A MUST READ (by our teacher from Scoiology Faculty) MAULANA OBAIDULLAH SINDHI An Unheard Voice Rao Shahid Rasheed The first half of the twentieth century was the age of idealism, of struggle, of faith, and of courage. Mulana Obaidullah Sindhi miraculously internalized all these norms of his age. As a child he was bold enough to challenge the ideas and religion of his ancestors; as a Young man he was brave enough to fight against imperialism; as an old man he was courageous enough to reconsider some of his assumptions. His disappointments and disillusionments in life notwithstanding, his faith in truth and justice and beauty always remained unshakeable and he always remained passionate and vigorous to uphold these values He was born on March 10, 1872 in a Sikh family of Sialkot district. In his school going age, he was under the influence of Aria Samaji Movement. He showed unmistakable signs of being a revolutionary at that young age, a mind that dared to chalk out its own course on its voyage of life, even though it be at the risk of offending his family. At the age of twelve, he accepted Islam and left for Sind. There he became a pupil of Hazrat Hafiz Muhammad Siddiq of Barchundi Sharif who was a great Sufi and the Junaid Baghdadi of his times. Mulana Sindhi made his bait (allegiance) at the hands of his spiritual guide (Hafiz Muhammad Siddiq ) who belonged to the Qadiriya-Rashidiya order of the Sufis. This spiritual allegiance infused him with such dauntless courage that except for Allah he never feared anyone no matter how great he was. Then he left for Deoband to continue his religious studies. At Deoband the Mulana studied under Shaikhul Hind Mulana Mahmoodul Hassan and was profoundly impressed by his personality and that influence on his outlook persisted through out his life. At Deoband, he started anti- imperialist activities. In 1915, he left for Kabul to expand these activities. At that time Kabul was the Switzerland of Asia. Mulana observed objectively the political games being played in Afghanistan. He also made the sociocultural studies of the region. His observations on the social and political scene of Afghanistan can be seen in his own account, Kabul Main Saat Saal and in Khatirat ---the autobiographical notes of Zafar Hassan Aibak. In 1922, he left for Moscow where he stayed for seven months. In Moscow, the Maulana studied socialism and held discussions with various important members of the Communist Party. During his stay at Moscow, he became acquainted with the Turkish ambassador to Russia and through his good offices, the Maulana received permission to visit Turkey and secret arrangements were made by the Turkish government for his journey. Here he studied the Mustafa Kamals reforms. In 1922, while he was still in Turkey, he formulated a constitution of independent India. The manner in which the national and religious question of India has been dealt with in this progressive constitution is a testimony to the political sagacity of Maulana. From Turkey, Maulana came to Hejaz where he spent twelve years, the longest period of his exile. During this period he devoted himself to the study and exposition of the Quran and history. He also got the opportunity to study all the important Muslim scholars and he came to the conclusion that the philosophy and the methodology of Shah Waliullah can solve most of our problems. In this connection, it is important to note that according to Maulana Sindhi himself, his thought is not a departure from the mainstream Muslim thought and that he is only explaining and interpreting the philosophy of Shah Waliullah in the current context. Eventually in 1939, after an exile of a quarter of century, Maulana Sindhi returned to India [Provincial government of Sindh at that time went through legislative and other steps to demand his return from the British Indian government.]. He wanted to share his experiences with his countrymen. In his own words: It is my unshaken belief that Islam has very bright future and it will rise once more with full force and vigour. But in its outward appearance it will not have the same structure which it has at present. Just as I have faith in the rejuvenation of Islam I also have the conviction that the present structure of Islam is a matter of some days. Islam will definitely take a new form and the sooner Muslims adopt this new form of Islam, the better will it be for them. These are the two beliefs which are driving me towards India. I do not know how long I will live. I therefore want to convey this truth to my people. He spent next five years of his life sharing his experience and disseminating his message and on August 22, 1944 he breathed his last. The essence of Maulanas thought is the union of materialism and spiritualism. His political and social thought is based, on one hand, upon his rich experience of politics and on the other hand upon his spiritual experience and his metaphysics. Thus his thought forms a harmonious whole whose material and spiritual aspects can hardly be differentiated, but only for academic purposes. There are two main postulates of the core structure of his thought: * Wahdat-ul-Wajood (pantheism) as explained by Muslim mystics and * especially by Ibn-e-Arbi and Shah Waliullah. In fact there is an * elaborate system of metaphysics in the works of Shah Waliullah to * which Maulana Sindhi often refers. Wahdat-ul-Wajood leads to * Wahdat-e-Insaaniat (unity of mankind) and the unity of matter and * soul. * Change and evolution as an intrinsic feature of the universe and * human society. With a change in social and cultural structure, the * manifestations of and systems based on eternal values change. Hence * in Maulana Sindhis framework, Islamic revolution does not signify * the reversal of march of history. In Kabul, Moscow and Turkey, Maulana Sindhi was exposed to the complexities of ideological and political life. His inquisitive and sensitive mind soon realized various contradictions between the subjective thinking of the Muslims and the real flow of history. He realized that the prevalent thought of the Muslims was against Zeitgeist. Main points of his social and political thought are: o The capitalist economy, in which man becomes a slave of capital, is antithetical to Islam. o The scientific revolution of Europe should be acknowledged and the Muslims should learn the scientific methodology from Europe. o People of India (undivided) are neither one nation, as emphasized by the Congress, not two nations, as ideologized by the Muslim League. India is, in fact, a multicultural and multinational continent and its political problems can only be solved by acknowledging the natural and cultural boundaries of different nationalities and by giving sovereignty to these nationalities. These sovereign nations can then unite in a confederation of India. o The term Islamic culture can signify only the core values of Islam. These values can be manifested in different social paradigms differently. Hence any culture can be an Islamic culture if it adheres to those core values. Thus Islamic culture should be differentiated from Arabic culture. The significance and relevance of Maulana Sindhis ideas in the contemporary world can hardly be overemphasized. At the dawn of the twenty first century, we are confronted with same questions which Maulana Sindhi once confronted. The issues of the contemporary Muslim world and South Asian nations are the same as raised by the Maulana. How long can we afford to ignore him?
Posted on: Fri, 01 Nov 2013 05:15:34 +0000
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