Shah Abdul Halim :
Shah Abdul Hannan passed away on 2 June 2021 – Inna lillahi wa inna ilayhi raji’un – from Allah we have we have come to Him we return. Now we can do two things. Pray for forgiveness of the departed soul and strive to draw lessons from his life and activities and try to execute, employ and implement those in our individual, collective and social life. That would be a great homage to him. Here in this article, I shall try to draw lessons from one or two of his many activities.
Shah Hannan established Witness-Pioneer to produce intellectuals among the new generation. He thought that existing tools used in the training, the literature used for the training, are not sufficient to produce intellectuals who can meet the challenges of the current century. He, therefore, used a new set of literature, published from outside the subcontinent.
He thought that by reading one set of literature, intellectuals and leaders cannot be produced. To train his students, young boys and girls, he depended on all sorts of Islamic books for he thought that such reading would help to develop diversified vision that is needed to change the social structure and ensure victory in the upcoming days. He did not depend on any particular scholar for formulating opinion. This will be clear if someone looks at the curricula of Witness-Pioneer and the books written by him.
Shah Hannan thought that intellectuals, through writings and discussions, can prepare the people and create necessary ground for social change and uplift. He, therefore, made relentless effort to build up a group of intellectuals through Witness-Pioneer.
The first lesson we can draw from his life is that we have to read all types of contemporary literature, bring educationally highly empowered persons in the leadership in every organization, in every tier and every place. He thought that it is not sufficient to put only organizers in the leadership.
The second lesson we can draw from his life is that we have to bring highly skilled, qualified and intellectually empowered persons in the Consultative Committee, Shura. We must not put such people in the Consultative Committee, Shura, who are timid, subservient and ready to bow to pressure.
Shah Hannan always showed respect to differences of opinion. He played a key role in making my mindset. I have authored 12 books. The contents of all my articles and books were approved by him. We differed only in 3 to 5 percent areas – that is about political strategy. But that did not harm our cordial relationship. This is the third lesson – to think that I may be right or wrong and others point of view need to be considered.
He thought it is important to record the note of dissents in the proceedings of the organizations and the institutions. He said that recording the note of dissent was important for the fact that it would establish, in hindsight, which view was right and which view was wrong. Such recording of views would help to bring to leadership, afterwards, those people whose opinions were found more correct.
We can show respect to Shah Abdul Hannan only by emulating the principles he followed in his life.
Let us pray that Allah, The Glorious and The Merciful, will accept all his good deeds, forgive his shortcomings, and bestow on him Jannat Al Ferdous. Ameen.
O Allah, bestow on him Your mercy, and grant him a home in nearness to You in Jannah. Give us the strength to complete his unfinished work and enable us to make constant, tireless, painstaking, and rigorous efforts to advance the Cause of Islam. Ameen.
(The article is the summary of the speech in a zoom-discussion meet (What lessons we can draw from the life of Shah Abdul Hannan) arranged by Muslim Association of Professionals and Students, UK on 13. 6.2021. The writer is the younger brother of Shah Abdul Hannan).
