[Reader-list] reader-list Digest, Vol 46, Issue 3

Wed May 2 15:41:13 IST 2007

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> Today's Topics:
>
>   1. Second Posting: Muslim Publishing Houses in Delhi--Markazi
>      Maktaba Islami (Yogi Sikand)
>   2. mapping genocide + (yasir ~)
>
>
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Message: 1
> Date: Tue, 1 May 2007 16:02:10 +0530
> From: "Yogi Sikand" <ysikand at gmail.com>
> Subject: [Reader-list] Second Posting: Muslim Publishing Houses in
> Delhi--Markazi Maktaba Islami
> To: reader-list at sarai.net
> Message-ID:
> <48097acc0705010332y3495b049r2854fb144d7e2714 at mail.gmail.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="windows-1252"
>
> *Muslim Publishing Houses in  Delhi*
>
> * *
>
> * *
>
> *Atiqur Rab is the Manager of the New Delhi-based Markazi Maktaba Islami
> (MMI). One of the largest Muslim publishing houses in India, the MMI is
> associated with the Jamaat-e Islami Hind. Below are excerpts of the
> conversation that he had with Naseem ur-Rahman and Yoginder Sikand 
> recently.
> *
>
>
>
> The MMI works under the Human Welfare Trust, whose members are largely
> people associated with the Jamaat-e Islami Hind. This Trust, which was
> established by the Jamaat-e Islami Hind in 1994, works at an all-India
> level. Its aims include social work, providing scholarships and publishing
> Islamic literature. The Trust has around 10 members. Its present chairman,
> Abdul Haq Ansari Saheb, was, till recently, the *Amir* or President of the
> Jamaat-e Islami Hind.
>
>
>
> Prior to the setting up of the Human Welfare Trust, the MMI was run under
> the Ishaat-e Islam Trust. The MMI was established in 1973. Prior to that,
> the Jamaat used to publish its literature through the Maktaba Jamaat-e
> Islami Hind, which was established in Rampur in 1948, soon after the
> Partition. It remained in Rampur till it was shifted to Delhi in 1960.
> Before the Partition, Jamaat literature was published from Pathankot, 
> where
> Maulana Maududi, the founder of the Jamaat, then resided.
>
>
>
> The MMI publishes Islamic literature in English, Hindi and Urdu. One of 
> our
> principal objectives is to provide people with a proper understanding of
> Islam in the light of the Holy Quran and the Hadith and to counter
> misunderstandings about and propaganda against Islam. Through our
> literature, we seek to present Islam as a complete code of conduct, which
> provides guidance, principles and rules for all aspects of personal and
> social life. Hence, our literature covers all aspects of society, from
> prayer and dress to economics, women's rights, inter-community relations 
> and
> international relations. The books we produce aim to provide Islamic
> perspectives on all these issues. We seek to address issues that are 
> debated
> and discussed so much today in the media. For instance, we have produced
> many books on the rights and status of women in Islam that aim at 
> countering
> the wrong arguments that some detractors put forward regarding Islam and
> women. Likewise, since there is today much talk that seeks to wrongly link
> Islam with terrorism, we have produced many books that aim to counter this
> propaganda and to present the true teachings of Islam. Thus, our 
> literature
> is directed both at Muslims as well as non-Muslims, addressing issues and
> questions that they might have about Islam.
>
>
>
> Some Muslim publishing houses produce books that are geared to promoting
> inter-sectarian rivalries. This is really unfortunate. The MMI consciously
> stays away from this sort of thing. We don't publish anything that might
> create conflict, be it on the basis of sect, caste or religion. Our 
> mission
> is only to promote Islam through literature based on the Quran and the
> Hadith.
>
>
>
>
>
> It is true that, like most other such publishing houses, we have published
> only a few books that are based on social, scientific, empirical research 
> on
> Muslims in India. We prefer to focus on the *usul* or principles of Islam
> and to provide, through our literature, Islamic solutions to a wide range 
> of
> problems and issues. We believe that if Muslims, and others as well, were 
> to
> put these principles into action, our problems would be solved. However, I
> admit there is a pressing need for more empirical studies on Indian 
> Muslims.
> This is important for the development and empowerment of the community and
> also to disabuse people of serious misunderstandings that they might have
> about Muslims. Unfortunately, few Muslim publishing houses bring out
> literature of this sort. The MMI prefers to focus on the normative Islamic
> position on a wide range of issues. Others can, and, indeed must, focus on
> publishing texts based on the empirical conditions of the country's 
> Muslims.
> Another issue is that we don't have the resources to conduct or commission
> large empirical studies. Further, such studies require a different sort of
> social science research methodology. Hopefully, the younger generation of
> Muslim scholars will take this issue up with the urgency that it deserves.
>
>
>
> Many non-Muslims have misunderstandings and doubts about Islam. To address
> these issues, we also aim at reaching out to a non-Muslim readership. 
> Hence,
> the Jamaat has translated the Holy Quran into numerous Indian languages.
> Publishing houses run by Jamaat activists or sympathisers in various 
> states
> of India produce considerable Islamic literature in various regional
> languages, including books as well as magazines. These provide Islamic
> perspectives on a range of issues as well as seek to correct
> misunderstandings that some people might have about Islam.
>
>
>
>
>
> Decisions to publish new books are taken by the Tasnifi Academy, which
> consists of leading members of the Jamaat, who are experts in different
> fields. The Academy has half a dozen or so members. Sometimes, people pen 
> a
> manuscript and send it to the MMI authorities, asking them if they would 
> be
> interested in publishing it as a book. But more commonly, the Tasnifi
> Academy requests experts in different fields to write books on the 
> subjects
> in which they have an expertise. The Academy meets every three months to
> decide on new books. Often, this decision is taken based on the importance
> of a particular topic at a particular time. For instance, because of the
> wrong propaganda in recent years about Islam being linked to terrorism, 
> the
> Academy decided that the MMI must publish books that clearly set out the
> true Islamic position on the matter.
>
>
>
> Most of our authors are members of the Jamaat. But this does not mean that
> we only publish books written by Jamaat members. In fact, we have 
> published
> some books by authors who are not members of the Jamaat, but who 
> sympathise
> with its objectives and understanding of Islam and who support the Islamic
> movement. We haven't as yet commissioned research projects which can then 
> be
> published as books, although perhaps this is a good idea.
>
>
>
> We offer ten per cent royalty to our authors, but most of our authors who
> are members of the Jamaat themselves choose not to take any money for 
> their
> books. We also offer five per cent royalty to translators of books which 
> we
> publish. We provide forty per cent discount to distributors on most of our
> books. Our books are quite affordable and modestly priced. In fact, this 
> is
> true for most Urdu publishing houses in India. Urdu books are much cheaper
> than English books because our pricing policy is shaped by our consumers'
> behaviour and purchasing power. On the whole, the average Urdu reader has
> limited purchasing power, so Urdu books are priced much more modestly. But
> we still make some profit in order to keep us functioning. On the whole, 
> our
> profit margin is between fifteen to twenty per cent, but making profit is
> not our aim.
>
>
>
> We have a good distribution network across India and we also export books,
> to the Gulf, Europe, America, etc.—mainly to places where there is a South
> Asian Muslim immigrant community. We have two marketing executives as well
> as a number of like-minded people in different places in India who sell 
> our
> books. Relatively, few non-Muslim-owned bookshops stock our books, but
> several others get in touch with us or our local distributors when they
> receive orders for books published by us. In 2002, we launched our own
> website [www.mmipublishers.net], through which we are now able to reach 
> out
> to a far larger potential readership. We get regular orders, from Muslims 
> as
> well as others, for our books through our website.
>
>
>
> It is important for Islamic publishing houses to reach out to non-Muslims,
> too. They must not remain a Muslim preserve. Islam is for everyone, so our
> publishing houses must reach out with the message of Islam to others as
> well, and also in order to address the misunderstandings they might have
> about our faith. The MMI has tried to do this in different ways. For
> instance, we have advertised some of our books a couple of times in the
> Hindi *Rashtriya Sahara*, which has a very good circulation. On the 
> occasion
> of the Kumbh Mela in Allahabad, we advertised in a Hindi newspaper about 
> the
> Hindi translation of the Holy Quran which we had published. I wish we 
> could
> advertise our books in English newspapers, too, but that is very costly. 
> We
> have sent some of our books to *The Hindu* for review, but, unfortunately,
> they were not reviewed. Reviews are a good means of publicizing new books,
> but, lamentably, few Urdu newspapers, especially in north India, have a 
> book
> review section. We also send our new books free of cost to some major 
> public
> libraries in different parts of India. This is a very effective way of
> reaching out to people.
>
>
>
> In our effort to reach out to a wider readership, both Muslims as well as
> others, we regularly participate in book fairs held in different parts of
> India, where we set up our stalls. We participate every year in the 
> National
> and International book fairs in New Delhi. In these fairs, many of our
> customers are non-Muslims. Recently, we participated in a book fair in 
> Dehra
> Dun. Most of our customers there were Hindus. Many of them appreciated our
> literature. A large number of them had  no access to Islamic literature
> before.
>
>
>
> Today, MMI is one of the largest Islamic publishing houses in India. Some
> six hundred titles that we have published in Urdu, Hindi and English are
> still being printed and distributed, and every year we add around thirty 
> new
> books to that list. We reprint around 300 titles every year. We have come 
> a
> long way, but, yes, I would agree that there is still so much for us to 
> do.
>
> Atiqur Rab can be reached at mmipub at nda.vsnl.net.in
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> ------------------------------
>
> Message: 2
> Date: Wed, 2 May 2007 14:29:58 +0500
> From: "yasir ~" <yasir.media at gmail.com>
> Subject: [Reader-list] mapping genocide +
> To: reader-list at sarai.net
> Message-ID:
> <5af37bb0705020229r5a3d6947k22fce21a32f7540e at mail.gmail.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="ISO-8859-1"; format=flowed
>
> US 'bans' access to Google Earth in Sudan
>
> Only days after Google joined up with the US Holocaust Memorial Museum
> to map the conflict in Darfur, the US Treasury has apparently banned
> access to images from Google Earth in Sudan as part of its ongoing
> export controls and economic sanctions against the country.
>
> http://panos.blogs.com/iwitnesses/2007/04/us_bans_access_.html
>
>
> holocaust museum + google earth : mapping conflict
>
> http://www.ushmm.org/googleearth/
>
>
> ------------------------------
>
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> End of reader-list Digest, Vol 46, Issue 3
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