“There Should Be No Rigidity Of Views” – Maulana Qasim Nanotwi’s Eight Founding Principles For Dar al Ulum Deoband.

السّلام عليكم و رحمة الله و بركاته

That Maulana Qasim Nanotwi (rh) had laid down about eight foundational principles for Dar al Ulum Deoband was something I had heard in a speech of one of its scholars (who also taught at the institution) years ago, unfortunately he hadn’t elaborated on them, my curiosity grew and I asked him if he can refer me a book where I could read them in detail, the Maulana couldn’t recall.

Perhaps it’s a telling sign of the quality of its students who no more read, remember or reflect on the advices of its founders that believe it or not, in the past four to five years I have asked several of its graduates about these principles and none, absolutely none of them had either read about it or at-least could refer me to sources.

“The way to find a needle in a haystack is to sit down.”

The search continued when more than a year ago, when browsing Amazon I came across a book on Deoband titled “Islamic Revival in British India” by Barbara Daly Metcalf – and she had listed down these principles in detail and with context.  

MINI BOOK HAUL 2

As salaamu alaii kumm wa rahmatullahi wa barakath,

“I ate them like salad, books were my sandwich for lunch, my tiffin and dinner and midnight munch. I tore out the pages, ate them with salt, doused them with relish, gnawed on the bindings, turned the chapters with my tongue! Books by the dozen, the score and the billion. I carried so many home I was hunchbacked for years. Philosophy, art history, politics, social science, the poem, the essay, the grandiose play, you name ’em, I ate ’em.”

~ Famous American novelist, Ray Bradbury in Fahrenheit 451.

Certainly not as passionate but of late I happened to purchase and or collect some of the books mentioned below, no, this isn’t an ‘unboxing’ – that 21st century (Internet) ritual that follows everything new you purchase. I’ll insha-Allah be previewing, reviewing some of the books if they are worth it. 

Book Preview of ‘Into The Land of Bones: Alexander The Great in Afghanistan’ by Frank L. Holt.

As salaamu alai kumm wa rahmatullahi wa barakath,

Joseph Rudyard Kipling (1865-1936) – the famous short story writer, novelist and poet who wrote mainly on the British Soldiers in India in one of his famous poems which has become even more relevant in this day and age, talked of the harsh conditions  and the hopelessness a soldier has to face up and when fighting the war in the plains of Afghanistan. 

Just to get a feel of what he intended to convey to the future generation, I’ll just reproduce the last part of the poem titled: ‘The Young British Soldier’ 

Book Unboxing and Preview of ‘Sayyid Abul Hasan Ali Nadwi: Life and Works’ by Abdul Kadar Choughley.

As salaamu alai kumm wa rahmatullahi wa barakath,

One of life’s little pleasures is reading a good old book or better still a hardcover on a rainy wintry evening…the smell of its ink is a big part of that experience, which is why I feel eBooks will never be able to match that feel, let alone replacing the actual book.

eBook’s, my dear readers, are but a compromise.

And if the book happens to be on one of the greatest Islamic personalities of the last century, the joy only multiplies. 

This morning I experienced the above when by the grace of Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala, I finally laid my hands on a biographical on Hazrath Shaikh Maulana Sayyid Abul Hasan Ali Nadwi (may Allah have mercy on him) – by far one of the greatest scholars of the Muslim ummah of the past century from India.

Book Unboxing and Preview of ‘Ibn Battuta’ by L. P. Harvey.

As salaamu alai kum wa rahmatullahi wa barakth,

Of the few pages and paragraphs (about 30 pages) that I read of the book, Ibn Battuta by L. P. Harvey, I felt like being in the company of a bitching wife (sorry for the strong word), who is deeply pessimistic and doubts if you really had work in the office when you said you’d be coming home late. 

Which is why I feel the book should have been titled: ‘Ibn Battuta: A Perspective’ – this is what it really is, the British author, L. P. Harvey’s perspective on Ibn Battuta’s life and travels. 

The Return of a King.

As salaamu alai kum wa rahmatullahi wa barakath,

“Remember that all through history, there have been tyrants and murderers, and for a time, they seem invincible. But in the end, they always fall. Always.” – Gandhi.

I haven’t found a better quote to briefly describe what William Dalrymple’s latest book to hit the stands is about, titled, very aptly I must say, ‘The Return of a King’ – The Battle For Afghanistan.

Majmu’aa Bayanaat – Compilation of 6 Books Of Lectures of Maulana Yusuf Kandhlevi.

As salaamu alai kum wa rahmatullahi wa barakath,

Few weeks back I was fortunate to obtain the Majmu’aa Bayanaat of Hazrathji Maulana Yusuf Kandhlevi (may Allah have mercy on him) (the 2nd Emir of tabligh) – a compilation of 6 books / parts in one single book!

Brief info:

The.Ijtema® Makes Available to its Readers a Very Rare, Two Volume, 900 Page Book on One Among the Two of the Muslim world’s Most Respected Islamic seminaries: Dar al Ulum Deoband.

As salaamu alai kumm wa rahmatullahi wa barakathu,

Here’s the download link of perhaps the most authentic book written on the history of the world famous Islamic seminary, Dar al Ulum Deoband, titled:

‘History of Dar al Ulum Deoband’

written by Maulana Sayyid Mahboob Rizvi and translated into English by Prof. Murtaz Husain F. Quraishi.