Development

Even as there is gloomy news about wakf properties everywhere, the Bangalore’s Hameed Shah Dargah Complex provides a reason for cheer. The four and half acres of real estate in the City’s commercial hub has kept a constant record of yielding sizeable income and enabling several welfare activities for the community.


Situated at a stone’s throw from the Bangalore Municipal Corporation building, the Complex was constructed in late 70s. It utlises the wakf lands around the mausoleums of Hazrath Hameed Shah and Muheeb Shah, two saint who were contemporary to the 18th century Mysore ruler Hyder Ali. Besides, the two mausoleums, a mosque also exists on the property which was lying vacant till 1976. Expanding encroachments had made it vulnerable. Today it is a beehive of activity. The current income from the rents has grown to Rs. 7.37 lakh from its 84 rentable units a month. The tenants include Silk Exchange, Karnataka Silk Marketing Board (KSMB), Indian Bank, Handloom Development Corporation etc. Says G. Mohammad Anwar, President of the Dargah Managing Committee, we decided not even to take a cup of tea from the funds flowing into the Dargah Committee kitty.


Things began to look up around the turn of the century when a set of selfless social workers were elected to the management body. Through persuasive negotiations the rents were hiked to be on par with the market rate. While some of the public sector bodies were paying rents at Rs. 2 per sq. ft. earlier, they began to pay at rates ranging between Rs. 18 and 30 thereafter. As coffers began to fill considerably, the managing committee constructed the second floor and expanded the rentable area.


Increased revenue allowed the body to provide better facilities to the tenants. The body recently inaugurated a Conference Hall with 300 seating capacity with an adjoining dining hall. The hall has become a boon for literary and cultural activities in an otherwise commercial area. Looking at the paucity of space for parking of vehicles, the management also created a vehicle parking facility which brings an additional income of Rs. 1.14 lakh a month. The Committee set up an education and scholarship fund which disbursed Rs. 29 lakh under this head. It even set up an ITI which imparts instructions in five technical trades with 98 students currently enrolled. A computer training centre too has been set up. It even helps persons requiring medical aid for heart, kidney and brain ailments. Last year it extended assistance to the tune of Rs. two lakh under this scheme. Enhanced income also means enhanced contribution to the Karnataka Wakf Board. The Dargah Management Committee’s wakf contribution has steadily risen from Rs. 1.02 lakh at the turn of the century to Rs. 3.44 lakh last year. It has also enabled the Committee to clear off a loan of Rs. 41 lakh from Central Wakf Council (CWC) which extends loans for wakf property development. Even a Rs. 4 lakh loan from the Karnataka Board of Wakfs has been cleared.


Considering the paucity of hostel for Muslim girl students, the Dargah Committee set up a hostel for 35 girls in the Cantonment area. Inmates hail from distant towns of Karnataka. The Abbaskhan College for Women is also located on a plot of land given on a long lease to the College


The dynamic members of the new committee now plan to landscape areas around the mausoleums and enhance its aesthetic value of the estate. It has also initiated action against eight tenants who have not paid rents for long. According to records, one of the tenants Tanveer Pasha, advocate has not paid any rent for the last five years. The committee has legally proceeded against his eviction. He was however, not available for his comments as he had gone for Hajj.


The committee completed the construction of the second floor of the complex. It has allowed it to provide accommodation to several charitable and welfare organizations. Even the Federation of Muslim Women of Bangalore has started its women’s counseling unit here. With the proposed completion of the third floor, the complex would attain the shape in which it was envisioned first by Mr. Aziz Sait, who had initiated the project in 1976.


The Committee has also enhanced facilities for the devotees visiting the mausoleum. The mosque has been expanded and urinals made better.


The newly elected Dargah Management Committee has besides Mr. G. Mohammad Anwar, the following members: Sayeed Munawwar, Syed Basheer Ahmed.

Let us now consider the various causes of depression to be found presently in our lives. These simple, little things, which if ignored and we adopt a little Tafweez, (is handing our matters over to Allah Ta’ala, trusting Him) we will find our lives free of depression.


To cite an example (and there are true incidents of this nature): A woman goes to a certain family with a proposal for her son, considering her son to be the best person in the world. If the son, himself, goes, then he believes that there is no one like him as a prospective husband. He has everything : the qualities, degrees and character. He is handsome as well.


Hence, mother and son believe that the moment a proposal is put forth, the girl’s family will definitely accept, without any delay or further consideration. Thus, a decision has been made: If I propose, they are going to accept it.


This family rejects the proposal. Immediately there is depression and enmity. The mother starts thinking about the reason as to why the proposal was turned down : “What is wrong with us ? ... Are we bad people ? ... Is my son a drug addict ? ... What is wrong with him ?”. Because Tafweez is not adopted, such thoughts surface and depression seizes the person.


Tafweez in this case would have been that the person put forward the proposal and thereafter left the decision to Allah Ta’ala. If Allah Ta’ala had willed and put an acceptance into their hearts, then they would have accepted. Since everything was done correctly there is no need to be annoyed or upset. Rather believe that there must be some good (‘khair’) in that.


If we can only learn and understand this that behind each and every decision made by Allah Ta’ala there is goodness and wisdom. It may appear that this person is very good but we can neither predict the future, nor can we foresee into the future. How many times have we heard of a person who was in the Musjid, in Zikr, etc. etc. but after some time the person suddenly changes? (Allah forbid. Allah protect us all.)


“There were so many who were good,
who later in life became bad;
And there were so many who were bad,
Who later in life became ‘Walis’”


Thus, we do not know what is to happen in the future. The knowledge of what is to occur in the future lies only in the knowledge of Allah Ta’ala.