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

HOW I MET MAULANA Basit Jamal, New Delhi I t was 2003 and I was a 2nd year student who had just found interest in religion. My father had asked me to read God Arises. I just loved it and went to buy more copies at Goodword Store not knowing the store was Maulana’s. The store manager seeing how full of praise and excited I was for Maulana asked me, would you like to meet him, he lives across the street? I agreed without a second thought. He sent me to Maulana’s house and after a long interview to the police security guard I was allowed to meet him. Maulana interviewed me for a little time and I was doing the more talking. It was lunch time and his lunch came in, a very simple vegetarian food (roti, daal, etc.). I took permission to leave but he insisted that I eat with him and share in the same plate, he won’t be hungry if he eats half of it. After lunch I again started to talk not realising that now Maulana wanted to speak and I was going on and on. He interjected, how old did you say you are? I said 21yrs. He replied I have lived 21yrs of life 4 times by now. The way he said it, it hit me very hard and I got the cue that it’s his right to speak more.