The Memon Educational Welfare Society organised Vocational Guidance Programme 'What after SSC' on 25th December 2001 at the ground of Ahmed Abdullah Garib Technical Institute, Kausa, Mumbra.

A vocational guide Mr. Abdul Rauf Khatib was specially called to deliver a lecture on the subject. Students of various English & Urdu medium schools along with their principals, teachers and parents attended the function.

Programme started at 10-30 a.m. with recitation of Holy Qur'an. Mr. Usman Shekhani welcomed the guests and the audience. He also compered the programme. After the welcome speech, mic was given to vocational guide Mr. Khatib, who gave lecture for the next one hour on various career options and nicely explained how students can appear for different entrance test like MH-CET and various examinations for the administrative posts of I.A.S. & I. P.S. etc. Mr. Abdul Rauf Khatib gave chance to the students participated, to ask their queries about various career options. After Mr. Rauf Khatib's speech Mrs. Wahida Haroon Khan M.A., M.Ed an educationalist spoke on education. She appreciated the presence of large number of Muslim girl students there. In her speech she particularly emphasized that Muslim girl should select certain career which are suitable with respect to their culture and religion. After Mrs. Wahida Khan's speech Mr. Usman Shekhani gave a brief report about the different courses conducted in Ahmed Abdullah Garib Technical Institute. He informed the gathering that Insha Allah from the next academic year Eight Industrial Training Trade courses of 1 and 2 years will be conducted in the institute. He also showed hope that Yashwantrao Chavan Maharashtra University Nasik will allow the institute to conduct 3.5 years Polytechnic level diploma course of Computer Software Engineering and diploma course of Electronic Engineering. After the report Mr. Rauf Khatib answered the queries of the students. Girl students were more enthusiastic to ask the questions about different career options.

Mr. Haji Suleman Bhiwandiwala, President of MEWS presided the function. Along with Mr. Bhiwandiwala Mr. Adam Noor, Hon. Gen. Sec. of MEWS, Mr. Haroon Mojawala, Chairman Khair-e-Ummat Trust. Mr. Shahid Latif, feature editor of Daily Inquilab and Mr. Salimbhai Aagboatwala were on the dice. All these guests spoke and encouraged the students at the event.Mr. Hasham Chapra, Mr. Salam Manure, Head Master Patel High School, Mrs. Nasreen Shaikh, Principal Abdullah Patel High School and Junior College, Mrs. Nasima, Headmistress, Abdullah Patel English medium school, Mrs. Zakia Khan of Kiddies Paradise English High School and Principal of National Urdu School, Trustees of Newstar English High school attended the programme. Correspondents of various Hindi, Urdu & English newspapers also attended the programme, which includes Asadullah Hanfi from Times of India, Dr. Amin Ansari from Urdu Times & Mr. Daler Bharti from Hindi weekly 'Mumbra Mail'. Programme ended with the 'Dua' by Mr. Haroon Mojawala.
In all respect programme it was a grand success.

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At his death time, Hazrat Fuzail (Allah's Mercy be on him) advised his wife, "After burial take these two daughters of ours on the mount Abu Qabees, turn your face towards the sky and make a plea to the Almighty Allah, "O Allah! Fuzail has willed to me: He said, 'O Allah! So long as I was living, I sheltered these daughters of mine as per my strength. Now that You have imprisoned me in the grave, I am returning these two sheltered ones to You."

After the burial of the Saint, his wife acted as per his instructions and will, she was crying over her helplessness. At that time King of Yemen, along with his two sons passed from there. He heard and saw the crying woman. He enquired the reason of her crying. She narrated what had happened. On learning everything the king of Yemen said, "Please don't cry, i am prepared to get my two sons married to your daughters." The wife of Hazrat Fuzail (Allah's mercy be on him) agreed, so he took them to Yemen. There, in the presence of dignitaries, and saintly persons, the marriages were solemnised with a meher of ten thousand Dinaars for each bride. The Almighty Allah helps His friends and the friends of Allah have full confidence in Him. Friends of Allah never depend on anyone in any matter or in any manner. They seek only His favours and it is most certain that He favours His friends. People complained to Caliph Haroon al-Rashid that Hazrat Imam Shaafa'ee (Allah's mercy be on him) had not memorised the Holy Qur'an (i.e. he is not a Haafiz of Qur'an.) It was a fact, but Hazrat Imam Shaafa'ee had a very sharp memory. The Caliph, with an intention of testing Hazrat Imam Shaafa'ee asked him to lead Taraveeh prayers in the month of Ramzan. Hazrat Imam Shafa'ee accepted it. One should have the Holy Qur'an by heart if one has to lead the Taraveeh Prayers. During the day Hazrat Imam Shafa'ee memorised one para and at night be recited it in Taraveeh Prayers. In this manner he did the complete Qur'an by heart in one month. Those people who wanted to injure the reputation of Hazrat Imam Shafa'ee could not succeed in their evil intention.

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Bangalore for the first time 29 Muslim candidates have been selected for the Karnataka Administrative Services (KAS) out of a total 403 posts. Of these 10 are Muslim women among the total 403 posts, 99 were taken by women. 18 Muslim candidates were selected under the 4 percent exclusive quota for the Muslim community under 2B category of reservation for the other Backward Classes. One candidate came through category I while 10 completed through general merit. Category 1 is reserved for certain very backward communities such as dervish. Phulera, Takkara, Chapparband etc. This category also has a lot of castes from the Hindu community. Altogether 160 Muslim candidates had appeared among nearly 5000 candidates. Muslim constitutes 12 per cent of Karnataka population. Brahmins who constitute nearly 4 percent of the state population took 30 percent KAS positions. Several of the Muslim candidates have risen from very humble positions. Akram Pasha, a lecturer, whose father is a driver, has been selected for the assistant commissioner of Commercial Taxes post. ShakilaYasmeen, a young widow, who had been appointed at his husband's position as a first division clerk in the state government service, will be appointed as assistant Registrar of Cooperative Societies. Wazeer Ali Khan, currently a sub inspector of police in Dharwar, will also take up post assistant Commissioner in the Commercial Taxes. Zohra Jabeen whose father runs a bicycle shop in Channapatna has been selected for Tahsildar post, she is currently a teacher. Similarly Aleem Pasha of Mysore will also be a Tahsildar; his father is a retired teacher.

Muhammad Ghouse of Manavi will be Deputy Superintendent of Excise; his father is a village accountant. Zubaidah Khatoon from Mangalore who appeared from Shimoga will be appointed as Assistant Controller, State Accounts. Yasmeen Waleker, daughter of a government pharmacist, will be appointed Labour Officer. B. K. Saleem, son of a fish seller, will also occupy the position of Assistant of Registrar of Cooperative Societies. Reshma Tahseen, daughter of a retired lecturer, will be Block Development Officer. Subhan Baksh of Chintamani. K. Raja Bakhsh B. Kitoor of Dharwar will find place in Assistant Registrar of Cooperative Societies. Parveen D. Naik, Naseem Begum of South Canara and Khaleel Ahmed of Chikballapur will join as Treasury Officers. All these candidates appeared for the KPSC examination in 1999. However, the selections were delayed due to litigation and irregularities. In 1997 batch of KPSC selections, 26 Muslims were selected out of 390 total candidates. However there was no exclusive reservation in force at that time.

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Habibah Dabir thinks, speaks and teaches English, Why not? She has been a lecturer in English in a Mumbai College, has herself studied in English medium school. Yet when it came to choosing a school for her son Asif, Habibah didn't hesitate before enrolling him in an Urdu medium institution.

"I knew my husband and me could very well teach Asif colloquial English at home. We converse in English most of the time at home which takes care of Asif's spoken English," she said. Helping her to make decision was her husband Siraj, a businessman. "My husband speaks better English than i do, and in any case learning a language is not big deal, where as securing high marks at the SSC level does count" she said.
The Dabirs are not alone in taking this rather bold step. In a world where English is the Lingua franca, a few couples in Mumbai and Pune, have dared to swim against the tide,
with remarkable success. Atif Zari, an Architect, was convinced that Urdu was a better medium of instruction for his son Aziz, as compared to English, "I insisted he go to an Urdu medium school, because Urdu, our mother tongue is richer in vocabulary and expression." say Atif. This moment with a lot of opposition from friends and family arguing how would aziz compete in a world driven by communication in English. But Atif adamant, as he was sure that compared to English medium school offer better scope in career. He firmly believes that concepts taught in one's mother tongue make learning easier for the child. "English doesn't fit into the Indian milieu and culture. If the child is to understand the world around him where most of his friends and family speak Urdu, he would definitely benefit from an education in that medium of instruction." he said.

Basit Ali, a journalist is learning Urdu as he plans to admit his son Faqih in an Urdu medium school. Since he knows Hindi, learning Urdu is not difficult for him. Since Basit is in print media, he is a where the growth is. "The future is in electronic media. But the pre-requisite is command over Hindi - Urdu. Hence I want my son to have education in, Urdu. English I can take care as I am from English medium." He remarked. With electronic media being on of the fastest growing industry the decision of Basit appears quite sensible. More over he argues that the Bollywood has huge potential for good scriptwriters. 'Without the thorough knowledge of either Urdu or Hindi one cannot become a scriptwriter either for films or TV ' he said. Neither Dabir nor Zari believe their children have suffered complexes because of the traditional stigma attached to non-English medium schools. Dabir finds that Asif has picked up Maths faster than students in English medium. 'Due to his felicity with Urdu, his verbal mathematics, like reciting table, was fast, and his concepts clear, 'said Habibah. Unaiza Parekh, a web designer has also preferred Urdu medium school in Pune for her son Aves. Although her husband Javid was against the decision initially but Unaiza convinced him. We sat together and did a SWOT analysis of Aves career prospect. Going through the records of last five years of the SSC results, it became evident that most of the merit holders are from the vernacular medium, she said. Hence we decided to opt for Urdu medium, as it will be less difficult to score high percentage. Dr. Rani Raote, psycho-analyst opines that a child will recognise and respect the value and attitude towards religion and tradition if raised in the mother culture. There is a close link between culture and language. As literature pertaining to religion and culture is available in vernacular languages, it helps in developing concern for ones mother culture, she said.

In Mumbai and Pune increasing number of parents who were educated in English, want their children's to have a firm grounding in their own languages and culture.
Zahid Namakwala was alarmed after reading a survey published by the National Geographic, about the vanishing culture and languages. According to the survey, out of the six lakh indigenous languages 50 percent are on the verge of extinction. After reading the survey, Zahid became more firm with his decision to opt for the Urdu medium for his daughter Naseem. His elder son Hakim s already studying in Urdu medium. What's helping these children grow confident about using more than one language is the encouraging home environment. The Namakwala family makes it a point to converse in English at home, which has helped Hakim become fluent in the language. While some students who have not been exposed to English at home or school may be hesitant to speak it. Children need to be taught languages, among other things at home as well as school. My Wife and i speak several languages, English among them. So my son who is educated in Urdu, never had a problem with English which was spoken at home, says Zahid.

The trend is more discernible in Marathi Medium schools. Marathi that was losing its number one position in Maharashtra is recovering its lost glory. Many Muslim parents have also realised that job prospects in the State brighten up if the medium of instruction is Marathi. Soeb Parker, an electrician who had himself studied in Urdu medium school has chosen Marathi medium school for his son Ashfaque. Most of the state government undertaking and enterprise have Marathi as a prerequisite for the employment. Hence, I decided to opt for the Marathi medium for Ashfaque as also our mother tongue is not Urdu but Marathi, he said. Irrespective of the medium of instruction one thing is certain. What is very crucial for the success of a child in academics is environment conducive for studies, proper parental guidance, motivation and desire to e ahead in life and grow. Sadly 'Muslim Parents lack motivation, ambition and to change their destiny by their own acts.
M. H. Lakdawala
(Islamic Voice)

New Delhi : The Islamic Fiqh Academy will shortly bring out the Urdu translation of the Encyclopedia of Fiqh prepared by the Ministry of Islamic Affairs, Kuwait. It will run into 40 volumes each with 500 pages. According to a press release from the Academy, the Encyclopedia deals with all the four schools of Islamic fiqh. It also carries the life sketches of leading jurists and introduction of important books on fiqh. The release said translation of 35 volumes is ready for publication. Current issues impinging upon the fiqh but still being debated have been included in, appendices.

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During the days when Islam was just beginning to be accepted and Prophet (Pbuh) did not want Muslims to be harassed by the disbelievers, it was t for Muslims to gather in a common place and offer namaz in groups. Though the Quriash were aware that Muslims had started praying in a new way as preached by Islam, they were always on the look out for an opportunity to oppose them and also harass them. At this Juncture a handsome young man approached the Prophet (Pbuh) during the third year of Prophet Hood and offered his house. It was a lonely place close to the Kaabah and the hill of Safaa. It was safe to carry on the work of preaching or to offer namaz in congregation. This young man was Arqam-bin-Abdul Arqam. He was just 18 and had already embraced Islam. The Prophet (Pbuh) was delighted at this offer and prayed for the man and requested Allah to accept his sacrifice.This place then became the centre and this house, Dar-e-Arqam became Darul-Islam. In Arabic Dar means House. So Dar-e-Arqam means 'House of Arqam'. It was here that great events like acceptance of Islam by the Prophet's uncle Hamza and Umar (may Allah be pleased with them, took place. This went on till the sixth year of Islam when the Prophet and his people had to shift to the Valley of Abi-taleb and were confined there for three years.In the last century Dar-e-Arqam came under the precincts of Haram Sharif when it was expanded.

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