Larger History

Larger History

1988 3 March 5 Larger History (1038) To put this issue into its proper perspective, however, we must not overlook the fact that this “one-thousand-year-rule” mentality of Indian Muslims is not a purely local phenomenon, but is a part of the larger history of Islam. The extraordinary conquests of Muslims in the past, which brought about the spread of Islam, are incontrovertible facts of history. Dr. Michael Hart, in his book, The Hundred, (New York, 1978) places the Prophet of Islam at the “top of the hundred best.” “He was the only man in history”, he writes, “who was supremely successful on both the religious and secular levels.” “There is, perhaps, nothing more amazing in the whole long history of mankind than the extent and the rapidity of the dissemination of Islam.” (The Times, London, April 2, 1976)

Let us not deny, then, that Islam did have a glorious past. But the more glorious the past, the more wrong-headed it is for present-day Indian Muslims to live in that past. The mistake they make is not so much to exaggerate the glitter of a bygone era, as to believe implicitly that that era extends right up to the present. That is the belief which continually adds fuel to the fire of their paranoia.

While Mr. Jain has laid stress on the Muslim predicament having arisen from the “gap between self-definition and reality,” I would put it more plainly, and say that it is overweening pride which renders them incapable of adapting to present-day conditions. They think of themselves, quite simply, as a superior group. But the truth is, that in comparison to all other nations, there is no sphere in which they have not actually regressed. It is little wonder that the external world does not accord them the same lofty position as they do themselves. World journalism, which is almost wholly in the hands of non-Muslims, paints a sad picture of their inferiority. Their sense of superiority, of course, rejects this outright; but their only other responses are mental agitation, neurosis and a great deal of unnecessary skirmishing with imagined foes. Where Mr. Jain has based his analysis on Muslims’ self-definition vis-a-vis the past, I would say that the root of the Muslim problem lies in their erroneous self-definition vis-a-vis the present. To put it another way, the case of Indian Muslims is not one of false interpretation of history, rather it is one of false pride in their past history.

A popular misconception which has arisen in latter years is that the Muslim problem is the product of Islam itself. There is consequently the widely held view that if the Muslim problem has to be solved, the Muslim religion is in need of reconsideration, if not actually of overhaul. But this theory has no argument to support it. The truth is that whatever malaise afflicts the Muslims, it is entirely the creation of their own leaders. In modern times, when Muslim domination came to an end, Muslim leaders began to project this new situation as the result of oppression, whereas it was simply a question of the changes which, came with the passage of time. The problem ought to have been solved by a better adaptation to changed sets of circumstances, but the only course which these leaders saw fit to take was that of protest. Such efforts were doomed to end in failure. And we see evidence of that failure on all sides.

The modern, dominant nations were, in fact, representatives of a new era. Theirs was a new age which brought a great revolution in human thought. Traditional knowledge yielded pride of place to scientific disciplines, and the rise of technology caused profound changes in every sphere of life: industrial produce replaced handicrafts, the steamship replaced the sail boat, long-range automatic weapons replaced the musket, and so on. It was the slowness of Muslims to bring themselves abreast of these developments which left them far behind others in the race of life and not, as is generally supposed, the plotting, conspiracies and oppression of other nations.

When it became clear that there was a challenge to Muslim superiority, and it was known exactly what the nature of that challenge was, Muslim leaders should immediately have set about taking concrete steps to end the disparities between Muslim nations and the more technologically advanced nations of the world. What they did, on the contrary, was to open a wholly useless front to oppose and protest against these dominant powers; how regrettable that they should have remained blind to the futility of such combativeness right up to the present day.

Had they made a timely assessment of what created the hiatus between Muslims and other nations, they would have set the feet of Muslims on the path of education, and would, in the process, have enabled them to acquire the strengths of the modern world. Their energies would then have contributed to a positive struggle, instead of being frittered away in negative reaction.

Strange Psychology

One notable instance of this very strange psychology was their response to the setting up in Calcutta of the first medical college in India by Lord William Bentinck in 1835. Because of their hatred of the English “usurpers and conspirators,” the Muslims led a procession through the streets to protest against the opening of this college, and demanded that it be closed. There then ensued the strange spectacle of other communities thronging to seek admission, while Muslims clamoured for its closure. By adopting this negative stance, Muslims lagged more than 100 years behind other communities in medical sciences.

This event is symbolic of the causes of the Muslim dilemma in the world of today. And there is no sign of any abatement of this general negativism. Surely they must one day realize that the prejudice and discrimination which they so loudly decry would rapidly disappear if they were to simply apply themselves with the utmost dedication in the academic and economic fields. In this way they would remove the obstacle of their own backwardness, and, with that, the stigma of intellectual and social inferiority. This accomplished, they would be able, as an updated and self-rehabilitated community, to stand shoulder to shoulder with the most advanced nations of the world.