Book of Healing - Qur'anic Healing - Radio Interview of `Allamah Nasir al-Din Nasir Hunzai
Radio Interview of `Allamah Nasir al-Din Nasir Hunzai Pakistan Broadcasting Corporation, Gilgit
Interviewer: Ghulam Qadir
Tags: Islamic science, Burushaski, Healing
Distinguished religious scholar, `Allamah Nasir al-Din Nasir Hunzai, whose pen has produced more than a hundred books, is reckoned amongst those men of letters who are of the first rank in this country. His books (which are written in Urdu) have been translated into Persian, Gujarati, English and French. `Allamah Nasir al-Din Nasir will also be remembered forever in the annals of national literature and culture, as the first sahib-i diwan (author of a collection of poetry) poet of the Burushaski language, spoken in the Northern Areas. He has also completed fifty percent of the work of the first dictionary of the Burushaski language and a book of its proverbs. He is known in the valley of Hunza as Baba-yi Burushaski (Father of Burushaski). In connection with research on the Burushaski language, `Allamah Nasir al-Din Nasir has also worked for sometime in the University of Montreal, Montreal, Canada. In recognition of his services, the University authorities have conferred on him the position of a Research Associate.
Last time when `Allamah Nasir al-Din Nasir Hunzai came to Gilgit, Ghulam Qadir, the representative of Radio Pakistan, had an extensive interview with him, concerning his services to knowledge and other activities. The interview was released directly. The text of this interview is presented to the readers of "Ahang".
Ghulam Qadir: Janab `Allamah Nasir al-Din Nasir Hunzai Sahib! Kindly tell our listeners something about your works, about how you reached this stage of writing.
`Allamah Nasir al-Din: Up to the present, I have written around one hundred works, in which small booklets are also included and which have also been translated into several languages. Nowadays, these books are studied with great interest in the libraries of the West. The reason for this interest is that I have tried to present the Islamic sciences by giving examples from the book of the universe and harmonising them with the principles of the current (physical) sciences. By the grace of God and the prayers of the nation, there has also been considerable success in (attaining) this goal. In my books, "Spirit and Spirituality" is a special subject, which in the light of the wisdom of the holy Qur'an, I have tried to present in such a way that it may eliminate the questions, doubts and ambiguities which are generated by scientific inventions and discoveries. As for the question of how I reached this stage of writing, I rigorously followed the principle of self-development, as a result of which I attained this state.
Ghulam Qadir: Your works deal mostly with the exposition of Islamic sciences. Among these works, is there also such a subject or aspect, which is amazing and thought provoking for the readers, or is there any such programme for the future?
`Allamah Nasir al-Din: Yes, there is enough such material, which according to my readers is amazing for them. For instance, in my work "Mizanu'l-Haqa'iq", I have shed detailed light on the subject of the existence of U.F.O's and the purpose of their flying and that the atomic age is linked with the spiritual cycle and have provided the proofs of these realities from the holy Qur'an.
Moreover, at present I am writing books which will be called "Qur'ani `Ilaj and `Ilmi `Ilaj (Qur'anic Healing and Healing through Knowledge)". In the light of the Qur'anic verses, the greater part of these books will be devoted to spiritual science. In these books, there will be an attempt to show that in the holy Qur'an there is more healing of the spiritual and intellectual diseases than the physical ones.
Ghulam Qadir: How did it occur to you to write such books?
`Allamah Nasir al-Din: I remember well that the President of the country, General Muhammad Ziya'u'l-Haqq, addressing a function in Islamabad appealed to the people of letters, that they should search for new aspects of the subject of Islamic Medicine, so that it may attain splendour. This appeal made an impression on my mind and I thought that, since the holy Qur'an is a complete code of life, how can there not be allusions to an important subject like healing in it? Thus, by studying the Qur'an from a specific angle, I came to the conclusion that the subject of human healing is preserved in the holy Qur'an in the way of wisdom. Thus, in these days, I am writing articles on this subject from different angles, which will soon be compiled in the form of books. In this connection, some scholars of national repute have also assured me of their co-operation. I hope that, by the grace of God and the prayers of the Pakistani nation, this plan will achieve success and that this will also be a service to knowledge, not only for Pakistan, but also for the entire Islamic world. For, to date, no writer has directly written on this subject. On the whole, one supreme goal of my writing is to stop the ideological and cultural flood of the writers of the west, which surges from different horizons towards the innocent young generation of the world of Islam, by constructing an embankment with the new concepts of Islam, so that the minds of our new generation of the twenty-first century may be protected.
Ghulam Qadir: You are also the first poet of the Burushaski language, who has a diwan. Would you kindly tell us something about this language?
`Allamah Nasir al-Din: Burushaski is my mother tongue. It is an extremely old language. To date, considerable research has been done on this language in Pakistan and in western universities. As a result, it has been established that this is one of the few extremely old languages of the world. It is unique with respect to its structure and has no common denominator with Hindi, Sanskrit, Persian, Arabic and other languages. This language, in addition to hundreds of thousands of inhabitants in the valley of Hunza-Nagar and Yasin, is also spoken by thousands who have migrated to Gilgit (from these places). Research on it continues in the University of Montreal in Canada and Heidelberg University in West Germany.
Ghulam Qadir: When did you start writing Burushaski poetry and has any collection of your poetry been published?
`Allamah Nasir al-Din: I started composing poetry in 1939. My first collection of poetry was published by the name of "Naghmah-yi Israfil", then by the name of "Manzumat-i Nasiri" and now a few years back, by the name of "Diwan-i Nasiri". "Diwan-i Nasiri" is also preserved in the University of Montreal in Latin script. In addition to national anthems, it consists mostly of gnostic and mystical poetry.
Ghulam Qadir: Most poets and writers write their autobiographies. Have you also done so?
`Allamah Nasir al-Din: Yes! But not by myself up to now, rather, a few years ago some of my friends and students, established an institution by the name of `ARIF (`Allamah Research Institute and Foundation), to do research on my life and works, whose branches are in the West and Karachi. The reason for research on my life, perhaps is that there is a lesson in my life. And that is that, I come from an ordinary family and without attending school, college or university, I have reached this stage. And during this I have passed through difficult stages with toil and hardship, owing to which my life has become an expression of great upheavals. There is another aspect in my life, which is that man, instead of sitting and relying upon fate, should create in himself the ambition of subjugating the universe and should write a story of love and peace, knowledge and action and constant struggle in the world.
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