COMMENT: Our Muslim and cultural identity —Munir Attaullah

It is a gross error to think, as some would have us believe, that either our Islamic identity or our Islamic culture are threatened in any way. Instead of being seduced by arguments based on special pleading, let us not wilfully shut our minds to what was always so and always will be: the inevitability of change and evolutionary development

Continuing today with the discussion of ‘culture’ I began last week, I remember that all I did then was skate round the subject. And, as my alibi for doing so, I took refuge in Andre Gide’s well-known plea: “Don’t understand me too quickly.”

My idea was to make a simple point obliquely: that we all understand — in a fuzzy sort of way — what ‘culture’ is (for proof, note how confidently we all use the word), but it is probably best to leave matters in that hazy state and not analyse the concept too deeply. Leave that to academic anthropologists like Levi-Strauss. His observations on, for example, timeless social myths, and why roast meat is the centrepiece of a meal and the sweet dish the last item on the menu, may be wonderfully illuminating insights for specialists and curious intellectuals but are unlikely to influence the practical social conduct of the likes of you and I.

To reinforce the point with another analogy, physicists understand that the ‘real reality’ (whatever that may mean) of the physical world is probabilistic and quantum mechanical in nature. Yet, for everyday practical purposes, that is totally immaterial and it is more than enough to make do with the familiar classical picture of ‘reality’ based on Newtonian determinism.

So we should beware those who claim to know what ‘culture’ — especially ‘our culture’ — ‘really’ is. Motivated by that premise and belief, they construct restrictive agendas intended to control and channel human activity in a specific direction. Such ideologues — and they are usually of a conservative, right-wing, hue — are generally uncomfortable with the philosophical ideals of an open society, and are to be found in every society (though, in modern times, thankfully, in ever decreasing numbers). For example, there are still Frenchmen who want to ‘resist the onslaught of American culture’; there are the ‘Little Englanders’; and, in our context, there are those who fiercely subscribe to the overriding concept of ‘an Islamic culture’.

But culture, like life, is organic. It certainly is not static and immutable. And, just as the process of natural selection through adaptive evolution, acting on bio-diversity and the ceaseless mixing of the intra-species genetic pool, has produced magic out of thin air, the development and protection of a rich, robust, and healthy culture needs no forcible guiding hand beyond an evolutionary enabling environment. As I said, let a thousand flowers bloom.

Sure, there will be mistakes and blind alleys, even excesses, as a result. But that is a price — and it is a small one at that — worth paying. The beauty of organic processes is their inherent self-correcting mechanisms that weed out aberrations over time.

Besides, who is to say consciously directed social agendas do not produce even bigger horrors? Think of apartheid; of Stalin’s programme of collectivisation; of Mao’s ‘cultural revolution’; of Nazi Germany’s concept of a ‘master race’; and — yes, let us not forget that — General Zia’s Islamisation efforts.

But how do we know what is ‘right’ and who is ‘right? Do we not well know that even those who claim to be the repositories of the authentic word of God differ with each other, each convinced he is right and the others wrong?

The long and short of all these possibly disjointed ramblings can be summed up quite simply in the following important observation that is of great relevance to Pakistanis who would be modern: it is a gross error to think, as some would have us believe, that either our Islamic identity or our Islamic culture are threatened in any way. Instead of being seduced by arguments based on special pleading, let us not wilfully shut our minds to what was always so and always will be: the inevitability of change and evolutionary development. The clock does not run backwards.

That the core of our Islamic identity and culture is healthy and robust is best illustrated by a simple historical observation. In times past, many people tended to adopt, for solid practical reasons, the religion of the ruler, or those who had conquered them. Christianity spread because of Emperor Constantine and Islam spread in similar fashion through the Middle East and Africa. It was also the reason why large numbers of our north Indian forefathers became Muslims. But when, in more modern times, the Islamic world was in turn conquered by Christian countries, Christianity could attract only a few amongst the local population, nor could it significantly influence their strong traditional culture.

I have long travelled regularly to most Muslim countries of Africa and the Middle East. And I can testify that everywhere the Islamic identity and culture of the people is alive, healthy, and robust, and more than capable of meeting any unwanted, unwelcome challenge. But, apart from the core religious practices, there is a great and joyful diversity in their ways of life. And this is so even allowing for the powerful influence of their shared Arabic language. Certainly, there is no effort to ape the Saudis who are indeed, generally, looked upon with disdain.

Even more certainly, I saw in those countries little of that cloak of sham piety that we proudly wrap ourselves in. One example: words such as Alhamdulillah and Insha’Allah, etc, come naturally to those — even to Christian Arabs — whose mother tongue is Arabic. Such words are an integral part of their linguistic and cultural heritage. But with us they were never naturally part of our language. So why have their liberal use now become de rigueur for so many of us (even though the self-conscious mannerisms that accompany such affectations often give the show away)? Should we next adopt the Kandourah (Arab dress)?

So let us accept that, like our other Muslim brethren, we have our own unique brand of Islamic identity and Islamic culture. And it is based on our own historical experience, and rooted in North India, not in the Arabic heartland. It never was so and never will be otherwise.

Imran Khan wears jeans, and is equally at ease whether he be in a London disco, or amongst Delhi high society, or at Mian Salli’s haveli. He can marry a Jewess. And I am sure he is thankful for his Oxford education. But he will always be a proud Pakistani who loves our food and our music, and is equally comfortable in shalwar-kameez. Nor is his Muslim (or Pathan) identity in any doubt. Why should he — or anyone of us, for that matter — want it to be any different?

The writer is a businessman. A selection of his columns is now available in book form. Visit munirattaullah.com