Belief Versus History

Belief Versus History

1988 10 October 17 Belief Versus History (308) Allama Iqbal, the famous poet and philosopher, once observed that “just as memory has great significance in the life of an individual, in that if it fades or is lost altogether, his life becomes meaningless, so does history assume great importance in the life of a nation, in that if its history is lost, or buried under thick layers of obscurity, its life too becomes meaningless and absurd.”

I would say that such a philosophy is based on the romantic imaginings of poetry, and, as such, is far from giving us a precept for modern living. The lives of nations are built up, not in history, but on the strength of their beliefs. The first generation of Muslims was the most alive of all, for, without any history to fall back on, they performed the most heroic of feats. Far from being the proud inheritors of an ancient legacy from the past, they cut themselves off from their history and embarked on a totally new way of life. In so doing they created their own magnificent history.

The opposite example is that of modern Muslims, whose latter-day reformers (including Iqbal) have consistently sought to make them remember the glorious history which they have left behind. Many are the books which have been written to keep this history alive, and all our poets, orators and writers have never ceased to blow the bugle of renaissance. But the community has steadfastly refused to be awakened from its slumbers. The result is that Muslims are as backward today as they were a hundred years ago – perhaps even more backward. The truth – if it could only be recognized – is that the individuals making up a community or a nation will rise only through their own inner revolution and not by having perpetually recounted to them the events of the long distant past.