Article of World's Famous Scholar Dr.Israr Ahmed
Pakistani Scholar Worries About Country's Future
Siraj Wahab, Arab News
JEDDAH, 9 September 2006 - Dr. Israr Ahmad is known for his excellent
analysis of the Qur'an in Urdu. He appears regularly on PTV, QTV and
Peace TV providing critical explanations of the holy verses. He was
originally associated with Maulana Abul Ala Maududi, the founding father
of the Jamaat-e-Islami. He was even more closer to the legendary Maulana
Ameen Ahsan Islahi, the author of the monumental analysis of the Qur'an
entitled "Tadabbur Al-Qur'an." Dr. Israr drew inspiration from his
mentor, Maulana Islahi.
Maulana Islahi was also associated with Maulana Maududi. When there were
differences between Maulana Maududi and M aulana Islahi and many other
leading scholars of the time on the issue of whether the Jamaat should
dabble in politics, Maulana Islahi parted ways with Maulana Maududi. Dr.
Israr followed his mentor and dissociated himself from the Jamaat and
Maulana Maududi in the late 1950s. Maulana Islahi and Dr. Israr were of
the opinion that reforming society should take precedence over politics.
Maulana Islahi also edited the respected Islamic journal "Misaq," which
is still published from Lahore. In a special issue of the journal, Dr.
Israr's biography was published.
Dr. Israr completed his graduate degree in medicine (MBBS) from Lahore's
King Edward Medical College in 1954. He gave up his medical practice in
1970 and since then has devoted his life for the study and teaching of
the Holy Qur'an.
Dr. Israr was in Jeddah last week and Arab News sat down with him for a
discussion on the current state of affairs in Pakistan. Now in his 70s,
Dr. Israr seemed very disil lusioned and pessimistic. In his younger
days he was very active in politics having been the president of the
Jamiat-ul-Tulba, but it is politics that now disturbs him.
"I am upset with this vicious cycle, or what I call this three-sided
prism of military democracy, civil bureaucracy and feudal lords," Dr.
Israr said. "They take turns at power. Sometimes the military takes
charge, and the other two follow it; at other times the bureaucracy
takes over, and the remaining two follow suit. Their interests are
intertwined. "
Dr. Israr described the situation. "When Ayub Khan took over everybody
joined hands against him," he said. "At that time, it was believed that
Ayub was the source of all evil and that immediately after his removal,
things would be hunky-dory. When Ayub left, Yahya Khan took over. When
Yahya left Zulfikar Ali Bhutto assumed power. Then all the religious
parties came together to oust him. Then Zia-ul Haq took over. So
democracy could never take roo t."
The scholar said Pakistan has been thus plagued since its beginnings.
"The party that was responsible for the country's creation - the Muslim
League - was in fact not a party. It was a 'tehreek' (movement). And as
with all movements when it achieves its goal, it folds up. The Muslim
League that created Pakistan died immediately after achieving its sole
purpose."
When asked about military interventions interrupting the flow of the
political process, Dr. Israr said they were due in large part to the
weakness of Pakistan's political system. "If the political traditions
were strong, the military would never have dared to intervene. Why
didn't the military intervene in India? Is it a small army? Morarji
Desai (the former prime minister of India) was once visiting Pakistan.
He was traveling by train from Lahore to Karachi. As was mandatory, the
DIG in Rahim Yar Khan area was accompanying him in the train's coupe. So
he asked him why the Indian military never inte rvened in his country's
political affairs. Desai replied that the Indian military knew full well
that if martial law were to be imposed, there would be thousands of
bodies littering the streets of India, and one of them would be that of
Morarji Desai."
Dr. Israr said the ongoing political upheaval in Pakistan damaged the
nation's respect among its neighbors and the world community. "We became
a laughing stock with the frequent changes in governments. So much so
that (Jawaharlal) Nehru (India's first prime minister) once said
sarcastically: 'People keep pestering me to hold dialogue with the
Pakistani leadership. My question to them is: Who should I talk to? I
don't change my clothes as frequently as they change governments in
Pakistan.' It is very easy to blame the military establishment, but one
should also be asking who gave it the reason to intervene? It was the
ineptitude of the political leadership. There were elements in the
political class that were ready to we lcome the military rulers with
garlands. If the military had felt that the people would not like its
intervention in the country's political affairs, then it would have
hesitated; it would have thought twice."
Now Dr. Israr finds a disturbing portent for the future of Pakistan. "I
am worried. The reasons why Pakistan was created ('wajh-e-jawaaz' ), its
raison d'etre, are being questioned now. This worries me. 'Why
Pakistan?' the younger generation keeps asking. It is becoming a chorus
now. 'Why did you go for partition?' they ask. 'What was the reason?' Is
that not a worrying factor?"
Dr. Israr elaborated. "There were two reasons (for the creation of
Pakistan) - one positive and one negative. The negative factor was the
fear of the Hindu: the Hindu will finish us off; the Hindu will suppress
us ('Hindu hum ko dabayega,' 'Hindu hum ko kha jayega'... etc., etc.)
The Hindu will take revenge. It will finish our culture. It will
strangle our language. This was the ne gative issue that became a
rallying cry for the Muslim League. Remember, at this stage the Muslim
League was not a party. It was just a club of nawabs and jagirdars. In
his address of 1930 in Allahabad ('Khutba-e-Allahaba d'), the legendary
poet Iqbal gave an ideological injection to this movement. During the
address, Iqbal said: 'It is my conviction that in the north of India an
independent Muslim state will be established. ' It was a prophesy - not a
proposal. Iqbal went on to say: 'If this happens, we will be able to
project the true picture of Islam to the world.' This was the positive
reason. One year before 1930 Mr. Muhammad Ali Jinnah ... I am not
calling him Quaid-e-Azam because he had not yet become the 'quaid'. He
was not among the founders of the Muslim League. And for six years after
the founding of the Muslim League he didn't join it. He was the private
secretary of (the Indian independence hero) Dadabhai Nawroji. Even when
he eventually became a member of the Mus lim League, he retained dual
membership - both in the Congress and the Muslim League. He did his best
('sartod koshish ki') to find some solution to the Hindu-Muslim problem.
That is why Mr. Jinnah was referred to in those days as the ambassador
of unity. Then he became disillusioned. So in 1929 one year before
Iqbal's 'Khutba-e-Allahabad ,' Mr. Jinnah closed his political shop,
bought a palace ('kothi') in London and started practicing law. S.M.
Ikram, who wrote some interesting books in Urdu, was in England in those
days studying at Oxford. He went to see Jinnah and asked him why he had
left India. 'The Muslims of India need your leadership,' he told Jinnah.
Jinnah's reply will give you some idea of his disillusionment. 'Hindus
are incorrigible, ' he told Ikram. 'And the thing with Muslims is that
their biggest and tallest leader who talks with me in the morning goes
to the commissioner or deputy commissioner or governor in the evening
and spills all the beans. How can I lea d such a community?'"
The turnaround in Jinnah, according to Dr. Israr, came later. "It
happened in 1932 when Iqbal went to London for the Second Roundtable
Conference. At that time, he gave the same ideological injection to Mr.
Jinnah. 'This is the cause of the Muslims,' he told Mr. Jinnah. It was
this injection that Mr. Jinnah came back with to India in 1934. He was
rejuvenated, and then he became the Quaid-e-Azam. "
When Dr. Israr thinks back to the creation of Pakistan, he marvels over
the consensus that formed it. "It was a miracle. Can there be any bigger
stupidity from the political standpoint as to why a UP Muslim should
support the Muslim League? It was an emotional atmosphere. Bombay
Muslim, Madrasi Muslim, CP (Central Provinces) Muslim - what did they
have to do with Pakistan? But they were the real creators of Pakistan.
In Punjab, there was never a Muslim League ministry even for one day. It
was either in East Pakistan or Sindh. Until the end, it was the Congress
ministry in the North West Frontier Province (NWFP). The real creators
of Pakistan then were the Muslims of the minority provinces. They
generated a wave in 1946. It was because of this wave that when the
elections took place, they established beyond a shadow of doubt that the
Muslim League was the sole representative party of the Muslim
community."
Dr. Israr said that what started right, soon went wrong. "The creation
of Pakistan was a good thing. It was created with good intentions; there
was a long historical background to the movement, but we failed badly.
There is one quote from Quaid-e-Azam worth remembering: 'God has given
us a golden opportunity to prove our worth as architects of a new state,
and let it not be said that we didn't prove equal to the task.'
Unfortunately, we proved that we were not equal to the task. Where is
Pakistan? We divided it into two countries (in 1971). What do we have
now? There is no such thing as 'qaum' in Pakistan. 'Q aumiyaten basti
hain. Qaum ho aur Kala Bagh dam na ban sake?'"
The Islamic scholar was asked if his view was similar to the American
view which considers Pakistan a failed state. "I don't know what the
Americans are saying. When they say Pakistan is a failed state, maybe
they are referring to the country's failed economic policies. I am
talking about the ideological failure. Pakistan was not an ordinary
country. It came into existence on the basis of an ideology. If you
couldn't take care of that ideology, then it is a failed state. It is an
ideologically failed state."
When asked if Pakistan's nuclear leadership of the Muslim world
qualified it as having some measure of success, Dr. Israr dismissed the
idea out of hand. "What is the use? Just one phone call - 'with us or
against us' - and you are finished," he said, noting that it wasn't just
a failure of leadership but rather the failure of personal conviction of
the populace. "A country is known by its leade r," he said, "and then
what about the people? What did they do? Don't just blame the leader;
the people are equally responsible for the sad state of affairs. 'Paisa
imaan hai, paisa deen hai.' Except for materialism, people are not
interested in anything. This is not the case of one or two people; I am
talking about everybody in Pakistan. They have become too
materialistic. "
So now the aging scholar holds a dim view of Pakistan's future - divine
intervention notwithstanding. "Only a miracle can save Pakistan," Dr.
Israr said. "To me, the creation of Pakistan was in itself a miracle,
and I see optimism only in the form of a miracle. In 1946, Quaid-e-Azam
had given up on the demand for Pakistan. When you had accepted the
Cabinet Mission Plan, what did it mean? It meant that the country would
remain united for 10 years. There were to be three zones. Yes, after 10
years any zone would have had the option of secession. All this meant
that for 10 long years, there was no qu estion of an independent
country. It was only after Nehru issued a statement saying 'Who lets
anybody separate after 10 years?' that is when Quaid-e-Azam got adamant.
He took a step back. 'Agar yahi niyat hai to ye Cabinet mission plan
hamen manzoor nahi hai' (If these are what your intentions are, then we
don't accept this Cabinet Mission Plan). It was Nehru who created
Pakistan. To be honest, what Nehru said was absolutely true. Would
anybody have allowed one zone to separate after 10 years? Nehru was
right. 'Nikal jaati hai jis ke muh se sacchi baat masti
me/Faqeeh-e- maslehat been se wo rind-e-baada khaar accha.' A miracle is
possible even now but only if there is a will in the nation and among
the people for the cause of Islam. Not for Islamabad but for Islam. The
young generation should re-read the chapters of history. 'Sabaq padh
phir shujaa'at ka, adalat ka, sadaqat ka.'"
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