Muslim Priest for Ganesh Temple

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Muslim Priest for Ganesh Temple By Sajid Shaikh The Times of India News

Service The Times of India Tuesday, February 23, 1999 Vadodara -

 

Every morning and evening a 60-year-old priest arrives at a little Ganesh

temple housed in the M S University faculty of technology and engineering

building. He spends the next few minutes performing puja before the presiding

deity. Nothing unusual about that -- except that the priest is named Abdul

Rashid Ismail Shaikh. A true-blue Muslim by birth, Abdul is a Ganesh

devotee by choice. A peon (at the faculty) by profession, he is the unofficial

priest of the temple. Even though a Muslim, he has impeccable credentials to

hold the high position -- he is a Sanskrit scholar and the shlok(as) roll off

his tongue with unfettered ease. ``I am the Muslim Brahmin here,'' says the

man who is endearingly called Chacha by all on the campus. His knowledge of

the epics is amazing. He can narrate or recite any episode from the Raamaayan

or the Bhagawad Gita. Such is his grasp of the Ved(as) and Shashtr(as) that at

times he steps in to correct other pujaree(s). Abdul's fascination with

Hindu scriptures began when he was a child. ``I stay in the Madazampa area in

city. Ours was the only Muslim house in the locality, which was a Hindu area

full of Gujaratis and Marathis. I used to join the Ganesh Mahotsav in the

area. It was great fun,'' he recalls. Gradually, this fascination led him to

probe deeper into the philosophy of Hinduism. This did not, however, lead him

to abandoning the religion he was born into. On the contrary, he was able to

compare the two almost like a theologist. The similarities in the two

religions struck him. ``In the end, it is the same Malik. Har mazhab pyar

sikhata hai (every religion preaches love),'' he says, lamenting that fanatics

on both sides fail to see this. ``Khudatala har chiz mai hai, chahe wo

Tajuddin Baba ka mazaar ho ya ho Sai Baba ka mandir, (God is everywhere,

whether in the mausoleum of Tajuddin Baba or the Sai Baba temple),'' he

says. However, like all those who dare to choose a different path, Abdul has

had to face his share of problems. Members of his own community ostracised him

earlier; but eventually they came to understand him. ``I don't have any

complaints. I know what I am doing and I know that it is right. The greatest

religion is that of humanity,'' he avers. At the university, Abdul, who is

due to retire in June, is a revered figure. ``We all respect him. People like

him are rare,'' says mechanical engineering department reader G D Karhadkar.

Almost everybody on the campus echoes the view. ``He is a learned man and as

far as the shlokas are concerned, he can leave behind even the best of

pandits,'' says Arvind Bhavsar, tool operator in the faculty. Asked about

the happiest moment in life, Abdul, who has preferred to remain a bachelor,

just smiles. At a recent function vice- chancellor Anil Kane spoke to him

about the Koran's teachings. Abdul, in turn, talked about the message in the

Gita. ``When I bowed before him, he embraced me. For a little man like me,

this is the greatest honor," says the man who is communal harmony personified.

 

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of research and open discussion.)