English sermons, Quran on iPads at Hyderabad mosque a big draw

June 13, 2012

Mosque

Hyderabad, June 13: In the city of Nizams that has metamorphosed into a bustling metropolis, this mosque was possibly in the making. Tucked away in a quiet corner of Banjara Hills, a mosque is playing the part of the Pied Piper for the English-speaking believers in the city, offering them an air-conditioned hall to offer namaz and delivering sermons in English even as the devout read the Quran from Islamic applications on their iPads.

The plush interiors of the centrally air conditioned mosque located on Road No. 8 Banjara Hills and with prayer carpets to sink one's feet in, the mosque is a hit with the affluent. Worshippers vouch for the mosque's comfortable ambience which they say is conducive to religious learning. They add that unlike the traditional mullah, the mosque offers lectures and sermons on topical subjects by professionals working with various firms who have a practical approach to religion. Further, a large number of foreign students throng the mosque during Ramzan as lectures are given in English. What clicks with the smart phone-wielding believers here is the contemporary tone of sermons and the practical approach to Islam.

Worshippers at the mosque said that understanding the Friday qutbah at other mosques across the city has become increasingly difficult as is delivered in chaste Urdu. Syed Zaheeruddin, a 28-year-old assistant manager in an MNC in Hi-Tec City said, "Everything the young Muslim does is in English. We were educated in school with English as the medium of instruction. We discharge our professional duties in English. And despite Urdu being our mother tongue, we speak to our children in English at home too. So, everything taught here sinks effortlessly."

The mosque witnesses around 400 worshippers every Friday out of which around 100 are women. Insiya Abdul Raheem, a 23-year-old psychology graduate said, "I am more conditioned to listening to English and understand it better than I understand Urdu. And since I have a thirst for understanding religion, it makes sense that I come to this mosque."

Officials say it was important they reinvented and thus started at the very first step of religious instruction - communication. They added that for Muslims to be able to discharge religious duties, it was important that they understood them first. Mirza Yawar Baig, an IIM-A graduate of 1985 batch and a management consultant serving as both as imam and khateeb of the mosque, said, "The principle of communication is the transmission of ideas and knowledge. English has become the language of the world and of education of the youth. Ironic as it may seem, it made perfect sense to disseminate knowledge of their own faith in the English language. It is important that I speak in a language that people understand since many understand English better than they understand their own mother tongue. The qutbah aims to help Muslims to understand their lives and current events in the context of the Quran, sunnah (teachings of the Prophet) and Islamic history. The purpose of the qutbah is defeated if people don't understand it."

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
News Network
November 12,2024

ikramuddinkamil.jpg

The Taliban regime has appointed Ikramuddin Kamil as the acting consul in the Afghan mission in Mumbai, Afghan media has reported.

It is the first such appointment made by the Taliban set up to any Afghan mission in India.

There was no immediate comment from the Indian side on the appointment that came.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Afghanistan has announced the appointment of Kamil as the acting consul in Mumbai, the Taliban-controlled Bakhtar News Agency reported on Monday, citing unnamed sources.

"He is currently in Mumbai, where he is fulfilling his duties as a diplomat representing the Islamic Emirate," it said.

The appointment is part of Kabul's efforts to strengthen diplomatic ties with India and enhance its presence abroad, the media outlet said

Kamil holds a PhD degree in international law and previously served as the deputy director in the department of security cooperation and border affairs in the foreign ministry, it said.

He is expected to facilitate consular services and represent the interests of Afghanistan in India, the report added.

Kamil's appointment comes days after the external affairs ministry's point-person for Afghanistan held talks with the Taliban's acting defence minister, Mullah Mohammad Yaqoob, in Kabul.

Sher Mohammad Abbas Stanikzai, the Taliban's deputy foreign minister for political affairs, also posted on X about Kamil's appointment.

The appointment of Kamil is seen as part of efforts to facilitate consular services to the Afghan population in Mumbai.

There has been almost negligible presence of diplomatic staff at the Afghan missions in India.

Most of the diplomats appointed by the Ashraf Ghani government have already left India.

In May, Zakia Wardak, the seniormost Afghan diplomat in India, resigned from her position after reports emerged that she was caught at the Mumbai airport for allegedly trying to smuggle 25 kg of gold worth Rs 18.6 crore from Dubai.

Wardak had taken charge as the acting ambassador of Afghanistan to New Delhi late last year, after working as the Afghan consul general in Mumbai for more than two years.

She took charge of the Afghan embassy in New Delhi last November, after the mission helmed by then ambassador Farid Mamundzay announced its closure.

Mamundzay, who was an appointee of the Ghani government, had moved to the United Kingdom.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
News Network
November 11,2024

birensingh.jpg

The Manipur Kuki MLAs have released a statement calling out Solicitor General Tushar Mehta's 'lies' in the Supreme Court. In a joint statement, the MLAs, including those from the Bharatiya Janata Party, said they had not had any meeting with the Chief Minister since May 3, 2023, nor did they intend to meet him in the future as “he was the mastermind behind the violence”.

As per the MLAs, the SG lied about state CM N Biren Singh speaking to Kuki MLAs to control the situation there, in order to halt a Supreme Court probe into the leaked tapes which allege that Singh has been complicit in the violence that broke out between Kukis and Meitis there.

"We...clarify that we have never had any meeting with Chief Minister, Shri N. Biren Singh since May 3, 2023, nor have any intention to meet him in future as he is the mastermind behind the violence and ethnic cleansing of our people from the Imphal valley, which is continuing till today, the latest being the brutal killing and burning of Mrs Zosangkim Hmar on November 7, 2024," the letter read, while condemning the recent 'barbaric' killing of the woman there, and noting the SG's assertion is 'tantamount' to misleading the top court.

“We, the undersigned ten MLAs, have come to know that during the Supreme Court hearing held on November 8, 2024, the Solicitor General of India submitted that ‘CM is meeting all Kuki MLAs and trying to bring the situation down to get peace’. In this connection, we hereby categorically state that this submission is a blatant lie and tantamount to misleading the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India,” the statement said.

The Supreme Court, while hearing a petition by a Kuki organisation, asked that it submit audio tapes to substantiate its claim that the Chief Minister was instrumental in inciting and organising violence in the northeastern State.

Solicitor-General Tushar Mehta orally informed the court that the Chief Minister was meeting all the Kuki-Zo MLAs and that peace in the State had come at a huge cost.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.