इतिहास और फ़साना: ग़ज़नवी का सोमनाथ मंदिर पर हमला और अजमेर दरगाह

 

डा. मोतिउर रहमान खाँ

कल ऑफिस से निकलते हुए दो सहकर्मियों को बात करते हुए सुना कि ‘अजमेर वाले ख्वाजा साहब ने महमूद ग़ज़नवी को सोमनाथ मंदिर तोड़ने के लिए बुलाया था’। वे बता रहे थे कि उन्हें इसकी जानकारी प्रोफेसर मक्खन लाल तथा मृदुला मुखर्जी के एक प्रोग्राम से मिली जिसे ललन टाप पर उन्होंने देखा था। चूंकि वे जाने माने इतिहासकारों का नाम ले रहे थे, मुझे लगा स्वयं प्रोग्राम देखना पड़ेगा। मैं इस बात को हजम नहीं कर पा रहा था। खैर, मैं ललन टाप का यूट्यूब चैनल भी देखता हूँ और पोर्टल भी देख लेता हूँ और इस पोर्टल की इस खासियत से प्रभावित भी हूँ कि यह समाचार के साथ-साथ मिट्टी की खुशबू भी देता है। इनका बैलन्स तरीका अच्छा लगता है।

घर पहुँच कर यूट्यूब पर ढूँढना शुरू किया तो यूट्यूब का लिंक कुछ ऐसा मिला, ‘‘Somnath Temple पर Mahmud Ghaznavi के हमले का Ajmer Sharif कनेक्‍शन क्‍या है?”

, प्रोग्राम सौरभ जी के जायज़ सवालों से शुरू होता है । मुझे कहने में कोई संकोच नहीं कि प्रोफेसर मक्खन लाल के सभी तर्कों से सहमत हुए बिना नहीं रहा जा सकता। उनकी इतिहास लेखन की समझ और सोच की सृजनात्मकता का कायल मैं पहले से रहा हूँ। गंगा घाटी में जंगलों के सफाये के लिए लौह तकनीक के इस्तेमाल की मार्क्सवादी अवधारणा का बहुत ही तर्कपूर्ण ढंग से खंडन करने वाला उनका लेख मेरे मन मस्तिष्क में अलग छवि रखता है। इस प्रोग्राम में उनका तर्क कि तथ्य पवित्र होने चाहिए और इतिहासकार का काम है कि तथ्य कितना भी असहज करने वाला क्यूँ न हो उसे इससे मुंह नहीं मोड़ना चाहिए से मैं पूर्णतः सहमत हूँ। साथ ही प्रोफेसर साहब ने इस बात पर भी जोर दिया कि इतिहासकार कई बार अपने सामाजिक स्थिति, व्यक्तिगत विश्वास तथा उसकी पृष्ठभूमि के अनुसार ‘तथ्यों’ का चुनाव करते हैं। अपनी बातों के समर्थन में वे ई. एच. कार तथा अन्य विद्वानों को भी कोट कर रहे थे। वहीं प्रोफेसर मृदुला मुखर्जी ने ‘तथ्यों’ के चुनाव को एक फ्रेम-वर्क में रखने पर बल दे रहीं थीं। उनका मानना था कि तथ्यों को एक फ्रेम वर्क, एक थीम के बिना समझना मुश्किल होता है। ढेर सारे बिखरे हुए तथ्यों से किसी को कुछ समझ नहीं आएगा। प्रोफेसर मक्खन लाल बहुत ही मधुर एवं सौम्य तथा अपने अग्रज इतिहासकारों के लिए आदर के भाव के साथ उनकी आलोचना कर रहे थे।

इस चर्चा में मुख्य रूप से ‘तथ्य’, ‘तथ्यों का चुनाव’, इतिहास का राजनीतिक उपयोग इत्यादि छाए रहे। ऐसी बहस निश्चित ही जनमानस में इतिहास की चेतना बढ़ाने में उपयोगी साबित होती है। राजनीति और इतिहास लेखन को अलग नहीं किया जा सकता यह एक अकाट्य सत्य है। साम्राज्यवादी इतिहास लेखन, ब्रिटिश साम्राज्य की जरूरतों को ध्यान में रख कर किया गया था जिसका जवाब राष्ट्रवादी इतिहासकारों ने देने की कोशिश की। कुछ इतिहासकार ‘हिन्दू राष्ट्रवाद’ में विश्वास रखते थे तो कुछ समावेशी राष्ट्रवाद में। एक समय में मार्क्सवादियों का पलड़ा भारी रहा और मार्क्सवादी विचार के अनुसार इतिहास लिखा गया। अब राजनीति ने फिर करवट ली है और पुराने सभी इतिहास का विऔपनिवेशीकरण की बात हो रही है। और मार्क्सवादी इतिहासकारों पर इल्जाम है कि उन्होंने ने असहज करने वाले तथ्य छिपाएँ हैं। वे कौन से तथ्य हैं ? मध्यकाल के मुस्लिम शासकों द्वारा हिंदूओं पर किए गए ‘नरसंघारों’ और उत्पीड़न के साक्ष्यों को। उन साक्ष्यों को खोज-खोज कर निकाल जा रहा है जिन्हें पहले के इतिहासकारों ने कहीं गुम कर दिया था। और ये साक्ष्य कहाँ से खोजे जा रहे हैं? ब्रिटिश लाइब्रेरी से? अमेरिकन लाइब्रेरी से? राष्ट्रीय अभिलेखागार से? या किसी अन्य नए स्रोत से? नहीं। पहले से छपी, अंग्रेजी पुस्तकों से। हाँ, और कुछ मनगढ़ंत किस्सों से भी। खैर, मैं प्रोफेसर मक्खन लाल की इस बात से पूर्ण रूप से सहमत हूँ कि इतिहास अपना जैसा भी है उसके साथ रहना सीखना होगा और इतिहास से भागने की आवश्यकता नहीं है, लेकिन इतिहास को जानना जरूरी है। फिर बात वहीं आकर टिकती है कि आखिर ‘तथ्य’ को ‘तथ्य’ क्या बनाते हैं जिसके आधार पर इतिहास लिखा जाना है? तो उत्तर है ‘साक्ष्य’ अब साक्ष्य को भी तो परखने की आवश्यकता होती है। क्या हर विवरण जो कहीं लिखा है साक्ष्य हो सकता है खासकर वह जिस घटना को बताने का वह दावा करता है? उदाहरण के लिए पृथ्वीराजरासो की एक प्रतिलिपि के अनुसार चंद्र बरदई पृथ्वीराज चौहान से कह रहे हैं की जीत निश्चित ही उनकी होगी क्योंकि ख्वाजा उनके क्षेत्र में हैं और उनका आशीर्वाद उनके साथ है। क्या हम यह आँख मूँद कर मान लें कि ख्वाजा मुइनूद्दीन चिश्ती और पृथ्वीराज चौहान के संबंध बहुत मधुर थे? माना जाता है कि भविष्य पुराण की रचना वेद व्यास ने की है उसमें बताया गया है कि अकबर का जन्म आकस्मिक (अक) वरदान (वर) से हुआ जिस कारण उसका नाम अकबर पड़ा तथा वह अपने पूर्व जनम में मुकुंद नामक ब्राह्मण थे। जिन्होंने शेरशाह को हरा कर सत्ता प्राप्त की। विद्यापति की पुरुषपरीक्षा बताती है कि मुहम्मद गोरी की जीत के पीछे उसके ब्राह्मण मंत्री का हाथ था जिसने गहद्वावल राजा जयचंद के नाराज ब्राहमण मंत्री को अपने साथ मिला लिया था। जाहिर है कि बिन जांच परख के इन वक्तव्यों को साक्ष्य और तथ्य नहीं माना जा सकता। ठीक उसी प्रकार से, जैसा कि प्रोफेसर मक्खन लाल ने इस चर्चा में कहा कि तथ्यों को दबाया गया है और उसके उदाहरण स्वरूप बताया कि अजमेर वाले ख्वाजा साहब ने महमूद ग़ज़नवी को सोमनाथ पर आक्रमण करने के लिए 25-30 चिट्ठियाँ लिखीं। क्या इनका यह वक्तव्य साक्ष्य की जांच से परे तथ्य है? नहीं बिल्कुल नहीं हो सकता ख्वाजा मुइनूद्दीन चिश्ती (1143 -1236 CE) की मृत्यु 1236 ईस्वी में हुई है जबकि महमूद ग़ज़नवी (971-1030 CE) 1025-26 में सोमनाथ पर आक्रमण करता है। वह 25-30 चिट्ठियाँ कहाँ हैं क्या प्रोफेसर साहब बता पाएंगे? हो सकता है प्रोफेसर मक्खन लाल जी मोइज़्उद्दीन ग़ौरी (1162-1206 CE) कहना चाहते हों और ग़लती से ग़ज़नवी कह गए हों। परंतु गौरी ने तो सोमनाथ पर हमला नहीं किया था।

इतिहास लेखन में साक्ष्यों का परीक्षण सबसे पहले आता है। काल निर्धारण तो बहुत सतही जांच होती है उसके बाद साक्ष्य निर्माता की पृष्ठभूमि, उसका भावी उद्देश्य इत्यादि का पता लगाना। फिर कहीं जा कर इतिहासकार अपने थीम के अनुसार उस साक्ष्य का उपयोग कर पाता है। पोलिटिकल नेरेटिव बनाने के लिए कुछ खास मेहनत नहीं लगती। इतिहास लेखन की पेचीदगी उसकी व्याख्या और उसके संदर्भ को साथ मिला कर समझना होता है अलग-अलग कर इतिहास को नहीं समझा जा सकता।  

प्रोफेसर मक्खन लाल जी के इस वक्तव्य ने कि ख्वाजा साहब ने महमूद ग़ज़नवी को चिट्ठी लिख कर सोमनाथ पर आक्रमण करने को बुलाया था ललन टॉप की हेड्लाइन बन गयी और जनमानस के बीच ख्वाजा मुइनूद्दीन चिश्ती की छवि भी धूमिल हुई। इस प्रकार से ‘इतिहास’ का राजनीतिक लाभ किसको मिला  समझा जा सकता है।

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My Prophet Muhammad

I woke up a little late today. It was Eid Milad un Nabi (birth anniversary of Prophet Muhammad), a gazetted holiday in India. My WhatsApp message was filled with the greetings on the occasion from my friends, students and colleagues. With a cup of tea in my hand, I started browsing the newspaper. The frontpage headline caught my attention, ‘Days after Beheading of School Teacher Three killed in French church; Islamist terror attack: Macron’. A sense of shame, guilt and embarrassment crippled me and it became really difficult to reply to those messages or to greet others on the pious occasion of the Eid-milad un Nabi. I was thinking, how can anyone kill people for ‘blasphemy’, in the name of the Prophet who is known as rahmat-ul lil ‘aalamin (mercy/kindness for the world). Since my childhood I have been listening to a rawayet (tradition) that, ‘when the Prophet was in Mecca, Abu Jahal (an uncle and an enemy of the Prophet and his Din) on seeing the Prophet started cussing him then another sahabi (companion of the Prophet) passed by and began praising him. People enquired the Prophet, ‘why was Abu Jahal cursing and the other man praising him?, the Prophet replied, ‘I am a mirror, people see their own faces in me’. After the bloodless conquest of Mecca, what did the Prophet do to those who had chewed the heart and liver of his favourite uncle? He had forgiven one and all, without any discrimination. Those who consider themselves to be his followers should always keep in mind that their actions somehow are associated with him.

Bilal ibn Rabah calling for prayer, Islamic miniature from Siyer-i Nebi,
Ottoman Empire , 1500s, blackpast.org

The expression, ‘my Prophet Muhammad’ here signifies the Prophet, I have known from my childhood. A historical or divine personality is what we know from the information we are fed from our childhood. The stories we listen to shape our minds, create biases for or against. Unfortunately, Islam has always been studied as either theology or history. Nobody thinks of the mythology when it comes to Islam. But communities are shaped not by the theologies nor by the histories. It is shaped by the myths and the stories around it. Muslim theologians, obviously reject these myths and stories as bidat (innovations). But they do not realise that these myths and stories have created the community itself. Many stories are taken from the ahadis (traditions of the prophet) and other rawayet (traditions/sometimes unverified ones). Some of these stories are told on a regular basis as a pious act. Stories like, Bibi Syeda ki Kahani (story of Bibi Syeda), Dus Bibiyon ki Kahani (story of the ten ladies) and Lakadhare ki kahani (story of the wood-cutter) are told and listened to piously on one occasion or the other. The stories are read from a booklet and, generally women and children listen to it as an act of piety. After the completion of the stories, sweets/sugar are distributed among the listeners. The stories themselves remind the listeners about the merits of the pious act of telling and listening to them.  

One such versified story is told and listened to on Thursday night every week. The compendium comprising Noornama, ahadnama and aahunama is about Prophet Muhammad. I have grown up listening to the compendium, commonly known as Noornama.  The story is about the creation of the noor of the Prophet before the Creation. It tells us that the noor (the light) was created from the Creator himself. After thousands of years, the Creator created a tree with thousands of branches. The noor of the Prophet then was made into a shape of a peacock and the peacock was asked to live on the branches of that tree. After sometime, the Creator created a similar peacock, which was a mirror and God asked the peacock to look into the mirror peacock. The peacock (the noor of the Prophet) looked into the mirror and broke into a sweat. The beads of sweat started falling, the one lakh twenty four thousand drops from the mouth created the prophets, and the droplets from the forehead were three hundred thirteen, which became mursaleen (the prophets with books). Lakhs of droplets thus fell became the malayek (the angels). The drops which fell from the face became the animal kingdom. The four droplets fell from the eyes and became the great four angels (Angels Gabriel, Mikhael, Israel and Israfel). The two droplets which fell from the shoulders, became the sun and the moon. The four droplets from the cheeks became the skies--the sky, the throne, the slate and the pencil (arsh, kursi and loh o qalam). The two droplets fell from the nose and became heaven and hell. The story basically introduces us to the concept of whadat ul wajud of Ibn al Arabi, that the Creator created everything from his own self. According to the story of the Noornama the noor of the Prophet, then was asked to choose the material from which he is to be created. The noor was asked to visit each of them, the fire, the wind, the water and the earth. The noor visited each of them and asked what they will do when sent in the world; all of them except the earth replied that they will do whatever they liked. When the noor asked the earth/dust what she would do in the world, the earth replied that she is nothing but dust and the Almighty has all the power, who has created all, she will do whatever the Creator wanted her to do. The noor of the Prophet liked her humility and servitude to the Creator and chose it to be the material from which he was to be created. The noor of the Prophet hugged her with affection and thus the Creator created the prophet in the form of a man with the dust! I always loved the way the Prophet chose humility on pride of fire, wind and water. 

In the same compendium, the story about a deer was my favourite, and it always brought tears into my eyes. The story was that, once the Prophet was going somewhere and found a deer tied with a rope. The deer seeing the Prophet asked for help. The Prophet went near her. She told him that a hunter had caught and tied her. She could not feed her small kids who must have been looking for their mother. She told the Prophet that she just wanted a few moments to feed her kids and tell them that God is the only Provider and Protector after she was gone. She further promised that she will come back to her captor after feeding her children. The Prophet released her. The hunter appeared on the scene and started shouting on the Prophet. The Prophet told him that the deer will come back after feeding her children as she had promised. The hunter was not convinced and kept cursing the Prophet. Soon the deer came back with her children, seeing that the hunter was astonished and fell at the feet of the Prophet and freed the deer. 

Apart from these tales of piety, we used to read stories in our maktab (primary Muslim schools) about the Prophet, I remember one such story: 

The story begins with a header: ‘One should honor his guest whether he is a Muslim or not’

    

Prophet Mohammad always emphasized on giving respects to visiting guests. Once a group of Jews visited the Prophet, since the number of guests was large and he had limited resources, he asked his sahabi (companions) to distribute one person each among themselves and honor them in befitting manners. One of them was known for his mischievous activities, therefore none from among the companions of the Prophet agreed to host him and he stayed with the Prophet himself. The Prophet prepared all kinds of good food for the guest. A well-known mischief like him ate all the food and did not think of other people whose guest he was! The prophet did not say anything to him and made his bed for his comfortable stay.  After such an over-eating, he fell ill with an upset stomach. By dawn, he even soiled the bed and left home without informing anyone, when the Prophet came looking for him, he did not find his guest. He enquired about the guest but no one had any clue about him. The companions of the Prophet could not bear the insult inflicted on the Prophet of Allah and started fuming at the Jew, the Prophet of Allah said, ‘do not say anything to the man, he was my guest and it is my duty to be respectful to him’. The Prophet then started washing the bed-sheet with his own hand. In the meantime, the Jew came back to take his jewel studded sword, which he had left in the room and he saw that Prophet Muhammad is washing his clothes which he had soiled with his feces. Seeing this he felt ashamed and offered his apologies to the Prophet.

Now the narrator of the story says, dear children! Be alert! Always take care of your guest by offering him good food, with your gentle smile and good behavior, it doesn’t matter if he is a non-Muslim, he is equally honorable and your duties towards your guests are the same.

These and other such stories made ‘my Prophet Muhammad’ who is compassionate, who likes humility, compassion and human values. The Prophet knew how to ignore those who cursed him and forget and forgive those who gave him pain. Those who are killing in his name are committing crime against my Prophet. No one except rightfully constituted state, has any right to ‘punish’ anyone. Also, there should be no punishment for reading, writing, speaking or expressing anything. Unqualified freedom of speech and expression should be the goal of all humankind.  

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My introduction to Babri Masjid-Ramjanam Bhoomi dispute

A long pending issue of Ayodhya was finally decided by the Supreme Court of India last year in favour of Ramjanam Bhoomi. All legal options exhausted by the Muslim party paved the way for the construction of the Ramjanam Bhoomi temple. The court had also compensated Muslims by a plot of six acres of land for the construction of a mosque in a prominently located place in Ayodhya. The prominence was of course had to be decided by the government. And the central government was asked to come up with a Trust which had to supervise the construction of the temple. The Supreme Court in its 1000 plus page judgement, however, decided on the basis of longest occupation of the 'property'. The Hindu party , according to the court, had shown its longest occupation of the 'property'. Muslims couldn't prove the exclusive occupancy of the 'property' from the time of Babur to Emperor Aurangzeb and therefore, they lost the case. (Click here for the judgement).

Photo: Asiavillenews

Those who are interested in knowing the long history of the dispute should go through the supreme Court Judgement. A few books like , Ayodhya ki wah syaah Raat : Babri Masjid mein Ramlala ke Prakat hone ka sach by Krishna Jha and Dhrendra Kumar Jha translated in Hindi by Anil Rajim waale , Falcon and Falcon , Delhi, 2015 (original English title of the same book was first published by Harper and Collins in 2012) and a booklet by Irfan Habib published CPI M publication are particularly useful for the post Independence Stories related to the dispute. 

Photo: Hinduexistence.org

I was introduced to the dispute in a strange manner. I had passed my primary school, which was located near my home. There was no middle or high school nearby those days. I had to go to the sub-divisional town for my Sixth class. To reach the town, one could walk as it was not more than three kilometres. Since the town was situated on a very busy road, namely , G.T. Road which connects Kolkata to Delhi , it was difficult for a child of around 10 years of age to walk down daily to the school and on such a busy road, we used to take an alternative way. We, here, means I and my friend Sanjay both of us were studying in the same class and of almost the same age. The alternate route required us to cross a seasonal river, Morhar. The route was quite deserted. Therefore, I and Sanjay, who were friends in our primary school had become great friends, because none of us dared to go to the school alone. Schools, in those days, used to start from 10:00 A.M. Most of the time, I used to go to his house first, then with him, crossed the river to reach the school. Our friendship had become very strong. His elder sister, Manju didi was very affectionate to me, his dadi loved me like her own grand son, his mother always offered food or fresh cucumber or turnip from her kitchen garden. His father never had any interest in me or him. His uncle took interest in our friendship. And I didn't like his interfering attitude, he was not affectionate , he rather tried to know more about me , perhaps, more than what I knew about myself. This behaviour of his was uncomfortable for me, I don't know why! As far as my family's relations to Sanjay was concerned, it was not good at all! They all teased me for having a friend who lived in Passitola (locality of toddy tappers). They had nothing particular against him except that he lived in that mohalla, where illegal liquor was also sold. My mother's concern was that if I have ever had food at his home! My Amma was affectionate to Sanjay, but he was not allowed inside my home. This pinched me a lot, therefore, I preferred to go to his house than asking him to come to my home. And strangely Sanjay never complained about this. He never insisted on coming to my home. These things never came in our friendship. It would not be out of place that he forced his father to get his name changed from Sanjay Kumar Paswan to Sanjay Kumar so that we both could share the same letter 'k' of our surnames; his Kumar, and mine, Khan!

I can write a lot more about our friendship, which was innocent; which was not under any influence of movies, like Dharam Veer or Sholay, because we never watched films together; but that one year of class 6 was enough for my parents to send me to a private school in the district town! 

That friend, Sanjay, once, while going to the school told me that an idol of Ramji made of gold has appeared in Ayodhya. The idol was very huge, had jewels as its eyes, and that was too precious. 'The Muslims say that the idol is a mosque', I was shocked to know that Muslims were claiming an idol to be a mosque!! I blatantly gave my judgement, 'Muslims, if usurping the idol, are doing great wrong'.

Later on,  I saw many rallies, gatherings and writings on walls about Babri Masjid, Ramlala, Mulla and Pakistan! Two slogans written on walls entertained us everywhere, Babur ki santano Bharat chhodo and Rajeev, Baburi Masjid waapis karo--Syed shahabuddin !! My guilt of being from the Muslim community started increasing. I thought, leaving all shame, Muslims are fighting for the 'mosque' made of an idol because it was made of gold!! It hurted! I had this much sense that idols are not only prohibited in our religion but also ridiculed in whatever stories I heard from my elders. And all the people were fighting for an idol?!! Slowly and steadily I got to know the story of the dispute but not from my elders, because they never thought it proper to tell a child, in this case me about these conflicts. We, the children were uninformed participants of the drama. We were seeing the rallies , reading the  slogans on the wall and participating in discussions arising out of the situation. Coping with the questions alone. Sanjay, however, always assured me that if he remained near me he would save me from the Hindus, I had nothing to assure him of  because, by now, I knew that, it is we, who were under threat. People were guarding the mohalla, and a peace committee had been formed. All night elders used to sit on the terrace with guns. Diesel oil procured for agriculture purposes was divided among many small canisters to be used in 'emergency'. We were the participants of the drama but had no clue why it was  happening. Sometimes, it was heard that some Mun Mun Singh kidnapped a local boss Ranwa and the situation got out of hand after hearing a very loud explosion; the whole night was spent on the terrace! As soon as the dawn broke everything became very normal. 

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Where I have been when Kashmir exodus was taking place!

For the last many years, I have faced a constant question, that where I have been when Kashmir exodus was taking place! And this question pops up now and then when I raise my voice against any injustice happening today. I assured them I used to question governments earlier too, and this is not the first time I am speaking against injustice around me. And yes, this is the beauty of democracy. But, to some extent, I started taking the question in its literal sense. In fact, I really don’t remember at all, the exodus of Kashmiri Hindus. I only remember a question of general knowledge, which my teacher gave me to memorize, the full form of JKLF! The acronym and its full form raised a question in my mind, why JK Liberation front? India won its freedom from the British in 1947 itself, why then an organisation is named Liberation front? That remained a dead question, and no one replied to this question of mine then. My father was a regular listener of BBC Urdu and Hindi Radio services, therefore, I had heard names of a few countries; Iraq and Iran were fighting, Soviet had waged war in Afghanistan and Chechen guerrillas were terrorising Soviets, I thought these guerrillas were the wild animals, who were like those jackals and the boars which often roamed in our sugarcane fields. Please don’t try to fix a chronology for these events, this is how I remember the things. Haphazard, little surreal and sometimes insane. The knowledge of home front was more of a micro level, for me, my village and the qasba where I was growing, and later the district town were planets of my universe.


I have decided to recount the days of my childhood until I find the answer of the actual question, that what I was doing when the exodus of Kashmiri Hindus was taking place, now I know when if you do not know then Google it! I am not promising you when I will tell you what I was doing then but yes you will get a chance to peep into my life. I know what you are thinking, yeah, I know I am not a great man that you would like to listen to my personal story. I am not asking you to listen to my story, instead, you will get to know the story of a Muslim boy born in 1980. A lot was happening those days, my first memory is of the day, when Indira Gandhi was killed (nobody from my family believe that I remember this! they think I must have heard sometime later and committed to memory as of my own!). I was sitting in front of my house on a charpoy and a neighbour of mine came and announced, ‘have you heard something, Indira Gandhi mad gayee’ (Indira Gandhi died)! I have no further memories of the event. The second memory, which I recall to this day that General Zia of Pakistan died in a plane crash and Benazir Bhutto distributed laddus. I was wondering why that lady was distributing laddus? the shock was obvious, we used to get laddus when our school distributed it after unfurling of the national flag in Independence Day. These were the initial memories. My memory, in fact, begins from the time of the Rath Yatra of Advani! I still remember the date 9-11 December, ‘Shila Pujan’, when, one of my father’s raiyyat told him on his face, that he will repay all the loans he had taken after 11th of December!

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Abolition of Triple Talaq and Uniform Civil Code

               A Bill proposing criminalization of Triple Talaq is listed for introduction in the Lok Sabha on December 28, 2017. Draft Bill, known as 'The Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Bill 2017' is prepared by Ministry of Law under Ravi Shankar Prasad. The Bill seeks to ban pronouncement of talaq in one sitting orally, electronically or by any means whatsoever.  The objective and justification for the Bill have also been listed by the Minister, where it is said that even after Supreme Court's verdict against the practice, incidents of triple talaq have come to notice. Hence, the government, to curb the practice and to do gender justice to the Muslim women has brought this Bill, which criminalises the practice of talaq-i-bidat and made it a cognizable and non-bailable offence with a jail term of upto 3 years.  

So, where is the problem? 

The Bill has been drafted as if the Minister is making a multimedia campaign for some election, the one which we saw during Gujarat elections, where a scarf-clad Gujarati Muslim woman hails the decision of the Modi Government to ban this practice of 'talaq' and ask the men from the 'qaum' (community) to go away from her, who were seeking her vote in the name of 'qaum'. The video portrays that Muslim women are potential voters for the BJP and Muslim men are basically enemy of that potential voter and the BJP herself, the Bill too, treat Muslim men as if they are the enemy of the women of their own family and only the state can protect them from outside. The Bill makes the practice a cognizable and non-bailable crime!  What does it mean?  A cognizable crime invites an investigation without permission from the magistrate; the police officer can make an arrest without warrant. Whereas a non-cognisable offence is considered to be private wrong, the aggrieved party needs to file a complaint before a magistrate and then it is upto the magistrate that he orders arrest and investigation of the matter by a police officer. So, this practice of triple talaq has been placed with rape, murder and theft.  Till now, the matters related to marriages enjoyed judicial oversight on the rationale that the outside world should not punish an errant husband if the wife does not want her husband to be punished (of course, if it is not a matter of physical harm). This can safely be concluded from the fact that the man cannot be punished for bigamy under IPC 494, unless the first wife or her relatives complain before a magistrate against the man. Similarly, under Section 376B of the Indian Penal Code, which makes the act of a husband raping his wife while they are separated a cognizable offence, but that can be prosecuted only if the wife or her relatives lodge a complaint[i]. If this Bill passed, a Muslim married man can be arrested and kept in jail without the consent of his wife.  The draft of the Bill sees Muslim men as an outside enemy of Muslim women and has given no regard to the fact that men are the part of the family itself. The law must be formulated keeping in mind the whole community all the stakeholders must be taken into account. It is unfortunate that women body, Beba

Photo: MapsofIndia

k Collective, the women organisation who were among the parties in the case, in which the Supreme Court held the practice of triple talaq illegal, were not consulted in drafting the Bill. The Organisation is correct in saying that the talaq will happen even if not instant, on the whims and fancies of the husband under the Shariat Act 1937. What can be done for justified and equal treatment of women in the matter of talaq is that the Dissolution of Muslim Marriages Act 1939 be amended. The Act requires Muslim women to approach the court for the divorce. By an amendment to this Act, by making it gender neutral, the problem of whimsical divorce by men can be curbed. ‘The Dissolution of Muslim Marriages Bill, 2016’ was tabled on 5^th August 2016 but nothing has happened till now. The Bill must make it mandatory to go to the Court for seeking divorce by a man or a woman.   

Why not Uniform Civil Code?

The BJP has always been advocating for the Uniform Civil Code in place of different personal laws—Hindu Personal Law, Muslim Personal Law, Parsi Personal Law, Christian Personal Law and Portuguese Personal Law and many more. When the Modi government first came to power with an overwhelming majority in 2014, people were hoping that the BJP will do something in this matter. At least a Joint Parliamentary Committee or a Committee of the legal experts was expected from the present regime. But they, instead chose to target Muslim law and that too with a narrow vision of fulfilling their immediate desire of mobilizing Hindus on communal lines by showing them that the present regime is acting against the ‘privileges’ enjoyed by the Muslim men—of keeping four wives, divorce on their own whims and fancies, no alimony and maintenance to the wife after divorce etc., which the Hindus can’t enjoy under their Personal Laws.  For ‘enjoying’ these ‘privileges’ Hindu man needs to convert to Islam like Film star Dharmendra did to marry actress and now BJP Loksabha MP, Hema Malini (also converted to Islam to marry Dharmendra) and recent high profile drama in Haryana, EX- Dy. Chief Minister Chandramohan had to convert to Islam to marry Anita Bali (Fiza Mohammad). Alternatively, Muslim men’s ‘privileges’ be curtailed to gratify Hindu men’s desire of equality with the Muslim men in not enjoying those ‘privileges’. And this can be done by converting or rather purifying them by ‘shuddhikaran’ to Hinduism. The later act is being aggressively performed by the politically backed hooligans on a regular basis these days. What the present government is now trying to do is that they want to ‘free Muslim women’ from Muslim men so that it can actually serve two supposed purposes, one, Hindu men can feel relief that their Muslim counterparts are now in worst position as against theirs and two, the Muslim women will vote for the BJP and will not listen to their men in voting. (if this is true, I feel pity for the people who call themselves think tanks of the BJP!)

But why this change of heart, when they could have done a great service to the nation by implementing Uniform Civil Code, a dream of our founding fathers of our modern nation? It seems the legal experts have seriously advised the BJP that this is not an easy and simple task. Implementation of Uniform Civil Code requires a uniform set of laws by removing a number of laws prevalent in India to maintain its diversity, uniqueness of different cultures and landscape.

Laws guaranteed by Political Cession Treaties of different states into the Union of India cannot easily be dissolved to pave the way for the Uniform Civil Code, such as Pondicherry Customary Hindu Law (and the Pondicherry (Extension of Laws) Act, 1968, sec. 3 and Sch give uniqueness to the Union Territory of Pondicherry), which is guaranteed by a treaty between Government of India and the Government of France dated 21-10-1954, after which the erstwhile, French Settlement of Pondicherry, Karaikal, Mahe and Yanam was annexed to India. Similarly, Article 370 and 371 (A) of the Constitution of India allow considerable autonomies to the states of Jammu and Kashmir and Nagaland[ii]. Under these Articles of the Constitution (which were added later on to accommodate these states and their uniqueness, when they were made part of the Union of India), any law to come in force in these states needs to be passed by their respective legislature. Similarly, Section 42 of ‘The Manipur (Courts) Act 1955 provides for deciding ‘questions regarding succession, inheritance, marriage or caste or any religious usage or institution’ according to their personal or custom laws.    

Apart from the personal laws based on religion, several district-level Customary Laws are prevalent in India. These laws, many a time, are given precedence over communities’ religious laws in the matters of inheritance, marriages and adoptions. Gujars, Meos and several other tribes/castes have their own district-wise customary laws of inheritance and marriages.[iii] In Uttar Pradesh (erstwhile, United Province and Oudh) have their own Rawaj-i- ‘aum, which is given precedence in the matter of inheritance and succession. Madras and Bombay Presidency High Court Acts provide for ‘giving preference to Customary Laws in Succession and marriage. Hence, many Muslim Communities like, Khojas and Kutcchi Menons are governed under their customary laws which are contrary to the Sharia Laws. Mapillas (Mopla Muslims) of the north Malabar region is governed under the Marumakkathayam law (Mappilla Marumakkathayam Act, 1938), a system commonly associated with the Hindu Nayars and Tiyyans and based on Mitakshara Law[iv].      

Despite the fact that replacing the above personal and customary laws with a Uniform Civil Code is a herculean task, the modern state should try to hold negotiations with the peoples and formulate such a law—one and uniform, which can be acceptable to all the communities to eradicate gender injustice and for promoting personal individuality. This will pave the way for equality in all senses. Tax benefits to the Hindu Undivided Family will either be extended to Muslims, who still practice joint family or will have to be abolished. Peoples—Hindu, Muslim, Christians, Parsis and Jains will be replaced by citizens, thus the state will only recognise its citizens, not their religions, which will result in amendment of ‘The Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Order, 1950 which will abolish the bracket of religions under which a Muslim or a Christian cannot avail the benefit of SC reservations at present. Therefore, the discrimination on the basis of religion will get eradicated automatically. At present, the sweeper caste of Muslim comes under Other Backward Castes, whereas their Hindu counterparts come under Scheduled Castes. This will change.

Muslims, as a community, should give up their irrational and unchanging attitude, especially those who consider themselves to be the guardian of the Muslim umma. Islamic Civil laws (of Shari ‘a) has enough flexibility and it can accommodate and adjust itself to give rights to its own women-folks, especially in matters of marriage and divorce by preparing a standard Nikahnama, which can empower women by including conditions like:

a) Annulment of marriage by a decree of Court

b) Condition of monogamy on husband

c) Conditions against domestic violence

d) Some of the conditions which are enumerated in Dissolution of Muslim Marriages Act 1939 under which a Muslim woman can approach the court for khula or dissolution of her marriage, can also be included here.

The first three conditions were a general feature of the medieval nikahnamas.[v] It is unfortunate, that with the passage of time instead of moving forward in the direction of equality of genders we have actually undone the achievements of the past. Islam was the first religion which provided for a share of a woman, though half of what her brother in the property of her father. But, unfortunately, even this share has been denied to them in modern times. The clerics and their different groups cannot claim themselves to be the true upholder of the Shari‘a. Have they ever raised their voices loud enough to amend Section 2 of ‘The Muslim Personal Law (Shariat) Application Act, 1937’, which limits its (shariat) application in the matter of inheritance in ‘agricultural land’? This particular, section of the said Act has barred women from inheriting their rightful share (which Muslim shariat guarantees them) in their father’s land when a great chunk of the inheritable property is still in land for the large number of the Muslim population. Whatever women inherited in their fathers’ property—known as dukhtari, till now is due to the prevalence of the customary laws of different communities within the Muslim communities. 

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[i] Abhishek Sudhir, ‘The triple Talaq Bill is hasty, impulsive and cruel—much like the act it seeks to criminalise’, https://scroll.in/article/862502/the-triple-talaq-bill-is-hasty-impulsive-and-cruel-much-like-the-act-it-seeks-to-criminalise accessed on December 26, 2017

[ii] See further on UCC, The Nagaland turmoil shows why a uniform civil code is neither possible nor desirable in India, https://scroll.in/article/829884/the-nagaland-turmoil-shows-why-a-uniform-civil-code-is-neither-possible-nor-desirable-in-india

[iii] For a detailed study of Customary Laws of erstwhile territory of Punjab see, Digest of Customary Law, http://punjabrevenue.nic.in/cust20.htm , accessed on December 27, 2017 

[iv]  A Haberbeck, Muslims, Custom and the Courts (Application of Customary Laws to Mappillas of North Malabar, Khojas and Cutchi Memons), Journal of the Indian Law Institute, Vol.24, no.1, pp.132-158, available at http://14.139.60.114:8080/jspui/bitstream/123456789/16784/1/054_Muslims%2C%20Custom%20and%20the%20Courts%20%28132-158%29.pdf accessed on December 27, 2017.

[v] Several Nikahnamas of Emperor Shahjahan’s time are preserved in Blochet Supplement, Bibliotheque Nationale de France, Paris, for the English translation see, Shireen Moosvi, People, Taxation, and Trade in Mughal India, Oxford University Press, 2008, p. 276  

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Power, Piety and Royal Tombs in Pre-colonial India

Premodern states often revolved around the persona of the ruler, who used to define his authority in a complex manner by employing divine and temporal logics. A show of brutality and display of benevolence was a common feature of those times. Court historians have recorded these events over-enthusiastically since this was expected from them. Such displays and descriptions were meant for the people who hang around the king—the courtiers, the nobles and the army generals. For the masses, however, they had created a replica of the royal court in royal tombs, which not only gave a glimpse of the real court but also presented the benevolent side of the ruler.

Lofty buildings and their impressive designs can be found in the Indian subcontinent from the beginning of Muslim political dominance of the region. Most of the royal tombs contained ribat, madrassa or at least a place for the recitation of Quran. A number of officials from hashiya, those who did ‘menial’ jobs to the arbab, imam and reciters of Quran were attached to these tombs. They were made lively by supporting them with a waqf—a legal device, by which the corpus property is tied to the name of God, thus barring its transfer by sale, inheritance or mortgage, and the usufruct of it goes for the purpose enumerated by the Waqif, the creator of the waqf. Thus the tomb and its activities get an institutional character. It seems, apart from the religious buildings, only the royal tombs survived the ravages of time just because of their institutionalization as a waqf. (it is, however, a different matter that the waqf attached to these monuments were seized or the monument was deliberately deinstitutionalized at different points in time.). Ainuddin Mahru[i] and Shamsh Siraj Afif mention creation of waqf for the maintenance of tomb of erstwhile rulers.[ii] Ibn-i Batuta discusses functioning of the tomb in details since he was appointed mutuwalli of such a tomb patronized by Muhammad bin Tughlaq, interestingly, not of his father and predecessor, which one would think could have been an obvious choice, but of his old master Sultan Qutub uddin Khilji (d. 1320), whose murder was avenged by the Ghazi Malik (later Ghiyasuddin Tughlaq) by killing Khusro Khan the Naib of the Sultanate and inaugurated the Tughlaq dynasty.

            The Moroccan traveller says that Muhammad Tughlaq venerated Qutubuddin Khalji, because he had been one of the confidants of the late Sultan. Ibn-i-Batuta, who was serving as the Chief Qazi of Delhi was made mutuwalli (custodian/ manager) of the tomb. He informs us that Qutubuddin’s shoes and other possessions which were required by the dead sultan in his lifetime were kept near the tomb, thus horses and elephants had also to be kept in the tomb. A number of hashiya officers like silahdar (arms-bearer), nezadaar (spearmen), chhatradaar (canopy-bearer), tashtdaar (person responsible for washing hand and feet of the Sultan), hajib (chamberlain), naqeeb and chobdaar (mace-bearer) along with saqqas (water-career), tanbolis (betel-man) and daudis (runners), apart from a band of two hundred and fifty khatmi (reciter of Quran), one imam, many qaris, mu‘azzins and mukabbir (one who recite takbir during the namaz)  were appointed in the service of the tomb. The tomb also housed eighty students and their teachers. The Mutuwalli of the tomb was also responsible for feeding at least eighty sufis’ daily. In total there was a band of four hundred and sixty staff on the payroll of the tomb. Sultan Muhammad bin Tughlaq had ordered distribution of food made of twelve mans of meat and twelve mans of flour, which was not sufficient for the people dependent on the tomb, therefore, the mutuwalli had to increase the quantity to thirty-five mans.  All these expenses were met from the waqf comprising twenty villages, which was purchased by the Mutuwalli on orders of the Sultan.[iii]

            Ibn-i-Batuta, the Qazi of Delhi and a man who was responsible for feeding people from the tomb waqf shot to fame at a time when people were facing scarcity of food in the capital. His fame reached Daulatabad, where the sultan had taken almost a permanent residence, that people like him are boon for the city of Delhi at a time when it was facing severe drought and scarcity. Sultan Muhammad Tughlaq praised him a lot and rewarded him with some money for construction of his house. Further, the Sultan allotted one lakh man of food-grain over and above of the waqf income for the continuing the distribution of food to the people. Ibn-i-Batuta was further made in charge of a khanqah too so that he can feed a greater number of people. However, this inchargeship was a kind of reward for him from the sultan. Batuta himself admits that the responsibility of purchasing the twenty villages for creating the waqf was intentionally meant to reward him with the brokerage in the deal. Likewise, the management of the khanqah was also a way of rewarding him for his good work in the tomb management. The khanqahs of those times were perhaps more than a centre of learning, since Shamsh Siraj Afif says that ‘in Delhi alone, 120 khanqahs were established for ‘people of God’, where three days one could stay as royal guest in each of the khanqah, so in total one can stay for all 360 days of the year if he wishes so, and all these were funded by waqf.’[iv]     

Looking at the number and variety of staff along with those who got their rozinas from the tomb, one can safely say that the tomb must have been a site of different rituals which were identical to that of those performed at the royal court apart from the regular recital of Quran and dissemination of knowledge. The core of the rituals involved officers like the Chhatradar (canopy bearer), Hajib, Naqeeb and Chobdar (mace-bearer) who were also the core of the officers at a royal court—maintainer of the court culture. It seems, in those rituals the reigning Sultan too had some important role to play. Batuta says that the Sultan, whenever visited the tomb, he used to put the shoes of the late Sultan over his head to pay his respect to the Sultan. Special meals were cooked on the death anniversary of the late sultan for the free langar. The practice of cooking special meals on the days of Eid-i-Milad (birthday of the Prophet Muhammad), Shab-i-Barat and on the days of mourning of Muharram was further added by the mutuwalli to benefit the common masses.

            The langar and the celebration of the death anniversaries (urs) of the departed soul are the common sufi feature added to the royal tombs. We notice such activities continuing till the times of the Mughals. Gulbadan Begum talks of the establishment of a waqf consisting ‘whole Sikri together with five laks charged on Byana’ for the maintenance and upkeep of her father, Emperor Babur’s tomb at Ram/Aram Bagh and for the support of the sixty reciters of the Quran & ulema attached to it. And Mohammed Ali Apsas (?) was appointed mutuwalli by Emperor Humayun. She also mentions that Humayun’s mother Maham Begum made an allowance—from “her own estate—of food twice daily: in the morning an ox and two sheep and five goats, and zohar five goats till she remained in the prison of this world (i.e. two and a half years)” for those attached to the tomb.[v] Emperor Humayun’s tomb was looked after by his wife Haji Begum, who ‘in order to perform the duties, taken up her abode near the tomb.’[vi] Akbar paid several visits to his father’s tomb and he used to distribute gifts and charities to the custodians of the mausoleum.[vii] This practice of distribution of langar and celebrations of urs was further institutionalized by Emperor Shahjahan who established a waqf of 30 villages[viii] from the environs of Agra yielding a yearly income of 40 lakh dams (equal to 1 lakh rupees) and rents from the sarais and bazaar of Mumtazabad, also yielding 1 lakh rupees yearly for the famous Taj Mahal. The income from the waqf was to be spent on the maintenance of the rauza-i-mannuwara, annual Urs (death anniversary) and for the payment of salaries to the people attached with the rauza (tomb) and a huge amount in charities were distributed during the Urs.  Apart from the regular expenses whatever surplus might remain were left in the hands of mutuwalli of the waqf, who was Emperor Shahjahan, himself to decide.[ix]  Every Thursday, the poor and indigent were entered into the rauza (Taj Mahal) gallery, where charities were distributed. The sanctum sanctorum (sepulture chamber) was guarded by eunuchs and women like they guarded harem in the royal palace.[x] The sepulture was covered with a sheet made of pearls, whereas the floor of the mausoleum was fully carpeted. The mosque attached to the Taj Mahal had a regular staff where regular prayers were held. On the occasion of the urs of the late Queen, inam and charities were distributed. Even the princes and great nobles were rewarded on that day from the treasury of the Taj Mahal waqf.

            The royal tombs of the erstwhile kings and queens functioned not only as the repository of the legacy from which the reigning monarch drew his own legitimacy but it also worked as the vistas for showcasing his own largesse and benevolence. Rituals of the court were copied in these tombs, the guards, the mace-bearers and those who regulated the protocols were appointed who made these tombs a mini-court by performing similar rituals that performed at the royal court. The monarch and his court basically manifested itself in the public space. The magnificent building of the royal tomb proclaimed the authority and benevolence; the rituals attached to it further dramatized the display. Common people, students, sufis and foreigners were invited as an audience to witness the largesse of the monarch by distributing rich food and charities.

REFERENCE 

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[i] Ainud Din Mahru, Insha-i-Mahru, ed., Shaikh Abdur Rashid,  Lahore, 1965, pp.73-39.

[ii] Afif, Shamsh Siraj, Tarikh-i-Firozshahi, tr. In Urdu by Maulvi Mohammad Fida Ali, Rukn-i-Shoba talif wa Tarjuma Jamia Osmania, Hyderabad, 1938, pp.230-31.

[iii] Ibn-i Batuta, Rehla

[iv] Afif, ShamshSiraj, Tarikh-i-Firozshahi, trans. in Urdu by Maulvi Mohammed Fida Ali, Rukn-i-Shoba Talif  wa Tarjuma Jamia Osmaniya, Hyderabad, 1938, p230-31

[v] Gulbadan Begum, Humayunama, tr. Annette S. Beveridge, Royal Asiatic Society, London, 1902, p.110; also see pp. 25-26 (Persian).

[vi]  Abul Fazl, Akbarnama -III, tr. H. Beveridge, Royal Asiatic Society, Low Price Publicatoins, 2010, p.551

[vii]  Ibid., pp.322, 360 & 547 

[viii] The list consists of names of all the villages and income derived from them in dams; I have been able to find six villages with the same names in the Distt. Gazetteer of Agra by H.R. Neville, 1905, in section of ‘native schools.’

[ix]  Lahori, Abdul Hamid, Padshahnama, Vol.2, pp.329-330 also p.322; for translation also see, The Illumined Tomb, pp. 75-77 & 65.

[x]  Manucci, Niccolao, Storio do Mogor, or Mogul India, transl. by William Irvine, vol.1, Calcutta, 1965, p. 176. 

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