Syed Abid Hussain: Muslims Must Align Themselves With Public Opinion; Protest Politics Doesn’t Help
By
Dr. Javed Akhatar, New Age Islam
28 June
2023
The
Destiny of Indian Muslims
By
Syed Abid Husain
(London,
Asia Publishing House, 1966). pp. 276
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India is a
country that is home to a diverse range of minority groups. It refers to India
as a “land of minorities” because India's cultural fabric is characterized by
diversity and pluralism. This means that there is a rich tapestry of
traditions, languages, religions, and customs present in the country. However,
today, the Muslim minority feels a sense of fear that the nation may either
assimilate them completely or erase their existence altogether. On the other
hand, the nation itself holds concerns that the Indian Muslims might engage in
activities that undermine its stability from within, or collaborate with
foreign powers, particularly those sharing religious, cultural, or sacred
linguistic similarities, in plots against the nation’s interests.
After India
gained independence, Muslims woke up to a drastically transformed world. The
surroundings were engulfed in a terrifying darkness, making it impossible for
them to discern the path ahead. In this obscurity, distinguishing friends from
foes became impossible. Former friends seemed like strangers, while previously
unknown individuals openly displayed their unfamiliarity. Muslims were
marginalized and perceived as a disabled limb of the Indian nation, neither
easily cast aside nor offering any apparent advantages when retained. Indian
Muslims were neglected, overlooked, and treated as an unproductive part of the
nation.
But, the
past cannot be altered or amended, but it can serve as a valuable source of
lessons for improving the present and guiding the future. Following the
partition of India, some Muslim intellectuals recognized the significance of
critically examining the history of the Indian Muslim community. These
individuals, including Dr. Syed Abid Husain, had personally experienced both
pre- and post-partition India and acknowledged the power of the written word in
rectifying the present and illuminating the path forward.
Dr. Husain
educated at Allahabad, Oxford, and Berlin. Deeply influenced by Mahatma Gandhi,
he decided to forego a profitable career in favour of serving his country. His
wide scholarship, combined with the training ground of German academic
discipline was responsible for some of the most objective and rational work on
Indian Muslims. The study of Indian Muslims which he began in 1926 when Abid
Husain became editor of the monthly journal Jamia, published from Jamia Millia
Islamia, was to become a lifelong
interest and subject of research.
Dr. Husain
had dedicated his pen in independent India for the purpose of uplifting the
spirits of his disappointed brethren, not through empty emotional speeches and
hollow slogans, but in the manner of a compassionate friend. He began writing
editorials for the journal Jamia, on Islam and the contemporary problems of
Muslims. Immediately after the Partition, he started publishing the weekly
“Nayi Roshni” (New Light). With the sole
intention of pulling the despondent hearts and shattered minds of Muslims out
of the darkness of despair and igniting the courage to move forward in the
light of hope.
He made
continuous efforts to remind Muslims of their forgotten lesson, to consider
their heritage dearer and keep it close to their hearts. Alongside this, they
should also compassionately study the perspectives of those people who have
become “strangers” due to circumstances. They should strive to view and
understand their thoughts, beliefs, and customs with an open mind. Therefore,
we should not sit idly by assuming that if others do not try to understand us,
then why we should understand them. If others don’t make an effort to
understand us, but instead, we should be the first to take the initiative to
break this cycle of indifference. In fact, the true significance lies not in
the mighty torrential rain but in the first drop of rain that, at the risk of
its own life, drips on the dry barren land. His interest in this subject continued
to grow, even after the journal (Nai Roshni) was shut down in 1950. Fifteen
years after its closure, he produced the most useful treatise on the subject,
called The Destiny of Indian Muslims.
This book
first appeared in 1965. Its original Urdu version, Hindustani Musalman Aina-e
Ayyam Mein had been published in the previous year. The book was the compendium
of a lifetime’s work on Islam, undertaken with the objective of integrating
Muslims into the Indian national scene. The title of the book contains the
epithet which is regarded today as the most compelling issue in Indian polity.
The importance of this book lies in the fact that Abid Husain’s analysis of
what ails the Indian Muslims is as relevant today as it was on the day he wrote
it. It does not stop at analysis, although the discussion of the political and
intellectual movements of the immediate past, which are reflected in the
various trends of thought among Muslims today, is some of the most succinct and
unbiased literature on the subject. The book moves purposively towards future
courses, directions and goals. For
Muslims, there are many difficulties that they have had to face after
independence. So long as these remain unsolved, they cannot have the peace of
mind and the intellectual poise necessary for grappling with the ultimate
problem.
This book
thoroughly examines the recent history of Indian Muslims and then through this
assessment it attempts to see and showcase how Muslims in present-day India can
justify their existence as an useful and necessary part of Indian society,
while maintain their religious and cultural identity.
Apparently
this study deals with the following two issues:
1. How
far and in what ways has the condition of Indian Muslims changed after
independence? What are the difficulties that are disturbing their mind and
making them apprehensive of the future? What are the different trends of
thought found among them about shaping their future?
2. What
is the best and most practical way to improve their present condition and to
resolve the difficulties that they are facing? What line of thought and action
should they adopt which could help them in their spiritual and material
progress and enable them to become a healthy and integral part of the Indian
nation and useful members of the human community?
The author
says that it is not possible, however, to achieve a thorough understanding of
the present ideas and trends of thought among Indian Muslims without looking
into those movements of thought and action in the immediate past that have
deeply influenced them and left a lasting impress on their minds. Accordingly
it is also advisable to discuss, by way of preamble, a third issue: What were
the various political and intellectual movements in the last hundred years that
are reflected in the various trends of thought among the Muslims today? So he
divides this book into three parts, under the following headings: “The Shadows
of Yesterday” (Part I); “The Twilight Today” (Part II); and “Tomorrow: Dark or
Bright?” (Part III). In the first part
the author deals with the historical background of our problem, in the second
poses the problem itself, and in the third makes an attempt to find a solution.
In the past
years, many of our leaders have constantly engaged in negotiations with the
backward caste Hindus on election occasions and thus bringing about a political
revolution. Dr. Husain describes such alliances as a palace built on a weak
foundation. In his opinion, this effort is futile because:
“The sectarian Muslims and the backward castes
of the Hindus have nothing in common except the rigid narrow-minded
selfishness. They cannot agree on any common minimum agenda or collaborative
political programme. Therefore, even if they hypothetically attempt to make an
electoral compromise out of necessity, it would be nothing more than mere
opportunism which can never be the basis of lasting friendship or cooperation.”
Remedy for
the petty: Muslims have not yet been able to fully align themselves with the
importance and power of public opinion in electoral politics. Instead of
understanding the majority’s sentiments, they often cry out for the
constitutional safeguards at every turn and still prefer to use protest
politics, despite being fully aware of the fact that in the battle between a knife
and a melon, it is always the melon that suffers, whether the knife falls upon
the melon or the melon falls upon the knife. Similarly, in the conflict between
Hindus and Muslims, instigated by whichever side, the loss is always incurred
by the Muslims. Therefore, Muslims can achieve their rightful place not by
exerting pressure on the government, but by changing the minds of the fellow
countrymen belonging to the majority. We
can come across individuals in both the communities who not only become friends
but also respect each other’s thoughts, beliefs, faiths, and emotions. Even
after the passage of many decades, Muslims and Hindus are still breathing in an
atmosphere of mistrust and suspicion towards each other. This is the result of
what Dr. Husain calls “historical animosity.” While individual grudges may end
with the life of a person, the effects of historical grudges continue from one
generation to another. Therefore, in order to eliminate them, the very action
must be taken by those who have its effects felt day and night in their lives.
Dr. Husain
urges an appeal to the Indian Muslims to first win the larger community to
their side. He writes in his insightful book:
“If they want a permanent solution to their
problems (Indian Muslims) have to deal not with the government but with the
people and especially with the Hindu majority which can exert the greatest
influence on the policy of the government. But Muslims still labour under the
impression that not only a temporary but a permanent solution of their problems
is in the hands of the government. To the government alone they take their
problems and from it alone they expect a remedy, with the result that the
central or state governments either confine themselves to an expression of
sympathy, or sometimes remedy some of their minor grievances. But so far as
major complaints are concerned, the government is unable to do anything until
the Muslims have won popular support for their cause. The Muslims themselves do
not realize it and governments do not like to recognize their inability lest it
should lessen their prestige.”
The
application of Quranic principal as a remedy: Regardless of which class a
person belongs to, goodness is inherent in their nature. However, along with
this decency, he also has a weakness in that he cannot tolerate criticism from
others, nor is he willing to accept his own vices and flaws that others may
point out. This is precisely the place where the importance of the Qur’anic
method of preaching is realized. The Quran invites individuals to be righteous,
stating that if individuals become good, the correct and virtuous community
will automatically come into existence.
However, the general trend is that people tend to seek the correction of
others without reforming themselves.
لَا تَزِرُ وَازِرَةٌ وِزْرَ أُخْرَىٰ
And no
bearer of burdens will bear the burden of another.
In his
Preface to the 1991 edition of the Urdu version of the book Prof. Mushirul Haq
writes that there are two ways of preaching. One way of preaching is to
constantly tell others that their glass is dirty while mine is clean and
transparent, so instead of using your dirty glass, use my clean glass. And
another way is to silently keep your clean glass next to others’ dirty and
stained glasses without saying anything. In the first method, the possibilities
of success are negated because as long as there is no comparison present to
compete against, everyone will continue to consider their own thing better.
However, the second method has every chances of success because there may be
someone who will not see the dirtiness of his glass compared to the clean and
transparent one.
Today, the
Muslims of India as a whole has adopted the first method. If he does so, then
rest assured that the prediction of Dr. Husain will prove to be correct:
“Indian
Muslims should have full confidence that when they present Islamic values
without resorting to religious terminology, and instead emphasize ethical values,
secular society will thoroughly examine them based on rationality and
experience and accept them with joy.”
In summary,
the following two points can encapsulate the essence of the book:
1) To
summarize, the author stands out because he has consciously avoided embracing
the mindset of “Pidaram Sultan Bood” (my father was a sultan), and he has also
refrained from excessively criticizing their own people just to gain approval
and praise from the wider society. In doing so, he has displayed a commendable
sense of emotional restraint and loyalty towards his own community.
2) 2)
Indeed, it analyses the immediate past and moves purposefully towards future
courses, directions, and goals. While doing so, this book is an attempt to
explain the immediate and ultimate problems of Indian Muslims. It has been
written in the hope that once these problems are rightly understood and their
true significance is realized, all healthy forces in the country will combine
efforts to solve them.
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For more see Javed Akhatar, Jamia Millia
Islamia and its Contribution to Islamic Studies (A Chronological Study from
1920 to 2011, Writers Choice, New Delhi, 2020.
Ibid.; see also: S. A. Husain, The Destiny of
Indian Muslims, Asia Publishing House, London, 1966.
S. A. Husain, The Destiny of Indian Muslims,
Asia Publishing House, London, 1966; see also: S. A. Husain, Hindustani
Musalman Aina-e Ayyam Mein, Maktaba Jamia, New Delhi, 1965.
S. A. Husain, The Destiny of Indian Muslims,
Asia Publishing House, London, 1966.
Ibid.
Ibid.
See the Preface to the 1991 edition of the
Urdu version of The Destiny of Indian Muslims written by Prof. Mushirul Haq.
S. A. Husain, The Destiny of Indian Muslims,
Asia Publishing House, London, 1966.
See the Preface to the 1991 edition of the
Urdu version of The Destiny of Indian Muslims written by Prof. Mushirul Haq.
Surah Fatir: 18.
See the Preface, S. A. Husain, Hindustani
Musalman Aina-e Ayyam Mein, Maktaba Jamia, New Delhi, 1991.
S. A. Husain, The Destiny of Indian Muslims, Asia
Publishing House, London, 1966.
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Javed Akhatar, Assistant Professor (Contractual), Department of Islamic Studies, Jamia Millia Islamia.
URL: https://newageislam.com/books-documents/abid-hussain-muslims-protest-politics/d/130098
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