Tuesday, December 8, 2009

Mohammad Ishaq

Q: (Ahmad Awwah): Assalamualekum! A: (Mohammad Ishaq): Walekumas-salam.

Q: I have been waiting for so long to interview you for Armughan monthly; Abbi (my father) said you would be here, I am very glad to see you. How are you doing? A: Maulana had told me but I was hesitant actually shy but then he said it would be helpful to others in the field of Da’awah and that I would be rewarded in the Hereafter, so I agreed. Q: Please introduce yourself to our readers.
A: I was born in a village near Tanda-badli town of Rampur district, U.P in a Seeni family on 7th December, 1967. I was named Ashok Kumar. My father Mr. Pooran Singh was a farmer who had but very little education. I passed standard VIII from Junior High School and intermediate from Rampur. From Lucknow I did my diploma in Civil Engineering and got a job in a Private Construction Company. I was a very short tempered guy since my childhood. I had fought with the teachers many a times at school, college and now in the company, it became a routine almost. Tired of it all I left the job. I had two close friends - Yogesh Kumar and Yogendra Singh. We were distant relatives, had studied together. Other than school, we would hang out together for physical training and wrestling as well. When the feud over Ram Janam bhoomi- Babri Masjid started, we joined the Bajrang Dal. We were part of Advaniji’s Rath yatra in Gwalior and walked along for four days. Our family members were very happy with us. Yogesh’s father who was a school teacher gathered our families at his place. He had said to the three of us, “We devote you (brothers) in the way of don’t fear away from sacrificing your lives for the sake of Ram Mandir. You will become immortal.” He tied kerchiefs (angocha) on our foreheads that encouraged us and filled with zest. It was October 30, we joined Karseva. There were tensions in the Mulayam government then, firing took place somewhere and we were arrested before we could reach our destination. Our anger knew no limits, I beat up many constables but they only tried to calm us down saying, “This government is going to fall soon, when we come to power, do what you want.”

In November, 1991, we reached Ayodhya to demolish the mosque; we were not carrying enough warm clothes and stayed in Ashrams, one after another. It quite surprised us that the sadhus (saints) tried to refrain us from attacking the mosque. They dissuaded us as if it were a sin. One of them had said to me, “To tell you the truth, if Ram Chandra ji was alive today, he would never ever let this happen.” We were very angry with such people who advised us to stay away. Finally, it was 6th December, mob had gathered around the mosque and our in-charge had asked us to get set ready, wait for his signal and attack. Uma Bharti shouted the slogan and we all started the assault. Yogesh fell down on the ground and many a men ran over him, when finally he managed to get up with someone’s help he had already fractured his ribs. However we were busy celebrating; we were overjoyed to carry one of the fallen bricks that we carried all the way to home. How they had congratulated us and felicitated us all these years! Q: Tell us about how you embraced Islam?
A: We kind of fulfilled our dreams but deep inside, not only me, but all three of us were very frightened. It was a strange fear that engulfed our whole beings, something very bad would happen to us, I would often get this feeling that a rock of fire is about to descend on us to crush us. And on every sixth of December, the fear would reach greater heights, the day wouldn’t pass by, we never stepped out of the homes on this date out of fear. Last year, I must tell you, it became unbearable as if the day of torment, I was relieved only when it was night and I had lived to see the dawn of December sixth, somehow. On December seventh, the three of us left our homes in the morning for Rampur where I had some important assignments to do. At the Rampur bus station we met one of our college mates, Raees Ahmad. He came up-to us and said, jokingly, “Ashok, it’s your turn now, first you will fall mentally ill and then you will embrace Islam. I asked him to shut up but in turn he took out some copies of the newspaper and read to us- the news of newly revert to Islam, Mohammad Umar and Mohammad Amir. We were frightened and angry at the same time. “I don’t trust Urdu newspapers,” I retorted. He then took out some Hindi newspapers and showed us the two short news stories. I insisted for the details from the Urdu newspapers and hearing it again, we decided to leave for Phulat and inquire why the hell such baseless stories were being published? This can harm our people’s faith (dharma bhrashta), after all.
We reached Phulat at the residence of Maulana Mohammad Kaleem Siddiqui at a time when he had gone to offer Namaz.

We waited with rude questions up in our minds. The moment Maulana came, I began, “How can you send such stories to the papers?” the three of us were very harsh on him, I can recall and to our surprise we found him to be a man out-of-this-world! His replies were sweetened with love, “We are brothers bound by the ties of blood, plus you are my guests today, let us calm down and talk in a relaxed manner. Where have you come from, may I know?” “Rampur, Tanda Baadli” I replied. “All the way to Phulat, in this winter, you must be tired, sit down, have some tea and I will answer whatever you ask. We never sent the story for publishing however, but it is true.” Maulana had just finished the sentence that we again got up in anger, “you want to corrupt our faiths, such lies of Hindus converting to Islam, how can you?” Maulana was calm. He did not insist we believe in what he was saying but instead see it with our own eyes. Mohammad Umar was there in Phulat at that hour and that too with a jamaat of nine reverts- two from Gujarat, three from Haryana, four from U.P. and two of them were sadhus! Maulana sent for Umar and left after saying a few words to him.
There we sat with Umar Bhai, discussing our doubts over tea and other food items. He confirmed to us the news of his and Amir’s Islam. They were among the frontiers in the rath yatra. I could not help but tell him about the haunting fear, every sixth of December. What should we do now? I asked helplessly.
Umar said that these fears and torments were nothing in comparison to those of the Hereafter. The only safe haven is Islam. “Recite the Kalma and enter,” we were told. Three of us decided to move out of the room to consult but Umar Bhai asked us to keep sitting and he himself went out. We had made up our minds and unanimously decided to accept Islam. We called out to Umar Bhai and gave him the good news. “I was supplicating my Lord, the Creator of the universe to guide my brothers and Maulana is doing the same, I must tell him this now,” Umar said this to us and went inside. Maulana came and we recited the Kalma after him. And I don’t have words to describe what I went through while saying those words; as if the cloak of thorns was being taken off from our bodies, the fear was gone, we felt so safe, secure and comfortable in the fort of Islam. I was named Mohammad Is-haq, Yogesh Mohammad Yaqub and Yogender Mohammad Yusuf. The stories of these Prophets were also narrated to us. Maulana told us that when the news had appeared in the papers, many people had expressed their concern and fears. He however was sure that whatever Allah does is for the best. “Now we have three great gifts in your form, congratulations!” he said this and handed over copies of Apki amanat apki seva mein to each.

Q: What followed then? A: We were admitted to the jama’at of reverts which had a Mufti Sb. from Bulandshehar as the Ameer. There were two others teaching totaling upto 15 in number; we stayed in Meerut for a day where three of us got our certificates made. Then our jama’at turned towards Agra and Mathura, where we completed 40 days somehow, since we were new little conflicts with fellow men did occur. So, three of us decided to return back. Yusuf had a dream that night. He saw Maulana telling him, “Look! Consider the ways; your lord has guided you…. And now you are leaving the way that leads to him.” He shared his dream with us. We made our minds to complete 40 days with the jama’at how else would we show our faces to Maulana then? Q: What happened when you returned from jama’at? A: Maulana enquired about my future plans; and he suggested we should not leave for home, right then. But I retorted saying, “religion is our personal choice and what else is right if not to accept what is right (haq). We have to go home and convince our families.” He tried to stop us but in vain.
Reaching our place we found out the conditions had been hit badly by communal tensions. About us it was famous that we had been murdered at the hands of Muslims. But we reached and revealed our Islam, a pall of gloom descended on the whole area. There were panchayati meetings organized again and again. People were coming in from neighbouring villages, far off relatives started pouring in the home, newspaper reporters came but they were bribed and our Islam did not make it to the papers, the way they wanted it on account of fears it would bring harm to the whole society. Our families were pressurized that we revert our steps but Alhamdulillah, we didn’t move an inch, all this oppositionhad made us stronger Muslims and we were firm despite of all the hardships they were causing us to face. Our wives and kids were sent off to their families and eventually we had to leave our houses, three of us together left for Delhi since we were hesitant to face Maulana in Phulat for having ignored his words. We went to
Patna and lived in troubled times, for some days we had to pull Rickshaws even but then everything was well, we saw Prophet Muhammad ( صلى اله عليه وسلم) in our dreams one by one and it gave us such peace of mind that every trouble was gone. It took us long to meet Maulana but today we did see him and it feels so good.

Q: Did you get to meet your family?
A: Only on phone do we get to talk to our mother and brother, sisters never with father, but with time, God willing, all will be well. My wife and children are however at my in-laws’ place, I had sent one of my friends and then there is a muslim lady who had talked to her and told me that my wife is ready to leave everything for me, I need to go and bring her home very soon. With God’s grace, I will. Q: What did Maulana tell you on account of Da’awah work? A: He has appointed us to start working on others who were part of the demolition act, kar sewaks etc. we must pray for them and our families so that God may guide them to peace. I am also planning to go to Calcutta in a jamaat and while I m working and spending time in His service, I would pray and then come back and get to work. Q: Your message to the readers of Armughan? A: I would say Islam is the need of each and every being. One should never judge a man on his actions, just see we were Bajrang Dalis and today we are the same men but (shudders) if we had died our deaths on the same (cries) how we would have been punished. Please don’t judge anyone; if someone is anti Islam, its only because he or she doesn’t know it, has misunderstandings and misconceptions regarding it. The day they are cleared-the clouds of doubt, light flows in. Be a lamp; guide the light home to those in darkness, that’s a duty.

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