[Following is an excerpt from a speech of Syed Hamid Mohsin, Chairman Salaam Centre Bangalore, in which he addressed a huge gathering of about 20,000 countrymen and released a DVD of the Holy Qur’ān in the Oriya language, at Jama Masjid, City Market, Bangalore on 27th day of Ramadhan, (September 17).]
All praise is to Allah who blessed us with this blessed night. The most important characteristic of this night being the blessed night is that Allah sent down the Holy Qur’ān from Loh-e-Mahfooz (Preserved Tablet) to the world, and from time to time it was revealed to Prophet Muhammad (may Allah bless and greet him). And it is on this very night that Allah blessed us to release the translation of the Holy Qur’ān in DVD in the Oriya language. Really it is a great blessing of Allah for me. InshaAllah this DVD will help us reach the message of the Qur’ān out to the 3.5 crore people in Orissa. This DVD was prepared in a studio by a professional Oriya news reader in 90 days (by recording it for 10 hours a day). Insha Allah very soon this DVD will be released in Bhubaneswar, the capital of Orissa, at the hands of Chief Minister or Governor of Orissa and it will be presented as a gift to thousands of Oriya people.
Importance of the Qur’ān has been acknowledged in all the times. And its impacts have also been visible. A Turkish Muslim professor visited Tokyo, Japan in 1930 and stayed there for two years. During that period some Muslims discussed with the professor how to disseminate the message of Islam among the non-Muslims as they had been trying this for years but did not get any desired results. The professor advised them to popularise the Qur’ān and Allah Himself will guide the people. So on his advice a Qur’ān Society was formed. And after ceaseless efforts of six years the Holy Qur’ān in the Japanese language with Arabic text was published. But it remained confined to the Muslims, and no purpose of Dawah could be served.
The same professor once again visited Tokyo in 1950 and took stock of the progress of Dawah work there. Having seen little progress in this regard, he advised them to publish only the translation of the Qur’ān in the Japanese language without Arabic text. So the Qur’ān was published in the chaste Japanese language in simple paperback form. The cover of the book carried no minaret, no dome, no arch, no sort of Islamic symbol. Instead of having been written ‘The Holy or Noble Qur’ān’, the cover bore a surprising title: “The Greatest Book of the World”. The first page of the book carried a massage in Japanese like this: “Dear brothers! We are presenting this book to you with the purpose of its deep study. Keep it as a gift and study it with sincerity and profundity. I need no thanks or reply. Yes, if you feel something wrong or if you don’t agree with something, please write to me on the following address or call me. I would be happy to talk to you.”
And then every Japanese Muslim was requested to donate one per cent of his/her income to the Qur’ān Society and get the Holy book and distribute it among the non-Muslim. With the implementation of this minute planning and continuous publication of the translation of the Holy Qur’ān, Allah the Exalted blessed 18000 Japanese with guidance during the period from 1950 to 1968.
It was the month of Ramadan in 2008 when, with the grace of Allah, the idea ventured in my mind to make the Qur’ān reach out to people on a large scale, and we started a project “QUR’ĀN FOR ALL”. In the inaugural function of the project, Maulana Riazur Rahman and Maulana Muhammad Sirajul Hasan were also present.
Then in one of the five blessed nights of Ramadhan in 2008, Maulana Riazur Rahman advised me that I should undertake the work of spreading only the Qur’ān among the countrymen on a large scale as it is the Prophetic mission, very important and urgently needed. Since then, during the last one year, we published advertisements with message of the Qur’ān in English, Tamil and Kannad newspapers and also placed big hoardings at the main roads of Bangalore. Thus the message of the Qur’ān reached lakhs of persons and thousands of persons sought the Book. And we gifted the copies of the Qur’ān to thousands of persons and are still doing this. More than 50 countrymen visit Salaam Centre everyday to get a copy of the Qur’ān and quench their thirst of knowing the message of the Qur’ān.
Salaam Centre has also formed three teams of full timer Daiees, who are well equipped with telephone and computer and vehicles. They visit about 50 persons at their residences and offices from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily and introduce Islam and the Qur’ān and talk in detail on Islamic and related issues, and then present them with gifts of the Qur’ān.
Alhamdulillah Salaam Centre has made the translations of the Holy Qur’ān available to all the major bookstalls like HIGGINBOTHAMS, SAPNA, GANGARAM, wherefrom the readers can get them. One of the most loving Sunnah of the Holy Prophet (may Allah bless and greet him) i.e. to disseminate the message of Allah to the slaves of Allah is being carried out in a sustained manner.
Prophet Muhammad (May Allah bless and greet him) was keen to spread the Deen. He said: “Disseminate the knowledge on my behalf whether it is only one verse.” Muslims are the heir of the Prophet, and hence they should do what their prophet did in his life.
But it is a matter of regret that the apathy and laziness the Muslims have shown in disseminating the message of the Qur’ān among the non-Muslim brethren is the greatest negligence on the part of the community. Imam Gazali says, “The infidels and polytheists of our time will not be held guilty on the Day of Judgement because the Muslims do not present the message of the Qur’ān before them. And instead of them Muslims will be held as culprit for failing to do their duty.” Hence we must work hard to keep ourselves from the punishment of Allah.
Today the population of the world is about 400 crore. And two persons die every second. This means everyday about 1,73,000 people die and go back to Allah so that they can be the witness and claim that the people who had the responsibility of making them aware failed to do so.
So let’s come and pledge that each one of us would convey at least one copy of the Qur’ān in a month, and if it is not possible at least in a year, and even this is not possible at least in one’s life so that misunderstandings about Islam and the Qur’ān may be removed.
Insha Allah we will launch the project “Quran for All” in other cities as well.
Having seen the success of “Quran for All”, we are planning to launch a project on Prophet Muhammad (may Allah greet and bless him) called “You Must Know The Prophet Muhammad (Pubh)”. Through this project, we will present the teachings and Hadiths of Prophet Muhammad to the non-Muslims. Insha Allah for this project also we will make full use of media, especially hoardings, bus shelters, newspapers and TV channels.
Insha Allah Salaam Centre is going to establish a Quran Centre in which we will make available the translations of the Qur’ān in all the languages in the world. We have got the Qur’ān translations into French, Spanish, Ugandi, Japanese, Sowahili, and English. Likewise we are trying to get from Egypt a copy of the Qur’ān in Bryll script for the blind. Besides the translations we are trying to collect commentaries of the Qur’ān in English and Urdu. Insha Allah we hope the day will come when people from around the world will come here to study the Qur’ān and tafsir literature.
We are working, but it is a drop in the ocean. It is only to please Allah. We pray to Allah to grant us strength to perform this work in a better way, protect us from the envy of the envious, and from the misdeeds of the miscreants from among men and Satan. O Allah! Keep us as well as our Dawah work under Your Protection! Ameen!