FROM MAULANA'S DESK

FROM MAULANA’S DESK 1. The World’s 500 Most Influential Muslims 2012, Royal Islamic Strategic Studies Centre, Jordan. Maulana Wahiduddin Khan, born in 1925, in Azamgarh, Uttar Pradesh, is an Islamic spiritual scholar who is well-versed in both classical Islamic learning and modern disciplines. The mission of his life has been the establishment of worldwide peace. He has received the Padma Bhushan, the Demiurgus Peace International Award and Sayyidina Imam Al Hassan Peace award for promoting peace in Muslim societies. He has been called ’Islam’s spiritual ambassador to the world’ and is recognised as one of its most influential Muslims1. His books have been translated into sixteen languages and are part of university curricula in six countries. He is the founder of the Centre for Peace and Spirituality based in New Delhi. T HE first issue of the monthly Spirit of Islam appeared in January 2013. With the beginning of this year, the magazine completes three years of publication. The prevailing circumstances were not favourable for bringing out such a magazine. It is the great favour of God Almighty that the magazine has survived against all odds. Recently one of our colleagues presented a copy of the magazine to a tourist. On seeing its title, he said, ‘No, thank you.’ Why did he give such a negative response? It is indeed a direct result of the Paris attacks of November 13, 2015. Events of the kind which happened in France, defame Islam. The worst aspect of these violent activities is that the perpetrators are doing so in the name of Islam. According to media reports, those who witnessed the mass shooting in one of the attacks at a stadium in Paris said that the gunmen shouted ‘Allahu Akbar’ before opening fire. Such incidents of violence are tantamount to doing ungodly activities in the name of Islam. Abdelhamid Abaaoud, the mastermind behind the Paris attacks, declared in a French-language recruiting video for ISIS: ‘Of course, it is not joyous to make blood flow. But from time to time, it is pleasant to see the blood of disbelievers.’