AN INTERVIEW WITH PROF. FARIDA KHANAM

What are your learnings from reading Maulana’s books? What I learned from reading Maulana’s books is so great in magnitude and import that I cannot sum it up in words. My maternal grandfather was a Sufi. Due to his influence we would perform our prayers and recite the Quran regularly. We would fast in the appointed month. But it was mere formality. We never tried to understand the Quran. We never applied its teachings to our lives. We experienced no spiritual or intellectual development. Religion did not become a living force for us. It was through Maulana’s books that I understood the true nature of Islam. For the first time, it dawned upon me that Islam is a mission. It is a message that we have to understand and then apply to our lives, and then pass the message on to others. Realization of God, inculcating intense desire for Paradise and developing positive thinking are the goals that Islam sets for us. Then spreading this message to others is also of paramount importance. The world never gives us what we want from it. This makes us negative. Thus, it becomes necessary to develop the art of positive thinking. We should learn to be thankful for what we have got. After we have performed our household chores, we should devote our time and energy in understanding the religion of God and in trying to make others understand it. Before reading Maulana’s books, I did not know all this. Through Maulana’s books, I found my heart filled with such passion for this mission that I can’t think of ever giving up this noble task. It has become an integral part of my life. What is your message for Muslim women in general? The message for Muslim women is to get good education first. They should equip themselves to play an integral role in their family and society. Then they should work on their personality development. They should spend quality time on their intellectual and spiritual development. The most important thing is to pray to God. They should pray to God that they get maximum opportunity to perform dawah work—conveying the message of Islam. Dawah work is of such a nature that one can perform it in any situation whatsoever. Every day, people visit other homes. One visits a doctor. The children go to school. So we can start doing dawah work in these spheres. Do as much as you have the opportunity to. For example, my sister, Dr Muslimah Siddiqui did not have much opportunity to go anywhere. She started talking to her patients about