Reflections: Maulana Wahiduddin Khan

The moment I met Maulana, encouraged and led by the women in his organization to become a part of his mission as a Hindu girl, I was chosen for Dawah work and facilitating more people to engage with him and the message of the Holy Quran.

By Sohini Jana

It was the year 2017 when I was first introduced to Maulana Wahiduddin Khan and his work. I still remember that day when I fortuitously chose Oxford book store of all places to meet Mrs. Shabina Ali, a leading figure in Centre for Peace and Spirituality International, women’s wing of the Kolkata chapter. I was going through clinical depression then and overlooked the bookshelves encasing Maualna’s countless books even as I sat waiting for Mrs. Shabina at Oxford tea joint. As a young woman from an upper-middle-class Bengali Hindu family who had just entered the world of peace-building and conflict transformation, I was yet to discover my calling in religion and peacebuilding. I wasn’t thus expecting the meeting to be particularly revealing. Nothing in my life then seemed to be of any particular value in any way. Depression was real and it was gnawing at my curiosity in ways that was not preparing me to be receptive in any sense of the term. Shabina, however, caught my attention artfully. In fact, she was the one whose encouragement led me to pick up Maulana’s work seriously for the first time and made me aware of those bookshelves around me that held knowledge and light for a young seeker.

I had earlier held many a prejudice in my heart about Islam and how women were treated in the tradition. Something changed that day when Shabina let me into her heart and her journey where Maulana’s mentorship had led her to rediscover life and her faith in a more meaningful and empowering way. I was suddenly looking at Maulana through the eyes of another woman, a Muslim woman, someone who found purpose amidst darkness because Maulana called her to join his mission. My first prejudice was already challenged: here was a religious leader who welcomed and encouraged a homemaker to lead in his mission. Maybe there was more to the story? I decided to explore the book “Leading a Spiritual Life” that Shabina had handed to me over coffee that afternoon. In retrospect, that decision changed my life. Spirituality was introduced to me through the reflections of a religious leader from a tradition other than my own. My initiation as an inter-faith peace-builder had begun!

A few weeks after I met Shabina and I had started reading the book, she called to excitedly let me know that Maulana’s granddaughters Maria and Sufia were in town and that they were supposed to be addressing a women’s gathering in her neighbourhood. “Would I be able to come down at such short notice?” Again, I was struck with the idea of Maulana’s granddaughters being his chosen ambassadors, to lead and share the message of Allah in Kolkata. I learnt that Maria was also going to address the men in the team, sent to share from CPS’s repertoire of Maulana’s wisdom. I hadn’t still met the man but was intrigued. Surely, he could have sent all the astute and knowledgeable men in his mission to share the message of Islam? But he chose women, time and again. Something told me that this religious leader was someone who recognized the natural peace-maker in a woman. He trusted women to lead. I expressed the desire to meet him to Shabina over an afternoon chai. We had become close as sisters by then. “I will keep that in mind. Just let me know when you are travelling to Delhi. I will do my best to arrange a meeting. Now you know Maria as well!” She said.

In November, I was travelling to Jammu for a friend’s wedding. Till my tickets from Delhi to Jammu were confirmed, I was stopping at a friend’s place in CR Park. Before I knew it, Shabina had facilitated an appointment with Maulana Wahiduddin Khan at his residence! I was less than prepared but knew that this was it! I was finally meeting the great scholar. As I waited to meet him, I was welcomed warmly by Farida Aapa, Maulana’s daughter and a celebrated scholar herself. She was an authority in Islamic studies, the chairperson of CPS International in Delhi and the leader of the overall women’s wing for all the chapters of CPS in India and abroad. I was again meeting a woman who was chosen and trusted by Maulana to lead. Finally, when I met Maulana and sat in front of him, I found myself oddly at ease and ready to receive wisdom as it would be expectedly channelled to me. A surprise awaited me here too. In retrospect when I look back at our conversation, the first among a few that would eventually follow, Maulana did not try even once to share with me about Islam. He intuitively understood that I was struggling with mental and emotional health issues and shared with me the wisdom of going inwards with intention and trusting the transformation inside which was happening in a way that was making me uncomfortable, but then change is always like that. As I sat in front of him, listening to him share, I could connect deeply with the roots of our Indian culture where value education used to be imparted by community elders through stories, parables and sometimes anecdotes. He inquired about my work and dreams, much of which was still in the formative stages of growth and evolution. He warned me to not take the responsibility of “saving the world” upon my shoulders and to focus on my relationship with myself, God and the world that I inhabited.

Miss Sohini Jana with Maulana Wahiduddin Khan

In merely sharing and connecting with me in the most relatable way, Maulana was living the message of the Holy Quran. Not for once, in his company, did I ever feel any less welcome, any less respected or any less valued as a young woman who unlike many esteemed individuals, who visited him from all over the world, was as lost as she could be, not to mention that I was from another tradition. The moment I met Maulana, encouraged and led by the women in his organization to become a part of his mission as a Hindu girl, I was chosen for Dawah work and facilitating more people to engage with him and the message of the Holy Quran. Till date, I have never felt uncomfortable in my confessional identity as a Hindu while serving in his mission or while facilitating many inter-religious exchanges of people from my network with Maulana and his team.

One of the core strengths of Maulana’s methodology, in his religious leadership besides his command over the scriptures, is his approach of promoting women’s equal participation in sharing the message of Allah amongst the community as well as amongst other faith communities. The women of CPS International stand to champion quietly yet visibly, the tradition and its nature in terms of promoting gender equality and mutual respect in terms of faith, service and duty towards Allah. Whenever I remember Maulana Wahiduddin Khan, I can’t help but reflect on his immense scholarship that he is known for across the world but most importantly, I can’t help but remember him as a man who aptly recognized the importance of women in the task of nurturing generations towards the message of peace, the competence of women in relationship building across communities and thus their power in inviting new people to the message of peace. He believed in the leadership of women and the fact that it was not just womens’ natural community-building power that should be the essence of the leadership but also emphasized on their right to intellectual development where in his view, intellect has no gender and thus access to religious education for the community should be as equal as one could expect it to be.

Today, CPS International ladies are spearheading peacebuilding and interfaith work all over the world. Over the years, I learnt about these incredible women who have been trained directly under the guidance of Maulana Wahiduddin Khan and have mobilized community, shared Maulana’s wisdom and the message of the Quran by leading teams in India, USA, Canada and UAE. Some of these ladies are CPS Chairperson, Professor Farida Khanam, Shabina Ali, Dr. Maria Khan, Dr. Sadia Khan, Dr. Sufia Khan, Dr. Muslema Siddiqui, Raazia Siddiqui, Dr. Naghma Siddiqui, Dr. Stuti Malhotra, Fatimah Sarah, Ankhi Chattaraj, Fahmida Khan, Tarab Khan, Kausarizhar, Gulzeba Ahmad, Seema Jalal and Professor Najma Siddiqui among others. It has been an absolute honour for me to have personally met and interacted with many of these ladies. These meetings haven’t merely been limited to meetings within the country. I distinctly remember meeting Mrs KausarIzhar in Toronto at the Parliament of World’s Religions in 2018, someone who coordinated with me as I was travelling abroad all the way from India for the first time. On my journey to evolve as a peace-builder working with religions, finding a Guru in Maulana was a milestone in my career.

As I endeavor to work in Jammu and Kashmir today and many a time, I wonder, if one day women in Kashmir will also feel called to participate as equal in faith-based community-building work, I reflect on the examples in these ladies that I have witnessed to trust the will of Allah in the work of creating a more equal world for men and women in the future. When religious leaders such as Maulana Wahiduddin Khan stand tall to support the making of such an equal world, the results are clearly visible. Not only do generations live the promise of equality and justice this way, but relationships are strengthened across communities leading to more inclusive societies and more innovative, creative solutions to problems that afflict us all.

As the world mourns his loss during this holy month of Ramadan, I look to the women in CPS International; Farida Aapa, Shabina, Maria and his other pillars as his ambassadors who are tasked to emotionally hold the team together in these crushing moments of grief and to also lead the organization from here on to keep his message and legacy alive for generations to come. I wish to close by praying for strength for Maulana’s family and everyone in his mission who have been positively impacted by his infinite contributions in serving humanity over the nine decades of his extraordinary life.

Disclaimer: This is a deeply personal reflection and is not intended to hurt or offend anyone in any way.