MAHA SWAMI AND THE HAJI

 Today 20th May 2022, is the 128th birth anniversary of Sri Chandrasekharendra Saraswati Swamigal, variously referred to as Periyava, Maha Periyava, Maha Swamigal, Paramacharya etc. And for good reason, as we shall see in this revealing and thrilling episode. 

MAHA SWAMI AND THE HAJI

It was 1965. The Maha Swami of Kanchi Kamakoti mutt, Sri Chandrasekharendra Saraswati visited Madras after a gap of 6 years. He visited many suburbs of the city. Once such suburb was Adyar where three years earlier devotees had constructed a temple for Lord Padmanabha on the lines of the one at Trivandrum. He stayed at the Padmanabhaswamy temple for a few days. One day the Maha Swami went to the nearby Vinayaka temple which is situated on the middle of the road on the 2nd Main Road, very near the junction of Sardar Patel Road and Lattice Bridge Road. 

The Swami espied the wonderful flower decorations that had been done in that small temple for his visit and wanted to know who had done the decorations. A person came forward and told him that it was he who had done it but that it was funded by a Muslim gentleman whose name was Abdul Khader and that Khader was the owner of the famous Sangu Mark lungis. The Maha Swami wanted to meet Abdul Khader and appreciate his contribution but the latter couldn’t meet the Swami on that occasion.

It was perhaps in 1984 or ’85, soon after the Paramacharya returned to Kanchipuram after his 7 year tour of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Maharashtra. Abdul Khader began hearing about the greatness of the Paramacharya. Recollecting that he couldn’t meet the Swami twenty years before, Abdul Khader decided to meet him. It also helped that a close friend and associate of Khader was a staunch devotee of the Paramacharya. Khader had already made the mandatory pilgrimage to Mecca and was therefore respectfully referred to as ‘Haji’. Abdul Khader’s Hindu friend took him to Kanchipuram one day. The mutt was full of devotees who had come for the Paramacharya’s darshan. Khader’s friend sent word to the Paramacharya that he had brought the Sangu Mark lungi proprietor. 

After about 2 hours the Paramacharya sent for Haji Abdul Khader and his friend. He had asked them to wait in an inner room. When the Maha Swami entered the room, Abdul Khader presented to him the fruits that he had brought as offering. Asking him and his friend to sit down, the Paramacharya seated himself on the bare ground and began conversing with them. After enquiring about the Haji’s family, his business etc., the Paramacharya asked him:   

“Have you made your pilgrimage to Mecca?”, To which the Haji replied that he had. “Do you observe the Ramzan fast every year?” was the Paramacharya’s next question. To which again Abdul Khader said, “Yes, I observe the Ramzan fast every year without fail”.

“Good. Do you perform your Namaz every day?” “Yes”, replied the Haji. “எவ்வளவு முறை? How many times a day?” “Five times” replied Abdul Khader. The Maha Swami then waved his hands as if to say ‘no’. Khader was surprised and he didn’t understand the Paramacharya’s gesture. The Swami continued, “ஒரு நாளைக்கு ஆறு முறை தொழுகை பண்ணணும் You have to perform Namaz six times a day.” The bewildered Haji could only wonder as to how a Hindu saint, a head of an orthodox Hindu mutt would know anything about the practices of another religion. The Paramacharya broke the silence. “It is there in your Quran”. The Haji was almost shocked at this revelation. ‘How does he know about the Quran’? Adding to the Haji’s surprise, Sri Chandrasekharendra Saraswati Swamigal said, “The sixth Namaz has to be performed a little before midnight. As a Haji who has made the mandatory pilgrimage to Mecca, you must also follow the Quran in respect of the Namaz. Will you do it?” “Certainly, I shall follow the Quranic edict” said the bewildered Haji Abdul Khader. With his beatific smile of grace, the Paramacharya gave some sugar candy and fruits as prasad to Khader, who returned half dazed to Madras.

The next day Abdul Khader visited the large Thousand Lights mosque in Madras and met the senior Qazi there. When Khader asked him as to whether the Quran mandated that a Muslim should perform Namaz six times a day, he was told that, yes, it was so mandated. The Qazi told him that since this was to be performed a little before midnight, Muslims had to wake up a little before that. Since, in these times, this was next to impossible, most people do not observe this practice. “Not only that, most Muslims are not even aware of this Quranic edict. But, how did you come to know?” Abdul Khader replied that he had met the senior Kanchi Sankaracharya and that the latter had told him about this and asked him to observe this Quranic edict. It was now the turn of the senior Thousand Lights Qazi to be flabbergasted. “How did he know this, when even many of our senior community members are not aware?”

Haji Abdul Khader from that day began performing Namaz six times a day. So overwhelmed was Khader that after about a month he again visited Kanchipuram and saw the Paramacharya. And the first question the Swami asked him was, “Have you begun to do your sixth Namaz?” “Yes”, said the Haji, “And for that I have to be ever grateful to you. You showed me the right way. I must give you an offering. Please tell me what you want and I shall fulfill your command immediately”. The Maha Swami who didn’t want anything from anyone except to follow his/her faith sincerely and with devotion and attain the highest goal of Self-realisation, said that he didn’t want anything. Not to be discouraged, Abdul Khader kept insisting. 

Ultimately, the Swami asked him, “Will you be able to do what I ask you?” “I am only waiting for your orders”, replied the Haji. 

“Do you remember you were responsible for the fine flower decoration of the Vinayaka temple in Gandhi Nagar, Adyar some twenty years ago? That temple doesn’t have a shelter. The priest who performs puja there and the devout who visit that temple have to stand under the scorching sun. Can you arrange to put up a shelter over the temple. If you can, well, that’s all I want from you.” So saying, the Maha Swami blessed Haji Abdul Khader. “Such self-abnegation?” wondered the Haji. 

Upon returning to Madras, Abdul Khader in right earnest spent a considerable sum of money on erecting a proper shelter for the Gandhi Nagar Vinayaka temple. And there it is, the shelter for Ganapati devotees. Protecting worshippers from the fierce sun overhead. 

Haji Abdul Khader when asked by his community friends about his visit to ‘the Sanakaracharya’ told them that “He is a great man. There is that deep peace discernible on his countenance. I derived my peace from it. And the right way to follow my religion. I consider meeting that great Saint as a great blessing in my life.

Photos: 1) Kanchi Paramacharya, sketched by artist Maniam Selven; 2) The Vinayaka temple, Gandhi Nagar, Adyar, Madras with its shelter above done by Haji Abdul Khader.