FROM MAULANA’S DESK

FROM MAULANA’S DESK 1. The World’s 500 Most Influential Muslims 2018, 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 recognized 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. PAKISTAN’S NEW PM AND THE PROPHET’S DELINKING POLICY IMRAN KHAN’S party has emerged victorious in the recently concluded parliamentary elections in Pakistan. I listened to his victory speech and prayed for the fulfilment of his good intentions to build a positive future for Pakistan and fulfil the vision of its founder for their country’s development. In his speech, the Prime Minister-elect observed that his inspiration derives from the first state of Madinah established by the Prophet of Islam. Taking Madinah as a reference point marks a right beginning. As a nonagenarian witnessing this development, I would like to offer some words of advice. I have extensively studied the life of the Prophet Muhammad. I discovered that one of the most crucial lessons from the Prophet’s life is that the key to ensuring success of any endeavour is to make the right beginning. Prophet Muhammad started his mission in Makkah in the seventh century. At that time, he had opportunities as well as problems and he opted for what can be termed as the ‘delinking policy’. This right beginning was the secret of his success. As a part of this policy, he placed controversial matters on the negotiation