Rise of a Vision, Not a Leader—Is True Leadership

A good leader does not build his fame only, but he builds a vision in a society. This is evident from the haven of reforms shooting from the idea of development and progress, symbolized by Advocate Yusuf Abrahani. A man who has earned love more than hollow fame that politicians nowadays chase.

I attended the felicitation ceremony of Adv. Yusuf Abrahani, the president of Islam Gymkhana, former MLA, and former chairman of MHADA, who now, with the grace of the Almighty, has been crowned as one of the 100 most influential Muslims in India. This title is beyond a tag; it is a journey of mixed experiences that I am sure this gentleman must have endured, too.

I was familiarized with the esteemed Adv. Yusuf Abrahani a month ago, when he voiced his persistent concern for the Muslims against one of the discriminatory decisions, which positioned a non-Muslim as the CEO of the Maharashtra Haj Committee, and in response, Yusuf Sir had filed a PIL in the Bombay High Court. But that time I didn’t expect to meet him & was invited to attend his felicitation ceremony the very next month.

Now, magnifying my lens inside the felicitation ceremony of Yusuf Sir, it was no less than the community-knit program where constructive ideas, political diaspora, inquisitive social discussions, reformative thoughts, and myth-busting initiatives saw their surge. This ceremony turned out to be a pool of networking and positivity, where I realized the envisioned ideas of women’s empowerment, progress in Muslim society, alleviating financial crises (especially of the minority Muslim community), doorways to social reforms, and Prophet Muhammad’s teachings are actually being lived and propagated by the diverse team of Yusuf Sir.

The spiral of glad tidings went unabated, and the progress promised by Yusuf Sir to his people was being experienced by his audience. The ceremony unwrapped the trappings of awesome events, like a fascinating talk show reflecting the personal life of Yusuf Sir to aptly justify that charity begins at home, then gravitational shayri giving us the glance into the love earned by true leaders and not only politicians like Yusuf Sir, then emotional speeches by his loved ones, and bouquet felicitation by diverse social & religious groups of Maharashtra.

To our astonishment, the hospitality poured by the team of Yusuf Sir didn’t restrict itself to the members of Islam Gymkhana; it was disseminated to common men like us too, who were also greeted with a wonderful dinner & the end discussion with them for joining their social work and expanding the benefits that are best yielded from togetherness. Alongside this, I, along with the co-author of our book, ‘Modern Patriarchy in a Modern World,’ got the forum in this event to present our book to Yusuf Sir and her lovely daughter, a feather in the cap of our gratitude.

In the Islam Gymkhana, like many Asian mosques, the entry of women was curtailed, not because the Quran proclaims the same, but due to the cultural and patriarchal interpretations disseminated in the society to and fro. But, with the glaring leadership of Yusuf Sir, the Islam Gymkhana has witnessed the much-needed entry of women, thus representing the Islamic teachings rightfully, which amass multiple examples of women’s participation in society, be it the global business of Khadijah R.A., the wife of Prophet Muhammad S.A.W., the political leadership of Queen Sabah, the wife of Prophet Sulaiman A.S., the reformative and scholarly position of Maryam A.S., the mother of Prophet Isa A.S., and the list stretches on and on.

In a time when the Muslim optics is being tarnished due to the fabricated data & distorted statements, this event stood tall in the hearts of my non-Muslim friends as well, who accompanied me for this ceremony. The kind of belongingness & boldness that we felt in this ceremony filled us with gratitude. This welcoming and heartwarming nature of the ceremony towards everyone, irrespective of gender or religion or caste, won many hearts & strengthened the souls to not only lament over our conditions but also strive towards the modernization that was never old in the Islamic religion but was only pushed back. This is always duly preached by our prophets & the sacred Quran that the ‘Ummah’ is armed by ‘Jamat,’ which is mobilized by ‘All’ standing on ‘Faith’ in the Almighty to pace our lives through ‘Ilm’ as exemplified by the command of ‘Iqra’ in the Quran.

Hoping and praying for the rise of many such centers, events, leaders, and visions.