Stray Reflections

A friend who has a knack for finding great renditions of Allama Iqbal’s poetry brought this to my attention recently. I have listened to it a number of times and I have to admit that it is great. If anyone knows of other pieces sung by Shabnam Majeed do let me know.

This documentary brought forth a host of emotions such as anger, disgust and to some extent despair. We all know that even in the bastions of democracy human rights can be trampled under foot in the name of fighting terrorists. However in a country like Pakistan where there is no rule of law the effects can be catastrophic and tragic for many families.

…..well this picture says it all!

Mawlana Azad is a twentieth century scholar that I have revisited lately. I read some of his work many years ago and had found him to be interesting. Recently I picked up his book Arkan-e-Islam(Pillars of Islam) from the local library and having read it felt that I had underestimated the man last time round. The chapters on the reality of tawheed and prayer are enlightening and in their own way sum up the whole meaning of religion. In many ways he was a good example of the modernist “school” that is sometimes referred to as the Dabistan-e-Shibly.

Apart from being a great scholar Mawlana was Azad was also an interesting personality. Having gone through a period of doubt he returned through the Qur’an to a more rational understanding of religion in general and Islam in particular. He is perhaps more famous for his role in the Indian independence movement which has detracted from his contributions to Islamic learning and culture. His translation of the Qur’an aptly named Tajuman al-Qur’an is one of the best in the Urdu language. His commentary on the Fatiha is a real gem for its elaboration of the Qur’anic concept of tawheed and the explanation of the Qur’anic method of appealing to the signs of God in the world of nature as well as within the human self to engender faith. In my view he definitely deserves more attention than has been generally accorded him. A brief biography can be found here.

The indefatigable blogger Koonj has posted a very important article by a Pakistani scholar, Dr Samia Altaf here. It presents a lucid argument for the one thing necessary in Pakistan at the moment: the restoration of the Judiciary without compromise. It also gives a good summary of the “ground reality” of democracy in Pakistan.

This is truly depressing news. A Saudi court has sentenced a 19-year old rape victim that was gang raped to six months imprisonment and 200 lashes. This is more than absurd literalism; it is zulm (oppressive injustice). It is also a slur against Islam and a clear sign of just how crazy the Saudi regime really is. The Guardian has the details here.

Like many others who listened to Musharraf’s speech when he imposed martial law, I could not help noticing that this was indeed an “emergency speech”. By this I mean that it seemed that despite having a whole day to prepare for it our hero was having trouble coming up with even one sentence that made sense grammatically. So you can imagine how much pleasure I had in reading Mohammed Hanif’s article called Musharraf and the Drunk Uncle (courtesy of Koonj). Here’s an excerpt:

Consider this; in the middle of his speech when everyone was silently urging him to get to the point, losing the thread of his diatribe about how judicial activism was responsible for the rise of jihadis in Pakistan, he abruptly said, “I have imposed emergency,” then looked into the camera, waved his hand in a dismissive gesture and said, “You must have seen it on TV.”

He forgot to mention that he had pulled the plug on /all/ television channels except the State-run television. It might sound like old-school dictator talk, but just imagine if somebody took away your television and then told you, ‘Oh, did you see that thing on TV?’

The rest of the fun is here.

Some may be confused about where BB (Benazir Bhutto) stands in the democratic movement in Pakistan. In the West she likes to present herself as the ONLY choice for a democratic Pakistan. However as every ordinary Pakistani on the street now knows she is only interested in one thing: a return to power.  Fatima Bhutto, her niece has written an interesting piece about the “pantomime” that her aunt is currently playing. She says:

Perhaps the most bizarre part of this circus has been the hijacking of the democratic cause by my aunt, the twice-disgraced former prime minister, Benazir Bhutto. While she was hashing out a deal to share power with Gen. Pervez Musharraf last month, she repeatedly insisted that without her, democracy in Pakistan would be a lost cause. Now that the situation has changed, she’s saying that she wants Musharraf to step down and that she’d like to make a deal with his opponents — but still, she says, she’s the savior of democracy.
Read the complete article here.

Over the last few weeks I have spent a good deal of time perusing the writngs of the Pakistani scholar Javed Ahmad Ghamidi. I have also been going through some of the audio and video material available here and here. Although in more traditional circles some of his views are quite controversial I think that there is much of great merit in his work. In fact of all modern scholars he has probably gone the furthest in developing a consistent methodology for understanding the Deen. Points which I particularly like are:

1- Insistence on making the Qur’an the primary reference point of all matters pertaining to the Deen.

2- Insistence that the Sunnah is also transmitted by tawattur and as authentic as the Qur’an

3- Acceptance of Hadith as a source of reliable information about the life of the Holy Prophet (SAWS) and as an explanation of matters that needed elaboration.

4- Stressing that true religion is addressed to both human nature (fitra) and intellect and that proper use of these is essential.

5- Reinstating that the purpose of religion is purification (tazkiya) thus rejecting the political interpretations that have been characteristic of modern times.

6- A moderate and wholesome approach allowing for difference of opinion.

7- A non-taqlidi view of fiqh.

These are just a few salient points. Ghamidi sahib has serious reservations about the sufi interpretation of Islam and I am still looking into his views on that subject. However he accepts tazkiya as a fundamental goal of religion and emphasizes the personal relationship with God as being essential. As such I think he deserves credit for promoting a more rational and coherent understanding of Islam based on the Qur’an. I may return to is work later, God willing.

Here is a translation of the poem that is recited in the video in the previous post.

What is this sun and what are these starry heavens?

I have yet to understand this continuation of night and day

Am in in my homeland or am I a stranger here?

Seeing this vast and desolate desert fills me with fright

I am unable to attain the secret of this journey of life

From where can I bring the man of true vision?

Avicenna is wondering where he came from and

Rumi is concerned about where he should head for

“With every wayfarer I travel a short while

I do not yet know who my real guide is”.