Iqbal's Poem Or Gandhiji's Bhajan Were Not Meant For Communal Polarisation

India's Syncretic Culture Is Under Attack Main Points: 1. Iqbal's poem inculcates common moral values among children. 2. Gandhiji's Bhajan reflects India's syncretic culture. 3. Schools promote communal harmony among students of different faiths. ---- By New Age Islam Staff Writer 2 January 2023 India's syncretic culture is under attack. A Muslim principal of s government school in Bareilly because the students sang Urdu poet Iqbal's famous poem titled 'Ek Bachche ki Dua' during the morning prayer. The poems starts with the couplet Lab Pe Aati Hai Dua Ban Ke Tamanna Meri Zindagi Shamma Ki Surat Ho Khudaya Meri And concludes with the couplet: Mere Allaha Burai Se Bachana Mujhko Nek Jo Raah Ho Us,Rah Pe Chalana Mujhko (This is my desire O God that my life may become a guiding candle for people. O God save me from evil and guide me on to the path of the righteous.) In other couplets also, the child prays that he may be of help to the poor, the weak and the needy. The poem is recited by students in most of the Urdu schools and madrasas and also in government schools where Muslim students study together with Hindu, Sikh and Christian children. This has never been an issue with the students nor with the guardians. But for sometime, the poem has been made an issue. Earlier too, the Hindutva activists had objected to the recitation of the poem. This time Vishwa Hindu Parishad not only objected to the poem but an FIR has also been filed against the Principal. Subsequently, the principal was suspended. According to the complaint, the children were made to sing: "Allah Ebadat Karna". This is not correct. The correct line is: 'Mere Allah Burai Se Bachana Mujhko' 'O God save me from evils' Therefore, the allegation that the children (Hindu children) were made to invoke Allah ( The God of Muslims). The poem is not meant for proselytisation but is meant to inculcate moral values that are common among the teachings of all religions. The complainant has objection to the use of the word Allah in the poem and so his point is that a poem which invokes Allah should not be sung by Hindu children. But in India, many Muslim children study in government schools where Vande Mataram is sung in the morning prayer. But no guardian ever objects to it. A poet uses the religious terms of his own religion. It is not because of his communal approach but because of his own religious affiliations. Bankim Chandra Chatterjee wrote the poem Vande Mataram and Rabindranath Tagore wrote Jana Gana Mana in his own religious diction. But Muslims never objected to Tagore's ' Taba Shubh Naame Jage, Taba Shubh Aashis Mange ' which is a purely religious Hindu way of invoking God. Indeed, a section of Muslims have objected to Vande Mataram on the same ground the VHP activist objected to 'Mere Allah' but the majority of Muslims don't consider Vande Mataram an existential threat. Gandhiji replaced the line 'Raghupati Raghav Raja Ram' with Ishwar Allah Tero Naam ' from his famous Bhajan keeping in view of the syncretic culture of India and the fact that both Muslims and Hindus were among his followers. The inclusion of the word Allah never became an issue because it invokes both Ishwar and Allah. When Iqbal wrote the poem, his audience was Muslim children. So he used the words Allah and Khuda in the poem. But when he wrote Tarana -e- Hindi he did not use any religious term because he had the Indians in mind. He wrote 'Hindi Hain Hum' where by Hindi, he meant not the language Hindi but the inhabitants of Hind, as the Inhabitants of Iran is Irani and that of Cheen is Chini. Some time back, the management if a school in Gujarat came under fire from Hindutva sections for taking its students on a tour to a mosque as part of a cultural exchange. Recently, Muslims have opened their doors on non- Muslims as a trust-building exercise. This has helped non- Muslims shed their misconceptions about Islam and Muslims. But this trust building exercise by Muslims or poems inculcating common moral values have been interpreted as an attempt by Muslims to impose their religion on non- Muslim students. But many Hindu students study in Christian missionary schools where life and teachings of Jesus is taught. It has not led to the conversion of Hindu children into Christianity. In fact, such multicultural atmosphere in educational institutions helps promote tolerance and secular values among children as well as among the teachers. But the s-called custodians of religion see these exercises as a threat to their religion. They forget that religions grow or become extinct due to or by virtue of their inherent strength or weakness not because of conspiracies. Muslims ruled India for more than eight centuries. Still Hinduism survived and flourished. It survived because of its flexibility and inherent strength. Communal aggression and violence is the result of the feeling of insecurity among the followers of religions. And this feeling of insecurity comes from a wrong understanding of the religions of others. The followers of a religion generally do not study the religions of others and try to understand it from the stereotypes created about it by biased critics. The stereotype about Islam is that they try to convert non-Muslims by hook or by crook. And to establish this stereotype, many kinds of jihad have been circulated by the media or by the opponents. Some of the jihad are Love jihad, land jihad, bureaucracy jihad, etc. Latest in this list may be 'poem jihad' started by Iqbal. This poem may be portrayed as a tool to convert Hindus to Islam. Those who are objecting to this poem that there are hundreds of famous Urdu poets, critics and fiction writers who are and were Hindus and Sikhs. They all recited not only Iqbal's poem in question but the poetry of Hali, Maulvi Ismail Meerathi, Maulvi Shafiuddin Nayyar in schools and the religious literature of other Urdu writers in later years. Still they remained Hindus and died as Hindus. Dr Gopichand Narang, his father Dr Jagannath Azad and grandfather Tilok Chand Mahroom read Urdu literature and remained Hindus. Krishan Chander, Rajinder Singh Bedi, Kunwar Mahinder Singh Bed Sahar, Pandi Brij Mohan Dattatreya Kaifi, Devendra Issar, Gur Bachan Chandan, Prakash Fikri, Suendra Prakash, Chakbast, Pandit Daya Shankar Nasim, Ratan Nath Sarshar, Upendra Nath Ashk, Deewan Singh Maftoon, Fikr Tonswi, Balraj Komal, Krshn Mohan, Krishna Kumar Toor, Raj Narayan Raz, Ram Lal, Gyan Chand Jain..... The list is endless. The renowned journalist Kuldeep Nayyar's real name was Kuldeep Singh. He was the student of Maulvi Shafiuddin Nayyar. Kuldeep Singh was so influenced by his Muslim teacher that he adopted his title Nayyar and became Kuldeep Nayyar. However, he did not adopt his religion Islam. This clearly shows that reciting a poem or reading the literature of the writers of a particular religion don't lead to religious conversion. ----- Iqbal Song Row In Bareilly | As A Proud Hindu, I Ask A Question: Who Is Offended At The Recital Of A Prayer Which Mentions Allah? By Vivek Katju December 30, 2022 As I read reports about the suspension of Nahid Siddiqui — the principal of a government school in Bareilly — and an FIR being lodged against him for making students sing Mohammad Iqbal’s poem, Lab Pe Aati Hai Dua, I was filled with a deep sadness. According to media reports, the FIR has been lodged on the basis of a complaint by a local functionary of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad for the recital of a “religious prayer” in a “bid to convert the students”. Vinay Kumar, the Basic Shiksha Adhikari of Bareilly, said, “A prayer was being recited which said something like ‘Allah ibadat karna’. This is not the stipulated prayer and hence, school principal Naheed Siddiqui has been suspended”. Sir Muhammad Iqbal ----- In these viciously polarised times, an action like Siddiqui’s suspension is passe. Perhaps, persons of goodwill would be grateful that he was not physically harmed and that his services were not summarily terminated. So why are my feelings as cold as the winter’s chill? Iqbal’s poem is evocative for it gives expression to a child seeking divine benediction to follow the path of goodness, to care and have affection for the poor, the needy, and the weak, to be a source of light and spread that light in the darkness, to be a flower in the nation’s garden, to love the flame of knowledge. Surely, no objection can be taken to any of these wishes and prayers. The “offending” stanza is the last one where the child says, “Mere Allah Burai Se Bachana Mujhko, Nek Jo Rah Ho Ussi Rah Pe Chalana Mujhko”. The words “Rab” and “Khudaya” may also be found offensive by some, as they may consider them alien, though they are commonly used by at least some Hindi — or Hindustani — speaking people. Iqbal inspired the Pakistani movement and was for reformed and even assertive Islam. He and his family were Kashmiri Pandits before they became Muslim. I learnt this from my maternal grandfather “Chand”, a Kashmiri Pandit himself. His family home was in Lahore until Partition, and he was an Urdu poet and an administrator. He considered Iqbal his ustaad. He told me that when he recited a couplet he had composed to Iqbal: “Uth Gaya Parda To Phir Mehmil Na Tha, Laila Na Thi/Ek Farabe Deed Ko Aapna Jahan Samjha Tha Mai” (“When the curtain rose there was neither Laila’s seat nor Laila herself/What was illusory, I had considered to be my world”) Complimenting “Chand”, Iqbal told him that he had summed up the entire Vedanta in a single couplet for the essential meaning is: This world is but an illusion. My maternal grandmother, a daughter of Tej Bahadur Sapru, told me that Iqbal’s family were Saprus before they took to Islam. She also said that as Iqbal drifted towards Pakistan, her father had chided him but had had no impact on Iqbal. I have, however, meandered. What is under consideration here is not Iqbal’s politics and not even his “Diwan” as a whole but this beautiful poem of a child praying to the divine to lead them on the path of goodness. A friend who has studied in one of India’s finest public schools tells me that this poem was part of a collection of poems from which recitals were made. It is doubtful any student of the school was inspired to embrace Islam because of it. I went to a school run by Roman Christian missionaries and twice a day, the Lord’s prayer was recited. The vast majority of the school’s students were Hindus but there were others too — Muslims and Sikhs included. All of us recited the same prayer. Yet, no non-Christian became a Christian. Innumerable students who went to schools run by Christian missionaries of different denominations all over India share this experience. I have not heard of anyone who went to these schools becoming a Christian. So, from where has this fear of the very use of the words Allah or Jesus Christ arisen? History bears witness to the resilience of Hindu culture and religion, not having allowed Islam to sweep all away as it did in other lands and with other civilisations. Why have we reached a pass where our basic civilisational principle of openness is being eroded? And why are we so offended at the recital of a prayer which mentions Allah? Is our confidence in ourselves and our faith so fragile that the very mention of Allah in a poem is objectionable? It never was. Even when Indo-Persianate culture had extensive influence, at least, in large parts of urban India, Hindus believed in the intrinsic merit of their faith and civilisation. That is how I have always interpreted Iqbal’s verse, “Iran-O-Misr-O-Roma Sab Mit Gaye Jahan Se/Kuch Baat Hai Ki Hasti Mitti Nahi Hamari” (“The old Persian, Egyptian and Roman civilisations have disappeared from the world/But there is some unique strength in our identity which has not been erased”) It matters little to me what Muslims do — and I do think that their objections to Vande Mataram, for instance, reveal their civilisational insecurities. Sadly, the more educated among them are not combating attempts being made towards closing of the Muslim mind. However, as a proud Hindu, what matters to me is that we should not lose our essence of openness. That is what made us “authentic” and that was what “grounded” us to our civilisational roots. Authenticity and remaining grounded spring from a confidence that is beyond language and dress and the drama of our times. Finally, how can we forget that Mahatma Gandhi, the father of our nation, modified the famous Bhajan Raghupati Raghav Raja Ram by inserting the words “Ishwar Allah Tero Naam”? This was done during the Dandi March. At least one right-wing writer has taken objection to Gandhiji’s modification — and in words that I can never bring myself to repeat. But it is still one of the main Bhajans sung on different occasions, including October 2 — Gandhi Jayanti. Should we now look to file an FIR against any person who sings Gandhiji’s version of the Bhajan because the original rendering does not have the words “Ishwar Allah Tero Naam”? ---- Vivek Katju is a former diplomat Source: Iqbal Song Row In Bareilly | As A Proud Hindu, I Ask A Question: Who Is Offended At The Recital Of A Prayer Which Mentions Allah? URL: https://newageislam.com/interfaith-dialogue/iqbal-gandhiji-bhajan-communal-polarisation/d/128771 New Age Islam, Islam Online, Islamic Website, African Muslim News, Arab World News, South Asia News, Indian Muslim News, World Muslim News, Women in Islam, Islamic Feminism, Arab Women, Women In Arab, Islamophobia in America, Muslim Women in West, Islam Women and Feminism