AFTER MAULANA
A CPS Members Reminisces
ON October 4, 2022, I reached the residence of Maulana Wahiduddin Khan (Nizamuddin West, New Delhi). When I opened the gate and entered, Maulana’s daughter Dr. Farida Khanam called out to come upstairs. My steps were faltering. Somehow, I managed to climb the stairs and enter the room of the late Maulana. The person I used to see there was absent. I felt strongly about his absence. My eyes were tearful. A few simple and beloved words of Maulana were echoing in my ears. For example, Hey brother! Look brother! Listen brother! etc. It was like the cry of an aching heart. Along with this, these questions also started to be heard: “Iqbal Sahib! Fayyaz Sahib! Do you have any new news, any new experience?” Once a gentleman said that there is no news. In response to this, Maulana said how can you say this? Every day a new sun rises, the whole universe is moving in high order—isn’t that news? As if, according to Maulana, news was not just what was printed in the newspapers, but the real news was the one, from which the sustenance of God-realization is obtained.
I felt that today the questioner is apparently not present in front of us, but the question remains. So that even after Maulana, the process of God-realization continues without stopping. I looked at the empty chair in Maulana’s room, where he used to sit, with tears in my eyes, thinking, on one side the empty chair on the other side all the academic works of Maulana. As if the chair and books were saying that his personality is now present in these books.
At Panch Piran Graveyard: After this, for the first time, I got the opportunity to visit Maulana Wahiduddin Khan’s grave in Basti Hazrat Nizamuddin Cemetery. After entering through the main gate of Panch Piran, there is a strong wall of a mausoleum at the end of the graveyard. Just before that, Maulana’s grave is situated. The words As- Salam Alaikum ya Ahl al-Quboor (O inhabitants of the grave! peace be upon you) lingered on the tongue.
I approached, ascertained the qiblah direction and performed the funeral prayer. My heart was addressing Maulana saying, Maulana! At present I am by your grave. With the level of knowledge that you have reached, my colleagues and I will have to move forward. At that time, I was in the cemetery in a state of anxiety. Sometimes I would touch the inscription on the grave, sometimes I would look at the grave. As if I want to hear something from Maulana. But my consciousness said that Maulana, following the Last of the Prophets, clearly told everything about God openly, and showed good will to the last extent.
Now Maulana has separated from us under God’s natural law and has left for the journey of the Hereafter. It is our responsibility to carry forward the true understanding of Islam that we have found through Maulana.
Suddenly I remembered a supplication at the time of breaking the fast, which means that the thirst is gone and the veins are watered, and if God wills, rewards are bestowed. I changed the words and started reciting this prayer like this: Maulana’s soul has departed, the body was handed over to the grave and it is hoped that God, by His grace, will give Maulana a place in Jannat al-Firdous. And I also thought that when Maulana’s soul was departing, he himself would have been repeating the same words that my soul has departed and my body has been buried, I hope that my Lord will give a better decision in my favour. As if Maulana’s simple life was the “fasting” of the path of God-realization, death became the iftar of meeting God for him.
For the sake of searching for the truth and finding the facts, Maulana's bones weakened and the blood of his veins dried up. The reality is that if true religion disappears and formal ritualistic worship remains, there is a time to rediscover the spirit of worship. Maulana Wahiduddin Khan has done the same thing.
God is the source of all hope. The greatest blessing for a true believer is that his whole life is spent in anticipation, but it ends in hope. Because he is going to a ‘known place’, that is, to the Hereafter and the eternal Paradise created by God. Whether it is God-realization or the awareness of the Hereafter, there is no age bar to enter into serious thought about them. However, Satan causes negligence. He makes people believe that these are not the subjects of youth, these are the subject of old people. This is the greatest ignorance and rebellion of man.
The fact is that the remembrance of death and the preparation for it are becoming less and less common these days. If a preacher or a teacher reminds us of realization of God or concern for the Hereafter, then we should appreciate it. Newspapers or newsmagazines inform us about all the other topics every day, but not about the Hereafter. According to God’s plan of creation, the real preparation is for the Hereafter. The Quran says: We chose them (prophets) for a special [purpose]—proclaiming the message of the Hereafter. (38: 46)
Therefore, the Hereafter is a special subject of the person who takes on the responsibility of introducing God to people. The problems of this world are the subject of every person, but the challenges of the Hereafter constitute the subject of Prophet and those who believe after him.
Therefore, the Hereafter is a special subject of the person who takes on the responsibility of introducing God to people. The problems of this world are the subject of every person, but the challenges of the Hereafter constitute the subject of Prophet and those who believe after him.
This is what I have found from my meetings with Maulana, telephone conversations and his books. He utilized his abilities to the last extent for this purpose. He made it his mission to worship God and call humankind to discover Him. His entire corpus of writings and talks can be understood from this point of view.
(~Maulana Syed Iqbal Ahmad Omari, Oomerabad, Tamil Nadu)
