Friday Journal : 28th August 98 |
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Articles in this issue |
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The Holy Prophet of Islam (saw) said: "Acquiring knowledge is incumbent upon every muslim man and woman." There are other ample tradtions from his Ahlul Bayt (a.s.) emphasizing the importance of knowledge. In fact the Shia community had always been on the forefront of acquiring knowledge. The Shia scholars remained impartial in regard of books and referred the books of other schools or Maslak. But a community having such a wonderful record of reading and acquiring knowledge, cannot afford to print an edition of 1000 books. Why? No sale! Mumbai having a large chunk of Shia population has only 2 or 3 outlets for selling books in Town, but none in suburbs. In this situation there was a man who took over the challenge of reproducing the books. It was Syed Izhar Husain Abidi.
Born in Lucknow but came to Bombay with his father while yet a young lad of ten. He helped his father in managing their book shop at Mohammed Ali Road and thus earned invaluable experience. His experience was put to use when he set up the foundation of Haidery Kutub Khana in 1955. It was a time when most of the Shia publishing houses in the sub-continent had closed shop or were on the verge of closure. In such a period of recession the Haidery Kutub Khana under the able stewardship of Mr. Syed Izhar Husain crossed every hurdle and overcame all kinds of social and economical porblems. It continued to push forward the vehicle of religious propagation.
Haidery Kutub Khana has published more than a hundred titles, some of them running into multiple editions. Some of the titles deserve a special mention: like, Nahjul Balagha (Arabic text with Urdu translation - complete) by Mufti Jafar Husain; Sahifa-e-Kamila - translation by Mufti Jafar Husain; Sahifa-e-Alawiya - translation by Fazil Lakhnavi; Tafsir-e-Quran-e-majeed (Urdu) by Maulana Maqbool Ahmad Sahab in two volumes; Mafatihul Jinan of Shaykh Abbas Qummi; Chaudah Sitare (Urdu) by Allama Najmul Hasan Kararvi; Zikr-e-Abbas; Kaukab-e-Durri by Allama Muhammad Saleh Kashafi Hanfi; Arjahul Matalib by Allama Ubaidullah Amritsari; Hayat-al-Qulub (in 3 volumes) - complete by Allama Majlisi (r.a.) and Tohfatul Awaam etc.
Apart from these more than a hundred titles have been published on a range of topics like, Majalis, History, Debates and Polemics, Biography, Nauhas, Marsiyas, Qasidas, Moral Science and roots of religion. Many other books on the same topics are in the pipeline.
Keeping pace with the technological advances and the mushroomimg of media options Haidery Kutub Khana has also diversified into the production of quality audio and video cassettes for propagating Shiite Islam. The cassettes also cover a range of topics including, Majalis, Nauha, Qiraat, speeches and religious masael etc. New cassettes are recorded and the cassettes of the other organisations are also reproduced.
He has acted as an announcer during Mohurrum Majlis programmes. Though he maintains a low profile, Mr. Izhar has immense contribution to tableegh to his credit.
