AN INTERVIEW

His approach towards spirituality is mind-based. He talks extensively about Marifah which is realization of God, our Creator. The concepts of deep thinking and contemplation are the highlighting aspects that should be followed by a spiritual person. Another very important teaching of Maulana is about converting material events into spiritual lessons. He gives the example of how a cow converts the grass it eats into milk. Milk is a wholesome food for human beings. Maulana compares it to the phenomenon of how we should learn from this to convert negativity into positivity. There is a lesson to be learnt from the honeybee. In spite of the presence of so many different things, it just takes the nectar from the flowers and ignores everything else, thus teaching us to concentrate on the higher purpose we are born for and ignore other trivial distractions. These are some examples which are mind-boggling concepts on becoming a spiritual person. Talking about India, Maulana said that India is a spiritual country and he envisioned India as a Spiritual Superpower. What are the challenges for the interfaith/inter-religious dialogue/ movement in the contemporary world? What are the future prospects/ opportunities to connect the vision and mission with more and more people? Future prospects and opportunities are many such as widespread distribution of peace literature in both international and national languages, engaging more people through dialogue, seminars. We believe that technology and social media is a boon for reaching out far and wide. There is openness among people. Now, people seeking truth are in favour of communal harmony. Maulana said that every human being is a friend either potential or actual. Everyone has right to practise one’s religion, and one is free to peacefully convey the message. Covid-19 has taught an important lesson to the whole world and that is, how helpless we are as human beings. Covid-19 did not discriminate between age, gender, income group or faiths. It impacted everyone and caused a massive realization among humankind that what is the real purpose of our life. When people saw their loved ones pass away and they could do nothing, they realized that how short our lifespan is and if in this short lifespan we waste our time fighting, then we truly are eternal losers.