It may not be professionally correct but I did it. I did not inform the octogenarian person that I was interviewing him and instead of any tape recording or jotting down by pen or pencil I was making mental notes of the discussion. In fact it all started without any planning. We were invited to a breakfast-cum-lunch in Howly, Assam, by Dr. Dewan Nazrul Qadir where his father Dewan Abdul Qadir could join us only at its fag end when we were at the stage of taking leave from the hosts. But it then started raining heavily. And it rained cats and dogs. We had no option other than detaining the hosts and prolonging our stay with the Dewans.
Dewan Abdul Qadir retired as a Lecturer in Arabic in Assam and is among the oldest members of Jamaat-e-Islami Hind in the state. The rains outside our room stirred the literary person in him and he started reciting a Bangla language poem: Topor topor brishti pore…(Tap tap it is raining). He enjoyed explaining to us the meaning of the poem and then the discussion turned towards the life and work of Nazrul Islam, the great revolutionary poet of the language. At that stage I realised that I was in the midst of a very special opportunity to extract valuable information from a learned and informed person who was himself involved in many literary pursuits and social activities spanning at least five decades.
I probed further and enquired about Rabindranath Tagore. He told us about the difference between Tagore and Nazrul. Nazrul was a revolutionary poet and as such was not acceptable to the establishment; so his place was jails and Tagore, whom he preferred referring to as Thakur, was awarded Nobel Prize. As far as literary greatness was concerned Nazrul Islam deserved no lesser award and recognition.
Dewan Abdul Qadir is equally deft in the Bangla and Assamese languages. He has penned essays and books and done translation work in the both. I enquired about the differences between the two languages. He told that originally Assamese was closer to Urdu as about 40 per cent of the words were common. With the onset of the British Empire Urdu words and expressions were discredited. Later the influence of Bangla became more prominent. The script of Assamese and Bangla became fundamentally same with the difference in only some letters. Despite that even today about 20 per cent of Assamese words have Urdu-Persian-Arabic origins.
When asked about the personality who had influenced him most, his prompt reply was Late Hasnain Syed, who was the first person to introduce Jamaat-e-Islami in Assam. Hasnain Syed was a pious, fearless and straightforward person who could present the message of the Islamic movement to any person at any place. He used to introduce himself to non-Muslims as a preacher of Islam. Strong faith in Allah made him strong.
Dewan Abdul Qadir had to face resistance from leaders of different sects of Muslims including nationalist Muslims, Islamic scholars closer to Jamiatul Ulema, gentlemen affiliated to Muslim League or Communists referred to as progressive scholars. Intelligence department of the government too became suspicious and kept him under watch. Once he asked Syed Hamid Ali, a prominent leader of the Jamaat, as to what should be done regarding the allegations by different quarters being levelled against Jamaat workers. The reply given by the renowned Islamic scholar opened his eyes and then he never looked back. The reply was, “Introspect and judge the allegations. If these are incorrect then thank and praise Allah that you are safe. If any allegation is correct, correct yourself, and repent and ask Allah’s forgiveness.”
Dewan Abdul Qadir says that he faced more resistance from within the Muslims than from non-Muslims. The government agencies became tolerant with the passage of time. A time came when the District Magistrate of the area gave him a certificate of being one of the two most non-communal and positive persons whose services are fruitful for the peace and prosperity of the area. That was the time of relief work after the heinous riots in Assam. Some non-Muslim youths were also injured. The Jamaat decided to reach out to them and provide monetary help and solace. Muslims of the area were not daring to go to that area and they simply showed him the way. He went to their houses and did the relief work.
The company of Hasnain Syed taught Dewan Abdul Qadir to talk straight and be fearless. Once in a symposium on Fundamentalism and Liberalism he defined in plain words the effect of human characters of the two approaches to life. A fundamentalist is dependable as he is true to his words, practising what he believes. On the contrary a liberal has no set of beliefs and practices. So you cannot depend on him. He declared that he was a fundamentalist in this sense. The overwhelmingly non-Muslim audience replied in chorus that they were also fundamentalist in this sense. The message of the story is that one should not munch words and present his case clearly. The truth would ultimately prevail.
The rain stopped. The sky was clear. We sought permission to leave. He said, “As you are going ahead I would recite a couplet of Allama Iqbal that sums up our position in life: Batil se darne wale aye aasman naheen hum / Sau bar kar chuka hai tu imtehan hamara
Roughly translated it would mean: We cannot be cowed down by falsehood, O Heaven, you have tested us hundreds of times.