Monday, October 30, 2006

reminder

La Ilaha Illallahu Muhammadur Rasulullah (Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam), There is No one worthy of worship except Allah and Muhammad (Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam) is His messenger.

Purpose of this La Ilaha Illallahu is, Allah is the ONLY Creator and everything and everyone except Him are His creation. Creation cannot do anything without His permission and He can do anything and everything without help of creation.

Purpose of Muhammadur Rasulullah (Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam) is, success in this world (before death) and Akhirat (life after death) is only in following the Orders of Allah according to the way shown by Prophet Muhammad Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam.

Recent Pictures of the Ahsan Manzil Palace


Watch the slide show here:
Click Here!

Saturday, October 28, 2006

Family Eid Milan in Karachi

Thank God, by His grace and mercy, over one hundred and fifty relations, living in Karachi, including children, were kind and gracious to attend the Family Eid Milan held on Thursday 26th October 2006, the day following Eid-ul-Fitr, So many of them had come from far away places, and, it was due to all them that made the occasion a great success.

However, all of us, without any exception, owe a great debt of gratitude to KHWAJA ARSHAD, SHAHNAZ, TUBA, ATYAB and NIDA for doing what they did to make it all happen. Regardless of the fact that our relations are not in the habit of making registrations in spite of such request over a month in advance, Arshad, left no stones unturned whenever he was home from duty – flying for PIA – telephoning as many persons he could to get their registrations and making sure that no one that he knew about was left out. Shahnaz, Nida and Tuba helping with wrapping prizes for the “Lucky Dip” and gifts for the children for which they went shopping. We are indebted to Monty Mashooqullah who, as always, in addition to providing various items, also makes a handsome contribution. We also thank Amir Adnan for his contribution, and Wasi Ahmad and Khwaja Arshad for their share in meeting expenses for the function.

For the past few years Family Eid Milans have been held, through their kindness and courtesy, at the Karachi home of Aliya and Nabil Tebawi for which we will, for ever remain grateful. We thank Murad and Baneen Mashooqullah, who live there, for making their lawn available to us for this purpose.

It was a warm day in Karachi, but there was a light breeze which, along with the pedestal fans so thoughtfully arranged by the catering contractor, was of great help as the guests started arriving, greeting each other and making themselves comfortable under the Shamiana. As announced earlier, between 1.45 and 2 p.m. Khwaja Arshad announced that lunch was being served and, as soon as most of the guests had helped themselves with the delicious food and proceeded to doing justice to it, he asked the eldest member present, MUSA BHAI (Mr. A. M. S. Ahmad, husband of the late Bilquis) to choose a lucky number – each guest, except children under 12 was given a token with a lucky number - from the bag carried over to him by Atyab Arshad. The prize for the first number drawn was presented by Tuba to Begum Kaniz Wajid Khan, a very old friend of the family, and coincidentally, a very close friend of Musa Bhai and Biquis since 1947. They were together in Rajshahi where Mr. Wajid Khan was posted as Controller of Civil Supplies and Musa Bhai was the Superintendent of Police (S.P.). Thereafter, Atyab went round asking different persons, old and young, to pick a number, with Arshad calling out the number and Tuba handing over a prize to the lucky winner.

We were glad to welcome, from far away Canada, Nishat and Aziz Kashani, from Bangladesh, Binoo Zakiuddin and Hushmat Husain from Rawalpindi. There was another coincidence – a meeting of two persons after many, many years – as Nishat Kashani, then a nine-year old girl, remembered having met Mrs. Kaniz Wajid Khan in Murshidabad, where her father, the late Khwaja Bahauddin, was posted as an officer in Civil Supplies. It is possible that among those present, there were others who met one another for the first time, or after many years.

We sincerely hope that, by the grace and mercy of the Lord Almighty, we are given the opportunity to have such a grand re-union year after year, and members of the family are earnestly requested to please make it a point to visit the Dhaka Nawab Family Website – www.nawabbari.com - regularly, and in particular at the beginning of the month of Ramadan for information about Eid Milan. In any case those wishing to attend should not wait to be reminded, and may kindly get in touch with Khwaja Arshad or Shahnaz Arshad (Tel: 021- 584-1835) around the 20th Ramadan and register the number of persons in their respective parties. This will be necessary as the publication of the DNF Newsletter will cease after December 2006.

Khwaja Sayeed Shahabuddin
Karachi - Pakistan
Saturday 28th October 2006

Tree of Nawab Family

Hi DNF team,
Thanks for this website. This is really inspirable work. we the people of bangladesh can come to know about nawab families of Dhaka. I feel proud when I came to know about Nawab Ahsanullah, Sir Salimullah and their contribution for this country.


Do you have the Tree of Nawab family members form the First Generation of Nawab to Current Generation? From where we can get this?

Thanks in Advance.

Latif Mirza
Dhanmondhi, Dhaka

Thursday, October 26, 2006

pray for him he is my loving DADA

KHAWJA ABDUL QUADIR (ASAD) 33 SIR AHASANULLAH ROAD NAWAB BARI NAWAB BARI DHAKA 1100 IS REALLY IN NEED OF YOURS PRAYERS HE JUST SHIFTED IN ICU LAST NIGHT IN SHOMORITA HOSPITAL .AND WE ARE ALL PRAYING FOR HIS QUICK RECOVERY AS SOON AS POSSIBLE AND WE EXPECT ALL YOUR PRAYERS .AND I HAVE NOTHING MORE TO SAY PLEASE PRAY.

The message above was posted on DNF Gupshup last night:

Khawja Abdul Quadir, Asad bhai, is a former President of Moulvi Abdullah Welfare Trust. His wife is better known to family members as Shahnaz apa and his sisters are Zeban apa and Salma apa.

Please pray to Allah that Asad bhai gets well soon.
To check on his welfare, you may call the numbers below:

Dhaka: (8802) 739-0591 (Home)
(8801) 715823100 (Mobile)

Dubai: (9714) 288-4057

- DNF Website Team

Wednesday, October 25, 2006

Addressed to Mr. Sayeed Shahabuddin

As an honorable elder member of the DNF, I shall most respectfully request your kind self to write few words regarding following DNF historic issues, that may be of most informative to the new generation of DNF childrens.

(1) What are the real differences between Nain sharers and Proja Party

(2) Why another Khawjas are call Proja Party (mostly lived around gol talab)

(3) What role did honorable Khawja Nazimuddin played to settle dispute between Nain Shares and Proja Party

(4) Why there exist two kabarstan in begumbazar?

(5) Is it true that honorable Khawja Nazimuddin publicly acknowledged before justice (in court) that "indeed injustice was done to the Proja Party by the Nain Sharers"Since you write well, please do write in detail. I understand this may be an emotional issue for some. However, like myself, many would like to know detail from both sides. This is important one must know all the detail from all sides to conclude an unbias opion.

Respectfully Submitted
Iftekhar Hassan

Tuesday, October 24, 2006

Forgive and Forget

Over the years, there have been internal strifes between the children of Khwaja Alimullah, the patriarch of the present day Dhaka Nawab Family.

Let's pray to Allah to forgive those who caused those differences between brothers and their offsprings.

Let's pray to Allah to bless those who suffered.

Let's pray to Allah to forgive those who were proud and acted in the interest of a few instead of all of the children of Khwaja Alimullah.

Let's all pray for forgiveness to Allah, since as human beings we are infallible.

This website is about family unity. We all know why there are two graveyards in Begum bazar.
Is it all worth debating it after all these years ?

Certainly not.

It is very very hard to forgive. But a great person is one who forgets and forgives for Allah.
If we forgive, Allah will forgive us.

- DNF Website Team

Sunday, October 22, 2006

But what this Hilal Saying?

http://www.hilal-sighting.com/

Eid in North America-MONDAY?

Fiqh Council of North America and ISNA declared that Eid-al-Fitr is on Monday, October 23.
Click, For details of Fiqh Council's decision and other supporting articles

EID MUBARAK

To relations and friends around the world

EID MUBARAK

GREETINGS, BLESSINGS AND BEST WISHES FOR EID-UL-FITR

MAY THE GRACE AND MERCY OF ALLAH SUBHAANAHU WA TA’ALA BE UPON YOU AND ALL MEMBERS OF YOUR FAMILY, WITH HEALTH, EVERY HAPPINESS,, SUCCESS AND ALL THAT IS BEST IN THIS WORLD AND IN THE HEREAFTER.

LET US ALSO REMEMBER ALL OUR NEAR AND DEAR ONES WHO HAVE RETURNED TO THEIR HEAVENLY HOMES AND PRAY: MAY THEIR SOULS REST IN ETERNAL HEAVENLY PEACE IN THE COMPANY OF THOSE ALLAH LOVES MOST.

SAYEED AND AYESHA
SHAHABUDDIN

Karachi: Saturday 21st October 2006

========================================

Looking ahead
To begin with I would like to express my deep sense of gratitude to all those who have been so kind and gracious to write or telephone me after reading the editorial of the October Newsletter entitled: "Time to bid farewell". I am deeply touched and overwhelmed with the messages I have received. However, it is time now for us to look ahead to the Dhaka Nawab Family Website, set up by the DNF Website team, which could now be used to keep the family united and in touch with one another. I shall be happy to receive messages by the end of each month, compile and post them in the "Gupshup" section of the website once every month beginning with Saturday 6th January 2007. It will be like the Newsletter section: "About ourselves – from around the world." After me, or, if for any reason I am not available, your messages should be sent direct to Belal Hassan whose e-mail address may kindly be noted as follows: belalhassan1@yahoo.com

God willing,we are likely to be out of Karachi for about two weeks from Wednesday 8th November 2006. Therefore, the last date for receiving materials for the last issue (December 2006) will be 25th November 2006.

Khwaja Sayeed Shahabuddin
Saturday 21st October 2006
Karachi - Pakistan

Friday, October 20, 2006

eid mubarak to u all dnf

i got some rare pic of nawab family member and wanted to hand over it to some responsible person so plz contact me shortly.

Monday, October 16, 2006

Here Is A Poetry For All DNF Members To Read

From: Iftekhar Hassan

Also Share this with your Childrens, This will inspire them to be a better human being

This poetry was suppose to be written by Mother Teresa of Kolkatta

ANYWAY….by Mother Teresa

People are often unreasonable, illogical and self-centered;Forgive them anyway.
If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives;Be kind anyway.
If you are successful, you will win some false friends and some genuine enemies;Succeed anyway.
If you are honest and sincere, people may deceive you;Be honest and sincere anyway.
What you spend years building, someone could destroy overnight;Build anyway.
If you find serenity and happiness, some may be jealous;Be happy anyway.
The good you do today, will often be forgotten tomorrow;Do good anyway.
Give the world the best you have, and it may never be enough;Give the world your best anyway.
You see, in the final analysis, it is between you and God;It was never between you and them anyway.

Respectfully Submitted

Iftekhar Hassan

Sunday, October 15, 2006

Jaya-Faisal: Heart to Heart

6 October 2006 - One of the leading TV models of Bangladesh, Faisal comes from the Nawab Family of Dhaka. Jaya, a popular TV model and a talented actress, comes from a typical conservative middle class family and this is their love story...

Read Complete Story

Humble reminder for donation for Begum Bazar family graveyard


There’s no better time than the holy month of Ramadan to remember our beloved deceased family members. Let us contribute graciously for the family graveyard.

The graveyard is being maintained by present motawalli of Rasul Baksh Wakf Estate - K.M.Halim. This is also mentioned on the home page of this website. Please refer to Committees of the Estate box, sub section Begum Bazar Graveyard.

If you would like to send cash immediately please contact Mr. K.M. Halim at (8802) 811-5984. The banking info is as following
Islami Bank Bangladesh Ltd, Islampur Branch, Account No.4983-1.

Please contact the following for donation In North America:
Canada: K.Osman Ahmed 416 828 6666
US:
Anas Khwaja 718 606 9487
Saniya Sajed 917 622 6993
S.K.Belal Hassan 718 459 1464
K Arshad Abdullah 6469329020

I hope family members in Karachi ,Dubai or London can appoint a senior member of the family for collection and remittance during their respective Eid Milan.


May Allah accept your Karz E Hasana.
Anas Khwaja

Death in Ramadan

Mr. Sakhawat of Begumbazar died of heart attack on October 2nd.
Inna lillahe waa inna ilaihe rajeun.
He was married to Tahera Begum (d/o Moulvi Hafizullah a.k.a Moulvi Saab) of the Dhaka Nawab Family.
He left behind two sons Faisal and Raju and a daughter Shampa.
May Allah bless him Jannatul Firdaus.

Friday The 13th

Friday 13th October is a day of great significance in the history of Bangladesh. I am sure each and every person in Pakistan will join me in conveying our heartiest congratulations to Dr. Muhammad Yunus Khan, members of his family and the people of Bangladesh. May God bless him with health and the strenght to keep up his work in serving humanity.
On a lighter note, a combination of the day of the week "Friday", and the number "13" is dreaded by highly supersticious people, specially in western countries. They think "Friday the thirteenth" spells doom, and hotels and apartment buildings do not have a "13th Floor". Number 13 is supersticiously associated with the "last supper" of Jesus Christ, upon whom be peace. An expression which is very common, even among Muslims who, instead of saying "thank God" or "Alhamdulillah" would say "touch wood" - touching the wooden part of a furniture or their own head - without realising that, the "wood" they are referring to is the "wooden cross" reverred by the Christians.
Khwaja Sayeed Shahabuddin
Karachi, Pakistan
Saturday 14th October 2006

Umrah & Hajj



Syed Osama Shahbazi (s/o Syed Maboob Hussain Shahbazi) left NY for Jeddah on Sunday Oct 8th. He is going to perform Umrah before flying to Bangladesh.

Also Syed Shamaz Salim (s/o Syed Reaz Salim) will be out of Maryland (16th Dec to 4th January) to perform Hajj. May Allah accept their Umarah and Hajj.

Engagement in Maryland


Syed Farees Salim (s/o Syed Aziz Salim and Yasmeen Salim) of Paribagh got engaged with Liala Fisher (d/o Ken Fisher) of Fairfax Virginia. Laila Fisher is marketing analyst at SAIC.
Farees hails from Paribagh, Dhaka and currently settled in Rockville Maryland. He is the manager at Furnight Club in Maryland.

Let's wish them happy and prosperous relationship.

Friday, October 13, 2006

Proud day for all Muslims: Microloan Pioneer Dr. Yunus Wins Nobel Peace Prize

OSLO, Norway (AP) -- Bangladeshi economist Muhammad Yunus and the Grameen Bank he founded won the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday for their pioneering use of tiny, seemingly insignificant loans -- microcredit -- to lift millions out of poverty.

Read Complete Story

Check it out!

Thursday, October 12, 2006

Dhaka Wanderers 1950s

Hope you all will be able to identify who is who in the photo...

This photo is of the Dhaka Wanderers Cricket team who were league champions of East pakistan for 11 consecutive years. I was able to identify my father (Khwaja Masood Nasarullah) who is the third from right at the back...

and I remember my father talking about Ather Chachu in the pic.

- Khwaja Anas Nasarullah

Saturday, October 07, 2006

Obituary: Khwaja Abdul Halim

Khwaja Abdul Halim breathed his last at Dhaka Medical Hospital 10:30am on Oct 6 Saturday, at the age of 85. Inna lillahe wa inna ilayhe rajeun. After his namaz-e-janaza at Nawab Bari Jame Masjid he was buried at the Begum Bazaar family graveyard.

He was the son of Khwaja Abdul Gafoor and husband of Mahe Jabeen Begum (d/o Nawabzada K.M.Afzal and g/d/o Nawab K. Yusuf Jaan).
Khwaja Abdul Halim was born in the Dhaka Nawab Family on 21st June 1921.
He did his Masters in Persian from Dhaka University in 1942 and stood First Class First.
He joined the erstwhile East Pakistan Civil Service. He worked as a Magistrate in Moulvibazar, Sylhet. He also served in Chuadanga as an ASDO (Additional Sub-Divisional Officer) and in Pabna as a SDO (Sub-Divisional Officer).
After the independence of Bangladesh, he was placed as a Section Officer in the Ministry of Commerce. Subsequently, he was also promoted to the level of Deputy-Secretary of the Local Govt & Rural Development Ministry.
In 1973, he was ADC of Dinajpur and also held the charge of Deputy Commissioner there.
In 1976, he joined Trading Corporation of Bangladesh (TCB) as Secretary and served there until his retirement in 1979.
During the rule of President Ziaur Rahman, he was called back from retirement and was assigned Special Magistrate of Joydevpur.
He was a good hockey player and played for Dhaka University. He also worked for East Pakistan Radio. He will be remembered in Nawabbari for his annual grand “Urs” in honor of Khwaja Moinuddin Chisti at his residence.
Khwaja Abdul Halim is survived by his wife, five sons as Zahed, Rasehd, Sajed, Hamed and Khaled and three daughters as Nanno, Mehwar and Farhat (Apu).
To offer your condolences, please contact:

K.M.Sajed: Dhaka (8802) 739-1060
Farhat Jabeen (Apu): New York (718) 699- 1620
K.M. Rashed : Stockholm 4646127997

Sailing down memory lane


SAILING DOWN MEMORY LANE

(Once upon a time, though very briefly, I had been a sailor)

Reading about the first telephone reminds me about the telephone numbers and I wonder how many of us remember the numbers of family telephones? As far as I can remember they were: Ahsan Manzil - 65; Dilkusha (Paltan) - 53; River View (K.M. Ismail) - 109 and our home (Bait-ul-Amn) - 13. The telephone in Ahsan Manzil was at the "Ghanta Pahra" near the poritco at the main entrance of the building.

As we entered Ahsan Manzil from Islampur Road,through the main gate - with Naubat Khana above it - we passed Mansur Castle and the Mosque on the right and the "Hauz" place for "Wazu" on the left. Beyond that were the stables where horses were kept. In front of the main building was the "Bara Chakkar", the playing field where a game of hockey would be on every afternoon and the wall along the road filled with spectators. Right in front of "Ghanta Pahra" a few chairs were laid on for senior members of the family, including Nawab Habibullah to watch the games. The "Ghanta Pahra" used to be manned by at least one Durwan 24 hours a day and the oerson on duty would sound the gong (Ghanti) every hour on the hour. This could be heard far enough - including the "Gol" talab - for the inmates to check the time. As you walked past the main entrance of the building and turned right around the corner, on the left was the "Chota Chakkar" meant for youngsters. The steps down the rear of the building led to a massive garden with well kept lawns where garden parties, wedding receptions etc. were held and how we use to look forward to the lovely cakes, pastries and ice cream served by the famous "PINCHU'. As you went out of the eastern gate, next to it was "River View" the home of Mr. K. M. Ismail.

In those days the family used to enter four teams to play hockey in the Dacca Hockey League and various other tournaments. The senior most was the Bachelors , followed by Nawab XI, Atiqullah XI and one more, I forget the name.

The Bachelors had the distiction of reaching the semi-finals of the Beighton Cup (the Blue Riband of Indian hockey) in Calcutta, I think, in 1917. More as I remember, God willing. So much for today. May the Lord Almighty, with your prayers and blessings, grant me the opportunity of continuing to write regularly.
Khwaja Sayeed Shahabuddinn
Karachi, Pakistan
Saturday 7th October 2006

Time to bid farewell

TIME TO BID FAREWELL
There is a well known saying that: "All good things must come to an end", and it is with utmost regret that members of the Dhaka Nawab Family, subscribers and all others, who read with interest, are informed that, the time has come for the Dhaka Nawab Famly Newsletter to bid farewell in this "sixteenth" year of its publication.
It is difficult for me to explain, why, on waking up from sleep in the morning of Sunday 10th September, a thought flashed across my mind that, the time has come for me to start making plans to retire from this "labour of love" which has sustained me for over fifteen years, keeping me occupied, and giving me so much pleasure in keeping in touch with members of the family around the world.

However, the fact is that I too am beginning to feel the strain as I get along in years, and the position now is such that, if God so wills, and grants me the opportunity to cease publication of the Newsletter in my life time, it can very easily be done with the December issue, at the end of the year 2006. Unless, of course, someone else volunteers to take on the responsibility to continue publication, in which case, as long as I am around, by Allah’s grace and mercy, I shall help and guide the person to the best of my ability.

The position of our account at present is such that the Advisory Committee will not be faced with the problem of distributing excess funds to various charities that had been agreed to some years ago, and be left in a mess, if the publication of the Newsletter came to an end abruptly, on my passing away, a fact which we must all accept and submit ourselves to the will and plan of the Lord Almighty, in Whose hands is the final decision – how, when and where?
I am grateful to the Members of the Newsletter Advisory Committee for their help, support and the implicit trust with which they let me use my own initiative and do whatever was needed to bring out this publication month after month for over fifteen years. By the way, I made a mistake by giving the impression in the editorial – in verse – of the July 2006 Newsletter that it was the Sixteenth anniversary, whereas, it was the FIFTEENTH. The error is regretted.
However, by the grace of God, all is not lost as members of the family can continue sharing news about themselves with others around the world even after the closing of the Newsletter on 31st December 2006.
Thanks to Belal Hassan, Anas, Saniya and Arshad, in New York, we now have the Dhaka Nawab Family Website – www.nawabbari.com - where all the news and views can be posted in the Gupshup section on a daily basis without their intervention. It is a free for all, but they do read everything that is posted to make sure nothing is offensive. This can be done by going to the "Gupshup" section in the website. You will see the "Create a Discussion" link on the right side. Click on the "Create a Discussion" link. It will open a box where you can type a news item and publish it instantly.
Finally I wish to thank each and everyone of you for your kind consideration, help and cooperation over the past fifteen years, without which there could have been no Newsletter; specially those who have been kind and gracious to keep contributing items of news, articles etc. May the grace and mercy of the Lord Almighty and His blessings be upon you all forever and ever, with health, every happiness and all that is best in this world and in the hereafter.
Khwaja Sayeed Shahabuddin
Karachi, Pakistan
Saturday 7th October 2006

Hi5 group

hey all... I'v opened a group on hi5 for the family people... and ur all invited to join!... Search for The Dhaka Nawabs or go to http://www.hi5.com/friend/group/displayGroupFront.do?groupId=1360311...

thnx!
Khwaja Anas Nasarullah

Picture of the month

Tuesday, October 03, 2006

Pink Palace set to look pretty again

Century-old Ahsan Manzil, the majestic building once known as Pink Palace, is undergoing renovation after 13 years of its opening in 1992. After the renovation at a cost of Tk 13 crore, visitors will be able to see the building at night as floodlights will be installed under the renovation project. Photo Syed Zakir Hossain

Read Complete Story