Syed Abid Hussain: Muslims Must Fully Align Themselves With The Importance And Power Of Public Opinion In Electoral Politics And Understand The Majority’s Sentiments; Merely Crying Out For The Constitutional Safeguards At Every Turn And 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 ------- 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. ------- 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. ------ Javed Akhatar, Assistant Professor (Contractual), Department of Islamic Studies, Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi-25; URL: https://newageislam.com/books-documents/abid-muslims-electoral-politics-majority-constitutional/d/130098 New Age Islam, Islam Online, Islamic Website, African Muslim News, Arab World News, South Asia News, Indian Muslim News, World Muslim News, Women in Islam, Islamic Feminism, Arab Women, Women In Arab, Islamophobia in America, Muslim Women in West, Islam Women and Feminism