Community Round-Up

Sixteen year old Mohammed is a devoted ‘haafiz’ pupil for the last four years at a madrasa in Ahmedabad. When asked the meaning of ‘Assalam’ he coyly whispers, “May God protect you”. Surprise is evident on the youngster’s face when he is told that, in fact, it means ‘peace be upon you’.


Altaf and his classmates are a picture of devotion, as they sway to recitations of Arabic verses from the holy Qur’an. Scholars are apprehensive about young pupils memorizing words without realizing their meaning.


But post 9/11, as terrorism began to be increasingly equated with Islam, the curiosity to understand the Qur’an in its true essence has become imperative. There is dissatisfaction among Muslims regarding interpretation of the Qur’an by traditional scholars. They now want to understand it directly by studying Arabic and its translation. Translated Qur’an is available and its sales have zoomed in the last two years.


“The buyers are the highly educated Muslims, including academicians and government officers” says Mushir Kalim of Kalim Book Depot in Teen Darwaza area of Ahmedabad. This has permeated even to the middle class Muslims like Ruby Khan, a house wife, residing in the Navrangpura Muslim Society. She prefers an Arabic teacher interpreting the Qur’an for her two school going sons. In Vadodara at the Farooq-e-Azam madrasa. around 150 students from English medium schools are taught the meaning of the Qur’an in English.

Come Independence Day and in the bylanes of Jamalpur, a Muslim dominated area of Ahmedabad, people are busy manufacturing plastic National flags in millions. With no restrictions now on the use of the National flag, the community that traditionally makes kites has now found a new occupation in manufacturing plastic flags.


Three months prior to Independence Day, women from 3000 families in Jamalpur started working tirelessly to meet the demand of flags. This has come as a God-sent opportunity for them as these months are the lean season for kite makers.


“It all depends on the demand” says Feroze F. Paliwala who has already sent two million flags to Varanasi. Talking about the huge demand for the flags he said, “Orders have been pending for months. It is difficult to cater to so many customers. No matter how many we manufacture, there is always a shortage”. The flags are sent to different corners of the country, from Delhi to Varanasi and from Orissa to Chhanttisgarh. In Gujarat, these flags are sent to Vadodara, Jamnagar, Rajkot, Bhuj, and many other cities.


Like Paliwala, others too are working hard. “The time I would have been doing extended household chores is now devoted to flag making for which I get paid”, says Rizwana Abdul Hamid. Her husband sells vegetables on handcart and this extra earning means a big boost to their income, she says.

NDTV has announced the launch of NDTV Arabia, a 24-hour news and infotainment channel soon. The channel will mark its entry into the Middle East and North African region. NDTV Arabia will be predominantly an English channel. The content will be infotainment-based, with business, news and lifestyle showcased on a single platform for audiences in the region. The channel will be free-to-air, available on Nile Sat, which is broadcast to 100 million homes in the region. (Reported by Andalib Akhter)

The project of King Abdullah Health Center was launched at Delhi’s Jamia   Millia University at a ceremony held here recently. Saudi Ambassador to India, Saleh bin Mohammed Al Ghamdi and Vice Chancellor of the University Prof. Mushirul Hasan jointly laid the foundation stone for the project at the university premises. Speaking on the occasion, the Saudi Ambassador Al Ghamdi said that this center is a simple expression of deep-rooted relations between the two countries which were strongly enhanced following the visit paid to India last year by King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz.

Kannada writer Dr. Mohiuddin R. Gajendragad was felicitated at a function held by the Muslim Lekhakara Sangha. Literary contributions of Dr. Ganjendragad, a former vice chancellor of Kuvempu University, Shimoga and professor of chemistry at Mangalore University were recalled by Mohammad Farook, convener of the function. He said Dr. Gajendragad translated several Islamic books into Kannada and regularly wrote on science, literature and religion in leading Kannada dailies.  Speaking at the occasion, Dr. Taha Mateen explained the Islamic philosophy of life and highlighted the importance of keeping away from intense material race. He lamented the degradation of values and condemned the practice of consigning parents to Old age homes where they languish without emotional support of the offspring.  Journalist M. A. Siraj spoke about the diversity of Indian life and copious contributions of Muslims to the literary corpus in South Indian languages. Mr. Laxminarayan, Managing Director, Nirman Properties, paid rich tributes to Dr. Gajendragad.


Dr. Gajendragad now oversees the management of the Nisaraga Layout in the capacity of CEO in Anekal taluk, a picturesque township in the outskirts of Bangalore.