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Dr. Asghar Ali Engineer’s
autobiography A Living
Faith: My Quest for Peace, Harmony and Social Change
was released in
New Delhi on 20th July 2011 by Vice President
of India Shri Hamid Ansari. Shri Hamid Ansari praised
Dr.
 Engineer’s
courage and his struggle against priesthood in his own
community. He likened him to Espinoza (16th
century rationalist philosopher from Holland) and
described him as modern day Espinoza. Espinoza, Hamid
Ansari Saheb said, was also excommunicated because he
fought against orthodoxy in his own religion and Dr.
Engineer also has been excommunicated by priesthood of
his own community. He also said autobiographies are of
two types one in which the author projects his larger
than life image and praises his achievements very high.
The other type depicts mental and spiritual development.
Dr. Engineer’s autobiography is of second type. It is
written in simple language and is of quite interesting
to read. I recommend each one of you must read it.
Dr. Engineer spoke briefly about
his belief, about his struggle and about his
experiences. He said the essence of religion is in
values and not in rituals, any one can perform rituals
and project herself/himself as religious. But to
practice values
 one
has to make sacrifices, has to be truthful, has to be
honest, has to be just and compassionate. He said there
are five fundamental values in Quran i.e. Truth (Haq),
Justice (Adl), doing good to others (Ihsan)
compassion (Rahmah) and wisdom (Hikmah).
These are Allah’s names also. Other religions also share
these values. Dr. Engineer also said that it is my firm
belief that power should be separated from religion and
power corrupts religion, the two should never come
together.
After release of the book by Vice
President there was a Panel discussion by 4 eminent
personalities of Delhi. Panel discussion was chaired by
Prof. Akhtarul Wasey (Director, Zakir Hussain Institute
of Islamic Studies - Jamia Millia Islamia). He said it
is great honour for all of us that Dr. Asghar Ali
Engineer is with us today. Dr. Engineer is a prestigious
man and this evening is great for all of us due to his
 presence.
I have known Dr. Asghar Ali Engineer for quite sometime.
He is great Islamic scholar and his understanding and
interpretation of Islam has influenced many Muslims and
non-Muslims. We all have four very eminent panelists to
discuss Dr. Asghar Ali Engineers’ autobiography and
these panelists are Justice Rajinder Sachar (Retired
Chief Justice of Delhi High court and Sachar Commission
fame) Dr.Sayeeda Hameed (Member, Planning Commission of
India), Prof. Mushirul Hasan (Director General of
Archives and former Vice Chancellor of Jamia Millia
Islamia [Central University]) and well-known social
activist and Arya Samaj leader Swami Agnivesh.
On inaugurating the panel
discussion Dr.Syeda Hameed said I have known Asgharbhai
for many years. I have learnt much from his knowledge of
Qur’anic rights of Muslim women. I have written a book
on Maulana Azad and studied his
 writings
closely. I find close parallel between the Maulana and
Asgharbhai. Both have written profusely on Islam and
both have struggled for higher causes. Both are
committed to women’s rights. She also recited a verse
from Iqbal which depict Dr. Engineer as leader of future
vision.
Next Prof. Mushirul Hasan spoke and
said I am great admirer of Asghar and the causes he has
fought for and I have written this in my forward to his
autobiography. I will not always agree with him but I
have no doubt about sincere commitment with which he has
fought for communal harmony in the country and social
reforms in his own community and all these without
expectation of any reward. His struggle has inspired
many not only in India but also in the world.
He has widely travelled for
lectures, seminars, conferences. There is hardly any
country which he has not visited. I wrote an article on
him and the causes he fights for, on his 60th
birth day in Indian Express. As a historian I know many
social reformers who had some or the other fault but I
do not find any fault in Asgharbhai’s life. His life is
an open book.
 Justice
Sachar, said in his remarks that Dr. Asghar Ali Engineer
has always stood by human rights of the oppressed. He
always stood by truth in the face of power which needs
extra-ordinary courage. He is one of the founders of
PUCL (Peoples Union of Civil Liberty) and he became Vice
President of PUCL in its Jaipur session in early
nineties which he also inaugurated. His struggle for
reform in his own community is very significant for
modern secular India. When reformists were persecuted
and excommunicated The Citizen for Democracy, then
headed by Jaiprakash Narayan, appointed an inquiry
commission which came to be known as Nathwani Commission
which also had to face lot of odds in functioning and
investigating truth of violation of human rights of
reformist Bohras. Asghar Ali Engineer was in the
forefront of that struggle too. We salute his courage
and strong urge for social change.
Next Swami Agnivesh spoke and said
normally I cannot read a book beyond 15 to 20 pages, but
Asghar Ali Engineer’s autobiography, written in simple
and fluent English runs like a story and I read almost
whole book before coming here. Engineer Saheb is
well-known for his scholarship and for his struggle not
only in India but throughout the world. I have had
pleasure of knowing him since long and we have travelled
to many countries for seminars and conferences. Once we
were in Philippines in a Pacific Island and while
returning he fell sick in the boat. I brought him back
to Manila where he recovered. From his biography I
discovered
 I
am younger to him by 6 months, so he is like elder
brother to me, and we have been together in many
struggles. He invited me to Udaipur for protest march
against Bohra High Priest and I invited him to join us
when we marched for communal harmony from Delhi to
Meerut. So we have struggled together for common causes
and we will continue to do so.
Asghar Ali Engineer concluded the
Panel discussion by speaking about certain incidents in
his life which are included in this autobiography. He
said many people ask me why do I continue to struggle
when you do not seem to be succeeding. My reply is what
is the criteria of success? If the criteria is achieving
the goal it is beginning of failure. Real measure of
success is continuing one’s struggle in the face of
great odds and failures. It requires courage of
conviction and strong inner urge to bring about social
change. With these words discussion concluded and
audience gave standing ovation to Dr. Engineer. Among
audience were distinguished intellectuals, writers,
bureaucrats and activists about hundred of them. There
were also 28 American professors from across America who
had invited Dr. Engineer for lecture on Indian Islam.
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