R) Chief guest Abu Tariq Hejazi, Ishaque Khan,Seoharvi Academy President Bahjat Najmi and Syed Athar Rizvi at a seminar in Jeddah. (SG photo by S. Saqib Mujahid Zaidi)Civilizations stand on a foundation, the bricks of which are laid by those common people who spend their lives serving their community. And like the foundation bricks, they too largely remain unseen and unsung. Sayyid Ameen-ul Hasan Rizvi (1926-2002) and Haji Muhammad Ayub Seoharvi (1912-75) were men of such mettle and selfless workers who came in for passionate tributes during a seminar Friday in Jeddah when people forgot their national affiliations and gathered to remember their silent contributions to the community. Both Rizvi and Seoharvi were Indians, but expatriates from the subcontinent, including Pakistan, were out in full force to pay warm tributes to them. During the seminar, several speakers spoke on these personalities, based on their personal experiences and knowledge about them. The speakers traced their early lives, education, and their contributions to the community. Both Sayyid Rizvi and Haji Ayub Seoharvi, the seminar was informed, hailed from Uttar Pradesh, the largest province in India – from Amroha and Bijnore districts respectively. Rizvi later migrated to Hyderabad, the capital of Andhra Pradesh. Amir Khurshid, a young literary personality who has, to his credit, conducted many literary meetings and mushairas (poetry recitation gatherings) in Jeddah, led the seminar by presenting his paper, punctuated with chaste Urdu poetry, on Sayyid Ameen-ul Hasan Rizvi. Khurshid had met Sayyid Rizvi once, but it was enough for him to be inspired by his personality. Khurshid found the late Rizvi “intelligent and active,” whose demure personality and diminutive height would betray his strong will and daring initiatives. The young Pakistani speaker recalled how Rizvi would not shy of writing letters to prime ministers on subjects of prime importance to the Muslim community in India. His letters would be frank and straightforward, he said. He lived his entire life in selfless service for the cause of the Muslim community, be it the issue of Muslim Personal Law or Shariah matters; the issue of the burning of copies of the Holy Qur'an or anti-Muslim riots. Major Muslim organizations like Jamaat-e-Islami Hind, Milli Council, Muslim Personal Law Board, and Institute of Objective Studies would often find in him a handy legal advisor and a consummate letter drafter. Rizvi hence served these organizations both from within and outside with no self interest. He also served the official organ of the Jamaat-e-Islami Hind, Radiance Viewsweekly, for a long time. He even went to jail along with many top leaders of the country during the period of Emergency. Khurshid said that Rizvi's mission was to make the Ummah aware of the finer points of Shariah. He referred to his many books like “Three Major Errors in 12 English Translations of the Qur'an”, “Battles by the Prophet – in the light of the Qur'an,” in English and “Communications with Maulana Maududi” in Urdu. Sayyid Ameen-ul Hasan Rizvi's son, Syed Athar Rizvi, senior editor at Saudi Gazette, read out a message sent from the UAE, by his uncle Sabihuddin Ansari. Recalling his long relationship with Sayyid Rizvi, Ansari quoted him as saying: “A man is known by the company he keeps”. He said that Rizvi belonged to that tribe of the Mujahideen who were the embodiment of the dreams of Syed Qutub, Mohammad Abduh and Maulana Maududi. If Rizvi will always be known for his role in post-independence India when Muslims faced a plethora of problems, Seoharvi's initiation to public life is traced to his active participation in India's freedom struggle. He had become the second-in-command of the notable Muslim leader Maulana Hifuzur Rahman, in whose name the academy was initiated, in fighting for the cause of Muslims and Islam. Ashfaque, a prominent expatriate from Pakistan, presented a detailed sketch of Haji Muhammad Ayub Seoharvi. According to him, Seoharvi played a very significant role in independent India too by mainly uplifting the Muslim community in the areas of education and social life. He established educational institutions, prominently the Muslim Qudrat Inter College in Bijnor. But more than that he was known for his work for communal harmony, Muslim unity, and in dispensing justice in matters of day to day lives of the community. Asfaque quoted Seoharvi as saying: “The solution to the problems of Islamic world lies with a sincere, serious and selfless leadership.” This observation rings true even in the beginning of the 21st century when the Muslim world is passing through a leadership crisis. In his presidential note, Ishaque Khan, a Pakistani national who has been in Jeddah for the last 42 years, stressed the importance of conducting such seminars in memory of great men of the community, because they “were the torch-bearers of the community,” and future generations should find in them examples of sacrifice and love for the community in their lives. Abu Tariq Hejazi, author of several of several books, was the chief guest. The seminar was organized by Maulana Hifzur Rahman Seoharvi Academy, which periodically conducts seminars on the literary, intellectual and cultural contributions of prominent personalities.
