Murder in the Name of Allah — Page viii
Murder in the Name of Allah retired as India's High Commissioner to the West Indies. He was also an adviser to the Indian delegation to the United Nations, a fellow of the Indian Council of Historical Research and a student of Arabic teaching at the Al Azhar and Aligarh Universities. . Syed Barakat Ahmad suggested that as the original work in Urdu was addressed to readers who were familiar with Islamic terminology and the important events of early Islamic history, having been brought up in the Muslim cultural background, some changes would be necessary to make the translation of it into English fully comprehensible to readers less familiar with Islam. In view of this some portions were appropriately amended and, at his suggestion, explanations were provided wherever necessary. . Four years or so ago, when Syed Barakat Ahmad undertook this work, he was already suffering from an advanced stage of cancer of the bladder. Doctors had given him six months to live at the longest. He repeatedly wrote to me asking for prayers and expressing his desire that. Allah might grant him the opportunity to finish not only the present work but many other projects he was undertaking at the same time. . It is sad indeed that the translator is no longer with us today, having died in early 1988. But, at the same time, one cannot but feel a deep sense of satisfaction at the thought that he was given an extended lease of life and did not die before he had completed most of the important works he had undertaken. During his few final years, one of his important works - which has drawn wide acclaim - is his book Introduction to Quranic. Script. . Just a few months before his demise, he was also able to write a very scholarly article, 'Muhammad and the Jews', which was acknowledged as a model of historical research. He was in extreme pain and discomfort during his last days, but he was an outstandingly brave man and continued to work almost till his last breath. May Allah rest his soul in eternal peace. . When the translation was sent to the publishers, they conveyed to me the opinion of one of the reviewers that the manuscript should be expanded to include an appraisal of the use of capital punishment for apostacy. They said that the text needed to be updated with reference to growing terrorist tendencies and militancy in some Muslim countries. . In particular, what is understood of Khomeinism and Qaddafism by the West gives people a very negative impression of the peaceful ix