Thanking all who inspired and motivated him in India, Mohammad Akram Nadvi, Dean of Cambridge Islamic College (UK) said he had learned a lot from the books of Maulana Maudoodi. His Tafhim al-Quran is one of the best tafaseer available. “I used to say this even in Oxford. If people cannot help or support any religious organisation working towards Islam and Deen at least they should not oppose or create any hindrance in their way.”
Before coming onto the topic, “Islam and Muslims in Europe,” at a programme organised by Radiance Viewsweekly at JIH Headquarters on 31 October, Nadwi said, “The only thing that I was inspired about Jamaat-e-Islami Hind was that when an organisation is established the founder of that organisation may have questions which he tries to answer according to the prevailing situation. When the founder dies, the successors only carry forward what he was doing, with no thinking; then that organisation becomes a dead one. But in Jamaat-e-Islami Hind the successors were open-minded and they tried to reform, keeping in mind the situation and the requirements of that period. They welcomed changes and reformed accordingly.
“Imam Abu Hanifa, Imam Malik, Imam Shafi all did what they thought was best for their period, time and situation. In the same manner, Maulana Abul Ala Maudoodi, Hassan Al-Banna and Maulana Abul Hasan ‘Ali Nadwi understood their period, situation, time and worked accordingly. Efforts should be made to present Islam in accordance with the situational demands with a renewed spirit to make it more appealing and attractive to others. Jamaat’s role in Dawah and introducing Deen has been exemplary,” argued.
In today’s context, the learned speaker said, Islam has now become a “culture” instead of “Deen.” When a religion becomes a culture, it loses its very purpose and becomes customary in nature. On Islam and Muslims in Europe, he said, on the one hand, people say that many people are embracing Islam but the fact of the matter is the percentage of people moving out of Islam are more than what people are embracing. I can hear people accepting Islam but they are not seen in mosques or any other places. You can see Indians, Pakistanis, Bangladeshis and people from Arab in the mosque but hardly you can see white people in the mosque.
Maulana Syed Jalaluddin Umari in his presidential address said it is true that we all know that people are embracing Islam in the Western world but we hardly come to know as to how many youth or new generation moving out of Islam. To me, it was surprising to know what the learned speaker said on the issue. He also said that Indian Muslims have their own issues and problems and Jamaat has to address them.
Earlier, Dr. Muhammad Raziul Islam Nadvi, Secretary Tasneefi Academy, JIH, introduced the learned speaker. The programme was conducted by Dr Waquar Anwar, financial advisor of JIH and secretary of the Board of Islamic Publications and vote of thanks was extended by Sikandar Azam, Editor of Radiance Viewsweekly.