Informative Books

The country is in the grips of blood-spilling events like the murder of Mashal Khan in Mardan. The political bout between Imran Khan and his followers: Naeemul Haque, Muhammad Ali Khan, Fawad Chaudhry, Naz Baloch and between Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif and his loyal followers: Daniyal Aziz, Talal Chaudhry and Marriyam Aurangzeb has calmed down due to the closing of the Panama case in the Supreme Court.

In my mail I regularly receive books from friends, acquaintances and people I don’t really know. Today I have three books to comment on.

The first one is, ‘Book based on Islamic information containing short stories for guidance for children’. It has been written by Dr Arif Mahmood Kisana who has been living in Stockholm, Sweden, for many years and works at the Karolinska Hospital. I visited Sweden in 1964 with a student delegation accompanied by two professors. We visited many educational institutions and industrial units. We found Sweden to be very beautiful and clean.

This book is a treasure of knowledge on Islamic topics and has been written in simple Urdu. It has been translated into Swedish by Muniza Tariq, wife of Pakistan’s Ambassador to Sweden and Finland, Tariq Zameer. It has been published by the National Book Foundation and contains a review by Dr Inamul Haq Javaid who is the managing director of the foundation. Currently, it has been translated into English, Hindi and Norwegian. It will also be translated into Bengali, Chinese, Russian, German and Italian in the near future.

It is a useful book for children, particularly those of the expatriates as it contains useful information for them on Islamic topics. While buying it for their children, it would do no harm for parents to read it as well as it will refresh their memories. May Almighty Allah shower His blessings on Dr Kisana and his family for this highly commendable work.

The second book is entitled ‘Qale Rasul Allah Lanabya Badi’. It has been written by a well-known religious scholar, Prof Dr Ejaz Hassan Khan Khattak who is also the principal of Khyber Medical College, Peshawar. It has been published by Khyber Mail, Peshawar. Khattak was a disciple of Pir Rizwan Badshah of Gondal who, by co-incidence, was a very good friend of my elder brother, Qayyum Khan.

Whenever my brother went to Gondal he would call me and then give the phone to Badshah. In this way we got to know each other quite well and kept in regular contact. One day he told me that one of his disciples, a general and supporter of Musharraf, had come to see him. Badshah had told him in no uncertain terms to stay away from me, upon which the general put his hand on Badshah’s shoulder and said: “It’s all about getting another star.” “I immediately asked him to leave,” he said. I was deeply shocked that someone could be so mean as to hurt a benefactor of Pakistan for his own ulterior motives.

Excellent reviews about the book have been written by Muhammad Aurangzeb Awan and Abad Hassan Khattak (a translator at the provincial assembly). In order to write such beautiful poetry, the author must be an ardent lover of the Holy Prophet (pbuh) and Allah Almighty. May Allah shower His blessings on Khattak and his family for his efforts.

The third useful and informative book (journal) is ‘Anwar-e-Raza’. It is a special edition and entitled ‘Milad-e-Rasul’. It has been edited by Malik Mahboobur Rasul Qadri and published by Allama Shah Ahmad Noorani Research Centre, Joharabad. Reviews for it have been written by Allama Pir Muhammad Atiqur Rahman Fez Purei, Hazrat Pir Mian Abdul Khaliq Qadri, Maulana Mufti Muhammad Khan Qadri, Justice Mian Nazeer Akhtar, Mian Muhammad Hanafi Saify, Prof Muhammad Nawaz Daugri Saefi, Maj Gen Shafiq, Imran Munir Hassan, Hazrat Syed Faizul Hassan Shah Bukhari, Pir Muhammad Tufail Ahmed, Hazrat Syed Wajahat Rasul Qadri, myself and others.

Among the many topics discussed in the journal is Eid-e-Milad. It is celebrated with great enthusiasm all over the world and people are unanimous in their belief that it brings down Allah’s blessings. People believe that when you celebrate Eid-e-Milad, angels descend from heaven and remove personal worries and problems.

The journal points out that, though the celebration of this event is good, one should remain within the parameters of the Shariah. One can use flags and other means of displaying love, but it is better to recite the Holy Quran, fast and feed orphans and the poor. Allah’s blessings can be earned by doing any kind of social welfare work such as helping the destitute, widows, providing books to poor students and paying the school fee for students who cannot afford to do so. There is no dearth of things which can be done in our society and which call out for action.

It is heartening to see that this journal points out, not only the religious aspects of doing good work, but also the practical ones. The choice of articles in the journal is indeed excellent. It is hoped that Muslims from around the world will take the time to read and learn from it. I am sure this journal will be very useful to religious scholars and students as well. May Allah bless all those involved in making this informative journal.

(Published in Monthly Tribute International on 01-05-2017)