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

not only provided me with Maulana Saheb’s literature but also spent time satiating my appetite of several ‘burning’ questions arising from Maulana Saheb’s literature. I am settled in US and however I absolutely love my birth-place Pakistan and understanding anyone not supporting its creation is a hard nut to swallow. Maulana Saheb is constructive critic, it took me some time to understand Maulana Saheb’s logic, overlook this critique and focus on Maulana’s universal message of Dawah culture and how to cultivate it! Once I got the taste of this Islamic literature in modern idiom and simple language, my yearning for learning and engulfing more of this knowledge peaked, I started reading Maulana’s books from cover to cover in hours to days and read more than 100+ of his books, including old Al-Risala magazines from the beginning of its publication, I relished it so much that I could not pass a day without reading some of his literature. Finally, the moment arrived in 2011, when I got the opportunity to meet Maulana Saheb in person!! Along with Kaleem Saheb, I picked Maulana Saheb and other CPS team members from JFK Airport. I had an opportunity to spend some time alone with Maulana Saheb, he was a Dervesh in the true sense, from his words to his clothing to his actions, he embodied modesty (sadgi). Maulana Saheb was an extremely intelligent and wise man, not only he had excellent grasp on Islamic jurisprudence, he gave me some practical advice regarding my personal life. I asked him a lot of questions in public and in private. At one point, he put his hand over my head in public and made dua. I feel like his prayer was accepted immediately and my