True Teachings Of Islam

Azam Ali, An Ahmadi Moslem

Chapter 15 – OPINIONS OF OTHERS

Good Name

Father served as a Judge getting promotions for nearly 29 years till 1959. He was appointed from time to time in many places in Punjab including Karnal, Zeera, Gujrat, Chakwal, Lahore, Campbellpur, Dera Ghazi Khan, Jehlum, Lyallpur, Multan and Sahiwal. The local audience requested and loved his Friday sermons. He left lasting impressions on people wherever he was. What I saw and what I heard about Abba Ji is far too much to write down here.

Abba Ji’s reciting of the Holy Qor-aan Chapter 26 verses 70 to 90 mostly in Isha Prayer still echoes in my ears. I believe he selected, memorized and recited what the Almighty God has eternalized as one of the prayers of Prophet Abraham, p.o.h. whom He set up as an Excellent Exemplar (060:005). The following words reflect what he wanted for himself and his progeny.                                                                                                                        Wuj-ul-lee-lay-saa-na-sid-qin-fil-aa-khay-ree-n  سُوۡرَةُ الشُّعَرَاء – Ch: 026, Verses 085              And set me up for a good name among those who come later.     026:085

Mr. Justice Rashid A Kiyani of the Punjab High Court

Mr. Justice Kiyani had told my father that an honest Judge like him could visit him whenever in town without ever requesting an appointment. In those days phones were not so easily available to call others to extend to them the courtesy of announcing one’s arrival.

Father was a Senior Civil Judge when he visited the Justice Kiyani and took me with him. The policeman at Judge’s residence took Father’s name in. The Judge called us in right away. He welcomed us where he sat — in the front garden. It was the first time I ever saw a High Court Judge. He was pulling weeds out of his flowerbed, dressed in a shabby lion-cloth that barely covered the lower half of his body down to knees like the millions of Gandhi’s photos.

Father introduced me as his college-bound son. The Judge asked me what I planned for my life career. On learning of my interest in law, the highly respected Justice Kiyani in his well-known cryptic humor remarked something like: “Then all your life you will be pulling weeds out from the overgrown fields of law as you see me do.” He explained that joining Service meant spending lifetime in looking at case files, picking on faults to improve others’ lives, and uprooting bad things like the weeds he was pulling out.

The Justice never knew how right he was because I was admitted to the bar in 1957 after his retirement. I never joined the Service. And whether like those in judicial Service or not, a lawyer’s job is to perpetually pinpoint issues / weeds in the overgrown thicket of messy facts in cases that reach courts, and forever keep pulling them out and settling them one by one.

Mr. Justice Sheikh Bashir Ahmad

My father took me several times to visit Sh. Bashir Ahmad, then an Advocate. Once during our visit, the Sheikh suddenly said Let’s tussle on tea. He explained it meant Let us have tea. Turned out they always exchanged new words and ways they had learnt to express things. (See also Tr – Azam Ali, an Ahmadi Moslem – Chapter 11 – Knowledge).

Another time the Sheikh told me, “Your father has been my friend since our younger days. He was greater in intelligence, higher in intellect, and more hardworking than me. Yet he chose Govt Service with a fixed small salary. I chose unlimited daily bread.” My father retorted, “Come on you Sheikh! don’t encourage my son; he already is against joining the Service.”

Another time when I was still in college, he asked how I was improving my English and what new fiction I had read. Father protested that the emphasis should be on the books of grammar and not on those of fiction which to his dismay I already read a lot. The Sheikh — with his deliberate bright twinkle and a wink in a May-I-submit or Objection-sir manner – asked whether grammar books were memorized prior to the writers like Shakespeare wrote fiction or those rules were carved out from such literature after its entrenchment in the academia.

Father first asked the Sheikh why he was ruining his son (meaning me) who already ran away from grammar books and was engrossed in reading English novels. He then insisted that forming a firm foundation in grammar rules was imperative to learn a foreign language. I can’t say that Father ever changed his view that grammar was essential to learn a language, but I kept reading English stories, poems, essays and lots and lots of law books and court judgments.

Later the Sheikh was elevated as a High Court Judge and then served as a Judge of the Pakistan Supreme Court. I was a junior Attorney when I appeared in his Court and the-hearing of our case started. I requested time as my senior counsel was in another Court. Justice Sheikh ordered me to state the facts before the senior counsel arrived to argue. It was a settlement Writ, and its casefile was stacked high with 7-or-8 Folders, each folder 1-to-2 inches thick with 100’s of pages. I stated facts, pinpointed the Folder and page #’s, court clerk rummaged through records and confirmed each fact I stated. The case was decided in our favor before the senior arrived. The Judge told him about the outcome — with a comment that clearly hinted that I had emulated my father’s ways of mastering facts no matter how big and messy a casefile had been.

Cousin’s opinion

Ch Maqsood A Bajwa (formerly a Superintendent of Police in Pakistan) was my father’s first cousin. They knew each other well. Their professional postings made them live in different places in Pakistan but when in Kirto he heard Aba Ji’s Kootbas (Friday sermons) in the Mosque.

After retiring he settled in Canada and visited his son Dr Khalid Bajwa. They came to the mosque in Willingboro, NJ, where for years I delivered Kootbas. He heard me for the first time ever and after the prayer said that my sermon had triggered his memory of Abba Ji. Later he reminisced how my father prayed for the sick whose families approached him, urged people to improve their lives continually, and canvassed for education as high as possible.

Mr. Justice Malik Abdul Hamid

Mr. Justice Malik Abdul Hamid commented in a case before him about the honesty and integrity of my father. And then I believe during one of my marriage ceremonies, he repeated his opinion that it was a great family heritage I should be proud of and hoped that I throughout my life and my future family would continue with it.

Mr. Justice Malik Abdul Hameed, my wife’s brother Dibi Khanzada, and nephew Jamshed Buttar who grew up to be a Brigadier in the Pakistan Army with me on my Wedding Feast

                                  Sir Chaudhry Muhammad Zafrullah Khan                                       Judge of International Court of Justice at the Hague

My Father had several well-wishers and based upon his keen sense of justice who held him in high esteem was also Sir Muhammad Zafarullah Khan.

Sometime in 1964-65 Sir Zafrullah Khan visited the Fazal Mosque in London. After prayers he talked to the people around him. He had given me a good Letter of Recommendation since I was studying for a master’s (LLM) degree from London University. Seeing me there he said that he would tell all a story about my father based upon his personal knowledge.

Sir Zafrullah Khan said that some of his relatives had a dispute regarding their property rights. He recommended them to seek voluntarily arbitration from my father who at that time had retired from Judicial Service. He chuckled about how my father resolved controversies. The impartiality of my Father to reach a just conclusion had led him to ask probing questions about the real controversy and required both contesting sides to reveal more than they liked. After just one hearing they quickly agreed to withdraw their dispute from Father’s arbitration and settled the matter among themselves without going to court.

Sir Zafrullah Khan concluded that some people think that a judge’s job is easy but doing it the right way is not a cup of tea for everyone particularly for a thorough judge like Chaudhry Azam Ali who left no stone unturned in doing his job fully and properly. He added that a Judge needs to proceed in a strictly impartial manner without favoring either side and that always disillusioned those who came expecting a favorable outcome due to prior relationships.

Sir Zafrullah Khan then pointedly looked at me and said, “Though the details he (my father) asked were not necessary.” Right away I asked, “Is that your opinion as a Judge or a lawyer’s argument for his disillusioned relatives?” He did not reply. Most people feel proud of the achievements of a close relative even if they made no contribution to his success. I am no exception in admitting that this story about my father made me feel proud and stand tall.

                                                Syed Ihtijaj Ali Zuberi                                                  Additional Settlement Commissioner

 In 1948, Syed Ihtijaj Ali Zuberi was a young son of Syed Ibtihaj Ali Zuberi who came to Campbellpur as refugees from India. The senior Mr. Zuberi was admired for his poetry. My father liked to hear the poem about the benefits of beard of a pious Moslem who after an ablution (woodzoo) for Prayers had water drip from it so that the angels rushed in to take bath.

Zuberi’s became family friends. The son, Mr. Zuberi, got a job in the Settlement Department settling refugees in Pakistan. He was allotted a house as a refugee under the Settlement Law. He had personally seen how his family was driven out of home and hearth and become refugees. His sympathetic attitude gained him popularity among immigrants. He was intelligent, articulate, honest, young, energetic, hardworking and got promotions fast to the top.

By the 1970’s Mr. Zuberi was the Additional Settlement Commissioner when he told me in Lahore of what had occurred in Campbellpur in 1948 and bore fruits years later.

In 1948, Mr. Zuberi, on settling down, had invited some friends for dinner at his house. On his offering or my father’s asking a tour of the house began. The house allotted to Mr. Zuberi had in it some left-over preowned household articles like cots, chairs, tables, sheets and utensils that their previous owners abandoned when leaving for India. My Father asked him if an inventory of the articles had been made and paid for. Mr. Zuberi said he was appalled by that seemed preposterous as none of millions of refugees settled all over Pakistan had to do.

Mr. Zuberi then was at the bottom ladder of the Settlement Dept. Father was the highest official as the Deputy Custodian. He obeyed the order, and the next day submitted a complete inventory of everything. My Father ordered an appraisal of the fair market value of all articles  by another Settlement official, and later ordered Mr. Zuberi to deposit that value in the Govt treasury. Mr. Zuberi carried out the order but in anger kept the receipt safe as a sad souvenir.

In 1970, Mr. Zuberi was the Additional Settlement Commissioner and near the top of the Settlement Department. A complaint was filed against him that twenty (20) years earlier he had unlawfully acquired evacuee property. The investigation ended by recording that at a time when everyone just grabbed the abandoned and unclaimed property without ever paying a single penny for it, perhaps Mr. Zuberi was the only honest officer who had …           (a) Made an inventory of all pots, pan, cots and chairs of the evacuee property he got;          (b) Paid full price as appraised independently and ordered by the Department Head; and   (c) Set a rare example of honesty that was documented and proved by a Govt-Receipt

Mr. Zuberi said it was then that he realized the full impact of what my father had done years ago on which he had initially felt so furious. He gratefully acknowledged my father’s farsightedness and anticipatory preventive measure structured so long ago.

Lasting Impressions

Ch Iqbal Ahmad (formerly a Brigadier in Pakistan Army) attended the Friday Prayer in Willingboro Mosque where that day I gave the sermon. We met after prayers nearly thirty-five years since we had last met. He had met my father as a relative for years from 1945 to 1980 and heard his public speeches and private talks. He said hearing me in Willingboro so many decades later refreshed his recollections and impressions of my father how he talked and spoke in public.

Ch Naeem A Bajwa (Managing Director of Shahnwaz Ltd, Pakistan) attended the Friday prayer in Philadelphia Mosque where that day I gave the sermon. After prayers we met some forty years since we had last met. He said that the voice on the loudspeaker reminded him of my father’s sound, style and speeches of sermons in Sahiwal Mosque in 1957 and that was before he entered the mosque and saw me deliver the sermon. The memory and impression formed on his young mind over 45 years ago had remained alive and fresh.

Between 1995 and 2003 and in the USA, I keep hearing the echoes of brilliant impressions and recollections about my father from the likes of many Attorneys in Lahore, a Station Master in Lyallpore, holiday makers in Washington DC, congregation members in Wilmington, NJ, an Attorney in Lyallpore, vendor in Lahore, and several Ahmadi dignitaries including at least three National Amirs in the USA.

It is an understatement to say that I am mighty grateful to the Almighty God that He gave me life as a son of such a wonderful father.

Warning about Punishment

وَلَهُمۡ عَذَابٌ اَلِيۡمٌ

Wa-la-hoom-azaa-boon-alee-moon

And for them is a painful punishment

• وَ — Wa — And (= Conj., Connects words, phrases or clauses; also; but; additionally; though; when; while; yet; whereupon)
• لَ — La — For (= For any benefit, item, person, purpose, reason or thing)
• هُمۡ — Hoom — Them (= pro., pl., .m., 3^rd person. Refers to aforesaid people)
• عَذَابٌ — Azaa-boon — Punishment (= Appropriate, due and fair agony, chastisement, doom, penalty, recompense, torment, torture or scourge)
• اَلِيۡمٌ — Alee-moo-n — Painful (= adj., Grievous; painful; severe; stern)

            Allah Almighty has warned people time and again about the punishment they will get if they continue practicing the named misdeeds. The warning is in words above. The misdeeds are in words below as stated in several verses.

And for them is a painful punishment … (if they continue the practice of … )    002:011 ” Their sickness of trying to cheat and deceive Allah and those who have believed.  002:175 ” They conceal Revelations, sell them for paltry price and fill their belies with fire. 003:078 ” They trade their pledges with Allah or their Faiths for petty things.              003:092 ” They disbelieved, died disbelieving and offered all in the world as ransom.  003:178 ” They trade their Belief for Disbelief which does not hurt Allah anyway.              004:162 ” Those who were stopped from usury and eating others assets by falsehood.          004:174 ” Those who derided others and prided themselves.                                                    005:037 ” They seek expiation even with all in the world that won’t be accepted              064:006 ” Those before you who had disbelieved and suffered ill results of their lot.

The above concept but in different words is also in the following verse(s).                                003:022 Who deny signs of Allah or persecute prophets or righteous persons.

Azam Ali, an Ahmadi Moslem 

Chapter 10 –  JUDGE 

         In-nul-laa-ha-yau-mo-ro-koom-un-to-wud-dool-aa-maa-naa-tay-ela-ah-lay-haa             Wa-ezaa-ha-kum-toom-bai-nun-naa-say-un-tah-ko-moo-bil-ud-lay                                                                                                     — Soor-ra-toon Naiy-saa-aa, Chapter 4, Verse 59

                                                            — Translation —                                                                      Certainly Allah orders you that you turn over the trusts to those deserving         And when you decide among people that you decide with justice — 004:059

Father was a Judge who carried out his obligation according to the law of the land because that was his professional duty to which he was sworn in while carrying out all divine mandates also.

Father judged the civil cases according to the applicable law and rules. But if asked at the Bar to follow a superior court’s judgment that he considered wrong he dissented with solid reasons.

I heard him several times tell of a case by Privy Council that had been decided wrongly.

• Apparently the Privy Council in England had failed to distinguish Auolaaday Dookhtari from Auolaaday Dookhtar in a case that arose from India — their foreign colony..
• Both terms Auolaaday Dookhtari arnd Auolaaday Dookhtar are of Persian language in which the Holy Qor-aan was translated the earliest (Translations From Other Translations).
• Auolaaday Dookhtari provision of Moslem Law means that the heirs of a decedent are only daughters. One daughter gets 1/2. Several daughters share in the 2/3 of an estate (004:012).
• Auolaaday Dookhtar means the children of a daughter and these words are not the same as the Auolaaday Dookhtari provision of Moslem Law even though they spell very similar.
• The Privy Council in applying Moslem Law of Inheritance failed to see what the Auolaaday Dookhtari meant but let similarly worded Auolaaday Dookhtar govern the case it had.
• Civil Judge as the court of first instance was Father who decided that the Privy Council (the supreme judiciary authority of British India) had wrongly interpreted the Moslem Law.
• The District Judge who was a British on appeal remanded the case back to my Father’s court and directed him to decide the case by following the Privy Council precedent.
• In the remanded proceedings Father reiterated his previous stance that disregarding the provision of Auolaaday Dookhtari by following the Privy Council would be wrong.
• The District Judge on the 2nd appeal referred the case to the High Court and pointed out that the reasoning by the Civil Judge required examination by a higher judicial body than him.
• The High Court Judge referred the case to its Full Court to decide whether the Civil Judge had correctly interpreted the Moslem Law in deciding the case before him.
• The Full Court of the Lahore High Court upheld my father’s judgment that the Auolaaday Dookhtari provision of Moslem Law was not the closely worded Auolaaday Dookhtar.

Father applied the rules to the whole and not just on a part of the evidence before him in every case. He judged criminal cases according to the laws of crimes codified in Penal Codes. He investigated thoroughly and settled all material issues in every cases before him.

Father adjudged cases not as under the Adversarial System of the American law where the role of judge was that of a referee who watched the Attorneys play the game of representing their clients like the boxers in a rink and blew a judging whistle only when one of them committed a foul.

Father applied the codified laws that were carried on from the British India to Pakistan after the Partition in August 1947. Thereafter he felt more at home in resolving controversies by following the Moslem law and jurisprudence which clearly distinguishes the Futwaa (based upon what the litigating parties present before a judge) from the Tuqwaa (as the righteousness dictates).

Father intended justice in all cases he decided. He took his spiritual duty as a Moslem Judge diligently. He decided material issues in all cases procedurally, factually and thoroughly examining all evidence on file. He put into practice what God Almighty had commanded. He did justice.

I learnt on May 10, 1995 when after the Eid-ul-Udhaa sermon in the Willingboro Mosque (USA) a gentleman came up to me. After complimenting me for what and how I said in the sermon he asked my name and then my Father’s name. “Was that the Chaudhry Azam Ali who was the District and Sessions Judge in Multan in 1950’s?” he asked. Upon my confirmation his face lit up.

He said his name was Chaudhry Nazir Ahmad. Excitedly he told how he remembered meeting my father. He told of his memory of my father that had stayed in his mind although they had met only once and that too forty-two (42) years earlier in the 1950’s.

• He took train Chenab Express from Karachi to Rabwah to attend the Ahmadiyya Annual Convention. The train-stop in Multan brought in new passengers in the compartment he sat.
• The train traveled nearly 8 hours to reach Rabwah. The passengers’ chit-chat soon revealed that the plainly dressed and inconspicuously sitting among them was the Ahmadi District and Sessions Judge of Multan.
• Someone asked my father how he ever was sure that an accused murderer he sentenced to death was really guilty and not an innocent person falsely implicated as was quite common.
• Father told that he strictly followed the law, extensively prayed to the Almighty God for the divine guidance to lead him to the right decision, and in capital sentence cases continually watched the legal proceedings right to the end until the convict was acquitted or executed.
• Father told them that his tasks was to watch for the final outcome of the case to take judicial notice if there was a last minute reprieve or clemency granted by the Government, or claim of innocence or confession of guilt expressed by the convict.
• I knew that a death sentence by a Sessions Judge was not an end to the case. The High Court in further proceedings called Murder Reference evaluated in appeal all issues of fact and law. The Supreme Court Pakistan could next hear a The President was next in line through a Clemency Petition. It was like several filters Father’s judgment had to pass. I recall Father commenting that his decisions were rarely if ever overruled by the High Court.
• Father sought guidance from the All-Knowing Allah and made every effort to arrive at a just and fair conclusion. He did his utmost to avoid sending an innocent person to the gallows.
• The chance meeting of the two travelling together for about 8 hours, the hearing from a fellow Ahmadi who used the medium of prayers for Divine Help in doing his worldly job better, and the inspiration he had on hearing of a heavy reliance of a Judge on his prayers for guidance to do justice had cumulatively created the lasting impression on narrator’s mind.
• His memory must have remained fresh crystal clear that on seeing his son, me, for the first time in his life, he instantly recalled so vividly the occasion, the incident and the inspiration that had experienced 42 years earlier. Thank God I met Chaudhry Nazir Ahmed of the Rizwan Agency in Karachi who provided me such a vivid account and permitted me to quote him by name as an eyewitness to the episode.

In 1957 when studying for my law degree I stayed with my Father for a few days in the Montgomery Government Rest House where held the court as the Sessions Judge for a murder trial. His towering voice and total silence besides drew me to his court. I saw and heard him speak clearly, candidly, concisely and without mincing words.

• Firstly he talked to the accused defendants who all were in chains, handcuffs and ankle-irons and told them that parts of the file convinced him that they had committed the murder and that was the worst thing a man could do to his fellow beings.
• Next he addressed the prosecution witnesses who having been won over by the defense had obviously lied and favored the murderers.
• Next he passed severe strictures against the prosecutorial misconduct that had bungled up the process, system and justice designed to punish the criminals.
• Next as if he consoled the victim family he informed everyone that the circumstances had rendered him helpless and forced him to entrust the matter to God.
• Then he turned to the accused defendants again saying that they had committed multiple crimes by first murdering human beings and then suborning witnesses against them. He warned them that even in getting freed from his court that day, they still had one day to account for their wrongdoings to the One from whom nothing was hidden and Who won’t ever be helpless like him as a judge in this life.
• Then suddenly, almost abruptly, he ordered the police to immediately remove the chains, handcuffs and leg-irons of the accused because he had no alternative but to acquit them.
• That 10/15-minute talk in court would ring in my ears about the feelings of a judge when I as an Attorney found a fair Judge helplessly surrender to the rule of law in open court.
• Father’s exemplary conduct as a brilliant man of law shined like a lighthouse that helped me for over half century navigate through the terrible, turbulent waters of litigation..

Father condemned in open court when any party in a case before him conveyed to him some lure, temptation, concession, threat or even insult. He sternly disallowed any one pulling wool over his eyes. He defied all wills, whims or wishes that would obstruct a Judge from doing his job.

           Wa-laa-yuj-ray-mun-na-koom-sha-na-aa-no-qao-min-alaa-ul-laa-tau-day-loo                                                    Aiy-day-loo-ho-wa-uq-ra-bo-lit-tuq-waa                                                                                                                   — Soor-ra-tool Maa-aiy-dah, Chapter 5, Verse 9

                                                       — Translation —                                                                                 And let not the hostility against some people incite you to be unjust.                         Do justice. It is very close to the Righteousness             — 005:009

Father processed matrimonial cases by going an extra mile to help the spouses to reconcile so much so that parties who wanted a peaceful settlement strove hard to have their cases brought to his court while those who definitely desired divorces did all they could to keep away from there.

Father exercised his discretion more leniently in matters involving orphans and widows so much so that any fair-minded person would — and often even the losing side did — confirm that his decisions really were the most equitable and really fair in the totality of the circumstances.

Father was Just in court in every case before him. He was Just in all community affairs he happened to be whether in a village he visited or city where he was posted or religious controversy he had to resolve. He was Just at home among his children. He tried being Just wherever life took.

One Rule of Universal Application stated in the Holy Qor-aan is a clear-cut.

                                       In-nul-laa-ha-yo-hib-bool-mooq-say-tee-n                                                                                                               — Soor-ra-tool Maa-aiy-dah, Chapter 5, Verse 43

                                                          — Translation —                                                                                                                  Surely Allah loves the Just               — 005:043      

Whenever I read this Rule of Universal Application (or hear it recited by Qari Abdul-Baasit or sung by Michael Jackson) what comes in mind is my Father as a Just Judge among others Just Judges I came across over the years.

I have worked for over one-half of a century in the judicial systems. In Pakistan I appeared before dozens of Supreme Court and High Court Judges, hundreds of other judges and magistrates, and worked with great many police officers from the highest to the lowest ranks. In USA I appeared before Federal Courts Judges, argued before State Court of Appeals, sought reliefs from dozens of Immigration Judges and worked with the staff of many jails in more than one States. So even if I say it myself I am a pretty good to judge what a Just Judge should be.

It would be a remiss if I don’t (and have nothing to gain or lose if I do) remember the names of some of the Just Judges before whom I appeared or argued cases, some several times.                                                                                                                                                                     Justices Cornelius and Hamood-ur-Rahmaan of the Pakistan Supreme Court.                         Justices Anwar-ul-Haq, Aslam Riaz Hussain, Ataullah Sajjad, J Ortchison, M Afzal Cheema, Malik Abdul Hameed, Mirza Ghulam Mujiddid, Mushtaq Hussain, Sardar M Iqbal, Shafi-or-Rahman, Sheikh Bashir Ahmad and Sheikh Shaaukat Ali of the Lahore High Court.                                                                                                                                                             District & Sessions Judges Chaudhry Aziz Ahmad Bajwa and Mahr Sher Muhammad Sial.                                                                                                                                                    Immigration Judge Charles Honeymann in New York and later in Philadelphia.