MEMORIES OF MAULANA
A Tribute By Nigar Ataulla
THE month of April is here, with its beautiful sunshine, which is so important for us. On some days at this time of the year one can hear the call of the koel, reminding one of those ‘exam times’ when we were students, isn’t it? And, if there’s thick enough greenery around, one can hear crickets sing, too! Maybe they are thirsty and are waiting for the monsoons.
April also takes my mind to two people who passed away in this month some years ago. One is my father, whose death occurred on April 27, 2019, and the other is Maulana Wahiduddin Khan, who passed away on April 21, 2021. You may wonder why I am connecting them both. It’s very simple: It was through my father that I got introduced to Maulana Wahiduddin Khan’s writings and wisdom.
It began many decades ago when my father would travel to Delhi on work. It was there that he met with Maulana. My father was fond of discussing religion and reading books in Urdu, and I suppose he had at least some heart-to-heart conversations with Maulana on these matters during visits to Delhi. Maulana very generously gave him some of his books, and that’s how he became an avid reader of Al-Risala magazine. When he would return from Delhi, he would sometimes give me books by Maulana that had been translated to English. I also remember him mentioning the hospitality extended to him by Maulana and Farida Aapa, Maulana’s daughter.
This is how I was first introduced to Maulana’s writings. I couldn’t read Urdu, and so the simple articles that appeared in the then English version of Al-Risala appealed to me. Reading one book by Maulana—God-Oriented Life—which my father had brought back from Delhi opened my eyes to matters related to the higher realm—God, accountability for our actions, the Hereafter and the impermanence of this world. I simply loved this book! It talked to me, as it were, and really touched my heart! It tugged at my heartstrings, hinting that there were aspects of my lifestyle that needed correction.
As the magazine I was working with at that time needed book reviews, I got connected to Goodword Books, which was connected with Maulana and his school of thought. The books containing colourful and happy illustrations and stories for children that they published were wonderful! Reviewing these books for the magazine I worked with delighted me immensely!
Meanwhile, my father continued with his interest in Maulana’s Al-Risala. I remember his younger brother dropping by at home and them discussing and praising Maulana and his books and writings.
One day, Maulana arrived in my city for a programme. He was also to meet my father and his colleagues at the institution where my father was then working. It so happened that due to some food- or digestion related issue, I had fallen sick. I was dehydrated and taking medicines and was exhausted. Maulana was scheduled to give a lecture at the institution where my father was working that evening and my father told me that I should attend it. I said there was no way I could sit through the programme as I was exhausted.
I was at home in the afternoon resting when my mother got a call from my father, who said that I should come over and that he was sending a car to pick me up. I panicked and wondered why my father was insisting I should come for the talk when he knew my condition.
I forced my tired self and reached the venue. I told my father that I wouldn’t sit inside the hall but could watch everything from the outside gallery sort-of space as I didn’t know when I would feel sick. I realized later that my father did not want me to miss Maulana’s talk and that is why he insisted on me being there despite my feeling sick. He valued Maulana’s wisdom.
Later in life, I was in Delhi, and I happened to meet Maulana. I was fortunate to attend a few of his regular Sunday classes, where he would discuss issues and take questions from visitors.
Maulana passed away some years ago, but the intellectual legacy he left behind still lives on and is benefitting many people. It has certainly benefitted me, including in the form of some precious bits of wisdom from him that I happened to read just recently on the subject of patience. Here, Maulana talks about how one should practise patience in daily life amidst the challenges that one faces. At first it seemed as if one needs to be almost an angel to practise what Maulana says about being patient. But reading more about his guidance on patience, it began to make some sense. It made full sense to me very recently when I had to encounter what for me was a big challenge!
That morning, Ginger, a very friendly neighbourhood cat, made his way to the apartment where I currently live. It is his routine to come by in the morning and then I take a packet of cat-food for him and head outside the apartment complex to give it to him. As I set off, I spotted a neighbour, who was possibly returning from a walk. I wished him a good morning with a smile, to which he responded, and then he said: “This cat is a pest. Because of him, my dog barks every day!”, or something to that effect.
I did not react and say anything. Instead, I continued smiling and went my way, with Ginger following me. My focus was to first give hungry Ginger his food peacefully outside before another obstacle might come our way! After finishing this task, as I returned to the apartment, I realized that my neighbour’s statement had hurt me. After all, a dog will bark, because dogs do bark—that’s how God has made dogs, and so, that’s the way it is. Now, I could have answered my neighbour back by complaining about some aspects of his own behaviour (including his occasional quarrels with his spouse and his scolding delivery boys) and I could also have said that all of this behaviour on his part was a ‘pest’ (to use a word that he had used). But I didn’t. What made me refrain from doing so?
Apart from the ‘You must get along well with your neighbours’ logic, it was Maulana’s words on patience which I had been reading a few days ago that led me not to react to my neighbour’s remark. Keeping quiet in the face of this challenge, I experienced, through this little event, what is a really workable solution in such challenging situations. Avoiding reaction and practising patience can really help one maintain one’s peace of mind (as well as good neighbourly relations), this event showed me. While a corner of my heart still hurts that an innocent cat could be talked about in such a harsh manner by someone, I know the patience that I practiced then will not be in vain!
Thank you, Maulana, for leaving behind precious practical wisdom, so useful for everyday living, through your writings. We need reminders every now and then of your wisdom about how to positively deal with challenges, because life is not all roses, for it has its share of thorns, too!
Ending this tribute to Maulana, I would like to say “Thank You” to my father for having introduced me to Maulana and to Maulana for sharing his precious wisdom with so many people, including myself.
