S FROM MAULANA'S DIARY

January 4, 1986 A Muslim leader came to Delhi and met me. He had prepared a memorandum in English. He gave me a copy of it. He wanted to present this memorandum to the Indian Prime Minister. The memorandum mentioned the economic backwardness of Muslims. The government was then asked to provide special concessions to Muslims until they become equal to the majority community in the economic field. I already knew the leader. I knew he had his own business and rented houses. These earned him at least 10,000 rupees per month. On the other hand, his brother barely earned five hundred rupees a month. I said to the leader, "Your brother is way behind you in terms of making his livelihood. Therefore, you should keep giving half of your income to your brother every month until he becomes economically equal to you." When he heard this, he started laughing. With a heavy heart, I said: I am surprised that you cannot offer the same concession to your own brother that you are asking the Hindu Prime Minister to offer. What the Muslim leadership is unaware of today is that this world is not a world of concessions but a world of competition. The one who searches for concessions can find nothing for himself in this world. We must not entangle Muslims in the above kinds of false slogans, but tell them that they are living in the world of competition. Here you can gain something only when you prove your ability. If you cannot prove your ability, you will not find anything here. January 5, 1986 Mr Shah Wasif Imam came to Delhi for some work. He came to my office (Nizamuddin, New Delhi) to meet me today. He has been studying Al-Risala monthly (Urdu version of Spirit of Islam) for two years. He is also a distributor of both Urdu and English magazines. I gave him two Urdu books “Haqeeqat ki Talash” and “Hal Yahan Hai”. I asked him what his learnings from Al-Risala were. His reply in his own words is reproduced here: “Before I was introduced to Al-Risala, I would see a city, I would think about its glory and the people who created it. After reading Al-Risala, I am lost in the greatness of the Creator who gifted human beings with the ability to build such awe-inspiring cities.” He added, “Earlier I thought I was Shah Wasif Imam. Now I think I am a servant of God.”