[Reader-list] Fourth Sarai Posting: Delhi Muslim Publishing Houses--Goodword Books

[Yogi Sikand]

Good News From Goodword



Yoginder Sikand



Established in 1996, Delhi-based Goodword Books has emerged as one of
India's leading Muslim publishing houses. Owned by Saniyasnain Khan,
son of the well-known Maulana Wahiduddin Khan, it has brought out more
than 400 titles so far, in Urdu, English and Hindi.



Many of the books that Good Word has published have been penned by
Maulana Wahiduddin Khan, who is recognized as a leading Islamic
scholar at the global level, and certainly among the most prolific.
The Maulana began his own publishing house, Al-Risala Books, in 1976.
He managed it for two decades, producing a voluminous corpus of
literature geared to relating Islam to issues of current import, such
as global politics, war and peace, communal harmony and women's
rights. The Maulana's widely-read monthly Al-Risala is still
published, in both Urdu and English, although his books are now
produced by his son's publishing house.



Besides the Maulana's books, Goodword Books specializes in a new genre
of Islamic children's literature in English, of which some 100 titles
have been brought out so far. Many of these have been written by
Saniyasnain Khan himself, and consist of stories bearing Islamic
themes, with bright and attractive cartoons and illustrations, making
them both informative as well as fun to read. In addition, Goodword
Books have produced a series of illustrated and easy-to-follow
textbooks for Islamic Studies and Arabic in English, which are used in
several Muslim schools in India and abroad. It has also published
colouring books and several board games and puzzles that seek to teach
young Muslim children the basics of their faith the fun way.
Incidentally, the illustrations used in these books and games are
designed by a non-Muslim artist, Delhi-based Gurmeet Singh.



'The idea of launching Goodword Books struck me after several visits
to America and Europe, where I accompanied my father on lecture
tours', explains the unassuming Saniyasnain Khan, who holds a Master's
degree in Arabic from Delhi University. 'There, I came across very
innovative and attractive Islamic books designed for children, and I
thought we needed the same in India as well'. Goodword Books have
since broadened their focus. 'We are particularly interested in
reaching out to non-Muslims to explain to them what Islam really is.
We regard this, what we call dawah, or inviting others to Islam, as
our mission', Khan says. This task is particularly urgent today, given
mounting Islamophobia globally. 'Our task is simply to present the
true Islamic perspective', Khan adds. 'We are trying to create a
missionary spirit among Muslims, so that they can relate to others
through love and peace and tell them about Islam', he stresses.



In order to reach out to non-Muslims, Goodword Books has rendered
Maulana Wahiduddin Khan's Urdu translation of the Quran into Hindi and
English as well, and has made them available at the easily affordable
price of 20 rupees a copy. A Hindi version of the Maulana's Quranic
commentary, Tazkirul Quran, is due to be published soon, adding to the
already existing sizeable collection of his works that are available
in that language. In contrast to many other Muslim publishers, the
publications of Goodword Books are also available in several
non-Muslim bookshops in various parts of the country and abroad. And
in order to reach a larger, including non-Muslim, audience, it
regularly participates in book fairs across India and in Western
Europe, North America and South   Africa. 'We recently participated in
 the Chandigarh book fair. Many people, almost all non-Muslims, bought
copies of the Quran from our stall', Khan says. The firm's
recently-launched website www.goodwordbooks.com has enabled it to
reach a far wider audience. 'More than 80 per cent of our sales are in
Western Europe, America and the Middle East', says Khan. 'Several of
our publications have been translated into other languages, including
Tamil, Telugu, Marathi, and even Sindhi, Turkish and Uzbek'.



The average India Muslim family may perhaps find Goodword Books'
publications beyond their reach, but Khan says that his books must
necessarily be priced somewhat higher in order to maintain the high
quality of printing that he insists on. 'I agree that most of our
customers are middle or upper middle class families. But they, too,
need a genre of Islamic literature that speaks to their concerns', he
stresses. At the same time, he says, Muslim publishers who cater to a
more mass-based readership must also focus on trying to produce more
relevant literature. 'For instance', he suggests, 'a venture worth
pursuing is producing textbooks for teaching English meant
specifically for madrasa students. At present, the few madrasas in
India that teach English use books that are written with a completely
different sort of student in mind—children from well-off and
Westernised families'.



Clearly, one factor that explains the high standards of Goodword
Books' publications and the effort these represent to develop a more
relevant and contextual understanding of Islam is Khan's own family
background. Khan's father, Maulana Wahiduddin Khan, is an acclaimed
writer. Khan's sister, Farida Khanum, teaches Islamic Studies at the
Jamia Millia, New Delhi, and is the author of numerous books. His
elder brother, Zafarul Islam Khan, is the editor of one of India's few
Muslim magazines in English, the fortnightly Milli Gazette. The
family's intellectual tradition stands in marked contrast to the case
of owners of many other Indian Muslim publishing houses, accounting,
in large measure, for the novelty in Muslim publishing, that Goodword
Books represents.



Goodword Books' example is one that other Indian Muslim publishing
houses can profit form. I suggest to Khan that he should organize
workshops for other Muslim publishing firms, to help familiarize them
with new printing technologies, broaden their distribution networks
and produce more relevant Islamic literature on themes of contemporary
concern, including books aimed at a non-Muslim audience, addressing,
in particular, the questions they might have about Islam. 'Yes, that's
certainly a good idea', he answers demurely.



Khan hands me a set of audio and video CDs as a gift as I get up to
leave. These are Goodword Books' latest productions—lectures by
Maulana Wahiduddin Khan, seeking to relate Islam to a host of issues
of contemporary import. Khan tells me about his father's daily studio
recordings, and his weekly lectures that are open to the public, which
are now being taped and will probably be broadcast on numerous
television channels in India and abroad. I discover that the Maulana
is 82, and marvel at his zeal, although one may not necessarily agree
with everything that he says. And I marvel, too, at the dedication of
the Goodword Book team that he has helped spawned.
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