A Lesson for Us All

A Lesson for Us All

1990 8 August 6-8 A Lesson for Us All (1035) At a meeting held in February this year, Maulana Ikramuddin Qasmi born in 1938 at Damranwan in the district of Bhagalpur recounted some of the incidents in his life which have a lesson for us all.

He told us first how, in 1966, after the Ganga on a steamer, he boarded a passenger train to Bhagalpur at the Bar railway station. As there was a great rush at that time, few seats were available, so when the Maulana noticed a Dalda container on a seat, he moved it aside and sat down.

A little later, a young Hindu came in. It seemed that he had placed the container on the seat to reserve it for himself. When he found that it had been removed, he asked who had done so. Maulana Ikramuddin at once told him that he had been responsible. At this the young man flew into a rage. This was because according to his beliefs – it had become polluted on being touched by a Muslim. “It contained Ganga Jal,*” he said, “I was taking it to Deoghar. You made it impure by touching it. Now it is not worth taking home!”

In a mad rage, he kept on repeating this provocative statement that the Gange Jal had been made impure. Maulana Ikramuddin did not however react to the furious utterances, He merely got up from his seat quietly, leaving it vacant for the young man. All he said was that he did not know the container was filled with Ganga Jal or that his touch would render it impure. He regretted having made a mistake and asked the young man’s forgiveness.

The young Hindu, however, went on with his abuse. Still Maulana Ikramuddin did not react. On seeing this, other Hindu passengers turned against the youth and sided with the Maulana. “When the Maulana is keeping quiet, when he is admitting his mistake, why do you go on raging at him? They asked. Then they turned to the Maulana and said. “Maulana, you have nothing to fear, He cannot harm you.”

Maulana just kept standing and finally the young Hindu calmed down. After some time, the youth very casually asked the Maulana where he had come from. The latter told him he had come from the Kharak Bazaar. (The Maulana was actually living there at that time) The young man then remarked. There is a Maulana living at Kharak Bazaar by the name of Maulana Ikramuddin. Do you happen to know him? He is a real gentleman. My mother once went to see him to get an amulet from him. It turned out to be highly efficacious. Now 1 want to see the Maulana for myself.

Maulana Ikramuddin smiled and said, “He is travelling at present and will reach home tomorrow. Then you can see him.” The young Hindu then asked, “How do you know he is travelling?” At that point the Maulana revealed his identity.

* Pure holy water of the river Ganga.

When he realized that all along it had been Maulana Ikramuddin he had been talking to, the young Hindu cast himself down before him, clutched his feet and bagged his forgiveness for his outrageous behaviour. He said, “I have made a terrible mistake. 1 wish 1 could just disappear from here.” He got up from his seat and insisted that the Maulana should sit down. Then he himself kept standing until they had reached their destination. When they alighted, he requested the Maulana to have break fast with him, an invitation which the Maulana accepted.

Another of the incidents he related took place in 1982 when he had gone to Bangalore to conduct the Tarawih prayers (special prayers said by Muslims at night during the month of Ramazan). One day, while he was going from Hagnoor to Koram Halli by scooter, he ran out of petrol. Then he noticed a car parked inside a coconut grove by the side of the street. The Maulana entered the grove and found a Hindu sitting there. The latter, seeing the Maulana approach, asked his man to fetch a chair and invited him to come and sit down. Then, speaking respectfully, he asked, “Hazrat, what has brought you here? The Maulana told him that he had run out of petrol and that he would have to go another eight kilometers before he could obtain any. Seeing the car parked here, he had come to the hopes of finding some petrol.

The Hindu immediately asked his driver if there was any petrol in the car, and if not to fill up the scooter tank with petrol from the car tank. After receiving the petrol, the Maulana took out a 20 rupee note to pay for it, but the Hindu stood up joined his hands and said, “No money please, we only want you to pray for us.”

Maulana Ikramuddin narrated many other such incidents remarking that such character as was found among the Hindus was different to find nowadays among the Muslims.

From his experience he had learned that it never paid to make anyone angry, and that if one became angry oneself, one should never retaliate in anger. If one followed these principles, one could turn the direst of enemies into the closest of friends.

Although God has created everyone with the ability to distinguish between right and wrong, the world is not free from evil. God also gave man an ego, and it is this ego which – once aroused – brings so many evils to the world. Normally the ego lies dormant – a special blessing of God. The wisest course, therefore, is to let it remain dormant and carefully avoid arousing it.

When man’s ego is dormant, he is in his natural state. His actions are what true humanity demands of him. One turns evil only when the ego has been touched. It is a wise man who does everything in his power to avoid arousing the ego of others. If, for some reason, this is unavoidable, he should endeavour by adroit handling of the situation, to nip the matter in the bud.

Those who adopt this policy will never have cause for complaint against others, regardless of which country they live in.