Jamaat-e-Islami Hind on 25 October greeted Muslims in India and the world on the occasion of the new Hijri Year 1436 and wished them peace, prosperity and progress. In his New Islamic Year message, Mohammad Salim Engineer, National Secretary, Jamaat-e-Islami Hind urged people to introspect themselves to make tomorrow better than today.
“On the occasion of New Hijri Year, let’s do our individual and collective introspection truthfully and honestly and make a plan to grow our virtues and correct our shortcomings, so that we could make our future better than the present,” he said.
MUSLIMS BLAMED FOR ‘MISMANAGING’ WAQF BODIES
Introspecting on the state of waqf management, prominent leaders of the Muslim community have blamed Muslims for the mismanagement of 1.10 lakh Waqf bodies holding four lakh acres of waqf lands all over the country. In a day-long national seminar on Nizaam-e-Auqaaf (system of waqfs) for preservation, awareness and development of Waqf properties on 26 October, K Rahman Khan, former Union Minister for Minority Affairs, expressed dissatisfaction at the working of Waqf bodies in the country, “for which no one can be blamed except Muslims,” he said.
The event marked the centenary year of Ahmedabad Sunni Muslim Waqf Committee. Khan said the new waqf act would change things for the better. He said the act provides for doing away with exemption for waqf properties from rent rules, which was a good sign for financial health of waqf bodies. Secondly, he said the provision for setting up of dedicated three-member tribunals to decide on Waqf property related disputes would accelerate disposal of cases.
Khan said the increase in maximum lease period from 3 years to 30 years in case of waqf properties would attract more people for investing in land. He regretted political patronage in Waqf appointments that was damaging functioning of waqfs which caused acquisition of 1,600 acre Waqf land by Andhra Pradesh government for setting up Cyberabad.
ROW OVER ENCROACHMENT OF WAQF PROPERTY
A public hearing meeting organised by the Gulbarga City Corporation and chaired by the Urban Development Minister Vinaykumar Sorake turned out to be a duel between Municipal Administration and Waqf Minister Qamarul Islam and the former Minister S.K. Kanta in Gulbarga on 26 October. Both leaders clashed over the contentious issue of the alleged encroaching of the waqf property. The charge levelled by Mr. Kanta was that influential politicians and Ministers were behind the encroachments of waqf property in Gulbarga. Mr. Qamarul however said the issue of the alleged encroachment was before the court and it was for the court to decide on the issue.
CIVIL, HUMAN RIGHTS CONDITION IN JHARKHAND VERY PATHETIC
A meeting of APCR Jharkhand state was held on 23 October in Ranchi to discuss the civil and human rights situation in Jharkhand and methodology to protect the rights of the citizens in the state. Twenty representatives from Ranchi, Jamshedpur, Dhanbad, Pakud and Gumla districts participated in the meeting.
It was observed that the condition of civil and human rights in Jharkhand is very pathetic and a strong APCR is need of the hour. So it was decided to accelerate the expansion and consolidation of the organisation throughout the state.
NATIONAL SEMINAR ON SHEIKH NOORUDDIN WALI
The Department of Modern Indian Languages, Aligarh Muslim University organised a two-day national seminar on ‘Sheikh Nooruddin Wali: Thought and Art’ on 28 October. Inaugurating the seminar, the AMU Vice Chancellor, Lt General Zameer Uddin Shah (Retd) said that Sheikh Nooruddin Wali typically represents the composite culture of Kashmir. He said that Sheikh Sahab emphasised on values such as piety, godliness, self-control, tolerance, human brotherhood and compassion.
The Vice Chancellor further said that Sheikh Sahab’s poetry in Kashmiri and Persian is deeply Kashmiri oriented and seeks to promote humanist values through an appropriation of a universal vision. General Shah said that Sheikh Sahab was not only a preacher of Islam but also a poet, philosopher, environmentalist, linguist, scientist and traveller who used simple and colloquial language to convey his ideas.
JIH CONCERNED AT ATTACK ON SHAHI IMAM OF DELHI
Mr. Nusrat Ali, Secretary General of Jamaat-e-Islami Hind, has strongly condemned attack on Shahi Imam of Jama Masjid Delhi, Maulana Syed Ahmed Bukhari during prayers at the mosque. The attack on him during Namaz and inside the mosque is not just sad but also serious as it occurred inside the historic Jama Masjid, during Namaz and on an important personality of the country, said Ali.
Amir JIH Maulana Syed Jalaluddin Omari, while expressing sorrow at the incident, thanked Allah that the Shahi Imam was not hurt and true to his position, he completed the Namaz and even after the arrest of the culprit, situation inside the mosque remained completely peaceful.
ISLAM IN 21ST CENTURY RELEASED
Dr. Zafar-ul-Islam Khan, President All India Muslim Majlis-e-Mushawarat released a book ‘Islam in 21st Century’ by Abdur Rashid Agwan, a well-Known writer, at Milli Model School in New Delhi on 2 November. The author introduced the book in brief and explained its contents, objectives and necessities. The book mainly focuses on the necessity, changes and representation of Islam in the 21st century. Besides Dr. Khan, the speakers, who expressed their views on the book and appreciated the author for his sincerity, include Dr. Javed Jamil, Aslam Ahmed, and K. Moinuddin.