Saeed Rashid
Encyclopedia
Pride of Performance
Pride of Performance , is one of the highest civil award given and conferred by the Pakistan Government to Pakistan's citizens in recognition of distinguished merit in the fields of Literature, Arts, Sports, Medicines, and Science for civilians in most particular cases.The announcement of civil...
, (January 20, 1927 – June 19, 1999) was a writer, teacher, and historian from Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
. He was director of Tameer-e-Millat Institute of Education & Research Islamabad
Islamabad
Islamabad is the capital of Pakistan and the tenth largest city in the country. Located within the Islamabad Capital Territory , the population of the city has grown from 100,000 in 1951 to 1.7 million in 2011...
and Director of Sultana Foundation Department of Charactrer building and Pakistaniat, Islamabad. Earlier, from 1990 to 1994, he was Principal of Army Public School Jhelum and Mangla
Mangla
Mangla town is located in Mirpur District, Azad Kashmir at the border with Jhelum district Punjab, with Jhelum river making the boundary. Mangla is an ancient town and is slated to be named after Mangla Devi. It is also the site of crossing of river Jhelum by Alexander forces facing Raja Porus...
Cantt . From 1950 to 1990 he was on the faculty of Military College Jhelum
Military College Jhelum
Military College Jhelum or MCJ, is a military high school, located at Sarai Alamgir but now in , Pakistan. Though it is physically located in Gujrat District, due to its very close proximity it is still associated with the City of Jhelum, and is considered to be in the cantonment limit of Jhelum...
(MCJ), as House-master and Director of Research and Development Cell. Educated at Bareilly
Bareilly
Bareilly is a prominent city in Bareilly district in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. Standing on the Ramganga river, it is the capital of the Bareilly division and the geographical region Rohilkhand...
and Aligarh Muslim University
Aligarh Muslim University
Aligarh Muslim University ,is a residential academic university, established in 1875 by Sir Syed Ahmed Khan as Mohammedan Angelo-Oriental College and later granted the status of Central University by an Act of the Indian Parliament in 1920...
. His special Interests were: Character Building, Teacher Education, Pakistaniat and Creative - Oriented Curriculum Development. Prof. Rashid authored about three dozen books in several subjects.
Birth and Traditions
His maternal grandfather Azmat Ullah Siddique was the prime disciple (khalifah) of Maulana Ashraf Ali ThanviAshraf Ali Thanvi
Mawlana Ashraf 'Alī Thānawī was an Indian Islamic Sunni Hanafi scholar and Chishti Sufi master of the Deobandi school.-Education:Ashraf 'Alī Thānwī graduated from the Darul Uloom Deoband in 1884...
. Saeed Rashid was born when Azaan (the call for prayer) was in progress. His grandfather recited the azaan in his ear and prayed to God, “O Allah! Make him Saeed (with good fortune)”. When someone asked for the reason he replied that he had been tipped in a dream about this.
The recitation of Surah
Sura
A sura is a division of the Qur'an, often referred to as a chapter. The term chapter is sometimes avoided, as the suras are of unequal length; the shortest sura has only three ayat while the longest contains 286 ayat...
Ar-Rahman
Ar-Rahman
Surat ar-Rahman is the 55th sura of the Qur'an with 78 ayats.It has the refrain: "Then which of the favours of your Lord will you deny?"- Verse :Ar-Rahman is often regarded as the 'beauty of the Quran', in accordance with a hadith:...
was a routine in his house. His grandmother used to grind wheat holding him on his lap and recited the Surah. His family had another tradition that mothers fed their children milk only after performing wudu
Wudu
Wuḍhu is the Islamic procedure for washing parts of the body using water often in preparation for formal prayers...
(Ablution). The same was kept by his mother Rehmat Bibi.
Education and Pakistan Movement
At the age of four years, four months, and four days the tradition of Bismillah was performed. Then a sickness delayed his studies for six months, thus the formal beginning of his education was roughly in the sixth year. This included the study of Qaida i Baghdadi, Aamd Nama, Quran, and Raah i Nijaat (a book of Ethics). For Primary Education he attended Kotwali. From 4th to Intermediate class he studied at Islamia Inter College Bareilly. This school was the product of Sir Syed’s educational movement.In his youth Bareilly was the center of the Pakistan Movement
Pakistan Movement
The Pakistan Movement or Tehrik-e-Pakistan refers to the historical movement to have an independent Muslim state named Pakistan created from the separation of the north-western region of the Indian subcontinent, partitioned within or outside the British Indian Empire. It had its origins in the...
. Along with the Muslim League many political parties were in motion. There, he listened to the leaders of Congress Party
Indian National Congress
The Indian National Congress is one of the two major political parties in India, the other being the Bharatiya Janata Party. It is the largest and one of the oldest democratic political parties in the world. The party's modern liberal platform is largely considered center-left in the Indian...
, Nehru and Gandhi. He also attended the addresses of Attaullah Shah Bukhari and Zafar Ali Khan
Zafar Ali Khan
Maulana Zafar Ali Khan , was a writer, poet, and journalist who played an important role in the Pakistan Movement. He was born at Kot Mehrath, Sialkot during the time the area became part of British India. He belonged to Janjua family. He also played a role in the freedom movement against the...
. In 1942, he finally had the opportunity to hear Quaid-e-Azam.
In 1949, after taking his exam for MA Previous Urdu he enrolled in Teacher Training College, Aligarh University. Although well acquainted with Aligarh, formally this was his first year there. He now had teachers such as Dr. Zakir Hussain
Zakir Hussain (politician)
Dr. Zakir Hussain , was the third President of India from 13 May 1967 until his death on 3 May 1969. He was the first elected Muslim president of India....
, Dr. Hadi Hassan, Dr. Kwaja Ghulam-us-Sayyadain, Prof. Rasheed Ahmed Siddique, and Prof. Hahib-ur-Rehman. He took special inspiration from Sir Syed’s mission and the Pakistan Movement which were enriched in this environment. When he topped university’s B.T. exam it was thought very likely he would get a Ph.D. scholarship in United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, however, his teacher Dr. Ishrat Hussain advised him that his destiny would be in Pakistan, not the US, and that he should not be carried away by the glitter of Civil Service
Civil service
The term civil service has two distinct meanings:* A branch of governmental service in which individuals are employed on the basis of professional merit as proven by competitive examinations....
. He told him that Pakistan needed teachers rather than officers, and that nations were made and broken in schools. Saeed Rashid followed his advice and came to Pakistan.
Military College Jhelum Years
On June 11, 1950, he saw Pakistan, and immediately on June 21 he attended an interview at Military College JhelumMilitary College Jhelum
Military College Jhelum or MCJ, is a military high school, located at Sarai Alamgir but now in , Pakistan. Though it is physically located in Gujrat District, due to its very close proximity it is still associated with the City of Jhelum, and is considered to be in the cantonment limit of Jhelum...
. The very next day on June 22 he joined the institution. In the 1950s he was associated with Fine Arts Cultural Center. There he wrote and produced plays. From 1950, for several years he was associated with the editorship of the college magazine Tarbiyat (training). From 1965 to 1968 he was the library officer. From 1967 to 1985 he served as the House Master for Shair Shah House. In October 1974, he was appointed Director of the Research and Development Cell and in 1991 he became secretary of Alamgirians Society.
Later years
After, retirement from Military College Jhelum in 1990, he joined Army Public School Jhelum and ManglaMangla
Mangla town is located in Mirpur District, Azad Kashmir at the border with Jhelum district Punjab, with Jhelum river making the boundary. Mangla is an ancient town and is slated to be named after Mangla Devi. It is also the site of crossing of river Jhelum by Alexander forces facing Raja Porus...
Cantt and served as its principal from 1990 to 1994. Afterward, he was director of Tameer-e-Millat Institute of Education and Research Islamabad
Islamabad
Islamabad is the capital of Pakistan and the tenth largest city in the country. Located within the Islamabad Capital Territory , the population of the city has grown from 100,000 in 1951 to 1.7 million in 2011...
and Director of Sultana Foundation Department of Character-building and Pakistaniat, Islamabad. Professor Saeed Rashid died in the small hours of Saturday morning, June 19, 1999 at the Combined Military Hospital (CMH), Rawalpindi
Rawalpindi
Rawalpindi , locally known as Pindi, is a city in the Pothohar region of Pakistan near Pakistan's capital city of Islamabad, in the province of Punjab. Rawalpindi is the fourth largest city in Pakistan after Karachi, Lahore and Faisalabad...
, after a protracted illness. He was 73 and left four daughters and two sons.
Recognition
- Pride of Performance: He was given Pride of PerformancePride of PerformancePride of Performance , is one of the highest civil award given and conferred by the Pakistan Government to Pakistan's citizens in recognition of distinguished merit in the fields of Literature, Arts, Sports, Medicines, and Science for civilians in most particular cases.The announcement of civil...
civil award by Government of Pakistan - Saeed Rashid Block: A new academic block was named after him at Military College JhelumMilitary College JhelumMilitary College Jhelum or MCJ, is a military high school, located at Sarai Alamgir but now in , Pakistan. Though it is physically located in Gujrat District, due to its very close proximity it is still associated with the City of Jhelum, and is considered to be in the cantonment limit of Jhelum...
on November 19, 2000.
External links
- A Tribute to a teacher, Military College Jhelum site
- M.C.J. Picture Gallery, Military College Jhelum site
- Professor Saeed Rashid's Book Ilm-o-Amal, Alamgirian.org - The MCJ Website
- Renowned educationist passes away, PakSearch