straight talk 238
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7/21/2019 Straight Talk 238
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/straight-talk-238 1/2
MAR / 13 - 19 / 2015
36 STRAIGHT TALK
You were born in Tanzania - how was life growing up?
The most inspiring thing back then was waking up each
morning and gazing at the splendor that is the snow-
capped Mt Kilimanjaro. Growing up in Moshi, life was
simple, unrushed and above all, felt so reassuring. To-day, almost 60 years on, those friendships stay on. How-
ever, some people have also migrated across the world.
A preview of your CV reveals in 1976, you were appoint-
ed the Secretary General of the World Federaon, being
viewed as the protégé to the late Mulla Asgharali Jaf-
fer. What qualies do you feel you inherited from him or
share with him?
As a renowned leader, the late Mulla Asghar had two ex-
ceponal qualies; passion to serve humanity and never
being afraid to think out of the box. The second quality
of not always accepng the status quo did not endear
him with many, as he moved them out of their comfort
zones. This is what made him so interesng to work with
and made me realise one must always strive to be
innovave in addressing challenges of the day.
Dr Walji, notable impressions you have le thus far –
among many others – are the Mulla Asghar Memorial
Library and Resource Centre and the Instute of Islamic
Learning in the Metropolix in Toronto and Dallas respec-
vely. How important is it to preserve history, faith and
culture?
History, culture and faith values make us what we are as
individuals as much as the sociees we belong to. It givesus a sense of belonging. It is all the more important, as
the world has become a global village, to retain our cul-
tural idenes. I would rather see the world as a ‘salad
bowl’ than a ‘melng pot.’ Each culture has something
dierent to oer, just as a salad bowl presents a variety
of nutrious foods, each with a unique taste, colour and
quality. A great example is the East African Asian com-
munity. We are a unique blend of ethnicies and faiths,
and have lived together peacefully for over a century-
and-a-half, yet retained our individual idenes.
Geng straight into it; having various scholarly cerca-
ons, how did you make the switch from a nutrionist to
a producer?
Actually, my track began as a writer and a journalist; this
brought me to the eld of complementary medicine andnutrion. As an educator in the eld of nutrion, I re-
alised the power of a visual medium, thus began produc-
ing short videos. I was always fascinated by the accounts
of the migraon of our elders form India, such as Alidina
Visram amongst others, to the shores of Eastern Africa.
I began exploring the idea of producing a fully-edged
documentary to capture the narrave, thus, producing
a lm on that.
On that note, tell us more about the documentary, ‘The
Khojas: The Journey of Faith.’It is a two-hour documentary that I was able to direct
and produce, as I aempted to highlight the evoluon
of the Khoja community over the past 650 years – that,
along with the emergence of the Khoja Shia Ithna-Asheri
community during the last 150 years. In common with
the many Indian migrants, this documentary portrays
how a small community of such migrants to Africa with
meager means scaered in dierent locaons all over
eastern Africa were able to organise themselves as
structured communies. By the pooling of energies and
resources, they have been able to prosper to the place
they are today.
We have had premieres in USA, Canada, India, Pakistan
and East Africa. I must acknowledge that the screening in
Nairobi was extremely inspiring and humbling. Amongst
the mixed audience were civic, religious and businessleaders represenng a cross-secon of the Nairobi so-
ciety. I heard many a comment praising its inclusivity as
well as mirroring the path of other communies too.
Those are heart-warming comments, music to every pro-
ducer’s ears…
They were very encouraging. It provides me with the
opmism to embark on the second documentary that
chronicles the journey and development of the Asian
community of East Africa in close collaboraon with the
Asian African Heritage Trust (AAHT).
And we wish you well on that. Dr Walji, what was
amongst the most memorable moments you experi -
enced as you lmed this producon?
Having shot the lm in to diverse locaons across fourconnents, I must acknowledge the incredible warmth
I received. Elders were so forthcoming and excited that
their story was being told. At the same me, the impact
on the young ones who watched this narrave has been
phenomenal. To answer your queson, I recall a touch-
ing comment where a young man said, “As I watched you
saunter towards me barefoot on the beach while speak-
ing to me in your signature relaxed, yet thoughul tone,
the profound nature of your lm began to sink in. As I
watched the damp sand erupt out of the gap between
your rst and second toes, I began to understand who
we were and truly appreciate how we got to where we
are. More importantly I began to understand who I am.
I felt a profound connecon with my forefathers and
the need to connue their legacy going forward.” I feel
blessed to have been able to bridge that gap betweengeneraons.
Dr Walji, your work goes beyond just the documentary.
You have authored 26 books on naturopathic medicine
He is an accomplished educator, historian,
author, leader and scienst in the eld of nu-
trion. The highly educated gentleman who
is a humble, relatable and character friendly
was recently in the country to launch his
documentary, ‘The Khojas: The Journey of
Faith.’ Aer his visit, we caught up with the
erudite individual, an author of 26 books, on
maers pertaining to the documentary, his
collecon of medicinal books as well as faith
agenda. And not shying away from contro-
versy, Dr Walji takes maers by the scrus as
he addresses several issues with authority.
Over to the revered scholar:
By Hussein Jiva
THROUGH THE EYES OF
7/21/2019 Straight Talk 238
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/straight-talk-238 2/2
MAR / 13 - 19 / 2015
37STRAIGHT TALK
We are dragged into the pracce of those
who preach the gospel of ‘my truth is beer
than yours.’ This is the core issue that has
befallen our sociees, where anyone who
thinks dierently to what I have been led
to believe is ‘Islam,’ is on a wrong path to
be consigned to hell. In some cases, it could
even culminate to death, totally forgeng
how merciful and just Allah (SWT) is.
While on that topic and eager to further pick
your brain; what do you make of the asco
with French magazine, Charlie Hebdo’s sari -
cal cartoons on Prophet Muhammad (PBUH).
Being a journalist, what do you think of freedom
of speech versus Islamic r ights being violated? The killing of another human being is unequivocally
condemned and nothing can jusfy the act of violence
perpetrated on the sta of Charlie Hebdo. Having
said that, freedom of speech also has its limitaons,
just as walking through the street in the nude does.
There are societal norms and sensivies for main-
taining harmony in civil society. More so when we
deal with revered gures like the Prophet Muham-
mad (PBUH) or Jesus. As Muslims, we have an ab -
solute right to protest and show our displeasure -
without reverng to violence. At the same me, we
too must not have double standards either –when
other revered religious gures are being similarly
portrayed, we must not remain silent as we tend
to do.
Well said. Looking inwards, there are many an inter -
nal conict between various sects of Islam. How can
this be resolved?
Yes, there are sectarian dierences as to how we con-
duct our rituals, but then we all pray to the same God. If
we learn to respect each other and allow the judgment
be le to God, we can truly coexist. The Poet-Philoso-
pher of the East, Muhammad Iqbal, beaufully sums up
what millions and millions of pious Muslims have felt
over the centuries and sll feel about the Prophet: Love
of the Prophet runs like blood in the veins of his com-
munity. That love has the potenal of uning the Muslim
Community. Let this love be the uning factor.
Finally, February 23 was World Peace and Understanding
Day. Are we doing enough as a society to be worthy of
observing it?
Yes, this year marked the 110th anniversary. Although
every day should be a day of peace, marking this event is
a wonderful reminder of our dues towards each other.
Ironically, globalisaon and the informaon revoluon is
thought to be bringing the world closer together, with
compassion, tolerance and peace sadly remain-
ing elusive. Mother Teresa once
said it so succinctly, “If we have
no peace, it is be- cause we
have forgoen that we
belong to each other.”
So, peace does not restin observ- ing the
peace day but
should mani- fest
itself in the hearts
and minds of all
of us who share this
planet.
which have been translated into various languages. How
has the evolving landscape of science aected this eld?
The science of naturopathic medicine has evolved in a
manner that has taken us back to the basics. More and
more, research seems to rearm classical remedies
used by our ancestors had much wisdom and greater ef-
cacy. The evolving landscape today suggests that heal-
ing needs to be systemic and not just related to repairing
specic and malfunconing parts of the body. As we ac-knowledge the role of modern technology-based medi-
cine for emergencies, there is a need for all aspects to
unite under the integrave medicine – where allopathic
and naturopathic physicians can come together to create
protocols for wellbeing as opposed to treang diseases.
We need to learn from ancient China where the village
doctors – where payment would only result if paents
were successfully treated and not necessarily when they
are sll ill!
That would be revoluonary! One of your passions is to
increase interfaith understanding. Is religious tolerance
the root to many conicts?
Indeed the conicts are largely result of each faith group
or sect trying to prove that ‘my truth is beer than
yours.’ While we connue to believe in our own theolo-gies, we should all come together through the common
values of compassion, the joys of giving and an aspira-
on to mercy. The ideology being preached is to move
beyond religious tolerance to a greater understanding
and ulmately celebrate the common humanity we
have. That is what truly excites me in interfaith work. My
inspiraon comes from the great mysc, Rumi, who said,
“Beyond our ideas of right-doing and wrong-doing, there
is a eld. I’ll meet you there. When the soul lies down in
that grass, the world is too full to talk about. Ideas, lan-
guage, even the phrase ‘each other’ doesn’t make sense
anymore.”
And then comes the sad reality, an-religious demon-
straons. What do you make of the an-Islamisaon
protests in some countries across Europe?
The public reacon to inhuman acts, done in the name of
Islam, is understandable. And violence in any shape and
form must be condemned without ‘ifs’ and ‘buts.’ What
is however concerning is the double standards adopted
by the Western media when it selecvely picks incidents
of atrocies in the West, ignoring the loss of lives in plac-
es like Nigeria or Pakistan. What needs to pervade is that
this not about Islam per se but terrorism using the name
of Islam. While Muslim leaders in the West do their best
to enhance this understanding, Western media thwarts
our eorts by framing it in provocave language such as
‘Islamic terrorism’ or ‘Muslim terrorist.’ In my opinion,
these terms are oxymorons.
As you menoned, terrorism is assuming the facade of
Islam. What is your take on this relaonship?
The so called ISIS or Al Qaeda love to portray that ugly
face and that false relaonship - but that is certainly
not the face of overwhelming majority of 1.57 billion
Muslims on this planet. This fact seems to escape many
non-Muslims and the noon is deliberately camouaged
by the world media. One way to solve this maer is to
acvely engage in serving and engaging with humanity
at large and demonstrang about what a civilising force
Islam truly is.
But that is but one complexity of the faith. What seems
to be amongst the biggest of dicules we face in the
Muslim world?
I will go out on a limb for stang this, but the greatest
challenge is the lack of crical thinking on the part ofMuslims. This is a result of a systemic culture of depen-
dency that prevails in Muslim sociees where we seem
to have largely outsourced our thinking facules to those
who mount the pulpits claiming to be Islamic scholars.
“What ishowever
concerning is thedouble standardsadopted by
the Westernmedia whenit selectively
picks incidentsof atrocitiesin the West,
ignoring the lossof lives in places
like Nigeria orPakistan.”
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