In 1972 when Hazrat Sahib (ra) came to England, he was asked off his primary reason for coming to the United Kingdom. As expected with most migrants the answer would have been economic reasons, but Hazrat Sahib (ra) reasons were totally different. He said that he had come in search for a better education for his children. He used to comment on this issue stating that " unfortunately the centers of learning have changed from Baghdad, Cairo and Andalusia and other great centers of learning in the Muslim world to Oxford, Cambridge, Harvard, Yale etc. Although these institutions in the west were modeled initially on the Islamic framework of education and principles of dynamic teaching, the West had overtaken the Islamic Centers of learning by adopting Islamic methods and pursuing the natural sciences and thus creating the glories of modern science that we see today. He would always write in many periodicals stating that there is no such distinction between Islamic and secular sciences, as the Islamic sciences were based on an understanding of man's conduct as ordained by the Almighty Allah and the modern natural scientists were man's own interpretation and endeavors to understand the creation of Allah (SWT). Therefore both these sciences were not different to each other but the pursuance of one was compatible with the other. This ideology was not fully understood in the seventies but twenty years later this form of thinking has become more prevalent amongst the Muslim intellectual circles.

Whilst in search for a better education for his children in the West, Hazrat Sahib (ra) was not going to forget the Islamic sciences and therefore he decided that for his children he would teach them both the Islamic and the modern sciences. This seemed rather strange and bizarre to many of his contemporaries, if not impossible. In their opinion either somebody was a doctor, a Lawyer an engineer or he was an Alim and an Imam. The compatibility between these two in their opinion different disciplines prima facie was not possible. Hazrat Sahib (ra) decided to experiment with his children by teaching them the best of both disciplines. He used to say I have in mind the examples of the great scholars of the Islamic history, who pursued their vocation for Deen and became great intellectual scholars of Islam; who gave direction to the Muslim Ummah at the time of their existence. At the same time they were leading their personal lives within the context of a contemporary profession which was suitable to their day to day living. With this in mind Hazrat Sahib (ra) gave the Tarbiyah (moral development) which was necessary preamble to the education of his children and Alhamdullilah in the 80's he became satisfied that the combination of both educational disciplines was becoming a successful formula.

With this in mind he invited five students who were children of his close mureeds to undertake with him similar disciplines in education. He reminded the parents that this was only an experiment and there were possibilities that it could fail. However these parents were very obedient to the commands of HAZRAT SAHIB (RA) and they were very willing to offer their children not only to acquire the education as understood by HAZRAT SAHIB (RA) but in the service of a great scholar of Islam and their Sheikh. By 1982 this experiment was working with these five children, so HAZRAT SAHIB (RA) decided, to institutionalize the ideology by acquiring premises so that there could be more children who could be housed and given the same disciplines of education. To this end he inquired with many institutions for possible assistance with this project and as nobody could comprehend fully what was being said, either because they believed that it was not possible or they believed that such combination of education was not necessary, they all declined to assist HAZRAT SAHIB (RA) in the acquisition of this building.

The sum required to pay for the ten percent deposit for the new premises was £2300 and Hazrat Sahib (ra) had been given on a previous occasion a sum of £700 by one of his mureeds by the name of Haji Ramadhan Hayat Muhammad to spend as he would on a good Islamic cause. This still left a shortfall of £1600. I remember categorically when HAZRAT SAHIB (RA) was trying to raise the remaining £1600 he decided that he would pull together all the cash that he had which meant taking out the last penny from his wallet even with this effort he was able to manage only £1500. He took the sum of £2290 to the branch of Habib Bank in Coventry and asked the cashier at the bank to supplement this by another £10 from his pocket to make the ten percent deposit required to be paid to the solicitors.

As a young child I had observed my father take all the money he had, to the last penny and donate it all to this noble cause. I had gone to school that day thinking that upon my return we would have to starve as my father would have no money to buy food for that day. I was relieved to see that there was in fact food served on our table albeit base in substance. In remembering this very difficult time upon HAZRAT SAHIB (RA) financially HAZRAT SAHIB (RA) used to comment and reflect and say to me that " son there are some children whose father's are in the habit of spending all their money and wasting it on gambling, on alcohol or prostitution and other immoral activities yet they are not ashamed of taking away the money from their children which is their right and wasting it in this manner. He said "how can I be ashamed of taking away what is my children's right and offering it in the way of Allah Almighty and feel that I have done anything less then that which was my duty.
This small institution grew with the kind donations of Hazrat Sahibs' (ra) mureeds and the voluntary work that was offered in the refurbishment of the said buildings.
It was these humble beginnings that set up the scene for the realization of the Hijaz College Islamic University. By 1988 there had been a number of graduates from the Jamia Islamia that were trained both in the Islamic and the modern disciplines. HAZRAT SAHIB (RA) started to do Du'a for the expansion of this ideology into a fully fledged Islamic University. He held many meetings with the trustees of Jamia Islamia, and also many enquiries were made into the possibilities of acquiring new premises, so that there could be accommodated at least four to five hundred students on campus receiving a similar type of education. The unfortunate scenario that prevailed was that when negotiations started with a number of properties owner, and the agents found out that this was for an Islamic cause, either the price went up to an unaffordable or laughable height or the vendors simply refused to sell. The expansion of this idea was met with the full force of the Islamophobia forces working within the host community. HAZRAT SAHIB (RA) Dua's did not end, neither did the efforts to locate a place for the University.

In 1991 Hazrat Sahib (ra) fell ill with Colamgio Caroinoma, which is the cancer of the liver. Hazrat Sahib (ra) went through an operation (see details later), after which he took a trip to Madina tul Munnawara. During the course of this trip, one evening he raised his hands in submission to Allah Almighty, whilst facing the Ghumbad-e-Khila (the Holy Prophet's Tomb) and he asked Allah Almighty with the Wasillah of the Holy Prophet Muhammad Peace be upon Him to allow him the opportunity for the realization of the premises of Hijaz College and a fully fledged Islamic University. As soon as Hazrat Sahib (ra) came back from this trip to the Holy Land, in 1993 negotiations took place for the acquisition of the Higham Grange Rehabilitation Centre. These negotiations were successful and before Hazrat Sahib (ra) passed away he was able to visit the said premises on a number of occasions. Alas Hazrat Sahib (ra) could not physically live on to see the full accomplishment of that dream, but he continues to live and supervise the general affairs of the College from his shrine at the Campus, by guiding all those who work there spiritually. For more details on the now Hijaz College Islamic University please see the Hijaz Internet site at www.Hijaz.org