|
Professor/Head of Dept. of Urdu (1957-1988)
|
Prof. Aziz Ahmed Faruqui
|
By Kazi Zulkader Siddiqui, 671/Latif
Mr.Aziz Ahmed Faruqui was one of the first 5 staff members ever to join
the college in 1957. He retired from the college
in 1988, and presently lives a retired life in
Karachi with his son Cdr.(R) Rashid Faruqui,
kit no. 7192.
He was born on
24 August 1928 and is married to Mrs. Zahida
Khatoon. They have five children.
Faruqui Sahib was another
great institution at Petaro. He used to teach us Urdu.
During the 1960's he got his second M.A. - this time in
English Literature and won a gold medal. I remember that
day, because then he also started taking some English
language classes as well.
|
|
Faruqui
Sb was famous for his intellectual discourses. He was
definitely anti-mullah, and had a flair for left of the center
thought in his philosophical leanings. This is so well
reflected in his autograph he wrote for me, where he is
critical of the typical "ritualism" in our society. In fact,
he knew me well in how my fledgling mind worked. While at
Petaro, I was deeply involved with the Tableeghi Jamaat, going
to the dorms every week on gasht and inviting everyone
for namaz. We used to have our weekly tableeghi
talk at the masjid. I would never miss my namaz. And
I was so deep into the spiritual activities that I would
rarely miss the roza (fasting) of the 13th, 14th and
15th of every month.
Faruqui
Sb's almost prophetic autograph hit me many years later. I had
left Petaro and gone off to Turkey for doing my engineering at
METU. I stayed in Ankara, Turkey for 2 years, and during
those 2 years all my namaz and nafil rozas were
gone. I did pray Juma namaz, but my regular prayers
were left behind at Petaro. I would remember Allah at times,
but the material world showed me that all my rituals were
meaningless. I had never understood Islam or the true meaning
of faith in all those years with the Petaro Tableeghi Jamaat.
It was a great spiritual experience in a specific environment,
but devoid of true understanding of Allah. Finally, it was
when I moved to Boston, USA to study at MIT when I started to
re-discover God and the true meaning of faith. It was a
journey of a life when I realized that banging my head on the
ground or repeated incantations of tasbeeh alone could
not lead me to the ultimate reality. Despite all that, East
Pakistan was lost, and we Muslims killed each other.
I
believe I have a much better appreciation of what is the true
meaning of humanity in Islam now. And I pray to the Almighty
to grant me greater understanding of faith through love of
mankind - not through mere ritualism. I have been regular in
my prayers once again for decades. But now it is not merely
for the sake of ritualism. Prayer and all other faraiz
must be a part and parcel of a greater reality.
I
finally met Faruqui Sb again in
2001, after nearly 32 years. He now has a long beard, and
looks more like a maulvi himself. I am sure he too has
gone through his own experience in life and has found his
ultimate reality. I am thoroughly impressed by Faruqui Sb. And I am
grateful to him for exhibiting his love for me with beneficence.
May
Allah bless Faruqui Sb for being one
of those who guided me towards seeking faith with
understanding - moving beyond the simplicity of utter
blindness!
By the
way, just for the sake of those who do not understand Persian,
Faruqui Sb summarized the meaning of
the Persian couplet he wrote in English in that autograph
page. Please see his autograph at the end
of this page.
Faruqui Sahib brought out
the best of the old memories at the
Golden Jubilee
celebrations of Cadet College Petaro on 24 February 2007 at
Petaro. His speech is worth listening to. Please
click
here to listen to what he says.
Faruqui Sahib had also
written an excellent article on
Col. Coombes in which he has described so many of his
experiences of the early days of Petaro. Please
click here to read his article.
Other than being a teacher
of Urdu, Faruqui Sb was always on the sports field as well.
He was in charge of sports and the achievements of that period
do go to his credit.
He was the
House Master of Latif House from
1969-1971, and Patron of the
Body Building Club during the 1980s.
|
