Setting up Impact International – Hashir Faruqi

The idea of impact had long been in theoretical planning and contemplation, at least since the mid-1960s. By the end of 1969, we were looking for an office, easy to reach by public transport and, quite frankly, as inexpensive as possible. Ashiq Asghar not only offered a two-floor space at the premises he owned – 33 Stroud Green Road – but in a sense forced us to move in and forced the pace upon us to bring out the magazine as soon as possible.

It took brother AbdulWahid Hamid (the writer and scholar) and his brother, AbdulAhad, another few months, to do up the place, filling the cracks with polyfiller, papering the walls, painting the doors and windows, thus giving it the looks of an office. The doing up took that long because the volunteers, AbdulWahid and his brother, could only do something during the evenings and weekends. After he had finally cleaned his hands off the paint and glue and taken off his apron, AbdulWahid sat on an old secondhand chair and desk as associate editor. Such is the modest history of impact, and Ashiq Asghar was part of this struggling history. The rent was modest and payment at leisure. . . .

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