IN THE NAME OF ALLAH, THE BENEFICENT, THE MERCIFUL
A MONTHLY NEWSLETTER - NOVEMBER 2006 ISSUE SENT ON 21-10-2006
EDITOR : V.M. KHALEELUR RAHMAN
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AMBUR MUSLIM EDUCATIONAL SOCIETY (AMES), AMBUR EDUCATIONAL CONFERENCE - WOMEN SPECIAL -
IN THIS ISSUE: 1) EDITORIAL 2) ) ISLAM AND ITS CARDINAL TENETS 3)) EDUCATION AND EMPOWERMENT OF MUSLIM WOMEN 4) ISLAM IN INDIA AND 5) THOUGHTS OF A LONELY MOTHER
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“AMES ” CENTENARY CELEBRATIONS RELATED

Many eminent personalities participated in the Educational Conference of the AMES Centenary Celebrations held on 5th and 6th September 2006 after its inauguration and question-answer session by His Excellency The President of India Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam on 4th September 2006. His inaugural address was illuminating and power-packed and question-answer session full of thoughts and wisdom necessary for everyone particularly the students who are to shape the destiny of our country –the beautiful India – in future.

We must be proud that we are Indians. We must be proud that our President is Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam - a scientist par excellence- who is determined to mould the minds of the students for better India and make India a developed nation before 2020.

Dr. Kalam is a “ teacher ” worth the name. He gives importance to the teaching profession and encourages students to dream their goals and endeavour their best to achieve them. He asks everyone to be honest and clean our society from evils like corruption.

The people of Ambur were delighted in welcoming him at Ambur and listening to his lecture and interaction with the students which were full of honest and inspiring advice. We must also be proud that he felt at home in the midst of the people of Ambur and wished them well. The students received his best attention. Their joy knew no bounds.

The Headmaster Mr. Chand Basha of the Mazharul Uloom High School –one of the six institutions established and managed by the Ambur Muslim Educational Society including a full fledged Science and Arts College by the same name was pleasantly surprised when Dr. Abdul Kalam called him to the dais and handed over some books for the school. All these show the intense interest he has in the spread of education and knowledge. He strongly believes that it is only through education one can come up in life with all dignity and decorum and make our country progress and prosper.

In this issue we are happy to publish the article titled “Education and Empowerment of Muslim Women” presented by Mrs. Naazreen Bhura, Editor, Deccan Chronicle, Chennai Edition, during the aforesaid educational conference. It is very interesting and thought provoking. We are sure that it will make our readers ponder over the inevitability of imparting very good education to women under whose care and attention children grow up. There cannot be two opinions that every woman has to be well educated and empowered for a dignified existence in this highly materialistic world.

We are also happy in publishing the write-ups “Islam and its cardinal tenets” by H.E. Farooque Ahmed, “Islam in India” by Saniya Mariam Meddaikar and a poem “Thoughts of a lonely mother” by Amina Khaleel.

We would like to have your comments about this issue.

Three leading personalities 1) Mrs. Bader Sayeed, M.L.A.,Senior Advocate, Madras High Court, Former Chairperson, Waqf Board 2) Mrs. Fathima Muzaffer, President, Islamic Information Centre and 3) Mrs. Naazreen Bhura, Editor, Deccan Chronicle, Chennai Edition, presented their papers in the Educational Conference on the 6th September 2006 . More than 6000 girls of different schools and colleges and women were present in the Conference. The papers presented by the above three sisters were listen to with pin drop silence and appreciated by all.
Miss Sania Mariam Meddekar, second year B.D.S. student, compered the programme and Mrs. Razeena Banu, Principal, T. Abdul Wahid Matriculation Higher Secondary School, Ambur proposed a vote of thanks. Mrs. Bader Sayeed congratulated Miss Saniya Mariam for her excellent compering and wished her all the best.

Durin the Centenary Celebrations Mr. T. Rafeeque Ahmed informed the audience twice as before that he had taken a decision to establish an Arts and Science College for Women in Ambur. It was welcomed by all as a Women’s College is urgently needed for Ambur and its surrounding villages. Mr. Rafeeque Ahmed is honest in his sayings and doings. Everyone wishes him all the best in all his endeavours by the grace of Allah.

It has to be noted that Mr. Rafeeque Ahmed is the Managing Trustee of the prestigious T. Abdul Wahid Matriculation Higher Secondary School, Ambur managed by T. Abdul Wahid Charitable Foundation which was founded by the late great visionary Mr. T. Abdul Wahid, B.A.B.L., leather and shoe industrialist and Member of Parliament. This school is functioning well in Ambur and within a short span of time it has earned a very good reputation for its good standard of education and discipline. It is hoped that it will go on improving its standard further and further.
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ISLAM AND ITS CARDINAL TENETS
H.E. FAROOQ AHMED

Islam is a great religion, not only for its principles, ethics, tenets and philosophies, but but also for its simple and facile practicality. This is the reason for its wide acceptance throughout the world. People from different hues in various counties are spontaneously attracted by the charm of Islam and triggers mass embracing to the religion.

In Islam the core tenets of five principle duties are Kalima (Faith), Namaz (Prayer), Roza (fasting), Zakath (Charity) and Haj (Pilgrimage) are mandatory for all Muslims. But each duty is so simple and flexible that no Muslim will find it beyond his capacity or hard to perform.

Kalima (Faith) that Allah is one and His messenger is Mohammed (SAS) should be orally and mentally unwavering Iman.

Namaz or Salath (Prayers) to be performed five times a day is established at convenient time. They can be performed in group at mosque or separately in residence on time. If physical condition does not permit, it can be performed by sitting, by lying or even by gestures. It is mandatory to wash (Wazoo) before each Namaz by water. If water is not available thaimam can be done by clean sand in lieu of water.

Roza or Sawm (fasting) to be observed during Ramzan month is one of the cardinal responsibilities of every Muslim. Here again many concessions and relaxations are permitted to sick, old, travelers, pregnant women and those who are in their menstrual periods.

Zakath (Charity) is mandatory for every affordable Muslim of having certain wealth in the shape of movable or immovable property. Poor and persons in debts are exempted from Zakath.

Haj (Pilgrimage) is the duty of every Muslim who can afford to bear the expenses for the journey and other incidentals. However Haj is mandatory for every Muslim only once in his lifetime. There are two types of pilgrimage. One type is Haj which is performed during the month of Zil Haj. The second type is Umrah, which can be performed any time. While Haj is compulsory for those who can afford it, Umrah is not so.

Like Namaz (Prayers) to be performed only five times, Roza (fasting) in Ramzan, Zakath (Charity) once in a year, Haj is mandatory only once in a lifetime. Kalima (Faith) should also be with us in letter and spirit.

There is a peculiar phenomenon which is prevalent among rich people to undertake Haj more than once and frequenting Umra quite a number of times. They have converted it an annual ritual diluting the inherent importance and significance, at par with their usual foreign jaunts and merry tours. Though there is absolutely no issue involved in this, yet the expenses incurred during such repeat Haj and Umras could be utilized for charity works like helping needy people in education, marriage and clearing of debts etc.

An exclusive ‘Corpus’ can be created and those who desire to perform repeat Haj or Umra can invest in the ‘fund’ to be utilized for a better cause of helping needy and distressed in society. Almighty Allah definitely will be more pleased and disposed to such acts of generosity. Though this proposition is highly sensitive and controversial to certain people who actually misunderstand Islam, yet ulema can take up the task of educating such people in accepting the proposition.

One doubts if the repeat Haj pilgrimage of some people is to display ones authority of wealth or to project an image of distinct status in society. There may be a few who really desire to undertake repeat Haj or Umra out of genuine love for Harmain Shariff. It is doubtful whether people performing repeat Haj or Umra do strictly perform Namaz five times a day without default in joining Jamath, which is the best form of prayer. How many will be allotting Zakath as per Shariat, ie: 2½% of their wealth per annum – after sincerely valuing their total wealth?

How many are observing fasting (Roza) during Ramzan as per religious fervour? Above all how many completely abide by the tenets of Islam shunning corrupt practices in business without resorting to interest transaction? How many are paying fair wages to their employees without bending rules? How many genuinely helping people of their community in society during distress and hour of need? Retrospection of all these ought to be considered while venturing for repeat Haj or Umrah. Otherwise it will tantamount to hypocrisy and duplicity of our religion. However, Almighty Allah is fully aware of intension, purpose and decision of every person and passes judgment accordingly.
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MRS. NAAZREEN BHURA, EDITOR, DECCAN CHRONICLE, CHENNAI EDITION.
Assalamu Alaikum
I am extremely honoured to be here amongst all of you. I would like to first congratulate the Ambur Muslim Education Society on its centenary celebrations and give the organization all my good wishes for continuing with its good work. I am honoured that the society has thought it fit to invite me to address this gathering on a subject which I feel is extremely important as it concerns the upliftment of women, who have for very long in not just our society, but also in many other societies, faced an uphill task in getting their voices heard.The woman's struggle has never been easy. Particularly so when she is trying to find her place in the new world that is evolving around her. Before I go into the discussion on empowerment of women, I would at first like to clear some misconceptions that exist about the status of the Muslim women in India. It is widely believed that the average Muslim woman is at a greater disadvantage in her community than women of other communities in India. This is a wrong belief in my view and is the result of the fact that a few instances of illtreatment of women make it to the headlines because of the very nature of the actions involved. A triple talaq is given on the phone , a fatwa is given that a woman cannot remain married to her husband because she has been raped by her father-in-law.Such instances naturally make it to the newspapers because they highlight the plight of the woman. But on the other hand they also tend to give the impression that Muslim women are suppressed and have no voice in the community. But this I say, is a wrong impression. This is something like what the terrorists are doing for Islam. They are giving other communities, who lack an understanding of Islam, a wrong impression of the Muslims, who are by and large a peace loving and a patriotic community of the country. Impressions, as we all know, can be very misleading. For instance, till recently the impression in the West about India was that it was a country of snakes and elephants, feudal and backward. This we know is not true. And so is the impression about Muslim women in India. They are not cowering, fearful and brow beaten as they are painted. Yes the fatwas that are reported about do exist, the triple talaqs that are written about, also do happen. But what people fail to understand is that these are not the norm, but the exception. Take a look at what two women found when they set out to do research about Muslim women in India. Zoya Hassan, a professor at the Centre for Political Studies at the Jawaharlal University and Ritu Menon, a writer and publisher did a survey of 10,000 Muslim women and found that despite triple talaq, less than 2 per cent of Muslim women are divorced or deserted. They in fact found that Muslim women have a slightly greater say in the area of decision making within the family than their counterparts in other communities.But having said this that Muslim women are not as badly off as portrayed, can we say that everything is alright in the community? While I would say that the extreme view of the condition of the Muslim women in India is wrong and is as off the mark as the impression in the West about India being a country of snakes and elephants, things are not entirely right as far as Muslim women go.Let me give you some examples. I am sure that everyone here has come across such cases. These are everyday occurrences. So I am only reminding you of what you already know. Have you not come across cases of women who are widowed with little children to support at a young age? Thankfully as there is no stigma to widow remarriage in Islam, these women fortunately remarry, but there have been instances of the women having to give up their children by the first husband so that they can move to a new future with the second husband. This has happened not just to widowed women, but also to those who have been deserted by their husbands who have chosen to be unfaithful and remarry a woman of their choice. The young wife who is left behind once again finds herself at the mercy of another man, and this time she has to give up a part of herself - her children. What could be more painful?In the final analysis, it is of course the woman who makes this choice. Does she do it out of fear? Out of lack of confidence in herself or because she thinks she needs someone to take care of her? . Whether educated or not, we are all prone to such fears and wants. But what education does is, it gives us the means to make a different choice, should we overcome these fears. It is when a woman has the ability to make such a choice that I would say she is empowered.There is still fear in the Muslim community that if a woman is "empowered" she will in some way threaten the family structure and traditions. That she will want to go her own way, become "too independent". But I would like to say that while there will be such "misuse" of empowerment by women who don't understand that independence and decision making go hand in hand with responsibility, there will be a lot of others who do understand this. For a woman to be able to say no to something that will cause her enormous unhappiness, she must have something very solid to fall back on. Most important of all, she will need the unstinting support of her family and of course education and financial empowerment.It is not selfish to want education and financial empowerment. It is your right. If you are happy with yourself, you will make others happy, including your husband and children. Being educated and financially empowered does not mean that you turn away from family tradition and practices, that your belief in Allah and his rahmath, become any less. One does not preclude the other. Islam has had highly empowered women.Bibi Khadija (R. A.), wife of our beloved prophet Mohammed (p. b. u. h), bibi Ayesha(R. A.) his youngest wife were greatly empowered women. Bibi Khadija was one of the richest merchants of Mecca. She had already been married twice and since the death of her second husband she used to hire men to trade on her behalf. As prophet Mohammed (p. b. u. h.) was known as the reliable, the trustworthy, the honest, she asked him to take some of her merchandise to Syria. She was impressed greatly by him and later arranged for a proposal to be sent to him which he accepted. She staunchly believed in him and he greatly respected her.Then there is bibi Ayesha. She was highly knowledgeable and most of the hadees is attributed to her as she was the prophet's constant companion. She participated in tending to the sick in war and was greatly respected by one and all.The prophet himself constantly said that female children should be treated exactly in the same manner as male children. According to a report of Ibn Abbas, the prophet's cousin, he is said to have declared, "If a daughter is born to a man and he brings her up affectionately, shows her no disrespect and treats her in the same manner that he treats his sons, the Lord will reward him with paradise."And so it was not surprising that our prophet valued bibi Khadija , his first wife and later bibi Ayesha greatly and they were his staunchest followers and clearly the beloved of Allah, because they exercised their empowerment as it should be.Recently there was a debate about Muslim women standing for elections in the Uttar Pradesh panchayat. A fatwa was issued by three clerics of the Darul Uloom seminary in Deoband that Muslim women contesting these elections should do so wearing a veil.Once again I emphasise that it must be left to the woman to exercise the choice of whether or not to wear the veil when fighting the elections. But then this is not a debate on the veil. The only reason I am bringing this up is because even the clerics of UP who laid down that the women must be veiled while fighting elections, did not say that women could not contest the elections. And several Muslim leaders reacting to this fatwa have since said that Islam does not prohibit women from being leaders. In fact according to the Quran, men and women have equal duties with regard to prayers, the payment of poor tax and in preaching the good and forbidding evil in society, in the economy and in politics. There are innumerable traditions which show that women, like men used to come freely in the presence of the prophet for putting to him questions on social, relgious and economic matters. The prophet used to answer them patiently. Later after the prophet's passing away during the reign of the first four Caliphs, bibi Ayesha who was a very learned woman, was very sought after for her advice even on political matters by the rulers of Islam. So going by tradition even politics is not out of bounds for the Muslim woman. Now let us look at what the levels of literacy are in the Muslim community in India and why they are so. According to the survey conducted by Ritu Menon and Zoya Hasan, huge variations exist in the status of Muslim women across the country. The status of Kashmiri women is different from the status of women in the south. They found that the Muslim women in the south are better off in both rural and urban areas. Their literacy levels were much higher and more of them enrolled in schools than their Hindu counterparts. But in middle school they tended to drop out. The reasons were poverty and the absence of all girl schools. Also as a large number of Muslim boys dropped out of school at this middle school level and began pursuing carpentry or some such profession, girls were discouraged from studying further as this would affect their marriage prospects.Overall, however, they found that the vast majority of Muslim women in the country have never seen the inside of a school and 60% of them are illiterate. So this is the reality despite the fact that Islam recommends education highly. And it is not as if the women themselves have no aspirations.Let me read to you an article that appeared in March this year. It was about a young Muslim girl , her aspirations, the obstacles she faced and how she was transformed through the efforts of an NGO. The report which was from Delhi, said that "Shehasadi Abbas showed no sign of nervousness as she addressed about 500 chattering women from shanties in a New Delhi suburb.
The women were there to celebrate International Women's Day on a Saturday, March 4, since International Women's Day would fall on March 8, a working day. "I want to study and earn for my family," the 21-year-old Muslim woman shouted over the din after presenting a dance drama about women's education. Pinned to the back curtain of the stage were banners proclaiming, "March toward progress," "Give us equal right to education," "End atrocities against women" and "Punish the guilty." The programme was staged in Seelampur, a Muslim-dominated shantytown in the eastern part of the capital.Though it was her first "public address," Abbas later said she did not feel nervous. She said her courage came from her two-year association with the voluntary association. Every year since coming to Seelampur 11 years ago, the association has been training about 300 women and children, mostly Muslims, in the 14 centers they manage in Seelampur and certain other suburbs. These centers, called mahila samiti (women's forum), conduct courses lasting from six months to a year on tailoring, beauty and health care. They also provide conversational English classes for the women and coach students of government primary schools. In addition, their facilities help the women socialize with one another by celebrating programmes such as Women's Day."It is quite amazing to see these young Muslim women on the stage without any nervousness," commented a member of the voluntary association. She pointed out that it had been "quite unthinkable" in the past for Muslim women to perform in public.Before her tryst with the centre run by the NGO , Abbas said she had no courage to leave her one-room tenement alone. She did not even dare tell her parents she wished to continue her studies when they asked her to care for her siblings after her fifth grade. "Girls must stay home to do household chores," she echoed their words as she bottle-fed her 4-year-old brother, the youngest of 11 siblings. Abbas, the second child but oldest of the four girls, said her parents insisted that her brothers study but the girls had to stop their own studies after a few years. Only the youngest girl, now 11, goes to school. "I will not allow my parents to stop her studies," asserted Abbas, one of the 51 women given diplomas for completing a tailoring course this year. She said she can now support her family thanks to her tailoring job. To join the classes, Abbas had to contend with her father, who runs a butcher shop in the locality. As the 52-year-old man shooed away flies and puffed on beedi, a local cigarette, he elaborated why his daughters had to stay indoors: "Girls are like money. If you keep money in the open, others will loot it. A girl's responsibility is to attend to household chores," he said.The only support Abbas received came from her mother, who learned about the center from neighbours. "When I saw my neighbor's daughter stitching her own clothes, I wanted to send my daughter to the same center," the 42-year-old illiterate woman said.The lanky woman with sunken eyes on a wrinkled face has no regrets. She said her daughter's surprising performance in the dance drama "was the first time I saw a stage programme." The progress Abbas has been making has convinced the mother of the value of education, so she has shifted her youngest daughter from a government school to a private one where, she said, the teaching is better.Abbas herself now plans to prepare privately for 10th-grade exams. "The girls have a lot of desire and willingness to study," observed Rounak Jahan, who manages a coaching center in the shanty. The 32-year-old woman laments that parents in the slum do not encourage the education of their daughters, and some cannot even write their own names. According to a coordinator of the centers the young women initially were so fearful "they could not tell their names to the class, but now they have no problem in facing an audience." She acknowledges they are not creating a sea change in the area, but that is fine, because "it is a slow process and there is much we have to achieve."So as the report shows there is a long way to go. How are we going to tackle this problem? What do we do to make sure that girls get education? The survey shows that women are not being held back from pursuing an education because of Islamic ideals, but more because of economic and social reasons such as their marriage prospects. It then stands to reason that the men in the community must also aspire for higher education. They should not give up education at the mid-school level and be determined to fight the odds and make a better life for themselves than being mere carpenters or artisans. The more educated the men and women are in our community the better for all of us.I would like to conclude by saying that let us not hold back our women because we fear where it will lead them or us to, but rather let us give them the love and support they need to be the best they can be and to realize the potential that Allah has given them, so that they can be the best in every role they are here to play, that of mother, wife, sister and also those of a valued citizen and member of the community. I thank you all very much once again for giving me this opportunity.
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ISLAM IN INDIA
SANIYA MARIAM MEDDAIKAR

Islam is the second largest religion in India (after Hinduism – 77.69% ) where Muslims number around 174 million (16.20%) and India has the second largest population of Muslims in the world after Indonesia. Since its introduction to India, Islam has made religious, artistic, philosophical, cultural, social and political contributions to Indian history, heritage and life.

ROLE OF MUSLIMS IN INDIA’S FREEDOM MOVEMENT

The contribution of Muslim revolutionaries, poets and writers is immense in India’s struggle against the British. Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, Hakim Ajmal Khan and Rafee Ahmed Qidwai are a few of Muslims who devoted their life for this purpose. Mohammed Ashf aqullah Khan of Shajahanpur who conspired and looted the British treasury at Kakory (Lucknow) to cripple the administration and who, when asked for his last will, before execution desired: No desire is left except one that someone may put a little soil of my motherland in my winding sheet.

Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan (Popular as Frontier Gandhi), a great nationalist who spent 45 of his 95 years of life in jail for the freedom of India, Barkatullah of Bhopal, one of the founders of the Ghadar party which created a net work of anti British organisations and who died penniless in Germany in 1927; Syed Rahmath Shah of the Ghadar party who worked as an underground revolutionary in France and was hanged for his part in the unsuccessful Ghadar (mutiny) uprising in 1915 ; Ali Ahmed Siddiqui of Faizabad (U.P.) who planned the Indian mutiny in Malaya and Burma along with Syed Mujtaba Hussain of Jaunpur and who was hanged in 1917;

Bakkom Abdul Khader of Kerala who participated in Quit India struggle in 1942 was hanged; Omar Subhani, an industrialist and a millionaire of Bombay who provided Gandhiji with Congress expenses and who ultimately gave his life for the cause of Independence. Among Muslim women, Hazrath Mahal, Asghari Begum, Be Amma and other contributed heavily in the struggle of freedom from the British.

There was also a major uprising by Kerala Muslims in the form of Moplah Rebellion.

The following is a list of some famous Muslims who fought for a unified India (as opposed to Pakistan): Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, Hakeem Ajmal Khan, Tipu Sultan, Hyder Ali, Maulana Shaukat Ali, Hasrat Mohani, Professor Barkatullah, Dr. Zakir Hussain, Saifuddin Kichlu, Allama Shibli Nomani, Vakkom Abdul Khadir, Dr. Manzoor Abdul Wahab, Mazharul Haque, Bahadur Shah Zafar, Abdul Sattar, Hakeem Nusrat Hussain, Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan, Maulana Mohammed Ali, Colonel Shahnawaz, Dr. M.A.Ansari, Rafi Ahmed Qidwai, Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed, Ansar Harwani, Tak Sherwani, Viqarul Mulk, Mustafa Hussain, V.M. Ubaidullah, S.R. Rahim, Badruddin Tyabjee, Maulvi Abdul Hamid and innumerable others.

MUSLIMS IN MODERN INDIA

Muslims in India post Independence have had a mixed and sometimes turbulent history. The af termath of the Partition of India in 1947 sw large scale sectarian strife and bloodshed throughout the nation. During partition large populations of Muslims including many who were rich and educated left for Pakistan. Across the border these immigrants or Muhajirs have ever since played an important role in the development of Pakistan. The majority of Muslims in India are economically backward; however like in all minorities, there are Muslims who have played a special role in all fields of the country’s advancement.Still, Muslims have sometimes been the victims of religious fundamentalism. At the same time, Muslim fundamentalist groups also hold prominence in states like Jammu and Kashmir. There is an increasingly heated debate on whether what secularists in India classify as religious fundamentalism is only limited to the Hindu side in an attempt to protect the Muslim minority. The issue regarding the Ayodhya temple site shows that these problems, products of religious nationalism some 70 years ago, are hardly likely to go away in the near future.

PROMINENT INDIAN MUSLIMS INCLUDE:

Khwaja Abdul Hamid, who in 1935 founded one of the first Indian-owned industries in the colonial era, CIPLA (The Chemical, Industrial & Pharmaceutical Laboratorioes). In 1939 when Mahatma Gandhiji visited CIPLA he wrote that he was “delighted to visit this Indian enterprise”. CIPLA today is a pharmaceutical company with a global presence, it’s products being sold in over 150 countries worldwide. There are other various big industries owned by Muslims in India: Wipro Ltd, Wockhardt, Himalaya Health Care, Hamdard Laboratories, etc.

There have been three Muslilm Presidents of India, Dr. Zakir Hussain, Dr. Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed and the current President Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam.

Yusuf Hameed of CIPLA received one of India’s highest civilian awards, the Padma Bhushan for his contribution to the country. Muslims are also playing pivotal roles in the advertising industry, some of the top advertising professionals being Mohammed Khan, Muzaffar Ali and Rafeeq Ellias. In the field of modern art, M.F. Husain, S.H. Raza, Akbar Padamsee, Ghulam Mohammed Sheikh and Tyeb Mehta are prominent names. Muslims have also shone in other fields, including academics (examples, Irfan Habib, Mushirul Hasan, Shahid Amin, Zoya Hasan), theatre (Habib Tanveer, Ebrahim Alkazi, Jabbar Patel and Zohra Sehgal), literature (Rahi Masoom Raza, Ali Sardar Jafri, Kamala Suraiya and Kaifi Azmi) and journalism (M.J. Akbar, Zahid Ali Khan). In the sporting arena, the contributions of cricketers Mohammad Azharuddin, Syed Kirmani and Mushtaq Ali are well-noted, while the current young brigade of Irfan Pathan, Zaheer Khan and Mohammad Kaif is creating new records. Sania Mirza is India’s young female tennis star having competed in international Grand Slam tournaments. Even in the Indian film industry, “Bollywood” has always been well represented with Muslims.

MUSLIM INSTITUTIONS

There are several well established Muslim institutions in India. Here is a list of reputed institutions established by Muslims.

¨ Modern College and University: Aligarh Muslim University, Jamia Millia Islamia, Hamdard University, Al-Ameen College, Al-Kabir College,

¨ Traditional Islamic University: Darul Uloom Deoband, Darul Uloom Nadwatul Ulema, Darul Uloom Manzar Islam
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THOUGHTS OF A LONELY MOTHER
AMINA KHALEEL
Sitting beneath the window sill,
She was looking far beyond the grill,
Into the setting sun,
Whose light was just about to end.

The happiness in her life
Too had sunk in darkness,
For the “gems” of her life
No more cared for her.

She envied the mother earth
For whom at least a few cared,
But for this ailing mother
Nobody had a thought to spare.

She longed for the day
When she could enjoy,
Amidst her family
A life of bliss and joy.

But this was too impossible
A dream to come true,
For those she loved had forgotten her,
And left her to live a life of loneliness.

But as the moonlight lit the sky,
There was twinkle in her eye.
She would foresee a day,
When those gone astray would find their right way.

And it would be a day,
When thousands like her
Would finally find solace
In the company of their loved ones.
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