Jaipur (Pervez Bari): Three educational institutions namely a law college, a degree college and a B.Ed. college will soon come up in Jaipur to beat backwardness and uplift Muslim Ummah educationally.
This announcement was made by Hazrat Maulana Mohammad Fazlur Rahim Mujaddidi, chairman of Imam Rabbani Public Senior Secondary School, who is a great spiritual personality, academician and social activist of north India, while delivering the key-note address at the annual “Achievement & Award Ceremony 2015” of Imam the school here.
Abdul Sattar Vhora, vice president, ABC Control Systems INC, California, USA was the Chief Guest in the glittering function. While dignitaries who were Guests of Honour on the occasion included: Manoj Kumar Sharma (IAS), Deputy Chief Protocol Officer, Govt. of Rajasthan; Liaquat Ali Khan IPS (Retd.), Chairman Rajasthan Waqf Board; Mohammad Haneef (IAS), Member of Revenue Board, Govt. of Rajasthan; Ashfaque Hussain (IAS), Member of Revenue Board, Govt. of Rajasthan) and Prof. Shakeel Samdani, Department of Law, A.M.U. Aligarh.
The Commitment Award was presented to Abdul Sattar Vohra, on the occasion. Some of the successful candidates of the Crescent Academy, who joined the elite IAS, were felicitated on the occasion which included Nanda Dulal Das, Ashiquzzaman and Ms Umme Fardina Adil. All the guests seated on the dais were presented memento by Maulana Mujaddidi. While awards were presented to the toppers of the local Imam Rabbani Public Senior Secondary School students.
Continuing Maulana Fazlur Rahim Mujaddidi, who is also Rector of Jamea-Tul-Hidaya, Jaipur, said that the mission started by his grandfather and father which resulted in the establishment of the Jamea-Tul-Hidaya, a Madrasa with a Vision, in 1976 at Jaipur resorted to thinking “A Step Ahead” and thereby in 1996 Imam Rabbani Public Senior Secondary School came up also in Jaipur. At present only 30 per cent of the infra-structure of the school has been completed till now wherein 3500 students are studying. When the rest of the 70 per cent is completed the school shall cater to the needs of 7,000 students In Sha’Allah. He said lack of financial resources of Muslims is a major block in the path of education. So, establishing more and more community-based schools will control the problem of education and preservation of our culture, he opined.
He lamented that in the pink city there is no degree college of Muslims. As such feeling the necessity of this the Rabbani School will be upgraded soon to a degree college. Apart from this colleges of law and B.Ed. are also in the pipeline which would see the light of the day in the days to come. Students opting for the B. Ed. courses would be granted financial help also, he declared.
He recalled that in 1976 the foundation stone of Jamea-Tul-Hidaya was laid which included infra-structure for technical and modern education also. This was the untiring efforts of his father Hazrat Maulana Mohammad Abdur Rahim Mujaddidi which bore fruit. He said that his father, who since 1951 when his father (grandfather of the former) died, had girded up his loins to realise his cherished vision to update the Madrasa Education System wherein Madrasa syllabi gels with technical and modern education. His father in his mission had toured the whole country to build up a consensus to upgrade and update the prevalent Madrasa Education System. Unfortunately nobody came forward then to give him an earful and understand his vision and mission. However, his father was not heart-broken and decided to establish such a Madrasa himself which embodies technical and modern education in its fold to become a reality for others to emulate later on, Maulana Fazlur Rahim Mujaddidi revealed.
Thus, the Jamea-Tul-Hidaya, realising this dream come true, finally came into existence after 10 years of construction works of the infra-structure when the full-fledged academic session started in 1986 with a modern Computer Centre as desired by late Maulana Abdur Rahim Mujaddidi. This Madrasa for technical and modern education now has at present two ultra modern Computer Centres each for Junior and senior students, Modern Electrical and Mechanical workshops, Physics and Chemistry labs, Civil and Mechanical Engineering Drawing labs, he pointed out.
Maulana Fazlur Rahim Mujaddidi while presenting statistics about educational backwardness said that especially in rural areas of the country the situation is so grim that 75 per cent children cannot read books of a class lower than they are studying in. While most alarming situation is that children of Std. 2nd and 3rd are not even able to recognize and read the alphabets of English language. He said that the need of the hour is to light the candle of education from one to another and the process should continue till the whole society is armed with the jewel of education. Thereby a qualitative change will take place in the in the country and the virtues of brotherhood, compassion, justice, equality etc. would prevail and flourish unabatedly to give birth to a peaceful society free from hate, jealousy, prejudice, bias etc., he emphasized.
Maulana Mujaddidi, who has been a member of the Steering Committee of the erstwhile Planning Commission, pointed out that for the uplift and development of Muslims in 2002 two types of strategies viz. short-term and long-term were prepared on which serious thought was given. As it is well-known the 21st Century has brought in with it new socio-economic challenges with problems, icons and civilization aspects a qualitative change from the previous Century for which people, particularly the Muslims, are least prepared.
In near about year 2006, he said, it was decided to execute the short-term and long-term strategies by increasing interaction with the government and coordinating with its agencies to maximize benefits from the government’s policies and schemes meant for the minorities. After short-listing and condensing a very long list of issues which has been afflicting the Muslim community it was decided to make education and only education as the agenda to be on the top of the priority list.
He said his organisation SEE, (Strive for Eminence and Empowerment), extended a helping hand to the Planning Commission of India in formulating the 12th Five Year Plan, (FYP 2012-17) in the matter of minority education. He informed that this amount for the minority education was increased in the 12th FYP with a demand that scholarships must be demand driven. In just last three years already an amount of Rs.5044.24 crore has been distributed under the head of minorities scholarships while in the whole of 11th FYP i.e. in five years from 2007-12 amount of only Rs. 2575.44 crore was doled out as scholarships.
He spoke about the Crescent Academy nurtured by him wherein efforts are made to bring into being honest and unbiased bureaucrats. The erudite Maulana said, the Crescent Academy till date since 2002, in spite of limited infrastructure and resources, but through its innovative-cum-interactive sessions and consistent test practices, has been able to produce more than 125 IAS, IPS, IFS, IRS, Judges and State Civil Servants throughout the country.
It may be mentioned out here that the Crescent Academy is a division of Maulana Abdurrahim Educational Trust, established with a vision of providing proper guidance and training to the Civil Services aspirants with special emphasis on creating a sound academic environment. It was started, over a decade ago, by Maulana Mohammad Fazlurrahim Mujaddidi.
Manoj Sharma, IAS, speaking on the occasion lauded Maulana Fazlur Rahim Mujaddidi for his dedication and commitment towards community service. He said that he was impressed by coming to know about vocational training being part of the curriculum in the Jamea-Tul-Hidaya Madrasa.
He exhorted students of Imam Rabbani School to leave no stone unturned to achieve their goal in life. He urged them to take their level of confidence to such a height from where there is no looking back. This can only be achieved by preserving unabatedly wherein preparation is complete and thorough for any examination they have to face in their student life. Success will then hug them to put them on a pedestal of glory. He said the No. 1 slot is always vacant which can be grabbed by sheer determination while burning the midnight oil. He cautioned them to never become a victim of inferiority complex and always adorn a thinking cap to be a knowledgeable and a smart person to be an asset to society and the community.
Prof. Shakeel Samdani in his inspiring speech, marked by Urdu couplets mostly of Allama Iqbal appropriate to the occasion, said there is no need for Muslim Ummah to despair. He urged the Muslim youth to strive hard to find ways and means to come out of it by persevering honestly and sincerely. One of the key to achieve success in the world and Hereafter, is to work for unity of Muslim Ummah and consensus on major issues while ignoring the Maslaki Masail. He called upon the assemblage with special emphasis on Muslim students to take forward the mission of Tipu Sultan and Sir Syed Ahmad Khan as is being done in the present era by Maulana Fazlur Rahim Mujaddidi who is treading the path shown by his father and grandfather. He is striking a perfect balance between the materialistic and spiritual world and blending into a fine amalgam for others to emulate with ease, he remarked.
Prof. Samdani appealed Muslims for establishing educational institutions of higher learning with emphasis on a private university and a law college as education is the only master key for meteoric rise and get recognised the world over. He also urged Muslims to pave way for their intelligent wards to take up the study of law as it encompasses various walks of life but very few opt for it and as such there is dearth of Muslims in legal profession.
He opined that the vicious circle of illiteracy and poverty can only be defeated by empowering the Muslim Ummah educationally. To encourage students on the occasion he recalled that in India there have been three Muslim toppers in the prestigious IAS examination who stood first. He also pointed out that recently out of 1350 successful candidates in CPMT there were about 375 Muslim students who qualified and entered medical education in whole one lot.
Baby Sarah Samdani and Baby Ayesha Samdani, daughters of Prof. Shakeel Samdani, also exhibited their oratory power as their beloved father, who is adorned with the gift of the gab. Baby Sarah gave short speech on Sir Syed Ahmad Khan highlighting his contribution to uplift of Muslims educationally. While Baby Ayesha spoke about Tipu Sultan to bring to light his unflinching secular credentials on the occasion.
Liaquat Ali Khan, Mohammad Haneef and Ashfaque Hussain also spoke on the occasion. S. M. Hilal of Foundation of Civil Liberties was also present on the dais.
Meanwhile, at the outset of the function Master Saeed-ur-Rahman recited verses from the Holy Quran. Students of Jamea-Tul-Hidaya rendered Tarana-e-Jamea while Mehwish and Group presented Hamd.
Earlier, Ms Samra Sultana, vice chairman of the Rabbani Public school, in her inimitable style welcomed the guests seated on the dais one by one with great warmth together with the audience. Brimming up with confidence she started her address by saying: “You don’t have to be great to start but you have to start to be great”. She expressed her happiness that one more year has been added to the glorious tenure of Imam Rabbani Public Senior Secondary School because it does not matter how slow you move as long as you don’t stop. She quoted former President of India late Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam who had said: “Difficulties do not come to destroy you but to help you realise your hidden potentials, power and abilities. Let the difficulties know that you too are difficult” to buttress her resolve about the school scaling dizzy heights in the years to come.
A skit highlighting the concept of providing help to the needy was presented by the Star Rabbanians on the occasion which was much appreciated by the gathering.
Mohammad Iqbal Khan, Director, Crescent Academy, Delhi, conducted the programme with aplomb. (pervezbari@yahoo.co.in)
