Memories (Episode 30)
Law Education and LLB
After completing B.A, I had initially planned to do M.A in Economics. However, this would not have been possible by mere self-study. Secondly, if truth be told Economics was not a subject I enjoyed studying. I studied it only due to the above-mentioned needs, and those needs were met to a great extent during my B.A studies. My heart did not fancy expending any more time to delve into further technical debates related to Economics. On the other hand, I wished to acquire an education in law so that I could serve Islam to the best of my ability in the field of law as well.
To this end, I would have to study for LLB. But one impediment in undertaking an LLB was that one could not sit for its exams privately; it was compulsory to be admitted to some law college. There were two law colleges in Karachi at the time: Urdu Law College which used Urdu as the medium of instruction, and S.M Law College which used English as the medium of instruction. S.M Law College was renowned for its quality of law education, and since English was the language of law, in order to properly fathom law and its principles it was appropriate to learn it in English itself. At the same time, owing to my hectic schedule at Darul Uloom, it was almost impossible for me travel every day all the way from Darul Uloom to S.M Law College to attend classes. To solve this predicament, I made my way to meet the principal of S.M Law College respected Aziz Ullah Shaikh Sahib. He was a competent teacher and lawyer, and also, I think, the President of the National Awami Party Sindh at the time. I explained my quandary to him. He quizzically asked: “If you want to practice law, how can you do so without attending formal classes?” I explained: “Firstly, I do not want to study law with the intention of practicing law nor do I have any plans to become a lawyer. I want to study for research purpose. Secondly, with the grace and favour of Allah Ta’ala, I have endeavored to study Fiqh scrupulously in Darul Uloom. I will therefore require less assistance from a teacher to comprehend legal matters.” I presented similar arguments to the Principal. He was persuaded within that short meeting and acceded with the words: “Alright! Just come to the college for necessary matters. We will submit your name as a student of our college for the exam. However, you must attend our functions.”
After admission, I purchased the course books in both Urdu and English and began studying them bit by bit at home. As the Principal had instructed, I would also visit the college once in a while. Although the university permitted studying in Urdu and also writing the exam in Urdu – and therefore Urdu was used as the medium of instruction in Urdu College – since English was the language of even our own country’s laws, I found studying law in Urdu similar to someone who wished to become a scholar of Fiqh and, instead of studying books of Fiqh in Arabic, studies their Urdu translation. It is obvious that he cannot develop expertise in Fiqh in this manner and neither will he inculcate in himself the ability to access the primary sources of Fiqh. Furthermore, my intention was not to merely pass the exam and get the degree, rather I genuinely wanted to gain insight into law, and wished to be able to access its primary sources directly. I therefore studied it using the English-language books. At the same time, I kept the Urdu books close by so that I could seek help from them whenever needed.
Students often buy Test Papers to prepare for exams, but I never used this method, because my intention was never to merely pass the exam, rather I wanted to actually acquire knowledge of the subject. I would visit the college from time to time and also attended some classes, but my main source of learning was self-study. One of the students of the Principal was Amiruddin Qureshi Sahib. May Allah immerse him in His mercy. He had opened a bookstore selling course books within the college campus. We had become friends during my study. May Allah Ta’ala reward him much. He would help me in matters related to my registration and other administrative matters, and whenever I faced any difficulty during my self-study, it would be solved by receiving help from a teacher through him.
When exams approached, I took about a two-week leave from Darul Uloom. I would immerse myself in study from morning till late night, and would also take notes from important books. As I had anticipated, my studies of Fiqh had made the study of law very easy. I would therefore rarely face difficulties, and if I ever did come across something I could not understand, I would get it clarified through the help of a teacher at the college.
While studying books of law, I would compare them with books of Fiqh and would appreciate the brilliance of the noble Fuqaha at each step. The truth of the matter is that the contemporary legal terminology which is considered prideworthy today, our Fuqaha of Islam have authored books of Fiqh with much more detail-orientation and meticulousness. Especially with regards to the famous texts of Fiqh, it is extremely difficult to find parallels in other fields for the way they packed a world of meaning into succinct words.
Similarly, there is a separate topic in law called “Interpretation of Statutes” in which the methods of interpreting legislation are discussed. When I read the book on this topic, I felt that the way our Fuqaha have systemized the interpretation of Islamic laws in Usoolul Fiqh (Principles of Fiqh) by penning extensive discussions on Ibaratun Nas, Isharatun Nas, Dalalatun Nas, Iqtida un-Nas and Mantooq and Mafhoom, these books on “Interpretation of Statutes” felt like child’s play in comparison.
Anyway! Exam day arrived and I reached the exam center with the inferiority complex that I have not attended formal classes and relied solely on self-study; I would therefore not be able to fare well against the formal students of the college. However, when I got to sit with my classmates before the exam and listened to their conversations, I observed that many topics which they found challenging, I did not find them hard at all. When we sat for the exams, I did not find any difficulty answering any questions, until one by one all the exams were finished. When the results were announced, I found my name in the list of students whose results were withheld due to some administrative procedure being incomplete. I visited the college and asked for the reason, and came to know that I had forgetfully missed paying some fee. I passed my fee to my companion Amiruddin Qureshi Sahib. He reassured me that he would remove this hurdle by paying the fee. He also told me to visit the college on an appointed date a few days later to collect my results. I passed those days rather anxiously. When I finally arrived at the college on the appointed date and time, I found him waiting to receive me, together with some other classmates. They began congratulating me the moment they saw me. I assumed they were congratulating me for passing the exam, but they told me that I had attained second position in the entire university and first position in the college.
This was the first year. I employed the same method of study in the second year as well. Eventually, both years of LLB were completed successfully without any hitches Alhamdulillah. And finally on the 21st of June 1969 I also received the degree.
In attaining my law education, I did not have any intention whatsoever to become a lawyer or to work in courts. I had done my LLB with the intention that this knowledge would assist me in critiquing the laws of the time in order to render some service in the compilation and systemization of Islamic laws. But Providence wished something else. Only a few years after completing LLB, I got the opportunity to first serve as a judge in the Federal Shariat Court and then in the Shariat Appelate Bench of the Supreme Court for almost eighteen years. I will mention details of this later InshaAllah.
And it was in one of those days that a queer coincidence transpired. One night I was going through the files of the next day’s cases in the Supreme Court when I saw “Aziz Ullah Shaikh” written as the name of the lawyer on one of them. I was startled, wondering whether this was the same Aziz Ullah Shaikh who was the Principal of S.M College during my LLB days. When I arrived in court the next day, I found the very same Aziz Ullah Shaikh Sahib presenting himself before me as the lawyer, and Amiruddin Qureshi Sahib, i.e. my companion who used to help me in administrative matters for my LLB exams, as his Assistant. After pronouncing the verdict of the case, both of them visited my chamber and we had an interesting conversation. And that was my last meeting with them. They have both departed this world now. May Allah Ta’ala bestow complete forgiveness upon them. Ameen.
Exam of M.A.
I had become B.A LLB now and, to a certain level, had studied all subjects which I wished to learn. At the same time, I had reached the classes of Dawra-e-Hadith as a teacher in Darul Uloom. The works of writing Fatwas and other publications was on top of this, and I had also got married. As a result, I did not have time for any new educational ventures. However, people used to say: “Since you have already studied this much, you might as well do M.A too.” In order to tread a middle path between both considerations, I decided to do M.A in a subject which did not require much study and efforts. The easiest available option was to do M.A in Islamiat from Karachi University since the standard of education was minimal. However, my self-respect did not allow this because I was well-aware of its standard of education, and I had also personally marked exam papers for M.A Islamiat from there. I therefore chose instead to get admitted for an M.A in Arabic Language from Punjab University as a private candidate. Alhamdulillah, as a result of my education in Darul Uloom, Arabic Language and Literature were quite easy for me. I therefore did not need much preparation. Also, I had a personal interest in reading all the course books, though I did not get much time to read them throughout the year. When exams drew near, a one-week gap was scheduled between all papers, which was sufficient for me to prepare.
I therefore took a one-and-a-half months leave from Darul Uloom during exam period and stayed at my elder brother respected Muhammad Zaki Kaifi’s (may Allah’s mercy be upon him) house in Lahore. I would prepare for each upcoming exam in the week preceding it. I was quite fond of Arabic Literature myself, so this preparation was more like leisurely reading sessions than some burdensome chore. It was during those days that I read “al-Kamil Lil Mubarrad” and “al-Mufaddaliyaat” with great zeal and zest. I also read the poetry of Shawqi Misri, who would become disgruntled at being called King of Poets because this implied the existence of other poets with him being their King, while in reality there did not exist any poet except him. Besides him, I also enjoyed the literary marvels of Taha Husain, Ahmad Ameen[1] and Manfaluti. When the results were announced after the exams, I came to know that I had attained the first position in the University. All praise is to Allah for this. And in this way on the 2nd of March 1972, M.A was added to my list of degrees.
After this, the thought of undertaking a PhD would sometimes cross my mind. However, the notion of writing an essay merely to pass an exam and get a degree weighed heavily on my mind. This is because several writing works were concurrently ongoing at the time and none of them could become a topic for PhD. And I did not find much affinity for the topics being offered and the standard and quality of the articles being written to obtain a PhD. Time flied while I mulled over the idea, and eventually discarded the thought of doing PhD altogether. And eventually the time also came when, instead of becoming a student of PhD, I became an examiner of PhD.
Writing and Compilations
I had a penchant for writing since childhood. As I have narrated regarding my childhood days, my first published writings were three articles I sent to Daily Jang newspaper. The topic of the first article was “Women and Poetry”, the second was “Co-education” and the third was “Pictures on Currency Notes”. I was twelve years old at the time. Subsequently, when I was in the class of Hidaya Awwaleen, I wrote an essay under the tutelage of my teacher Hadhrat Maulana Mufti Wali Hasan Sahib (may Allah’s mercy be upon him) for a speech competition among students. The title of that article was “The Noble Messenger ﷺ was the Greatest Lawmaker”, and I also won a prize for that.
First Compilation
It was the beginning of the late General Ayyub Khan Sahib’s rule when we were undergoing training for Takhassus (Specialization) in Fiqh. In numerous speeches that he delivered at various locations, he frequently emphasized upon the need for family planning. Some prominent authors of the time also produced books and articles in his support. Our respected father (may Allah’s mercy be upon him) commanded me to write on this topic. My first officially published book titled “Birth Control” was hence drafted at that time. I was in the seventeenth year of my life and held the callow impression that while elucidating religious matters to those who had received modern education, it is more effective to employ logical arguments. The reality only later dawned on me that it is more befitting of a Muslim to accept a religious matter from a religious point of view. While there is nothing wrong in presenting logical rationales to substantiate them, it is not correct to make logical evidences as the primary considerations in such discussions. Anyway! This immature mindset of mine is ubiquitous throughout the book. As a result, I have delved more into the rational and social aspect of this topic than the religious standpoint. And as for what I wished to writing regarding the religious ruling of this topic, I myself found it quite lacking in the book. I therefore requested my respected father (may Allah’s mercy be upon him) that if he were to write on this point by himself, not only would it be much better than what I had written, it was also a need of that time for a senior authorized and reputable personality to elucidate upon the Shariah ruling of this matter. Our respected father (may Allah’s mercy be upon him) therefore personally wrote this chapter, and as a result my unseasoned piece of writing also became credible. This was my very first book, so I was quite eager for it to get published. My late brother respected Muhammad Razi Usmani Sahib published it at his publishing house Darul Isha’at, and also congratulated me with words of encouragement at becoming the compiler of a published book at such a young age.
Tijarati Sood (Commercial Interest)
After this, my second compilation was probably “Tijarati Sood” (Commercial Interest). In those days, certain modernists had stirred up debate that the interest-based transactions in vogue in banks do not fall under the ambit of the “Riba” which the Noble Quran has declared impermissible. Our respected father (may Allah’s mercy be upon him) wrote a book titled “Mas’ala-e-Sood” (The Issue of Interest) rebutting them, in which he expounded the commandments of the Quran and Sunnah which affirm the impermissibility of interest. In this book, he also rebutted the claim that commercial interest did not exist in the time of the Noble Messenger ﷺ. After the compilation of this book the late Yaqoob Shah Sahib, the Auditor-General at that time, contacted our respected father regarding this issue and presented his doubts. Our respected father (may Allah’s mercy be upon him) replied to his questions and passed him to me for further discussions. I met him in April 1963 and we also exchanged correspondences. While clarifying his doubts, I realized that further elucidation was needed regarding this topic of commercial interest. I therefore wrote an essay on this very topic, and our respected father (may Allah’s mercy be upon him) incorporated it as a second part of his book.
Hamaray ‘Aili Masail (Our Familial Issues)
My third formal compilation was “Hamaray ‘Aili Masail” (Our Familial Issues). It was the beginning of the late General Muhammad Ayyub Khan Sahib’s era. He issued an ordinance titled “Muslim Family Law” which contained several sections that were contrary to Shariah. Especially with regards to the grandson’s inheritance, polygamy, and divorce and Iddah, the position those sections advocated was contrary to Ijma of the entire Ummah. Our respected father (may Allah’s mercy be upon him) wrote a letter to General Ayyub Khan Sahib in which he pointed out the fallacies of that law in light of the Quran and Sunnah. This letter has been published under the title “Aili Qawaneen Par Mukhtasar Tabsara” (A Brief Critique of Family Laws).
When the noble ‘Ulama (Islamic scholars) raised objections against these laws, certain quarters penned articles and books in defense of the government’s stance. One of those books was “Auraton Ka Aili Maqam” (Position of Women in the Family). A lady’s name was cited as the author and, in the book’s preface, she was introduced as the wife of a famous Islamic scholar and the daughter-in-law of a Muslim elderly scholar of the sub-continent. Upon further investigation, it appeared that the lady whose name was cited as the author was a domestic houselady and the authoring of this book was beyond her capabilities, and that in reality the book was compiled by her husband who, despite being the son of an eminent scholar, had come into the hands of contemporary modernists and rejecters of Hadith. For some reason, he had this book published under his wife’s name instead of his own. And since he was an intelligent scholar in his own right, this book could lead a lay person to fall into serious fallacies. Our respected father (may Allah’s mercy be upon him) therefore commanded me to write a reply to this book.
I was in my youth and had freshly completed the Dars-e-Nizami syllabus. I also had a penchant for writing and literature. Consequently, I wrote the rebuttal in such a style that, along with scholarly discussions, I also shot daggers of sarcasm and satire with unrestrained freedom, and leveraged my full arsenal of literary powers into writing it. When the manuscript of around two hundred pages was prepared, I as usual presented it to my respected father (may Allah’s mercy be upon him). I read out some parts of it to our respected father (may Allah’s mercy be upon him) and some parts he read by himself. He then addressed me with the words: “MashaAllah. You have written a fine rebuttal. But tell me, what was your intention behind writing this? If your goal was for those people who already agree with your standpoint to praise you, that they should say: “Wow! What a knockout rejoinder!” then no doubt this text is completely successful in achieving that goal. But if your aim was for those people in whose hearts doubts and suspicions have arisen to come to the right path after reading it, then for that purpose this text of yours is utterly ineffective. Because by firing daggers of sarcasm and satire, you have created obstinacy in the hearts of such people due to which, instead of listening to the truth and accepting it, their hearts will be predisposed towards defending themselves.”
Our respected father (may Allah’s mercy be upon him) continued: “I will tell you my own experience. In “Khatm-e-Nubuwwat”, the book I wrote rebutting the Qadianis, I used harsh words for Mirza Ghulam Ahmad Qadiani and his followers and employed a rather cheeky and witty writing style. When it was published for the very first time, I received a letter from a Qadiani in which he said: “I was much swayed by the evidences you have cited in this book. However, your writing style hinders my heart from accepting it, with the thought that those who are upon the truth do not hurl sarcasm and derision, nor harsh words. Rather their tone exudes sincere well-wishing[2].” Our respected father (may Allah’s mercy be upon him) said: “When this person expressed his heart’s hindrance, be it true or not, I considered it imperative to be extra careful in my writings so as not to unnecessarily employ words that could hurt someone. I thereafter reviewed this book with this point in mind and deleted those words which could sow seeds of obstinacy in the reader’s heart.”
And our respected father (may Allah’s mercy be upon him) re-iterated the point numerous times that when Allah Ta’ala was dispatching Hadhrat Musa and Hadhrat Haroon (peace be upon them both) to Fir’awn to invite him towards belief in God, the directive He imparted to them was:
قُولَا لَهُۥ قَوْلًا لَّيِّنًا
Speak to him in soft words
Our respected father (may Allah’s mercy be upon him) used to point out: “Your adversary cannot be more misguided than Fir’awn, and neither can you be a better guide than Hadhrat Musa and Hadhrat Haroon (peace be upon them both). When they were instructed to speak in soft words even with Fir’n, how could it be permissible for you to use harsh words for your adversary merely to vent your anger?”
Perhaps it was at this occasion that he also remarked: “There have passed two poets in our era who played a major role in using their poetry to awaken religious consciousness among people, and employed poetry to promulgate reformative messages; one was the Poet of the East Dr Iqbal Sahib and the other was Akbar Ilahabadi. Among the two, Akbar Ilahabadi’s views were more balanced and correct as compared to the former, but the late Akbar’s poetry did not benefit the nation as much as the late Iqbal’s, and neither could his message spread as far and wide as the late Iqbal’s.” Our respected father (may Allah’s mercy be upon him) concluded: “The reason behind this, in my view, is that the late Akbar employed satire, about which it is said that it is the weapon of the weak.”
Anyway! Noting the satirical writing style in my manuscript, our respected father (may Allah’s mercy be upon him) imparted all these counsels in such a manner that Alhamdulillah they immediately became imprinted onto my heart. And thereafter I made numerous changes to the manuscript from this point of view and only then was the book published.
This was my first independently authored book. Since that time until today, I do not remember any period of time wherein some book or the other was not under writing. Rather at times several books or articles would be underway concurrently.
I would sometimes write articles for monthly magazines as well. My elder brother Maulana Muhammad Wali Raazi (may his shade be extended) had begun publishing a semi-literary monthly magazine in 1961 called “Fikr-e-Naw” (Modern Outlook). I wrote in it for several months. One of the articles was titled “The Mercy for All ﷺ”. I also wrote book reviews in that magazine. Hadhrat Allama Sayyid Muhammad Yusuf Binnori Sahib (may Allah’s mercy be upon him) had initiated monthly Bayyinaat magazine. At the request of its editor, I wrote an article in 1963 titled “A Glance at the Topics of the Noble Quran”. This article has now become a part of my book “Uloomul Quran” (“An Approach to the Sciences of the Quran”).
Editing and Annotation of Izhar ul-Haq
The year in which I was studying in Dawra-e-Hadith, proselytizing activities of Christian missionaries had surged to a great extent. Their rallies were being organized in various parts of the country. One such gathering was being convened in an open ground near Darul Uloom Nanak Warah at Lawrence Road (present-day Nishtar Road). Some apparently disabled individuals would be brought to that gathering and presented before the crowd. Thereafter the Bible would be read over them and it would be announced that Hadhrat Maseeh (peace be upon him) has cured their disability. Their healing would be demonstrated before a large crowd and people would be invited to accept Christianity. And it would be announced that so-and-so has accepted Christianity.
On the first day of this gathering, my elder brother Hadhrat Mufti Muhammad Rafi Usmani Sahib (may his shade be extended) and I also attended this exhibition, and personally witnessed this sham demonstration. A good number of lay people were also in attendance and seemed to be getting affected by this demonstration. Speeches by Christian priests were also delivered in the program. We were deeply disturbed by this sight, that this endeavour to drive people towards apostasy was being carried out openly in broad daylight.
Hot blood of youth raged through our veins and our religious sense of honour was also being sorely tested. Under these circumstances, we were unable to restrain our composure. We put our heads together as to what steps could be taken to put an end to these gatherings. We did not cherish any expectations from the government to stop them. We finally decided to write an article and distribute it among the attendees of the rally. We thence wrote a rather passionate essay in which the religious sense of honour of those Muslims was invoked, and it was demanded from this religious sense of honour to not only boycott these gatherings, but also to not let these manifest attempts to spread apostasy succeed. We finished drafting the article, but getting it published by a printing house was a problem in itself. This is because it was problematic for common printing houses to agree to print this; this passionate essay could provoke problems for them.
During those days, our elder brother respected Muhammad Wali Raazi Sahib (may his shade be extended) used to run a printing press named Mahboob Printing Press. He declared: “Come what may, I will print this essay in my printing press.” He then got hundreds of copies of this article printed in his printing press in a matter of a few hours. Thereafter that evening the three of us, together with a few other friends, took this handbill with us to the venue of the gathering and distributed it among the attendees. All the while, voices protesting the permission granted to organize these gatherings had also been raised, I think, in print media by scholars as well as various religious circles. Additionally, several Muslim youth had arrived at the scene of the gathering to apprise themselves of the situation. A blazing fire erupted in the hearts of those youth the moment that handbill was distributed among them; they began voicing their dissent midway through the program. A few individuals closed in very near the stage and demanded for the show to be terminated, and that if it was to be continued then it must be in the form of an evidence-based debate with the scholars. Warily eying the passion and zeal of those closing in on the stage, the priests sitting or standing on the stage gauged that safety lied in making off from the stage. The moment they stepped off from the stage, the entire program plunged into disarray. Without warning, the electricity of the stage somehow went out and the stage paraphernalia were scattered around. In a matter of moments, darkness engulfed the ground and the crowd dispersed.
After the abrupt end to this program the Christians filed a police report against the distributors of the handbill. The police began tracing the writers and publishers of the handbill, and the search finally led them to us three brothers. We went through police interrogation for a few days, but despite the passionate tone of the handbill, it did not contain anything for which the law could lay its hands on us. Therefore this case against us was dismissed within a few days.
Anyway! This was just one example. Such activities of the Christians were in full swing throughout the country at that time, and reports of apostasy were being received from various parts of the country. There was a pressing need, therefore, for a group of people to be trained to counter this tribulation. However, very few people were well-versed about Christianity and its elaborations at the time. Our respected father said: “During the initial years of British rule, Christian missionaries arrived in India with great glint and glamour. At that time, they began debating Muslims with much more intensity than today. At this, the noble scholars probed their books inside out and devoted themselves to thwarting this tribulation. At that time, several debates were organized in rebuttal of Christianity and numerous books were also written. Though a great number of scholars valiantly faced this tribulation, and did so in an evidence-based manner, Hadhrat Maulana Rahmatullah Kairanvi’s (may Allah’s mercy be upon him) services on this subject proved to be the most effective and prominent. He inflicted a resounding defeat upon Pfander, the Christian evangelist, and wrote numerous books. Among them, the most comprehensive was “Izhar ul-Haq” (The Truth Revealed). He had written this book in Arabic and it was later translated into English and French as well. However, it had not been translated into Urdu. At our respected father’s (may Allah’s mercy be upon him) instructions, the then-Director of Darul Uloom Hadhrat Maulana Noor Ahmad Sahib (may Allah’s mercy be upon him) took up the responsibility of getting it translated into Urdu and getting it published. He thereafter persuaded our respected teacher Hadhrat Maulana Akbar Ali Sahib (may Allah’s mercy be upon him) to translate it into Urdu.
Therefore in the year we were doing Takhassus (Specialization) after completing our Dawra, Hadhrat Maulana Akbar Ali Sahib (may Allah’s mercy be upon him) was busy day and night translating it into Urdu. He completed the translation at an astonishing pace, and in such a manner that he did not require the assistance of any reference book. When the translation was completed, Hadhrat Maulana Noor Ahmad Sahib (may Allah’s mercy be upon him) assessed that further work was needed on it to make it easier for the reader to benefit from it. He told me: “You edit this translation. Its publication will be beneficial thereafter.” Our respected father (may Allah’s mercy be upon him) also commanded me to work on it.
Though I did possess general knowledge regarding Christianity, one could not suffice with general knowledge to edit a research-oriented book of the standing of Izhar ul-Haq; it required deep study. The translation done by our respected teacher Hadhrat Maulana Akbar Ali Sahib (may Allah’s mercy be upon him) reflected his great capabilities. However, it felt necessary to edit it at numerous places to make it simpler and more reader-friendly for lay people. The first point was that Izhar ul-Haq was replete with references to the Bible. The Bible is a book of which reliable translations are available in all languages. Hadhrat Maulana Rahmatullah Kairanvi (may Allah’s mercy be upon him) has cited Arabic translations of the Bible in his book. Hadhrat Maulana Akbar Ali Sahib (may Allah’s mercy be upon him) himself translated those Arabic citations into Urdu. Perhaps what he had in mind is that numerous revisions are done to the translations, so perhaps the present-day Urdu translations may not contain what Hadhrat Maulana (may Allah’s mercy be upon him) was referring to in the book. This is quite true to a large extent, but this line of action leaves a window of opportunity for someone to claim that the citation has been incorrectly translated. I therefore found it appropriate to replace all those citations with texts from the present-day accepted Urdu translation of the Bible. And in case this translation differed from the author’s (may Allah’s mercy be upon him) translation, then I would point this difference out in the footnotes.
Furthermore, the book would be quite abstruse for the common man without presenting an overview of the terminologies used in Christianity and some background information about their prominent books and their authors. And some passages could be seriously misconstrued without this introductory information. On the other hand, neither did I possess any books to aid me in dealing with these concerns, nor the guidance of any individual who had mastered this subject. I visited one and all about whom I heard that they possessed good knowledge about Christianity, and sought their guidance. However, this was not a matter of any single point which could be clarified by discussing it with someone. Besides, everyone was entangled in their own affairs, so I could not receive any noteworthy assistance.
May Allah recompense the late respected Ibrahim Bawani Sahib the best of rewards, for when he came to know that I was working on this topic and that I was in need of books, he passed me his entire set of Encyclopedia Britannica to assist me wherever needed. This was the edition of 1950, and the truth of the matter is that it was of immense help to me. Besides this, I also visited the libraries of various Churches and purchased any and all books which I found helpful towards my work. Furthermore, I also found some books in Liaquat National Library and State Bank Library which proved useful for my task. I had to personally visit those libraries to use those books. As a result, the routine had become such that after Isha, I would go through the next day’s lessons which I had to teach and then work on Izhar ul-Haq. During the work, I would note any points which required further research and which could not be cleared up using the books at hand. The next day, after teaching in Darul Uloom for three to four hours and working on Fatwas for an hour or two, I would arrive at the Korangi area bus stop slightly before Asr and take the bus. More often than not, it would be too crowded to get a seat so I would stand holding the pole throughout the journey. The bus would drop me at Empress Market, where I would often pray Asr at the Masjid of Jahangir Park. I would then catch a second bus to Merewether Tower, where the Liaquat National Library was then located. I would ask for the needful book at the library and scan through it in search of the topic of interest. I was in the middle of my B.A at the time, so my English language skills were not much refined. I would therefore frequently require the assistance of a dictionary to comprehend the passages. In this fashion, I would sometimes unearth the prized jewel I was after and on other days return without it. After expending my time in the library, I would return in a similar manner as I had arrived; first to Saddar and thereafter to Darul Uloom, all the while standing in the bus with pole in hand. I would thereafter tromp home the last kilometer or so from the bus stop, traversing through the gloomy desert late at night. This is because no boundary wall fenced Darul Uloom at that time, and from the bus stop to Darul Uloom and from Darul Uloom until our house, one would come across neither any dwelling nor light. May Allah Ta’ala shower His mercies upon my respected mother; she would be anxiously awaiting my arrival and feed me, and after spending a few moments in her service I would walk over to my study table. If I had obtained anything particular during the day’s excursion, I would find a place for it in the book and thereafter prepare for next day’s lessons and retire to bed.
More or less two days a week were spent in this manner. And on three other days I would board the bus close to Asr time and, hanging by the pole as described above, would visit Hasan-uz-Zaman Akhtar Sahib in accordance with the mutual agreement we had contracted (which I have alluded to previously). I would study Economics from him and thereafter teach him Hidaya. In this manner, most of my evenings of those days were spent in journeys to and from the city. I would therefore hardly be afforded two days every week whose evenings I could spend at home.
I would, at times, lose heart during my work on Izhar ul-Haq; when the thought would cross my mind that much more work remained to be done compared to what had already been achieved, my willpower would cave in. I would, Alhamdulillah, repel the despondency and nevertheless proceed with the task at hand. And I have experienced this phase in nearly every book I have compiled; right in the midst of writing, a period of time would invariably transpire during which the mind would plunge into despair, and the heart would itch to run away from the book and its writing. However, soon enough Allah Ta’ala would grant His Tawfeeq (ability). I would perceive that phase to be the real test, and that it is not possible to absolve myself in this trial without sternly opposing my heart’s desire. I would therefore continue the work by forcing myself, and Alhamdulillah soon enough that state of the heart would pass on.
When the work of editing and annotating the book was completed, I felt a need for a detailed introduction to be appended to it. However, I would require more books to prepare it. During a trip to Lahore, I came to know that some good books about Christianity were to be found in Lahore’s Punjab Public Library. I therefore planned a trip to Lahore solely for this purpose and spent some days there in such a fashion that I I would arrive at the library early in the morning, study the relevant books and prepare notes from them. In the process, I would sometimes have to copy lengthy passages. This exercise culminated in a rather voluminous notebook. I returned to Karachi with this notebook and began drafting the introduction, which has now been published as an introductory section in Izhar ul-Haq, and also in the form of a separate book titled “Eesaiyat Kya Hai?” (“What is Christianity?”). Later it was translated into English by my South African friend Shoaib Omar Sahib, and into Arabic by respected Maulana Noor Alam Ameeni Nadvi Sahib (may his honour continue increasing), and Hadhrat Maulana Abul Hasan Ali Nadvi Sahib (may Allah’s mercy be upon him) also wrote a preface to it.
The author of Izhar ul-Haq Hadhrat Maulana Rahmatullah Kairanvi’s (may Allah’s mercy be upon him) grandson, Hadhrat Maulana Muhammad Saleem Sahib (may Allah’s mercy be upon him), was the rector of Madrasa Sawlatiyya which was founded by Hadhrat Kairanvi himself. When he learned that I was working on it, he encouraged a philanthropic businessman of Karachi to take up the publishing and other related expenses of the book upon himself. And he expressed this intention of his to me. This philanthropic elder was quite well-known among religious circles. Despite his piety and elderliness, he bore a somewhat touchy temperament and would, at times, complain about even minor things. I therefore demurred about the idea of receiving aid from him. Meanwhile, in order to introduce my work to people and as a channel to receive constructive suggestions from them, I got a part of the work published in monthly Faran magazine. When I met him thereafter, he strongly objected to this action and said: “You have devalued our work by pre-publishing this portion.” He voiced this objection in such a tone and choice of words that it felt as if by offering to take up the publishing costs he now considered this entire work as his own property. And a naïve youth as myself also sensed that in his view, it was as if I was undertaking this work under his supervision or as having been hired by him for it. Keeping in view his elderliness, I sufficed with informing him about my intention for getting that portion published and did not articulate any reaction to his inappropriate conduct. Later again, he expressed his thoughts regarding the pace of the work in such a manner as if this entire work was being carried out under his supervision. I would calmly reply to him, but resolved in my heart not to receive any monetary assistance from him.
Some time elapsed from this when he presented a cheque of a thousand rupees to me (a thousand rupees of those days would, perhaps, match a hundred thousand today with respect to their purchasing power) and indicated that he was presenting this cheque as a gift to me. The anguish in my heart spawned by his demeanor spurred me to write a letter in which I should recount the details of his inappropriate conduct and to conclude it with the words: “I am returning this cheque to you due to this”. I seem to remember that perhaps I even wrote the letter and thereafter presented it in the service of our respected father (may Allah’s mercy be upon him). Our respected father (may Allah’s mercy be upon him) was himself unhappy with this conduct of his, but he addressed me saying: “Your manner of returning the cheque hints at severing of your relation with him. Severing relations is easy and can be done any time. However, true courage lies in maintaining relations and displaying forbearance.” Thereafter, while our respected father agreed to return the cheque, instead of my letter he wrote one himself in which he mentioned the returning of the cheque in such words that they comprised of gratitude for his offer and concluded with: “This work was started relying on Allah Ta’ala and it is continuing while relying on Him. As of this moment, some work remains to be done and there is still time left for publication. I am therefore returning the cheque.” In this manner, the objective of returning the cheque was attained without engendering any acrimony between us. May Allah Ta’ala shower His mercies upon our respected father; in similar fashion he would impart lessons of good character, patience and forbearance at each step of our lives.
Anyway! Alhamdulillah! This work on Izhar ul-Haq came to a conclusion in about three-and-a-half years and was published from Maktaba Darul Uloom Karachi under the title “Bible Say Quran Tak” (“From the Bible to the Quran”). And with the grace and beneficence of Allah Ta’ala, it was well-received among scholarly circles, and reports were also received of Christians reading this book and thereafter attaining the honour of entering Islam.
[1] This praise is from a literary perspective only. His views and beliefs have no connection with this. I have commented on them in my article “Tahreek-e-Tajaddud Aur Us Ki Fikri Bunyaden” (Modernist Movement and Its Intellectual Foundations”)
[2] This is correct to a great extent, but alas! Would that he had looked at the “pure” and “well-wishing” words of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad Qadiani himself, which he used for his critics. Perhaps he did not read those words. Otherwise he would have used these words for Mirza Ghulam Ahmad first.
…………….(Continued)…………….