ByPervez
Bari
Dr. R. J.
Rao, Vice Chancellor University of Barkatullah University, Bhopal
Prof.
Shakeel Samdani, Dean in the Faculty of Law, Aligarh Muslim University AMU), while
addressing the gathering, said, “There is no short cut to success. Students who
persevere in the field of education and competitive world sincerely can break
all barriers impeding their progress to finish at the top notch.
There is a
general perception that Muslim students do not study and labour hard to be
amongst top achievers in any field. This may be true to some extent but Muslim
students have talent. This has been proved by the fact that thrice Muslim
students have finished at the top of the IAS examination, which is said to be
the toughest.”
The
students who attained success in IAS exams in the past and holding different
positions included Javed Usmani (Uttar Pradesh), Amir Subhani (Bihar), Shah
Faisal (Kashmir) and Anis Ansari. It is a matter of great happiness that in CPMT out of 1350 seats 350 Muslim students
were among those selected, he added.
Continuing with
his speech Prof. Samdani said that for 600 years Muslims were intellectually,
academically and scientifically superpower as far as knowledge and education
was concerned. Then the Muslims excelled in the field of science, medicine,
engineering, mathematics, astrology, oceanography, astronomy etc. For these reasons Muslims, thereafter, became
superpower politically too and ruled for nearly 900-1000 years on large parts
of the world.
He said
Prophet of Islam Hazrat Muhammad (PBUH) brought about the biggest revolution in
the field of education which the world has ever seen. He believed such type of
revolution will not come again till the Doomsday as about 1500 years ago there
were no gadgets or tools of communication as we have today in the present era.
He pointed
out that Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) in his 23 years of his prophethood focused on
education which he compared with life. He released the prisoners-of-war when
they taught his disciples to read and write. There were only 17-23 literate
people in Makkah, the religious capital of the World, when Hazrat Muhammad
(PBUH) was anointed as a prophet after the first “Wahi” (Heavenly revelation)
which said “Read..................” Thereafter, at the time of his farewell
sermon in Hajjat-ul-Wida there were about 1.4 lakh people who were all literate
in Makkah.
Prof.
Samdani while exhorting the Muslim students to engage themselves spiritedly in
serious studies said, “Ilm is Zindagi and Jahalat is mout” (Education is life
while ignorance is death). He stressed: “Padho, Padho, Padho. Jadojahad karni
hai; mahnat karni hai” (Study, study and study. Work hard and put in great effort)
so that the golden era of the Ummah can be achieved once again.
He urged
the elders to contribute with open heart to fund the NGOs such as MECAPS and
others which are engaged in educating children of poor families and their
overall development of the Muslim Ummah. He said wealth possessed by well-to-do
people given by the Almighty Allah (S) is not entirely theirs but they are only
trustees of such fortune. They have to spend on the have-nots and orphans
according to the wishes of Allah (S) as ordained in the Holy Qur’an and the
sayings of the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH). If they do not do so they shall be
punished by Him. He argued if these people save even one percent of their
income from their extravagant expenditure then one and all needy students can
get scholarships, he added.
He lamented
that Muslims are very poor in social service task and only less than one
percent NGOs are present internationally from 22 percent population of Muslims
in the world. Same is the position at the national level. Quoting a Hadees, he
said, compassion even towards animals will be rewarded by the Almighty Allah
(S). So, serving the have-nots and fulfilling their needs and helping them to
come out from the quagmire of illiteracy and poverty is much more important.
However, in
south India India
He praised
the founders of MECAPS who established an organization in 1985 as a non-profit
body for the betterment of Muslim community along with those who are running it
presently.
Meanwhile,
Prof. Samdani was felicitated on the occasion and presented award for his
contribution in the field of Law and Social Work. Similarly, Dr. R. J. Rao,
Vice Chancellor University of Barkatullah University, Bhopal
Dr. Zafar
Hasan, honorary general secretary of MECAPS, welcomed the guests and presented
annual report of the society.
Prizes were
given to winners of Sagheer Baidaar Talent Search Test. Meritorious students received Mufti Mohammad
Ismail Memorial Golden Medal and Mohammad Ilyas Khan Golden Medal. Beside this
students were honoured with Afaq Ahmad Memorial Award, Abdul Lateef Memorial
Award, Abdul Haleem Qidwai Memorial Award, Mazhar Mehndi Memorial Award,
Badar-un-Nisa Memorial Award, Maulana Inam-ur-Rahman Memorial Award,
Zahoor-ul-Hasan Memorial Award, Syed Masood Ali Memorial Award.
The vote of
thanks was proposed by Syed Arshad Ali, vice president of MECAPS. The programme
was compered by Dr. Ahsan Aazmi with aplomb.