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When I moved to Islamabad from Karachi in November 1994, a Maulvi Sahib there said, “Now you have moved to Islamabad, you will have new friends. There is a person whom you have to avoid meeting.”
When I inquired some details regarding the man, the Maulvi Sahib told that his name was Faiz-ur-Rehman Usmani. Maulvi said, “A few years ago Usmani was a muezzin (prayer caller) in an Islamabad mosque. By joining hands with neighbours, he conspired against the Imam of the mosque and took over the Imamate himself.”
Usmani used to give good speeches, so many of the people soon became devoted to him. With the help of these devotees, he acquired vast tracts of land in Murree and Islamabad. And later, in the name of Madrassah, he built a college there. After hearing such deed of Faiz-ur-Rehman Usmani, I decided that it would be great for me to avoid this conspiratorial person.
However, the Maulvi Sahib was probably not satisfied. He was deeply concerned that I might ignore his instruction. So he pressurized me with different tactics. Thus, I made a more firm commitment to avoid meeting Faiz-ur-Rehman Usmani in my life.
This cautious journey lasted only seven years. In March 2001, I visited Maulana Sharif Hazarawi’s house to meet Ustad Nizamuddin Shamzai. Another person was present there, who was seemed to be a religious scholar. During the meeting, something happened and the stranger pointed at me and asked the Mufti with deep astonishment, “Is this the son of Maulana Muhammad Alam Sahib?” Mufti smiled helplessly and confirmed.
At the same time he asked me, “Are you familiar with Maulana Faiz-ur-Rehman Usmani?”, referring to this stranger. Shortly after Faiz-ur-Rehman Usmani left, I immediately asked the Mufti, “How did you become such a close friend of this muezzin? The Mufti asked in surprise, “Which muezzin?” He replied, “This is Faiz-ur-Rehman Usmani.”
Mufti Sahib aggressively said, “Maulana Faiz-ur-Rehman was my fellow student in Jamia Farooqia. Later he went to Darul Uloom Karachi and graduated in Hadith. Today he is an unparalleled cleric and superintendent of several universities. Who told you that he is a muezzin?”
A few days later, another meeting took place with Maulana Usmani. Soon, I visited his Madrassah and learned about his education system. Not only that, Maulana Usmani became a close friend of mine. And there was constant speculation on how to manage the intellectual resistance to the horrific terrorism going on in the country. This was the time when Shaykh-ul-Islam of that time turned a blind eye. And their cowardly character broke our hearts. The purpose of this detailed background is to keep in mind that, don’t judge the book by its cover.
The 1980s were a time when many of Pakistan’s largest Madrassahs and their students were turning to Afghanistan to join the militancy. And all this was being planned by the same national institutions, which are now calling them “extremists.” Thus, Maulvi has now been declared an extremist, while those who took them to Afghanistan are patriots with full satisfaction.
1986 is the year when Maulana Faiz-ur-Rehman Usmani founded an educational institution, which was useful for the present situation. Obviously, this could only happen when we give students modern education along with religious. This dream was seen at a time when the acquisition of modern knowledge was considered ‘Haram’ in Maulana Usmani’s own school of thought. Therefore, propaganda started against his institution and was labeled ‘Haram’.
Students from his institution get religious education along with modern. That is why his organization is affiliated with three boards – Wifaq Ul Madaris, Federal Board of Education and Punjab University. The ability of the students can be gauged from the fact that they have so far won 50 medals in the Federal Board examinations.
It has 47 M.Phil and Ph.D scholars. 167 teachers in various institutions of modern education are students of Darul Uloom. Even the Armed Forces of Pakistan has 18 commissioned officers. (To be continued)
