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Documenting one’s heritage, especially when it has been neglected for hundreds of years, is a considerable responsibility. I undertook to tell my people’s story after many years of research and published it as History of Memons in 2006. On my 60th birthday, my granddaughter Tisha Noor, who was 7 at the time, frankly, informed me that I was getting old. But I felt healthy, and, by US standards, I was just entering middle age. Nevertheless, I promised myself that I would start documenting my life experiences before it was too late. So, in 2017 as I was ready to publish my 2nd book, “Travel to the Final Destiny”, my son Noumaan passed away October 24th, 2017. I had to recall my book from the publisher, add few pages of his passing away as a Lesson for everyone. The book was published in early part of 2018.
In 2020, while locked up at home because of the Covid-19, a sixth virus of Corona family, I came across Harshvardhan Dhandha, a resident of Jetpur, kind enough to show me Jetpur on his bike, as if I was on vacation in Jetpur. I have written more details and documented migration of our family after partition, a sad chapter in our history. Most importantly, I have tried to identify myself as well as my ancestors where they came from with whatever evidence I was able to collect as well as I paid more attention to our spoken language, its letters. Unfortunately, over the years the written script is no longer in use, and I think the spoken language will diminish in its use.
This gave me a chance to expand on my first book, “History of Memons” and provide evidence of historical facts. For some of you who have not read my book, “History of Memons” published in 2006, first book is included as part of this expanded book. There were many Memons, especially in Karachi, who were very critical of my research that I had not documented enough evidence. Although, I had it with me but not as part of my book, so this time I have added all historical facts that I had collected over the years in this book to provide some historical background of my writings. Just to clarify, it was almost impossible to go up to even 1433 without any historical document to prove the theory. I did my best and left it for the reader to make the judgement call. Also, after reading the original write ups from many sources, I decided to leave the dates of accepting Islam as it is mentioned by the writer. It is a fact that Lohana Hindus reverted to Islam somewhere from 1422 to 1454 AD. After all, Hindus religious books clearly mentions about our Prophet SAW, declaring they were also Muslims under their Prophet just like Moosa AS and Esa AS.
- The advent of Prophet Muhammad is mentioned more than once in the Hindu scriptures. Hindu scriptures are divided into three basic categories: Vedas, Upanishads and Puranas. There are differences about the age of those scriptures; some people believe that they go back almost 4,000 years. One of the amazing prophecies in these Hindu scriptures is the one on the tongue of Maharshi Vyasa, a Hindu saint, that states that the land of Arabs will be corrupted by the evil doers — maybe a reference to the pre-Islamic pagans; and that Mahamad — a slight adulteration of the name Muhammad — will come and guide those who went astray. He will be circumcised, bearded, eloquent; he will create a great revolution; he will announce the call for prayers; he will eat of the meat of lawful animals but not of the swine; and he will fight against irreligious nations. All these descriptions meet Prophet Muhammad (Vidyarthi). Bhavishya Purana, one of the most important Puranas, includes another prophecy that states that in a foreign country a spiritual teacher whose name is Muhammad will come; he will be a dweller of Arabia; he will gather a large force to fight or kill the devil; and God will protect him from his opponents. Prophet Muhammad Mentioned in the Upanishad Some Hindu scholars consider the Upanishads scripture to be superior to the Vedas, because they impart divine knowledge and teach how the human soul can get nearer to its Maker and Master. The Muslim testimony of faith is mentioned in the Upanishads. The most important prophecy in it is the one that mentions the coming of Prophet Muhammad by name, and the Muslim testimony of faith — there is no God but Allah — is repeated more than once in it. As a result of the clarity and explicitness of that prophecy, some Hindus actually enter into Islam, which has led some Hindu scholars to claim that perhaps this prophecy was written by a Hindu pundit who converted to Islam. But this is refuted because this prophecy was referred to in some of the ancient Hindu books that predate the advent of Islam or Muslims to India (Vidyarthi).
While writing this is the most difficult task, I pray to Allah (God) to guide me to accurately compile my findings and the experiences of my life, as well as write some meaningful lessons learned.
To all my family members, please remember me in your prayers as you read this book. Please realize how important it is to keep yourself busy with your immediate family and turn a deaf ear to the ones who are against your thinking and practices. My prayers for them as well. May Allah (God) guide me first and them to understand the impact of bad behavior.
In Surah Al-Falaq in Quran, Allah the Almighty tells us to seek refuge with Allah from all evils and evil eye:
_“And from the evil of the envier when he envies”_.
وَمِن شَرِّ حاسِدٍ إذا حَسَد
(113:5)
May Allah Almighty protect us all from the evil eye. Ameen.
I request all the readers to please say “Masha Allah,” meaning God Willing as my intention is only to provide guidance to the next generation. There is no ill intention to demean anyone, but to teach lessons learned from these incidents. These lessons will help others to avoid those mistakes and hopefully enjoy this life to the fullest. As I started writing this book after finding more evidence, I have corrected myself.
Please pray for me as well as for the whole family when I am gone. My Dad always recited “Surah YASEEN” after Fajr prayer and made Dua asking forgiveness for his parents and relatives and I do the same after reciting, “Surahs – YASEEN and RAHMAN” for my parents and relatives after FAJR Prayer, while I also ask for their forgiveness and entrance to Heaven after MAGRIB Prayer as they have reached their final destination.
I forgive everyone who hurt me, but I also learned a lesson I won’t hate you, but I’ll never get close enough for you to hurt me again. I can’t let my forgiveness become foolishness. -Tony Gaskins
When someone isn’t smart enough to express their frustration, they use dirty words. *Dirty words describe lack of intelligence*. *Smart people don’t use dirty words because they find it an insult to their intelligence*. – Nouman Ali Khan