In Praise of Allah

Radiance Viewsweekly
7th August 2008

IFT Releases Soundara Kailasam's Poems in Praise of Allah
The Tamil book Ellia Illa Arulalaa by Mrs. Soundara Kailasam was released at a programme organised recently by the publisher, Islamic Foundation Trust at Chennai.
Justice Chokkalingam of Madras High Court released the first copy, which was received by Mr. Meeran of Professional couriers. He reviewed the book and wondered while he was reading the book whether the author is a Hindu or a Muslim.
The book is characterised by lucidity of thought and felicity of expression. It has poems about Allah, Prophet Muhammad (peace be to him), his holy wives Khadeeja and Ayisha, his daughter Fatima, Surah Yaseen, etc.
The IFT has so far published 185 books. Ellia Illa Arulalaa, on the teachings of Allah, is the first book written by a non-Muslim that the Trust has brought out.
Mrs. Nalini Chidambaram, senior advocate, Supreme Court and daughter of the author, addressed the function, which was presided over by Mr. H.Abdur Raqeeb, Chairman, IFT. Former Vice-Chancellor Prof Dr. Sadiq, Nalli Kuppusamy Chetty, Moulavi Niyaz, S.N. Sikkandar, K. Jalaludeen, Joint Sec. IFT, Imran Lateef Sait, Treasurer, IFT also participated in the function.
A large gathering including women attended the meeting.
During the function two other Tamil books published by IFT, Ulagamayamaakkalum Muslim Ilaignarkalum (Globalisation and Muslim Youth by Saadathullah Hussainy), Shyeik Shah Waliyullah Dehlavi's book Nabi Mozhi Naarpathu (Chehal Hadeeth) were also released.
Mrs. Soundara Kailasam, 80, comes from a family of socially conscious people. She is the granddaughter of Rathnasabapathi Gounder, the main person behind the Thiruchengode Gandhi Ashram, founded by Rajagopalacharya and formally opened by Periyar E.V. Ramasamy Naicker. She is wife of former Supreme Court Judge Late Mr. Kailasam and mother-in-law of Union Finance Minister Mr. P. Chidambaram. Mrs. Kailasam has held various positions in several government as well as non-governmental organisations. She held the post of senatorship of the Madras, Annamalai and Tanjore Tamil Universities. She was awarded the Asan Smaraka Kavitha Puraskaram in 1989. She was also awarded Rs.10,000 by the Islamic literary conference at Kilakkarai, Tamil Nadu in 1990.