Education the only means to regain glory, top exec reminds Muslims

JUBAIL — “From the coffee machine and musical instruments to algebra, optical science and medical surgery, Muslims in the medieval period invented almost everything, but Muslims of the modern world hardly won any Nobel prize for scientific inventions. To regain their lost glory, Muslims need to give top most priority to education.” These were words spoken by Abdel Hadi Al-Suhaimi, vice president for operations at Saudi Chevron Philips Company, who was the chief guest at Sir Syed Day celebrations organized by AMU Alumni Association-Jubail on Dec. 17, 2016, at Marafiq beach camp in Jubail. Sir Syed Day is marked every year by former students of India›s Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) all over the world to pay tribute to Sir Syed Ahmad Khan, the founder of their alma mater. Located in Aligarh in northern India, AMU, which is currently ranked as the 2nd best university in India, was originally established by social reformer Sir Syed Ahmad Khan as the Mohammedan Anglo-Oriental College. Sir Syed made it his mission to build a college in India to impart British education by incorporating Islamic values. The modern-day AMU offers more than 300 degrees and has around 12 faculties offering courses in a range of technical and vocational subjects, as well as interdisciplinary streams. The university has around 28,000 students and a faculty of almost 1,500. One of the distinctive features of the university is its residential community, where students and staff live alongside each other in hostels and halls of residence. The university prides itself on being open to all, irrespective of caste, creed, religion or gender, and claims an institution “built upon diversity”. “Sir Syed was a great visionary, who was well ahead of his times. The one and only way we can pay tribute to him is by opening educational institutions and encouraging our next generation to strive for quality modern education along with Islamic values,” said Alaa Ghazi Sulahem, chairman of AGS group of companies, who was the guest of honor at the event. Similar sentiments were echoed by Dr. Naseem Ahmed in his presentation. KFUPM Professor and Senior AMU Alumni Mukarram Ali Khan narrated stories of the rich Indo-Saudi relationship and entertained the audience with his Arabish, a combination of Arabic and English. Senior Aligs Anis Bakhsh and Meraj Ansari presented a plaque of honor to the chief guest and thanked him for gracing the occasion with his presence. IIS Jubail students Zehra Siddiqui and Mohd. Aaazim Khan were awarded trophies for being the toppers at CBSE class XII examination, while five students — Saara Khan, Insha Sharaf, Nabeeha Zafar Siddiqui, Mariyam Ahmed and Umar Ali Khan — were awarded trophies for scoring 10 CGPA at CBSE Class X examinations. Four young students of IIS Jubail, Nabeel Rizwan, Affan Quarni, Shazia Akram and Zainab Raza delivered scintillating speeches on the life of Sir Syed and were awarded with trophies for their efforts. Mohd. Kashif opened the event, Navaid Khan introduced the guests and Zaif Qaiser handled the award distribution. The three-hour long program was conducted by Syed Baqar Naqvi and Shujat Ali Mirza proposed the vote of thanks.