Obaidullah, the second son of Sultan Jehan Begum of Bhopal was a Hafiz-e-Quran. He accompanied Sultan Jehan Begum during her famous Hajj pilgrimage in the year 1903. Below is an interesting event from their Hajj journey.
‘The next day, the Caravan proceeded towards Medina with an excited Obaidullah careering about the perimeter of the Caravan on his horse. He found the terrain flat and hard, ideal as he said for Polo, and told his mother that he wished he had brought his polo sticks with him.
Begum of Bhopal: The formidable Begums, the Hajj, the memoirs.
So excited was Obaidullah that he rode out alone some distance away from the Caravan and suddenly found himself surrounded by four leering Bedouins who appeared from nowhere. They obliged Obaidullah to accompany them some distance and then, seating him on a large rock, malevolently quoted a verse from the Quran which referred to the ‘rich helping poor’, but which the Bedouins clearly intended as a ransom demand.
Fortunately, Obaidullah, being a Hafiz-e-Quran, was able to recite the entire chapter of the Quran, starting from the verse that the Bedouins had quoted. This recitation completely stupefied and disarmed the menacing Bedouins. Though buzzards and land pirates of the desert, a Bedouin will invariably succumb to the glory of the Quran, especially when recited as lyrically as Obaidullah had done. The Bedouins saluted the young prince and escorted him back to his caravan without even asking for a small Baksheesh (gratuity).’
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It was customary to invite famous dignitaries on the second day of Eid. Below is a rare photograph of Obaidullah sitting in the centre with Ottoman General Rifat- Amir al-Hajj. You can see other Indian guards sporting turbans standing on the back. Photograph taken by Saudi Al Effendi.
Via: History of Indian Subcontinent
