The recent visit here of a reputable Pakistani Islamic scholar remains the talk of the town. Maulana Ihteram-ul-Haq Thanvi, a person of very soft and sweet demeanor, proved to be extremely knowledgeable on Islamic issues and a fine orator, to boot. Last weekend a public reception was hosted in his honor at the Riyadh Palace Hotel by Dr. Mansour Memon, a scion of the famous Memon family, as well as a noted physician and social worker in Riyadh. Dr. Memon welcomed the visiting dignitaries from Pakistan, including noted Urdu columnist and TV anchor Javed Choudhry, the Ambassador of Pakistan Muhammad Naeem Khan and Deputy Head of the Mission Khayam Akber. The Maulana told of a story of how the very unsociable Aflatoon (Plato) met Moses, one of the prophets out of so many who hailed from the lineage of Isaac, the son of Prophet Ibrahim. Thanvi also said this was the month of Rabi-ul-Awwal in which Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) was born, and everybody should uphold all his teachings and be prepared to fight for it. He then went on to lament how jihad has been wrongly portrayed as synonymous with terrorism. Jihad is in fact waging war against those who refuse to lead the life according to the teachings of God and his Prophets — especially Prophet Muhammad (pbuh),” he said, going on to speak at length about the misconceptions associated with the term. Choudhry, the journalist, said that to be more respectable among the comity of nations, significant headway must be made in achieving essential rudiments, some of which are reasonable literacy levels, sound and self-dependent economy, military might, highly qualified human resources, respect for and obedience of law, good governance, a vibrant civil society, able scientists, informed thinkers and intelligentsia, proactive inventors and discoverers and so on. These cannot be achieved by just doing lip service; we need to put our acts together and strive persistently like others — our perceived enemies — have in fact done,” he said. Both the talks were well received. Khan, meanwhile, said the Pakistani community in the Kingdom was very supportive especially in times of trials and tribulations. He cited their support during his campaign for flood relief last year when they were able to raise 30 million Pakistani rupees as aid. The ambassador also said in his meetings with Saudi officials, he is very pleased to hear their commendations for the Pakistani expats. But the community also faces immense problems, he said, which is why he would allocate one full day a week to meeting them and listening to their problems face-to-face in order to serve them better. Dr. Memon presented the colorful and elegant Sindhi Ajrak to the visiting Maulana and to Choudhry while his father, G. M. Memon, presented the same to Khan and Akber. __
