Members of the community should look forward to making the birthday of Prophet Mohammed and Khilafat House as day and place of unity and display such character and behaviour that it is appreciated by all.
Speakers at the Khilafat House were unanimous while expressing this idea on the occasion Eid-e-MiladUn-Nabi. Mahatma Gandhi, over a century ago along with Ali Brothers had organised the first rally to show sympathy to the cause of Muslims and for unity of Hindus and Muslims for India's Independence.
Mahatma Gandhi's greatgrandson, Tushar Gandhi was the chief guest of the procession organised on Sunday by the All India Khilafat Committee, which was led by Hazrat Sayed Wahid Hussain Chisty of the Ajmer Dargah. Among the other speakers were Sarfaraz Arzu, chairman of the Khilafat Committee and local and former MLAs, corporators and members of the community.
"Mahatma Gandhi understood the importance of unity of Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs, Christians for the freedom of our country. Hence, he patched up with Ali Brothers. Why not send a unity message from this place? Not just Hindus and Muslims but people of other faiths like Christians, Sikhs should also be part of this meeting from the next time. This day should be known as Day of Unity," said Tushar Gandhi.
Gandhi said that the biggest danger to India's freedom continued to be hatred that is spread. "I heard of the initiative 'Prophet for All'. Why not come up with 'All for Prophet'? The Prophet, after all, belongs to everyone just like Ram, Krishna, Buddha and Christ," said Gandhi.
"The Prophet managed to give Azadi to ‘Insaniyat’ (humanity). People’s perception of the Prophet is reflected in our good behaviour and conduct. If our conduct and behaviour are not good, people will feel even their Prophet was like them. Hence it is important that our behaviour and conduct be good," said Chisty.
Calling Mahatma Gandhi a Sufi Saint, he said people should walk in his path of uniting people. Arzu said that efforts were on to keep the legacy of Mahatma Gandhi alive for posterity. "We have found the minutes of the meeting in which Mahatma Gandhi and Ali Brothers met for this day. We have approached Jamia Milia Islamia University to preserve this document so that the future generations know of the history that happened. His idea of India is part of history and cannot be erased now," said Arzu.
Post meeting, there were celebrations for which use of DJ was discouraged. "We have instead asked that the money be given for charity," said Iqbal Memon, an officer.
Members of the community said they started the celebration from Saturday night itself by lighting lamps in their homes, reading the Quran, and doing charity. "Salaam padha jaata hai. We also pray that we imbibe His virtues," said Yusuf Punjabi, a member of the community who was part of Eid juloos.
