by Mohammad Amjad Hossain – published in the Daily Sun on 15 June, 2013

Today I would like to touch on a linguist-educationist woman whom this writer met more than once during a tour of duty as a diplomat from Bangladesh to Germany from 1996-1999. She is Dr Annemarie Schimmel who had obtained two doctoral degrees in Islamic languages and civilisation and also in history of religion and turned out to be an eminent scholar on Islam being a protestant German Christian.

It is difficult to understand her state of mind that was fluent in Arabic, Persian, Turkish, French and Urdu, apart from English and German. At age 7 Annemarie studied Arabic leaving aside piano lesson. Having obtained doctorate in Islamic languages and civilisation from the University of Berlin, when she was 19 she moved to teach at the University of Marburg, one of the oldest universities of the world, from there Annemarie did secure another doctoral degree in the history of religions. At age 23 she became a professor of Arabic and Islamic studies. A turning point in her educational career came when she was appointed as Professor of History of Religions at the University of Ankara, Turkey in 1954. During her 5-year stay in Turkish University she came to know more about Sufism. Islamic Sufism has been spread from Old Persian and Turkish to South Asian Subcontinent. Sufism has been defined by classical scholars on Sufism ‘as a science whose objective is the purification of heart and turning away from all else but Allah’. Sufism reflects the name for the “inner or esoteric dimension of Islam which is supported and complemented by onward or exoteric practices of Islam”. Zhigir, for example, in the name of Allah falls in the category of Sufism. I would like to quote poem from Jalal-Din-Mohammad Balkhi in Persia, who is popularly known as Rumi, but in Turkey he is known as Mevlana Rumi who laid to rest at Konya in Turkey. The poem said: Oh! Supreme lover! Let me leave aside my worries/ The flowers are blooming with the exultation of your spirit/ By Allah! I long to escape the prison of my ego and lose myself in the mountains and the desert. The poem was translated by Deepak Chopra, an Indian journalist settled in California.

First I met this great linguist and celebrated expert on Sufism at a seminar in Bonn in 1997 where she gave a lecture extemporaneously for an hour or so shutting down her eyes. It was sponsored by an Islamic Institute in Mannheim. Here too Annemarie quoted extensively from Rumi and Allama Mohammad Iqbal. I was amazed and mesmerised to listen to Annemarie speech. I have had very short meeting with her as she was surrounded by a lot of admirers of her. Annemarie also wrote a number of poems based on spirit of medieval Muslim mystics.

Another meeting took place in 1998 at a seminar at Grand Mosque of Bonn established by Saudi Arabia where I have had the privilege to hand over my article on status of women in Islam which Netz’s — a German non-government agency — carried in their journal. Netz had translated the article in German. In February, 1999 I have had the pleasure to enjoy the company of Annemarie Schimmel at our official residence along with Dr. Novak, former and retired ambassador of Germany to Saudi Arabia, Dr Jurgen Gehl, former ambassador of Germany to Bangladesh, and Doctor Mohammad Imran, First Secretary of Bangladesh embassy in Bonn, who is now Bangladesh Ambassador to Uzbekistan. She confided to this writer that she had been to Bangladesh two times to meet Pallikabi Jasimuddin where she met with his illustrious daughter Hasna Moudud. She was delighted to enjoy Bangladeshi cuisine and requested my wife Momtaz Hossain to send her recipe. On receipt of recipe Annemarie wrote to my wife thanking her by saying “I apologise for the delay in writing to you. I was constantly on lecture tours in England, Sweden, and Germany, and so it goes on”. The letter was dated 2.6.99. We had an extensive discussion on her career which mostly served as an ambassador of Islam to foster a better understanding of Islam and the Muslim world in the west. She also thanked me for meeting Dr Novak after 30 years. Lastly I bade my farewell call on her to her residence at Lennestr 42 in October 1999 on completion my tour of duty in Germany. She was in the midst preparing to visit Rawalpindi but postponed because of emergency situation arose in Pakistan. She had been to Pakistan several times and translated Allama Iqbal’s Javednama into German. She received three honorary degrees from different universities of Pakistan. She was decorated with the coveted civil award of Tamgha-i-Imtiaz by the Pakistan government.

Annemarie is on record by saying that “I have never seen anything in the holy Quran or in the traditional writings that called for or even allowed terrorism or hostage-taking”. On Salat, which is very important element in Islam, Annemarie Schimmel commented by saying: “belief in the purifying power of ritual prayer is intense. The Prophet (peace be upon him) compared it to a stream of water that washes off sins five times a day. The performance of prayer at the prescribed time constitutes ideally a means of educating Muslims to punctuality, cleanliness and since there is no ranking in the mosque, equal participation in the life of the community. Prayer can also lead to ecstasy experiences and when one observes a praying Muslim who is oblivious of anything and he seems to have drawn himself, as it were out of this world to stand humbly before the Lord, one realises best whence Islam thrives its vital strength”. I have never come across such explanation about Salat.

To her credit go 105 books, including translations. She was recipient of many international awards. She was the first female President of the International Association of the Study of Religion in 1980, a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, a recipient of the Grosses Bundesverdientskreuz. After retirement as a professor of Indo-Muslim culture from Harvard University, Annemarie Schimmel became Honorary Professor of Bonn University. Annemarie Schimmel chair for Indo-Muslim culture was established on her 75th birth day in 1997 at Bonn University. She used to reside near Bonn University. She breathed her last on January 26, 2003 at the age of 80. A commentator in writing obituary in the Guardian of London on February 6 wrote that she was a gifted teacher, sensitive interpreter of Islam and a bridge for intercultural dialogue.