IOS General Secretary Prof. ZM Khan welcomed the guests and introduced the IOS in its 27th year of existence. He talked about the considerable research and publication, seminar and symposia the institute had done so far, as well as about its year-long Silver Jubilee celebrations, over which period it organised 14 international seminars across the country. He also talked about its proposed university.

The conference was formally inaugurated by Union Minister of Minority Affairs, K Rahman Khan, who hoped that India and the Muslim world would unite to prevent the mistakes of the 20th century, which was marked by colonial exploitation and monumental violence.
 

He said India, “the largest and highly successful democracy”, had a long history of relationship with the Muslim world and Islam, which preaches peace and unity of humanity.

Earlier, the guest speaker Union Minister of Water Resources Harish Chandra Rawat said, “Indian Muslims are an integral and most shining part of our composite culture.” He regretted that Sachar Report notwithstanding, challenges facing the Muslim community were yet to be addressed coherently. In many cases direct Central intervention was required to set things right.

Areas like health, education, skill development, financing and livelihood needed such Central intervention.

He said divisive issues like temple-mosque controversy were the creation of people who thrived on such division. “The time for such politics is over,” he announced. People from all segments, including minorities and SCs-STs, had an equal right to the country’s resources.
 

Mr Rawat said that the same law that applied to Muslim terrorists had to be applied to the perpetuators of Jaipur, Malegaon and Samjhauta Express blasts, who were not Muslims. “The law of the land should be the same for everyone. We cannot have two sets of laws; one for Col. Purohit, another for Muslim youth,” he concluded.

Dr Aftab Kamal Pasha, Director Gulf Studies Programme, Centre for West Asian and African Studies, JNU, observed that for centuries the Indian Ocean was called a “Muslim Lake.” Even before Islam, people from Yemen, Oman and other Arab lands had close trade and cultural ties with India. The Abbasids established Baitul Hikmah (House of Wisdom) in Baghdad that was a seat of learning where Indian and Arab scholars interacted with each other. Nehru called it a Golden Age.

With the advent of Europeans in the Indian Ocean, a divide and rule policy began which set one group of people against another. The Portuguese landed in Kerala in 1498 and began a campaign against Muslims, creating divisions between them and other faith communities. That policy still continued everywhere. The creation of Israel in 1948 in Palestine was part of that policy.
 

Dr Pasha said that the Israel-Palestine conflict was unfortunate as Muslims had always given Jews a preferential treatment everywhere. Gandhiji, who sympathised with Jews persecuted in Europe for centuries, opposed the creation of Israel by removing Palestinian Arabs from their homes.

It was the old Western policy of creating divisions against Muslims that was preventing the creation of a Palestinian state despite the support of more than 130 countries to this cause.

Dr Pasha said India under Nehru supported national liberation of Muslims, and at present the country had a 200-billion dollar trade with Muslim countries. Eight million Indians worked in those countries. Fertilisers like rock phosphate from Muslim world would be crucial for doubling India’s agricultural produce over the next few years.

Wars had disrupted India’s interests as well. India had no hegemonic ambition. Israel had a seige mentality and extreme policy in Gaza, West Bank, Lebanon, Dr. Pasha said.

Islam emphasises equality, one humanity and justice. The largest number of scholars on Islam were from India; largest number of books on Hadith, fiqh and shariah were produced in India. Intellectual history of India was outstanding.

US-Israeli pressure on Muslims was creating a feeling of despondence.” India is concerned about the rise of Islamic groups. India has yet to talk to these new groups. We need not be pessimistic about Indo-Arab relations, which would grow”, Dr Pasha concluded.
 

Institute of Objective Studies chairman Dr Mohammad Manzoor Alam chose not to speak from his printed presidential address. He said a formal vote of thanks would follow, but he would also like to say “thank you” to all the delegates who had come from all corners of India as well as from other countries, including the US, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar and Sri Lanka.

He said the generation that built the IOS was ageing and wanted to pass the baton on to the younger generation, with “whom we will share our wider experiences and knowledge”, and they would use their youthful energy to take the mission forward.

Dr Alam said the IOS did not belong to him, but to everyone.

A formal vote of thank was proposed by Prof. Afzal Wani of GGSIP University, Delhi.

The guest of honour, HE Abdur Rahman Ghannam M. al-Ghannam, Under Secretary, Ministry of Islamic Affairs, Endowments, Dawah and Guidance, Saudi Arabia, said India and Saudi Arabia had a long history of friendly relations. In India, Arabic language and literature flourished over centuries. Dr Ghannam, who got his education in India, happened to be the first person in his country to have got a Ph.D. degree.
 

“Saudi Arabia believes in peaceful co-existence,” he said. His country saw scope for co-operation in science and technology with India, including in medical education. Already the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia had developed a world-class healthcare system that had great sophistication, Dr Ghannam observed.

Dr Ghannam also talked about the coming together of all faiths for a peaceful, prosperous world. He mentioned King Abdullah’s tireless efforts at global interfaith dialogue.
 

Maulana Dr Sayeedur Rahman al-Azmi al-Nadwi, who received the IOS Lifetime Achievement Award later in the evening, chose to speak in Arabic. The award carries a citation, a memento and a cash prize of Rs 1 lakh.
 

Maulana al-Nadwi, who is chancellor of Lucknow’s Integral University and chief editor of the Arabic Journal Al-Baas al-Islami, was awarded for his scholarship and a large body of work on Islamic studies. The untranslated Arabic speech of the maulana was on trade and cultural relations between India and the Arab world.

The session was conducted by Mr. Aga Sultan, Consulting Engineer - Educationist and Former Member, Syndicate and Academic Council Bangalore University, VTU and AICTE (SWRC).

Business Session I


L-R: Prof. Refaqat Ali Khan, Former Professor of History, Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi; Prof. Fazal Ahmad, Head, Dept. of Sociology, Patna University, Patna; Mr. Syed Shahid Mahdi, Former Vice-Chancellor, Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi; Prof. B. Sheik Ali, Former Vice-Chancellor, University of Mangalore and Goa; Prof. Omar Hasan Kasule Sr., Faculty of Medicine, King Fahad Medical City, Riyadh, KSA; Prof. Hamidullah Marazi, Director, Shah-i-Hamadan Institute of Islamic Studies, University of Kashmir, Srinagar; Capt. N. A. Ameer Ali, Founder Principal, Dr .Zakir Husain College, Ilayankudi, (Madurai Kamaraj University), Chennai
 

The theme of this session was “Islam in India: Historical Perspective and Cultural Heritage.” The presidium consisted of Prof. B. Sheik Ali and Syed Shahid Mahdi.
 

In his opening remarks Prof. Sheik Ali said that the early Muslim rulers of India had known only the Abrahamic faiths–Judaism and Christianity-besides their own faith, Islam. In India they came face to face with eastern faiths like Hinduism and Buddhism, which gave them a different understanding of the Shariah (Islamic law).

In the new, non-Abrahamic environment, they set their religious perspective afresh, giving adl (justice) a primacy over other things. Adl is a major goal of the Shariah. Ghyasuddin Balban, the Delhi Sultanate ruler, said famously that he would not be able to implement the entire Shariah, but he would be happy to ensure justice for everyone. As usual, he had a tense relationship with the ulema.

Prof. Ali said that conversions to Islam did not take place because of Muslim force of arms, but because a lot of lower-caste Hindus felt oppressed by an iniquitous caste system and wanted to get away from it.

In the deep south, Islam was brought in by traders who came by sea as this region had maritime contact with the Arab world since long before the advent of Islam. India then had a rich intellectual tradition and a richer civilisation than most other lands.
 

Prof. Shahid Mahdi said that the coming of Muslims to India led to the establishment of Bhakti-Sufi movement, which later culminated into the birth of a new faith, Sikhism. He quoted Maulana Rumi’s couplet: “Tu brai wasl kardan amdi / na brai fasl kardan amdi” (you have come to unite people / not to sow division among them) as a mission statement of Islam.
 

Prof. Omar Hasan Kasule, Sr. Faculty of Medicine, King Abdullah Medical City, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, talked about Islam’s project of knowledge. Under this project there had been great interaction between India and Arab Muslim world.

He referred to Abu Rehan al-Beruni’s formidable scholarship on India, which is objective and non-judgmental. Initially, the pundits, India’s scholars, shunned him. However, he persevered and got ultimately admitted into the circle of scholars. He became such a great scholar of Sanskrit and the Puranas that he was given the title of “Vidya Sagar,” ocean of knowledge.
 

Prof. M. Fazal, in his paper condemned globalisation as exploitative, while Prof. Ameer Ali said that the medieval Muslims had revolutionised the world with their pursuit of knowledge. Prof. Refaqat Ali Khan said that Muslims had provided a thrust to Indian civilisation with innovation.
 

Business Session II


L-R: Dr. Ausaf Ahmad, Former Head, Special Assignment, Islamic Development Bank, Jeddah, K.S.A; Mr. Rudy Yakscik, Founder & CEO, Concord Capital Partners, LLC, Massachusetts USA; Dr. Ashok Haldia, Director, PTC India Financial Services Ltd., New Delhi; Dr. Abdullah Q. Turkistani, Dean, Islamic Economic Institute, King AbdulAziz University, Jeddah, KSA; Mr. H. Abdur Raqeeb, Convenor, National Committee on Islamic Banking, General Secretary, Indian Centre for Islamic Finance (ICIF) Jamaat-e-Islami Hind, New Delhi; Dr. Major Zahid Hussain, Assoc. Professor, Dept. of Economics, The New College, Chennai
 

The second business session, chaired by Union Minister for Minority Affairs, K. Rahman Khan, had two themes: (a) “Economic and Financial Relations” and (b) “Islamic Banking and Finance: Global Trends and India.”

Rudy Yakscik from Massachusetts, US, spoke on Disruptive technologies and business strategies as per Islamic finance and business rules.
 

February 16, 2013

Business Session III


L-R: Prof. (Dr.) Basheer Ahmed Khan, Vice-Chancellor, Sido Kanhu Murmu University, Dumka (Jharkhand); Prof. Manzoor Ahmad, Vice-Chancellor, Vivekanand Subharti University, Meerut, U.P.; H.E. Mr. Abdul Rahman Ghannam M. AlGhannam, Undersecretary, Ministry of Islamic Affairs, Endowments, Da’wah and Guidance, Riyadh, KSA; Prof. Allauddin Ahmad, Former Vice-Chancellor, Jamia Hamdard, New Delhi; Dr. Fakhruddin Mohamad, Hony. Secretary, MESCO and Principal Consultant International Objective University; Professor Sekh Rahim Mondal, Professor in Anthropology & Sociology, University of North Bengal, Darjeeling, West Bengal; Dr. Mohd. Imran, Asst. Professor, Dept. of Microbiology/Biosciences, Integral University, Lucknow
 

The second day’s programme began with Business Session III. The presidium consisted of HE Abdur Rahman Ghannam M. Al-Ghannam and Prof. Manzoor Ahmad.

In his opening remarks, HE al-Ghannam observed that the first revelation in the holy book of Islam laid emphasis on learning and education. Hence it should be given the respect and attention it deserves.
 

Prof. S.R. Mondal, professor of anthropology at Jadhavpur University, Kolkata, said India had both civilisational and genetic relationship with the Arab world.

“Today the pen has been replaced with mouse and book with computer,” he said about the age of information technology and knowledge. India, with its growing knowledge society had a lot to offer the Muslim world in a co-operative arrangement. The IITs and IIMs were a valuable resource to be shared. It was particularly important in view of the fact that Muslim populations were “poor human resource” generally and needed to be developed, Prof. Mondal said.

One of the several advantages for the Muslim world in establishing co-operation with India in education, he said, was that education in India was low-cost, compared to Western countries. Its high quality was attracting a lot of students from Europe and America where it was unaffordable for many, he said.

A number of European and American universities were coming to India as were Indian institutions establishing branches in Middle East. He said Saudi Arabia should consider establishing a branch of its Petroleum University in India also somewhere near Dibrugarh where there is a oil refinery.

Dr Mohammad Imran, assistant professor, department of Microbiology, Integral University, Lucknow, said India and Muslim world’s relations were crucial for peace, prosperity and stability of the world in the 21st century. “Arabs and Turks are the natural allies of India in terms of culture and history. Twenty three percent of India’s business is with the Muslim world, out of which the GCC’s share is 90 percent,” he concluded.

Dr Fakhruddin Mohmmad, Secretary, MESCO, Hyderabad, introduced his institution before talking about the educational scenario in India. He also made a power-point presentation about the International Objective University being established by the IOS near Delhi.
 

Dr Manzoor Ahmad, vice-chancellor, Vivekanand Subharti University, Meerut, said a country’s foreign relations reflected domestic policies and priorities. For years India had been receiving a sizeable number of foreign students in its universities. However, of late the number of foreign students had declined and foreign guest houses of several universities were lying vacant. Pune University and Lucknow University were famous for accommodating a good number of foreign students, but were now almost devoid of them.

He pleaded for raising the teaching standards of Indian universities. He regretted that in the rating of 500 universities by the Shanghai Group not even one Indian university was there.

He pleaded that three foreign universities – Al-Azhar of Egypt, International Islamic University of Malaysia, and King Abdul Aziz University of Saudi Arabia – should open branches in India. He thought several Indian universities, IITs and IIMs would fulfill most of the needs of Muslim countries.
 

Prof. Allauddin, former vice-chancellor, Jamia Hamdard, advocated placing of knowledge in Islamic perspective. He said upto 10th century Hijrah Muslims took knowledge seriously. Over the last 400 years pursuit of knowledge had declined in Muslim society as a dichotomy between deeni (religious) and asri (contemporary) knowledge evolved. He pleaded for restoration of unity of knowledge.
 

Prof. Basheer Ahmad Khan, vice-chancellor, Sido Kanhu Murmi University, Dumka, Jharkhand, said “Education is a basic right for every human being, like food and water. We must get new universities like the proposed International Objective University.

There was a new spurt in building universities in Saudi Arabia, Qatar and UAE. Already, China had 5,000 universities while India had only 1,000. India was to add 1500 to these. He advocated Indo-Arab co-operation in the field.

HE al-Ghannam, in his presidential remarks, offered the services of Saudi distance education universities which, he said, were highly effective.
 

Business Session IV


L-R: Dr. Arshi Khan, Assoc. Professor, Dept. of Political Science & Director, CEPECAMI, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh; Mr. Khwaja Abdul Muntaqim, Visiting Professor, Institute of Advanced Legal Studies, Amity University, NOIDA; Dr. Zahir Khan, Former Diplomat and Chairman, World Muslim Solidarity Forum of Dewah Dawah Islamiyah Indonesia; Prof. Aftab Kamal Pasha, Director, Gulf Studies Programme, Centre for West Asian & African Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi; Dr. Mohammed Badrul Alam, Professor and Head, Dept. of Political Science, Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi; Dr. Sami Al Faraj, President, Kuwait Centre for Strategic Studies, Kuwait; Dr. Naseema Akhtar, Assoc. Professor, Department of Political Sciences, University of Kashmir, Srinagar, Kashmir
 

This session, chaired by Dr AK Pasha, had as its theme “Foreign Policy and Diplomatic Issues.” In his opening remarks Dr Pasha observed that even before freedom, Indian leaders had close relations with the Muslim world.
 

Under Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, the Indian Council for Cultural Relations was established after independence. The first Prime Minister, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, had close interaction with Syria, Egypt and Saudi Arabia. During his 1956 visit to Saudi Arabia the Saudis called him the “prophet of peace.”

“The largest number of ministerial visits and delegations come annually from the Muslim world”, Dr Pasha said. When sanctions were imposed on Iraq and Libya, India worked hard to provide enough room for reducing hardship. India regularly used its diplomatic clout to reduce suffering of people in the Muslim world. “The visit of Saudi King Abdullah bin Adul Aziz in 2006 as the chief guest at Independence Day celebrations and the return visit of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to Saudi Arabia were high marks in mutual relations.” India’s relations with Egypt, Syria, Algeria and “the entire Muslim world is robust,” he remarked.
 

Dr Sani al-Faraj, President, Kuwait Centre for Strategic Affairs, Kuwait, sought a broad based relationship with India in economic, political and military affairs. He compared Kuwait to a mouse surrounded by three elephants–Iran, Iraq and Saudi Arabia. Only amicable relations with the three, and among the three, elephants would ensure the safety and security of the mouse.

His area, he said, had been known for trade which linked Muslim holy places to big markets across a stretch of 6,400 miles even in early medieval times. Caravans of 1,000 camels used to traverse the entire trade route from Arabia to India, China and Japan. He pleaded for making it a zone of peace.

“India as a naval power should help secure the maritime routes from piracy and other threats for oil and other trade. India’s interests in GCC-oil and other economic interests should also be secured. The Gulf as a business hub, should be of particular interest to India.”

He said a new Kuwait City was being built to accommodate new needs. He made a power-point presentation of the new city called City of Silk. The layout was inspired by the intricate patterns of a silk carpet, which represented some of the finest elements of Islamic art and craft.
 

Dr Zakir Khan a former Indonesian diplomat and chairman, World Muslim Solidarity Forum of Dewah Dawah Islamiyah, Indonesia, said big power politics and American hegemony had harmed the Muslim world immensely. However, if the Islamic and other developing countries made a common cause to resist foreign interference they would be able to restore their freedom.

He gave the example of Indian Muslim soldiers of the British army who had been sent to Indonesia by the British rulers to support the Dutch rulers of Indonesia to crush the independence struggle of the people. The Indian Muslims soldiers refused to crush the Indonesian freedom fighters and crossed over to their side.

Islam did not support violence, much less terrorism. However, the Muslim aspiration for freedom from foreign dominance had to be respected. He condemned the so-called War on Terror, which had led to the unjustified death of a large number of Muslims. On the other hand, Muslims had been helping non-Muslims all over the world in times of trouble.

Prof. Badrul Alam, head of the department of political science department in Jamia Millia Islamia, Delhi, said India had both hard power (the power of military coercion) and soft power (the power to attract through media, cinema, music, yoga, educational institutions etc.) to make it a dominant player in the region.

Dr Arshi Khan, associate professor, deptt. of political science, Aligarh Muslim University, said that America and Europe were in steady decline as India, China and some thers were steadily rising. It was time for greater mutual co-operation between no-Western countries for a better future.
 

Business Session V


L-R: Dr. B.S. Sandhu, Former Research Fellow, Guru Nanak Sikh Studies, Punjab University, Chandigarh; Mr. AbdulMajeed Mohammed S. AlOmari, Director, Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Islamic Affairs, Endowments, Da’wah and Guidance, Riyadh, KSA; Dr. M.M. Verma, Chair, Religious Harmony, IASE (D) University, Rajasthan, & President, Interfaith Foundation, India, New Delhi; Prof. M. H. Qureshi, Shri A.M.Khwaja Chair, Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi; Dr. Abdullah Q. Turkistani, Dean, Islamic Economic Institute, King AbdulAziz University, Jeddah, KSA; Dr. M.D. Thomas, National Director, Commission for Religious Harmony, CBCI, New Delhi; Swami Agnivesh, Member, Board of Directors, King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz International Centre for Interreligious & Intercultural Dialogue (KAICIID), Vienna
 

Valedictory Session


L-R: Mr. Mohammad bin Abdul Rahman AlNafea, World Assembly of Muslim Youth, Riyadh, KSA; Prof. Akhtarul Wasey, Vice Chairman, Delhi Urdu Academy; H.E. Mr. Abdul Rahman Ghannam M. AlGhannam, Undersecretary, Ministry of Islamic Affairs, Endowments, Da’wah and Guidance, Riyadh, KSA; Prof. Z.M. Khan, Secretary General, Institute of Objective Studies, New Delhi; Dr. Jasser Auda, Dy. Director, Centre of Islamic Legislation and Ethics and Professor of Maqasid Al-Shariah,Faculty of Islamic Studies, Qatar Foundation, Qatar; Mr. AbdulMajeed Mohammed S. AlOmari, Director, Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Islamic Affairs, Endowments, Da’wah and Guidance, Riyadh, KSA; Datuk Seri Mohamed Iqbal, Chairperson, Business Advisory Council, UN Economic & Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP), Malaysia
 

This session was chaired by IOS General Secretary Prof. Zahoor Mohammad Khan and the valedictory address was delivered by Dr Jasir Auda, deputy director, Centre for Islamic Legislation and Ethics, Qatar.
 

Dr Auda said that the Muslim world had always had a close relationship with India. Now was the time to expand the contacts further on government to government and people to people level.
 

Malaysian intellectual Datuk Seri Mohammad Iqbal said that India and Malaysia were “Joined together by emotional ties.” Besides cultural and social similarities between the two countries they enjoyed close economic and educational ties. In Malaysia’s Islamic University several Indian academics had been working. Islamic Shariah, halal food and Islamic banking could be some of the shared aspects between the two, Datuk Iqbal concluded.
 

Dr Abdul Majeed Mohammad S. Al-Umri, director, external services in the Saudi Ministry of Islamic Affairs, said that the heavy representation of Saudis in the conference showed its significance. He hoped that the conference would pave the way for the two countries coming together on practical issues. Now that Saudi Arabia had made giant studies in educational and economic fields, it would be easier for the two countries to establish world peace through dialogue.

The chairman of Delhi Urdu Akademi, Prof. Akhtarul Wasey lauded the IOS for such a remarkable conference that could bring India and the Muslim world still closer.
 

Prof. Refaqat Ali Khan, formerly of Jamia Millia Islamia, said that the Indo-Arab ties, facilitated by the sea, had a long record that went far beyond the advent of Islam.

Prof. Ishtiyaque Danish, IOS finance secretary, proposed a vote of thanks at the end of the two-day conference. It was conducted by Mr. Aga Sultan, Consulting Engineer - Educationist and Former Member, Syndicate and Academic Council Bangalore University, VTU and AICTE (SWRC).

The following resolutions were adopted at the end.