Dialogue in Islam - MetaKave Publications

About the Book

What is the essence of Islam? Hazrat Syed Rashid Ahmed Jaunpuri contends that Islam stands on the simple belief in the truthfulness of the Prophet (pbuh) of Islam. For a Muslim Allah exists because he has put his faith in the words of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) who stated ‘There is no God but Allah and Muhammad is his Messenger’. This belief being the first fundamental principle of Islam, one can hardly deny that his status as a believer in Islam stands on a razor’s edge viz., the veracity of Prophet Muhammad’s assertion. The Holy Quran as a book of revelation too is dependent upon the veracity of the Prophet’s claim that it is Divine Revelation. So, the first basic principle of Islam, Iman or faith is built around the belief in the words of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh). Having thus put the basic axiom in order, Syed Rashid Ahmed then goes on to explain the basic tenet of Islam – the Kalema. The Kalema is not simply stating that there is no deity but Allah and Muhammad is His Messenger. He contends that la ilaha illallah is the essence of creation. The universe is the manifestation of Allah’s Dhat – the Dhat is invisible, eternal.

The focal point of Syed Rashid Ahmed’s vision is love. And he claims that his entire philosophy of life is permeated by the Qur’an and Sunnah.

Huzur Jaunpuri is most critical of the tax-free business that goes on in the name of Piri-Muridi or master-disciple relationship. Most of these so called Khankas or seats of the Pirs impart erroneous lessons to the disciples. He emphatically states that nothing is above the Qur’an and Sunnah. If there is anything that contradicts them, that should be forthwith given up. The Qur’an has enjoined on us to hold tight each other’s hands and thereby uphold the Islamic Ummah or Muslim brotherhood. These Khankas spread dissention and widen the difference between one sect and another. Huzur Jaunpuri, however, does not think that the institution is redundant. He rather draws our attention to the Qur’a nic injunction to look for a wasila. In the Hadith we have been asked to look for the Imame zamana or the leader of the time. If one does not search for the Imam of his time, his death may not be that of a Muslim. So this is an obligatory search which must go on as long as one is alive. If he dies during his search, his death would be that of a shaheed or martyr.

First E-Book Edition: October 2016

Publisher: MetaKave Publications, Dhaka, Bangladesh

Pages: 111

Price: E-Book is Free to Download

About the Author

Born in 1939, Professor M Harunur Rashid graduated from the University of Dhaka in 1961 and later proceeded to Cambridge to do the English Tripos as an undergraduate in 1964 on a government scholarship. On his return in 1966 he served government colleges for a few years and became the youngest member of the Senior Education Service in 1970. After the Liberation War, he joined Chittagong University as an associate professor. He became a professor of English in 1981. He moved to Jahangirnagar University in 1985 and became the chairman of the department in 1987. After the restoration of democracy in Bangladesh, he was commissioned to become the Director General of Bangla Academy (the national academy of arts and letters) in 1991for a four-year term. He worked hard here for the promotion of Bangla language and literature and his ability as an educational administrator was widely acclaimed.

Professor Rashid has chaired a few distinguished academic bodies at home and abroad. He was elected President of World University Service International, Geneva in 1984 for a period of two years. He was the third person to chair this body from the South Asian Sub-Continent, the other two being Dr. Zakir Husain of India and Dr. I. H Qureshi of Pakistan. He was elected President of the Asiatic Society of Bangladesh in 1998 for a term of two years. Later he was appointed President of the Bangla Academy in 2007 for a two-year term.

His distinction as a teacher has endeared him to thousands of students in Bangladesh. Along with teaching he has done a considerable number of translations from English and French to Bangla which include authors like S. I . Hayakawa, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Charles Augustin Sainte Beuve, Andre Gide, Stephane Mallarme, and the Malaysian novelist Anwar Ridhwan. His recent English translations of Bangla poetry include All Praise be to Him (2012) and Selected Surrealist Poems (2014) by Abdul Mannan Syed, Behular Sari (2013) by Mohammad Nurul Huda and Story of Bones and other poems (2012) by Kamal Chowdhury.

His interest in Sufism led him to write a number of books on a Sufi saint, Syed Rashid Ahmed Jaunpuri (God be pleased with him). After his death in 2001 he has compiled his writings and has recently brought out a memorial volume called Syed Rashid Ahmed Jaunpuri Smarak Grantha (2013).

+ Wikipedia Entry of Professor M. Harunur Rashid

Quotes from Dialogue in Islam

The Quran is Allah’s love, so is our Prophet Muhammad (pbuh). This love agreed to bear the weight of that love while the whole universe refused to accept the weight of the Quran. That is what the Quran says − Lao anzalna hazal Qur’ana ala jabalillah raitahu khashium mutasaddium min khashiatillah (Sura Hashar, 21), which means − if I had sent down the Quran on a mountain, it would have crouched in fear and rent asunder. But our Prophet agreed to take on himself the weight of this love, the Quran. God manifested all his attributes in him thereby making him the manifested image of Allah. And he has thus been made an ideal to be pursued. So if you want to look for God’s character or His nature, look at our Prophet’s character. If you want freedom from the bondage of your prison you have to set out on this road to love.
Syed Rashid Ahmed Jaunpuri

When you believe in something and say something quite different, you are being deceptive – a cheat, that’s what you are. Man does this deception endlessly not just with others, but with his own self too. When you are able to analyze your self, criticize yourself and by that painstaking process bridge the gap between your tongue and your heart, you attain the status of mumin or believer. It’s a kind of Jihad you wage against yourself.
Syed Rashid Ahmed Jaunpuri

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