Dr. Asghar Ali Engineer, 1939 - 2013: A Muslim scholar and champion of interfaith cooperation

"Known for his passionate espousal of peace and interfaith understanding, Mr. Engineer's life was an example of perseverance towards the realization of a greater good... IAMC commemorates his contribution to democracy and interfaith relations as well as his courage in speaking up for the rights of the oppressed and the dispossessed," -- Asghar Ali Engineer's demise a loss for interfaith relations say Indian Americans, Indian American Muslim Council (IAMC -www.iamc.com )

"Asghar Ali Engineer, the renowned religious reformer and peace activist breathed his last on 14th May 2013 at his residence in Mumbai. Unlike most people he did not leave behind just two children but thousands of heirs to his ideology and legacy in India and other parts of the world who will carry forward his mission for a just, equal and harmonious world." [Celebrating Asghar Ali Engineer: A Tribute by Swami Agnivesh and Mazher Hussain]

Asghar Ali Engineer's Books: Sample list







Media coverage:

• Celebrating Asghar Ali Engineer, A Tribute by Swami Agnivesh and Mazher Hussain

  A soft spoken, gentle and unassuming person- always clad in a simple white kurta- pajama, Dr. Engineer had become an institution, a legend and the icon of religious reforms and communal harmony even during his life time. His extraordinary contribution to society received widespread acknowledgement and critical acclaim from across the globe and he was conferred many national and international awards including The Rights Livelihood (Alternative Nobel Prize), jointly with Swami Agnivesh (one of the author of this Tribute) in the year 2004 at Stockholm Sweden.
  
  Acknowledged as a walking encyclopedia on the Holy Quran and related Islamic literature and practices, he emerged as a leading religious reformer in the Muslim community, especially in India. Accepting the centrality and inviolability of the Holy Quran for a Muslim, he was able to revolutionise the understanding and practice of Islam by initiating reformist processes even amongst the most conservative sections of society by developing and propagating the method of Creative Interpretation that took as an operating framework the values of equality, justice and contemporary social issues and dynamics. This novel approach of reading the Holy Quran reclaimed the essence of its original teachings to demonstrate that Islam is indeed a religion of peace that emphasizes the values of equality and justice. With this method, he was also able to establish the egalitarian and progressive teaching of Islam on issues of human rights, women, marriage, respect for all religious, communal harmony etc...
  
  

• The Reformist As Pacifist: Asghar Ali Engineer's Islam, By Farzana Versey CounterCurrents.org
• Uniting the nation: Asghar Ali Engineer’s struggle for preservation of plural ethos (Dr. Ram Puniyani's tribute): , By Ram Puniyani, TwoCircles.net
• Asghar Ali Engineer - His life was Gentle; and the Elements… by SYED ALI MUJTABA SYED for The Ground Report India
• Renowned Islamic scholar Asghar Ali Engineer passes away, Syed Mohammed, Times of India
• There will never be another Asghar Ali, Jyoti Punwani in Mumbai Bangalore Mirror -- Scholarly, courageous and secular, Asghar Ali Engineer spent his life combating regressive beliefs and practices while presenting a modern, humanistic interpretation of Islam
• Islamic scholar Asghar Ali Engineer dies, The Asian Age
• Renowned Islamic scholar, author and reformist Asghar Ali Engineer ... India Today
• A man of peace, Syed Muthahar Saqaf The Hindu
• Crusader against communalism, Meena Menon, The Hindu
• An obituary by ZAHIR JANMOHAMED, Kafila
• REMEMBERING DR. ASGHAR ALI ENGINEER, Prof (Dr.) Ronki Ram ambedkartimes.com

Dr. M.A. Gopinath: Obituary

Prof. Dr. Malur Aji Gopinath (M.A. Gopinath), 1940-2013.

"It is with a deep sense of shock and sorrow we inform you the sad demise of Prof. M.A. Gopinath, former Professor and Head, Documentation Research &Training Centre and Member-Secretary, Sarada Ranganathan Endowment for Library Science, on Sunday, 10th February 2013 at about 12.00 Noon following a Cardiac arrest."
Sarada Ranganathan Endowment for Library Science
Bangalore

• Former Professor and Head Documentation Research and Training Centre (DRTC) Indian Statistical Institute (ISI),
• Former Visiting Professor, North Carolina Central University, Raleigh / Durham, N.C., USA.

Publications (select list):

• Memorabilia Ranganathan by Gopinath, M.A.
• Ranganathan's Theory of facet analysis and knowledge representation by M.A. Gopinath
• 'DR. SHIYALI RAMAMRITA RANGANATHAN' in Encyclopedia of Library and Information Science, ed by Allen Kent and others, Vol. 25, 1978, published by Marcel Dekkar Inc., New York. [source cited]

His books found in the Library of Congress

• Classificationist and the study of the structure and development of the universe of subjects, by A. Neelameghan. Classification research 1963-1967. Trend report (India) by M. A. Gopinath. 1967
• Prolegomena to library classification, by S. R. Ranganathan. Assisted by M. A. Gopinath. 1967
• Colon classification / by S.R. Ranganathan. 1987
• Lectures on conceptual knowledge processing / M.A. Gopinath ; prologue by S. Parthasarathy ; edited by A. Neelameghan]. 2001
• Classification research, India, 1968-1973 / by M. A. Gopinath. 1974
• Construction of depth version of Colon classification : a manual / M.A. Gopinath. 1986

Messages I am deeply grieved to inform that Prof M.A. Gopinath is no more. About half an hour ago he had a massive heart attack and passed away. He was an eminent scholar in the field of Library Science. May his soul rest in peace.Dr Rangashri Kishore ( Niece of Dr Gopinath). It is unfortunate and sorrowful to every professional to know about sad demise of Prof Gopinath (formerly from DRTC) today afternoon after massive heart attack, I join thousands of professional frnds around the world to condole his death and pray almighty to give peace to his soul. Prof. Laxman Rao. I am deeply saddened to hear this morning from ARD Prasad that Prof Gopinath is no more. I had known Gopi since 1969, when I joined Ranganathan as his Research Assistant. In fact, when Gopi moved to DRTC as a faculty member in 1969, I took over from him as Ranganathan's Research Assistant. It was Gopi who initiated me to Ranganathan's style of working and who helped me a lot in my initial days. We were good friends and I fondly remember Gopi and Prof Seetharama,  visiting us in Jamshedpur, when I was with XLRI, and spending two days with us. My sincere condolences to the bereaved family.  P. Jayarajan. He  was a great  human being and great teacher.   He will live for ever in the hearts of  many LIS professionals. May his soul rest in peace! Madaiah Krishnamurthy.  Great loss to library professionals.  K Visweswarappa. I am extremely sorry to hear the demise of Dr M.A.Gopinath who needs no introduction to Indian LIS professionals. Concurrent with the establishment of DRTC, Mr Gopinath joined Dr S. R. Ranganathan  as his Research Assistant, graduated from DRTC in early 70s, served as  a faculty,moved to North  Carolina University as a visiting professor,and back in Bangalore spent rest of his life. Dr Gopinath will be always remembered along with Dr SR Ranganthan as the coauthor of classic book Prolegomena to library classification. My association with Dr Gopinath dates back to 1967 when I joined DRTC as a student  and later working with him closely as the Joint Secretary of Mysore Library Association (now Karnataka State Library Association). May Dr Gopinath's  soul rest in peace. Deva B. Eswara Reddy   I really feel shocked to know about the untimely and sad demise of Prof.M.A.Gopinath.I had known Prof. Gopinath for several decades as a committed and intelligent LIS professional and had always held him in high esteem for his simplicity,intelligence and academic integrity.I still remember the academic discussion I have had with him in the Viva-voce examination for his Ph.D Thesis at Dharwar University and always felt that he was quite unique in several ways.I hereby convey my heartfelt sympathy for the family and pray that He may give them sufficient of strength to bear this irreparable loss with courage and fortitude. I also pray that the departed soul may rest in peace. Prof.P.B.Mangla  I am shocked and saddened to learn of the sudden passing away of Prof. Gopinath. An erudite scholar, a prolific author with a smiling and cheerful disposition, Prof.Gopinath will be sorely missed by the library science fraternity.My sincere condolences to the members of the bereaved family for this untimely loss. May his soul rest in peace. Prof.J.B.Subramaniam I am sorry to know about demise of Prof. GOPINATH. He was a great scholar and excellent human being.  May God grant him eternal peace. KRISHAN KUMAR I am deeply grieved and saddened to know sad demise of Prof Gopinath. Our association dates back to 1977. He has been my , inspiration,guide and mentor. It is great loss to profession as he had been a great scholar, writer, professor and great human being. P K Varma, BHEL New Dehi I am shocked to learn of the sudden passing away of Prof. Gopinath. He is great teacher, friend and philosopher. For me he is more than my father. I cant control my tears of eyes reading this news. May his sou; rest in peace. T. B. Ghosh Other sites: LIS Links

23-year Delhi rape victim dies in Singapore: Media Monitoring

For current update See News @ Google India Edition

NEWS Updates

Reaction to gang rape shows India isn't as 'backward' as US, Alaska Dispatch March 15, 2013

Siddiqui: Ending India’s culture of silence on rape, Toronto Star, January 16, 2013 They May Never Know Her Name. Given name of the Indian medical student, trainee physiotherapist, a victim:
>>> Google lights up a candle to honour the Delhi braveheart
>>> President Pranab Mukherjee called her a "true hero";
>>> In Memory of The Unknown Citizen by Shuddhabrata Sengupta @ Kafila, Run from the big media
>>> Nirbhaya (the symbolic name given to the girl by The Times of India);
>>> Delhi gang-rape victim given symbolic name 'Damini' (seen on a banner, is a symbolic name given to the victim, taken from a Bollywood film of the same name about a woman's fight against society for justice for a rape victim);
>>> Amanat (“treasure”); whose gang rape triggered mass protests ... was first trapped in the name of love and friendship and then raped...leading to her death...
>>> Demand for revealing her name grows, The Hindu, Gaurav Vivek Bhatnagar -- but there is a legal issue: "Under Section 228A of the Indian Penal Code, disclosure of a rape victim’s name is punishable with a two-year jail and a fine."

The six criminals who have been charged for the murder are listed @ Wikipedia:
Ram Singh, the bus driver, and his brother, Mukesh Singh, were both arrested in Rajasthan; Vinay Sharma, an assistant gym instructor, was arrested in Delhi, as was Pawan Gupta, a fruit seller; Raju, a minor, and native of Uttar Pradesh was arrested by the police at Anand Vihar terminal in Delhi; and Akshay Thakur, a man who had gone to Delhi seeking work, who was arrested in Aurangabad in Bihar.

"Last week I wrote this in response to a Hindu Human Rights posting on Facebook: In the US the pro-gun lobby blames Hollywood for the periodic massacre of school children. In India, the Hindu Human Rights blames ‘Bollywood’ for the rape of women. Now, two important voices - Mahesh Dattani and Swaminathan Anklesaria Aiyar have also blamed Indian movies." quotes Mayank Bhatt. Mayank commented on his FB page: "Just to clarify: I don't agree with this view at all. And I find it surprising that Dattani and Iyer should hold a view similar to a right wing religion-based organization"
>> There is enormous sexual frustration in India's underclass which has been left out of the liberalisation process, By Palash Krishna Mehrotra, Daily Mail (UK)
>> "Everyone is demanding reforms in the judicial system, but we must first go to the root cause of such incidents. The government must stop promoting liquor and put restriction on nudity and pornography on national television and Internet," said Swosti Sangeeta Dalei of Democratic Students' Organization.
>> Rape death sorrow spills over on Odisha roads, Dec 30, 2012 Times of India
>> "The researchers may state various reasons from drugs, alcohol, violent projection on the silver screen to an addiction to porn or difficult childhood but ultimately the it’s the victim that suffers more. Rape: A Woman’s Worst Nightmare, Society
>> "How has it happened that India — a country that hundreds of years before the birth of Jesus was sexually progressive enough to give the world the “Kama Sutra” and the concept that lovemaking and sexual pleasure could be an avenue to closeness to God — is now described in travel guides as a place where women must take great care?" In India and beyond, shock at a woman’s death, Jamila Bey on December 29, 2012 Washington Post (blog)

A clash of two cultures as women are left out of India's bright new future, The horrific Delhi gang rape reveals a painfully divided society, writes Jason Burke, The Observer, Saturday 29 December 2012

Extracts:

First there is the acutely unhappy coexistence of mutually incompatible social norms: those of a deeply conservative patriarchal rural society and those of a modern urban city where hierarchies that have been in place for centuries are fast breaking down... Urbanisation has brought the two cultures together in an unprecedented way....

A second element is a continuing inability to see women in any role other than mother, child or spouse.

A third is the violence so endemic in so much of India. Alongside the dozens of rapes discovered by reporters last week across the country, local newspapers reported a tea planter burned to death in Assam and an alleged petty criminal blinded with acid by villagers. Continue reading The Observer

On the same shelf:

Misogyny in popular culture: Indian cinema is equally culpable, Rituparna Chatterjee, IBNLive.com, Dec 31, 2012 -- Tags: Music and Lyrics, Who is responsible for this trend?, Conform to norms or lose out, Films are influenced by society, Walk the talk, Of course stars have a choice

Extract: At the very onset, let's clarify that it will be highly presumptuous to assume that Hindi cinema is the root cause of a spike in sexual assaults. But Bollywood and regional cinema in equal parts, because of their reach, scope and influence, have a larger role to play in assuming responsibility for the message it sends out to millions of audience - some highly impressionable.
Films are not only a reflection of the society but also a powerful tool that shapes social engagement, culture and behaviour. For millions in India, Bollywood movies are about escapism from the struggle that surround their daily lives. And in a rapidly modernising India, where women have started to break free from their traditional shackles, regressive themes in films that include subjugation of women provide men with moral reinforcement to perpetuate gender stereotypes and sanction acts of domestic violence.

Global media focuses on 'alarming trend' in India, Times of India, Dec 30, 2012: "India, a rising economic power and the world's largest democracy, can never reach its full potential if half its population lives in fear of unspeakable violence. (NYTimes)" "In an opinion piece in newswire Bloomberg, Lisa Beyer wrote about the sad "state of affairs in India, where few rapes are ever reported. United Nations figures show 63 rapes annually per 100,000 people in Sweden, 29 in the U K, 27 in the U S. And in India? Just 1.8."

Gender roles: When women dare to outearn men, Dec 18th 2012, The Economist

Sexual violence is not a cultural phenomenon in India - it is endemic everywhere: Cases are not discussed nearly enough for how prevalent the crimes are, by Owen Jones Sunday 30 December 2012, The Independent (UK)

Woman should rule supreme in every family, By Seshu Chamarty, 27th December 2012 The New Indian Express

Arundhati Roy On India's Rape Culture, Outlookindia, Dec 22, 2012

Does Gender Identification Have A Place In Our Political System? (blog), Dr. Peggy Drexler, Author, research psychologist and gender scholar, 12/29/2012 Huffington Post

Inter-faith Prayers Held for Delhi Rape Victim

December – a Women's Month, The Island.lk

Eve's daughters raped with impunity, PakistanToday.com.pk

Ten ways to make yourself indispensable, by Stephen Abram

PS. I met Stephen last week and came to know him better as a professional who leads and continues to head many projects and responsibilities. His blog is updated everyday, or every couple of hours (unlike mine)!!!

Ten ways to make yourself indispensable: don't wait too late to take steps that can help you demonstrate your value now, by Stephen Abram. Information Outlook / Jan-Feb, 2012

Extract:
"You've probably noticed that there are some people who seem to survive every organizational restructuring. As for me, I've been through too many to remember--survived some and didn't make it out the other side on others. By some counts, there have been no fewer than 14 downturns in my professional career. These swings in the economy have burnished me and, ironically, made me less dependent on employers for my self-worth or finances.

I was inspired recently by an article from Black Enterprise ("10 ways to make yourself indispensable at work") that was shared with me. I've adapted its 10 points for library land, but the original can be read without translation, too. As the article notes, barring situations of collective bargaining (where the rules can be prescribed), there are things you can do and should do precisely when you don't need a job right away:

1. Take ownership of all your responsibilities by seeing your role in the context of the entire enterprise and community
2. Take personal responsibility for your professional development and career preparedness.
3. Define your value and, most importantly, tend to your personal and professional network.
4. maintain a visibly positive attitude while protecting your job
5 Become a Renaissance person.
6 Find an important, strategic task that you know how to do better and faster and less expensively than anyone else.
7 Don't stick your head in the sand.
8. Excel in an area in which your boss is weak.
9. Become an organizational star by being a spokesperson at community events and professional association meetings.
10. Be an effective team player. Be independent internally, but always present a united front externally and support your boss and the team" Continue reading the full article or here

Stephen Abram, MLS is Vice President, strategic partnerships and markets for Gale Cengage Learning. He has been VP Innovation for SirsiDynix and Chief Strategist for the SirsiDynix Institute.

Stephen is an SLA Fellow and the past president of the Ontario Library Association, SLA and the Canadian Library Association. In June 2003 he was awarded SLA’s John Cotton Dana Award. He received the AIIP Roger Summit Award in 2009 and Outstanding Teacher Award from the U of Toronto iSchool oin 2010. He is the author of Out Front with Stephen Abram and Stephen’s Lighthouse blog.

On the same shelf (what others say about this article):
"Whether or not one is able to promote one's value independently of one's library's value, I think Abram's main point of becoming indispensable is a good one. In an Information Age, it seems almost silly that a librarian has to prove his or her value, but that is the world we live in. If we want libraries (especially small, corporate libraries) to continue, librarians have to become indispensable." Kristin Johnstone

Muhammad Abdur-Rahim Dalvi, 1925 - 2002

A Librarian, author, translator, and mentor. Dr. Dalvi's last project completed in his life time, has been best described in an article in Indian Express:

He believes that people should rightfully know about Islam, as it is. No personal interpretations, no prejudices. Just what the religion says, in a language that's native to the city. And that is why Mohammed Dalvi sat down after his retirement in 1980 and translated the Quran into Marathi - in both forms - poetry and prose.

Also to his credit are other literary works, all pertaining to Islam, written either in English or translated into Marathi. All because ``I feel that there is a paucity of Islamic literature in Marathi, and this can be effectively handled by a man from Maharashtra.''
Hailing from the coastal village of Dabhil, Dalvi headed the British Library in Pune in the years after 1960. A brief stint at the Kenya Institute of Education in Nairobi in 1975 was followed by his retirement five years later.

...While most of us would wish that religion in its true essence is understood by all, very few can or actually do anything towards that end. Here's one man who can rest assured that he has done his bit for harmony and tolerance amongst different faiths.
continue reading: Translating faith, by Rasika Dhavse

[ 1 ]
1400 years of Islam : a deskbook / compiler, Muhammad Abdur-Rahim Dalvi.
1989; ACCESS:Jefferson or Adams Bldg General or Area Studies Reading Rms
CALL NUMBER:BP40 .A13 1989

[ 2 ]
Islamic tales (moral) / retold by Muhammad Dalvi.
1985; ACCESS:Main or Science/Business Reading Rms - STORED OFFSITE
CALL NUMBER:MLCS 93/09847 (B) FT MEADE

[ 3 ]
Kuraāna Karīma : kāvyarupa āśaya rūpāntara / rūpāntara Muhammad Muhammed Abdurarahīma Daḷavī.
1990 ACCESS:Asian Reading Room (Jefferson LJ150) - STORED OFFSITE
CALL NUMBER:PK2418.D235 K87 1990 FT MEADE

[ 4 ]
Sharia : its substance and significance / Muhammad A. Dalvi.
1994; ACCESS:Law Library Reading Room (Madison, LM201)
CALL NUMBER:KBP315 .D35 1994

[ 5 ]
Sharia : its substance and significance / Muhammad A. Dalvi.
1978; ACCESS:Main or Science/Business Reading Rms - STORED OFFSITE
CALL NUMBER:MLCS 93/09812 (K) FT MEADE

10 CEOs and Their Favourite Books

"Tell me what you read and I'll tell you who you are" is true enough, but I'd know you better if you told me what you reread.” Francois Muriac
“We can be knowledgeable with other men's knowledge, but we cannot be wise with other men's wisdom.” Michel de Montaigne

Quoted from Dictionary of Library and Information Science Quotations Edited by Mohamed Taher & L S Ramaiah. ISBN: 8185689423 (New Delhi , Aditya, 1994) p. 45. Available @ Amazon.com

1) Apple CEO - Tim Cook ~~ ‘Competing Against Time’ by George Stalk Jr. and Thomas M. Hout
2) Facebook CEO - Mark Zuckerberg ~~ 'Ender's Game’ by Orson Scott Card
3) Microsoft CEO (Former) - Bill Gates ~~ ‘The Catcher in the Rye’ by J.D. Salinger
4) Berkshire Hathaway CEO - Warren Buffett ~~ ‘In an Uncertain World: Tough Choices from Wall Street to Washington’ by Robert E. Rubin and Jacob Weisberg (and much more)
5) Oracle CEO - Larry Ellison ~~ ‘Napoleon’ by Vincent Cronin (and much more)
6) Amazon CEO - Jeff Bezos ~~ ‘The Remains of the Day’ by Kazuo Ishiguro and ‘Built to Last: Successful Habits of Visionary Companies’ by Jim Collins and Jerry Porras
7) OWN CEO - Oprah Winfrey ~~ ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ by Harper Lee
8) Bloomberg L.P. CEO (Former) - Michael Bloomberg ~~ spy novels by John le Carre
9) Virgin Group CEO - Richard Branson ~~ ‘Swallows and Amazons’ series by Arthur Ransome,
10) Coca Cola CEO - Muhtar Kent ~~ ‘The Ascent of Money: A Financial History of the World’ by Niall Ferguson.

Note: Information courtesy: siliconindia.com & Nipam Shah

On the same shelf:

21 CEOs Name Their Favorite Books @ businessinsider.com