7/21/2019 Straight Talk 238

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/straight-talk-238 1/2

MAR / 13 - 19 / 2015

36 STRAIGHT TALK

You were born in Tanzania - how was life growing up? 

The most inspiring thing back then was waking up each

morning and gazing at the splendor that is the snow-

capped Mt Kilimanjaro. Growing up in Moshi, life was

simple, unrushed and above all, felt so reassuring. To-day, almost 60 years on, those friendships stay on. How-

ever, some people have also migrated across the world.

 A preview of your CV reveals in 1976, you were appoint-

ed the Secretary General of the World Federaon, being

viewed as the protégé to the late Mulla Asgharali Jaf-

 fer. What qualies do you feel you inherited from him or

share with him? 

As a renowned leader, the late Mulla Asghar had two ex-

ceponal qualies; passion to serve humanity and never

being afraid to think out of the box. The second quality

of not always accepng the status quo did not endear

him with many, as he moved them out of their comfort

zones. This is what made him so interesng to work with

and made me realise one must always strive to be

innovave in addressing challenges of the day.

Dr Walji, notable impressions you have le thus far –

among many others – are the Mulla Asghar Memorial

Library and Resource Centre and the Instute of Islamic

Learning in the Metropolix in Toronto and Dallas respec-

vely. How important is it to preserve history, faith and

culture? 

History, culture and faith values make us what we are as

individuals as much as the sociees we belong to. It givesus a sense of belonging. It is all the more important, as

the world has become a global village, to retain our cul-

tural idenes. I would rather see the world as a ‘salad

bowl’ than a ‘melng pot.’ Each culture has something

dierent to oer, just as a salad bowl presents a variety

of nutrious foods, each with a unique taste, colour and

quality. A great example is the East African Asian com-

munity. We are a unique blend of ethnicies and faiths,

and have lived together peacefully for over a century-

and-a-half, yet retained our individual idenes.

Geng straight into it; having various scholarly cerca-

ons, how did you make the switch from a nutrionist to

a producer? 

Actually, my track began as a writer and a journalist; this

brought me to the eld of complementary medicine andnutrion. As an educator in the eld of nutrion, I re-

alised the power of a visual medium, thus began produc-

ing short videos. I was always fascinated by the accounts

of the migraon of our elders form India, such as Alidina

Visram amongst others, to the shores of Eastern Africa.

I began exploring the idea of producing a fully-edged

documentary to capture the narrave, thus, producing

a lm on that.

On that note, tell us more about the documentary, ‘The

Khojas: The Journey of Faith.’It is a two-hour documentary that I was able to direct

and produce, as I aempted to highlight the evoluon

of the Khoja community over the past 650 years – that,

along with the emergence of the Khoja Shia Ithna-Asheri

community during the last 150 years. In common with

the many Indian migrants, this documentary portrays

how a small community of such migrants to Africa with

meager means scaered in dierent locaons all over

eastern Africa were able to organise themselves as

structured communies. By the pooling of energies and

resources, they have been able to prosper to the place

they are today.

We have had premieres in USA, Canada, India, Pakistan

and East Africa. I must acknowledge that the screening in

Nairobi was extremely inspiring and humbling. Amongst

the mixed audience were civic, religious and businessleaders represenng a cross-secon of the Nairobi so-

ciety. I heard many a comment praising its inclusivity as

well as mirroring the path of other communies too.

Those are heart-warming comments, music to every pro-

ducer’s ears…

They were very encouraging. It provides me with the

opmism to embark on the second documentary that

chronicles the journey and development of the Asian

community of East Africa in close collaboraon with the

Asian African Heritage Trust (AAHT).

 And we wish you well on that. Dr Walji, what was

amongst the most memorable moments you experi -

enced as you lmed this producon?

Having shot the lm in to diverse locaons across fourconnents, I must acknowledge the incredible warmth

I received. Elders were so forthcoming and excited that

their story was being told. At the same me, the impact

on the young ones who watched this narrave has been

phenomenal. To answer your queson, I recall a touch-

ing comment where a young man said, “As I watched you

saunter towards me barefoot on the beach while speak-

ing to me in your signature relaxed, yet thoughul tone,

the profound nature of your lm began to sink in. As I

watched the damp sand erupt out of the gap between

your rst and second toes, I began to understand who

we were and truly appreciate how we got to where we

are. More importantly I began to understand who I am.

I felt a profound connecon with my forefathers and

the need to connue their legacy going forward.” I feel

blessed to have been able to bridge that gap betweengeneraons.

Dr Walji, your work goes beyond just the documentary.

You have authored 26 books on naturopathic medicine

He is an accomplished educator, historian,

author, leader and scienst in the eld of nu-

trion. The highly educated gentleman who

is a humble, relatable and character friendly

was recently in the country to launch his

documentary, ‘The Khojas: The Journey of

Faith.’ Aer his visit, we caught up with the

erudite individual, an author of 26 books, on

maers pertaining to the documentary, his

collecon of medicinal books as well as faith

agenda. And not shying away from contro-

versy, Dr Walji takes maers by the scrus as

he addresses several issues with authority.

Over to the revered scholar:

By Hussein Jiva

THROUGH THE EYES OF

7/21/2019 Straight Talk 238

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/straight-talk-238 2/2

MAR / 13 - 19 / 2015

37STRAIGHT TALK

We are dragged into the pracce of those

who preach the gospel of ‘my truth is beer

than yours.’ This is the core issue that has

befallen our sociees, where anyone who

thinks dierently to what I have been led

to believe is ‘Islam,’ is on a wrong path to

be consigned to hell. In some cases, it could

even culminate to death, totally forgeng

how merciful and just Allah (SWT) is.

While on that topic and eager to further pick

your brain; what do you make of the asco

with French magazine, Charlie Hebdo’s sari -

cal cartoons on Prophet Muhammad (PBUH).

Being a journalist, what do you think of freedom

of speech versus Islamic r ights being violated?  The killing of another human being is unequivocally

condemned and nothing can jusfy the act of violence

perpetrated on the sta of Charlie Hebdo. Having

said that, freedom of speech also has its limitaons,

 just as walking through the street in the nude does.

There are societal norms and sensivies for main-

taining harmony in civil society. More so when we

deal with revered gures like the Prophet Muham-

mad (PBUH) or Jesus. As Muslims, we have an ab -

solute right to protest and show our displeasure -

without reverng to violence. At the same me, we

too must not have double standards either –when

other revered religious gures are being similarly

portrayed, we must not remain silent as we tend

to do.

Well said. Looking inwards, there are many an inter -

nal conict between various sects of Islam. How can

this be resolved? 

Yes, there are sectarian dierences as to how we con-

duct our rituals, but then we all pray to the same God. If

we learn to respect each other and allow the judgment

be le to God, we can truly coexist. The Poet-Philoso-

pher of the East, Muhammad Iqbal, beaufully sums up

what millions and millions of pious Muslims have felt

over the centuries and sll feel about the Prophet: Love

of the Prophet runs like blood in the veins of his com-

munity. That love has the potenal of uning the Muslim

Community. Let this love be the uning factor.

Finally, February 23 was World Peace and Understanding

Day. Are we doing enough as a society to be worthy of

observing it?  

Yes, this year marked the 110th anniversary. Although

every day should be a day of peace, marking this event is

a wonderful reminder of our dues towards each other.

Ironically, globalisaon and the informaon revoluon is

thought to be bringing the world closer together, with

compassion, tolerance and peace sadly remain-

ing elusive. Mother Teresa once

said it so succinctly, “If we have

no peace, it is be- cause we

have forgoen that we

belong to each other.”

So, peace does not restin observ- ing the

peace day but

should mani- fest

itself in the hearts

and minds of all

of us who share this

planet.

which have been translated into various languages. How

has the evolving landscape of science aected this eld? 

The science of naturopathic medicine has evolved in a

manner that has taken us back to the basics. More and

more, research seems to rearm classical remedies

used by our ancestors had much wisdom and greater ef-

cacy. The evolving landscape today suggests that heal-

ing needs to be systemic and not just related to repairing

specic and malfunconing parts of the body. As we ac-knowledge the role of modern technology-based medi-

cine for emergencies, there is a need for all aspects to

unite under the integrave medicine – where allopathic

and naturopathic physicians can come together to create

protocols for wellbeing as opposed to treang diseases.

We need to learn from ancient China where the village

doctors – where payment would only result if paents

were successfully treated and not necessarily when they

are sll ill!

That would be revoluonary! One of your passions is to

increase interfaith understanding. Is religious tolerance

the root to many conicts? 

Indeed the conicts are largely result of each faith group

or sect trying to prove that ‘my truth is beer than

yours.’ While we connue to believe in our own theolo-gies, we should all come together through the common

values of compassion, the joys of giving and an aspira-

on to mercy. The ideology being preached is to move

beyond religious tolerance to a greater understanding

and ulmately celebrate the common humanity we

have. That is what truly excites me in interfaith work. My

inspiraon comes from the great mysc, Rumi, who said,

“Beyond our ideas of right-doing and wrong-doing, there

is a eld. I’ll meet you there. When the soul lies down in

that grass, the world is too full to talk about. Ideas, lan-

guage, even the phrase ‘each other’ doesn’t make sense

anymore.”

 And then comes the sad reality, an-religious demon-

straons. What do you make of the an-Islamisaon

 protests in some countries across Europe? 

The public reacon to inhuman acts, done in the name of

Islam, is understandable. And violence in any shape and

form must be condemned without ‘ifs’ and ‘buts.’ What

is however concerning is the double standards adopted

by the Western media when it selecvely picks incidents

of atrocies in the West, ignoring the loss of lives in plac-

es like Nigeria or Pakistan. What needs to pervade is that

this not about Islam per se but terrorism using the name

of Islam. While Muslim leaders in the West do their best

to enhance this understanding, Western media thwarts

our eorts by framing it in provocave language such as

‘Islamic terrorism’ or ‘Muslim terrorist.’ In my opinion,

these terms are oxymorons.

 As you menoned, terrorism is assuming the facade of

Islam. What is your take on this relaonship? 

The so called ISIS or Al Qaeda love to portray that ugly

face and that false relaonship - but that is certainly

not the face of overwhelming majority of 1.57 billion

Muslims on this planet. This fact seems to escape many

non-Muslims and the noon is deliberately camouaged

by the world media. One way to solve this maer is to

acvely engage in serving and engaging with humanity

at large and demonstrang about what a civilising force

Islam truly is.

But that is but one complexity of the faith. What seems

to be amongst the biggest of dicules we face in the

Muslim world? 

I will go out on a limb for stang this, but the greatest

challenge is the lack of crical thinking on the part ofMuslims. This is a result of a systemic culture of depen-

dency that prevails in Muslim sociees where we seem

to have largely outsourced our thinking facules to those

who mount the pulpits claiming to be Islamic scholars.

“What ishowever

concerning is thedouble standardsadopted by

the Westernmedia whenit selectively

picks incidentsof atrocitiesin the West,

ignoring the lossof lives in places

like Nigeria orPakistan.”