Dear Shetubondhon Friends,

 

Salam and greetings.

 

One of the major current threads, Hindu-Muslim Relationship, has developed much further through significant contributions from several notable authors, including Dr. Zaman, Dr. Sen, Dr. Bhattacharya, Mr. Khorshed Alam, Mr. Masudur Rahman, Mr. Huq and others. I have not responded to some of the postings since I wrote last on this topic due to some other commitments, but I have been keeping up with the messages and digesting those. There are times when we need some time to read or listen more carefully to what others are saying or writing, which is a task we often are not good at.

 

I have several follow up postings under this thread and I will serialize those over the next few days. I would like to address several aspects of those authors' messages, and then clarify and expand on some of mine.

 

In this particular posting, I would like to begin with one aspect of Mr. Masudur Rahman's substantive message (June 2, 2000; http://www.egroups.com/message/Shetubondhon/703?&start=243 ). In identifying the existence of "syncretic cultural elements" and by placing Nazrul in parallel with several others such as, "Lalan Fakir, Hasa Raja, Kabir, Kanu fakir, Garib Khan", he wrote: "Of course Nazrul is one of the greatest syncretist of Hindu-Muslim cultural harmony. Nazrul wrote Shyama Sangeet, which is one of the most religious songs of Hindus."

 

In one sense Mr. Rahman is correct, and in several areas he might not be. In the works of Lalan Fakir, Hasan Raja, Kabir, Kanu fakir, Garib Khan, one might not be able to even distinguish a Muslim-Hindu element, symbol or idea separate from each other, and thus those do represent "syncretic" tendency [the COMBINATION of different forms of belief or practice; the FUSION of two or more orig. different inflectional forms - Merriam-Webster Dictionary] The case of Nazrul is quite different. While in his work, Shangkho and Azan (bajao shangkho and dao azan) exist in parallel, and hamd/naat and Shayma Sangeet also exist in parallel, considering the religious dimensions, I have not come across the kind of syncretism that do exist in the works of those other names Mr. Rahman has mentioned.

 

I bring this point up for several reasons. It seems that we have a tendency to speak from mere impressions. Even a staunch advocate of scientific/rational/logical/objective/free-thinking approach like Mr. Rahman may have been speaking about these aspects related to Nazrul from "impressions". But I won't assume anything. Rather, by giving him the benefit of doubt and acknowledging the possiblity that I myself might be wrong, I would rather like to see clarification from him on this matter.

 

a. If Nazrul is characterized as one of the "greatest" syncretists, because he has written Shayma Sangeet, does Mr. Rahman know or has he studied what Nazrul himself has said/written about this matter as to why he has resorte to many pagan or paganish themes? I am, of course, assuming that Nazrul's own statement/clarification on any such matter would carry different weight than any interpretation WE want to put on him. Unfortunately, in many cases, as my own study indicates that most of us have not really read Nazrul, except a few poems by him.

 

b. Many actually think that the poem that defined Nazrul, or at least earned the permanent label, the Rebel, is one of his works best exemplifying anti-religious syncretism. I would like to ask, particularly, Mr. Rahman, whether he is aware what according to Nazrul himself is the source of this "Rebel"? Once again, too many among us draw conclusions based on our "impressions" from our scattered, scanty, selective and preferential reading of authors like Nazrul, but if we want to be objective in our discussion and exchange, then Nazrul's own explanation must be treated differently than the labels and interpretations we impose on him.

 

I reiterate, I am NOT interested in what others have said, written, intrepreted, explained about Nazrul as I am already familiar with a good part of those works on Nazrul. I am posing this question to highlight what Nazrul HIMSELF has said about himself and his works. Whether any of us like or agree with what he has said/written is different, but in understanding Nazrul, I give preference to Nazrul himself. I think objectivity, if it is of any value, demands it. While I invite Mr. Rahman to further share his thought in this regard,  and I am willing to learn and be enlightened, did any of those "syncretist" personalities - Lalan Fakir, Hason Raja, Kabir, Kanu fakir, Garib Khan - ever say something like:

 

"Allah is my Lord, I am a follower of the Messenger, the Qur'an is my guide. ... I have no other Lord, no intercessor, no mentor." [Allah amar probhu, rasuler ami ummat, al-koran amar path-prodorshok. ... E chara amar keho probhu nai, shafayat data nai, murshid nai"]. Would any one like to guess, including Mr. Rahman, who may have made this statement? Does this sound a statement of a syncretist, like Lalan Fakir, Hasan Raja and so on? Some might like to know at what stage of his life he made this statement.

 

"Wake up Islam! Wake up Muslims! ...  You are true, Islam is true, any humiliation of you, ME or Islam is the humiliation of the truth." [Islam jago! Muslim jago! ... Tumi shottyo, Islam shottyo, tomar-AMAR ba Islamer opoman je SHOTTYER opoman] Sounds syncretist? Guess whose statement is this? At what stage of his life? While the author of this statement was not only respectful of other religions and a passionate advocate of religious harmony, did he ever say such a statement about any other religion?

 

"Allah has RECONSTITUTED the life of this servant of him ... Please know - I have no more objective in my life than seeking Allah" [Allah tar ei dasher - bandar jibonke BHENGE CHURE mismar kore NOTUN kore gorechen ...  Apnara jene rakhun - Allah chara ar kichur kamona amar nei]. Who might have said that? Sounds syncretist? Does any such statement appear in works of any of those personalities Lalan Fakir, Hasan Raja and so on?

 

Nazrul himself did not care a whole lot how others viewed him or his work (thus, he could write "amay nohe go, bhabobasho shudhu bhalobasho mor gan), but he was deeply hurt as people tried to mislabel him, whether it is from the Muslims' side as "kafir" or Hindus' side as "jaban". Indeed, he did confront this issue of "syncretism" (including those paganish aspects) during his lifetime and he had explained it.

 

Nazrul is the national poet of Bangladesh. There is a great deal of symbolism involved with him, his works, his thoughts, and his identity. Quite frequently there are efforts, some of which is deliberate and some from "impressions" based on not reading Nazrul comprehensively (especially his prose/essays) to mischaracterize/mislabel him. If we are to be objective, then we must rise above our mere impressions. This call is inclusive of me as I have always taken these discussions as a learning process and I HAVE learnt from many contributors on this forum, including fellow contributors such as Dr. Kaushik Sen and Mr. Khorshed Alam.

 

The very same person who said "Wake up Islam! Wake up Muslims! ...  You are true, Islam is true, any humiliation of you, ME or Islam is the humiliation of the truth" could be also one of the greatest champions of religious harmony, especially in the context of our subcontinent, because of his clear understanding of and firm conviction about Islam.  If we don't understand it, then basically that person or Islam is going to be difficult to understand. In such case, the squabble might have only broadened from "bodna-garu" to our modernist-secularish "bodna-garu-toiletpaper".

 

Some of my comments especially about "non-starter", which I will address separately, that provoked quite a bit discussion can be better understood, if Nazrul is better understood on the basis of his own words, rather than on the basis of our "impressions" or "interepretations".

 

Best regards.

 

Farooq

 

P.S. You might like to note a change in the URL of my personal homepage.

 

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Associate Professor of Economics and Finance

Upper Iowa University
Personal homepage: http://www.globalwebpost.com/farooqm
Nazrul site: http://www.nazrul.org