Year: 2014

Assalam-o Alikum everybody, I am Saqib Malik, born in village Mong, aBiotechnologist by profession. I was surfing internet one day when I explored this web site. I am really happy to see the website and I must appreciate the contribution and efforts of the web administrators. I have been asked by the web administration to give my input for this web site. I feel that, it is my responsibility to share with whatever I have, with the people of Pakistan and especially with the people of my district.

I thank Allah Almighty that I belong to a very respected and educated family of Mong. I am also grateful to Almighty that my family has significant contribution for Pakistan. My both maternal and paternal grandfathers were educationists. They taught many persons and helped them to reach their destinations. Malik Ghulam Mohammad my “Nana” is still reminded by his thousands of students, as he was a teacher/ Principal in a school in near locality in British era, many of them are now perhaps at the top level positions..

My father , Dr.Mohmmad Afzal Malik is one of the few Ph.Ds of his time and renowned scientists who did his Ph.D. in mid sixties. He is an example for me and perhaps for the youth of Pakistan especially of the district.

DR. Afzal Malik (My father busy in research at Liverpool ) 1965

Below is a brief autobiography of him that I wrote upon the request of Web administration. If these words motivate even a single youth of my land to achieve some thing good I will think that I have received the cost of time that I devoted while writing these words. With my limited vocabulary, and little or no experience of writing, my this effort is only to motivate youth of my village, my district and my country.

“When I sit back and consider the significant events in my past, the underlying theme is “Allah helps those who help themselves”. Constant determination and dedication toward your work is one of the most important prerequisite of success. You need to learn how to achieve your targets while remaining within your limited resources. “I did not develop overnight, it took many years, and hard work. The journey of a simple villager to be a renowned Biochemist is not straight and simple.”Said my father Dr. Mohammad Afzal Malik.

My father was born in early thirties and raised in village Mong, a fertile piece of land in district Mandi Baha ud Din. My grandfather, Malik Mohammad Din, a through gentleman and respected personality was perhaps one of the few Master degree holders of his time and was an educationist by profession. “When you have your elders around with higher achievements, you are under pressure, you need to achieve at least that standard- my father was thus a source of constant inspiration for me.”My father replied when I asked him what the deriving force for his achievements was.

I think I grew more emotionally and intellectually during my early education in Government High School, Mandi Baha-ud-Din then during any other period of time thus far”my father added.

People of the area know that the distance between Mong and Mandi Baha Ud Din is almost 5 Kms or more and my father had to walk all the way from Mong to Mandi to attend his school as at that time there were little or no transport facilities available.

Garden College Rawalpindi attracted many students of the region. My father joined the college and stayed in Rawalpindi till his B.Sc. . “ It was in a sense a way for me to escape what I perceived as end of my education. Garden college provided me rigorous academic environment. I learned how to live independently, how to manage time and how to manage the studies with limited resources” my father said, looking into past.

Constant help of Allah, encouragement from family, especially his elder brother Mohammad Anwer Malik, and his urge to achieve took him to Lahore, where he got admission in Chemistry Department, University of the Punjab and did his Masters.

He began work with PCSIR (Pakistan Council of Scientific and Industrial Research – A prime research institute of Pakistan) as research officer. Masters degree was the highest degree in Pakistan in those days but my father was still not satisfied and his wish to excel in the field took him to England for further studies. He was selected for a Ph.D. scholarship in University of Liverpool, England. It is worth mentioning that it was the time when Pakistan being a newly born state was in dire need of scientists and experts.

“ My journey to England was also a memorable thing, the experience to travel via sea in sea ship was new for me. A sea ship contains a world within it. You start living like a family” my father said reminding his travel experience.

He started his research / teaching under supervision of one of the famous scientists – Prof. Marton and with the grace of Allah was able to discover the “Biosynthesis of Co-Enzyme –Q in mammals”. It was really a breakthrough in the field of Biochemistry. Prof. Marten was very happy with the efforts of his student. However, an emotional set back came when my father was informed that my grand father (Malik Mohammad Din) expired just one day before he had to defend his research work against a panel of scientists.

“I was emotionally very upset, knew not how to combat the feelings but latter Allah helped me and I managed to recollect myself. I successfully defended my research and was awarded Ph.D. degree” said my father.

Now was the time to give back to his country , my father came back and started working with PCSIR at a more senior position, gave many new processes to the country, discovered and formulated many things, trained many young scientists and after a service of more than 35 years retired from the services in early nineties.

He is now enjoying his retired life living with his two sons a grand daughter and a grand son.

Chemistry is perhaps the subject of the family, his two brothers, two sons and daughter in law are M.Sc. Chemistry.

A scientist, according to me should never be retired; these highly skilled people become real assets when they go through a rigorous trainings and experience. I suggest that there must be some platform where these scientists and educationists should come and guide the youth. Pakistan is really in need of good pure science experts.

“I am very happy and satisfied we all brothers excelled in their fields,Iqbal Malik as banker,Anwer Malik , me and my younger brother Ashraf Malik as scientists, Arshad Malik and Ajmal Malik as an engineer and Amjad Malik is secretary in federal government after doing CSS. Every body has his own unique story of struggle and achievement.” My father said thanking Allah.

Maulvi Muhammaduddin Awan who was born and educated in the Jalapur Jattan, area of tehsil Gujrat. The editor-proprietor of this once prestigious magazine of the subcontinent, Malik Ahmaddin was born in August, 1881, in a prominent family. His great grandfather Ghulam Rasul and grandfather Allah Bukhsh had held responsible offices in Ranjit Singh’s court. 

In the village Mahuna, since swept away by the river Chenab, Muhammaduddin lost his father and mother at a very young age. He was educated at Chakwal and Jalalpur and somehow developed an interest in history. While at school, he wrote two brief biographies of Maharaja Ranjit Singh and Abdur Rahman Khan, the king of Kabul. The young author sold the rights to the manager of Akhbar-i-Aam for Rs30 and when Muhammaduddin himself became the editor-publisher of Sufi he paid proper royalties to his contributors among whom some of the prominent names were: Akbar Allahabadi, Khwaja Hasan Nizami, Allama Iqbal, Altaf Husain Hali, Syed Suleman Nadvi, Niaz Fatehpuri, Khaleeq Dehlavi, Ghulam Qadir Girami, Seemab Akbarabadi, Mirza Sultan Ahmad, Abdul Haleem Sharar and Nadir Kakaurvi. 

Malik Muhammaduddin was a brilliant student and after the middle examination he was offered financial support and he joined the Islamia School of the Lahore Anjuman-i-Himayat-i-Islam where he developed into a poet and recited his poems at the annual sessions of the anjuman. In Lahore, he unsuccessfully tried to publish a monthly magazine. He then joined the revenue department in Gujrat where the vast areas in Mandi Bahauddin were being brought under the plough after the opening of the canals from Mangla and Rasul. headworks. He came close to the famous sufi of the area, Syed Ghulam Hyder Shah of JalaIpur Sharif. Muhammaduddin was much impressed by Syed Hyder Shah and with his blessings Muhammaduddin Awan wanted to start the publication of the magazine. In the meantime, the Pir died in 1908 and the first issue of Sufi under the name of Syed Hyder Shah appeared in January 1909. The pirs of Jalalpur Sharif supported Muhammaddin in his religious and literary publications. 

The circulation of the Sufi had crossed the 8,000 mark in 1937 and it was claimed that it had surpassed the circulation of any of the Urdu and English monthlies of its time. This claim was certified by the department concerned which had in the past (1919) blacklisted the magazine for its leanings towards the Muslim cause. The Sufi was neither a religious magazine nor a literary one. It published articles from people like Swami Teerath Ram and many other Hindu writers on mystic, social and philosophical themes. 

Politically, the magazine supported parties and personalities struggling for independence. In its earlier stages, the Muslim League was not taken seriously by the magazine. For a long time, it supported the Congress but at a later stages, it opposed Gandhi’s policies. It also published articles in which stress was laid on the fact that the Sikhs were not a part of the Hindu nationality. 

The Sufi played a significant role from 1909 to the fifties when the editor could not pay sufficient attention to the magazine. But what is strange is that in the history of monthly journalism it hardly finds a place and perhaps that is the reason Sibgha has taken pains to write this book about the magazine and its founder-editor who had for a very long time served the cause of the Muslims of the sub-continent. This book consists of two chapters of Sibgha’s thesis for M.Phil which is basically about Allama Iqbal. She has conducted research with special reference to Allama Iqbal.