EXOTIC ANIMALS IN ISLAMIC ART
NOTHING WAS BEYOND THEIR IMAGINATION

Muslim Masters at usual work

The Art of M.A. Rahman Chughtai includes animals and birds. Lovely animals were in the domain of the imagination of Muslim Masters. Their imagination captured animals which they had not even seen in real life. Imagination of these painters was rife with observation as well as imagination. The behavioural element of animals captured their fantasy. The world of animals was within their reach.

Sultans had their personal zoos filled with exotic animals from all over the world. The more exotic the source, the more it intrigued their imagination. Even residues of dead animals they loved to possess as Emperor Jahangeer was himself fond of collecting daggers with hilts made of Rhino’s horn.

Griffins and Harpies also fascinated these artists We find Griffins in works of many Muslim Masters. We here present an assortment of M.A. Rahman Chughtai as well as other Muslim Masters, depicting animals of all kinds. Enjoy!

RAZIA SIRAJUDDIN
A WOMAN OF GREAT SUBSTANCE

Artist, Poet, fashion master, freedom lover

A woman ahead of her times. Our contact with her was the printed word. We grew up in an art environment and the books of M.A. Rahman Chughtai were ever there to mesmerize us. One book which fascinated us was CHUGHTAI’S PAINTNGS which had an Introduction and notes by Razia Sirajuddin and a foreword by DR James Cousin. Both people were like spiritual Masters, floating in some air, we could not ever imagine.

Another artist of that period Miss Razia Feroze too had a personality like that. But she never went into the experimentation of marriage. But Razia did, and got married to another icon of English literature, being Professor Sirajuddin, and we do not know what happened or how. But Razia ended up in London. And we do not know any details.

However our letter archives show that M.A. Rahman Chughtai and Razia Sirajuddin were in contact with each other. Her letters from Oxford also include a NEW foreword and NOTES on a proposed SECOND EDITION of CHUGHTAIS PAINTINGS. Unfortunately that never happened but we still have her Foreword. In fact the next book that got printed in 1952 was CHUGHTAI INDIAN PAINTINGS and that is another story. Her letters are dated around 1949 to 1955. The 1955 one is from Ormonde Hotel, Berlize Grove, London N.W. 3. Others are from Oxford itself. She expresses her thanks for the artist’s kind words on her own works.

In any case the original Notes she wrote for the book of M.A. Rahman Chughtai, at the suggestion of Pitras Bokhari to the artist, still keeps her on the scene of Pakistan. In her life time she was remembered by many, and made her presence felt. But the society is fickle and today she literally stands forgotten by time itself. Our tribute to her is ever there. May Allah bless her soul!

P.S.
Thanks to her niece Ms Amna Omar for sharing her images with us. Perhaps someone has some art work of her too. Contribute!

TWO INDIAN GIRLS IN TOWN
FIRST INDIAN VISITORS TO CHUGHTAI MUSEUM

A tale of late 70s in Lahore

M.A. Rahman Chughtai was loved by many communities. Hindu and Sikhs had also great regard for him. The Sikhs because he was Punjabi and the Hindus for he indulged in Hindu Mythology too, free of any prejudices on the aspect. In 1979 we invited the Maharani of Jaipur to our museum and asked her to inaugurate our show. She could not but I had a talk with her on the phone. Later she visited us twice on her own and resented being shadowed by Indian Intelligence. But before that we had Indian visitors.

First came Gogi Saroj an artist from India. She was a young girl then and today she looks totally different obviously with age. We gave her a grand reception here. Then came Promilla Luthra for research on her PHD on M.A. Rahman Chughtai from Guru Nanak University in Amritsar, who awarded her a PHD on same. We ofcourse remember them both.

Promilla spent about seven days here researching at Chughtai Museum and on the last day called with Ms Marcella Bedford when she was on the verge of ending her research. She wanted the letters of Basil Gray to Chughtai, and vice versa. We obliged her with what we could, but did not want partition discussion to loom in front of us. After all we were the strong believers in the Two Nation theory and she lamented as to why Chughtai had opted to remain in Pakistan and not move to India on instructions from Jawaharlal Nehru.

Of course we had Sikh and Hindu visitors later in life too at Chughtai Museum, and we have a host of enquiries from India which come to this day. Yes we are two nations but we can live in love and peace with each other and Art and Culture can help in a big way. But the Indians have forgone the Congress party and the legacy of Jawaharlal Nehru and ended into extremism. Fortunately we never gave the Mullahs a chance here. No Mullah has ever been elected here, nor ever will. India got mystified with their own Pandits! The venom of a tea seller is destroying the peace and tranquility of the region. Allah forgive!

A note from history is in order. Imad ud din Muhammed son of Qasim sent a petition from the Hindus of Sind to the Caliph of Islam, who gave this reply:

“It appears that the chief inhabitants of Brahmanabad have petitioned to be allowed to repair the temple of Budh and pursue their religion. As they have made submission, and have agreed to pay taxes to the Khalifa, nothing more can be required from them. They have been taken under our protection and we cannot in any way stretch out their hands upon their lives and property. Permission is given to them to worship their gods. Nobody must be forbidden or prevented from following his own religion. They may live in their houses in whatever manner they like.”

Consider it for a moment. What can be more secular than that?

THE DIN OF DEMOCRACY
THE RHYTHM OF ARMY BOOTS

A thinking army is new in culture

The usual stereotype is that fighting man is not a thinking man at all. Because he is taking the recourse of physical combat, he has no capacity to think at all. Traditionally army boots were snubbed in the sense that those people have no capacity for finer thought. To be honest this may be true for many armies of the world. The most fascinating thing is that charged with Islamic Faith, we have perhaps the only army in the world which is a thinking army. And with thought is coupled the ultimate character of Allah itself and that is COMPASSION AND EMPATHY. Imagine the enemy Army firing on the border regardless of consequences, and our Army considering the consequences of firing at people on the other side. Regard for the other side reminds us of our own Salahuddin Ayubi, who could think of talking care of Richard the so called Lion hearted on the other side. A hand of compassion on the terrorized was the need of the times and our Chief showed it to our people.

In my lifetime I have met many army guys, many were my class fellows, many friends, many seniors. I communicated with many too. And what I saw amazed me that these people were thinking people, with their combat abilities, they had not lost their capacity for finer thoughts. Once army boots meant end of thought. Here the Muslim armies were always obsessed with their DEEN and never let down their Allah in any way. Sultan Muhammed the conqueror of Constantinople through fierce battle, ended up doing the first thing he liked, getting portrait made sniffing at a flower. Amazing the Western critics would say. General Tipu Sultan was a connoisseur of Art and Culture. Many Chief of Army Staffs in Pakistan were so obsessed with reading latest books as well as decorating their homes with Pakistani Art and otherwise. So that was new in history, isnt it. A thinking army!

Yes the army must be thinking right now. What to do? But what they will decide we have hundred percnt faith will be in the best interest of the country. They know how to protect geography, and they know how to protect Ideology too. Our politicians with their corruption have let down the masses and the din of democracy has become piercing shriek of utter pain in our ears. Whereas fear of death sends a chill through the hearts of fighting men, it sends a ripple of emotional warmth through the hearts of our fighting and thinking Pakistani Army. After all we know losing ones life in the pursuit of Allah’s justice is not losing anything at all but gaining a life of permanent happiness.

THE INFILITRATION OF CHUGHTAI ART
IN ORDINARY LIFE OF PAKISTAN

Many miss the point of aesthetics

The aim of M.A. Rahman Chughtai was to create a National Identity. For this identity, he did not merely desire the recourse of exclusive exhibition shows for the elite of the society. He wanted to create an ideological movement. That is why we see Chughtai Art in the 1950s and 1960s sweeping everywhere. Every national emblem or insignia, he contributed a design. To the designs which repulsed him, he offered suggestions to people in power. This is theme of another blog but suffice to say that he tried his best to inculcate a timeless quality about our aesthetics.

In those times most of the literary work created by our great writers had the design on the cover by M.A. Rahman Chughtai. These dustcovers are a phenomena on themselves and there must have been hundreds of them all over the region. The museum has archived nearly 200 images of such jacket design for the record.

In cinemas in Karachi as well as Delhi, commercial painters painted Chughtai’s works on the huge walls of the theatre. We used to be so impressed with seeing these and many movie goers of Karachi would recall this well. But the latest is an image of Chughtai Art on the sale of CONTRACEPTIVES in Pakistan. This is really new. We were not asked for same but we did notice this use, and we thought we like to share it with our art lovers. The Art of Chughtai is ingrained in us for all times.

LIGHTENING CANDLES IS NOT ISLAMIC
BUDDHIST TRADITION CHANGING PERCEPTIONS

No “Sawab” just a mourning ritual

A long time back I saw a movie on the life of Buddha. An old lady wants to light a DIVA for Buddha. She has no money , so she sells her pigtails. With oil bought from selling her hair, she lights a Diva in a ritualistic place. A storm comes and Demons are behind it. All lights are extinguished but her lamp keeps on being lit, even under the bitterest winds. The power of lighting candles in the Buddhist tradition is shown. Unfortunately this is not in the case of Islam.

Yes, there is a tradition of lighting Lamps on graves as well as Mazars of Sufis, and we have plenty of that. But even that is just a sweet ritual, which consoles oneself, nothing more. Our greatest traditions lie in the RECITATION OF QURAN at times of mourning as well as at graves, or at such occasions, and that is Quran Khawani. In fact reading and understanding the Quran is the foremost duty of any Muslim.

We are quickly learning and adapting to foreign ways, without resorting to our own tradition. In fact the infiltration of foreign lobbies in our way of life is immense. Our intellectual life is put to test by lowering of the standards of many aspects of life. Even our humour is now STREET SMART HUMOUR and nothing to do with our developed abilities to create enjoyment for ourselves. I think a wave should be created to develop ijjtehad in a way to further our existence of peace. But also the beauty of what is being done must be considered too. Aesthetics are part of our life only if we take them forward.

THE INCEPTION OF PAKISTAN TAUGHT HARD LESSONS
CURRICULUM OF EDUCATION DESIGNED WITH EXPERIENCE

The poison of “bum may hai dum” for our young people

Parrots clamouring to remove hate material on payrolls on the other side. There are two extremes in Pakistan. One is the Mullah lobby whose only interest in Islam is to gain clout as well as financial resources. On the other side is what is called by people as Baygharat Seculars, whose only aim is to sing the song told by our neighbours across the divide. Remove hate matter here, enliven the hate material on the other side.

To study what is done here is to first study what is being done on the other side. Day and night we are being told is that to be MODERN we have to give up our principles and way of life and for that the favourite is Islamic bashing not in the style of the Islamophobics of the West but our local version, in we can talk of the goodness of others and degradation of ourselves.

Sultan Mahmud Ghazni receives bashing from all sides, Indian as well as Baygharat liberals. But if you really study the life of the Sultan, you find him strangely very different from the stereotype generated about him. Has anyone told you that his fight was with political Hinduism not Hinduism itself. That he had Generals in his army who were Hindus. That he never destroyed any mandirs which were not politically inclined. That he built Mandirs for his Hindu population in Ghazni itself. Where is the hate? Yes there was not even one Muslim in Lahore before the Sultan and there were thousnds after his capture of the city. That he presented Hindustan with one thing that makes them tremor with fear. He gave this region egalitarianism. He destroyed the Class ethnic system based here. A Slave could become Sultan under the new system and that was based on Ideas not blood relation itself. His coins carry the name of the Caliph of that time and the whole Muslim world cheered his achievements. But the funny thing is and if you check history books, you will find a strange anomaly. After the death of Sultan Sabuktageen, Sultan Mahmood was just a young child, and to conquer Ghazni, it was Raja Jaipal who attacked GHAZNI first. Cannot believe it! Check LIFE AND TIMES OF SULTAN MAHMUD OF GHAZNA by Muhamed Nazim, a PHD from Cambridge University in 1931. Want to know more, request our own book on the matter.

Similarly read the life of Aurangzeb Alamgeer and you find similar spinning of history, as he was a wonderful personality. His life too send shivers in the spines of people. That later!

These pseudo intellectuals who travel to the other side and rave about this hate material, consider the hate material on the other side is in actual proof. We do not carry needless hate in us, disgust obviously at low IQ behaviour. A man known as an international terrorist has been elected in leadership role to UNDO Pakistan. And to undo Pakistan the easiest way is to belittle Dr Allama Iqbal, Quaid e Azam and all our leaders. Yes, Pakistan Studies envisaged at the time of partition is not hate material. It is facts and figures as people remembered them. Today the Indian clout is only felt due to CHAMAK from the other side. Most of these pseudo intellectuls are on bed of Wine and Women and the sway of the Indian hip drives them mad and away from their way of life. Their use of “bum may dum” for us is belittling our way of life. It is more than hate material. It is poison for our young minds. These stupid low IQ beasts should ask our own channels to stop bomb blasting us with filth from the other side. WHY NOT EMULATE THE BEST OF INDIAN CULTURE? There is plenty. Why go for their street smart ideas of fun and frolic?

Billions are pouring in our system from the other side. By 2016 it is said ONE percent will own NINETY NINE percent of the world. Beware egalitarianism will evolve into a revolution of the masses. And perhaps bloody not intellectual in any way.

PIONEER PAKISTANI ARTIST RAZIA FEROZE
EXPERIMENTATIONS EVERYWHERE

Fairy tales Pakistani Style in Urdu

The quest for giving the Identity to Pakistan was taken by the artists. These were the people who knew that the Identity of Pakistan mattered and it had to be projected on all fronts. Razia Sirajuddin was doing this in a very big way. Unfortunately we have not come across some of her publications. A relative seems reluctant to share her with us in any way. The matter rests. In any case we came across a book by Razia Feroze with an introduction by M.A. Rahman Chughtai in 1954. It is a small publication published by the Bible Society Lahore, but it is a historical document in all ways. It is worthy of being shared with others.

Razia Feroze was born in Shahpur Punjab in 1925, and when she was two only, her father Dr Ferozeuddin brought her to Lahore. Reared in Lahore, studying at Convent Jesus and Mary and then at Kinnaird College, she achieved excellence in many fields. The inspiration of her life was her father Dr Ferozeuddin, who unlike the greedy doctor of today, used to be so kind to his patients and used to treat many of them free of cost. This compassion was inherent in Razia herself all her life. She evolved a good friendly relation with M.A. Rahman Chughtai who encouraged her all his life. The foreword proves this in all ways. The Americans offered her a scholarship to study and lecture in the United States.

The quest for doing this kind of job, was in the hearts and minds of many people. It was a poverty stricken Pakistan and whatever one could do, one did. We salute Miss Razia Feroze for her many ventures. She was doing painting, sculpture and even nude studies. But that is a separate blog in itself.

MARK SAGOFF’S HUMANISTIC PUBLIC POLICY
ISLAMIC LAWS OF HUMANITY
CAN CLASH OF CIVILIZATION BE AVERTED?

Many people mean good and we cannot doubt their good intentions. However much good we perceive is man made and Allah has own laws as stated to us in the Quran Hakeem. Is modern thinking compatible with Divine permanent laws as given by Allah? Obviously this analysis must be made.

Mark Sagoff is a wonderful human being and he is addressing these issues from an intellectual frame of mind. For instance he deals with the following issues for us:

When is the decision to go to war justified?
To what extent should society regulate the choices people make, for their own good?
What does ‘environmental protection’ mean beyond a concern with human health, safety and welfare?
What obligations do we have to future generations?
What is a fair distribution of limited resources in regard to health care?

1. The decision to go to war.

I do not know Sagoff’ final view on the matter. But Allah has definitely spelt JEHAD for us? The word is so much abused in international terms that the beauty of it is lost in prejudice. From times immemorial Heroes have waged wars against injustice. For example take an American example itself. The American Texas Ranger namely Lone Ranger galloping all over the West, correcting wrongs where ever they occur to help humanity. The same thing applies to the Islamic Nation to correct wrongs and diversions from humanity, wherever they may occur. Never it is said Wars are necessary for economic exploitation of other nations and the grabbing of National Resources. So Lone Ranger’s Hi Yo Silver away can be an easy replacement for Allah o Akbar itself, proclamation of the greatness of Allah in promoting a good cause for humanity.

2. Regulation of people’s choices.

Freedom is a situation much admired by Allah. Allah’s benevolence can be judged from the fact that he has allowed man the capacity to even rebel against HIS own injunctions. One can imagine the respect for concept of freedom that there are no JAIL TERMS in Islamic reference. Punishments yes, jail never. A much loved and cherished ideal, that is freedom. Everybody is free to do anything that they like but within some constraints. And the principles of these restraints is simple, as not to break the heart of anyone or indulge in hurting the sentiments of others. The printing of Cartoons of the Prophet (BPBUJH) by Charlie Hebdo is absolutely wrong in name of much trumpeted freedom of expression, but the assassination of the group is also totally wrong and we hardly know who actually did it and why? To bring bad name to a community whose way of life starts with the name PEACE itself.

3. Environmental protection.

To preserve Planet Earth as it was a million years ago is not the ideal of anyone. To dream of a world in which the essentials of life, like rich supply of air, trees, natural beauty is absent is wrong too. The skyscrapers are no answer nor underground tunnels. The balance is progress but not at cost of deprivation of the beauty of life itself. A flying butterfly cheers us up as nothing else. A world without butterflies would be a matter of great sorrow for us. Porcupines and skunks are ALLAHS creation too, but we cannot increase their population so that we face them at every corner. Here we come across enhancement of scenes and animals for our healthy growth and restraint (not elimination of other unfriendly species). There is no fun in trying to clone a dinosaur again, there is obviously need for research on it. We have to respect other species and the Quran itself asserts the presence of life elsewhere. So the way we envisage ALIENS is our thinking. The real aliens may allude us. But there is no doubt hat we are ASHRAF UL MAQLOOK the ultimate life, as created by Allah through an evolutionary process. As a balance between mind and heart, we are the balanced creation of Allah. The ultimate message of Allah to us is simply this: LIFE IS IMPERFECT, AND THE MISSION OF HUMANKIND IS TO FIGHT AND MAKE IT PERFECT. Or more simply CONQUER NATURE!

4 and 5. Total obligation to future generations.

Every household in Islamic civilization used to know one thing. Education is the key towards progress. Every mother wanted her children to move forward. So on the microcosm level one thing naturally means same thing required for the whole nation, the whole world. But here the privileage is of the few to harness the labour of many. Communism was a dirty word in American folklore but so do I found the words Socialism having similar connotations. Islamic society is an egalitarian society. Not forceful distribution. The minute a child is born, the State responsible for everything. From medical to education , what not? Once the person grows up and start earning, then he/she repays the society for the privileage given to him or her. No one to be left alone or to the dogs as it is proverbial said in many places. A balanced society where greed is eliminated and replaced by the ability to share things. This is the definition of the religion of the great books, to foster the less privileaged and make the person better. Altruism need of the hour.

I admire Mark Sagoff. He is the son in law of our great American friends. We know they mean well for the world. But for a moment free of prejudice, they can read the Holy Quran once in a while, to understand that Allah truly is Compassionate, Merciful, and Beneficent. We are all human beings on Planet Earth. Where ever we may go, we must carry the message of Peace to Universes everywhere. That is Infinite wisdom of Allah!

WHEN OUR HEARTS CRIED WE TRIED TO MAKE PEOPLE SMILE
17TH JANUARY BECAME A TOUCHSTONE OF STRUGGLE

A PHOTOGRAPHIC ALBUM OF FORTY YEARS WITH MOMENTS MANY

17TH JANUARY, A TOUCHSTONE OF