Very few people are aware that Vinoba Bhave had learnt the Qur’ān well. They better know him as an ardent supporter of Gandhiji’s ‘Bhoodan Movement’ and for launching his own movement against ‘cow slaughter’ in India. But, his knowledge of the Qur’ān is not known to even many Muslims, not to say of our Non-Muslim brethren.
Recently I happened to go through an article entitled “Mutarjim-e-Qur’ān Vinoba Bhave” (Translator of Qur’ān ‘Vinoba Bhave) by Shakeel Shamsi in the Urdu bimonthly Gulbun (November-December 2016) published from Lucknow. With due permission of Syed Zafar Hashmi, Editor-in-Chief of Gulbun, I have translated the said article into English for publication in the Radiance Viewsweekly.
During the course of a train journey, S. Shamsi chanced upon seeing a book at a book stall at the railway platform. The very title of the book “Qur’ān Saar” written by Vinoba Bhave captured Shamsi’s attention, and he bought the book. Leaving aside Shamsi’s personal narrative, I come to the main point.
Vinoba Bhave got himself associated with Mahatma Ghandi first in 1916. On Gandhiji’s advice, he took the charge of Custodian of the Ashram set up in Wardha district of Maharashtra. Besides discharging his responsibility as the custodian, he started to teach local children in the same Ashram. Among the children who used to come to the Ashram for learning, there was one Muslim student too. One day the Muslim student, with utmost simplicity, asked Vinoba Bhave, “Can you, Guruji, teach me Qur’ān also?” Vinoba Bhave was taken aback at this unexpected question. But he did not tell the student that he could not do that. Instead, he (Vinobaji) answered that he would certainly teach Qur’ān to the student, but after sometime.
After making this promise to teach the Qur’ān to the Muslim student, Bhave’s only concern was how to learn the Qur’ān though he had read the English version of the holy Qur’ān. This problem was solved soon. He started to learn the Qur’ān and the Arabic language with a local Islamic scholar in Wardha. But he wanted to be well versed in the recitation of the Qur’ān. For this purpose, he began to listen to the recitation of the Qur’ān broadcast by All India Radio. This helped him correct the pronunciation of the language and to a greater extent he could recite the verses of the Qur’ān in the Arabic tone successfully. The untiring efforts and love for the language made him so adept that people would wonder at his reciting the Qur’ānic verses. Vinoba Bhave’s assistant, A.B. Deshpandey has written that at the time of reciting the verses, tears would roll down the cheeks of Vinobaji. His recitation would produce the state of ecstasy and rapture on the listeners. Deshpandey has further written that when Maulana Abul Kalam Azad visited the Ashram to meet Gandhiji, Gandhiji requested Vinoba Bhave to recite some verses of the Qur’ān to Maulana Azad. Maulana was so much impressed that he could not believe that a man could recite the verses of the Qur’ān in such a perfect way by learning the language with a village religious teacher. Later on, Maulana Azad was informed about the continuous struggle and efforts that Vinoba Bhave had underwent to excel in Arabic.
Deshpandey has also mentioned the visits that Frontier Gandhi, Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan would make to the Wardha Ashram. During such a visit Khan would talk to Vinoba Bhave about the Qur’ān. During the course of such talks, Vinobaji once told Khan that he was very much impressed with the verses revealed to the Prophet of Islam in Makkah and so he liked to recite these verses too much. Ghaffar Khan agreed with Vinobaji at this point and said that he too would get much peace and calm in reciting the verses revealed in Makkah.
It must be noted that to understand the Qur’ān well, Vinoba Bhave learnt the Arabic language sincerely and studied the different translated versions minutely. Despite his engagement in the freedom movement, his imprisonment and tours to different towns and villages, he would keep himself engaged in the study of the Qur’ān. And, as such, he achieved tremendous accolade and honour because of his delivering speeches on the holy Qur’ān at several places in the country. Taking the Bhoodan Movement onward and for participating in the Bhoodan Sammelan, he went to Ajmer in Rajasthan. There he created a sense of wonder and perplexity in the minds of the people who listened to his remarkable speech on the heavenly messages of the holy Qur’ān.
Despite his pressing engagement, he had decided to translate the holy Qur’ān into Hindi. He had already versified the verses ’Fateha’ and ‘Ikhlas’ into the Marathi language. Vinoba Bhave wanted to translate the holy Qur’ān but in a new and decorated way. Keeping this in view, he translated the verses of the Qur’ān into Hindi and Urdu with the names of ‘Qur’ān Saar’ and ‘Roohul-Qur’ān’ respectively. He did collect the verses reflecting and dealing with one particular subject at one place.
About the printing of ‘Qur’ān Saar’ and ‘Roohul-Qur’ān’, Deshpandey revealed a very interesting event. He (Deshpandey) was going to Benares, carrying the manuscripts in a trunk. There was a very heavy rush in the train. Accidentally, the trunk slipped out of his hand and fell on the railway track. The moving train was stopped by pulling the chain. The train stopped but its wheels had already run over the trunk. The trunk was fully destroyed. But, when it was opened, it was found that the wheels of the train had run over that part of the trunk only which did not contain any Qur’ānic letters.
It is very sad that the present day generation is completely unaware of the noble work done by Vinoba Bhave. If such noble works undertaken by some personalities other than Muslims are made known to the people, the vicious atmosphere of communalism that is pervading our social life may be eliminated to a greater extent.