MEMORIES OF MAULANA

MEMORIES OF MAULANA A Tribute By Nigar Ataulla T HE month of April is here, with its beautiful sunshine, which is so important for us. On some days at this time of the year one can hear the call of the koel, reminding one of those ‘exam times’ when we were students, isn’t it? And, if there’s thick enough greenery around, one can hear crickets sing, too! Maybe they are thirsty and are waiting for the monsoons. April also takes my mind to two people who passed away in this month some years ago. One is my father, whose death occurred on April 27, 2019, and the other is Maulana Wahiduddin Khan, who passed away on April 21, 2021. You may wonder why I am connecting them both. It’s very simple: It was through my father that I got introduced to Maulana Wahiduddin Khan’s writings and wisdom. It began many decades ago when my father would travel to Delhi on work. It was there that he met with Maulana. My father was fond of discussing religion and reading books in Urdu, and I suppose he had at least some heart-to-heart conversations with Maulana on these matters during visits to Delhi. Maulana very generously gave him some of his books, and that’s how he became an avid reader of Al-Risala magazine. When he would return from Delhi, he would sometimes give me books by Maulana that had been translated to English. I also remember him mentioning the hospitality extended to him by Maulana and Farida Aapa, Maulana’s daughter. This is how I was first introduced to Maulana’s writings. I couldn’t read Urdu, and so the simple articles that appeared in the then English version of Al-Risala appealed to me. Reading one book by Maulana—God-Oriented Life—which my father had brought back from Delhi opened my eyes to matters related to the higher realm—God, accountability for our actions, the Hereafter and the impermanence of this world. I simply loved this book! It talked to me, as it were, and really touched my heart! It tugged at my heartstrings, hinting that there were aspects of my lifestyle that needed correction. As the magazine I was working with at that time needed book reviews, I got connected to Goodword Books, which was connected with Maulana and his school of thought. The books containing colourful and happy illustrations and stories for children that they published were wonderful! Reviewing these books for the magazine I worked with delighted me immensely!