Memories (Episode 7-A)

The Beginning of My Education

Hadhrat Shaykh al-Islam ‘Allama Shabbir Ahmad Usmani (may Allah have mercy on him) did not have his own house in Karachi. However, Mr. S.M. Qureshi, a leader of the Muslim League, owned a bungalow in Amil Colony on Jamshed Road, in which he had requested Hadhrat to stay. Hadhrat was therefore staying in that house and our respected father (may Allah have mercy on him) would frequently visit him at his house to discuss the challenges facing the newly formed country. Often, he would also take me along so that I could receive Hadhrat’s supplications (du’a). I remember sitting one day before Hadhrat with a Qā’idah Baghdadiya in my hand, wrapped in a beautiful cloth satchel. It is likely that on that occasion, our respected father (may Allah have mercy on him) had taken me along so that Hadhrat could initiate my education.

Meanwhile, Hadhrat Mawlana Ihtisham al-Haq Thanwi (may Allah have mercy on him) had established a mosque, with a tin-sheet roof, in Jacob Line, adjacent to his house. He had also established a small madrasa within the mosque where children were taught the recitation and memorization of the Noble Qur’an. Our respected father (may Allah have mercy on him) enrolled my elder brothers in that madrasa, where my respected brother Muhammad Wali Rāzi was memorizing the Qur’an under Qāri Muhammad Zakariyya and Hadhrat Mawlana Mufti Muhammad Rafiʿ Usmani under Hafiz Nazīr Ahmad. Due to my young age, instead of enrolling me in that madrasa, our respected father placed me under Hadhrat Mawlana Nūr Ahmad (may Allah have mercy on him) to study the Qā’idah Baghdadiya at home.

The Qā’idah was not yet completed, rather a significant portion of it was still remaining, when we learnt via a letter from Deoband that a niece of mine (who was a year older than me) had started reading the first Juz (Alif Lām Mīm) of the Qur’an. I have mentioned before that Hadhrat Mawlana Nūr Ahmad (may Allah have mercy on him) had a penchant for accomplishing the most challenging tasks in quick time. When he came to know that my niece, who is almost the same age as me, has started the Alif Lām Mīm Juz in Deoband, he said to me: “You have read enough of the Qā’idah. We shall begin the Juz ‘Amma for you.” I therefore started reading the Juz ‘Amma before completing the Qā’idah. In this manner, Hadhrat Mawlana Nūr Ahmad continued teaching me Qur’an recitation until I completed seven ajzā, whereupon he said: “Now that you have become familiar with the words, continue reciting the remainder of the Qur’an on your own daily.” Thereafter, after briefly reviewing the Urdu Qaa’ida (elementary learning guide) of “Bahishti Zewar”, we commenced “Bahishti Gohar”.

I still remember that when I started the lesson of “Bahishti Gohar”, its first sentence was: “At first, this world was nonexistent”. I found it quite difficult to comprehend the meaning of “nonexistent”^[1], and to understand its meaning, I persistently questioned my teacher. Anyhow, I had only studied a few lessons from “Bahishti Gohar” when Hadhrat Mawlana Ihtisham al-Haq (may Allah have mercy on him) initiated the teaching of more advanced books in his madrasa, and gradually this developed into regular classes where eminent scholars such as Hadhrat Mawlana Badr ‘Ālam (may Allah have mercy on him) also taught, and perhaps, for some time, my respected father (may Allah have mercy on him) as well. Mawlana Nūr Ahmad (may Allah have mercy on him) became engaged in teaching at this madrasa, so I had to study some chapters of “Bahishti Gohar” and “Sīrat-e-Khātam al-Anbiya” from my respected mother (may Allah have mercy on her), but I do not remember which portion I studied with whom. These two books were my entire world of Urdu language learning. I did not study any other book besides these two to learn Urdu.

On the other hand, I continued reciting the Noble Qur’an daily on my own. I would sit on a bed with the Noble Qur’an placed on a pillow and read some portion of it every day. Sometimes, I would also read aloud to my respected mother or another family member. This continued until one morning, all praise is for Allah Most High, I completed the reading of the Noble Qur’an.

I would observe that whenever a child completed reading or memorizing the Noble Qur’an, a formal ceremony, known as Āmīn ceremony, was usually organized. Sometimes, sweets would be distributed to celebrate the occasion. But when I completed my “autonomous” reading, no one even knew that I was completing the Noble Qur’an that day. I still remember the sadness in my heart when I read the last verse and closed the Noble Qur’an, alone in the room; no one to witness, no one to listen, no celebration, no joyous gathering.

Finally, I informed my respected father (may Allah have mercy on him) that I had completed the reading of the Noble Qur’an that day. He was very pleased and sent my two elder brothers (Mawlana Wali Rāzi and Hadhrat Mufti Muhammad Rafiʿ Usmani (may Allah grant them a long life) to the bazaar to buy me a present. I waited impatiently in the balcony of our house for their return. When they appeared in the distance, I saw them holding a blue toy car, playing with it on their way back. I was overjoyed to receive that toy car. It was a simple yet beautiful car (perhaps automatic toy cars did not exist by that time), but to me, it was a treasure of the universe. Now I realize that at each stage of our mortal lives, the things we hold dear and close to our hearts become laughable in the next stage. And a time will finally come when all the wealth, properties and material possessions of the world will seem more meaningless than toys.

بد نامئ حیات دوروزے نہ بود بیش
آں هم بتو کلیم چہ گویم چساں گذشت
یک روز وقف بستن‏ دل شود به این و آن
روز دگر به کندن دل زین و آں گذشت

Translation:

The infamy of this life is no more than two days,
Even those, O Kalīm! What can I say, how they passed by?
One day passed in attaching the heart to this and that,
And the next in trying to detach the heart from these things

Nevertheless, this is how my education began.

…………….(Continued)…………….

[1] Translator: The Urdu word used was “nāpīd” (meaning “non-existent” in English), which was difficult for a child to comprehend