RELEVANCE OF RUMI

AN INTERVIEW WITH NEVIT ERGIN
By : Anjum Naim
San Matio, California based, Turkish American Surgeon and Translator of Mathnavi (a verse genre used for narrative poetry) of Jalaluddin Rumi, Dr. Nevit Ergin, recently, visited India in connection with 800-year celebrations of Rumi. He participated in various programs at Delhi, Hyderabad, Kolkata and Patna, organized by the US Embassy. Though Dr. Ergin is a surgeon by profession, but for the last 50 years, he dedicated himself to the studies about Rumi and his works. He, for the first time, translated and published the complete poetical works of Rumi into English in 22 volumes by the name “Bayaz-e-Kabeer” (A Comprehensive Anthology). In Delhi, he spared a few moments for Span (Urdu). Following are some excerpts from his talks with Anjum Naim, the editor of aforesaid magazine:

What is the relevance and significance of Rumi in the present era?

Rumi has always been a symbol of unifying force in a civilization, social and economic system, whatsoever it may be. His poetry gives solace to heavy hearts and worried brains. Don’t forget, the more the world becomes horrible, the more the human lives become costless, the more relevant and significant Rumi’s poetry will be. Don’t you observe, the human potential and his self-framed religious behaviors are becoming entirely negatively surcharged? In this situation, will he be able to survive without a spiritual oasis in the desert of negative paradigms. Anyway, he is in sheer need of a life code, as an alternative to his particular faith, which may prevent him to become alien to his own society, to his own community. And Rumi provides with a better guidance than any other, in this regard. He was certainly much larger than life. But at the same time, he was very close to mankind, without any religious or racial boundary. Maulana Jalaluddin is like an infinitely large umbrella covering all we have and beyond.

He introduces himself, saying:
“I am neither Christian nor Jew
Neither Persian nor Muslim.
I am neither the East nor West
Neither from land nor from water.”

He refutes the allegation that he can be confined to any particular faith or shackles of time and space.

“I am concealed, secret, sometimes,
Sometimes I appear, and become obvious.
Sometimes I am Muslim
Sometimes I am in the faith of Moses
Sometimes I am Christian.
In order to be a model to everyone
I manifest differently in every time.”

How Rumi became the most popular poet in the US?

How well a person said: “Rumi’s popularity in the United States is a matter of our enormous spiritual hunger.”
It is a well known fact that Americans, usually and relatively read more. Apart from it, more books are published here. Common people, hardly, get opportunities to go through books and deliberate, where political or social conditions are not normal or where the life is burdensome. Since our community ponders over different issues and tries to find the solutions thereof, that is why Rumi attracted their attention and his thoughts impressed them too much. Moreover, Rumi opens a new gate in a multi-dimensional society that faces a dilemma between faith and reason. Our society is full of luxuries of life; but a well-to-do and prosperous person may not necessarily have a happy life too. Here, Maulana bestows that very much sought after happiness – happiness of body and soul, happiness of brain and heart. It is what makes him popular.

The entire credit of Rumi’s popularity in the US goes to Colman Barks, who not only introduced Rumi to the literary circles in the US, but also translated Maulana’s anthology beautifully. The earlier English versions were like one has given a solitary confinement to the skylark of poet’s imagination. Barks opened the cage and the bird, once again, started singing the melodious songs with full sum and substance.

How difficult it was, to translate Rumi’s poetry?

In fact, translation of a literary work is a difficult and challenging task. It becomes somewhat more difficult when one has to translate metaphysical poetry of Rumi like poets.

There is an inherent danger in Rumi’s poems. They dazzle the eyes with their poetic beauty, so then one cannot see their prophetic meaning.

You cannot perceive and understand Rumi unless and until you peep into Rumi’s window to find the real perspective. I am a doctor by profession, but when I felt interested in Rumi’s poetry, I dedicated myself completely to understand his themes and thoughts for 15 years. Rumi demands, if you are desirous to enter his world of thoughts, you will have to abandon all your earlier assumptions and ideologies. It is rather a precondition to enter the arena of his musings. In case, you want to go through his works along with your preoccupations, then understanding Rumi will be extremely an uphill task. I have taken a lot of care in this regard.

What role Sufism play in a multi-dimensional society?

Sufism liberates you from the clutches of compulsions of self-adorned faith. It leads man to be in touch with God, directly. Different self-imposed faiths in a multi-dimensional society create problems for man to turn to God. Sufism relieves man from such shackles. That is why it plays more important role in such a society in comparison to uni-dimensional societies. India has always been a land of people, wandering in search of God. Sufism is, therefore, deep-rooted over here. I think these similarities will play an extremely important role in bringing both India and America closer to each other.

NIZAMUDDIN DARGAH

BAKRA MARKET, DELHI

SHAMA DAN

MADRASSA EDUCATION

Curriculum of Religious Seminaries and Contemporary Obligations
Anjum Naim

There is a long historical period involved between two major milestones in the system of higher education represented by Madrasa Nizamiya ,Baghdad and Madrasa Firangi Mahal, Lucknow. While the former was established by the famous Saljuq (Turkish Muslim dynasty controlling larg areas in the middle east in the 11th and 12th centuries ) minister Nizamul Mulk bin Tusi in Baghdad and Nishapur,a town in the province of Khorasan in the north eastern Iran in 1067, the latter was established by Mulla Nizamuddin Sahalawi in a sprawling bungalow, bought from a Dutch trader, during the period of the Mughal ruler Aurangzeb. These institutions were not wholly devoted to imparting religious education; they prepared their pupils for major national and administrative positions. These graduates who were experts in religious learning were indeed the backbones in the broader administration of the nation. Today, the aim of this education has changed altogether; it is devoted to imparting purely religious education. The changing political conditions from Baghdad to Nishapur and finally, to Deoband have brought about such major shifts in curriculum policy that the intellectuals have only been naturally concerned over the paradigmatic shifts taking place during all these long long years. It was this deep rooted concern for religious education that led Maulana Mohammad Ali Mugeri to establish Nadwat-ul Ulema in Lucknow in 1892. The realization for the need to acquire contemporary knowledge is now common to all those who realize the value of education, right from the madrasa graduate to an ordinary learner.

At a recent symposium on “Perspectives on Islamic Education in the 21st Century” at a place called Raichak, fifty kilometers from Kolkata, on the banks of river Hooghly. The managers of madrasas and experts in education deliberated upon the issues involvd over two days. This event sponserd by the American Embassy may also be taken as an effort on the part of the organizers and all those concerned to reflect upon the issue of incorporating contemporary knowledge in madrasa curriculum. This needs no emphasizing that the issue of madrasa education has, of ate, been engaging the attention of various institutions. Mr. Adnan A. Siddiqi, Counselor for Cultural Affairs in the American embassy, says: “Everyone knows that there is a certain difference between the modern educated Muslims and the graduates from the traditional centers of education. The effort to bridge this gap, as also to bring the madrasa curriculum at par with contemporary knowledge, can be successful only when the first step is taken by those Islamic institutions themselves who work under this system. It is only they who may understand this problem better than others.”

Those who have favored the molding of traditional education according to the needs of the times have, in every age, been fully aware of the importance of education in practical life. According to Dr.Qamruddin, who has written a good book on Madarsa education, and who looks at the problem analytically says that “the decision to relinquish Persian as an official language in 1837 proved detrimental to the interest of the madrasas.” Under Mughal rule , the madressas were a training groud for court and government officials. Once the British replaced Islamic l with the new Indian penal code, the expertise learned at the Madrassas was no longer useful for officials assigned to carry ouit civic duties. The position of Mufti and Qazi were abolished under the new government system. Graduates of madrassas found themselves unemployable in their chosen professions and a madrassa education came to be seen as one that imparted religious knowledge only.The educational aims of the institutios changed accordingly. Instead of attending to economic and other needs, the central focus of the syllabus shifted to “the propagation of Islam and the protection of faith”. Maulana Riyasat Ali Bijnori, a teacher of Hadith (Traditions) and theology in Drul Uloom Deoband, says, “we don’t feel the need to make any changes in the syllabi because it already meets our aims which are quite clearly the ‘propagation of Islam and protection of faith’. Those who want to attend the institutions of contemporary education are free to do so. We neither deny the utility of those institutions nor oppose them in any manner.” Yasser Nadim, a young graduate of Darul Uloom, Deoband, who is also a Green card holder and teaches at the Institute of Islamic Education, a madrasa in Chicago puts it in these terms: “This curriculum needs no drastic changes but it is only inevitable that contemporary knowledge be incorporated into it. If this can not be done for some reason, the aims of ‘propagating Islam and protecting the faith,’ laid down by our elders, cannot be fulfilled.” He asked “ when you don’t know English how you will perform your duty of “ propagating Islam and protecting the faith” in the western society.”

Whenever deliberations are held regarding the modernization of madrasa education, certain questions are invariably raised. They include: whether madrsas can meet the challenge of the modern age, and why the cuuriculum is not revised when the need for its updating has been felt for years now. It may be said that practical steps are not taken because the current syllabi does not have a clear format and that every madrasa has its own curriculum. Further, modern educationists have not yet provided a clear model to create a parallel system of education. This is the reason why the madrasa administrators are not convinced by the arguments extended by the advocates of curriculum modernization. One might recall that Nadwat-ul Ulema was established to bring educational reforms amongst Muslims, and initiate a movement of reforms in the curriculum. Maulana Shibli Nomani was appointed its Manager in1905 and he proposed to start the teaching of Engish in Nadwa. For quite a while, however, Nadwa remained indifferent to this proposal. This is the reason why, in spite of all its claims, Nadwa is not much different from other madrasas even today.

Warren hastintgs, the governor of Bengal, laid the foundation of Madrasa Alia in Kolkata in 1781 to meet the educational requirements of Muslims. He made slight changes in the current curriculum of the madrasas and implemented the high school syllabi through the Anglo-Persian Department in order to bring it closer to contemporary requirements. A network of madrasas spread all over Bengal along the lines of Madrasa Alia. Dr.Syed Zafar Mahmood, o n special duty in the prime minister’s High level committee on Muslimd , makes a point when he asserts that: “Among all the madrasas all over the country, the ones in Bengal are the best, and their graduates are quite useful and relevant in the contemporary scenario.” He was referring to the reputation the Bengal madrassas have for being well- organized and for providing some aspects of pratical, contemporary education , along with religious instruction. The establishment of Madrasa Boards afforded space to the government to enter this sphere in some way or the other, although the education in the subjects like tafseer (commetary), hadeeth (Tradition), fiqh (jurisprudence) and other religious subjects continued as usual. Abdul Mannan Mulla, a teacher in a Kolkata madrasa, who also participated in the conference on Islamic education held in Raichak, says: “I neither feel intellectually deprived because of this knowledge which the students of Deoband consider to be a cause of pride, nor consider myself detached with contemporary obligations.” Considering the political conditions under which an institution like Darul Uloom Deoband was established and the aims its founders had nurtured, even an inkling of government interference was enough to upset them. When Maulana Azad, the strong supporter of reforms in curriculum, wanted to implement his proposal in Nadwa after India’s independence, he could not convince even those ulema who valued and valorized him. It must be borne in mind that if the management of the madrasas maintain a very cautious attitude regarding reforms, the major reason for this, as Maulana Reazul Hasan said, is that a big section of the reform-loving persons, who advise the madrasas to accept the new initiatives, are themselves involved in opening avenues for the interference by the government, may be directly, or sometimes even indirectly. Doubts raise their heads when the madrasas are prodded to register under the Societies Registration Act in order to receive government grants. Maulana Mohammad Reyazul Hasan, a teacher of Mazahirul Uloom, Saharanpur, vents his apprehensions when he says that “We are also aware of the contemporary challenges but where is the guarantee that the members of the society registered under the Act of 1860, either because of internal exigencies or external pressure, would not meddle with the pure religious aims of our institutions. Whatever has happened regarding the minority status of Aligarh Muslim University is for everyone to see.”

The question, therefore, is not as to how justifiable are these doubts and whether they would really interfere with the management of the madrasas or their curriculum, the issue is that those who talk of reforms also need to think that these sentimental issues of the Muslim community must be considered at a practical level rather than at a sheer logical level, and also with an eye on loss and gain. Professor Syed Mohammad Iqbal Hussain, the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Calicut says: “Any state interference or intervention of a politically oriented religious leadership will surely jeopardize the well maintained (apoliticsm?) and virtual democracy of the madrasa system in the country. I fear that this will give way to more explicit illegal religio-political dealings since the madrasas have a massive influence on Indian Muslims.” This is the reason why Professor Hussain is of the opinion that instead of making drastic changes in the madrasa curriculum, more and more modern educational institutions should be opened in the areas with Muslim concentration where even the madrasa graduates may seek their admission. In this regard, he gives the example of successful experiments carried out in Kerala where madrasas are not annexed to mosques but to modern schools. Both the institutions take care of each others schedule so that the students may not face any problem.

The system of education being followed in Kerala and Bengal has already established their utility. One may not, however, keep one’s eyes closed to the sad condition of thousands of madrasas all over the country, especially in the northern part of India, that provide practical and ideological guidelines to the madrasas of the Indo-Pak subcontinent, and also Bangladesh. The drive for globalization in modern times has turned the world into a small village. It is no longer possible for anyone to keep within the strict confines of a certain knowledge system and culture. We live in a multicultural society where people with different faiths live with their cherished ideals and influence each other. The need for a just society is being felt much more now than ever before. As such, Maulana Fazlur Rehman Faridi, economist and editor of Urdu monthly Zindagi-e-Nau asserts: “The new changes call for relinquishing the attitude of “safety and protection”. We have to see as to how Islamic teaching may face the new challenges, and as to what special role our educational system may play in order to create a just society. We have to see as to how that society may produce such individuals who may play a positive and constructive role in contemporary times.”

Pakistan Paindabad: Special - Top 10 Pakistani Blogs

Pakistan Paindabad: Special - Top 10 Pakistani Blogs

A FRIEND IN RAINY DAYS

A FRIEND IN RAINY DAYS

Anjum Naim

Asghar, my youngest son is the most precious stone in the treasure-trove of my memory. He was quite handsome, well behaved and studious. He passed the examination in flying colors and was promoted to fifth standard. One day, on his way back to home he brought a very feeble black colored kitten with two white stripes on her neck. Though I reserved any expressions of sentiments or comments but the whole household gave a red-carpet welcome to Asghar’s cat. My wife named it as Muezza, after the name of Prophet Muhammad’s beloved cat. She used to narrate that once Prophet’s beloved cat slept over his turban. It was time to go far prayer. He did not want to disturb the sleeping cat. So he cut his turban, apart and with the rest of it, he went out for the prayer. To Asghar, the cat was his sweetheart. A wild thought of disunion with it could disturb him. On the other hand, Muezza too could not brook his absence. Whenever Asghar was a bit late from school, she would become all eyes for her chum. She used to roll down at his feet. Asghar took here to his room, where he used to roll down at his feet. Asghar took her to his room, where he used to have a tête-à-tête with her. During his stay at home, family members would hear either Asghar’s burst of laughter or Muezza mews.

1999 was the most horrible year in my life, which brought tears and cries for me throughout. Asghar started experiencing pain in his knees in July, which aggravated quickly before the doctors could diagnose the disease. By August, he lost his voice and ability to swallow usual foods. However, he kept trying to smile so that I still cherish hopes. Muezza used to accompany him day in and day out. Her presence, in fact could reduce his agony and pain. After long and painful period of medical tests and diagnosis , doctors declared him a patient of Wilson Disease, which was curable only at its initial stages.

Now we were completely disappointed. He was inching towards his sad end. My wife, Shahnaz nursed him the whole day and it was my duty to look after him right from the evening up to late night. We had fixed our duty hours. The one and only which did not share her time was Muezza. Perhaps she loved her friend more than us. During complete four months of tension and heart rendering situations, we never saw Muezza left Asghar except for brief intervals spanning few minutes. She would sit silently, gazing Asghar’s face. She, perhaps, was in the know that her presence consoles him.
In the month of holy Ramadhan, on December 17, 1999, when we were about to break our fast, he left for the heavenly abode. During funeral rites, Muezza kept sitting beside the dead body. Whenever we looked each other, she mewed once or twice. Her voice seemed to be full of melancholy. I saw her moving with the funeral procession up to a distance. It might be the traditional 40 steps. The right of burial was the most horrible night for me. It was a night similar to all nights during the last four months, wit the exception that though Shahnaz, I and Muezza were there as usual but the crying and sobbing friend of Muezza was no more at his bed.”