Thursday, March 22, 2012

Centenary Celebrations of Physics Department - 4

Professor M. Zillur Rahman Khan Sahab, while speaking in the Alumni meet of the Physics Department on Wednesday March 21, 2012, said that Wasi Haider Sahab I shall leave the incident narrated by Shaikh Sa'adi to you.

This was a relaxation for the those in the audience who knew Professor Khan - if you are caught by him then hour or hours or even you day might get consumed. And it was already past 6PM for all of the people who have been in the celebrations since 10AM and even earlier - if you were helping the organization in any capacity.

In the next sentence Dr Khan said that Wasi Sahab since it will be difficult for you to recount it I am thinking that I should do it myself. Since Professor Khan is by now slightly hard of hearing Professor Wasi Haider got up to tell him to indeed go ahead with his narration. In fact in this episode latter had to make several visits to the podium and everyone was enjoying the specter made of the current Chairman of Physics Department by his very beloved teacher. Everyone was enjoying to the hilt - the actors and the audience. The audience included a large number of students - they never had such a great time in their life and nor did the faculty, for that matter.

Thus continued the old sage of Quantum Mechanics at Aligarh - Professor Zillur Rahman Khan. He said that this incident has been described by Shaikh Sa'adi in his Gulstan - I (Professor Khan) have read it myself. Once upon a time their was great scholar of Islam and he was famous for his debates. He was once challenged by (or challenged) a heretic. So the debate was organized with all the fanfare. And the scholar of Islam lost in first five minutes.

People asked the scholar as to what happened. He said that I gave my proof of certain things from the Traditions (Hadiths) of beloved Prophet(PBUH) and he said that he does not believe in the Traditions. Then I gave my arguments from the Noble Qur'an and he said that he does not believe in the Noble Qur'an either. And the debate was lost.

"So Wasi Haider Sahab", continued Professor Khan, "in my opinion both points of view should be present in any society. The debater, the Islamic scholar, should have known the opposite point of view also in order to face the situation."

Basically Professor Khan emphasized the same point of view that opposing points of view should be present simultaneously in a society.

And since some people might miss the purport it should be added that Professor Wasi Haider is a communist while Professor M.Z.R. Khan, though not a Islamist by any stretch of imagination, will be classified as representing Muslim point of view.

Professor Khan spoke on other aspects also but that we shall look at in other posts, Lord Willing.