ME AND MAULANA: A PERSONAL RECOLLECTION OF WAHIDUDDIN KHAN - John M. Butt

immediately called up Shakil bhai from the train to thank him for giving me such a fantastic and meaningful book. Then onwards, I started reading Maulana’s other books and subscribed for his monthly magazine–Al Risala. My Urdu was not very good initially but continuous reading of Al Risala gave me a good command over Urdu language. I had developed a kind of addiction to reading Maulana’s books. The contents and messages of all his books were as if written to fit into my mind. Everything was falling in place. I was at peace now. All those wisdom of life what he has written in his books were like my lost asset. One day I called up Maulana Sahab on his landline and shared with him my experience of reading his books and expressed my urge of meeting him. He appreciated and invited me on the same day. I rushed to his place as per appointment and got the opportunity to express my feeling face to face. He listened to me very patiently and gave me some tips for my life. After some time, I came across the other aspect of Maulana Sahab and that was “The differences of Maulana’s approach with other Muslim traditional scholars.” My friend Shakil bhai was little apprehensive in letting me focus on differences. He might have felt that I could be confused as a beginner. But I have always been bold in my approach and was confident enough that I will be able to differentiate between right and wrong. I dug all the controversial matters like Maulana’s point of view on Babri Masjid, his connection with BJP/ RSS, his understanding about Imam Mahdi & Dajjal and his understanding about the Prophet as Uswa-e-Hasna. I also read the books and listened to the videos created against Maulana