The eminent scholar Mawlana Ra‘is Ahmad
Ja‘fari has asked me to write a few impressions about Mawlana
Muhammad ‘Ali Jawhar (May God have mercy on him). I have
agreed to this request but would like to make it clear at the
beginning of this article that I have only unseen regard for
the Mawlana. Far from meeting with him, I have not even had
the honour of seeing him from afar more than twice or thrice.
At the height of the Khilafat movement, I
do not remember the exact year (probably 1921 or 1922), the
Mawlana came to the annual convention of the Madrasah al-Islah,
Sara’ay Mir A‘zam Garh, UP, India, where I was a senior
student. At the meeting, I remember, a huge crowd gathered in
the vast grounds of the Madrasah on hearing the Mawlana’s
name. Some other distinguished and famous people also
accompanied the Mawlana. My mentor Mawlana Hamid al-Din Farahi
(May God have mercy on him) who rarely went to any such
gathering also attended it. It was an immense assembly. I had
never seen such a huge meeting before this. The convention was
held in out in the open. A fierce wind was blowing and at that
time there was no usage of loud speakers. Because of this it
was feared that the Maulana’s speech might not be audible
which could cause unrest in the congregation. But when the
Mawlana rose to speak, his dignity and awe inspiring
personality captivated and impressed one and all such that
people became like statues, transfixed wherever they were
standing or sitting. The Mawlana’s loud and resounding voice
carried to every corner despite the strong wind and
extraordinarily vast crowd. The effect of the speech was such
that after a while I saw nary a dry eye. That crowd comprised
of ordinary peasants and there were very few educated people
in it. For those peasants it was not easy to understand the
speech of a person like Mawlana Muhammad ‘Ali but there was so
much passion of belief and faith and so much empathy that,
perhaps, one did not need much to understand it.
I remember an incident from that occasion
worth mentioning. When the Mawlana’s speech was over, we saw
that from one end of the crowd an old peasant arose and
tearing across the multitude went straight for the stage.
Although he came across many obstacles on the way (to the
podium) he was so true to his mission that he did not stop
till he reached the Mawlana. Upon reaching he put his hand on
the Mawlana’s beard and said in his peculiar way: “Muhammad
Ali, what you have done, no one else could do.” When he turned
after saying that the Mawlana said : “I have not received
such praise from any other than you.”
On that occasion another aspect of the
Mawlana’s greatness came to light through the impressions of
my teacher Mawlana Farahi. After speaking at that meeting
Mawlana Muhammad Ali left for A‘zam Garh where he was to
address a public meeting in the evening. With him went the
whole audience of the meeting at Madrasah al-Islah. Even
Mawlana Farahi, who was the head of the Madrasah accompanied
him to attend the discourse. Before leaving he instructed us
to put in his luggage, some sheets of paper and a few good
pencils so that he could note down Mawlana Muhammad ‘Ali’s
speech in A‘zam Garh. That was very surprising for me. I was
aware that Mawlana Farahi liked Mawlana Muhammad ‘Ali and
Mawlana Azad, but for him to be so impressed by a speech of
one of them to the extent of noting it down himself was beyond
my imagination. Mawlana was neither an emotional nor a
political man. He was merely a researcher, philosopher and
sage. He hardly ever, as I have mentioned above, attended
lecture meetings or sermons be they religious or political.
Yet to listen to Mawlana Muhammad ‘Ali’s speech he not only
agreed to travel but made arrangements to take notes of the
address. This gesture of the Mawlana increased the notion of
the greatness of Mawlana Muhammad Ali in my mind. I gathered
that seemingly, Mawlana Muhammad ‘Ali was not only a great
political leader but at the level of intellect and knowledge
was such an exalted personality that people like Mawlana
Farahi valued his speeches so highly as to note them down.
The day after that incident it became
evident to me what it was in Mawlana Muhammad ‘Ali’s speech
that impressed my teacher to such an extent. The next morning
when the Mawlana returned to the Madrasah, some of the
management politely complained that by him going away with
Mawlana Muhammad ‘Ali the Madrasah’s own meeting was
disrupted. The Mawlana replied: “Muhammad ‘Ali said the
essential in his address. After that was there need for any
other speech!” the Mawlana said this with so much conviction
and confidence that it became obvious to everyone that he did
not regret the disruption of the meeting in the least. For him
only what Mawlana Muhammad ‘Ali said was worth listening to
and which the people had heard. To continue the meeting was,
to him, a waste of time. Several times after that, praising
Mawlana Muhammad ‘Ali’s speech he said: “There is a reflection
of deep faith in Muhammad ‘Ali’s discourse.” Once, jokingly,
he said: “Because Muhammad ‘Ali is a very intelligent man,
like the arrangement of the Qur’an, it is difficult for people
to comprehend the organization in his speech and writings.”
Then he said: “Similar is the case of
Mawlana Muhammad Qasim’s speeches and writings.”
Although it is not befitting to mention
oneself along with such great people, yet for those whose
total life assets are the few associations, important or
trivial, with the elders, if they do not mention them, where
would they find the means to embellish their glory? For this
reason, allow me to mention the incident at the above
mentioned meeting that introduced me to the public for the
first time. It so happened that the management of the Madrasah
told me to elaborate on the teaching and instruction at the
Madrasah at the very same meeting, therefore I did so. I wrote
the speech and though it was my maiden speech in any public
meeting, it was very successful given my age and knowledge.
Mawlana Muhammad ‘Ali and the other distinguished
personalities on the stage praised it highly. So much so that
Mawlana Farahi presented me with an autographed set of his
books on the Qur’an as a prize for my oratory skills.
Subsequently, I started getting invited to meetings from far
and wide and sometimes attended them. But I did not let this
continue. Once he told me that making too many speeches
blackened one’s heart. Obviously I could not be too inclined
to do what he disliked to that extent.
(Translated
by Rakshanda Chaudry)
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