MY THOUGHTS ON MAULANA WAHIDUDDIN KHAN - Dr. Rajat Malhotra

Maulana’s Ideology Maulana had told us during one of visits to America that his discovery of God and Islam were something that happened within him - it was a process he had to participate in. His education which he received from traditional madrasahs was insufficient to convince a modern Western man about Islam. Therefore after graduating from madrasah, he learnt English on his own, for English was the language of the modern man. He spent long hours and traveled to various places in search of God. He then made a thorough study of the Western sciences in order to know their reality. He read mathematics and science in relation to religious sciences. He then went on to present the religion of Islam, deriving from the original texts of Islam, in a modern style for modern man. Maulana’s more than 200 books are written in a modern style. Maulana was in conversation with us while we were on a 500 mile trip from New York City to Raleigh, North Carolina. He told us the story of how difficult it was to start Al-Risala Magazine. His colleagues thought that his magazine would not work because people like informative articles and Maulana’s articles are suggestive and people do not like suggestive articles, i.e. they do not accept advice. Maulana said he did not know where to unload the barrage of thoughts that came to his mind. He succeeded in bringing out this magazine by following the strategy of Reader’s Digest. By using small simple stories and thought provoking vigniettes, he captured the attention of his readers. Maulana’s thoughts and ideas are in a modern scientific style which were beyond the understanding of contemporary