Editorial - January 2008

Assalam AlayKum!

In the process of interreligious dialogue, we should concentrate on the points of convergence, to show that religions have more similarities than differences. Inter-religious relationships can be enhanced if similarities are highlighted. We should expose our people regularly to the teachings, values and systems of other religious traditions. Direct encounters between people develop and enrich relationships. Face-to-face contact with people can even lead to finding ways of cooperating and collaborating with each other. But if the ‘other’ is not presented in an attractive manner, positive relationships will not develop.
The purpose of our dialogue with Muslims is to establish relationships with them and together to build up a just society where there will be peace, harmony, love and joy. On October 11, 2007, 138 Islamic scholars sent a letter to Pope Benedict XVI and other Christian leaders. This is an historic moment in the history of Muslim-Christian relations. We can no longer remain aloof and segregated but we must work together as genuine partners with a common goal.
The letter reminds us that Muslims and Christians together make up well over half of the world’s population and that the future of the world depends on peace between Muslims and Christians. The unity of God, love of God and the love of neighbour is common ground between us. These are the points of convergence to be found in the Scriptures of both religions. About God’s unity we read in the Holy Quran: “He is the God, the One! God, the Self-Sufficient besought of all!” (112: 1-2). Of the necessity of the love of neighbour, the Prophet Muhammad said: “None of you has faith until you love for your neighbour what you love for yourself.” In the New Testament Jesus said: “Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is One. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind and with all your strength. You shall love your neighbour as yourself. There is no other commandment greater than these” (Mk 12: 29-31).
There is a clear invitation in these two religions to worship the one true God and to love him above all things. Moreover, the love of God is extended to the love of neighbour. These two love-commandments lead us into the deeper reality of our commitment to justice and freedom. Every Christian and Muslim is called to practice these commandments sincerely, genuinely, honestly, and truthfully.
In this volume of Salaam, we present to the readers some significant articles. In ‘My Experience in a Muslim Family’, Joseph Raj narrates his live-in experience with a poor Muslim family of rag pickers. Living a life of utter poverty with this family, he has entered into the life situations of the Muslims, gaining their confidence and assurance. In ‘Muslims in Australia’, Herman Roborgh says that many of the 3, 00,000 Muslims in Australia are born here and that others have come from Lebanon, Turkey, Iran, Iraq and Sudan. These Muslims can make a contribution to Australian society by living according to the eternal values and guidance of the Qur’an. S.M. John Kennedy writes about ‘Jesuits making an impact in Afghanistan’. Afghanistan is a male-dominated Islamic country with 98.9% Muslims. Only one Church (within the vicinity of the Italian Embassy) exists in the whole country. Presently there are a few nuns and Jesuits involved in the work of peace-building, conflict resolution, women’s empowerment and improving the quality of the life of the people. Christian Troll has written a scholarly article entitled: ‘Islam lived and perceived from within a pluralistic nation and world: the case of Maulana Abdul Kalam Azad”.
The Patna branch of the Institute of Objective Studies, situated in New Delhi, in collaboration with the Khuda Bakhsh Oriental Public Library, Patna, organized a one-day seminar on Inter-faith Dialogue: Approaches and Modalities, at the Khuda Bakhsh Library on Sunday, August 12, 2007. Paul Jackson, President of ISA presented a paper during the seminar on this topic.
Recently, Herman Roborgh completed a critical analysis of the nine-volume commentary on the Qur’an by Amin Ahsan Islahi. The Farahi-Islahi school of thought stresses the interconnectedness of all Surahs (or chapters) of the Qur’an. Joseph Puthen reports on the lecture delivered by Herman Roborgh in the area of his research at Vidya Jyothi, New Delhi.
Salaam wishes all its readers, a very happy Christmas and a Joyous New Year 2008. May the Baby Jesus bless and accompany us in our inter-religious journey!
Khuda Haffiz!

Dr Christian W. Troll, SJ

Islam lived and perceived from within a Pluralistic Nation and World: The Case of Maulana Abul Kalam Azad

Maulana Abul Kalām Āzād (1888-1958), the eminent Indian Muslim man of letters, religious thinker and scholar of the Qur’an and also the first minister of Culture of the culturally and religiously pluralistic nation of India would seem to provide a case study of how an eminent Muslim related ‘the life of interiority with the involvement in community which our times take pains to stress.’1 It so happens that in 2008 shall be commemorated the fiftieth anniversary of his death.

After roughly sketching Azad’s life and career, we shall outline his basic theological position, as indicated mainly in his Tarjumān al-Qur’ān, i.e., his explanatory, annotated rendering of a part of the Qur’an. Finally we shall critically remark upon the value and significance of Azad’s Islamic option for a composite nationalism and a universal religious humanism in the context of alternative Islamic options.

Azad: journalist, politician, religious thinker

Azad was born in Mecca where his father, Muhammad Khayruddīn Dihlawī (1831-1908), had emigrated after the failure of the uprising of 1857, and married the daughter of the Arab scholar, Shaykh Muhammad Khayruddīn was a widely-followed pīr (teacher in the spiritual life) and renowned preacher and theological author in a traditionalist vein. His family prided itself on the distinguished service rendered by its divines and administrators from early Mughal times onwards. The language of Azad’s early childhood was Arabic.

When Azad was ten years old, the family returned to Calcutta. The father did not send his son to a madrasah but he himself and some of his learned friends imparted to the precocious child instruction in traditional Islamic learning. The boy’s unusual and early progress soon became widely known. Even in his early youth Azad attained proficiency as a writer and speaker. Altaf Husain Hali (1837-1914), the famous poet and man of letters, once described him as ‘an old head on young shoulders’. Through the writings of Sayyid Ahmad Khan (1817-1898) and of other luminaries of the Aligarh movement, Azad came to realize the need to broaden his intellectual horizons so as to include literature and scholarship available in the English language as well. However, he instinctively rejected Sayyid Ahmad Khan’s ‘eulogy of all things British and Oxonian.’2 In these early years Azad did not, in fact, gain any familiarity with western thought and culture. It was only later that he acquired a measure of knowledge available in English. But his mind was and remained very much shaped by Urdu-Persian culture with its predilection for elegant expression and a style steeped in poetic intuition and allusion.

In his political autobiography India Wins Freedom, referring to the period between 1906 and 1909, Azad speaks of an early ‘mental crisis’ in the following words:

‘I could not reconcile myself with the prevailing customs and beliefs and my heart was full of a new sense of revolt. The ideas I had acquired from my family and early training could no longer satisfy me. I felt that I must find the truth for myself…

The first thing that troubled me was the exhibition of differences among the different sects of Muslims…. If religion expresses a universal truth, why should there be such differences and conflicts among men professing different religions? Why should each religion claim to be the sole repository of truth and condemn all others as false?

For two or three years this unrest continued and I longed to find a solution of my doubts. I passed from one phase to another and a stage came when all the old bonds imposed on my mind by family and upbringing were completely shattered. I felt free of all conventional ties and decided that I would chalk out my own path. It was about this time that I decided to adopt the pen name ‘Azad’ or ‘Free’ to indicate that I was no longer tied to my inherited beliefs.’3

From 1906 to 1907, more or less during the period just described, Azad travelled through Egypt, Hijaz and Syria and imbibed there the ferment of the religious-political ideas inherited by the two outstanding figures of Muslim and Arab national revival, al-Afghani (d. 1897) and Muhammad ‘Abduh (1849-1905).

Sometime in 1909 Azad seems to have gone back to a personal faith and allegiance to Islam, but in a new way. An essay on ‘Sarmad, the Martyr’, written in 1910 in conjunction with autobiographical remarks made about a decade later, would indicate that ‘attraction’ to the hidden Mystery, called God, and the quest for transforming sacrificial love (‘ishq) as lived and proclaimed by the Sufi poets, and their universalistic and religious humanism was the basis of his renewed Muslim religious outlook, rather than concern for conformity to the injunctions of the Law (sharīi`ah), as it prescribes a detailed ordering of individual and corporate Muslim life.4

From 1912 to 1916 Azad edited the Urdu weeklies al-Hilāl (1912-1914) and al-Balāgh (1915-1916). These two journals made an unparalleled impact on transforming the mind of a section of the Muslim intelligentsia against the Aligharh movements’s loyalty to the British and in favour of pan-Islamism. Worried by Azad’s widely publicized views supporting the Ottoman Caliphate, the British expelled Azad from Calcutta in 1916, at the height of World War I. He lived interned in Ranchi till the end of 1919. From then on until 1924 Azad took a leading part in the Khilafat movement. He was its chief theoretician and popularized the ideas of al-Afghani.

On 18 January 1920 Azad had his first meeting with Gandhi. I do not think that it was Gandhi’s impact on Azad that, as it were, converted him to a composite Hindu-Muslim nationalism, as some scholars hold. For, long before the 1920’s we find in Azad’s writings attitudes and views supporting such a policy. What the meeting with Gandhi and the involvement in the Khilafat and non-cooperation movement did, was to focus Azad’s mind as a Muslim to concentrate on, and to strive for, the ideals of freedom and nationalism together with Indians of all cultural and religious backgrounds. From the time of his religious crisis onwards, through the unfolding political events and the first and second decade of last century, Azad developed steadily towards a religious Muslim humanism of national and universal dimensions.

Within the Congress Azad was one of the founders of the Muslim Nationalist Party: In the politically crucial decade from 1937 to 1947, when the Muslim League, directed by Muhammad Ali Jinnah, was eventually able to sway the vast majority of the Muslims vote towards the Pakistan option, Azad remained loyal to the Congress and its policies, advocating a, culturally and religiously, pluralistic, undivided but federally structured, Indian nation. He had given expression to this political view in his Presidential Address to the Congress in Lahore in 1923. In a statement issued on 15 April 1946, Azad made known the reasons for his opposition to the Lahore Resolution of the Muslim League. He considered the ‘scheme’

‘harmful not only for India as a whole but for Muslims in particular….I must confess that the very term Pakistan goes against my grain. It suggests that some portions of the world are pure while others are impure. Such a division of territories into pure and impure is un-Islamic and a repudiation of the very sprit of Islam.’5

In the independent Republic of India Azad served with distinction in Jawaharlal Nehru’s Cabinet as India’s first Minister of Education.

Two aspects, one pertaining to Azad’s biography, the other to his character, merit special mention here. Azad spent altogether ten and a half years in jail or internment. In August 1942, in Ahmadnagar Fort, when, aged fifty-three, he already been imprisoned for the sixth time. He remarked:

‘I have spent as it were one day a week in prison. Among the Ten Commandments of the Old Testament one concerned Sabbath, namely every seventh day of the week should be considered a sacred day of rest. In Christianity and Islam likewise such a sacred holiday was instituted. In the same way I was allotted in my life a weekly day of rest.’6

Kenneth Cragg highlights this aspect of Azad’s career, discerning in it ‘a rich occasion for prolonged reflection on the Scripture from which he drew the guidance directing and motivating his long career in letters and politics.’7

Azad’s personality was marked by a sense of independence and heightened self-esteem not surprising when viewed in the light of his extraordinary intellectual gifts in evidence right from early childhood. Azad, furthermore, could stand on his own ground. Regarding this point, the historian Muhammad Mujeeb has remarked:

‘But just as he smoked freely and continuously in Mahatma Gandhi’s presence in spite of its being known that Mahatma Gandhi was strongly opposed to such indulgence, he also declared openly that for him non-violence was a matter of policy, not of creed….From 1930 onwards , when the differences between the Muslim League and the Congress became more and more definite and acute, many nationalist Muslim leaders began to waver and make compromises because of the fear, that, if the Muslims disowned them, they would be isolated and lose their importance. But Maulana Azad could stand alone. The faith and courage which enabled him to do so entitle him to a high position among the great men of the world.’8

Azad retained his critical independence. His ministerial career in the first decade of independent India was marked by impartiality of judgement and unimpeachable integrity.

Azad’s reading of the Qur’an

To inquire about Azad’s peculiar understanding of Islam amounts practically to asking how he read and interpreted the Qur’an. The Qur’an held an absolutely central place in Azad’s thought. It was his life-long endeavour to let the Qur’an itself speak and be listened to and, in order to make this possible, he wanted to remove from it the veils of inadequate and distorting interpretations which subsequent centuries had laid over it.

Azad addressed himself two questions: (1) How should Islam, or the Muslim(s) as such relate to politics? (2) What guidance does the Qur’an provide in the inter-religious situation of India and the world at large?

Azad’s recovery of religious faith (around 1909) which we mentioned earlier, gave him the conviction that religious truth is based on mystical assurance. Abdurrazzaq Malihabadi in his account in Urdu of Azad’s religious crisis names it jazbah (attraction). Religious truth, in other words, is not primarily based on, or judged by rational argument. Hence, Azad tended to find in the Qur’an (and in other sacred scriptures) a strictly religious and ethical summoning rather than scientific or historical information. Also, he played down the intellectual theological issues assuming these to be transcended by the essentially uncomplicated, single spiritual message of the true revelation, reiterated throughout the ages and continents, and expressed insuperably and finally in the Qur’an.

Even before starting al-Hilāl, Azad conceived of both political-journalistic and reformist-theological activity as part of one commitment. He considered himself called upon to play a leading role in summoning the Muslims to active service, together with their co-citizens, in the struggle for freedom from British rule and the building up of a modern, culturally pluralistic nation. This call and the ideals it stood for was the message the Qur’an had proclaimed for centuries, however much it had been obscured time and again by being made the instrument of political and sectarian self-interest.

It is not surprising therefore to find Azad, early in the pages of al-Hilāl, announcing his intention to publish his diverse studies of the Qur’an in the form of a translation of, and commentary upon, the Qur’an, including a detailed prolegomenon. The first fruits of these studies appeared from 1915 onwards in his periodical al-Balāgh, the successor of al-Hilāl. But it was to take fifteen years more before the first volume of Tarjumān al-Qur’ān appeared. This commentary on the sura al-Fātiha (the first chapter of the Qur’an) with a succinct but scholarly introduction, discusses some of Azad’s fundamental convictions and principles in interpretation. Six years later, in 1936, the second volume appeared. Both volumes were revised during Azad’s imprisonment in Ahmednagar in 1945. The second chapter includes a translation of chapters 7-23, fuller marginal notes, and a series of appendices on various theological and historical subjects. Because of their graceful and vivid style, Azad’s Urdu translation of the Holy Book and his commentary found the widest acclaim as masterpieces and ‘the product of a mind, which has come to maturity through many stages of development.’9

In the introduction to the Tarjumān Azad writes:

‘For the past twenty-seven years I have been constantly concerned with the study of the Qur’an....I can say that I have read most of the commentaries and books, published and unpublished. To the best of my ability I have covered all aspects of the Quranic sciences. In our present day, men distinguish between traditional and modern knowledge. Traditional knowledge I have received as inheritance, modern knowledge I have discovered through my own efforts….

‘From the beginning I have refused to be content with the legacy bequeathed to me through family, society and education. The bonds of taqlīd [blind following of classical legal and theological readings] have never fettered me and the thirst for knowledge has never forsaken me. …Never have I been possessed with an assurance of heart which the thorns of doubt would not have pricked nor with a confidence of spirit which all denials temptations wound not have penetrated. I have drunk the drop of poison also from every cup. When thirsty, my thirst was not the thirst of others. When thirst was satisfied, it derived its satisfaction from no common source.’10

What, then, are the main features of Azad’s approach to stating the Islamic message anew for his day? Azad wants, first of all, the Qur’an to speak for itself and to explain itself. He would like the qur’anic message to emerge freed from the thick veils of interpretations, alien to its genuine message. Such veils are, for instance, the arts, sciences and philosophies of Greece, as well as modern pseudo-scientific attributions, which have been mixed up with the true and original meanings of the Qur’an and which have hidden the truth and simplicity of the qur’anic texts. Azad wants the real theme, purpose and logic of the Qur’an to merge, with its non-technical and non-scientific vocabulary, its own language, style and rhetoric. He claims to have opened up in his commentary ‘a new path of contemplative study of the Qur’an…different from other paths hitherto trod.’11 Basic to this ‘way of arguing’ (istidlāl) of the Qur’an is its direct appeal to human nature, to man’s instinct, senses, conscience, summoning him to reason, to reflect, to meditate upon creation, so that the may understand and analyse himself and his surroundings aright.

But Azad does not only want to lead us back to the pure and simple text and language and to the reasoning peculiar to the Qur’an. Ultimately he wants to lay bare its message. This message is the truth contained essentially in all religions, the dīn or dīn-i hanīf or al-sirāt al-mustaqīm. This dīn is also called al-Islām because ‘Islam mans to acknowledge and to for obey.’ 12

Dīn is the word is the word used for religion and law because the basic belief of religions is belief in the recompense of works. This basis of din is tauhīd, the direct worship of the one Lord of the universe. Yet, when this aspect of the human response is highlighted in explaining dīn, its meaning, virtually is identical with righteousness or piety as described in sure 2:177:

It is not piety that you turn your faces
to the East and to the West
True piety is this:
to believe in God, and the Last Day, the angels, the Book, and the Prophets,
to give of one’s substance, however cherished,
to kinsmen and orphans,
the needy, the traveller, beggars,
And to ransom the slave,
to perform the prayer, to pay the alms.
And they who fulfil their covenant,
and endure with fortitude
misfortune, hardship and peril,
these are they who are true in their faith, these are the truly god-fearing.

Dīn or, as Azad also terms it, dīn-i ilāhī, in this sense, is identical with what all religions basically consider to be good (ma`rūf) and evil (munkar). Azad also states: ‘The whole body of beliefs and practices can be summarized in these words: Faith and good works.’13

The obvious differences within and between the religions (ikhtilāf-i dīn) belong to two categories, those which are in fact not characteristic of the religions themselves, but which erring devotees have fabricated by deviating from the true teaching of their religions; and those variations which actually are present in the religions as ordinances and rites, of which the actual form of worship is an example. Such variations have to be distinguished clearly from dīn, i.e., from the essence and the spirit of religion. They accord with the variations of environment in which men of various climes and ages have lived and with the variation of man’s development in history. The Qur’an denotes these variations by the terms shar` or minhāj. Commenting on sura 5:48 Azad writes:

‘For every age and country God has ordained a special form (or worship) which suitably conformed to man’s situation and need…. Had God willed, he would have made a unified nation and community of all mankind, and no variation of thought and practice would have appeared; but we know that God did not so wish. His wisdom demanded that various states of thought and practice be created.’14

Since all religions, in origin, contain the truth and are pervaded with the same spirit, and since the existing variation do not affect the essentials of religion, the Qur’an enjoins tolerance towards the followers of other faiths and forbids forceful and coercive techniques in summoning others to its religion. This is Azad’s understanding of sura 10:99:

‘And had your Lord wished, all men would have believed (but you see that it was the decision of his wisdom, that every man walk according to his own understanding and on his own way). Then do you wish to compel people that they would become believers?’

E.N. Hahn summarizes Azad’s views in this respect thus:

‘On several occasions the Qur’an even praises adherents of other religions who, because of their firm faith and righteous deeds, have preserved the true spirit of their religion. For as God is one, so God in the Qur’an invites scattered mankind into the unity of religion to become as a united brotherhood, as one family of the Lord of the universe, and as the people who hate sin, yet not the sinner. In this unity of religion and holy relationship with God man can discover the corrective of all human divisiveness and the true source of their salvation, contentment and happiness.’15

The two other main themes of Azad’s Qur’an commentary are the evolution of religions and the place of religions other than Islam. In Azad’s view, all religions prior to the Qur’an proclaimed the unity of God’s essence. However, they neglected the proclamation of its converse, that there is none like Him, and thus failed to grasp the true belief in the unity of attributes. So they made gods in their own image, glorified their spiritual leaders and tacitly divided themselves into exclusive groups. The Qur’an in contrast, according to Azad, presents with inimitable clarity and power of expression God’s unity and exposes idolatry; summons to worship, supplication and truth in God alone. It thus proclaims liberation from slavery to anything finite and contingent.

The tolerance of the Qur’an cannot mean compromise. Though all religions are true in a sense, and though the Qur’an praises that minority of people who cling to their true religion, yet the majority of the followers of these earlier religions have deviated from the path of their religions. The Qur’an has come to summon them back to the truth. In confirming previous revelations, the Qur’an clearly does not claim to be the sole repository of truth, not even to introduce a new religion, not to condemn the old religions. It merely, Azad claims, calls humans who are divided, back to their respective religions. No one should therefore quarrel with the Qur’an. If they accept their respective religions as they originally were, they automatically embrace the Qur’an also.

We may be forgiven for asking: Can they really be expected in this case, automatically to embrace the Qur’an? Azad’s dīn, yes, perhaps. But they certainly will find it less easy to embrace the full qur’anic vision and provision for the believers’ life. Does the Qur’an not contain a whole number of distinct dogmatic beliefs and concrete injunctions, in fact, the nucleus of the sharī’ah? Furthermore, Azad seems to leave it entirely to the individual conscience of the Muslim whether he or she should obey any of the specific mandates of the Qur’an.

The second main theme discussed by Azad, the nature and place of the other, non-Muslim religions, leads him to attempt answering the daunting question as to how the variations in these religions other than those of religious law and way of life, have arisen. In Azad’s long-drawn-out discussion of this problem, empirical evidence and dogmatic apriori presuppositions constantly intermingle. Azad speaks for instance in flowery terms about outstanding religious personalities belonging to the non-.Muslim traditions, but he mentions, in fact, only one person specifically who is not already designated as a prophet in the Qur’an. His argument for the original oneness of all religions is historically unconvincing. When discussing Judaism and Christianity, Azad makes use only of those statements of Qur’an and Bible which are conform to the teaching of the Qur’an, the other passages of the Bible he reinterprets, overlooks or dismisses. For Azad, the Qur’an not only interprets the Qur’an. The Qur’an as Ernest Hahn rightly points out, also interprets the Bible, or for that matter, any other source material which is vital for an understanding of the various religions.

In Azad’s religious thought, as sketched here very briefly, the questions he addresses to the Qur’an and his single-minded concentration on the texts of the Qur’an impress more than the actual scholarly execution of his great project. Azad’s outstanding contribution as a Muslim religious thinker was, I submit, following K. Cragg, his courageous decision to attempt justifying rationally, in terms of the Qur’an and Islamic thought, Muslim participation with others in forming a common statehood.

The fate of Azad’s historical project

By the end of the 1930’s the hopes of the Khilafat movement had definitely collapsed. Communal tensions awoke in new and sharper forms. Increasingly, the Indian Muslims were swayed by the Muslim League under M.A. Jinnah to reject the policies Azad and the Congress advocated. The Lahore Resolution of 1940 committed the Muslim League to a separate Muslim homeland. Te Resolution in fact ‘represented a verdict about the very nature of Islam and how the Qur’an should be read.’16 It also sealed the personal tragedy of Azad’s life endeavour. Those advocating Pakistan and Islamic statehood claimed to be in line with the power equation within Muhammad’s own mission and declared the territorially separate, ‘pure’ Islamic state to be inscribed in the foundational scripture of Islam.

In contrast Azad and those Muslims who were striving with him for national unity in freedom, by way of composite Indian nationalism, invoked aspects and dimensions of the Qur’an which they read as demanding a sincere sharing in the common human condition. They advocated what they saw as a going back to the essential trans-historical outlook of the Qur’an. To do so would be a dynamic Islamic response to a changing political situation. They foresaw, furthermore, the horrendous cost of the partition of India in human lives and accused the League of lacking that confidence and trust the Qur’an inculcates, for instance in sura 39:38: ‘Say, God is sufficient for me, in Him do the trusting trust.’

Kenneth Cragg observes:

‘That God knows all that men hide in their bosoms ─ of motives, interests and purposes ─ might arguably imply that the integrity of these was beyond mere political attainment and that the drive for their political attainment might itself prove the more corrupting. A sense of the feel of the Qur’an in changed times might indicate that the Hijra could be a spiritual vocation….The often latent, always crucial, question during the years of debate and conflict prior to partition was [as Muhammd Mujeeb has put it] ‘whether moral values could be asserted in the form of political principles’. The historian may conclude that through those years and in those that followed within India, Azad exemplified what a reading of the Qur’an for spiritual priorities should mean, in no way abandoning things political but conceiving them within a wider human and religious field of reference.’17

Earlier we have seen Azad, in his reply to the Lahore Resolution, drawing the Zionist parallel to Pakistan. The Zionist and the Pakistan movements share the conviction that a sustained universal impact of the respective religion presupposes a territorially separate, sovereign, ideological state. Azad was basically opposed to the idea of a religious state. But whereas in the Zionist case he saw certain geographical and historical factors lending strong support to the idea of the Jewish state, he could not find any justification for an Islamic territorial separatism on South Asian soil. He rejected the idea of Pakistan on the grounds of ideology and political expediency. For Azad, making a territorial ‘country of the pure (pāk) was a symbol of defeatism, a sign of cowardice’, a question mark against the Islamic capacity to survive without territorial frontiers in a world (and in nations) marked by a cultural and religious pluralism.

In the earlier phase of his political career Azad had tried hard to arouse the ulema to political commitment and active participation in the struggle for freedom together with non-Muslim Indians. He succeeded in activating them but failed to win them over to his own vision of Muslim political participation in a national life shared with non-Muslim Indians. The Muslim League as we saw, eventually succeeded in winning the majority of the Muslims over ‘to the antithesis to common nationality, i.e. of separate independence.’18 It benefited from Azad’s success in arousing Muslim political engagement and, at the same time, distorted his ultimate political concern. It is thus no exaggeration to se Azad’s life as a Muslim politician marked by elements of tragedy, and even martyrdom.

As can be seen clearly in Azad’s masterly autobiographical work, the Tadhkirah,19 the liberal Mughal tradition was alive in him, as well as the cosmopolitanism found in his immediate link through his mother with the city of Mecca and thus with the whole Arab and Muslim World. He was also a true Indian national Muslim, conceiving of Islam in India throughout in terms of self-confident partnership within a national framework of cultural and religious diversity, as opposed to the narrow and debilitating territorialism of an ideological state.
NOTE
1 Margaret Chatterjee, Opening Remarks in: T.S. Rukmani (ed-.), Religious Consciousness and Life-worlds. Shimla: Indian Institute of Advanced Study, in association with Indus Publishing Company, New Delhi 1988. The present essay is the slightly modified text of the author’s essay published as chapter 7 of the same volume, pp.113-128.
2 Kenneth Cragg, The Pen and the Faith, London, Allen and Unwin, 1985, p. 16.
3 Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, India Wins Freedom, Bombay, Orient Longmans, 1959, pp. 3-4.
4 Cf. The thorough discussion of Azad’s crisis of faith and his recovery from it in the first chapter of the intellectual biography of Azad by the late Ian H. Douglas, New Delhi, Oxford University press, 1988, ed. by G. Minault and C.W. Troll. Cf. also Christian W. Troll, 'Abul Kalam Azad's Sarmad the Martyr', in Christopher Shackle (ed.), Urdu and Muslim South Asia. Studies in honour of Ralph Russell.( London: School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, 1989), ch. X., pp. 113 128.
5 India Wins Freedom, p. 142.
6 Azad, Ghubār-i khātir, Urdu original ed. Malik Ram, New Delhi, Sahitya Akademi, 1976, pp. 33-34.
7 K. Cragg, The Pen and the Faith, p. 14.
8 M. Mujeeb, The Indian Muslims, Montreal-London 1969, p. 441.
9 Maulana Azad, New Delhi, Publications Division, 1958, p. 16.
10 Tarjumān al-Qur’ān, vol. 1, New Delhi, Sahitya Akademi, 1964, pp. 51-53
11 Ibid., p.47.
12 Quoted in Ernest Hahn, ‚Maulana Abul-Kalam Azad’s Concept of Religion and Religions according to his Tarjumān-al-Qur’ān: A Critique’, Unpublished thesis for M.Th., McGill Univ., Montreal, 1965, p.19.
13 Ibid., p. 21.
14 Ibid., p. 22.
15 Ibid., p. 23.
16 K. Cragg, The Pen and the Faith, p. 27.
17 Ibid., p. 28.
18 Ibid., p. 29.
19 Cr. Muhammad Mujeeb’s fine analysis of the Tadhkirah, in Humayun Kabir (ed.), Maulana Abul Kalam Azad Memorial Volume, Bombay, Asia Publ. House, 1959, pp.134-152

Dr S M John Kennedy SJ

JESUITS MAKING AN IMPACT IN AFGHANISTAN

A land of riddles, Afghanistan has a rich and varied cultural heritage. Mountainous and landlocked, its development has been crippled due to the many contending ethnic, religious and regional rivalries. The Pashtuns, Taziks, Uzbeks and Hazaras have been in constant conflict for supremacy, causing disunity and instability in the land. Politically, Afghanistan has had a turbulent and tumultuous history, having been overrun by a succession of invading armies. More recently, it has been devastated by proxy wars and the fight against terrorism.
Being predominantly Muslim (98.9%), Islamic traditions permeate every aspect of its social and cultural life. It is a male-dominated society, where women do not have a voice. It depends on the neighbouring countries for even basic necessities, as it has no industries of its own. The educational system is in a shambles and in need of serious reform. Years of war and ethnic rivalries have stunted its development and crippled progress, be it in politics, economics or education. The country plummeted to the deepest abyss during the Taliban regime. However, against all these daunting odds, Afghanistan is bravely struggling to rebuild its infrastructure, social, economic, educational and political systems, with the help of the NATO and the US peace-keeping forces, and with the assistance of numerous international NGOs.
1. The Only Catholic Church in Afghanistan
“One Magi came from the East, the tradition reminds us. So I’m sure that the star that brings to Bethlehem has appeared again above the sky”, said Fr.Moretti, the Mission Superior of the Independent Mission of Afghanistan, during his satellite telephonic interview to Avvenire, an Italian newspaper, from his office at the Italian Embassy. He talked about the important progress of the Church in Afghanistan, a land considered in the West only as a land of Islam and of the of the Talibans.
Fr.Moretti, a Barnabite from Italy, is responsible of the ‘missio sui iuris’ in Afghanistan (missions that have a status of special autonomy, depending directly on the Holy See), created on May 16th, 2002. He is the only priest allowed in the country to celebrate Mass in the chapel inside the Italian Embassy.
“About a few years ago, there were only 10 to 15 persons for Sunday Mass but now there is a community of about 130 to 150 for Mass, on Sundays”, said Fr.Moretti.
Legend suggests that St.Thomas preached in Bactria (Balk Province), in northern Afghanistan. The Nestorians planted Christianity here and there have been nine bishops and dioceses in the region. But this early establishment of the Church was overcome by the Muslim conquest in the 7th century.
Italy was the first country to recognize Afghanistan’s independence in 1919 and the Afghan government asked Italy how it could thank her. Rome requested the right to build a chapel, which was then being requested by international technicians then living in the Afghan capital. A clause giving Italy the right to build a chapel within its embassy was included in the Italian-Afghan treaty of 1921, and that same year the Barnabites arrived to start giving pastoral care. In the 1950’s, the simple cemented chapel was finished. This chapel in the Italian Embassy is the only functioning chapel in the whole of the country. Projects of the new mission include a ‘Peace School’ for 500 students that began construction in August 2003 and will be at ‘European Standards’.
2. The Valuable Presence of Religious Nuns
Little Sisters of Jesus started their work here in 1955. Sr.Miriam, a Swiss, has been working as a nurse in the Aliabadh Government Hospital, Kabul for the past 33 years. Sr. Santhal, a French, 80 years old, has been serving here for the past fifty years. In appreciation of their wonderful yeoman service, the present Afghan government has given them citizenship and they are the only two Afghan Catholics so far. Sr.Catherine, a Japanese, has been here for the past 27 years and is working as a nurse in the Indira Gandhi Hospital for children in Kabul. They also work with those who have mental disabilities in the capital city, teaching those with cerebral palsy how to go to the bathroom and how to eat without help.
Members from the Missionaries of Charity, had their house blessed on May 9th, 2006, and have already started taking in street children. The head of the NGOs department of the Ministry of Economy has suggested to them to open more such centres for children in future.
There is also an intercongregational community of the Association PBK (Pro Bambini-Kabul), which includes nuns from the Dominicans and the Franciscan Missionaries of Mary (FMM). They have been catering to the needs of the slow learners in Kabul in the age group of 6 to 14.
2.1.The Jesuits
The Jesuits of South Asian Assistancy landed in Herat in May 2005 and started functioning officially from September 2005 after registration, under the banner of JRS (Jesuit Refugee Service), registered as an international NGO in Afghanistan, with the Ministry of Economy. JRS specially concentrates on the higher, secondary education and technical and vocational training.
The Catholic community in Afghanistan is mainly made of foreigners, especially aid workers, and no Afghans currently are part of the Church, mainly due to great social and legal pressure not to convert to non-Islamic religions.
Relations of the new democratic Government of Afghanistan with the Catholic Church have been positive, such as President Hamid Karzai attending Pope John Paul II’s funeral and congratulating Pope Benedict XVI on his election. The Nuncio of Pakistan visited Afghanistan in 2005 and said Mass in the Italian embassy chapel. The Catholic officials hope that official diplomatic ties and a public Catholic Church will be possible in future. Thus there is a ray of hope for further future collaboration between Christianity and Islam.
3. Catholic NGOs under Caritas Network Make a Difference
Delegation of the European Commission to Afghanistan, Press and Communication, Mr.Mario Ragazzi, an Italian, said, “Catholic NGOs in Afghanistan are secular, highly transparent and deeply committed to the cause and welfare of the poor here”.
The prominent Catholic NGOs, under the umbrella of CARITAS NETWORK are the following.
3.1. Catholic Relief Service (CRS)
Mr.Paul Hicks, an American and a Country Representative (CR) of CRS, narrating the evolution of CRS said, “CRS is the official overseas relief and development agency of US Catholic community. Founded in 1943 by the Catholic Bishops of the US, it works now in 99 countries around the world. Not only does CRS provide emergency relief, but also strives to break the cycle of poverty and helps communities become self-sufficient through long-term development programmes. Our organization is based on a solid foundation of the social teachings of the Catholic Church, but our mission is humanitarian”.
The South Asian Regional Director, based in New Delhi, Mr.Kevin Kartigan, who visited Afghanistan as part of his regular monitoring visits expressed his high satisfaction with the depth and quality of the work done by CRS here.
Dr. Sebastian Jayasuriya, Deputy Country Representative of CRS explained the activities of CRS in Afghanistan.
“CRS began supporting development efforts here in 1998 as a member of Caritas Network. In early 2002, CRS began direct operations here, opening offices in Kabul, Kandahar and Herat. From 2002 to 2004, CRS programmes focused on emergency assistance to returning refugees and extremely vulnerable populations through rural infrastructure projects (shelter, roads, water supply) cash for work projects and supply of material inputs to poor families, particularly tools for livelihood activities.
CRS is involved from 2004 onwards in development through greater emphasis on community mobilization in its infrastructure projects, expanding education programming rural areas, developing innovative market-oriented agriculture programme and initiating efforts in watershed development. Currently CRS employs 165 national staff, 10 international staff and provides support to 10 local NGO partners.
CRS has made its mission for promoting global solidarity tangible here. Its strategic plan focuses on poverty alleviation and human development in areas in western and central Afghanistan, with an emphasis on rural areas. It pioneers efforts to increase on-form and off-form income for rural and peri-urban households. It builds expertise in providing greater access to quality education for children (particularly girls), women and people with disabilities. Complementary activities include village libraries, early childhood education and vocation training. In addition to strengthening relationships with national partners and building their capacities on a long-term basis, CRS has invested lots of efforts in building the capacity of the national staff with specific attention to capacities of women.
3.2. Caritas Germany
Mr.Timo Christians is the CR of Caritas Germany. It is supporting Afghan NGOs in their humanitarian and development activities since 1984. Activities during the time of Taliban focused on education, especially for girls who were banned from schools but could receive lessons in mosques.
It is involved in three main strategic sectors of support in Afghanistan. While narrating the psychosocial activities, Mr.Timo said that since the end of 2004, it has trained 32 psychological counsellors, both male and female, with the help of Ms.Inge Missmahl, a German psychologist. After completing the training, it has opened 15 psychosocial counselling centres in different districts of Kabul and offers counselling to individuals and families who suffer from traumata, depression, family violence and other psychological problems.
The second sector is its assistance to partner organizations in the field of rehabilitation of drug addicts. It supports awareness activities and publications increasing the understanding of the population regarding drug use, HIV/AIDS and related issues.
While the activities in the social sectors aim to build up sustainable social structures with a long perspective, Caritas Germany’s emergency rehabilitation programmes focus on immediate relief for the most vulnerable with a geographical focus on the Province of Daikundi (next to Bamiyan Province) in the Central Highlands region. Besides the rehabilitation of rural infrastructure (cash for work programmes for the construction of schools, clinics and roads), it provides facilities for safe drinking water and drought relief.
In Kandahar, it implements emergency programmes in maternal health, providing medical support to IDPs (Internally Displaced Persons) and pregnant or lactating women. It provides health services for tuberculosis and leprosy patients in 11 clinics in the Central Highlands.
3.3. Caritas Italiana
Mr. Luigi BIONDI, is the CR of Caritas Italiana which is involved in capacity building of the people through formal and non-formal education, besides conscientising them regarding human rights and peace education. It supports and provides funds for the intercongregational venture to take care of the underdeveloped children. It lends its support to the Afghan organization, HAWCA (Humanitarian Assistance for Women and Children in Afghanistan). It looks after school care centres where students do their formal studies and receive awareness on peace, coexistence and human rights. It supports DPO (Disabled Peoples Organization) in Kabul.
3.4. Caritas Ireland
It is known as TROCAIRE, and is involved in:
a. peace building, conflict resolution and transformation
b. livelihood security for vulnerable populations
c. women empowerment and change of quality.
The aim of the peace building programme is to contribute to the promotion of peace through increasing communication, collaboration and capacity in peace building at community, district and provincial levels of society. Community and district level activities include establishing ‘peace groups’ in each community, conducting peace building workshops for community and district members, facilitating community micro projects and supporting grassroot conflict resolution forums.
Trocaire has supported the enhancement of the sustainable livelihood capacities of the rural poor by support skills training in horticulture and cottage industry. It plans to take up a programme to protect female victims of abuse from all over Afghanistan through shelter, basic needs and legal advice.
3.5. JRS (Jesuit Refugee Service)
CR of JRS, Fr.A.Santiago S.J, explained that JRS is involved in formal education, especially high school and university education with a special focus on quality education and vocational training and capacity building of agriculturists in Herat and Bamiyan provinces.
Little drops make a great ocean. Such collective efforts will go a long way in ushering in the total transformation of the people of the country towards the fullness of life.
4. Jesuits in the Reconstruction of Afghanistan
“The aim of the Jesuit Mission in Afghanistan is to accompany and assist the people in their endeavour to rebuild their devastated lives, society and nation. We understand our presence in this land as leaven in the dough – as catalysts enabling the local community to bring about a transformation for a brighter future”, said Fr.Hector D’Souza, Jesuit Provincial South Asia, while inaugurating the new Mission in Bamiyan on 15th May. He further added that reentering Afghanistan opens a new chapter in the history of the Jesuits of South Asia. It is God’s call anew to the service of faith and promotion of justice, a God-given opportunity to share the abundant blessings and resources of the South Asian Assistancy with a neighbour in great need.
The Jesuits have been working in Herat Province since 2005 and recently in Bamiyan Province also.
4.1. The Inception of this Initiative
The present Jesuit Outreach arose out of the worldwide desire to reach out to Afghanistan in its humanitarian crisis. The Jesuit Conference of South Asia (JCSA) proposed that the Jesuits of South Asia, as the largest Jesuit Assistancy and the one nearest to Afghanistan, should contribute its mite to this effort. Accordingly, the JCSA missioned Frs. Santiago S.J. of Andhra Jesuit Province, Stan Fernandes S.J., and Br. Noel, both from Pune Jesuit Province to start the JRS Afghanistan Outreach. Fr.Jermy and Sch.Anil joined them in August 2006. There are now five Jesuits in Herat, a very big Province in Afghanistan – a pledge of the Jesuits of South Asia to help in the process of rebuilding the nation.
Fr.Santiago, CR of JRS explained that the JRS Afghanistan Outreach is fully committed to the holistic development of the country, assisting and supporting it in its endeavours to reconstruct and its dreams of transformation to be a global, democratic and vibrant society. The Jesuits share the nation’s dream of transformation to become self-reliant in governance and economy, to make education relevant and innovative so as to give the nation hope for the future and bring the marginalized groups such as the Hazaras, the Kutchis, the women and children into the mainstream of development.
4.2. Jesuits’ Vision for the Nation
— to provide quality formal, non-formal and technical/ vocational education by organizing teacher-training programmes, upgrading library and lab facilities, supplying learning materials, arranging exposure and exchange programmes, spoken English courses, workshops/seminars in sciences and strengthening the educational infrastructure, with special focus on the marginalized groups of the society.
— to build bridges with Government officials, local leaders and policy makers, who guide the country into the future
— to join hands with like-minded NGOs to help accelerate progress and enhance the quality of service to the people
— to offer models for growth and development of the marginalized sections from our experience in India and other developing countries, adapting these to the context here
— to provide professional and technical support for the organization, mobilization and management of natural resources – linking up with the watershed development programme in India to renew the environment and rebuild the human community
— to arrange programmes to train farmers in improved farming, harvesting, preservation and marketing of agricultural products. This will help reduce the present import of even the daily common necessities from Iran or Pakistan, thus creating wealth within the country. Afghanistan produces a wide variety of delicious fruits – grapes, pomegranates, melons, apricots, peaches and pears. This invaluable resource needs to be systematically developed and managed
— to initiate a dialogue with Afghan intellectuals in the field of religion and culture. This could help in understanding and promoting customs and aspects of culture that enhance the genuine growth and development of the people. Such interaction can obviously be attempted only after winning the confidence of the people with devoted service over a long period and gaining a certain mastery over the local language and culture
— to foster a sense of unity and fraternity among the various social and ethnic groups of the land, especially through the ministry of education. Inspired by the vision of Isaiah: “The lion will lie down with the lamb”, our presence and ministry must lead to peace building, reconciliation and strengthening the bonds of brotherhood and unity
— to support organizations and movements working to give women a voice in society – to secure their rights and their dignity so that they can play a significant role in the progress of the country
— to involve Jesuit institutions and alumni associations in South Asia to provide personnel, expertise and resources in their areas of competence and thus help Afghanistan progress to sustainable peace and development
4.3. The Evolution of Jesuits’ Presence
The world, in its long history, has witnessed the rise and fall of innumerable movements, dynasties and nations that weave world history into a fascinating story. The Jesuit presence in Afghanistan too has an intriguing history with its royal beginnings, abrupt disappearance and gradual reappearance.
Fr. H.Heras, the renowned Bombay Jesuit historian, gives us a brief and interesting, history of the Jesuits in Afghanistan. It all began in 1581-82, when Fr. Antonio Montserrat, a Catalan Jesuit, accompanied the Mogul King Akbar’s military expedition to Kabul. Then in 1602, Brother Bento de Goes, a Portuguese Jesuit, starting from Agra, made his way through Lahore, Peshawar, Jalalabad and Kabul in search of a Christian kingdom called Cathay. The account of his long and arduous journey is found in the work of Fr. Matteo Ricci, the Jesuit pioneer missionary in China.
In 1626, Fr. Joseph de Castro, a friend of Emperor Jehangir, spent some time with the Imperial retinue in Kabul. Fr. Henry Roth, from Bavaria, travelled through Afghanistan in 1653 to join the Mogul Mission in India. After spending nine years in India, Fr. Roth returned to Europe in 1662 along with Fr. Grueber, a Chinese missionary, passing through Afghanistan once more.
Then in 1676, Fr. Gregorio Roiz, a Portuguese Jesuit, came from the Agra Mission to Afghanistan in the hope of ministering to ancient Christians in Kafiristan. In 1700, Fr. Antonio Magalhaes, a Portuguese Jesuit, was at Kabul for a short period to minister to the needs of the Christians in the retinue of Prince Muazzam, the son of Emperor Aurangzeb. Between 1752 and 1759, twice a year, one of the Jesuit fathers from the Agra Mission visited the Christian soldiers in Kabul and Kandahar. There was a long lull of Jesuit presence in Afghanistan till the 1930s, when Fr. Heras visited Afghanistan, his enlightening study on the Jesuits in Afghanistan opens for us a window into the presence and ministry of the early Jesuits in Afghanistan.
Fr. Stan D’souza, as John Hopkin’s Statistical advisor on the Afghan demographic studies, stayed in Afghanistan, from 1971 to 1973. Later, Fr. Paul Jackson visited Afghanistan in connection with Persian language studies. Then on January 23, 2002, Frs. Peter Balleis and Renato Zecchin went to Kabul and stayed there till February 7, to study how the JRS could help the Afghan refugees. Fr. Stan D’Souza revisited Afghanistan at the request of funding agencies interested in the relief and rehabilitation of the refugees.
In February 2003, Frs. Paul Jackson and Herman Castelino visited Kabul and Herat to meet with various NGOs and the Minister of Education. They were much encouraged with the welcome and promised cooperation. Spurred on by the report of this commission, a second commission, consisting of Frs. V. Kunnankal, Paul Jackson, Aloysius L. Fonseca and Dionysius Lobo, went to Kabul in August 2003 and stayed on for 10 days, studying and surveying the possibilities of Jesuit apostolate. Fr. Fonseca stayed back with a view to preparing the way for a Jesuit outreach. Unfortunately, he suffered a massive cardiac arrest and passed away on February 8, 2004, just a day before he was to leave for India.
A new milestone in the history of the Jesuit presence in Afghanistan began when Fr. Antony Santiago and Br. Noel Oliver landed in Kabul on April 28, 2005. They proceeded to Herat on May 6 to set up a base. They spent a year learning the language and culture of the land, and establishing contacts with International NGOs and local authorities. In August 2005, Fr. P. S. Amalraj, Coodinator of JRS of South Asia helped officially register the Jesuit Outreach under the banner of JRS. On July 17, 2006, Fr. Stan Fernandes joined Fr. Santiago and Br. Noel.
With their experience of two years of work in Herat, now a new mission has been started in Bamiyan to reach out to the Hazaras by serving in the University of Bamiyan, teaching in the Faculties of Agriculture and Education, and by studying the feasibility of implementing the integrated watershed development programme in that region in collaboration with Catholic Relief Service (CRS) of America.
4.4. Building Put up by JRS for Government Run Technical School
The Central Minister of Education of Afghanistan, Mr. Mohmmad Hanif Atmar, during the inauguration of the Herat Technical School, in Herat Province, said, “Afghanistan can reach new heights in education with the help and support of JRS, an International NGO”.
This school has been built up and equipped by JRS Afghan mission at a cost of 145,355 US $ (building cost $ 80,000 and the balance for equipments and library, practicals etc). Bro. Noel, narrating the evolution of this school said, “We had started supporting this school when it had only 67 students in the 10th class, with Electricity/Electronics as the main subjects. The Government had other plans and today there are more than 490 students, of whom 120 are girls, with Electricity/Electronics and Architecture as the main subjects and school enrolment is on the increase now.
JRS has set up a workshop for basic training, a laboratory for Electronics and Electricals, and a spacious four-storied building, housing all the different sections of the school.
4.5. Educational Scenario of Afghanistan
The educational scenario of this country is going through rapid changes in the recent past. School enrolment has been increasing at a very high rate during the last few years. Between 2002 and 2004, 4.2 million children returned to Afghanistan’s schools. There has been a four-fold increase in student enrolment since the fall of Taliban. There are now more children in schools than ever before in Afghanistan’s history. The enrolment of girls has leapt from an estimated gross enrolment rate of 3% prior to 2002 to 30% of all enrolled students in 2003.
The number of teachers has remained low compared to the growing enrolment and increasing of class size. Even though there been an increase in number of teachers (now reported around 100,000), there is still a clear shortage of female teachers. The teachers’ qualifications remain very much limited. It is said that less than 15% of teachers hold professional teacher training credentials.
There is a great need to develop quality education. If the country’s progress has to be measured in terms of its education, then it should be of high quality. Afghanistan has to achieve a lot in this respect.
During the period of conflict 6870 schools were damaged or completely destroyed; now 50% of the schools are being conducted in open spaces or tents. Although 1753 schools have been repaired or constructed, an estimated 5574 schools will be needed in the next three years. School infrastructure facilities too are yet to be developed.
Children of remote villages, children whose education was terminated by the on-going conflicts, children with special needs, children of returned refugees, ethnic and linguistic minorities and nomadic communities like Kutchis form the marginalized groups in the field of education. Special needs education have to be developed very much. Problems of accessibility to schools for physically challenged and social stigma among the general public are among the issues to be approached in a planned and professional way.
There is a real need for a new curriculum and approach to education. The old system, with textbooks sometimes as old as 50 years, is based on rote learning and very distant from modern student-friendly pedagogy. Textbooks for each grade based on a curriculum are being developed. This has to be accelerated. Due to lack of capacity, it is said that textbooks are printed outside Afghanistan.
Afghan refugees are returning from Iran, Pakistan and India. It is reported that more than 2 million Afghans returned to Afghanistan between March 2002 and January 2005. Two-thirds of these returnees did not receive any formal education while staying in exile.
Vocational schools provide an important avenue for overaged students and returnees to get vocational education in electro-mechanics, auto-mechanics, appliances repair, ceramic ware, carpentry, agriculture and crop science, business studies and management. These schools have to be expanded. There is a great need for equipment, facilities and trained staff. The curriculum has to be updated and made relevant.
The literacy rate in Afghanistan today is one of the lowest among the developing countries. Only 28.7% of Afghans over the age of 15 can read and write. People need to be provided with basic numeracy and literacy to participate in development.
The two main international actors who are assisting the education sector to face the above-mentioned challenges are UNICEF and USAID.
Education can pave the way to the total transformation of Afghanistan in which all goodwilled people should and could participate and collaborate.
4.6. JMJ Sisters from India Collaborating with Jesuits
Health and education are so far the most neglected but much needed areas of attention in Afghanistan and the Jesuits of South Asia are contributing their mite in the field of education in Herat and Bamiyan Universities. Three Sisters of the Congregation of Jesus Mary Joseph (JMJ) have joined the Jesuits in the health mission in Afghanistan in the second week of July, 2007.
There is only one Government hospital in Herat with 500 beds, serving the people of five Provinces (States) of Herat, Farah, Badghis, Ghor and Helmond. The lifespan of Afghans is 45 for women and 43 for men. This hospital, though being a nerve centre for millions of people, does not have facilities to treat head and heart diseases. For such serious ailments, people have to go to nearby Iran or faraway Pakistan and India. Though other cases are treated in the hospital, there are no modern medical equipments such as scanner etc or sufficient supply of medicines. Mostly, people buy medicines from pharmacies who import most of the medicines from Pakistan.
The Indian Medical Mission, with two resident Indian doctors and a few other health workers, has been functioning for the past two years as a goodwill gesture by the Indian Government. There is always a large of crowd to get treatment because of the good treatment and the free medicines supplied. These medicines are sent by the Indian Government regularly and supplied here by the Indian Counsulate.
JRS-Afghanistan has already provided emergency oxygen equipments and facilities, ECG equipment to the Herat Government Hospital and first aid kits to the midwifery students.
A team, consisting of Sr.Innamma, Provincial of JMJ Congregation, Hyderabad Province with Sr.Velankanni Mary, counsellor of Bangalore Province, visited this hospital in the last week of November, 2005, at the request of the Jesuits here. Based on their first-hand knowledge of the pathetic condition of the hospital and health situation in Afghanistan, they decided to send their Sisters to collaborate with the Jesuits in the much-needed health mission.
Srs. Mary Francis, Bangalore, Jacintha, Guntur both nurses and Sr. Dasari Sujatha, Hyderabad, an educationist, Hyderabad Province have joined this mission. Besides working in the women’s ward in the hospital, they will also promote health awareness among women especially in the rural areas. Sr. Jacintha teaches in the School of Nursing and Sr. Sujatha has started conducting seminars for teachers numbering 360.
Though the initiatives taken by Jesuits are small and limited, they are definitely making great impacts and inroads into Afghanistan. The presence and work of a few more fully committed Jesuits and other volunteers will definitely make a big difference in the total transformation of the country and its 28 million shattered and battered population.

Dr Paul Jackson SJ

INTER-FAITH DAILOGUE: APPROACHES AND MODALITIES

The Patna branch of the Institute of Objective Studies, situated in New Delhi, and the Khuda Bakhsh Oriental Public Library, Patna, organized a one-day seminar on Inter-faith Dialogue: Approaches and Modalities, at the Khuda Bakhsh Library on Sunday, 12th August 2007. The Inaugural Function, scheduled from 10 a.m. until 12 noon, actually began at 10:15 and finished at 12:50. The Director of the Library, Dr. Imtiaz Ahmad, began by stating that there was a crying need for dialogue. Justice S.S. Nayyar Husain, of the Patna High Court, pointed out that all groups had their fanatics, but also their spiritualists, and the latter needed to work together for promoting peace and concord.

Swami Tadgatananda Ji Maharaj, local head of the Rama Krishna Mission Ashram, spoke about the basic welcoming nature of his Mission, and how people from various religious backgrounds came to live in their ashrams, not merely people from a Hindu background. He then stressed the various types of social works undertaken by the Mission. It has also played an important role in various flood-relief and other programmes, and this has earned the Mission a good name. He gave an example of how a Muharram procession made way for him when he was recognized as the person who had provided relief for flood victims the previous year. He spoke in English.

The next person to speak was Maulana Syed Nizamuddin, Amir-i Shariat, Bihar and Jharkhand. He is also the Secretary of the All India Muslim Personal Law Board. He spoke about the basic belief in One God and how the whole Islamic way of life flowed from this central belief. He also spoke about the rights of people, as found in the Shariat, and the duties incumbent on those who believe in God, as also found in the Shariat. He then went on to point out the need to help those in distress. He could proudly refer to the efforts of the members of his Institute to help out in all sorts of disasters, not only in Bihar and Jharkhand, but even in far-off Gujarat. Even as he spoke, his people were providing relief to the flood victims of North Bihar. His delivery was that of a practised speaker. It was in Urdu.

The next speaker was Acharya Kishore Kunal, Administrator, Bihar State Religious Board Trust. He is a prominent Hindu in Patna, well known for having built a large temple near Patna Junction and funnelling funds from it to various charitable institutions, such as a modern Cancer Hospital at Phulwari Sharif, just outside Patna. (This is also where the Imarat-i Shariat is located, along with its Technical Training School and Hospital, as well as the Institute proper, devoted to the Shariat, the term for Islamic Law.) Acharya Kunal gave the example of a Hindu religious leader who supported the Khilafat Movement in 1924, which was a purely Muslim movement, and was jailed for his trouble in supporting his Muslim fellow-citizens. While pointing out the need for an objective study of history, he concentrated on the need to understand and respond to the needs of the people. His words carried weight because this was exactly what he was doing in the cancer hospital and other enterprises initiated by him. He spoke with considerable emotion. His talk was in Hindi.

Fr. Paul Jackson was the next to speak, but we shall return to his talk later on. He was followed by Bhai Iqbal Singh, Jathedar, Takht Sri Har Mandir, Patna Saheb. The Gurdwara in Patna Saheb ranks second only to the Golden Temple. Iqbal Singh is an important Sikh religious leader. He spoke quietly, but with measured dignity, in a simple Hindustani that all could understand. He spoke of the egalitarian nature of the teaching of Guru Nanak, with his emphasis on addressing others as 'Brother.' He spoke of the need to prepare oneself to receive God. This would bring us happiness and, when we are happy, we are able to bring happiness to others. We all have a common Father and, in so far as we have received Him into our lives, His love will inspire and make it easy for us to reach out to others.

If we pause to reflect on these talks for a moment, we notice a striking similarity. While affirming their particular religious belief, and sharing, in varying degrees, what its members believe and practise, the great thrust was on how their religion inspires them to reach out to help those in need. It was consoling to hear them speak, with obvious conviction, in this vein. It would seem that this was their understanding of Inter-faith Dialogue.

Dr. Manzoor Alam, Chairman of the Institute of Objective Studies, New Delhi, gave a talk. Although he could easily have spoken in Urdu, he chose to speak in English. This surprised a number of people. He spoke about the need to remove discrimination based on religion. He spoke about the need for Peace, Progress and Prosperity. He maintained that education must be for the service of humanity. He criticized the word 'tolerance' and what it implied, and said we must move beyond it to a concept of brotherhood. He gave the impression that this was a set speech which he gave in English and was thus able to speak about "peace, progress and prosperity" and criticize the word 'tolerance.' His speech was really about the thrust of his Institute, which is doing commendable work in providing information about various dimensions of the lives of Indian Muslims. .

It is now time to speak about the talk given by Fr. Paul Jackson, S.J., the present writer. To begin with, no speaker had come with a written talk in hand. Kishore Kunal made a few notes from a Hindi book he had with him while early talks were being given. On the other hand, I came with two typed pages in hand. My talk had a specific title: The Catholic Experience of Christian-Muslim Dialogue. It spoke about the approach of the Jesuit fathers at the court of Akbar and then of Jahangir. It spoke of mind-sets and presuppositions. It then touched very briefly on a different approach, that of Fr.Victor Courtois, S.J., as exemplified in his Notes on Islam, published between 1946 and 1960, the year of his death. It spoke of the essential change in the mind-set brought about by Vatican II as far as the Catholic Church was concerned, and how the Catholic Church in India has tried to act accordingly in promoting interreligious dialogue. It has proved to be difficult with Muslims, but anything to promote mutual understanding has to be greatly welcomed. Moreover, when I saw the composition of the audience, I actually gave my talk in simple Urdu, so that everyone could follow what I was saying. The whole purpose of giving the talk was to communicate, not be word perfect, as I would have been if I had read it out in English.

As is obvious, this talk dealt with a particular experience of Inter-faith Dialogue. It spoke of actual approaches. One is inclined to think that the word 'modalities' has been added to the general topic because it sounds impressive, not because it really adds anything to the word 'approaches.' In addition, the expression 'inter-faith' seems too narrow for what is meant, as it formally deals only with beliefs. The common term, 'interreligious,' being more inclusive, is generally considered more appropriate.

It is important to recognize the fact that these religious leaders all spoke positively about the human commitment of their particular religion. Nevertheless, they spoke as religious leaders. They are used to speaking authoritatively about their religion to their followers. They are also heavily involved in many practical matters that they have to deal with from their position of leadership. Not one spoke about specifically reaching out to people of another religion at the religious level. These few remarks clearly indicate that the whole area of interreligious dialogue is, one might say, in its infancy in Patna. This does not mean that nothing has been done in this area. 'Hum Log,' for example, brought together people from different religions. It faded away and a new group, 'Harmony,' has taken its place. Both groups have organized programmes to promote religious understanding by giving people opportunities to participate in collaborative functions. They have proved to be few and far between, since they are considered peripheral to the main task in hand of the various leaders.

It does not seem at all feasible to propose that such leaders study some other religious tradition in depth. They don't have time to do that, and they have to keep up with emerging issues in their own tradition. It would be of immense benefit, however, if the religious leaders could mandate some promising young scholar to study another tradition. They would have to support and encourage him. We see such efforts in the Catholic Church in India after Vatican II. Although numerically few in number, such people have proved to be of great assistance to the Church in reaching out with understanding to people of other religious traditions and, in varying degrees, in promoting and encouraging interreligious dialogue.

Dr Herman Roborgh SJ

Muslims in Australia

Introduction

At the end of his recent book on the struggle between moderate Islam and the extremists, Abou El Fadl appeals to non-Muslims for greater understanding. He writes as follows:
As for non-Muslims, what can they do? First and foremost, learn and understand, because nothing helps the puritans’ cause as much as Western ignorance, prejudice, and hate . . .. It is not an exaggeration to say that Islam-hating texts written in the West act as recruitment manuals for the puritans. Furthermore, Western writings that advocate a bipolar view of the world by contending that there is an inevitable clash between the Judeo-Christian tradition on the one hand and the Islamic tradition on the other, confirm the puritan worldview, and literally serve as propaganda material for them.[1]

Talk about a clash of civilizations only confirms the traditional Islamic view of the world as divided into two camps: people who are Muslims (dar al islam) and that part of the world that is opposed to Islam (dar al harb). This view of the situation is now outdated. There is a need for a new perception of Muslims and non-Muslim living together in one world.

In fact, the dialogue process should also seek ways to include those who do not subscribe to any particular religion but who hold and articulate such values as goodness, compassion, respect and justice. These people may not be “religious” in the usual sense of the word but they do show respect for religion and may well have a passion to foster understanding between various religious groups and between these groups and other non-religious people. Some of them may even have a keen awareness of the need to develop mutual understanding. These are the kind of people referred by Michael Amaladoss:
People who talk today about justice and human rights do not necessarily seek religious justification for them. There is a ‘secular’ consensus about their need that transcends particular religions. The groups of the oppressed who follow such goals often tend to be multi-denominational and multi-religious; religious differences seem not to matter much to them. Christians may, and often do, justify these goals in terms of the life and teachings of Jesus. Other believers may offer other justifications; faith is experienced as larger than Christian faith, but there is a consensus about the common goals that are pursued. There is certainly a link between faith and life. But there seems to be a certain ambiguity whether faith follows life or vice versa. Comparing these experiences with similar ones that owe their existence to other religions and even non-religious secular ideologies may make us aware of the limited role of faith. It is significant that in most of these narratives, the people concerned start reflecting on the relationship between faith and life only after the question is put to them, almost putting words into their mouth.[2]

Such people, and there are many of them in India and Australia, may no longer identify themselves with any particular religion but they are sensitive to the need for greater understanding and cooperation between all people.

The Situation of Muslims in Australia

According to the statistics, there are about 300.000 Muslims in Australia. The most numerous ethnic groupings are Lebanese and Turkish. Most Lebanese migrants came to Australia in the mid seventies to escape the civil war. More recent Muslim migrants are from Iraq, Iran and Sudan. Generally speaking, Muslims who come to Australia are looking for freedom and the chance to make a living for themselves and their families. However, the antipathy towards Islam now common in Australia makes life difficult for them. There is much stereotypical criticism of Islam in Australia as there is in the West, in general. The media in Australia and the politicians celebrate this type of attack on Islam and support Muslims who are willing to engage in self-depreciating criticism of Islam.

Recently, for example, Ayaan Hirsi Ali came to Australia and described her terrible experience as a young girl in Somalia where she experienced circumcision and other unacceptable practices. Her book Infidel tells the story of her life in Somalia and how she eventually became an asylum seeker and fled to Holland. After settling down in Holland, she became an articulate feminist who was not afraid to speak out against the horrors perpetrated against women in the name of Islam. Several articles have appeared in the Australian press exposing her critical views of Islam. Some Australian Muslims reacted to this media coverage by saying that Ayaan Hirsi Ali was confusing her own childhood experience with the universal precepts of Islam. Muslim respondents claimed that these barbaric customs and practices were common in countries like Somalia even before the arrival of Islam. Hence, they were cultural practices and should not be described as Islamic. In the history of Christianity, it is easy to find examples of cultural practices perpetrated in the name of religion. More clarity is needed regarding the distinction between culture and religion.

Furthermore, Hirsi Ali was reported to have called for the closure of Muslim secondary schools in Australia. In response, Muslims argued that it was precisely these Muslim schools that were capable of introducing young Muslims to a critical and balanced understanding of Islam. Without secondary schools in which students were introduced to the intellectual history of Islam, young Muslims would be more vulnerable to the extremist and reductionist interpretations of Islam propagated by movements such as Wahhabism.

The Muslim community in Australia needs teachers who know their Islamic tradition well enough to allow themselves to become engaged in a critical but balanced reflection about it. Teachers will be of no help to their students if they simply repeat the syllabus they followed as children in their home countries. Young Muslims in Australia are exposed to questions that were not asked in societies where the traditional syllabus of instruction was formulated and complied. Muslims in India are beginning to face similar questions and challenges.

Though different dioceses have different approaches, the Catholic Church in Australia is actively involved in promoting inter-religious dialogue. I have been involved in celebrations of the birth of the Prophet Muhammad in which a Christian and a Muslim were both given the opportunity to speak. On that occasion, I spoke about the faithfulness of Jesus Christ and a Muslim speaker spoke about the faithfulness of the Prophet. After these presentations, the mixed audience of Christians and Muslims was invited to ask questions. I have also attended seminars where Christians, Muslims and Jews were exchanging views on an issue that affects the whole of society, like that of concern for the environment and for human rights. As we grow in our experience of dialogue and develop more trust in each other, we may be able to explore more sensitive issues.

Not all Christian groups in Australia promote interfaith dialogue. Recently, I attended a conference on Islam organized by an evangelical Christian church. The participants heard lectures on the history of Islam explaining how Muslims had oppressed non-Muslims by categorizing them as dhimmis (a special category that refers to non-Muslims) and by imposing a special tax (jizya) on them during the time of the Muslim Empires. Verses from the Qur’an were quoted to demonstrate Islam’s aggressive stance towards Jews and Christians (for example, Chapter 9 of the Qur’an, verse 5 and verse 29). It was clear to me that some of these Christians were interpreting the Qur’an according to a narrow and literalist interpretation. I became aware of the need to introduce these Christians to other, more inclusive approaches to the interpretation of the Qur’an.

Difference in perception

One of the main differences between the Muslim and the non-Muslim world concerns the conception of religion. Muslims are suspicious of a sharp distinction between religion on the one hand and social, political or economic life, on the other. In contrast, Christians can more easily understand religion as a personal or private responsibility. For this reason, non-Muslims in Australia are uncomfortable when Muslims bring religion into the public forum. On the other hand, Muslims feel that Christians could be more assertive about their moral standpoint.

This difference in perception arises from various theories as to the role that the Shari’a and the Islamic jurists should play in a modern State. For Muslims, the Shari’a is not just a legal system but a symbol of Muslim identity. The average Muslim may not be conversant with the technicalities of the Shari’a but he or she reveres the Shari’a as a symbol of Islamic authenticity and legitimacy. Because of the symbolic role of the Shari’a and its ability to appeal to and mobilize popular Muslim sentiment, activists and leaders of popular Islamic movements have tried to exploit the Shari’a to win support among the people.

Roots of the crisis

According to Abou El Fadl, the crisis in the Islamic world can be partly explained by the vacuum caused by the abolition of the Shari’a schools by the Western colonial governments that replaced the traditional Muslim governments. He says that the Shari’a schools in the Muslim world have been
replaced with Western-based secular legal systems. Many of the Shari’a schools were closed down, and today most of them function as poorly preserved tourist attractions. Shari’a schools, such as the Azhar in Egypt, became state-owned schools in which the state appointed and fired the faculty . . . . The material taught in the religious schools no longer included studying jurisprudential theory, legal maxims, legal precedents, hermeneutics, rhetoric, procedural theory, or any of the kind of subjects normally encountered in schools of law.[3]

As a result, the ‘ulama (Muslim jurists) were relegated to the margins of society without being able to influence social or political policy in a meaningful way. Gradually, their authority was given to lawyers educated in Western, secular schools of law. In modern Islam, this process has left a vacuum in religious authority. Popular movements led by people who had neither the training nor the traditional education of the jurists filled the vacuum. The decisions and opinions (fatawa, sing. fatwa) delivered by these self-declared experts in Islamic law have led to a crisis in the Islamic world.

Wahhabism

In the vacuum created by the displacement of the traditional Islamic schools of law, two mass movements have become particularly influential: the Salafis and the Saudi Arabia-based Wahhabis. The foundations of Wahhabi theology were formulated by Muhammad bin ‘Abd al-Wahhab (d. 1792). According to the Wahhabi ideology, it was necessary to return to a presumed pristine, simple and straightforward Islam, which meant a return to the literal implementation of the commands of the Prophet. The Wahhabis treated the religious texts – the Qur’an and the Sunna – as an instruction manual for a virtual utopia modeled after the Prophet’s city-state in Medina. Wahhabism rejected the cumulative weight of historical baggage and insisted upon a return to the “Rightly Guided” early generations. The Wahhabi idea was liberating for Muslim reformers since it meant the rebirth of ijtihad (independent and new analysis), which provided an opportunity for a re-examination of legal issues unencumbered by the accretions of precedents and inherited doctrines.

Wahhabi theology was resuscitated in the early twentieth century under the leadership of ‘Abd al-‘Aziz bin Al Sa’ud (1902-53), the founder of the modern Saudi state, who adopted the puritanical theology of the Wahhabis. He invented a model for an Islamic State, which severely restricted personal liberty in the name of enforcing God’s law. Because of the twin factors of non-Muslim support and the discovery of oil, the Saudi government was in a position to withstand the criticism of moderate Muslim countries. In the 1970’s, the Saudi government decided to undertake a systematic campaign of aggressively exporting the Wahhabi creed to the rest of the Muslim world. The influence of the Wahhabi approach to Islam has also been felt in Australia.

Since Wahhabism had not been a school of thought within Islam, Wahhabi clerics have consistently described themselves as Salafis (adherents of the “early generations” (al-salaf al-salih). By emphasizing a presumed “golden age” in Islam, the adherents of Salafism and Wahhabism idealized the time of the Prophet and his Companions and ignored the subsequent development of Islamic history. As El Fadl says:
By rejecting juristic precedents and undervaluing tradition as a source of authoritativeness, Salafism adopted a form of egalitarianism that deconstructed traditional notions of established authority within Islam. According to Salafism, effectively anyone was considered qualified to return to the original sources and speak for God. The very logic and premise of Salafism was that any commoner or layperson could read the Qur’an and the books containing the traditions of the Prophet and his Companions and then issue legal judgments. Taken to the extreme, this meant that each individual Muslim could fabricate his own version of Islamic law.[4]

Conclusion

In Australia, Muslims have an opportunity that Muslims in more traditional societies do not have. In Australia, Muslims can study the writings of progressive Muslim thinkers. By studying the views of modern thinkers, Muslims in Australia can become more integrated into Western secular society without succumbing to the materialistic, consumer values of modern life. In fact, by expressing the eternal values and guidance of the Qur’an through modern concepts and language, Muslims can continue to make a very significant contribution to Western society, as they did in the past. Expressed in traditional Wahhabi concepts, however, the voice of Islam and its rich heritage will not be understood in the West.


[1] The Great Theft, Wrestling Islam From the Extremists, Khaled Abou El Fadl, San Francisco, HarperCollins Paperback Edition, 2007, pp. 286-87
[2] Michael Amaladoss S.J., Promotio Justitiae, no. 94, 2007/1.
[3] Ibid, pp. 35-36.
[4] Ibid, p. 76.