Time To Pause And Ponder Over Amjad Ali Khan's Lamentations
By
Sumit Paul, New Age Islam
4 May 2022
Mankind Needs
NO Religion, Scripture, Sect, Nation, Ideology, Divinity, Spirituality (A Mere
Modern-Day Fashionable Cult) Or The Biggest Concoction GOD
----
"
Perhaps there are some shortcomings in our education system which we have to
improve. Otherwise tell how a PhD done man becomes communal irrespective of
religion. That’s why we have to make people merciful......."
‘In the
21st century it seemed that everything would be peaceful. It used to be that
people would be wiser by education but schools have become a business industry.
Perhaps that is why education could not make us merciful. Even today people are
discriminated against on the basis of religion and colour. Instead of being
merciful, people in the world have become more merciless.'
Ustad Amjad Ali Khan
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The recent
aforementioned lamentations expressed by the legendary sarod maestro Ustad
Amjad Ali Khan in Bombay (sorry, no Mumbai for me) make one ruminate over them.
He's spot-on. We all have become too religious in spite of our 'education.' In
fact, this so-called education has made us all the more hardcore and blinkered.
Instead of understanding and imbibing the spirit of a faith, we've suddenly
become more concerned about the external manifestations of it. All of a sudden,
a Muslim man has begun to flaunt his skull-cap, his beard sans moustache(!) and
wear ankle-high trousers, a Hindu is proudly showing his tilak and other
symbols, Christians are showing their cross and other sarcophagus sacraments
dangling and proclaiming their Christianity, 'educated' Sikhs are brandishing
their daggers, followers of Jainism are greeting each other with Jay
Jinendra and non-Jains (Maheshwaris) are shouting Jay Gopal........the
blatant religious proclamations of all religions are the latest (spiritual)
fads and followers of different religions are condemning each other on social
platforms with a vengeance. What's going on? The sarod-maestro is right that
our education is flawed. Because of this discriminatory education, we all have
become so religiously sick and hidebound. I ruefully remember the last
interview of the great orientalist Dr Edward W Said in which he stated, "
There's hardly any HUMAN left. Mankind is compartmentalized into nations,
religions, ideologies, sects, sub-sects, and whatnots. Humans have relegated
themselves to moving labels." So very true. Urdu poet Nida Fazli said the
same thing in one of his couplets: Girja Mein, Mandiron Mein, Azanon Mein
Bant Gaya/Hote Hi Subha Aadmi Khaanon Mein Bant Gaya ( Pigeonholed into
church, temple and Azan/ Right from the morning, man is compartmentalized into
sects and boxes).
Al-Furqan
categorically states that the Allah is Rabbul-Aalameen (the god of the
whole universe) not just Rabbul-Musalmeen (the god of only Muslims).
Yet, all faiths have their respective gods and each faith, nay even a sect,
claims to have the exclusive monopoly of Truth! Isn't it bizarre? The quiddity
of all man-made faiths is LOVE but we seem to be obsessed with HATRED.
Amir Khusro
says in one of his Persian couplets, ' Kaafir-E-Ishqam Musalmani Mara
Darkaar Neest/Har Rage-Jaan Taar Gushta, Haajat Zunnar Neest' (I'm a
Muslim, whose faith is LOVE, I don't require Islam/My every vein is now a
sacred thread (Janeu), I don't need to wear a Zunnar (sacred
thread word by Hindus).
We've been
fighting in the name of religion right from the advent of human civilization
and shedding the blood of our brethren just because we perceive that the other
person doesn't belong to our religion or religious sect. So, he or she must be
eliminated. Quran audaciously declares, ' Kuffar La'aitbaar (Infidels are not
to be trusted!). How ridiculous this sounds! But this has been happening. We've
not yet understood that any religion is a mental slavery. Saghar Nizami aptly
said this in a quatrain, ' Aqeede Mere Saamne Kaanpte Hain/Usool-E-Muhabbat
Ki Buniyaad Hoon Main/Na Zunnar Ki Fikra, Na Tasbeeh Ka Gham/Dimaghi Ghulami Se
Aazaad Hoon Main' ( All traditional faiths tremble before me/ I'm the
cornerstone of love/Neither am I concerned about the sacred thread, nor do I
care for the rosary/ I'm free of all mental slavery). Yes, religion is a state
of mental enslavement. It's a doctrinal thralldom. It quashes an individual's
righteous individuality.
Bal Labhu
Ram Mukand ' Arsh' Malsyani's famous quatrain articulates this, ' Dairo-Haram
Se Aur Toh Haasil Na Kuchh Hua/Sajde Zaroor Ishq Ki Qeemat Ghata Gaye/Kitna Farebkaar
Hai Ahsaas-E-Bandagi/Hum Manzil-E-Khudi Se Bahut Door Aa Gaye ' (
Temple and mosque couldn't do anything worthwhile/Albeit, genuflections
trivialized the value of Love/How deceptively comforting is the feeling of
worship/ We've gone far away from the crux of righteous ego).
Mankind
needs NO religion, scripture, sect, nation, ideology, divinity, spirituality (a
mere modern-day fashionable cult) or the biggest concoction GOD, the root of
all problems. All we need is humanity and the nurturing of the most sublime
humane attributes. Stop Azan, reciting Hanuman Chalisa, Ardaas at Gurudwaras
and Sunday prayers. Find the divinity that's immanent in you.
----
An occasional columnist for New Age Islam, Sumit
Paul is a researcher in comparative religions, with special reference to Islam.
He has contributed articles to world's premier publications in several
languages including Persian.
URL: https://newageislam.com/islamic-society/amjad-lamentations-azan-ardaas-hanuman-chalisa/d/126927