A Faizur Rahman: A Reformist amongst Controversialists.

By Shafee Ahmed Ko

I often introduce a person, a wonderful being of nature, whose moods and thoughts ebb and flow with the current of his creativity in writing and delivering speeches, especially when it comes to subjects related to religious harmony, and tolerance.

His excursion of thoughts with a satisfying journey of artistic expression is his own,and nothing but a gift of nature, just as an artist plays with hues and brushes.

Read on to know more about this insightful writer and social activist.

A.Faizur Rahman is a practicing civil engineer with more than eighteen years of experience. He owns “HAUTE HOMES”, a company, which apart from specializing in turnkey contracts, constructs promotes residential apartments in Chennai. Also, he is a well-known peace activist and a scholar of comparative religion.

EDUCATION

He holds a Bachelor of Engineering degree in Civil Engineering from the Gulbarga University, Karnataka.

ACTIVITIES

He expresses his views through articles on gender and religio-political issues in various mainstream and renowned dailies such as The Hindu, The Hindustan Times,The Indian Express, The New Indian Express, Daily Times (Pakistan) and as well in Muslim dailies, magazines and portals such as The Milli Gazette, The Islamic Voice, and Twocircles.net.

Some of his articles like, “Making Sense of Sarkozy’s Veil Threat”, "Why Hedonistic Polygyny is against Islam” and “Sorry, Wife-beating is UnIslamic” that were published in The Hindu generated a hot debate in Muslim circles with many Muslim women voicing their vibrant support for his progressive analysis of Islam.

 His efforts to wipe out gender-bias among the Muslims are tireless, and sincere.

His article on the Ayodhya issue, published in The Indian Express (Mumbai) titled The Big Saffron Roadblock was on the list of “The Most Viewed Opinions” for several days on the Yahoo News website. Most recently, he wrote two articles in Daily Times (Pakistan) titled "Is blasphemy a capital crime in Islam?"and

Understanding David Cameron’s Munich speech which may be accessed on the Internet.

He is one of the most sought after erudite speakers at various forums on Islam, and other religions. In June 2008, a prominent Catholic Church (St. Louis Church) in Chennai, invited him to speak on Islam which was reported prominently in the English media.

In January 2009, the Stella Maris College invited him to address its students on Islam. In June 2010 ActionAid India invited Faizur Rahman to talk on the socio-economic conditions of Indian Muslims. On all such occasions Faiz highlighted the relevance of Islam in society today.

In February 2010, the Vermont (USA) based SIT Graduate Institute invited Faizur Rahman to Katmandu through the US Embassy for a 10-day “Peace building and Conflict Resolution” program. In September the same year, Srimathi Sundaravalli Memorial School, Chennai, managed by a Hindu Trust, invited Faizur Rahman to delever a talk on the significance of Ramazan. While he spoke on Islam, the management, teaching staff and students as well, were the spell bound. They expressed their intention to learn the facts and reality of Islam.

In October 2010 Faizur Rahman addressed the Rajaji Centre for Public Affairs on the

topic Ayodhya: What Next?

Faizur Rahman leads life as a humble reformist amongst strong controversialists. Be it religion, politics or current affairs, he believes in truth and nothing but truth.

His fluent references against dogmas and extremist doctrines make one to understand easily how to differentiate darkness from light. But he always stands modest, but strictly off from heresy. He is loved by every one, both young and old and commands respect from different communities just as among the members of his own community.

Memberships:

He is the Founder Secretary General of “FORUM FOR THE PROMOTION OF MODERATE THOUGHT AMONG MUSLIMS” which intellectually counters all forms of religious extremism among Muslims. Faizur Rahaman is also an executive committee member of HARMONY INDIA an organisation (headed by Mr. N. Ram, the Editor-in-Chief of The Hindu ) that promotes secularism and communal harmony. He is a Life member, Anjuman-e-Himayath-e-Islam, an orphanage and co-author Living in Harmony a course on value education published by the Oxford University Press.

As a sensible man Faizur Rahman finds sufficient good company, and it’s the company that is the most benefited.