MuslimShadow
Junior Member
By LUTHFULLAH AZEEZ. T
Pall of gloom and sadness has descended on the hearts of multitudes of Muslims of Tamil Nadu with the sad news of the death of Dr Abdullah, formerly Periyar Dasan, on Monday (19 August). (Inna lillahi wa inna ilaihi rajeewoon). Dr Abdullah, 63, is survived by two wives and two sons, Mr Valavan and Mr Suradha. He had been ailing for the past 48 days in and out of hospital.
Dr Abdullah had been known as Periyar Dasan and was a legendary Dravidian leader, orator, author, psychologist, professor of Philosophy and above all a diehard Islamist.
Periyardasan was born as Seshachalam in a Hindu Mudaliyar family in a nondescript remote village of erstwhile North Arcot District. He was an ardent fan of Periyar EVR since his college days. Once Periyar visited his college. Young Seshachalam wrote a poem welcoming Periyar. His Tamil Professor appreciated it. “Poem is good. But your name Seshachalam is not appropriate. It sounds Brahminical,” the Professor said. Young Seshachalam then and there rechristened himself as Periyar Dasan (Slave of Periyar). Since then there is no end to his passion for Dravidian movement. Gradually, he got evolved into a very powerful orator of the Dravidian thoughts and atheism.
This went on for many decades. He embraced Buddhism and got involved very deeply in it. He translated a holy book on Buddhism into Tamil.
He embraced Islam in Riyadh on 12 March, 2010 in a dramatic manner. He had made the trip with the sole intention of embracing Islam. He wanted to embrace Islam in the land of its birth. Within a week he made Umrah and his arrival back in the native land in the fold of Islam was welcomed by the Tamil speaking world with great enthusiasm. Since then he was continuously attending meetings, programmes, workshops, conveying the message of Islam.
He had many wishes and desires which remained unfulfilled. He had wanted to translate the masterpiece of Seerah literature Muhammad, the Prophet of Islam by Mohammad Haykal into Tamil. He had shared this dream with his friends many times. He wanted to write a book on his journey towards Islam. He wanted to write on psychology with Islamic perspective. He was of the view that the western thoughts and works on human mind had got entrapped in Nafs-e-Ammara alone. Very few ventured into Nafs-e-Lawaama. And none of them had tasted the bliss of Nafs-e-Mutmainna. He wanted to write on it. He was of the opinion that the paramount problem facing the modern man is more psychological than material. We have to liberate mankind from the clutches of Nafs-e-Ammara more than anything else, he would assert. He wanted to write a series of articles on this subject in Samarasam Tamil fortnightly. This scribe had suggested a title Alai paayum manasu! (Wavering Mind or Behaktaa dil) He got excited with the title and liked it very much. Alas, that wish too was not materialised!
He wanted to write on the life history of the Prophet of Islam. Some few months back too he expressed his desire to cut short his tours, speeches, programmes, etc. and dedicate himself to purely research and academic work on Islam. That too remained a, unfulfilled desire on his part.
His only accomplishment was a documentary film on Periyar’s affection for Islam. He had captioned the film with a provocative title “Did Periyar Embrace Islam?”. At one of the functions he had expressed another weird desire. He wanted to make a documentary film on life and times of Umar bin Khattab, recalls Sirajul Hasan, Chief Editor of Samarasam Tamil fortnightly.
He wanted to do so many things. He led an active life. People used to book him six months in advance for programmes, conferences, meetings, functions. Hardly a Sunday was without any programme for him! Once this scribe asked him the reason for his hectic activity! Why do you strain yourself? Why don’t you sit, relax, ponder and devote your time to writing? He brushed my query with his mysterious smile and said, “I had been the torch-bearer of atheism in Tamil Nadu. Thousands of youngsters had become atheist because of my speeches. I want to reach out to them and save them from the fire of hell. I don’t want to be the reason for their calamity.” His tone became serious and he uttered those words with eyes swelled with tears.
Another worry which was eating him out day in and day out was that his concern for the members of his family. He was deeply worried and was very much sad about his failure to enlighten his wife and kids with the right path.
May Allah reward him with Jannah! Ameen.
Pall of gloom and sadness has descended on the hearts of multitudes of Muslims of Tamil Nadu with the sad news of the death of Dr Abdullah, formerly Periyar Dasan, on Monday (19 August). (Inna lillahi wa inna ilaihi rajeewoon). Dr Abdullah, 63, is survived by two wives and two sons, Mr Valavan and Mr Suradha. He had been ailing for the past 48 days in and out of hospital.
Dr Abdullah had been known as Periyar Dasan and was a legendary Dravidian leader, orator, author, psychologist, professor of Philosophy and above all a diehard Islamist.
Periyardasan was born as Seshachalam in a Hindu Mudaliyar family in a nondescript remote village of erstwhile North Arcot District. He was an ardent fan of Periyar EVR since his college days. Once Periyar visited his college. Young Seshachalam wrote a poem welcoming Periyar. His Tamil Professor appreciated it. “Poem is good. But your name Seshachalam is not appropriate. It sounds Brahminical,” the Professor said. Young Seshachalam then and there rechristened himself as Periyar Dasan (Slave of Periyar). Since then there is no end to his passion for Dravidian movement. Gradually, he got evolved into a very powerful orator of the Dravidian thoughts and atheism.
This went on for many decades. He embraced Buddhism and got involved very deeply in it. He translated a holy book on Buddhism into Tamil.
He embraced Islam in Riyadh on 12 March, 2010 in a dramatic manner. He had made the trip with the sole intention of embracing Islam. He wanted to embrace Islam in the land of its birth. Within a week he made Umrah and his arrival back in the native land in the fold of Islam was welcomed by the Tamil speaking world with great enthusiasm. Since then he was continuously attending meetings, programmes, workshops, conveying the message of Islam.
He had many wishes and desires which remained unfulfilled. He had wanted to translate the masterpiece of Seerah literature Muhammad, the Prophet of Islam by Mohammad Haykal into Tamil. He had shared this dream with his friends many times. He wanted to write a book on his journey towards Islam. He wanted to write on psychology with Islamic perspective. He was of the view that the western thoughts and works on human mind had got entrapped in Nafs-e-Ammara alone. Very few ventured into Nafs-e-Lawaama. And none of them had tasted the bliss of Nafs-e-Mutmainna. He wanted to write on it. He was of the opinion that the paramount problem facing the modern man is more psychological than material. We have to liberate mankind from the clutches of Nafs-e-Ammara more than anything else, he would assert. He wanted to write a series of articles on this subject in Samarasam Tamil fortnightly. This scribe had suggested a title Alai paayum manasu! (Wavering Mind or Behaktaa dil) He got excited with the title and liked it very much. Alas, that wish too was not materialised!
He wanted to write on the life history of the Prophet of Islam. Some few months back too he expressed his desire to cut short his tours, speeches, programmes, etc. and dedicate himself to purely research and academic work on Islam. That too remained a, unfulfilled desire on his part.
His only accomplishment was a documentary film on Periyar’s affection for Islam. He had captioned the film with a provocative title “Did Periyar Embrace Islam?”. At one of the functions he had expressed another weird desire. He wanted to make a documentary film on life and times of Umar bin Khattab, recalls Sirajul Hasan, Chief Editor of Samarasam Tamil fortnightly.
He wanted to do so many things. He led an active life. People used to book him six months in advance for programmes, conferences, meetings, functions. Hardly a Sunday was without any programme for him! Once this scribe asked him the reason for his hectic activity! Why do you strain yourself? Why don’t you sit, relax, ponder and devote your time to writing? He brushed my query with his mysterious smile and said, “I had been the torch-bearer of atheism in Tamil Nadu. Thousands of youngsters had become atheist because of my speeches. I want to reach out to them and save them from the fire of hell. I don’t want to be the reason for their calamity.” His tone became serious and he uttered those words with eyes swelled with tears.
Another worry which was eating him out day in and day out was that his concern for the members of his family. He was deeply worried and was very much sad about his failure to enlighten his wife and kids with the right path.
May Allah reward him with Jannah! Ameen.