By TwoCircles.net news desk,
Mumbai: A convocation ceremony of Markazul Ma’arif Educational & Research Centre (MMERC) was held on 25th August in Mumbai wherein speakers appreciated the Diploma in English Language and Literature (DELL) course run by MMERC.
Audience during MMERC Convocation 2008
Speaking on this occasion most of the speakers said: ‘Ulema are the real spirit of the Muslim Ummah, they have deep knowledge of Islam and they can only lead the Muslim community to the eternal success.’
Addressing the function Maulana Mahmood Ahmad Khan Daryabadi, general secretary, All India Ulama Council, said that it was a great pleasure to attend that convocation for the first time where Islamization of English language was being done. Our Ulama never opposed English as a language. What they did was opposition of the English culture and their system of education which still we do. “I find this institution (MMERC) more than what I have heard and expected,” he added.
Maulana Mustaqim Ahasan Azmi, secretary of Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind (Maharashtra) urged the audience and said that the mission of MMERC is a movement that needs to be propagated across the country.
Addressing the graduates who have completed two year Diploma in English Language and Literature (DELL) under MMERC this year, Professor Zakir Ilahi said, “Wherever you go, a sincere service to the society and community must be your first priority, you are first an Alim and then anything else, you bear a heavy responsibility towards the nation”.
Maulana Mohammad Afzal Qasmi, an MMERC alumnus who now teaches English in a college in the UK and Islamic subjects in a madrasa in Blackburn, elaborated his journey from a small village in Bihar to MMERC, to Darul Uloom Deoband and to United Kingdom as a language teacher. He said, “All credits of my success go to none other than Markazul Ma’arif and its founder Maulana Badruddin Ajmal Al-Qasmi”. “I am a son of poor parents from Bihar and an ordinary graduate of madrasa. By the grace of Allah, I succeeded to a level in Deen and Dunya only after being connected with MMERC,” Afzal added.
Marking the farewell speech to the out going MMERC graduates Maulana Burhanuddin Qasmi, MMERC Director, advised the students to focus on the mission of MMERC to serve for Deen — peaceful propagation of Islam and helping those in need — must be the sole purpose of their lives. MB Qasmi also thanked Maulana Badruddin Ajmal Al-Qasmi and his companions who apprehended the enormity of the situation and started this movement in 1994, later followed by others, which resulted in the opening of at least a dozen of other institutions in different part of the country.
M. Burhanuddin Qasmi, Director MMERC, Mumbai is addressing the audience
Speakers were highly appreciative for the efforts of MMERC in the field of journalism. They applauded regular publication of articles and views from MMERC teachers and students in the mainstream national English and Urdu newspapers. “Gradual progress of Eastern Crescent, English monthly published from the house of MMERC, both in quality and content is a good omen for the Indian Muslims,” speakers asserted. Eastern Crescent, campaigns to be an alternative media and people’s choice began publishing in May 2006.
Many students presented cultural programmes and participated in speeches.
Students were rewarded with 17 precious prizes for their best performances in various fields. Twenty two students who completed two year diploma in English language & literature (DELL) were honoured with certificates this year.