On Teachers’ Day, Association of Muslim Professionals (AMP), a not-for-profit organisation working in the domains of educational and economic empowerment, has announced the launch of 2 significant initiatives which will benefit the Students’ fraternity. Specially those needing financial assistance for higher education or expert career and professional guidance by professionals.
The 2 new initiatives that have been launched are;
India’s 1st Free Higher Education Scholarship Crowd-Funding platform (IndiaZakat.com/Scholarships) and
Free Mentorship Project for Needy Students requiring guidance (TheIndiaMentors.com)
While speaking at the event Dr. M. Aslam Parvaiz, Former Vice-Chancellor, Maulana Azad National Urdu University (MANUU), based his presentation on the teachings of Holy Quran. He said “the Quran guides us to not just worship the Almighty but also help His creatures in all ways possible”. He went on to say “We should not be slaves of Rituals and Religious practices but understand the actual meaning of the Holy Book and implement the teachings in our lives to advance as a Community.”
Mr. Aamir Edresy, President-AMP, initiated the Webinar and welcomed the participants. He said “it’s a very historic day for AMP as we have finally realized our dream of helping and guiding students through Scholarship funding and Mentorship guidance. The Muslims’ representation in Government, Corporates, Higher Educational Institutions is very low and these initiatives intend to increase these representations.” He went on to say “For a large part of the Muslim Community, due to their socio-economic conditions, basic needs take priority over education. We need to create the awareness of the importance of Education and improve its priority in our lives”.
Prof. Furqan Qamar, Professor, Centre for Management Studies, Jamia Millia Islamia (JMI) went on say that the Community needs to be convinced of not just Higher Education but also basic education itself. More than anything the community needs to get rid of ‘Perceived Barriers’ and that we should always encourage ‘Merit’ to ensure that those who work hard are recognized and promoted.
Speaking form United Kingdom, Mr. Zahid Howladar, Head of Delivery – 1 Million Mentors, said “While the well-educated and well placed are well connected and are able to get access to good education and good guidance, it’s the disadvantaged in our Community who suffer due to the lack of guidance and mentorship. Mentorship is an initiative which will ensure that there are lot less dropouts from Schools and Colleges and also lowers Hate among groups. It is also impactful and transformative in our lives.”
Ms. Naghma Mulla, President & COO-EdelGive Foundation said “The difference between today’s underprivileged and self-sufficient people is the ‘Digital Divide’. People who were digitally more advanced managed the Pandemic situation better and this is the outcome of being more educated.” She went on to say “In today’s Post-#Covid-19 world, where the Governments & Economies are badly affected, it is all the more necessary that Students and their Parents are assisted and supported in the financial as well as career domains. These initiatives of AMP will help the Community in the long run.”
These initiatives were launched at a special Webinar today with the audience attending from all parts of India and Globe.
The Higher Education Scholarship Crowd-Funding will be done on AMP’s (www.indiazakat.com) platform, which is India’s unique digital platform, connecting donors & seekers. Launched just 4 months back, IndiaZakat.com has already raised more than 80 lacs and helped needy people especially in the Education domain.
The Free Mentorship Project (www.theindiamentors.com) being launched today is the culmination of a long dream of AMP for which the seeds were sown in as early as 2012. However, the importance of ‘Mentorship’ in India is quite lacking unlike the Western countries and hence it took a long time for a team to form who could handle and drive the project. TheIndiaMentors.com will guide students for academic as well career or professional issues without any fees by expert professionals of Industry as well as Academia.
The welcome note was given by Mr. Hafeez Iqbal (Ex-director, L&D, Pfizer) and Mr. Shehzad Mukadam and Ms. Humera Kabir hosted the event.
The Webinar was followed by the announcement of 4th AMP National Awards for Excellence in Education 2020 in which 103 Educators were honoured across the Country for helping in nation building.
Association of Muslim Professionals (AMP) is a platform for professionals and volunteers to share their knowledge, intellect, experience and skills for the overall development of not just the community but also the society at large and further empowering underprivileged in the educational, social, political and economic fronts of life.
source: http://www.milligazette.com / The Milli Gazette / Home> News> Education and Careers / by The Milli Gazette Online / September 14th, 2020
Noted Islamic scholar and author, Professor Yasin Mazhar Siddiqui (76), former Chairman, Department of Islamic Studies, Aligarh Muslim University passed away today after a prolonged illness.
Professor Yasin Mazhar Siddiqui wrote more than 40 books and 300 research articles in Urdu, Arabic and Persian. His writings on the Prophet and his teachings got wide acclaim. He wrote extensively in reputed literary journal, ‘Nuqoosh’ and got international ‘Nuqoosh Award’, ‘Seerat-e-Rasool Award’ and ‘Seerat Nigari Award’.
Professor Siddiqui, an alumnus of Aligarh Muslim University worked for ten years at the department of History before joining the department of Islamic Studies as a Reader, and later he became professor and chairman of the department. He also served as the Provost of Aftab Hall.
Professor Tariq Mansoor, Vice Chancellor, expressed his deep sense of sorrow at the demise of professor Siddiqui whose profound scholarship explored new dimensions of Seerah writing. His death causes irreparable loss to the academic world.
Professor Nisar Ahmad Khan, Dean, Faculty of Social Sciences, Professor Muhammad Ismail, Chairman, Department of Islamic Studies and Professor Obaidullah Fahad deeply mourned his death.
source: http://www.milligazette.com / The Milli Gazette / Home> News> Community News / by The Milli Gazette Online / September 15th, 2020
Aman Wadud, a human right’s activist and lawyer, practising at Gauhati High Court, has been selected for Fulbright-Nehru Master’s Fellowship 2021-2022. He will pursue LLM in the United States next year at an Ivy League Law School.
According to news reports he has in the past six years fought more than 300 citizenship cases for people who have been either marked doubftul voters or declared stateless in Assam.
Aman has extensively worked during Assam’s NRC process; he travelled across the state to educate people about NRC. He has also been organising training programmes for lawyers who work before Foreigners Tribunal. He recently co-founded “Justice and Liberty Initiative” to provide pro bono legal aid to underprivileged people whose citizenship has been wrongly questioned.
Earlier this year in March he was invited to speak on ‘Citizenship and Statelessness’ at the Harvard Kennedy School, Harvard Law School, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Yale Law School and Columbia Law School, USA. During that visit he testified before the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom at Capitol Hill, Washington, on its hearing on Citizenship Laws.
As the news broke, Aman was flood with congratulatory messages. Member of parliament from Assam, Maulana Badruddin Ajmal tweeted: “Congratulations and Best Wishes to Advocate Aman Wadud on being selected for this year’s Nehru-Fulbright fellowship. A young, dynamic and extremely talented Human Rights Activist from Assam. May you become an inspiration for younger generations. Wish you all the success in life.”
Aman reacted to all the wishes with a facebook post: “Thank you everyone. I am overwhelmed by your wishes. The Fulbright committee selected me because of my commitment towards upholding constitutional rights of the most vulnerable and marginalized citizens — a cause that many of us are fighting together. My sincere gratitude to everyone who made this journey possible.”
Articles written by Aman Wadud have appeared in www.outlookindia.com, sabrangindia.in, dailyo.in, theprint.in, thehoot.org etc
For details about the fellowship visit: http://www.usief.org.in/Fulbright-Nehru-Fellowships.aspx
source: http://www/milligazette.com / The Milli Gazette / Home> News> Community News / The Milli Gazzette Online / September 10th, 2020
Achan Village (Pulwama District), JAMMU & KASHMIR :
Pulwama :
A young budding writer from South Kashmir’s Pulwama district has received over 70 awards and certificates so far from different institutes of the world for his writing skills. The young writer aspires to become a human rights activist.
Faheel-Ul-Islam (18), son of Rafiq Ahmad Mir of Achan village in Litter Tehsil of Pulwama district, who is pursuing his Bachelor’s in Political Science at Aligarh Muslim University, a writer, wants to bring changes in the society where the youth as per him have degraded their morality and wants to work for the uplift of future generation.
Faheem said that he was in Class 11th when he started writing and since then he has co-authored around one dozen books. “Recently my book titled ‘The Midnight Silence’ got published, which is now available online as well as offline,” he said.
He said a book, which is a collection of 30 poems is multi-dimensional and the topics that have been touched include ‘our valley, our youth, hope, nature and many other things’.
“Since the last four years, my articles got published in the leading international, national and local papers and magazines,” he said, adding that he has continuously writing on all unethical things like drug addiction, suicide, rape and other issues.
“The sole motive of my writing is just to awake our youth, on which our future depends and I want to transform them to such an extent so that they too can contribute their part for the welfare of the society,” he added.
Faheem further stated that the most prestigious awards he has received so far include Indian Excellency Award by bringing hope in youth, Indian Humanitarian Award for my social work and Bravo International Award for inspiring and motivating youth to transform the morally degraded society.
“I have planned to publish a new booked titled ‘Concealed Chinars’ in which I will provide an opportunity to 20 such writers who are unable to publish their writings due to financial issues,” he said
He further added after completing his bachelors, his plan is to pursue masters in Human rights so that he can help the people in highlighting their issues.
“Besides studying and writing, I am presently working as a Radio Jockey at Kashmir Online Radio where I always try to change our youth who have been involved in futile exercises,” he added.
“My message to the youth of Jammu and Kashmir will be that don’t waste your time in futile exercises and try to contribute the society,” he said, adding that “if our youth will work positively, our future will be prosperous”.
source: http://www.therealkashmir.com / The Real Kashmir News / Home> Pride of Kashmir / September 17th, 2020
This award is given by the Union government to celebrate the unique contribution of some of the finest teachers in the country
Kolkata:
A teacher, based in Durgapur, Paschim Bardhman district, has been selected this year for the National Award to Teachers. Dr Kalimul Haque made his community proud in the vicinity after being selected for the National Award to Teachers 2020.
This award is given by the Union government to celebrate the unique contribution of some of the finest teachers in the country. It honours those teachers who through their commitment and industry have improved the quality of school education and enriched the lives of their students.
Dr Haque, headmaster of Nepali Para Hindi High school, is happy for being selected for the award. Congratulations have been pouring in from other teachers and local people. “The infrastructure in the school is not less than any other school. After I joined here, the classrooms have been ramped up and we have five smart classrooms. A well-equipped AC laboratory has been added for Physics, Chemistry and Biology. Innovative ideas have been introduced in the curriculum apart from books,” said Dr Haque.
Dr.Haque is one amongst two teachers from West Bengal to feature in the list of winners and amongst the 47 other teachers nation-wide to receive the award. The teachers are selected after a three step rigourous process, which first starts with applying online. Teachers have to show what they have done for the significant development of school students, how they have involved society at large in the school and what they have done for national integration.
The selection is done at the district level and then goes to the State level. The state has a quota and West Bengal has a quota for six teachers. A ten minute presentation is given by teachers on all aspects and only then are they selected for the final stage.
Dr.Haque’s family is very happy at the news and has always supported him in his endeavour. “My family has supported me immensely as I have worked for the school post school hours. They have a big hand in me reaching this far. My family is very happy, when I got the news I was with my family. My mother hugged me with pride. Everyone is very happy. It is a different experience for me an congratulations are coming my way.” Added Dr.Haque.
The award will be conferred during the Teacher’s Day celebrations on September 5th in New Delhi.
source: http://www.freepressjournal.in / The Free Press Journal / Home> India / by Prema Rajaram / August 28th, 2020
A script has been developed for the Beary language spoken mainly by a section of Muslims and others in the coastal region.
The initiative was taken by the Beary Sahithya Academy and the script was developed by nine-member Beary writers.
Academy President Rahim Ucchil launched the script and said that the script has been developed in such a way that it will sync with the Unicode.
The script is unique. There are plans to launch an app to download the script in mobile phones shortly.
The expert team who developed the script are Abdul Rasheed Zaini Kamil Sakhafi, Aboobakker Siddiq, Haider Ali, Abdul Razak Ananthady, A K Kukkila, Muhammed Fouzeed, Abdul Samad Bava, Abdul Rahiman Kuthethoor and Hamza Malar.
Speaking about the script, Ucchil said it has 13 vowels, 33 consonants, numbers, months and days. Efforts will be made to popularise the script using the online platforms.
Further, he said that the academy has submitted a proposal to introduce Beary as a third language in schools for students from class 6. Once it is approved, Beary language will also be taught in schools as a third language.
He said that Beary language is being spoken by nearly 20 lakh people across the world. It serves as a vital link for Tulu, Malayalam, Kannada, Konkani, Kodava and other languages.
The academy plans to publish Beary Calendar titled ‘Naalkanakk’ for the year 2021, he added.
source: http://www.deccanherald.com / Deccan Herald / Home> State> Mangaluru / by DHNS, Mangaluru / September 12th, 2020
Delhi Minorities Commission initiated a scheme of awards to best performers in various fields of human endeavor in NCT of Delhi and beyond.
For 2019-2020, the Commission has decided to offer awards under 14 categories which are as follows:
(for X, XII classes students securing 96+ per cent marks), Communal Harmony, Community Service, Human Rights, Non-Government Organisations, Promotors of Punjabi, Promotors of Urdu, Sports, Supporters of Minorities, Teachers of Substance, Print & Electronic Media persons, Outstanding Schools, Special Awards, Life-Long Achievement. This year 178 awards have been given under these categories.
Two new categories, Special Awards and Lifetime Achievement Awards, have been added to the list this year.
These awards are given mainly to residents of NCT Delhi but in exceptional cases, awards are also been given to persons from outside Delhi. Each awardee will be honoured with a shield.
A booklet containing photo of each awardee with a short introduction about his/her achievements has also been printed and is available at https://archive.org/details/dmc-2019-awards . (Please see below for a short list of the awardees).
The following is the full list of the awardees under various categories:
ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE (students who secured over 95% in High School and Higher Secondary exams in 2019):
Flavia Ekka (St. George’s School, Alaknanda, High School Exams 97.6%), Tracey James (Fr. Angel Sr. Sec School, Senior Secondary Exams 97.4%), Himieka Jain (DPS Mathura Road, High School Exams 97.2%), Garima Jain (DPS Mathura Road, Senior Secondary Exam Exams 97.4%), Kulsum Azad(Hamdard Public School, High School Exams 96.6%), Abeer Mohammad Asad (DPS Mathura Road, Senior Secondary Exams 97%), Mahwash Rizvi (Greenfield School, Senior Secondary Exams 96.8%), Mohd. Sadique Raza (Father Agnel School, NOIDA, High School Exams 98.4%), Afrah Naayaab (DPS Indirapuram, High School 97%), Harjas Kaur (Guru Nanak Public School, Pushpanjali Enclave, High School Exams 96%), Harjyot Singh Sidhu (DPS Mathura Road, Senior Secondary 95.4%), Aliza Alvi (DPS Indirapuram, High School 97%), Ancy A Daniel (ST. George’s School,High School Exams 97%), Anjali Maria Antony (Mater DEI School, Senior Secondary Exams 98.4%), Divya Jain (St Joseph’s Academy, High School Exams 95.4%), Aayush Jain (DPS Mathura Road, Senior Secondary Exams 97.2%), Zainab S. Qazi (Hamdard Public School, High School Exams 96.2%),Ruba Haider (DPS Mathura Road, Senior Secondary Exams 96.8%), Ms Sana (SGGSS Sc 2, JamaMasjid, Senior Secondary Exams 97.6%), Ms. Mantasha Ilma (Jamia Girls Sr. Sec. School, High School Exams 97.6%, Dashmeet Kaur (St Joseph’s Academy, High School Exams98%), Japneet Singh (Springdale’s School Pusa Road, Senior Secondary Exams 97.8%), Harjeet Singh Bedi (DPS Mathura Road, Senior Secondary Exams95.4%), Mahi Singh (Springdale, Sr Sec Exam 96/75%), Namira Rasheed Khan (DPS Ghaziabad, High School 96.6%), Barundeep Singh Gambhir (DPS Mathura Rd, Sr. Sec. Exams 96%).
COMMUNAL HARMONY:
Fr. Dr. M.D. Thomas(interfaith dialogue), Rev. Dr Vincent Manoharan (interfaith dialogue), Tej Lal Bharti(communal harmony), M. Farooq Engineer (communal harmony), Raees Ahmad (journalist and humanrights worker), Iqbal Mulla (interfaith dialogue), Baba Hardip Singh-ji (communal harmony), Soul of Humanity (NGO helping needy people), Vishav Satsang Sabha (NGO working for communal harmony), Syed Abdullah Tariq(interfaith dialogue and communal harmony), Jayshree Shukla (promoter of the composite culture, author of photo essays on Old Delhi).
COMMUNITY SERVICE:
Bhadant Buddha Kirti (serving the Buddhist community), Asad Masih (Muneer Social Welfare Society), Reena Charles ((Human rights, community service), Victor (social worker), Fr. Varghese Kunnath (seminar, orientation and training for youth, students, teachers), Rehab Foundation(community service), Karwan Foundation (community service), Sahulat Microfinance Society (national NGO promoting and facilitating interest-free microfinance), Ashwani Kumar Bairwa (president of NGO, social work in Badarpur area), Mohd. Khalid Khan (community service), Dr. Badrul Islam (promoter of Yoga), Sarabjeet Singh (community service), Adv. Abu Bakr Sabbaq(Community Service, human rightsdefender), Musharraf Husain (community service), Shama Khan (community service, especially in slum areas), Masroor Ul Hasan Siddiqui (community service), Mrs Feroza Jassawalla (community service), S. Gurvinder Singh (helping minority communities through promotion of education of children), Manjeet Singh (Nanak GA Charitable Foundation), Parmeet Singh Chadha (social worker), Mandeep Singh (serving minorities by supporting educational institutions and NGOs), Virasat Sikhism Trust (doing sewa to uplift Sikh Heritage and Punjabi language), Perminder Singh Malik (community service, especially by promoting education), Hasleen Singh Sodhi Adv. (helping minority community legally), Bibi Tarvinder Kaur Khalsa(community service), Avtar Singh (community service), Gagandeep Singh (community service), Inderjit Singh Asth (community service), Jaspal Singh (community service), Swaran Jeet Singh (community service), Ajeet Kaur (community service), Dr. Anju Jain (community service), Manjeet Singh(community service), Tanveer Kazi (community service as the Delhi head of Action Aid India), Ovais SultanKhan (human rights activist), D. S. Bindra Adv. (regular organiser of langars), Victor (social worker), Adv. H R Khan (human rights and educationactivist), Manjeet Singh Chugh (RTI activist, PIL).
HUMAN RIGHTS:
Dr. Denzil Fernandes SJ (social scientist working for the human rights), AC Michael(minority rights activist, former Member, DMC), Mrs. Anna Pinto (human rights activist), Farah Naqvi (writer & human rights activist), Armeet Singh Khanpuri (escorted back home 32 Kashmiri girls; saved 15 girls in riots), Mahmood Pracha Adv. (human rights defender), Quill Foundation (human rights of marginalized communities).
NON-GOVERNMENT ORGANISATIONS:
Institute of Objective Studies (research institute and think tank), Haq Educational & Social Welfare Society (vocational training centre), Sikh Youth Organization, Mahakanishk Bodh Vihar Kalyan Samiti, Guru Daami Foundation, Pratyek (networking with 2000 schools in the country), Budhiye Dhamn Charika Samiti Delhi Pardesh, YWCA of Delhi, Action Aid India
Bhairav Singh (Ambedkar Samaj Vikas Sangthan), Dr. S. S. MINHAS (holisticdevelopment of young students), Gurminder Singh Matharu (Member, SGPC Amritsar), Jagtar Singh (helped repatriation of 32 stranded Kashmiri girls safely to their homes in the Valley), Gurpreet Singh Bindra (helped repatriation of 32 stranded Kashmiri girls safely to their homes in the Valley), Baljeet Singh (helped repatriation of 32 stranded Kashmiri girls safely to their homes in the Valley), Harminder Singh (helped repatriation of 32 stranded Kashmiri girls safely to their homes in the Valley), Jajinder Singh (helped repatriation of 32 stranded Kashmiri girls safely to their homes in the Valley), Msgr Susai Sebastian (former director, Chetanalaya),Victor Henry Sequeira (social worker), Bishop Warris Masih (peace-making in churches society), Franklin Ceasar Thomas (fighter for the rights of Christian and Muslim Dalits), Dr. Fr. P.R. John SJ (Principal, Vidya Jyoti College), Ajit Singh Sehra (Ujjwal Bhavishya NGO), Saleem Baig (worker for community uplift, RTI activist).
TEACHERS OF SUBSTANCE:
Saiby Mathew (Don Bosco School), Mrs. Magdalene Bhat (St. Michael’s Sr. Sec. School), Mrs. Maria Rodrigues (St. Xavier’s School), Ms. Grace David (St. Columba’s School), Mrs. Anne Albin (Mater Die School), Mrs. Tarannum Shoukat Ali (Rabea Girls Public School), Nazia Nikhat (Zakir Nagar 1Urdu School), Rana Tasleem (Zakir Nagar 2 Urdu School), Mrs Jeanie Naozer Aibara (Principal of Ambience Public School), Pritam Singh (Guru Harkrishan Publicc School, Shahdra), dr. Prabhjot Kaur (educational consultant and motivator), Swarn Singh (Guru Harkrishan Public School, Vasant Vihar), Mr. S. L. Jain (Director, Mahavir Senior Model School), Dr. Haleema Sadia (26 years of experience as teacher, currently Dy. Director (Education), Delhi Waqf Board).
PRINT & ELECTRONIC MEDIA PERSONS:
Gurpreet Singh Sethi (photographer and maker of short films), S. Amrik Singh Kooner (Akaal Channel), S. Gurpreet Singh Bhooi (Akal Channel), Md. Mahtab Alam (The Wire Urdu), Qurban Ali (veteran TV, radio, print andNet journalist), Abhisar Sharma (outspoken and brave TV journalist), Lucy Gabriel Chattopadhyay (All India Radio External Services), Mobin Ahmed Khan (All India Radio), Humra Quraishi (prolific writer, columnist, journalist, book-reviewer and author), Masoom Moradabadi (celebrated Urdu journalist), Suhail Anjum (celebrated Urdu journalist), Muhmamad Anjum (Inquilab), Shaheen Abdulla (committed young journalist), Aditya Menon (journalist committed to the causes of the masses).
OUTSTANDING SCHOOLS:
Hamdard Public School, Talimabad, New Horizon School, Scholar School, Abul Fazal Enclave, St. Xavier’s School, Shahbad Daulatpur, Mater Dei School, Tilak Lane, Don Bosco School, Alaknanda, Dr Zakir Husain Memorial Sr. Sec. School Jafarabad, Rajkiya Pratibha Vikas Vidyalaya, Dwarka (first ranking in government-run day schools in the country).
SPECIAL AWARDS:
Mohd. Rizwan (young inventor), N.M. Theerthe Gowda (arbitrator and advocate), Ms. Khursheed R. Nariman (sculptor), Bhupinder Pal Singh Walia (historian of gurudwaras in Africa), Gobind Sadan, Gadaipur, Mehrauli (Sikh-led interfaith community celebrating all religions).
LIFE-LONG ACHIEVEMENT:
Dr. Manzoor Alam (Chairman, Institute of Objective Studies), S. Rajinder Singh-Ji (Head Granthi, Gurudwara Rakab Ganj), Mary Pat Fisher (author, promoter of interfaith dialogue), Fr. Cedric Prakash SJ (human rights, peace, interfaith and reconciliation activist), Nirmal Kumar Jain Sethi (welfare and promotion of the Jain community), Prof. Haseena Hashia (academia and welfare of the Muslim community), Teesta Setalvad (human rights and rule of law), Prof. Akhtarul Wasey (Islamicscholar with life-long commitment to academia, interfaith dialogue and welfare and promotion of the Muslim community), Mufti Ataur Rahman Qasmi (Islamic scholar, chronicler of Delhi, Haryana and Punjab mosques).
(Full list of DMC Awards 2019 with photographs and more information about each awardee is available here:https://archive.org/details/dmc-2019-awards)
source: http://www.theindianawaaz.com / The Indian Awaaz / Home> Amm/New Delhi / by Indian Awaaz / June 09th, 2020
Dar-ul-Uloom Deoband, the world-famous seminary is proud of its educational heritage since its inception. Its huge library plays an important role in attracting students and research scholars from all over the world. Dar-ul-Uloom is currently working on a project to digitize its colossal library containing rarest of the rare books and manuscripts with great zeal.
The man in charge of this overwhelming task is its librarian Maulana Shafique and his team of 13. They are going about their task with enthusiasm and passion. Even though they have no pressure of any deadline, they still realize the sheer enormity of their task which would leave an indelible mark in the pages of history and immortalize their names.
This prestigious library preserves Islamic History in the form of more than 2 lakhs books and around 1563 rare manuscripts including the Holy Quran written by the Moghul Emperor Aurangzeb and a 750-year-old handwritten book on botany by Imammuddin Zakaria. The age of these historical manuscripts is between 500 to 800 years. Most of this treasure trove is bequeathed to Dar-ul-Uloom as a gift or ‘Hadiya’.
Dar-ul-Uloom has taken enormous care in preserving and curating these rare books and manuscripts with great seriousness till now.
The library has an enormous collection of books on Sufism. According to Maulana Shafique, the library houses hundreds of handwritten books on Tasawwuf (Islamic mysticism). The latest amongst them being 300 years old. This vast collection of books was acquired during the last 150 years.
Pic credit -umair hashmi
The library which was established in 1866 has more than 2 lakh books. Apart from this mammoth collection, there are about 40 thousand books which are part of the Seminary’s syllabus. The most precious collection of this library is those 1563 manuscripts which were handwritten in Arabic, Persian, Urdu and Sanskrit. Out of these about 300 manuscripts have become extremely frail and its contents began to be hazy and illegible which requires immediate curative measures to arrest its further deterioration. This situation caused a great deal of concern amongst the seminary’s officials and its Vice-Chancellor Maulana Abdul Khalique Madrasi who decided to take immediate initiative to conserve these priceless books and manuscripts.
Since the library houses ancient books in addition to 1563 manuscripts which included a letter from the Prophet Mohammed (PBUH) addressed to the Egyptian King, a Quran written by the Moghul Emperor Aurangzeb, another Quran written with golden ink, yet another one written completely on one page as well as handwritten copies of Towrah, Vedas, Geeta, Mahabharat and Ramayan and such other antique manuscripts of knowledge which are being conserved and curated by using modern technology.
According to Maulana Shafique, the scholars of Dar-ul-Uloom give utmost importance to conserve the treasure of knowledge of this seminary. He narrated the famous incident of the Late Shaikh-ul-Hadith Maulana Anzar Shah Kashmiri when he went to Egypt. He chanced upon a rare ancient book which he wanted to bring for the library. But the owner of the book declined to part with it. Maulana then borrowed this book for reading and he memorized the whole book in just one night. When he returned to India he re-wrote the book “Nurul Aza” which is part of the Seminary’s curriculum.
Pic credit -umair hashmi
Maulana Shafiq considers the books as the treasure trove of knowledge. These books are an important source of research work. “We have research students from all over the world. Hence, we had to protect these books. For this, the ‘Mohtamim’ (Vice-Chancellor) Maulana Abdul Khaliq Madrasi himself took me to the National Archives of India and got information from there,” he said, and added, “Later a team of three people attended a seminar organized on the same subject in Jammu. We contacted Iran Culture House in Delhi. The people of Iran Culture House were quite professional and knowledgeable. They agreed to cooperate and conserve the books and manuscripts by using the modern techniques but on a condition that they would retain a copy of each preserved book or manuscript as their fee. However, we did not accept their condition in this regard. Maulana Abdul Khaliq Madrasi Sahab’s seriousness reached to the extent of a zeal. We collected all the technical knowledge to undertake this mammoth task all by ourselves by relying on Allah. We commenced our task during the lockdown.”
Maulana Shafique says that the books are related to a great number of subjects such as Unani Medicine, Biology, Jurisprudence, Law, History, Theology, Culture and Astronomy.
He adds that hundreds of books were never opened since centuries because of its delicate and infirm nature to save it from damage.
“There is a manuscript of the 24th Section of the Holy Quran written by the Moghul Emperor with golden ink. Specialists are conserving the manuscripts at a rate of about 150 to 200 pages a day. They are being scanned, laminated and digitized. A new library has been constructed at Darul Uloom. After its completion, the books will be shifted over there. So far 1 lakh pages have been saved. Preservation of 50 lakh pages is yet to be done,” he said.
About the digitization process, Maulana Shafiq, in charge of the library, explains that the boys first separate the pages of the manuscripts by inserting a serial number with a pencil and applying a paste of transparent glue, then laminated with a special tissue glass cloth and dried. These pages are then saved sequentially. It is scanned before binding and preserving digitally. Our conservation project includes books of every religion written in about 20 languages.
The 95 per cent of books found in the library were acquired as a gift.
Darul Uloom’s library has an annual budget of Rs 50 lakhs which is included in Darul Uloom’s total budget.
Sameer Chaudhary of Deoband says that very few in the world know that Darul Uloom has such a wealth of valuable books. “The whole world will have a big surprise once our digitization project is completed,” he adds.
As of now the National Archives of India, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia and Iran have shown great interest in this project and offered help but according to sources, Darul Uloom does not want to accept any help in this regard.
Maulana Shafiq informs that earlier he was afraid to touch these ancient books as the paper was falling apart by a mere touch. Now, since the preservation process is being completed these books would come alive and benefit research scholars from around the world. After its digitization, these books would be safe to be handled for thousands of years.
The library which was built in 1907 would be considered among the most modern libraries of the country. A new library building is being built within Darul Uloom’s campus at a cost of Rs 20 crore. These digitally restored books would then be shifted in the new building.
There is a large stock of old books at the library. These include letters written by Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) to the Emperor of Egypt, Quran written by Aurangzeb’s hand, another one written with gold ink, yet another one completely written on one page as well as an amazing collection of books like Towrah, Vedas, Geeta, Mahabharata and Ramayana.
source: http://www.twocircles.net / TwoCircles.net / Home> Indian Muslim> Lead Story> TCN Positive / by Aas Mohammed Kaif / TwoCircles.net / September 04th, 2020
A three-day workshop on research and writing, essay writing and journalism under the pen section of FikroKhabar came to an end at Alhaj Mohiddin Muniri Hall of Maulana Abul Hassan Ali Nadvi Islamic Academy.
The concluding session taught how to make journalism and the media a means of publishing the message of religion and how to work in the practical field. The meeting also decided on the strategy of the Bazm-e-Kalam, which includes the federation of the most important Muslim media. It also includes mentoring them with various workshops for those involved in the field of Bazm-e-Kalam. Bazm-e-Qalam membership forms were also distributed at the meeting, which the participants filled out and expressed their commitment to develop the sector and make it a source of Islamic da’wah . Participants in their written comments said that the establishment of such sectors is the most important need of the present era.
Among the guests on the stage, Jamia Islamia Bhatkal Superintendent Maulana Maqbool Ahmed Kobatte Nadvi said that media is a great way to get people on the right track. It can do things we can’t imagine. The same means of communication include Friday sermons, the benefits of which we can see in society today. Maulana congratulated the officials of Fakro Khabar and his entire team for organizing this workshop and also expressed his happiness to present it in a good and unique way. At the same time, the audience urged the audience to use mobile phones in the right direction.
Mr. Mohsin Shabandari, founder of Bhatkallys.com and Urdu Audio.com, the first website of Juma Bayanat, said that any news should be researched before it is made. Nowadays, it is very important to be careful about the news that is sent to WhatsApp without any research. He also expressed his desire to make the best use of mobile phones and create a platform for all media.
Maulana Ayub Barmawar Nadvi, Maulana Shoaib Nadvi, Maulana Irshad Africa Nadvi, Maulana Muhammad Ali Sharif Nadvi, Maulana Saud Nadvi, Maulana Rehmatullah Nadvi and others were present on the occasion.
source: http://www.bhatkallys.com / Bhatkallys.com / Home> Bhatkal News / by Bhatkal News Bureau / September 04th, 2020
“I faced poverty and misery since childhood and my father took up odd jobs to support the family financially,” recalls Azharuddin. Son of Zahiruddin, a taxi driver from Yavatmal, Azharuddin Quazi has made his family proud by securing AIR-315 in the Civil Services examination of UPSC.
A jubilant Azharuddin remembers his childhood full of difficulties and obstacles when irrespective of their troubled socio-economic status, his parents encouraged him to study. “My mother played a huge role in education of all my brothers including myself,” he says. Azharuddin, who is the youngest of his other three siblings, was forced to come back to Yavatmal a year after he had gone to Pune for undergraduate. After securing the merit list in his standard 12th examinations, he was admitted to a college in Pune but could not continue his studies as his parents did not have enough resources to support his expenses in another city. He shares that his own life has been an example of how problems due to financial instability persisted but his mother, having studied till Matric, never gave up on the career of her children.
“For her, education was the only empowering tool,” he says about his mother, Meraj. He recounts that his mother was a bright student herself but due to family constraints, she was forced to give up studies after 10th. After her marriage with Zahiruddin, she continued her zeal for education and pursued her own dream by giving her children the best of education. Throughout schooling, his mother used to teach all her children at home, assisting the four of them with homework and projects. She was disciplined and strict and showed no mercy or excuses when it came to studies, shares Azharuddin fondly.
“I got felicitated by the then SP of Yavatmal, Mr Abdur Rahman Sir who became inspiration for my IAS dream,” says Azharuddin. He narrates that after having to drop out of college in Pune and motivated by his role model, Abdur Rahman, he resumed undergrad at Yavatmal itself. In 2010 after completing his graduation in Commerce, he went to Jamia Hamdard University in New Delhi for preparation of civil service examinations but again due to lack of finances he had suffered a hindrance. His determination, however, led him to grab a job in a Corporation Bank through a competitive exam and he was appointed as the Probationary Officer where he served for 6 years.
Seeing his younger siblings work hard, as the oldest one among them, he had always dreamt of doing something big for his family and community, he says. Azharuddin has three younger brothers – one has completed MBBS, second is a chemical engineer and third a lawyer. His father being a non matriculate and his mother a matriculate, were always focused on providing quality education to their children, he says.
Azharuddin, who is also a national colour holder in handball, served at the Corporation Bank in New Delhi from 2012 to 2018 in various capacities, including his days as a Branch Manager too. As better days were approaching due to his hard work and will, he resigned from the bank job in 2018 and decided to pursue his dream career as an IAS.
Once again, Azharuddin returned to Jamia Hamdard in New Delhi to prepare for civil services and after one attempt in 2018, he ultimately secured AIR-315 in 2019 examinations.
“Hard work, consistency and perseverance always pays,” he states, while describing that he was guided by Noorul Hasan (IPS addt. SP, Yavatmal) and Raj Kumar (SP Yavatmal dist.) during his UPSC preparation. He further praises his family, friends and teachers who guided him through thick and thin.
When asked about a message for the aspirants belonging to minority communities, Azharuddin says, “Those coming from backward regions and poor socio-economic backgrounds like me, I will tell them to not be afraid and distracted by these limitations.” The Constitution of this country as well as independent institutions like UPSC provides everyone with equal opportunities irrespective of caste, creed, religion, region and gender.
He continues, “If you are good at doing hard work, please have patience and confidence in our Constitution and institutions and Insha’Allah you will succeed.”
source: http://www.twocircles.net / TwoCircles.net / Home> Indian Muslims> Lead Story> TCN Positive / by Maariyah Siddique, TwoCircles.net / August 13th, 2020
