In this issue, Misbah interviews Shk. Abdulhusain Shipchandler who has been entrusted with the management of the Burhani Qardan Hasana Trust in Mumbai for the last 23 years. He has been witness to both: its phenomenal growth and to the barakat it has generated among businessmen of the community.

1. When were you entrusted the khidmet of Qardan Hasana Trust? What position did you hold before that?

I started khidmet in Qardan Hasana Trust in the year 1981-1982. Prior to that, I was Chief Executive at India Emirates Commercial Bank, now known as Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank. This was after my service in the Bank of India Head Office, where I had risen to the position of Deputy General Manager

2. How is your Qardan Hasana Trust experience different from your bank experience?

Both experiences are similar in that they involve an assessment of credit risk and organization of credit delivery system-its efficiency and efficacy of administration. In the bank the approach was of professional service, whereas in Burhani Qardan Hasana Trust the focus and thrust is of khidmet discharged professionally

3. The institutionalization of the concept of Qardan Hasana was a visionary feat. How was it instituted and how did it reach its present level of growth?

Based on the Quranic dictates against riba, Syedna Mohammed Burhanuddin (TUS) is the first person in Islamic history to give a clarion call to shun interest in any and all circumstances. Syedna (TUS) institutionalized the Qardan Hasana concept by establishing the Burhani Qardan Hasana Trust in 1980. Through benevolent inayats, year after year, beginning with a few lakhs of rupees to crores of rupees recently, the corpus of the Trust amounts to Rs. 37 crores. Interest free loans are given to Jama'at bodies and individuals. And the progressive repayment schemes accounts for an annual turnover of 60 crores.

4. What are the objectives of the Qardan Hasana Trust?

The principle objective of the Qardan Hasana Trust is to provide interest-free loans for business, industry, housing, marriage, Haj and ziyarat, and in some cases repayment of interest-free debts. The Qardan Hasana also assists in education, medical and poverty relief and schemes for public benefit.

5. How does the concept of Qardan Hasana survive in a world economy that is sustained by interest?

The interest-laden institutions of the world, at both the national and international levels, are now seen deeply mired in bad debts, running into astronomical figures. This necessitates injection of capital from international bodies or national governments only to be caught in the vicious cycle of riba. As against this, the Burhani Qardan Hasana Trust, with its deep spiritual roots in the Quran and the guidance of Aqa Maula (TUS), is free from any bad debt as the audited accounts from 1980 onwards demonstrate. This of course is due to Maula's (TUS) dua mubarak and strict adherence to the operational guidelines specified by Maula (TUS) which involves taking of collateral security.

6. Can you describe some of your audiences with Syedna Taher Saifuddin (RA)?

Syedna Taher Saifuddin (RA) used to grant audiences to youngsters in the late evenings often extending into the wee hours of the morning. Sometime in the Ramadan of 1955, when I was just 25, Maulana Muqaddas (RA) summoned me to Saify Mahal and asked me where I prayed namaaz during Shehre Ramadan. I meekly admitted that I attended Nagdevi Masjid for morning and evening namaaz, but for afternoon namaaz I went to a relation's office in Apollo Street. Maulana Muqaddas reprimanded me with: "Shehrulla ma masjid wagar namaaz?" and instructed me to attend maghrib namaaz in Badri Mahal with Maulana (RA) himself. In this manner Maulana Muqaddas (RA) took upon himself the tarbiyet of every mumin.

On another occasion, Maulana Muqaddas (AQ) made me sit at his feet and recounted with photographic memory important details of the Chandabhoy Galla case and Privy Council appeal, and the khidmet my late father Shaikh Ebrahim Abdulqader was privileged to render during hearings and conferences with counsels. It went on for over an hour past midnight. Today, I am fortunate to be blessed with the nazaraat of Aqa Maula Syedna Mohammed Burhanuddin (TUS) who often recalls the khidmet of my late father. May Allah grant a long life to Aqa Maula (TUS) with radiant health, so that he may deliver us mumineen from the mortal world to eternal bliss in the hereafter.