Aligarh Muslim University: Jamaat efforts and educational environment

[Maripat]

There was a post here by a brother that has been later removed. Here are the queries from that.
Q: I'm really confused i always thought aligarh was just another secular university, but in this case it marketed itself as being "islamic". that's to say that i thought it had no interest teaching genuine islamic knowledge alongside the secular sciences. perhaps i was mistaken.
A:My original post covers, at least I think so, the point. I'll try to answer again. AMU originated in Sir Syed's desire for modern education for Muslims in India. He desired that its graduates will have science in one hand, philosophy in other and on their head will be the crown of Laaa Ilaha Illallah. In other words he wanted an education that was modern in every aspect but the products will be genuine Muslims. It is certainly not a religious seminary but then it has a department of sunni theology and a department of shia theology. You can get bachelor of theology and master of theology in both sunni and shia theology. And PhDs. I hope this answers the question.

Q: Also and i'm not trying to make gheebat of a dead man, but i heard that sir syed ahmed khan basically went wrong and tried to "modernize" islam, i was not aware that he was a proper scholar/alim but rather that he was a modernist figure who was opposed to shariah and the ulema. Once Marhum Dr Israr Ahmed mentioned something along those lines (basically that he went wrong in some matters of islamic belief).
A: Sir Syed was pioneer of modern education and his education was with the same people with whom other luminaries of Islam like Deputy Nazeer Ahmed and Maulana Qasim Nanotwi (RA) got their education. I have alluded to Sir Syed's attitude towards a modernist interpretation of Islam. It is a sore point and some serious work is required to patch up the things. Brother got the point nearly right.

Q: Also why on earth would an alim/scholar/religious minded person kneel before the british crown and swear fealty to them.......im really confused.
A: Sir Syed became Sir Syed after an effort of life time. I am sure in child hood he must have been sahibzada Ahmed Khan. If I ask any body do you know Ahmed Khan the answer will be which Ahmed Khan. Sir Syed opened his eyes in the time when Mughal Empire was collapsing. Raj Mohan Gandhi gives very heart breaking statement from the Red Fort compound where the princely families were living in a ghetto. A man got to the roof and shouted bhookhon marte hain bhookhon marte hain (dying of hunger-dying of hunger). (Please do not jump on RajMohan Gandhi-he must have got it from Urdu sources.) So Sir Syed came to the conclusion that the Mughal emperor B.S.Zafar can not give him a livelihood. He became a civil servant of East India Company. A servant is a servant. Today why are Muslims doing jobs (=service=being servants) in UK or US? It is as simple as that.

Some questions might have been left unanswered but I'll not know unless reminded of them.
Wassalam

[dr76]

Jazakallah khairan kaseer dear Bro Maripat for the post. i always felt that there should be a thread on the A.M.U since many of our brothers and sisters are unaware of this prestigious institution in India.

Seriosly , today if anyone visits AMU, the hostels , their libaas.. thier deeni activitis.. i guess they would believe this was a madrassa. i feel the dawah work so imbibed in an institution is next only to Nadwatul Ulema whre they have the 1 yr khurooj for ulema as if part of academic curriculum.. so we have 4 months at AMU to the undergraduates and post graduates after completion..

the jamaat i was with had PHD students of geology.. agriculture..mathematics and BUMS as well as MBBS doctors who had just passsed out.. i cannot forget when it was my turn for khidmat.. ( im a terrible cook.. can only chop vegetables ) and an engineer was grouped with me.. so we cooked probably the worst rice and mixed vegetables available on the planet.. and the ameer saheb commented .. alhamdulilah this is a very memorable lunch for us.. today i guess we r the only lucky ones to have food prepared by a physician and an engineer..dont ask how it tasted..

There was a time at AMU when the marxist wave did try to erode sensibilities.. Hakeem ul Ummah Hazrat maulana Ashraf Ali thanvi sb was pelted with stones by the commies ( though he wasnt hurt alhamdulillah) and they shouted ' Down with the Namazis ' dunno what dua Hazrat thanvi (rah) had made..

this was followed by the visits of mashaikh..like Hazrat maulana Shah Wasiullah sb (rah) .. Hazrat Shaikhul Hadees Maulana zakariyya sb Nawwar Allahu marqadahu and other akabireen later on..

When the AMU Tableeghi elder Dr Khalid Siddqui sahab visited markaz Nizamuddin for the 1st time he did so wearing a hat and english dress.. it seems hazrat Maulana Yusuf sahab (rah) keenly invited him in.. paid attention to him.. and so started the regular visits and tarbiyyat.. clean shaven as he was.. it seems Hazrat Maulana Yousuf sahab (rah) once placed a shaving blade on the mirror where Dr sahab washed face.. Dr sahab cried at this gesture and so did a heart change..

what to speak of Dr sanaullah sahab db , popularly known as Fatih e France.. was sent by Hazratji Maulana Inamul Hassan sb (rah) to pursue further education in paris and spread the work of deen..
i request some detail on his efforts too bro maripat..

and hazrat dr Salman Baigh sahab.. well Hazrat Shaikhul Hadees sahab (rah) has given him khilafat and holds zikr majlis besides running the girls madrassa..

then there is Dr Fateh Muhammed sahab PHD mathematics .. tableegi elder..and then of course my favourite.. Hazrat Dr Nadir Ali Khan sahab db .. the walking encyclopedia and master of urdu litereature.. apart from Dr Usman sahab and Dr Abdul Aleem sahab .. they all divide their time between Markan Nizamuddin and the AMU..

then we also have Brother Maripat of whom little is known about..

Well.. there was a time when the markaz elders would visit AMU.. and now these doctors.. PHD literates are the ones giving bayanaat at the Markaz.. and may Allah preserve them..give them aafiya of both worlds and keep thier shade long over the ummah.. ameen

jazakallah khair..

duas..

wa assalam..

[True Life]

Dr. Mohibullah sahab used to mention, that the Aligarh Muslim University went through a very secular and "less Islamic minded" period. I don't know remember though in which century/years. But now since alhamdulillah much effort has been done the University has a very Islamic colour.

[Maripat]

Borrowed from this thread.

Manoj R Nair / DNA

Mumbai: A two-year-long search for land to set up a Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) centre in Maharashtra has got longer.

During the annual budget of 2009, the central government announced plans to set up five AMU centres in as many states.

A couple of months ago, the Murshidabad centre in West Bengal asked students to apply for courses there. Another campus at Malappuram in Kerala is expected to start functioning soon. But there are few hopes that the Maharashtra centre will be set up soon.

The main hurdle in the plans, government officials say, is the unavailability of a large plot of land to set up an educational campus. Last week, the state came close to identifying land for the project. Incidentally, the man who located the land was Yashwant Sonawane, the additional district collector who was killed by the oil adulteration mafia in Manmad last Tuesday.

As reported by DNA earlier, state minorities affairs minister Arif Naseem Khan had asked all the district collectors to look for land to set up the AMU centre. Based on information received from the district collector, the minorities affairs ministry was planning to write to the state revenue department to give the land identified for the project.

The meeting of district collectors took place on January 24, just a day before Sonawane was killed. Though the state has 35 districts, there were representatives from just 20 districts. Among them, Sonawane was the only one to have located land for the centre. His report said that there was 300 acres of land at Rampura village, a few kilometres outside Malegaon in Nashik district that could be acquired for the project.

Malegaon would have been ideal for the project as it is one of the few towns in the state where the population largely comprises minorities. Also, it is one of the most backward urban areas in state as far as educational and medical facilities are concerned.

But the state minorities affairs ministry does not want to set up a centre in Malegaon. State minorities affairs minister Arif Naseem Khan said, “We think that the AMU centre should come up near a large city. So we have asked the district collectors to look again for land near a big city.”

According to Khan, the campus should be located around Navi Mumbai, Pune or Nagpur.

But community groups are angry with the delay. MA Khalid, a resident of Dongri who filed several applications under the Right to Information Act to find out the progress in setting up the centre said, “While the minorities minister has told the community that he is in the process of identifying land for the centre, my RTI applications have shown that the state cabinet has no such proposal. By making false promises, the government is misleading the community,’ he said.

According to AMU officials, the central government has sanctioned Rs25 crores for the centres in Kerala and West Bengal. A Maharashtra campus, meanwhile, is still years away.

Source : DNA

[The Fake Shaykh]

and hazrat dr Salman Baigh sahab.. well Hazrat Shaikhul Hadees sahab (rah) has given him khilafat and holds zikr majlis besides running the girls madrassa..

jazakallah khair..
duas..
wa assalam..

Is he the elder brother of professer Faizan Baig?

[Maripat]

Is he the elder brother of professer Faizan Baig?

Yes.

[Maripat]

Met Dr Nafees Ahmed a few days ago. He has retired as professor of ophthalmology and served many significant offices of the university including Proctor's office. He has been a legend for his courage - a status that he garnered many decades ago. He has been working in those areas where apostasy raised its ugly head in eighties of last century. This work is done through Al-Noor Education Society. Here are tid bits from that meeting as well as from past memory that relate to him.

(1) He told that once he was returning form a village school in that area after Maghrib. The area is obviously deserted and dark. He was on motorcycle. He normally is fearless but that day he felt little bit of fear. (No untoward incident afterwards - all praise to Allah(SWT)).

(2) He was traveling by a bus and a fellow lady traveler came to know that he is from AMU. She was excited. "Do you know Professor Nafees Ahmed", she inquired. "Yes", why? You know he is the person who recited Azaan at Har Ki Paudi and offered his Prayers there?

He introduced himself to her and told the following story.
(3) He was in Rishikesh (not Har Ki Paudi which is in the nearby town of Haridwar) with two other persons. It was time of Maghrib and he knew that ghaats (the stone steps on the bank of river) are no go area as far as Muslim Prayers are concerned. He, together with two other Muslims - his companions, crossed ...

(post mutilated by power cut - to be continued, IA.)

[dr76]

Bro Maripat.. ive been to Rishikesh.. not a single Masjid in the entire Town.. ideal place to feel how the darkness of shirk and kufr seems like.. i went up near the ganges.. overheared few sadhus (hindu Priests) talking to themselves.. bhaag khul gaye aaj.. Ganga mayya ke darshan hogaye..( luck has indeed struck us today .. having visited Mother ganges (river) ).

Imagine the fate of a town without Azaan..

pls continue..

wa assalam..

[Maripat]

Bro Maripat.. ive been to Rishikesh.. not a single Masjid in the entire Town.. ideal place to feel how the darkness of shirk and kufr seems like.. i went up near the ganges.. overheared few sadhus (hindu Priests) talking to themselves.. bhaag khul gaye aaj.. Ganga mayya ke darshan hogaye..( luck has indeed struck us today .. having visited Mother ganges (river) ).

Imagine the fate of a town without Azaan..

pls continue..

wa assalam..

I'll continue, IA. There are a few more goodies.
Wassalam

[Maripat]

I'll continue, IA. There are a few more goodies.
Wassalam

My apologies - life takes over all the time.

(3) (Continued) Professor Nafees Ahmed crossed over to the other side where they saw a shade. His companions were not willing to go and pray there. He prayed alone. That is when he saw two Sadhus (Hindu holymen) with a boy approaching him. Two companions watched from a distance. The Sadhus came and requested Professor Ahmed to blow over the boy.

(4) Professor Ahmed was traveling by bus and it stopped in Shahjahanpur at the junction of a three way crossing. He requested to the driver that he shall take five minutes to pray. The driver said do not worry Miyan (Muslim grown up man) - the bus shall not move an inch without you. There was a temple near by with shades in every direction but it was wet all around. He went straight into the temple and on the side of the deity there was some dry place. He spread his praying mat and was done before one of the Sadhus made it to the sanctum sanctorum. "I am sorry there was no other dry place to pray so I I availed this place", Dr Ahmed said. "O you did just the right thing, sir", said the Sadhu. Now take these offering of the temple, the Sadhu further added. He gave lots of sweets, really lots of them. Dr Ahmed, of course, would not eat them. He came back to the bus and handed over the sweets to the co-passengers - temple offerings! The passengers had a good time.