After approximately a month and a half since my letter dated November 8, I received the following response:

Delhi, December 19, 1962

Dear Brother,

Assalamu Alaykum,

I apologize for the delay in replying to your letter dated November 8. The main reason for this delay, as I mentioned earlier, was that I wanted to review your comments before responding. Despite waiting and asking several times, I was not given access to them. Additionally, I needed to consult with Maulana Sadruddin and others, which I have now done.

I don’t find your impression correct that we are neither willing nor prepared to satisfy your concerns. After all, Maulana Sadruddin wrote a lengthy document with precisely this intent. He was also willing and could have been further encouraged, if necessary, to respond to your commentary on his work. Similarly, as I mentioned earlier, Maulana Jalil Ahsan’s questions, in his view, are entirely relevant to the matter at hand. However, given that you have unfortunately concluded that Maulana Sadruddin’s condition for engaging with your commentary implies he wants you to accept his views without reasoning and that Maulana Jalil Ahsan’s correspondence is just irrelevant questioning with no relation to the main issue, it does seem that continuing this dialogue would not be fruitful. Therefore, it is best to conclude this matter here.

As for your resignation, if you have now reached complete clarity on your stance, I kindly request that you state it explicitly so that we can proceed accordingly. As for myself, I have not fully understood your fundamental point of disagreement regarding  the Jamaat’s objectives. However, it is not feasible for me currently to engage in a detailed discussion on the arguments and contents of your lengthy article, nor do I expect any significant benefit from such a discussion. Nevertheless, I do wish to discuss certain aspects with you, particularly to understand positively what, in your view, Muslims should be focusing on. I would like to know the detailed plan you have in mind so that I may assess how it differs from our approach and whether, despite these differences, any degree of cooperation and collaboration is possible between us. There is no urgency for this discussion. Should you decide to part ways with the Jamaat, such a conversation could still take place. I also plan to visit Azamgarh around mid-January, so if you are agreeable, we could meet and discuss then.

Wassalam,

Abul Lais