AN INTERVIEW WITH MS KAUSER IZHAR

it in a form of story. He seemed to me as the master of extracting wisdom and spirituality for the readers. As I read the books, it created anticipation and yearning for me to study more material especially how he explained the discovery and understanding of God through his experiences and through his study of nature. Kindly describe your first meeting with Maulana. On May 2015, I picked up the phone and called CPS International, New Delhi’s number, I was connected to Rajat Malhotra. I introduced myself and explained how Maulana’s writings had changed my thinking, and had helped me connect to the Creator and explore spirituality. I asked him if the books listed on the website were available in the US or in Pakistan, or if they could be shipped to me and I would pay the shipment charges. Mr Rajat broke the good news that Khaja Kaleem Bhai, the main CPS contact in US resided in Pennsylvania, but he was touring India and other countries and expected to be back in the US in a few months. Sometime after, Kaleem Bhai returned my call and visited me with boxes of books. I thought it was a miracle that he lived only an hour from my home in Pennsylvania. I tried to pay him for the books but he replied that he would consider the bill paid if I finished reading all these books. He also informed me that Maulana would be visiting America in AugustSept 2015 to launch his book The Age of Peace and he was invited to talk in the US Institute of Peace in Washington DC and also at ISNA in Chicago. He would also be speaking about pursuit of peace in RIS convention in Toronto. I planned for a two-week vacation from work and anxiously waited for the opportunity to meet my spiritual mentor who had changed my life. I started crying when I met Maulana Sahib in Kaleem Bhai’s home in Pennsylvania. I told him about my journey of seeking and searching for God. I told him that I found God through his writings. He asked questions about my life and what was the takeaway of my learning from his books. I mentioned my learnings from his books and the Spirit of Islam magazine I had been reading. I shared how I was able to discover God through the items of gratitude, which also needed to be discovered on daily basis. And how deconditioning my mind from negativity and critical thinking in daily life helped me become spiritual and helped establish connection with God.