Al-Risala (English), April 1990

Returning good for evil

1990 4 April 14 Returning good for evil (60) ‘Ubadah Ibn Samit said that the Prophet offered to tell his companions something which would raise them in God’s sight. When they asked him to do so, he said: “Be forbearing with those who behave foolishly with you; forgive those who oppress you; give to those who deprive you and consolidate ties with those who sever their relations with you.

The Urdu Generation

1990 4 April 14 The Urdu Generation (226) After partition in 1947, the various departments were taken over by a generation who, besides having other good educational qualifications, were well-versed in Urdu. This included all the educated Hindus who migrated from Pakistan after partition. Right from Dr. Rajinder Prashad down, to the newspaper reporter, everyone was conversant with Urdu.

A good example of a well-educated Urdu-knowing journalist was veteran Times of India staff reporter Mohan Swaroop Mullick, who died just last year on March 25, 1989. He graduated in English from St. Stephen’s College, Delhi, and also obtained a diploma in Journalism from the Bombay College of Journalism. He was well-versed in English, Punjabi, Hindi, Urdu and German.

It was such versatile, Urdu-knowing people who were entrusted with the different offices in free-India. But Muslims failed to avail of this great asset until they were gradually replaced by Hindi and English-oriented officials who were quite ignorant of Urdu.

The greatest shortcoming of present-day Muslims is that they fail miserably to recognise opportunities. Besides this, they are always very aware of what they have lost, but are invariably unaware of what they still have – a very great potential. The grasping of opportunities and the development of potential are two things which seem inevitably to elude our present-day Muslims. These are the main reason for their lagging so far behind others in the world of today.