Dr. Abdur Rabb

Published in CanadaBdNews.com on January 9, 2011

(Click the + icon for bigger font and – icon for smaller font)

Sylhet, Sylhet, Sylhet! What a beautiful name! It sounds very sweet in my years. Allah subhanahu ta’ala has showered Sylhet with special blessings. In its soil are sleeping Hajrat Shah Jalal rahmatullah alayhi, many of his companions, Hason Raja, Shah Abdul Karim, General Osmani and many other great people of Bangladesh. Today the people of Sylhet are making their home land beautiful and prosperous, and many of them are working as great ambassadors of Bangladesh in the western world.

I am not a Sylheti. I visited Sylhet twice. The first time I visited Sylhet was 52 years ago. As a young professor of Dhaka University I was sent by the Philosophy Department for some work at M.C. College.  During our visit to Bangladesh in 2009 my wife and I, along with two of our relatives, visited Sylhet for the second time. This time I was actually overwhelmed by what I experienced in that blessed land.

Sylhet is the land of Sufis. Derived from the Arabic root safw meaning purity, a Sufi is the one whose heart is pure. Sufis are also called faqirs.  The Arabic word faqir refers to a person who is in need. Hence in Bangladesh, at least in my district Barisal, we often refer to a beggar as faqir because he is in need of food, clothing, etc. There is also another kind of faqirs: the ones who need only Allah and nothing else. In this sense a Sufi is a faqir. They are also called awliyas (plural of wali ) or friends of Allah because they are close to our Creator. On the Indian subcontinent they are sometimes called shahs meaning kings because they are kings of spirituality. The Iranian word pir means master or guide. Sufis are pirs because they guide their murids (disciples) on the Sufi Path (tariqah). In Iran and the Indian subcontinent Sufis are also called darvishes (travellers) because they travel from place to place to propagate Islamic and Sufi teachings. They are also travellers on the Sufi path starting from the position of a good Muslim and ending at the stage of tawhid (unification, NOT union, with the Divine) which is the ultimate goal of Sufi life. In the Arab world of today Sufis are often called shaykhs or (spiritual) leaders.

Born in Yemen or Turkey aroun1271 A. D., Shah Jalal was educated in Makkah. After 30 years of studies, memorization of the entire Qur’an, and rigorous training on the Sufi Path he attained the Sufi state of tawhid . That is, after a long period of mujahadah (mortification of the nafs or self), he became a wali of Allah. He was a contemporary of the great Sufi-poet Jalal al-Din Rumi.

Shah Jalal came to India in 1300 A. D. and went to Sylhet along with 360 of his murids (disciples). He settled at what is now called Dargah Mohalla in the city of Sylhet and established a khanqah (Sufi center) there. He died in 1317 and was buried at that khanqah.  Hundreds of people visit his dargah (shrine) every day. Honourable Sheik Hasina and Honourable Khaleda Zia both started their campaign for the last election with a visit to the dargah of Shah Jalal. Recently the international airport of Dhaka has been named after this great Sufi of Sylhet.  Shah Paran, a nephew and murid of Shah Jalal, settled at Khadim Nagar which is about 7 km from the Sylhet town. He also established a khanqah at that location. The date of his death is not clear, but we know for sure that he was buried in Khadim Nagar.  Many people also visit his dargah today.

Shah Jalal and his murids brought the light of Islam to what is Bangladesh today.  Thanks to the propagation of Islam by the Shah Jalal group and other Sufis, we now have a majority Muslim population in that region, and that is what made that area East Pakistan in 1947, and Bangladesh in 1971.

The blessed land of Sylhet also produced the Sufi-poets Hason Raja and Shah Abdul Karim. Hason Raja was born near Sunamgonj in 1855. He was a Sufi, a poet and a song-writer. He died in 1922. Shah Abdul Karim was born in Sunamgonj in 1916. He was also a Sufi, a song-writer and a singer. He died in 2009.

Now we come to General Muhammad Ataul Gani Osmani. He was born in Sunamgonj in 1918. After 24 years of the existence of Pakistan,  Bongobondhu Majibur Rahman declared the war of liberation against the Pakistani forces in 1971. It is General Osmani who led the liberation army as its supreme commander, and, with the help of the Indian forces at the last phase of the nine-month war, caused the defeat of the Pakistani forces resulting in the creation of the state of Bangladesh the same year. He died in London in 1984.

Some young people originating from Sylhet are shining as bright stars in the sky over Europe. The names such as Saera Khan and Rushanara Ali have recently made big news in the world media. These stars have also made all Bangladeshis at home and abroad very proud.

Daughter of Sylheti parents, Saera Tithi Khan was born in Oslo in 1979. As a member of the Labour Party of Norway, she was elected to the Norwegian Parliament from Oslo in 2005. She is a powerful member of the Norwegian Parliament. She is the first person of Bangladeshi origin ever elected as a member of a parliament outside Bangladesh. Another bright star in the European sky is Rushanara Ali. She was born in Sylhet in 1975. As a member of the Labour Party of England, she was elected to the British Parliament in 2010. Born in undivided India I was a British subject until 1947. The fact that one of our own young Bangladshi ladies is now sitting in the Parliament of my old masters in England makes me very proud. Mention should also be made of another young lady of Sylheti origin in London. I do not remember her name. She has been appointed a judge on the bench of the British High court in London. I should underline the fact that all the three bright stars I have mentioned above are ladies.

We should also mention the name of Hon. Mr. Anwar Chodhury. Born in Sunamgonj in 1959, Mr. Chodhury moved to England at a young age. As a member of the British diplomatic service, he served as the British High Commissioner in his country of birth, Bangladesh during the regime of the Care-taker Government of our country.

Some young people of England originating from Sylhet have done something extraordinary: establish a television station in London. The TV channel ‘S’ is geared to the needs and interests of the probashi Bangladeshis, especially those of Europe. I love to watch the programs of this channel. Every week this channel broadcasts programs on Sylheti villages and hatbazaars (market places). It also broadcasts and promotes many spiritual songs of Lalon Fakir, Hason Raja and Shah Abdul Karim. The call-in programs such as those on British legal matters and the villages of Sylhet are also very informative and interesting. Since most of the programs are in the Sylheti dialect, I now understand a great deal of that dialect of Bangla.

Channel ‘S’ is also involved in a great deal of charitable work. They help the people affected by disasters in various regions of the world. For example, they built 1,000 homes for the people affected by the cyclone Sidr. They also sent large sums of money to Haiti after it was struck by an earthquake. They help to build religious and educational institutions. Often I see miracles happening in their fund-raising events. When they start raising funds on live television for a particular cause, money just pours in like a musholdhare bristi ( a heavy shower of rain). I have not seen this happening in any fund-raising event in North America.

Now let us talk about other Sylhetis in the western world. I think I have some knowledge about Sylhet and the people from that area of Bangladesh. I have had Sylheti colleagues, students and friends. I also watch many programs of the television channel ‘S’ mentioned above.

The Sylheti communities have prospered tremendously in Europe and North America. I think that there are several factors responsible for their prosperity. First, I have always seen them united by common purposes. We know the saying: “United we stand strong; divided we fall.” The unity among them has worked wonders for their communities.  Whenever there is something important that needs to be done, they join hands together and get the work done easily. Second, a large number of Sylhetis own businesses. We all know, it is businesses that may bring tremendous financial prosperity. It is no wonder therefore that they have achieved financial successes.  Third, they are very generous. They give with open hearts and hands to worthwhile causes. Fourth, the second and third generation probashi Sylhetis have integrated themselves into the mainstream societies in which they live. I am sure that the two MP’s, the judge, the diplomat and the young founders of TV channel ‘S’ we have mentioned above could not have reached the positions in which they are today if they did not integrate themselves into the European societies in which they live .

Now let us talk about what the Sylhetis are doing for Bangladesh. The attraction of the Sylhetis to their motherland is very strong. They have been sending tremendous amounts of money to Sylhet. Remittance of money to Bangladesh has not only benefited Bangladesh economically; it has also resulted in a great deal of development in Sylhet. The TV channel ‘S’ shows Sylheti villages frequently. I am very happy to see that almost every village has many large and beautiful houses, and at least one mosque and one school. Some villages have madrassas and community centers. I was pleasantly surprised to see bank branches in some villages. There is also a tremendous development in the city of Sylhet. There is even a London Para there. It is mostly London money that made the beautiful buildings of London Para. Many of these buildings remain empty throughout the year. The owners live abroad, mostly in England. They stay in these buildings when they visit Bangladesh. At other times these are partly occupied either by servants or by relatives. One can see the influence of British architecture in many of these buildings.

I shall end this article with a description of my experience of our visit to Sylhet in 2009. We went to Sylhet primarily to visit my close Sylheti friend from Montreal who was visiting Bangladesh at that time. My friend accorded a royal treatment to us. He gave us his new car with a driver, and a beautiful three-bedroom condominium in the City of Sylhet for our stay during the period of our visit in that area. Our visit to his house in Golapgonj is unforgettable. We visited a number of houses in the village. Most of the people of that village are well-off. Their houses are large and beautiful. The roads running through the village are better than some of the roads of Montreal. I am sure you know about Mr. Iftekhar Ahmed who served as the foreign minister of the last Care-taker Government. He has three brothers who were all CSP’s. Has anybody heard of another family with four CSP brothers (including Mr. Iftekhar Ahmed ) anywhere in bangladesh? We express our respect for their mother with a golden womb. This extraordinary family of CSP’s came from Golapgonj. I may also mention that the Chief Adviser Mr. Fakhruddin Ahmed is a close relative of this family.

My Sylheti friend from Montreal and his family are extraordinary people. Built on a hill-top, their bari has two very large houses which they occupy. Their combined family in Golapgonj, Montreal and Saskatoon has 25 members. I have never heard of a family of so many people spread over various parts of the world functioning as a joint family. In Montreal some of my friend’s brothers live with their wives and children. One building could not house them all; hence they bought two buildings facing each other on the same street. Foods are prepared in the kitchen of one building, and they all eat at the dining room of the same building. The patriarch of the family, my friend’s father, worked as the director of the large establishment. He was a handsome, wise, and a gentle human being. He was also a very generous man. I was surprised to see the quality of the buildings that he made for the poor people of the village. The floors and high walls of these buildings are made of cement and bricks. The roofs are made of corrugated tin. I myself have a humble house-building project for the poor people in Bangladesh. I demolish houses with leaky thatched roofs and jute-stick walls, and rebuild those with corrugated tin roofs and walls.  Each of these houses costs me less than 40,000- takas. I am sure that each of the houses that my friend’s father made cost him at least three times that amount.  I am sad to report that this gentleman is no more in this world. I pray for the peace of his soul. I learn that the directorship of the joint family has now fallen on his younger brother.

I am sure that you guessed that we are talking about a very prosperous family. There were four cars on the courtyard of this village home. They have one transportation company in Sylhet and another similar company in Dhaka. I visited several of their rental properties in the City of Sylhet and a development project in the haor area. They have more than one business in Canada.

My friend is a good person. Very handsome, gentle and humble, he is also dedicated to the service of the Bangladeshi community of Montreal. We are very proud to have a very large and beautiful masjid in Montreal.The contribution of my friend to the building of this masjid is unique. I am sure that he donated large sums of his own money to this cause. What is more important is that for the last few years when the masjid was being built, he raised funds tirelessly. The story goes that he visited England for that purpose more than once, and each of those times he raised about one hundred thousand dollars.  Many Sylhetis in England hold him in high esteem especially because his maternal grandfather was a great Sufi of Sylhet with thousands of murids.

I should also mention that once my friend gave me large amount money to give it to a good cause in Bangladesh. I took the money to Bangladesh and donated it to an organization in Barisal which was building an orphanage at that time.

I know many good things about Sylhet and its people, and I have tried to put those in writing in the present article. Good things must be told because good news inspires goodness in people. There are problems in every community of the world, and I am sure that the Sylheti communities, whether at home in Bangladesh or abroad, are no exception.  We all know that even beautiful roses have thorns. For the moment however I am happy to be able to say the good things about our brothers and sisters from the blessed land of Sylhet.