#Current Affairs

Dreams of My Grandfather: Celebrating the Life of Professor Ghulam Azam

Published

October 31, 2014

Guests

Written by Abu Aisha

On Saturday 1^st Muharram 1436 (Oct 25^th 2014), hundreds of thousands of well-wishers converged on the streets of Dhaka to bid farewell to one of the most recognizable faces of Islam in Bangladesh, Professor Ghulam Azam.

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In this short piece, I would like to present an insider’s perspective into my beloved grandfather’s household. Though I live abroad now, for some years of my childhood and youth, I was honored to live under the same roof as this illustrious Islamic scholar and remarkably influential da‘iya.

His life

My grandfather was born in 1922 into a scholarly family with a lineage in which every one of his known forefathers was an Islamic scholar. However, his father, the Qadhi of Dhaka of his day, recognizing that Islamic scholarship had now become institutionally marginalized, and that graduating from traditional Islamic seminaries no longer provided careers for individuals who could shape and influence society, opted to send his son to a conventional educational institute, while providing him with a very thorough grounding in the Shari‘a sciences. Thus when he eventually made it to Dhaka University, he enrolled in the Arabic program only to find that his knowledge of Arabic was beyond anything the University had to offer.

At University, he also became politically active and was a major force in the Bengali language movement that campaigned to have Bengali recognized as an official language in what was then East Pakistan, shortly after the independence of Pakistan. Early in his career, my grandfather was also a member of the Tabligh Jamaat movement, which he would later leave for the more politically active Jamaat Islami, though he always maintained the spiritual values instilled in him from his time with the former group.

His character

My grandfather was a very softly-spoken man, remarkably for someone known for powerful oratory. Possessed of a kind-heart, he had an ever present smile. He particularly loved young children, and went out of his way to play and make conversation with them. He would often say that little children are like lamps that bring life to homes. I have many fond memories of his affection and kindness to me as a child, and to the many other children in my extended family who loved to rest in his arms, or indeed, enjoy his enthusiastically playing with them!

But he was also concerned with his grandchildren’s Islamic education. I remember one Ramadan, during which he was in his annual i‘itikaf, when he organized nightly lessons for all his grandchildren in the masjid frequented by the family. At other times, I remember him taking the time to teach me how to pray as a young child. Despite leading the largest Islamic political movement in Bangladesh, constantly traveling, lecturing, and meeting with people, he did not neglect his household, but rather gave as much time to us as was humanly possible.

This was only possible due to his very disciplined lifestyle. He ate moderately, exercised regularly, and generally lived a remarkably ascetic lifestyle for a personage of his stature. When he was home, I never saw him miss the iqama in the mosque. Even in old age, he hired a personal assistant to arrive at his home so that he could walk assisted to the mosque well before the beginning of the jama‘a prayers. He closely followed a timetable that would allow him to sleep shortly after Isha prayers so that he (and my grandmother) would be able to wake up before Fajr to pray tahajjud prayers each night. There was never a time that I passed their room late at night, except that I saw them both in prayer—a practice they have had for decades.

Recent persecution as a political prisoner

Of course, recent years had been particularly difficult for my grandparents. Driven primarily by political calculation, the current Awami League government of Bangladesh has targeted the main opposition parties in an effort to hold on to power. Jamaat Islami, the Islamic political party that my grandfather had led, for decades, had played the role of kingmaker in the first two elections of the 2000s. So long as the Jamaat was in play, Awami League could not dethrone the coalition government. To counter them, Awami League resorted to dredging up the emotive issue of the bloody birth of Bangladesh in the 1971 Liberation War.

Jamaat had openly campaigned against secession which was strongly backed by India at the time. India had been at war with Pakistan just six years earlier, and was enthusiastic about the prospect of what would have been the secession of East Pakistan from Pakistan. As it turned out, West Pakistan used indiscriminate and brutal force against East Pakistan’s population to bring them to heel precipitating a civil war whose conclusion can only be described as the Liberation of Bangladesh from the oppression of the then illegitimate government of West Pakistan and its military.

During the war, while he campaigned publicly against the breaking up of a united Pakistan, he was very sharp in his criticism of the military in his interactions with the Pakistani authorities. In one instance, when some members of the Pakistani political and military leadership tried to meet with him, he so vehemently rebuked them for their extreme and gratuitous brutality that the people present feared he would be killed by them. He was not one to fear for his life when speaking truth to power—the highest form of jihad.

Despite this, because of Jamaat’s campaigning against secession, the current ruling party in Bangladesh began a concerted PR campaign in the 2000s to brand the organization and its leaders traitors. By 2009, the campaign had succeeded in attracting a large youthful demographic, consisting of people who were not even alive during the war, to vote in the present ruling party. This gave them the opportunity to establish a highly politicized tribunal for trying ‘war crimes’ the evidence for which is so thin that it has frequently been a cause of embarrassment for those supporting it.

The tribunal, which was in and of itself a potential force for good as a kind of “truth and reconciliation commission,” has been repeatedly criticized by innumerable international bodies. These include Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, and the Bar Human Rights Committee of England and Wales, to name but a few. The politically motivated nature of the tribunal has been recognized by all independent observers who have taken the time to study it. However, Bangladesh’s relative geopolitical insignificance has left its domestic happenings as little more than a blip in the international news cycle, most of which is simply taken in by the narrative that is pushed by the largely anti-Islamic media outlets in Bangladesh. Thus my grandfather’s ludicrous conviction, which was castigated in a detailed report by Human Rights Watch, made barely a ripple in the international community. And now before the appeals process could begin to show the world the complete lack of any evidentiary basis for such a conviction, he passes from this world bearing this defamatory conviction.

His martyrdom and legacy

The Prophet likens the believers in their mutual affection and love for one another to a single body. “If part of it is in pain, the rest of it suffers in fever and sleeplessness.” The concerns of the Muslims are many in our times. My grandfather’s passing is a single death that pales in comparison to the hundreds and thousands that have passed in Syria and elsewhere in the Muslim world in recent years. But it is important that we give our great scholars and leaders their due to the extent that we can.

It was with great sadness that our family learnt that my grandfather had died in prison. His condition had become critical weeks ago, but the government, which had imprisoned him for his political views, showed no clemency despite repeated calls from international leaders and institutions that he be released on compassionate grounds. He breathed his last at 10:10 pm on Thursday night (i.e. the night of Jum‘a) on the eve of the Islamic New Year, in the presence of only a handful of his family members.

Yet, my grandfather had expressed his desire for martyrdom in an interview he gave shortly before his arrest in January 2012. He was not wanting in experience—he had spent many years of his career as a political prisoner. In the end, it seems that Allah blessed him by granting him what he wished for, even if his family would have liked him to be at home in their care.

My grandfather left many written works, most of them in Bengali, including many short works that were oriented towards the everyday needs of Muslims in their worship and their religious activism. But perhaps more importantly, he touched the hearts of millions in Bangladesh and around the world as someone who drew them closer to Allah, and instilled in them a desire to realize a society in which the word of Allah would be the most high.

May Allah accept him as a martyr in his path, forgive him all his shortcomings, and enter him into paradise without reckoning.

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19 Comments

saeed khan

October 31, 2014 at 6:50 AM

“May Allah accept him as a martyr in his path, forgive him all his shortcomings, and enter him into paradise without reckoning.” Ameen

Reply
Shawon Muhammad Shahriar

October 31, 2014 at 6:51 AM

A little clarification. In Bangladesh, a Qadhi refers to a marriage registrar, and not a judge.

Reply
- Nahian
  
  November 7, 2014 at 5:51 AM
  
  For your kind information, the very meaning of the word Qadhi is the one who decrees a verdict. So the meaning of it is ‘judge’ all the same. You also have to consider the fact that the author is going back to the past, and back in the day Qadhi meant judge and not a marriage counselor.
  
  My ancestors are Qadhis as well.
  
  Reply
  - Nahian
    
    November 7, 2014 at 5:55 AM
    
    For your kind information, the very meaning of the word Qadhi is the one who decrees a verdict. So the meaning of it is ‘judge’ all the same. You also have to consider the fact that the author is going back to the past, and back in the day Qadhi meant judge and not a marriage counselor.
    
    My ancestors were Qadhis as well.
    
    Reply
  - Shawon Muhammad Shahriar
    
    November 7, 2014 at 6:11 AM
    
    FYI: http://ghulamazam.net/about/biography/family-history/
    
    I am quoting from the above link: “His father was an Islamic and modern man. He was the teacher of a high school and also the marriage registrar (Kazi) of Dhaka city.”
    
    Since the British colonial era, there has been no Qadhi, in the sense of a judge, in British India. From then onwards, a Qadhi refers to a marriage and divorce registrar in this region of the world.
    
    Reply
Mohammed

October 31, 2014 at 8:06 AM

Aameen, Thumma Aameen

Reply
Arif Kabir

October 31, 2014 at 10:38 AM

Inna lillahi wa inna ilayhi raajioon. He was an extremely influential man, a man who even changed my own family members to become devoted to Islam. May Allah give him Jannatul Firdaus al-Alaa, ameen.

Reply
Razan

October 31, 2014 at 11:09 AM

Ameen to all the duas above, and thank you for sharing. I also have strong memories of my grandfather, who is now aging, and it really touches my heart to read about someone else who reminds me of him so.

Reply
Abu Mujtahid

November 1, 2014 at 3:22 AM

Prof. Ghulam Azam is not merely a person, he is indeed an institution, a vision, a legacy, a movement for truth, justice and Allah’s deen to prevail, and is now a proud history for the ummah…

Reply
Shahjahan

November 4, 2014 at 7:31 PM

We know, a war is going on in middle east. Say, if someone tell a party accused of shedding bloods of women and children that- “I do not support your killing of women and children. But I am with you and I am organizing people for your cause.” Then how does this look like? The same thing happened to Jamaat leaders in 1971 war. Prof. Ghulam Azam organized people for helping brutal Pakistani army. That is why he was convicted.

Reply
Aminul Islam

November 6, 2014 at 10:24 AM

What’s sad is that a great wali of Allah has been systematically defamed by the propoganda machine of anti-Islamic people in Bangladesh, and now average people uncritically backbite him with such vile statements as the one you’ve made above. Why don’t you go and read the farcical document that was published by the kangaroo court that ‘convicted’ him of alleged crimes. (http://www.dhakatribune.com/sites/default/files/ICT%20BD%20Case%20NO.%2006%20of%202011%20_Delivery%20of%20Judgment__final_.pdf) They literally say, we don’t have evidence to say that he committed any crime himself, but we hold him responsible for the acts of the Pakistan army because he supported a united Pakistan.

You should fear Allah before making accusations that even his worst enemies did not dare make in court because they were complete lies. You should go and read he verse on backbiting in the Qur’an (49:12), and repent to Allah.

Reply
bint ameen

November 7, 2014 at 12:46 AM

i haven’t read the great tribute paid to your grandfather by you and i don’t intend to read it. all i know is that he had committed great crimes against humanity against the bangalees in 1971. he is hated by most bangalees who have seen the atrocities committed by the pakistanis during our war of liberation. i’m sure you know nothing about it. please do your research and find out what happened then. trust me….we were affected!

Reply
Shahtab Mahmud

November 7, 2014 at 5:01 AM

Since you speak about his role during the liberation war of Bangladesh, it is your duty clarify what he actually did at that time. you should not superficially state his decision in in principle and think that you have done enough.

Bangladesh is home to 150 million muslims. the highest vote your grandfather and his party ever received is no more than 20%, and Islam, anywhere, needs no other saviour than Allah himself.

If you have not heard the story, your grandfather was beaten with shoes the first time he stepped in Baitul Maquarram. This is how popular he was, and how the people of Bangladesh felt about him.

The legitimacy of the Tribunal that has declared him guilty, or the motive that government had while prosecuting him, will not change the FACT that HE WAS A SUPPORTER AND AN ACTIVIST FOR THE ATROCITIES THAT HAVE HAPPENED AGAINST OUR COUNTRYMEN. People were killed, tortured, raped, displaced.

As the ‘leader’ of Jamaat, he IS responsible.

May Allah give him his just deserve, no more, no less.

Reply
- Tosikul Alam
  
  November 11, 2014 at 1:33 PM
  
  Even I’m too young. I’m doubtful. What we got from independence. There’s injustice, corruption, violence, poverty everywhere. And it is hard to practice your religion properly.
  
  Reply
Abdul Basit

November 10, 2014 at 2:20 PM

Gulam Azam is a war criminal. He used religion to cover his heinous acts. Bangalis will never forget that.

Reply
Tosikul Alam

November 11, 2014 at 1:25 PM

We can’t believe everything what we see in Television and what we read in newspapers. I don’t know much about him. Mostly because I don’t believe what is propagated by media about him. But as a fellow muslim I must ask Allah for the good of other muslim. May Allah reward him for his good deeds and forgive his sins. Ameen

Reply
Mohammad Fawad Hassan

October 25, 2015 at 10:30 AM

Golam first fled to Pakistan and organised a
“East Pakistan Recovery Week”. As information
about his participation in the killing of
civilians came to light “a strong groundswell
of resentment against” East Pakistan JI
leadership developed and Golam and Maulan
Abdur Rahim were sent to Saudi Arabia. In
Saudi, Azam and some of his followers
successfully appealed for donations to “defend
Islam” in Bangladesh, asserting that the Hindu
minority there were “killing Muslims and
burning their homes.” [32]
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bangladesh_Jamaat-e-Islami
That was his view about Bangladesh!!!!

Reply
Mohammad Fawad Hassan

October 25, 2015 at 10:42 AM

Although its something which I saw on net,on media he is always.a villain.But no matter what may Allah show us the truth and forgive Mr.Azam

Reply
Kaukab Siddique

March 5, 2023 at 3:47 PM

Asalamu alaikum
Prof Ghulam Azam wrote to me in 1974.
He was a great Muslim and i want to quote about him from your article.

Reply