Two Score and Ten

Naqshbandi:

Please send a note to Chowk Admin to reformat this write-up. They should highlight all the books in a ``bullet point`` form. This is a painful layout. My eyes only cared to play hop scotch on the ``numeric digits`` in paranthesis. Presentation matters.

Impressive array of books on diverse topics indeed. Although I have read many but I must admit I am not familiar with some of the books by western authors mentioned by you.

What are your favourite books regarding Tafseer?. and what about books by luminaries like Moulana Ashraf Ali Thanavi, Moulana Abul Hasan Ali Nadvi, Shah Waliullah Mohaddis e Dehlavi (hujjatallahil - Baligha).

Greeco-Roman history has always fascinated me as has the history of ancient India

Anyway, it was heart warming to find out that there are still people in this day and age who love books as much as you do. May the tribe grow. Ameen.

regards

KNF

Dear Mr. Naqshbandi...

You and I have a fair share of disagreements... regarding some politics and issues related to politics. However... as usual, I am in awe of the sheer diversity of your interests ... reading in particular. The world of Islam needs a lot more of you ... religious yet tolerant... and very well read...


Sincerely

Y.L.Hamdani

Dear Chowk Admin:
Please could you put all the titles of the books in BOLD font. Thanks

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Zahra, I initially wanted to append a bullet-point list at the end of the essay but because of the word limit on Chowk I decided against it.

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Yasser,

Thanks. I try to be open-minded and as well-informed about the world as I can be; books help a lot towards that. :-) `Jack of all trades and master of none` is more like me! Allah help the world of Islam if there were any more good-for-nothings like me! I describe myseld with these words of Umar Khayyam:

Na din u na dunya u na umeed i bihisht...

Mian Bhai,

My favourite tafseer books are the ones by Hazrat Sayyid Sadr-al-Afaadil Naimuddin Muradabadi rahmatullah alayhi (entitled Tafsir Nur al `Irfan) and the one by Allama Mufti Ahmad Yaar Khan rahmatullah alayhi; both of these are usually published in the marginalia of Ala Hazrat`s Qur`an translation. My favourite long tafseer is Tafseer Zia ul Qur`an by Hazrat Pir Karam Shah Sahib al Azhari rahmatullah alayhi.

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As for Ashraf Ali Thanavi, I accept that he had a lot of knowledge and wrote lots of books but he was a gustaakh e Rasool and thus a baymaan whom I don`t respect at all. The words he has written in his book Hifz ul Iman about the Prophet alayhisalatuwasalam are pure kufr. But since I want this thread to stick with the discussion on books and reading and not become a polemic religious discussion I will say no more here. As for Hazrat Shah Wali Allah Muhhadith e Delhvi rahmatullah alayhi, he was one of the greatest scholars and Sufis of this Ummah. Abu`l Hassan Ali Nadwi was very learned, although I have some religious differences with him, and his book on Iqbal is very good.
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It is an interesting list. I want to make just a couple of points: (1) it is probably more worthwhile to select only a few for discussion and probe their impact in greater detail, rather than list a whole bunch and not discuss what they did for you (which must have been something, for you included them), and (2) it is kind of disheartening (although sadly not so unusual) to find how little of the classics from your own backyard (India) made your list. Are you aware, for example, that one of the earliest Hindi writers (and some say still the best writer) Prem Chand wrote most of his initial works in Urdu. Also, in my humble opinion, any desire to understand the culture and psyche of that subcontinent would be fruitless without a reading of the Ramayana and the Mahabharata, (they are religious books, but they also hold their places as epics,) which have been widely translated. There are countless works of literature regarding the Mughal period and other eras.

Beejay,

I have read the Mahabharata and also the Ramayan (some of it) but it did not appeal to me enough to make my top 50. I think I have read one or two short stories of Premchand but not sure. I have read a lot more than makes this list; it is not me trying to denigrate the books you mention but we all have our preferences and fifty isn`t a big number. Of all the books from Hindu civilisation I`ve read, the ones I`ve enjoyed most are the Kama Sutra of Vatsyavana and the Gita Govind.

Sorry, I cannot read this piece in its current state.

Dear Dr. Naqshbandi:

Point taken. Thanks for the clarification.

I myself like to read a lot. Unfortunately, in my case, when time was aplenty, available reading resources were far fewer (for example, in my K-12 school years, we had no access to a functioning library, and that was true for that whole town in Bihar. Sadly the situation is no better today). I am sure it is the same way with many other people, and articles like yours will surely stimulate a renewed desire to read.

I truly look forward to the day when the internet would make all works of knowledge and art available to young minds irrespective of geography. It will be a very different world then!

Mr. Naqshbandi,

I am a little surprised by your comments about Maulana Ashraf Ali Thanvi. He was one of the few progressives produced by the Deobandi school of thought... and was clearly closer to Barelvi Sunni Islam, which you follow...

In order to understand the diversity of Islamic thought in the subcontinent ... and to get a better understanding of the Muslim politics during the Raj, I have been up on these different schools... I came across a book called ``Ashraf-al-Makalat`` about Thanvi.

But your reaction has surprised me. Please elaborate.

In addition please also elaborate what you think of:

1) ``Nadwa`` school of thought...

2) Allama Shibli Naumani

3) Shabbir Ahmed Usmani

4) Allama Javed Ghamdi

5) Ubaidullah Sindhi

6) the clear split between ``Noorani`` approach and Tahirul Qadri`s world view?

7) The MMA alliance, particularly the JUI, and Jamaat-e-Islami Components...

8) The Sipah Sahaba factions

Re: # 6
The Ramayana and the Mahabharata as written by Valmiki and Vyas are hardly religious books - they`re really epics, and make great reading. Not, I`m afraid, Tulsi`s version. Now you could call that a religious book.
But all the same it was interesting reading an article like this one. Whether or not one agrees with your views about them, or your ranking.

manto,

the only reason i dislike thanvi sahib is due to passages such as this one (from his book Hifz ul Iman):

Ashraf Ali Thaanvi writes:) ``And then attributing the knowledge of the unknown to that sacred person the Prophet… if it is true, the question is what is meant by this? Does it mean the total knowledge of the unknown, or the partial knowledge of it? If it means partial knowledge, then there is nothing special in this. Such knowledge is available to every Tom, Dick and Harry; even a child, a lunatic and all animals have this kind of knowledge``.


If this isn`t clear insolence towards the Beloved Prophet sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam (which is kufr) then what is it?

And how about this :

`There is no harm in saying ``La Ilaha Illalahu Ashraf Ali Rasoolullah`` and ``Allahuma

Salli Ala Sayidina Wa Nabeeyina Ashraf Ali``. (Risalah Al Imdaad page 35, month of

Safar 1336 H, Roodaad-e-Munaazirah ‘geya’, Al-Furqaan V 3 page 85)`.


Clear kufr.,

That is why I don`t like Mr. Thanvi. There are many other blasphemies littered in his many works; thus these nullify the good books he has written too.

I will go through the others on your list v briefly:

1) ``Nadwa`` school of thought...: innovators and gumraah

2) Allama Shibli Naumani : don`t know enough about him but his aqeedah was also dodgy and inflicted with the disease of the nechariyya.

3) Shabbir Ahmed Usmani : a good, moderate scholar from Deoband. Nothing much against him.

4) Allama Javed Ghamdi -dont know anything about him.

5) Ubaidullah Sindhi --ditto.

6) the clear split between ``Noorani`` approach and Tahirul Qadri`s world view?
I am clearly in the camp of Mawlana Noorani rahmatullah alayhi; I respect Allama Tahir ul Qadri sahib too but the only thing with him is that his opinions keep on changing depending on his audience! His written work is excellent and very beneficial.

7) The MMA alliance, particularly the JUI, and Jamaat-e-Islami Components...

I`ve got no time for JI or JUI primarily due to their Wahabi/Ahle Hadith aqaid. Also I don`t know if MMA is a good idea or not. I am unsure....
8) The Sipah Sahaba factions --have no time whatsoever for these Nasibi terrorists and baymaans.

Hope that is clear :-)

Thank you for your response. About Thanvi... is there a context?

Please also elaborate vis a vis 1 and 2. How are the Nadwah school of thought gumrah... and what is a Nachariyah?

Also if you don`t mind ... may I know what your remedy is for those who are ``gumrah`` if they refuse to change their ways? Is it merely a question of disagreement, or do you advocate any action against them?

What do you think of Shibli Naumani`s and Suleiman Nadvi`s ``Seerat-un-Nabi``??

Naqshbandi,

I must inform you that ZahraJ cannot read your piece in its current state.

let`s stick with green eggs and ham ..............


``Lastly, but not least, I would like to include (50) James Joyce’s Ulysses which is a difficult yet stylistically wonderful work of English prose and widely considered the greatest novel of the twentieth century``.............

........ and that`s where mr naqshbandi lost all credibility !.......... he held out till the very end but then he succumbed to the idiocy perpetuated by impotent critics and spinster english teachers who take out their frustrations and inadequacies on the world by promoting a painful hoax ............. anyone, other than a masochistic pervert, who actually thinks it is the greatest novel ever written needs to get their head examined !............

...... i will stick with green eggs and ham (and, of course, the koran !)