Raja Mohinder Pratap (1886-1979) was one of those
Indians who went to Russia and met Vladimir
Lenin (1870-1924). He was one of a delegation of
freedom-fighters who met the Russian leader in
1919. He tells how, when he entered the room of the
first ruler of communist Russia, Lenin rose to his
feet, and went himself to fetch a small armchair
from the corner of the room. Raja Mohinder Pratap
took his seat on the armchair and Lenin sat next to
him on a sofa. The revolutionary leader’s first
sentence was:
“In which language should I speak: English,
German, French or Russian?”
It was finally settled that the conversation would be
conducted in English. Raja Mohinder Pratap offered
Lenin a copy of his book ‘The Religion of Love’. “I
have read this book,” Lenin said, as soon as he took
hold of it. Raja Mohinder Pratap was astonished.
Where on earth could Lenin have obtained the
book? The previous evening, Lenin explained, when
Raja Mohinder Pratap had met his secretary to fix
the time of appointment, he had given the secretary
a copy of the book. “I took it from him and read it
during the night, in order to familiarize myself with
the thought of the person I was going to meet the
next day.”
Lenin was the founder of modern Russia. He was
an extraordinarily gifted man. Two of his qualities-
—capability and alertness—are illustrated in the
above incident. He had studied so assiduously that
he knew four different languages and was able to
converse fluently in each one of them. Then so alert
and on the ball was he that—despite his enormous
preoccupation with affairs of state—he read the
book of an unknown Indian at night, just so that he
could have some prior knowledge of that person’s
thought when he met him the next day. Lenin made
every effort to cultivate this natural talent; he made
the most of the opportunities that were provided
him; that was how he rose to the ranks of
triumphant world leaders.
These two qualities—capability and alertness—are
required for any kind of work. They are
indispensable for the service of the Islamic cause,
just as they are essential to one working in some
other, secular field.
Firstly one must be fully equipped with
contemporary knowledge, and secondly one must
show oneself to be absolutely prepared in whatever
one does. Lenin showed how one, equipped with
these qualities, can achieve success in the secular
field. If people who show capability and alertness of
this nature apply themselves to the service of the
Islamic cause, then they too will achieve the desired
goal.
Ref - The Moral Vision
- by Maulana Wahiduddin Khan
