscles bulging out  and possesed a square jaw and a deep voice. Later on I was told that he is a black belt in Karate. Then I got chance to meet him again and again because of Peace Conferences.. I have  a habit of asking scholars about their future projects when ever I get a chance to be with them. He told me then that he was working on Tafseer ul Qur'an. I also make apoint to discuss with the scholars on latest controversial issues to update my own knowledge. This is how I have speeded up my own understanding of Fiqh.

   Shaikh Jafar Idris is almost 80 but his patience and temparamental control can put many young men to shame. I am told that he is among the finest scholars of Africa and many speakers of Peace T V were his students in Islamic  University Madina, among them are Bilal Philips , Yaser Fazaga, Hussein Yee.....We were sitting in the studios for the recording of the learned Shaikh's TV talks. He was  ready to give atleast 16 episodes in one sitting !But some thing went wrong with the camera so the shooting got delayed and we had to request him to rest for half an hour. The break stretched for three hours! The wise shaikh ready with make up kept on strolling in the studios with a smiling face, not showing a bit of restleness or impatience. He came to me and said affectionately " I am tired of taking rest give me some work to do... A Non Muslim crew member  told me later," had it been a Bolly wood star he would not have tolerated such a long break patiently like this elderly man has taken." He then said " I have a learnt a lot of Islam today, more than what  I have heard all these days in your studios......That incident taught me the level of patience a Muslim should possess and how far its benifits can reach. Patience is the mental strenght that Islam stuffs into you if you take its teaching seriously.

   Shaikh Salem al Amri is an ever smiling man. Those who have seen his Kitabut Touhid on Peace TV should know that the learned Shaikh has recorded 16 episodes at times. That means he spoke for  eight hours a day for a week or more. I was the Islamic Incharge of the studios and never did the Shaikh complained once. He is a regular participant in all the Peace Conferences that we had. Never has Sh Salem missed out distributing  Rupees 500/ to  each of the lower labour class workers  of our crew. Generosity and Patience are the  two important pillars of Dawah, the call to Islam. Even the early verses of the Qur'an focussed on these two attributes.

  You must see Shaikh Aseem al Hakeem in his Tshirt when he is in the gymansium doing workouts.  I assume that his arms are broader than my chest.  He is a  tall man with built as large as the competitors of MR. UNIVERSE contests. Yet his knowledge of Islam is heavier and stronger than his muscles. He has a good sense of humour. "A caller to Islam should be cheerful" he says "and also  physically strong" and I agree with him.

  Those were one of the brightest time of my learning days when when R. K Noor  was in Mumbai . He used to do a lot of research work on various issues and informed us many things we were unaware of. I remember him bringing his notes in our weekly fiqh sessions at  IRF and there were 5 -6 other graduates from Madina indulging in  healthy and long discussions on Fiqh.  , at times we used to stretch our discussions for whole night.  Dr. R. K. Noor is known to very few people even in India, but had he been an English speaker he would have been a very popular speaker. He is excellent in Fiqh and when I met him first time, few years back, Dr Zakir informed me that  R.K. is the only scholar in India who  has done Phd. in Hadith. 

   Participating in the Interfaith Dialogue in Spain I met Jamal Badawi. The same year we met again at Peace  Conference in Mumbai and he is a chraming person with a pointed nose and a cute face. He has the credit of participating in the academic debates in the Universities of  West and has routed  Annis Sharoush in a public debate on the topic " Is The Qur'an God's Word?" Remember,unless you are an expert it is difficult to refute all the allegations against Qur'an in only couple of hours. 

    The previous year the  dialogue took place in Makkah where only Muslims scholars were invited to air their view on the initiative  floated by Kind Abdullah. The venue was the Palace that is in the front of Haram. I was glad to see the cream of Islamic scholars though due to language barrier I could not speak with all . Shaikh Salman Oudha another of my favourite  and Yusuf al Qardhawi from Egypt , now from Qatar, Bilal Philips and a galaxy of scholars were airing their views on the Inter faith Dialogue. Qardhawi said " while approaching for the dailogue, one must be catuious from some people with whom Dilogues are not possible...In past we were kept busy in dialouges while our land was usurped gradually"  He was referring to Israel. 

 When Dr. Israr Ahmed was in Mumbai, I was delegated to be with him for ten days. There was a special meeting with him for the close associates of Dr Zakir Naik.  Dr. Israr used to give  a good presentation oncurrent affairs. I would suggest his  " Pakistan ke Khatme ki ulti gintee..." to the readers to see, a fine analysis and that too ten years ago. He had said " The formation of Euro is the revival of the Roman Empire as dreamt by the previous Pope ! We had conducted for ten days his daily talks in Mumbai and to our  surprise the audience kept on increasing every day and it was around 10 thousand ! I don't know how many speakers can really attract ten thousand people for  continous ten days and that too after Maghrib!

It is almost a decade  working with Dr Zakir Naik, and I can write  an entire book on"Da'wah days in IRF"...Inshallah

 AUTHOR:  Nisaar Nadiadwala writes and speaks on socio-educational topics from Islamic view point. He can be reached at nisaar_yusuf@yahoo.com

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