SCULPTURE IN THE ISLAMIC WORLD
LIFE SIZE STATUES OF THE CALIPHS
A neglected research study

A hullabaloo has been created in the Islamic world. That Islam is against human imagery. When there is nothing in the Holy Quran and there is no injunction against it, then how comes this is taken as a factual supermacy? Take for instance the CALIPH COINS just a few decades after the Prophet. They reveal the Caliph of Islam on the coin itself. And the practice went on and on. Oleg Grabar gave us a fantastic study of this background and it is worthy to read him oneself. The most beautiful statement of Grabar is that the HOLY KAABA was a museum in itself, for that is where the Prophet (PBUH) instructed people to place the various artifacts collected from all over the world. Sources reveal that not only figurative painting but full size human sculptures were common in Islamic civilization and in every square in the great cities, the sculpture of the ruler was placed there. Wishful thinking! Absolutely not.

We had proof of this from various historical sources. For instance the people of SIND put a statue of MUHAMMED BIN QASIM in their city square, once he was gone. He was so much loved and cherished in the country he had conquered, not only by battles but also by the show of his heart and culture to people. Even the wife (also a sister) of Raja Dahir fell in love with Qasim and married him.The same thing gets repeated elsewhere.

Some time back German explorers took out the remains of ANCIENT MUSLIM CITIES LIKE SAMARA. In QASR el HEIR el GHARABI DANIEL SCHLUMBERGER has written DETAILS OF THE CITY. And behold a life size sculpture of the Caliph was found in the ruins. It is published but rare in view. We here present a first class view of same. As well as a view from another ancient Islamic city. These are very rare. Enjoy. Islam in ijjtehad is the most progressive way of life and says YES to culture, never negates it.

BELITTLING DR ALLAMA IQBAL:
OLD AND NEW STRATEGIES.

A long standing friend revealed his low IQ after a long time. He simply said ‘What was Iqbal?’ in a demeaning way. ‘Certainly not a philosopher, perhaps, yes merely a children poet’. It was a stunning revelation, and he went out blurting his father’s statement, that Iqbal used to write obnoxious verses on his favourite prostitutes of Lahore. Most Mullahs generate an alcoholic impression of Iqbal, and a relative came back from the USA with the knowledge that Iqbal was a murderer too. The Hindu lobby was projecting on their blogs that he was even a murderer of a prostitute of Hira Mandi Lahore. A so called ‘hamdard’ of Iqbal was projecting that when Iqbal said salam to a citizen of Lahore, the man to spite him, uncovered himself by throwing down his dhoti. A famous Pakistani lesbian termed both Quaid-e-Azam and Allama Iqbal as homosexuals and then retracted her statement after she lit anxiety in many quarters, and she could not handle the fall out, for in certain quarters abroad, it was a positive thing. Add more and more juicy things. Belittle the message of Dr Allama Iqbal, the founder of the idea of Pakistan. The Iqballian thinking dangerous for the enemies of Pakistan.

The Chughtai Artist house was a meeting place of the best and worst of Pakistan. The writers, the poets, the artists, the bureaucrats, you could see most of the bigger names at home all the time. Hafeez Jullundri would come with his British wife , laughing loud with the artist Chughtai. ‘Abhi to main jawan hoon’, surely. Faiz could emit cigar smoke from his mouth like a chimney gone awry. One could even see Hanif Ramay on his bicycle, coming to get some designs made for his magazine. Qudratullah Shahab spun his magic. Sufi Ghulam Tabbassum much loved. The list is endless and no time to list all of them. Dr Nazeer Ahmad and Dr Muhammed Din Taseer were particularly close. Colonel Majeed Malik could take the nomenclature of being Chughtai’s best friend. Pitras Bokhari also lived nearby, and was a close associate. Of course Agha Babar had his own episodes to trace. Ikram Sahib, federal secretary could talk of the book he wrote on Pakistan and took advantage of Chughtai all the time. Justice S. A Rahman was there too. When the Chief Justice got slapped by the daughter of a famous politician, at a function at Alhamra, it was not an ordinary affair, and S.A Rahman proved that he was a gentle lamb. You name it, we saw them at home. These were the people who promoted URDU as the language of Pakistan, and all of them were fanatics about the modern language of Islam.

A longer time back, after work was done, there was a habit in the house. The three Chughtai brothers, Abdur Rahman, Abdullah and Abdur Raheem would move with Dr M D Taseer and they would all go to the house of Dr Muhammed Iqbal and till late at night, chat their hearts out. The laughter of them would reverberate long distance away. Dr Iqbal would not mutter English, or Urdu, or Persian, but share jokes and pleasures in plain Punjabi. It went on for nearly twenty years. Even at the Round Table Conference in London in 1932, Abdur Rahman Chughtai was there with Dr Iqbal. That is why tears would come to the eyes of Chughtai when he would recount Iqbal. And again and again he could say ‘hazar sal nargis apni bay noori pay roti hai bari mushkal say hota hai chaman may deeda war paida.’
IQBAL WAS NOT A GREEK ARM CHAIR THINKER. He reached the people direct in Badshahi mosque, Sheranawala gate School or Islamia College or elsewhere. He addressed people and people wept at the plight of Muslims all over the wold. Iqbal has channeled the NATIONHOOD of people, indeed he had reconstructed Islam as a religion in his sayings to people itself. People wept with him. And the environment of Lahore was anti-Mullah in all way. The Quranic revolution was going on here in the Chinay-wali masjid Lahore. It ended in Lahore hosting Ghulam Ahmad Pervaiz, the Adviser on Islamic Affairs to the Quaid-e-Azam himself.

To paint such a philosopher in lower light is the mind of wicked foxes and senile crows all over the world. Dr Iqbal was a man par excellence A true Mard-e-momin. His message was simple Islam had got Persianized with time and the Persian version was in vogue here. Iqbal stressed a back to original Islam position, back to the Arab foundation, back to the Quran itself. The people who had distorted Islam through the centuries fumed at the gall of the man trying to bring in renaissance, to undo centuries of Mullah’s mischievous conceptions.

The hypocrisy of promoting Iqbal in Pakistan is evident too. Lip service alone, not a reconsideration of ijjtehad in Islam. Except for permanent values given by Allah, everything else can be changed by common consent. Democracy very relevant here. Pakistan was the first step in telling the world the beauty of the Islamic system to live peacefully in co-existence with the world, without sacrificing an iota of self respect and equality of the nation as a whole. In the end we have to prevail, if not for ourselves, for our salat to Allah Al-Mighty.

MANIPULATING QUAID-E-AZAM ALL THE TIME!
THE NEVER HEARD SPEECHES OF THE MARD-E-MOMIN.

How sad things become? Quaid-e-Azam one of the greatest Muslim of his century, and a reformer par excellence, and Maulana Maudoodi, also termed as a modern reformer, used to call him ‘Kafir-e-Azam’. A reflection obviously of the Mullahs of that time. A group of Mullahs approached Quaid-e-Azam for a grant of Fifty thousand rupees, for which the Mullah community would support the cause of Pakistan. Obviously our Quaid refused the gall of those ignoramus to talk to him like that. The result most of the Mullahs opposed him tooth and nail. And they continue this policy to this day. Opposing Pakistan for Muhammed Ali Jinnah made it. And then Jawarlal Nehru kicked them in their butts and sent them packing to Pakistan to derail the new country.

And then the other side of the coin. The so called seculars in the country. Not knowing even an iota of Islam, they started the hype of a Secular Jinnah. I need not talk in detail of both, and for the Secular question, the best books are ‘Secular Jinnah’ by Saleena Kareem and ‘Pakistan’ by Inam Khawaja. Both expose the tirade of foreign lobbies against the Islamic content of the new country. Justice Munir went to the horrible extent of distorting a quote of Quaid’s by translating a translated version and fitting it in the pattern demanded by his sponsors abroad.

A news startled us today. The American government shut down today in political squabbles, disregarding the plight of it’s citizens. Utterly amazing, but understandable. As long as a pliant public is there, governments will continue to do the impossible- disregard the welfare of the people. I do not think the Pakistani government can ever be shut down, as long as the public remains. Once the public is dead, these brilliant politicians will depart for other homes, and find that they do not enjoy their previous clout at all. Then they would realize what nation-less citizens feel in life. Hazrat Umar used to stroll in disguise amongst the public to find the truth. So did Caliph Haroon-ur-Rasheed. Even Mahmud Ghaznavi had a private network to report to him the feelings of the people at large. Qutb-uddin Aibak embarked upon a grand plan of public rehabilitation. The Sultans and the Kings of this region tried their best to help the general public. Roads, Caravan series, free food boarding and lodging for people, expediting business in well. Just pick up contemporary records and you are startled how misleading is modern hype actually. Schools, colleges all were there. Professionals teaching their trades. Love of aesthetics aside, there was emphasis on mathematics, astronomy, geology, mining, manufacture of goods and Goods and services being done. Inter regional trade going on.Scientists calculating the circumference of the earth itself. Astrolabes measuring position of the stars. Ships and carriages being built. Arms and ammunition, yes, The finest swords in the world, with their own patented steel. Every period tried their best to solve things.And silly ads telling us to learn alif and bay only. And yes all that under KINGS.
In 65 years of Pakistan, the experiment between democracy and other systems have been tried all the time. Yes democracy worked under leaders like Quaid e Azam, and we see him stranded in an ambulance on the street of Karachi, awaiting help. And It was Quaid who told Dr Elahi Baksh that Liaquat Ali Khan had come just to see if he was still alive or not. ‘Tell him I am not dead yet’. I think people are knowing that well that democracy has utterly failed in Pakistan. Today the system will not elect Quaid e Azam himself from a local bodies election. And this Quaid who was fit to rule the entire world and to give his best to all, regardless of caste, color and creed.
Everyone in their hearts know that the greatest progress in Pakistan has been under the three military rules in Pakistan. The so called Parliamentary democracy (held in contempt by Quaid e Azam himself, for he believed in French Presidential system). What Field Marshal Ayub Khan did, no one has been able to do this day. And he resigned as a gentleman, and died a mysterious death in his house. The wife found him dead on his sofa in the morning after a tea session with unknown persons. I need not repeat what he did. From Islamabad the capital, to the water dams all over Pakistan, to progress in every field in the country. Pakistan won at games, sports, events. Musical and dance champions. When President Ayub waltzed in a dance with Queen Elizabeth, or was received by the Kennedys at the US Airport. It was respect that he gave to Pakistan all the time. No one can deny what he did for his country. And President Zia ul Haque is considered a demon now, but his achievements were not the less. He was no intellectual nor could understand any intricacy. But he did learn. He learnt what he did not know. And yes he died a martyred death under all counts. The Pervaiz Musharraf rule with all its flaws was still a brilliant one with his rhetoric of ‘Pakistan first’. Actually it is always Islam that is first and the saying was not Islamic in content. But he held the country intact too.

Once upon a time Kings used to educate their young Princes in art of national governance. The Prince was taught everything, from waging war to writing poetry. Our leaders cannot even sign their names properly with their rustic educational backgrounds and zero knowledge of world. A Prince was supposed to have acquired knowledge through books. I do not find book reading the fascination of any political leader.
Why did the Military fail three times? Because THOSE WERE NOT MILITARY COUPS AT All. They were military interventions at the BEHEST OF THE PUBLIC AT LARGE who got tired of the way things were going in the country. If you want to analyze a Military Coup, look at what has happened in Egypt. There it is a military coup, ousting a party with 65% backing of people. Or what happened in Iran when the government of Prime Minister Mussadaq was removed for the Shahenshah of Iran? Or elsewhere in many countries. Here the Military suffered for it aligned itself with politicians who helped in the failure of their rules. If they had left the admin to themselves, things would never have gone wrong.
Why is it so? For the Military comes from middle class families, with educational background and profound love for Pakistan. Betrayal to the country is not in their folklore. And they go though a rigid process of merit till the end. And then merit stops. And politicians take over.
The Quran speaks of values which are permanent and those which people can change through mutual agreement and majority rule. Democracy is not alien in concept to Islam, but there are limits to the power of democracy, for power and the principles are the prerogative of the one and only one Almighty Allah, and as taught to us by his last prophet, Hazrat Muhammed May the Peace and Blessings of Allah be upon him.
An American lawyer from USA has aptly said that the Constitution of Pakistan was not made by a Constituent assembly and one can find legal issues to question its imposition. But that is not our task!
Our task is to make Pakistan strong, and we have to see why in this century, even our pedestrian cannot cross a road properly, and yet we can still make a nuclear bomb on our own. The disparity between haves and have nots have to be removed for Islam to emerge in the world in its fullest sense. Pakistan Forever! Pakistan Paindabad.

PROTESTING NATIONS
THE SENSELESS DISREGARD OF EVERY COMMON SENSE

The story of Pakistan is in a strange gear. A gear which shifts upward and backward all the time. Our attempts to move forward bring us to back to square one. Obviously the federal government as well as the provincial governments are harassing the public. So does people of influence. Feudal lords and imbecile urban businessmen. More and more harassment comes in form of spiral of prices in every field. What to do?
The favorite recipe of the opposition is to take our processions ending up in FURTHER HARASSMENT OF THE PUBLIC. Does taking out processions does any good to anybody? The traffic hurdles stop people from doing their even day to day chores. That for peaceful things. What about violent processions? When public and private property is destroyed. Who benefits? No one really. And hardly any change ever comes! And if things turn really violent (rarely in Pakistan), then people do die. In Egypt so many deaths brought no results. In Burma Muslims seek recluse and none is forthcoming to them. In India thousands of people can be massacred and the killers become political heroes.

I think it is time that serious minds think of ways of PROTESTING WITH THIS IN MIND THAT IT SHOULD BRING RESULTS. Even the controversial Tahir-ul Qadri did not know what to do when he reached the climax of his long march.
Ideas can do so much. Their role in social change is a long process. Natural happenings do a little so much no more.
A wise man of ancient Rome once said ‘Unless you stop the men in power from doing their things, you cannot be effective in any way’.
Do not destroy the peace of the public by taking out useless processions. If you want to be effective, stop the government in its stride. Not by violent protests, or hijacking traffic, but to quote here Mahatma Gandhi himself, by activating ‘passive restraint’. Stop the government in its stride not the public.

IDEAS, NOT BLOOD MAKE REAL RELATIONS

STORY OF DARA SHIKOH AND AURANGZEB ALAMGEER

Take the two names and you will find immediately that people have taken sides. One group will eulogize Dara Shikoh and curse Aurangzeb Alamgeer as a bigot. The other group will curse Dara Shikoh and praise Aurangzeb Alamgeer. And the interesting part is that conclusions of both are not based in any way on the reality but literal media hype generated by vested interests. The father was Emperor Shah Jahan, the mother Arjumand Bano Mumtaz Mahal, and their literally thirteen children. The fourteenth one took the life of the mother. Yes, Dara Shikoh and Aurangzeb Alamgeer are real brothers, with many common interests. Both are expert calligraphers, and yes, both feel that there is more to life than merely being Princes of the Mughal household. Spiritual matters affect both of them. Yes, strangely both calligraphed the Quran, and copies of the Qurans written by them are known to exist. Both are less or more obsessive readers of literature and both composed poetry and books. And both are devout husbands. Yes there are more wives, even mashooqs, but each is attached to one wife in particular. Dara Shikoh to wife Nadira Bano and Aurangzeb Alamgeer to wife Rabia Durrani. And wives of both are housed in mausoleums of their own, which exist to this day.

So how do we analyze both? Contrary to proper beliefs, the reality is very different. Take bravery for instance. When a mad elephant charged the royal enclosure, Aurangzeb only 15, stood his ground, while Dara ran away in fright. When Aurangzeb was sent on war missions, he fought tooth and nail, and brought results for his father. When Dara was sent on a mission to Kandahar, he miserably failed at his task. He hired Hindu magicians (who told him that given the blood of a homosexual boy for magic rituals they could win the war) to do magic rites so that he could become the victor.

Take courtesy for another. Aurangzeb was polite and loving to all, even to the extent that it was resented by father as for a Prince who could mix with courtiers and ordinary people. Dara was rude, arrogant and very callous to others. No one loved him for his rude behavior. He could ridicule the grandest of the courtiers. He never tolerated any alternative point of view.

Take religion and deen as a way of life. Aurangzeb could give his life for Islam and Islamic values. Dara amusingly came up with the thesis that the Holy Quran cannot be understood unless the Hindu sacred books are not studied. The Quran was not complete without the Bhagawat Puranas. Dara left prayers, fasts in ramazan and all other rituals of Islam. He started wearing the Prabhu ring on his hand,worshiping stone gods, even acted and dressed like a Hindu. In a population mostly Hanafi Muslims in Indo-Pakistan region, this was highly resented by people. And he started moving with homosexuals like Sarmad, who walked usually naked in public presence, and people made fun of his antics.

As far as his loyalty was concerned. The day Shah Jahan got sick, Dara openly took command as King and tried to eliminate all his brothers before hand. Aurangzeb resisted till the last. And only stepped forward when there was no other choice. And what a father? Blinded by his love for Dara Shikoh, Shah Jahan went all the way to humiliate Aurangzeb and his way of life. The tyranny reached the extent when Shah Jahan made plans to have his son Aurangzeb killed, and the Prince only escaped the attempt by timely warning from his sister Roshan Ara Begum. One reason for his imprisonment.

Contrary to myths, Aurangzeb tried his best to keep his relation with Hindu subjects cool. He patronized them at court, gave them grants, and did his best for harmony. The temples he is reputed to have destroyed were the ones made by the STATE itself and was a political move to punish the Rajas who had rebelled against the State. Also to set them right for hampering education of Muslim children and interfering in their education. (Read Dr Ifftikhar, Dr Chaghatai, Maulana Shiblee and even Catherine Asher)

Aurangzeb did not murder his brother in any whimsical way. A war was fought and Dara Shikoh lost the war. He was presented before a proper tribunal with judges and they held him guilty of apostasy. And as a result he was sentenced to death. The accounts of Bernier, Manucci and Catrou are figments of their own petty imagination and has nothing to do with the truth. A sad thing to happen in all ways.

Aurangzeb patronized culture in all ways. The kingdom was no longer rich enough to do all things, but even then under him architecture flourished, a musavari khana (artists studio) was working, and contrary to myths the King was even fond of proper music. Miniatures exist in which he can be seen listening to song recitals with his family.

Aurangzeb did the impossible by making Fatwa-Alamgeeri, a modern text by top Muslim scholars of the time to codify Islamic laws. And he implemented the same. Only two persons had introduced the Islamic system. One Hazrat Umar, and the other Aurangzeb Alamgeer. He abolished all foolish royal customs, wore normal dress, and lived an austere life for the benefit of his people. A real dervesh King ahead of his times in all way. No small reason that our National Poet Dr Allama Iqbal had all praise for the Mughal King of the past.

(Excerpts from the forthcoming book on Dara Shikoh)

So is blood thicker than water? Yes, but ideas are thicker than any blood. When two communities lived in a region for more than 1000 years and could not reconcile to each other, then the solution became Pakistan. More on that later!

In times of financial crisis all over the world as well as in Pakistan, the easy thing to do is to jump on the bandwagon of designs of foreign lobbies and ensure a stable standard of living for yourself. A few years back we received a gentleman from London, a Pakistani Muslim who we will call by his name ‘A’ only. He told me that he was studying at the London School of Economics and had got a grant of millions for a thesis entitled ‘Homosexuality in Islam’ and he told me that the Islamic values okay homosexuality and he was there to prove the same. He talked of the INFLUENTIAL PEOPLE WHO WERE MEMBERS OF THE GROUP INCLUDING DIPLOMATS from super-power countries. And he named some of them and I am not in a position to repeat those names. He asked me if I would affiliate myself with their group, they would enhance this place by visits and business of unimaginable extents. My head bowed down in utter shame.

Two concepts are so sacred to our region and way of life. The concepts of ‘Yar’ and ‘Saheli’. These are so pure in their thoughts and feelings, that poems and stories are written about the ultimate extent of friendship. And these sacred concepts are marred by placing these very sacred relation in the concept of sexual interaction. The changing scenarios in western thoughts was highlighted here when Marcella Bedford Nesom came here in 1978 and found ‘lesbianism’ in the art works of M A Rahman Chughtai. Saleem Akhtar had written a story about same and it was imputed on the artist Chughtai that he had no objections to same and approved of homosexuality. It certainly provoked an ultimate reaction and we went on aggressive mode and said that if this accusation finds itself in print, we will go on a libel writ for a million dollars. Situation controlled.
The Bible tells us of Sodom and Gomorrah as well as other religious texts. Even historical proof of the destruction of the two cities have been found by archaeologists. Of course all kinds of perversions have existed in life but these perversions were never put on the grandiose scale but swept as dirt under the carpet.I remember once upon a time the intoxicating voice of the singer Eartha Kitt was used to bring homosexuals into normal life. GQ magazine reported recently about homosexuals in USA and it said that passive homosexuals carry restraining pads between their legs, for they cannot control their defecation anymore. Is that normal way of life? The degradation of humanity as we have known it in most cultures.

Yes cultures clash, and values get trampled all the time. The exposure of western media, the influx of this even in cartoons related to small children, speak of the hazards of societies gone awry. We are subject to onslaught of the western way of life. Of course we can assimilate what is healthy in it, but we have to reject what history has proven to us has no value, then, now, or in the future. And for that we must hold on to the QURANIC VALUES which will save us from the disgrace that is slowly dawning on us as a civilization. Is degrading others a fundamental right of anyone? Are we to give all human rights to the Devil too? A lady from NGO was campaigning recently to remove ‘Zina’ from any criminal proceedings as it was the fundamental right of the two consenting adults to do whatever they like with their lives. It is time to put the foot of the State down and erase this kind of dissent from the society. Our values are Quranic and there is nothing wrong with them.

Muhammed Salih Kambo and his so called brother Inayat-ullah were men of prestige under Emperor Shah Jahan. Both belonged to Lahore and lived in a havelli inside Mochi Darwaza Lahore. The havelli and other residues are gone but the small kashigari mosque built by the brothers is still there and in every day use. But more important is the book Shahjahan- nama left by Muhammed Salih. It is the day to day history of the Emperor and one of the standard texts of Mughal history. The letters of Inayatullah (his INSHA) reveals history too. And then there is the grand story left by them which is a must read in every house from that period. A fairy tale of the times, that is ‘Bahar danish’. The brothers are world famous for their contributions to literature and history.

The mausoleum of Muhammed Salih Kambo was first given to an English gentleman Mr Seymour, and was his residence for many years. Later converted into SAINT ANDREWS CHURCH a long time back, and Rev A R Macduff was in charge of same. It is the anguish of Muhammed Salih that on his grave trampled host of people every day, particularly Sundays, with disregard to the man inside the same. Today it is no longer used as a Church but still then not returned to the Archaeological Department. There was the Principals office in it or perhaps the Administrator. But now it is even worse. The dome has been divided into two storeys by wooden framework into different classes, and host of students tread in it with shoe all the time. No ordinary men deserves this, lest two religious and literary scholars of Lahore, famous in the whole world.

We love our Christian brethren as fellow Pakistanis. But this cause is just and needs to be ratified as early as possible. In all good faith!

More References: wikimapia , wikipedia , University of Alberta