BOOKS READY, HA SEEKS IMAM’S SAY-SO

Mambara Hills:
Hakeemusthad seeks more clarification from IMAM regarding its first publishing venture. Printing of the two books already in the pipeline, ‘Indian Religions’ and ‘Isms and Movements’ by Quasimiyusthad, is expected to finish by 20th February, Hafiz Jahfar, IMAM’s treasurer, said on Tuesday.

'Q' IN FIRST PERSON

With folded turban characteristically resting on either of the shoulders, weighty and vivacious thoughts compensating for a rather thin body, Quasimiyusthad (Q) was a dynamic and inspiring presence in our Campus for more than a decade. His never-say- dying spirit to learn and know has always influenced us, his disciples. We still cherish those high-quality lessons in Qura`an, Hadieth, literature etc. which have played a remarkable role in moulding our academic integrity and creative wherewithal.

As a migrant in Qatar, he is still energetic as an orator, activist and above all a well wisher of our family.

During IMAM’s previous meet, Hakeemustad conveyed Q’s hearty regards to us all in his absence and we unanimously decided to celebrate the releasing ceremony of his two scholarly books as a launch pad for our intellectual activities.

Here is he writing for us in the same typical manner...

Have to say a lot, IMAMs। Before that, read a quoted text, and , sorry, Communist Cuba does not allow Mosques or any Islamic activity yet Solidarity Youth Movement backs Cuba because they are against America! What is your opinion? HAAAA HAAAA… HAAA…

1) Kalam, the blue president, says Indian media and people are of negative attitude.

2) CIGI is launching ‘Mahallu survey’, can you conduct a venture like this, IMAMs?

3) Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO has been establishing Village Resource Centres (VRCs) in the rural area throughout India. The objective of this project is to provide the knowledge of science and technology to the villagers in areas like Modern agricultural Technology, Tele medicine, Tele Education and Space Information through satellite communication. An NGO who can provide required space and people will be selected as a Resource Centre. ISRO will install the Infra structure required in the VRC. CIGI has applied for VRCs at various places where it has enough space of its own. Accordingly after inspection the ISRO team has selected CIGI as a Village Resource Centre at three Places, namely Malappuram (CIGI District Office) Mala Block Panchayat at Annammannada and Vazhakalam Akshaya Centre (Perumbavoor). This is for your information please.

Excerpts from the speech former President of India DR. A. P. J. Abdul Kalam delivered in Hyderabad:

Why is the media here so negative?
Why are we in India so embarrassed to recognize our own strengths, our achievements? We are such a great nation। We have so many amazing success stories but we refuse to acknowledge them. Why?

We are the first in milk production.
We are number one in Remote sensing satellites.
We are the second largest producer of wheat.
We are the second largest producer of rice।
Look at Dr। Sudarshan, he has transferred the tribal village into a self-sustaining, self-driving unit. There are millions of such achievements but our media is only obsessed in the bad news and failures and disasters.

I was in Tel Aviv once and I was reading the Israeli newspaper। It was the day after a lot of attacks and bombardments and deaths had taken place. The Hamas had struck. But the front page of the newspaper had the picture of a Jewish gentleman who in five years had transformed his desert into an orchid and a granary.

It was this inspiring picture that everyone woke up to. The gory details of killings, bombardments, deaths, were inside in the newspaper, buried among other news.

In India we only read about death, sickness, terrorism, crime. Why are we so NEGATIVE? Another question: Why are we, as a nation so obsessed with foreign things? We want foreign T. Vs, we want foreign shirts. We want foreign technology.

Why this obsession with everything imported. Do we not realize that self-respect comes with self-reliance? I was in Hyderabad giving this lecture, when a 14 year old girl asked me for my autograph. I asked her what her goal in life is. She replied: I want to live in a developed India.
For her, you and I will have to build this developed India. You must proclaim. India is not an under-developed nation; it is a highly developed nation. Do you have 10 minutes? Allow me to come back with a vengeance.

Got 10 minutes for your country? If yes, then read; otherwise, choice is yours.
YOU say that our government is inefficient.
YOU say that our laws are too old.
YOU say that the municipality does not pick up the garbage.
YOU say that the phones don't work, the railways are a joke, the airline is the worst in the world, and mails never reach their destination।

YOU say that our country has been fed to the dogs and is the absolute pits.

YOU say, say and say. What do YOU do about it? Take a person on his way to Singapore. Give him a name - YOURS. Give him a face - YOURS. YOU walk out of the airport and you are at your International best. In Singapore you don't throw cigarette butts on the roads or eat in the stores. YOU are as proud of their Underground links as they are. You pay $5 (approx. Rs. 60) to drive through Orchard Road (equivalent of Mahim Causeway or Pedder Road) between 5 PM and 8 PM। YOU come back to the parking lot to punch your parking ticket if you have over stayed in a restaurant or a shopping mall irrespective of your status identity... In Singapore you don't say anything, DO YOU? YOU wouldn't dare to eat in public during Ramadan, in Dubai. YOU would not dare to go out without your head covered in Jeddah. YOU would not dare to buy an employee of the telephone exchange in London at 10 pounds (Rs.650) a month to, 'see to it that my STD and ISD calls are billed to someone else.'YOU would not dare to speed beyond 55 mph (88 km/h) in Washington and then tell the traffic cop, 'Jaanta hai main kaun hoon (Do you know who I am?)॥ I am so and so's son.

Take your two bucks and get lost।' YOU wouldn't chuck an empty coconut shell anywhere other than the garbage pail on the beaches in Australia and New Zealand.

Why don't YOU spit Paan on the streets of Tokyo? Why don't YOU use examination jockeys or buy fake certificates in Boston??? We are still talking of the same YOU. YOU who can respect and conform to a foreign system in other countries but cannot in your own. You who will throw papers and cigarettes on the road the moment you touch Indian ground. If you can be an involved and appreciative citizen in an alien country, why cannot you be the same here in India?

Once in an interview, the famous Ex-municipal commissioner of Bombay, Mr. Tinaikar, had a point to make. 'Rich people's dogs are walked on the streets to leave their affluent droppings all over the place,' he said. 'And then the same people turn around to criticize and blame the authorities for inefficiency and dirty pavements. What do they expect the officers to do? Go down with a broom every time their dog feels the pressure in his bowels?
In America every dog owner has to clean up after his pet has done the job।

Same in Japan… Will the Indian citizen do that here?' He's right। We go to the polls to choose a government and after that forfeit all responsibility.

We sit back wanting to be pampered and expect the government to do everything for us whilst our contribution is totally negative. We expect the government to clean up but we are not going to stop chucking garbage all over the place nor are we going to stop to pick a up a stray piece of paper and throw it in the bin. We expect the railways to provide clean bathrooms but we are not going to learn the proper use of bathrooms.

We want Indian Airlines and Air India to provide the best of food and toiletries but we are not going to stop pilfering at the least opportunity।

This applies even to the staff who is known not to pass on the service to the public। When it comes to burning social issues like those related to women, dowry, and girl child! And others, we make loud drawing room protestations and continue to do the reverse at home. Our excuse? 'It's the whole system which has to change, how will it matter if I alone forego my sons' rights to a dowry.' So who's going to change the system?

What does a system consist of? Very conveniently for us it consists of our neighbours, other households, other cities, other communities and the government। But definitely not me and YOU. When it comes to us actually making a positive contribution to the system we lock ourselves along with our families into a safe cocoon and look into the distance at countries far away and wait for a Mr.Clean to come along & work miracles for us with a majestic sweep of his hand or we leave the country and run away.

Like lazy cowards hounded by our fears we run to America to bask in their glory and praise their system. When New York becomes insecure we run to England. When England experiences unemployment, we take the next flight out to the Gulf. When the Gulf is war struck, we demand to be rescued and brought home by the Indian government. Everybody is out to abuse and rape the country. Nobody thinks of feeding the system. Our conscience is mortgaged to money.

Dear Indians, The article is highly thought inductive, calls for a great deal of introspection and pricks one's conscience too.... I am echoing J. F. Kennedy's words to his fellow Americans to relate to Indians.....

'ASK WHAT WE CAN DO FOR INDIA
AND DO WHAT HAS TO BE DONE TO MAKE INDIA
WHAT AMERICA AND OTHER WESTERN COUNTRIES ARE TODAY'

Let’s do what India needs from us.
Thank you, Dr। Abdul Kalaam।
Q

IMAM TO CONSOLIDATE FEET ON MIHRAB

They were once again listening to the cadences of the 'rain' which, years back, in parallel with the melody of the beautiful slop rain in picturesque Mambara Hills, had nursed their soul back to health and nourished their spiritual existence. By the time this revivifying ‘shower’ drizzled into an end, followed by brief but fitting postscripts by Kunjamusthad and Darimiyusthad and the melodious feast of Qawali presented by their younger brothers, IMAMs have taken some resolute strides to consolidate their feet on the Mihrabs of life.
Mambara Hills, Feb 10:
It was more than a jovial get-together for around 70 alums of KKHM Islamic and Arts College who gathered in their ancestral institution for a day of introspection, interactions and reminiscences. Islamic Mission of the Alums of Markaz (IMAM)’s first meeting of an expectedly hectic year turned out to be an exhilarating homecoming. Thanks to its therapeutic appeal, each golden moment of roughly 12 hours will be etched in the memory of IMAMs who thronged on Sunday the refurbished college auditorium decked with a stately wooden rostrum.

Ranging from Psychologist Suleiman Melpathur’s two-hour long excellent speech to the finale marked by Qawali, the action-packed day proved to be highly reinvigorating. IMAMs were reassured about their merit, criticized for their apathy and awakened from supine inertia to the gravity of their mission. They restored their strength, replenished their fuels and retuned their goals. Sky is the limit, they were told; conquer the pinnacles, they were exhorted; and, prove to be different, they were urged.

'How to row against waves?'
In the first session, Suleiman Melpathur, the Psychologist, cautioned the enlightened audience, comprising both students and alumni, about the stormy waters ahead. His speech, interspersed with practical demonstrations, anecdotes and parables was a special experience for the audience. Quoting profusely from Hadieth, Quraan and History, Mr. Suleiman asked the students to be updated, alert and dedicated to the noble cause they have embarked on. What the world and the Umma most badly needed are individuals capable of creating differences; and engendering such a generation of individuals is the most significant onus vested on the shoulders of Scholars like Wafies, he said.

'Promises to keep'
Ahmed Faizy, President of IMAM, led the second session. He harked back to how the weekly assemblies played a crucial role in moulding the character, personality and wisdom of each student in the college. Tears welled up in every body’s eyes as Mr. Ahmed referred to the umbilical cord still refusing to be broken between former students of the campus and their esteemed teachers.

The grandeur of their cause and the seriousness of their mission required from Wafees some enthusiastic and dedicative strides so that they would be able to materialise what was expected of them, he pointed out. Mr. Ahmed later explained the blueprint of the activities for the next five months.

Then the delegates were asked to fill up the registration form and were divided to three groups on the basis of their areas of interest. The speakers' forum led by Muhammed Saleem Wafy prepared an exhaustive schedule for the speakers in the next five months. The writers’ wing under the leadership of Ayoob Khan Faizy seeks to ensure their respective members’ overall partnership in an extensive ‘writing campaign’. The campaign, as was later explained by the honourable Principal, aims at writing maximum numbers of article on important Islamic topics in almost all major Malayalam journals and news papers. The Information & Technology team led by Muhammd Salhuddeen Wafy put forward the innovative idea of launching a comprehensive Islamic website for IMAM in the near future.

’Dreams without wings’
The third session started on an unusually cordial note as Hakeemusthad, the most respected patriarch of the family, himself stood up with the attendance sheet and started to call each one’s name. His inquiry about the absentees, his implied smile while uttering certain names, his casual remarks about some, and the explanation he himself gave regarding the whereabouts of some others added a flavour of intimacy to the overall situation.

His speech, the most important item of any alumni feast, weaved an exclusive fabric of disciplines touching almost all aspects of a former student’s personal, social and educational life. The speech was also an attempt to locate some of the basic frailties of the IMAMS. It aptly pointed to where, how and why they did miss the mark. It inspired them to go far and encouraged them to understand their faculties and prospects.

For each alumnus, the speech did leave no stone unturned. It imparted them with provisions for the rest of their trip through the winding pathways of the parched desert land. To cap it all, Usthad Kodassery, who has been on a long leave from the college for nearly six months, and Anver Master delivered a brief speech each.

'Let’s go for a picnic'
A bus load of IMAMS arrived on the shore of Nila in Kuttippuram; they spent almost one hour there till dusk chalking out some innovative agendas for the future. The élan and enthusiasm with which each one boosted up the dialogues and deliberations made it known that the twinkling of the candle they arduously kindled from the Mambara Hills is not to be extinguished.

The grand finale
After three group leaders explained the agenda of their respective wings, the fourth session took an embarrassingly dull and stereotypical turn when Wafies from so-called ‘different’ fields started to blabber about their ‘experiences’. It seemed for a while that this much- hyped alumni meeting too cannot break away from the tragic fate of most of its previous editions.

But, comfortingly enough, at a crucial juncture when IMAMs appeared to be no more capable of deciding their agenda among themselves, Hakeemusthad was forced to have the run of the entire session. However disinterested may IMAMs look to the true spirit of their cause and to the specific message of this gathering, he was not ready to let it be another non-event. He felt the dire necessity of exorcising them of this apparent lack of confidence. He called IMAMs their bluff and asked them to prove their mettle.

Strongly challenging them to walk their talk and live their dreams, he gave vent to his strong sense of despair over their whole mission turning out to be virtual non-starters. His speech passionately appealed them to invest their talent, skills and knowledge on a far more lucrative enterprise-the dissemination of Allah’s great religion. The speech was an eye-opener with its intensity trialling each IMAM in the court of his conscience. It fuelled in each one’s mind a fire capable of burning his lethargy in to ashes. It also reminded them of the heavy prices they have to pay for the detachment between them and the sources of their spiritual wisdom.

They were once again listening to the cadences of the 'rain' which, years back, in parallel with the melody of the beautiful slop rain in picturesque Mambara Hills, had nursed their soul back to health and nourished their spiritual existence. By the time this revivifying ‘shower’ drizzled into an end, followed by brief but fitting postscripts by Kunjamusthad and Darimiyusthad and the melodious feast of Qawali presented by their younger brothers, IMAMs have taken some resolute strides to consolidate their feet on the Mihrabs of life.


IMAM WORKING COMMITTEE

Presidnt : Ahmed Faizy Kakkad
Vice Presidents : Abdul Razaq Faizy C.P, Rafeeq Abdul Barr Wafy

General Secretary : Sidheeq Al Akbar Wafy
Joint Secretaries : Ashraf Faizy K.S, Zainudheen Wafy K.M.

Treasurer: Al Hafiz Jahfar Wafy

MEMBERS : Ali Faizy P, Azeez Faizy Thuvvur, Habeebulla Faizy, Al Hafil Noushad Wafy, Abdul Rahman Wafy C.P, Noufal Wafy N, Salahudheen Wafy K, Nafih Wafy T.K, Haider Ali Wafy, Ja'far Shareef Wafy, Noorudheen Wafy Makkara, Nazar Wafy T, Muhammed Qubaib Wafy, Abdul Razaq Wafy C.