Metro Diary

It was a memorable winter for Muslims in Bangalore as December was packed with events that reflected a sort of spiritual revival of Islam. Man-made traffic rules of one-ways did not prevent Muslims here to divert and take the one straight road that led to Allah!

It was back to the basics of Islam with Shaikh Ahmed Moait. An Egyptian-American computer engineer, now based in the US who has devoted himself completely for Islam and Dawah, his discourse on “Muslim Ummah, Where We Went Wrong”, organised by Islamic Voice, stirred the conscience of Muslims. “No matter how rich or poor you are, always rely only on Allah. We as humans tend to depend upon others for our happiness and comforts. Today we are turning away from Allah and relying on humans for our peace. Security comes from Allah alone,” said the Shaikh during his talk. “ There was so much of duniya in my heart, but Shaikh’s talk has left me spellbound as I realised how we worry all the time about what others will think about us more than what Allah thinks about us, “ said Habib, one of the participants. The Shaikh stressed that Islam should be read and practised as it existed during the Prophet’s (Pbuh) time, instead of adding any idealogy to it.

Islamic Education Movement -IEM (India), a non-political organisation promoting the cause of “Secular Education with moral and ethical values in an Islamic Environment,” conducted the two- day National Conference on Spiritual Environment in present day Education System. More than 300 participants from eight different States converged at the Shifaa Hospital auditorium. Maulana Riyaz-ur-Rahman in his keynote address, said that the present -day worldy education has an element of poison in it, to which the antidote is “ Spiritual Education.” Papers were presented in different sessions, with success stories of various Islamic schools in the country as examples. The next national conference would be held in Kerala on April 23 and 24, 2005, and the theme of the conference will be-”Formation and Running of Trusts/Societies” and “Total Quality Management in Schools”. For further insight, get in touch with, Convener, IEM (India), C/o Shifaa Hospital, Dar-us-Salam, Queen’s Road, Bangalore-52, Ph: 22207661.

The Karnataka State Hajj Committee set up the Hajj Camp 2005 at the sprawling Khuddus Saheb Idgah Maidan here. With 10 flights, scheduled for 8 days, over 4400 people from Karnataka proceeded on Hajj through the State Hajj Committee. There were 3251 Hajis from Karnataka last year who went through the Hajj Committee. “ This time, the camp is simple as we wanted to go by Islamic principles of not spending money on huge structures and decorations.. The food and accommodation is provided to the Hajis. Maulana Mohammed Zainulabideen Rashadi Mazahari gave the Hajis guidelines about the Hajj rituals and unlike the past few years, where the hajis are flagged off to the airport, this time there was a dua before the Hajis embarked into the buses to the airport from the camp,” said K. Rahmathullah, Secretary, Karnataka, State Hajj Committee.

How much do we know about Islamic Banking? Students from St-Joseph’s College here in the city, arrived at the Al-Ameen College armed with an amazing power-point presentation on Islamic Banking. Amrita Dutta, Akash Upendra and Kavitha led by Prof Mathens went through a 40 minute guide on Islamic Banking. The Halal and Haram aspect was handled by Mariyam Fathima, the lone Muslim in the four- member team. While students of Al-Ameen College had a pack of questions to ask them about Islamic Banking, the touching point was that the non-Muslim team of students had taken pains to make the study in depth. “Well, despite Islamic banks failing here, there is tremendous hope for Islamic banks to flourish in India if they are managed well,” said the team in chorus.

Dr Israr Ahmed ‘s two -day lectures in Bangalore was the talk of the town. Crowds spilled over way beyond the maidan here to listen to his mesmerizing lecture on Love for the Prophet (Pbuh) and the Social and Economic Set-up in Islam. While the final touches were being given by the Islamic Voice team on the stage to welcome its special guest, it was heartening to see people walking in hours before the talk could begin to get the best places in the front row. While men switched off their mobiles and women hushed up their crying kids, during the lectures, Muslims in Bangalore carried home with them memories of the lectures which would help them focus on the Quran and read this holy book with meaning and method. Vcd’s and audio cassettes of the lecture are available at : Islamic Voice # 3, Palmgrove Road, Victoria Layout, Bangalore - 560 047 Tel : 25544483 / 25574815 Mobile: 98451 58996 Email : islamicvoi@eth.net

When the Muslim Press in Bangalore got to know that Dr Zakir Naik was in town, the Daily Salar, was kind enough to host a get together of all the Muslim journalists in the city for an informal meeting with this great orator and Daee. Over chips and coffee, Dr Zakir Naik unfolded his journey as a doctor and then as a full-time daee. The Islamic Research Foundation in Mumbai, of which he is the President has today is a household name not only in India, but abroad too as an organization which offers the best literature and guidance on Islam in English. “It is important that when you do Dawah in India today, you have to be soft and humble, and doing research on the scriptures of other religions helps you to answer questions with much more ease. We also require an international channel that presents not just Islam, but even news and views about the Islamic world,” said Dr Zakir.

The Oasis International School will soon start building its campus at Yelahanka, a Bangalore suburb. The School unveiled its plan to build the campus on December 19 at a gathering of the elite of the City and several parents at the six and half acre plot of land. With current strength of nearly 400 students on its rolls, Oasis imparts education through international curriculum by blending Islamic subjects. Speaking at the occasion, Islamic activist Mirza Yawer Baig, management consultant from Hyderabad, said God consciousness must be instilled into the kids and the tutors must take cognizance of the fact that children imitate actions of their instructors rather than their words. The school that began in 1999, is currently run at three different premises.