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

Reflections on a teaching Dr. Mattias Dahlkvist, Sweden A s I began my studies of contemporary Muslim reformers and peace proponents, the few writings I found in the beginning of my studies were written by academics for other academics, working in secular universities mainly in North America. These scattered academic writings often referenced a traditionally schooled Indian religious leader and author, Maulana Wahiduddin Khan. He had written hundreds, perhaps thousands of shorter and longer texts, in various formats, languages, and media, going back at least to the 1970s. As I began to study his writings, I felt deeply compelled to investigate further. It was my fate to learn, and eventually discuss first-hand, how he understood Islam, non-violence, and peace. In these discussions, I brought the perspectives of my own background to the fore, the contended place and role of Islam in the contemporary world and society. Eventually writing about these issues, what I might have missed then, but increasingly understand now, through thinking about and teaching his example to an increasingly global generations of Swedish students, is the fundamental timelessness and generality of his message. Perhaps it is possible, as he himself used to do,