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(Holcombe, Bury, England, U.K.)
CONTENTS
Sale-Deed Permission From the Council
The Inclination of Hazrat Sheikh
The Prophet of Allah's Affectionate Glance at the Darul-Uloom
Darul Uoom, the very first institute of its kind in Europe was opened by the great Sheikh Yusuf Motala sahib, through the auspicious duas and spiritual attention of Sheikhul Hadith Hazrat Sheikh Zakariyya sahib. This institute caters for 350 students from the age of 13 to 25 from various towns and cities of Europe, North America, Middle East, Asia and Africa.
Alhamdulillah, many hundreds of Ulama, Qur'aa and Huffaz have graduated from this institute. We make dua that may the good service for Islam carried out by Darul Uloom be maintained till the Day of Judgement.
The following is an account of Darul Uloom, Bury, which
many people thought was far from possible to establish in this country
at that time and the effort and struggles that Maulana Yusuf sahib went
through to set its foundation.
Until now all the work was verbal. When the practical stage came, then it had become a great predicament, to collect and pay such a large price. At that present time we only had a sum amounting to five and a half thousand pounds, which had been collected to purchase the dentistry building. Therefore, we had to raise a total sum of over one hundred thousand. In a period of five years this was the first place that had aroused our interest and upon which our sights were set upon. All the friends and well wishers were being consulted, schemes were being thought of too but it was one strange mind struggle which was not going to be released.
On this side the owners of the property were demanding a reply of yes or no repeatedly. In the end when they became fed up, they began to press us. In the process, they fixed a definite date so that whomsoever would be willing to buy the building, then they would negotiate with them. In the end we decided to write to Hazrat Sheikh for an opinion, and explained in detail the conditions we were faced with and left the final decision with him. In this category whatever Hazrat decided to do, we would verily act upon it.
Therefore, before the settled date, no reply from Hazrat was received. We interrupted Hazrat that; shall we purchase the hospital or not? May Allah forgive us for interrupting Hazrat when he was staying in Madinah Munawwarah peacefully and reward Hazrat excessively for the affection which is in the two worlds. Ameen.
By sending a telegram, Hazrat gave a clear answer that, 'Buy the hospital'. One after the other in May 1973 Hazrat wrote more than seven letters in which he pointed and emphasized that definitely purchase it. So therefore, before our interrupted telegram the reply of our letter in a letter dated 7th May 1973 was written, 'You have written incoherently about Darul Uloom. May Allah Ta'ala make available the best place. The hospital that you have written about, clearly seems to be appropriate but the sum is a great deal according to our people in my wisdom. But according to Londoners it is not a great deal, as you yourself have mentioned that the price of the property is very cheap. As it is appropriate and also cheap then with the name of Allah make a deal. But don't ever set your eyes (in reliance) on the Americans and Africans. You yourself and your companions should ask abundantly from the Master at night, may He with His mercy and generosity endow this worthless human to have trust and confidence in Him the Creator and give us the ability of asking from Him. There is no objection in sending Maulana Abdul Haq or someone else to Africa to collect donations but in your heart you have to ask from Allah. All these visible means which are in the likeness of construction, materials, workers bricks and mortar are all necessary as external means.
But in reality they are all based upon money. Likewise asking for donations is in the grade of brickwork. This worthless person prays excessively in his heart that Allah Ta'ala as quick as possible completes Darul Uloom in the best way according to your wishes. In a letter dated 13th May 1973 Hazrat wrote, 'Two of your affectionate letters have been received where in the first letter your wife's illness was written in detail and in the second letter advice was required for the purchasing of Darul Uloom. Not to keep you waiting, I had written an air-mail letter in reply with a lot of difficulty on May 7th 1973. In which I asked you profusely to write about the health of your wife. In the letter I also wrote about the purchasing of the hospital that the real consultation is with your local friends who are familiar with the circumstances and conditions.
Taking the circumstances you have written about, into consideration, my opinion is that definitely it be purchased. At that very time on May 12th at 4 o'clock in the morning, Arabian time, your telegram was received. In it was written that can we purchase a hospital for Darul Uloom and please reply quickly. I gave an answer to that, by telegram, 'Definitely purchase it'. I hope you have received it.
Further on Hazrat writes: Sister Shameem reported a complaint to me, which was being directed at your Madrasah. She added that a group from London who had come on the occasion of Hajj also expressed much dissatisfaction with a certain matter relating to the Madrasah. I told her that as I have already explained in the booklet 'answers to objections raised against Tablighi Jama'aat'. I pay little attention to complaints that are unspecified and unclear. It is more worth my while if the names of the lamenters are supplied to me so that I can judge whether their dissatisfaction is genuine and they are sincere in their intentions or whether it is simply a matter of personal interests and ill feeling. If names of complaint are not readily available I must at least be informed of the details of their complaints so I can discern the truth of the matter and refer to Maulana Yusuf for an explanation. Simply stating that some people in England are dissatisfied is not worthy of attention. The residents of Saharanpur have many complaints against Mazahir-Uloom. Likewise the residents of Deoband are at odds with their local Darul Uloom. So unlettered are they, that daily pamphlets are prepared criticizing the Madrasah. As regards to Tablighi Jama'aat, the opposition against it has been so strong amongst certain sections of the public that I felt the need to produce a whole booklet defending it.
Although much of the criticism brought to my attention regarding your Madrasah is far too general in context, there have been objections raised against the name chosen for it. Those of Bidati inclination and other sections will fully exploit chances of bad publicity and the name Darul Uloom Khaliliya Rashidiya will provide them greater opportunities to spread resentment.
This fear was also expressed to me by someone about a
year ago. I advised you then and it is still my opinion that you change
the name of the Madrasah. It is no controversy in renaming it Darul Uloom
Al-Arabiyah Al-Islamiya which seems a suitable name or for that matter
any name that does not stir allegations or create the impression that a
new sect has been formed.
In short after receiving a clear reply from Hazrat, without any hesitation, we completed the transaction with them and paid the eleven thousand pounds deposit. Then we sent an application to the local authorities for permission to use the building as a Darul Uloom instead of a hospital. The local authorities were not able to pass this request therefore it was forwarded to the district council who took a period of one and a half years to reach a decision.
During this period we had the opportunity to collect donations
but as it was not to our expectations we were served with court orders
by the owners to pay double the amount and we were told that the land would
be auctioned off if necessary.
Top
The difficulties and hardships we faced during this time cannot be put into words. Not only was the large amount of money collected by travelling thousands of miles, in which there was a danger of it going to waste, it would also have been a stigma upon a group of elders and scholars with whom we are connected.
During that period Hazrat Sheikh expressed this situation, in a letter to a revered person, with these words, "I am very troubled for this Darul Uloom. The snake has got the mole in its jaws, it does not spit it out nor does it swallow it."
In short outwardly we kept asking friends for loans while
in reality we were supplicating to Allah. I had also read in a book written
by a pious man that one should say, "Oh my Lord. I had a good impression
about You. I did not hold the opinion that You would disgrace me." Therefore
he fulfilled that promise which He had made through his Messenger Sallallahu
Alaihe Wasallam: "I treat My servants according to the impression he
holds about Me." Allah's help appeared in the form of loans from friends.
The second time we were warned by the court that if the money was not paid
then they would auction the premises. We paid forty thousand pounds within
three days.
THE INCLINATION OF HAZRAT SHEIKH, AND PIOUS SAINTS OF PAST AND PRESENT, TOWARDS DARUL-ULOOM.
In such circumstances we troubled our respected saints more than ourselves. We would always write about the difficulties to my teacher and spiritual leader Hazrat Sheikh. Sometimes Hadhrat would reply, "I am always thinking about your Darul Uloom. I don't know what state it is in, I don't know whether the installments have been paid or not, may Allah Almighty assist you." Sometimes he would write, "Whether you believe it or not I am more worried about your Darul Uloom than you are. When you arrive there, inform me of Darul Uloom's situation in full detail without any hesitation." Likewise Hazrat wrote, "Anyway, now apart from praying and telling others to pray I don't know what to do. I am always busy praying for your success in both the worlds, for your righteous departure and for your Darul Uloom."
May Allah the Almighty bless Hazrat and keep him amongst
us for a long time and may He enable us to understand Hazrat's true worth.
Ameen. (N.B. Hazrat passed away in 1982. Thus, we now pray that Allah the
Almighty enlighten his grave and raise his rank among those close, to Him).
In fact because of Hazrat Sheikh's Dua's, his inclination and his intercession that the Holy Prophet's Sallallahu Alaihe Wasallam's eminent prayers and affection became the cause of our salvation.
During that period I saw my respected brother Moulana
Abdur-Rahim in a dream. He came and gifted me with two ancient coins and
said, "These are from the Holy Prophet Muhammad Sallallahu Alaihe
Wasallam and he has told me to put them in Darul Uloom's
treasury."
Likewise the day we received the summons from the court and the warning about the auction that night I could not sleep at all but whenever I closed my eyes I saw my deceased father. Who was a very God fearing and law abiding, but later in his life became so severely absorbed in mysticism that he deserted the world and stayed in solitude for sixteen years during which he never set foot outside the house. Seeing my father in the dream I wept unrestrained and started to complain to him, "You have deserted the world and now to whom shall we express our sorrows and difficulties."
My father replied, "A human should only burden himself with the load he can carry."
In reality these spiritual enlightenments were the foundation for Darul Uloom because sinful and hopeless people like us were obstacles in the way of blessings being bestowed upon Darul Uloom. Otherwise if a God fearing sincere person had been in our place then these spiritual enlightenments would have elevated it to the pinnacle of success. May Allah make us capable to render services to Darul Uloom. Ameen.
In short these circumstances were a test. Whoever was decreed to assist he did so by Dua (praying) and being anxious by cajoling the people and by helping us. He earned rewards of the true extent of which will become apparent on the Day of Judgement when he will see it amongst his deeds. The situation was then so desperate that if our state had not remained hidden then the enemies would have rejoiced and we would become the source of defamation for the Ulemas and the elders. Allah alone helped to save us from this.
In the end the Elders prayers bore fruit and on the 12th of January 1976 the philanthropists deposited £40,662.40 into the Darul Uloom account which had been agreed upon many months before. This way these difficulties came to an end.
May Allah never return those troubled times upon Darul Uloom again and may He always keep Darul Uloom progressing.
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