To Criticize Is to Soliloquize

By Sumit Paul, New Age Islam 13 February 2024 "Criticism polishes my mirror." -Jalaluddin Rumi "I criticise because I'm willing to be criticised. Only those who're open to accepting criticism have the right to criticise." Abdulrazak Gurnah, Tanzanian-born British author and Nobel laureate in Literature, 2021 Criticism for the sake of criticism has a cynical, nay sinister, ring to it. But criticism without a skerrick of negativity is always welcome. In other words, malafide criticism is a sign of a pathological mindset but bonafide criticism underlines a critic's well-intentioned desire to bring about a change at a collective level. Mind you, a true critic is not always condescending or supercilious. Nor does he ever claim to be irreproachable. Gurnah writes in his novel 'Memory of Departure' (1987): "Just the way charity begins at home, criticism begins from oneself. When you criticise, you include yourself as well. It could be conscious, subconscious or even unconscious. But your own involvement in constructive criticism is a must." Criticising is not judging. Criticising is observing. You observe people, you observe their practices, their customs and their ways and in this way, you observe your own ways. To criticize is to soliloquize. It's a process of self-exploration and introspection. Criticism is outright undesirable when it degenerates into ad hominem. When Yaas Yagana Changezi, himself an excellent poet, criticized Ghalib's poetry, his criticism went beyond Ghalib's poetic works and got diluted as personal attacks. But when Dr Matthew Arnold, the gentlest English critic, mildly criticised Greek poet Pindar's Odes, he (Arnold) limited himself only to pointing out the shortcomings in Pindar's craftsmanship. He didn't cast aspersions on Pindar's persona. And when and where Pindar deserved to be praised, Professor Arnold wasn't phlegmatic in his admiration. This is criticism. Balzac aptly said that every critic is a watchdog of society. To say that criticism cannot and doesn't change a person is wrong. Even a haughty poet like Raghupati Sahay 'Firaq' Gorakhpuri admitted in his last interview in December 1981 that a couple of critics helped him become a better poet with their bitter criticism of his poetry! If criticism demoralizes, it also galvanizes a person to produce his/her very best. It keeps you on your toes and guards against mediocrity. After belting a young and effervescent Dennis Lillee all over the ground at Melbourne on his way to an epochal 254 in 1972, the legendary Sir Garfield Sobers said, "I saved my best for the critics and detractors." Young Lillee dismissed the great man in the first innings before he could open his account and detractors quickly said, "Sobers' career was over." So, Mr Tim, criticism works both ways. It's how you perceive it. ------ A regular columnist for New Age Islam, Sumit Paul is a researcher in comparative religions, with special reference to Islam. He has contributed articles to the world's premier publications in several languages including Persian. URL: https://newageislam.com/spiritual-meditations/criticize-soliloquize/d/131705 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