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 last week of December 15 was full of new experiences for me. Travelling non-stop, on a 12000 kilometre journey from Delhi to Canada, I reached Toronto where I found that Canada had its own different culture. Just as waterfalls all over the world are unique, for example, the Niagara Falls of Canada, so also is Canada quite unique as a nation. My journey was undertaken at the invitation of the RIS (Reviving the Islamic Spirit) annual conference. Founded by Mr. Fauzan Khan and colleagues, this organisation aims to mobilise the Muslim youth of Canada. To a great extent, judging by the large numbers of Muslim youth from different countries who participated in this program, its members have met this goal. In the course of conversation with the organisation’s young leaders, I learnt that they conceived the idea of forming such an organisation in the wake of 9/11. The event of 9/11 amounted to hitting the “industrial nose” of America directly and the western world indirectly. This experience—a great shock for the entire western world—generated negative feelings about Islam. It profoundly affected the leaders of this organisation and led to their firm resolve to project to the world at large the correct image of Islam and Muslims. The first conference of this organisation was held in 2003. Mr. Fauzan Khan soon found dynamic companions and the movement progressed in leaps and bounds.