Family Of the Heart - Book Review Seminar

ZIA-UD-DIN…A NEW AGE MUSLIM WRITER

By Dr. Khalid Sohail

www.drsohail.com

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I vividly remember the evening at our dear friend Shahid Akhter’s house when I met Zia-ud-din for the first time. He was so elegant in his attire and so eloquent in his presentation that I wondered whether there was a writer hidden inside him. When I shared my thoughts, he smiled gracefully and said, “ I love Ghalib’s poetry and these days I am translating it.”

“It is not an easy task to do.” I commented.

“But I am translating it the way I understand it.”

“I would love to listen to some of your translations.”

After that brief encounter I invited Ziu-ud-din to Family of the Heart meetings and it became a tradition to ask Zia at the end of poetry recital, our Urdu mushaira, to read a translation of Ghalib’s ghazal. His translations were so wonderful that he made Ghalib easy to understand for students of Urdu poetry like me. Most of the times I was impressed but there were times when I was amused when Zia struggled with Ghalib’s verses that had expressions like dard-e-dil or khoon-e-jigar and did some literal translations. Those were the times I realized how difficult it is to translate poetry because it is not only translation of words but also being sensitive to multiple metaphorical meanings that reflect the taste of a culture. A translator builds a bridge and Zia has been building wonderful bridges of literature between cultures and generations. I hope his children appreciate their father’s literary work as much as we do. Many immigrant poets like Zia, Zameer-ud-din and Baidar Bakht from Toronto have made wonderful contributions to Urdu and English literature by their translations.

The more I got to know Zia, the more I realized that he was not only a translator but also a student of philosophy. He loved to engage in passionate discussions about art, literature, culture and religion. I wondered whether it was his interest in philosophy that attracted him to Ghalib, who was a philosopher poet and had a curious mind about life and universe.

Becoming part of literary scene of Toronto Zia started to write and create more frequently and finally his creations got published in the form of a book titled Thought Provoking Essays. When Zia gave me his book I was quite pleased. I felt a personal happiness because I had been a witness of the growth and evolution of his creativity. When anyone in our literary group creates an inspiring poem, story or essay or publishes a book, I get excited as if I am part of that creation and we are all trying to create meaningful literature together. Native Indian Chief Black Elk said, “No good thing can be done by one person alone.”

When I took the book home and started reading it, I was amused by the title. Some Urdu writers from the East might feel that the title Thought Provoking Essays has a touch of arrogance but I feel it shows the self-confidence of the writer who is certain that his ideas and philosophy are so non-traditional that others would find them thought provoking. When I read in the Preface, “A new age perspective is needed for the examination of even the axioms of the past.” I smiled because I did not know Zia has become part of the new age whose philosophical foundation remains a mystery for many people.

When we read Zia’s essays we are confronted with a writer who challenges the traditional concepts of God, Religion and Morality. Zia is not satisfied with the traditional explanations of age-old questions. He believes in evolution and believes that such an evolution takes place not only in science but also in philosophy and theology. He believes that advancement in one aspect affects other aspects of knowledge and human beings grow in their understanding of themselves and the universe around them. So a discovery in science, sooner or later affects sociology, psychology and theology and an insight in human psychology and philosophy affects our understanding of the physical universe. Since different research workers are passionately involved in different aspects of life, we have to review our knowledge every so often and come to a new understanding of life.

Since Sep 11, 2001 tragedy there has been a new wave of literature created in the Muslim world. Some Muslims have become more conservative, traditional and extremist, while there are others who have become more liberal and non-traditional and are reviewing their belief system. Zia belongs to the second group.

Even in the second group there are two sub-groups. One sub-group like Mohammad Gill, author of a wonderful book Modernity and the Muslim World, consists of agnostics and atheists who have said goodbye to the beliefs of God and Religion and now follow science and philosophy but on the other hand there is a sub-group like Zia who have redefined the concepts of God and Religion. They remain in the fold of Islam but their definition of God and Islam is so non-traditional and extra-ordinary that many believers and traditional Muslims on the right and many atheists on the left find it hard to accept.

Zia’s book highlights that he is a great believer of evolution and laws of nature. When he states, “ the overall emphasis is on the universal mode of evolution in all aspects of life” I follow his line of argument. But at some stage of discussion I lose his train of thought when he starts connecting the laws of nature with deity. Although his concept of deity is different than a traditional concept of God of traditional Muslims but still he has a belief. I find his concept of deity confusing.  As a Humanist I think that if laws of nature are running the universe why do we need to believe in a deity that has no scientific, rational and logical proof. It seems as if Zia’s philosophy is suspended between physical and metaphysical, and his concept of God is a mixture of the concepts of hama uz oast (everything that exists is from God) and hama oast (everything that exists is God).Zia has an idealistic and utopian view of God which he connects with human personality by quoting  “ It is this uniqueness or singularity of the Natural System and the whole concept of  Al Haiya Al Qayyum – ( Al Quran 2:255)…i.e. a Living, Eternal, Self subsisting and Ever-sustaining nature of the Natural Deity, which keeps man guessing and wondering as to the nature of Nature itself. It would only be fair to say that ‘GOD’S alone is the perfect system, and systemic perfection leads to Godliness’ p 42.. It seems to me that by introducing the concept of Nature Deity he creates more problems than solving them. I wonder why does Zia not see the imperfections in this world. What does he think of all the natural disasters whether floods or earthquakes and snow-storms that kill thousands of people every year. What does he think of all the pain and suffering humans experience in this universe? What does he think about all the sick children that die in pain every day? If human beings are the master pieces of that Nature Deity then it is sad that in millions of years of evolution we got Adolf Hitler, George Bush and Osama bin Laden.

Alongside a new age concept of God he also has an interesting rather amusing definition of a Muslim. I did not know that rocks and fish and birds and animals are all Muslims. He states, “All things that function and perform their naturally assigned tasks are called ‘MUSLIM” as they obey and submit to the laws that govern them, which are the laws of Nature.”

Based on that interesting argument Zia states, ‘…..every person is born a MUSLIM’. I am not sure that if I had told a Bushman in my last trip to South Africa that Zia considers him a Muslim, what would he have thought. I am curious according to this definition how many Muslims exist in the world and whether Zia’s definition would be accepted by Muslim and Non-Muslim countries. To prove his points Zia starts with rational arguments of science and ends with theological arguments of scriptures.

In spite of our philosophical differences, Zia and I have become friends and we can have a respectful and passionate dialogue about any subject under the sun. The secret of our friendship is our respect for each other’s philosophy and lifestyle. He has a heart of gold. That is the main reason I adore him as a person and enjoy his company as a friend. I am impressed by his curious mind and inquisitive personality, I just do not agree with his conclusions. My honest impression is that he has been delivered from the womb of Islam but is still tied with the umbilical cord. He has a non-traditional philosophy but in some ways he is still tied to the mythology of his culture.

Being a student of human psychology I am aware that for creative personalities to discover their unique philosophy is a lengthy and convoluted journey of self-discovery. But their personal journey is affected by their family, culture and historical trends. Since Sep 11, 2001, more and more Muslims are feeling defensive and are having lengthy explanations and multiple interpretations to the Scriptures. Zia has also diluted the theology and tried to take out all those aspects that might be objectionable to a scientific and rational mind. It seems as if he wants to make the concept of God and Muslim more palatable to the modern man. He is a scientist who is a believer. He reminds me of Professor Abdus Salam who was a great scientist but also a proud believer. It was amazing that he shared his Nobel Prize with two other scientists who were non-believers. In the world of science they stood side by side but in the world of theology they were worlds apart.

My strongest connection with Zia is as his friend as he is one the finest human beings I have met. In spite of the muddy political atmosphere of the contemporary world he rises above it as a lotus. He is in search of his truth and shares it honestly and sincerely. I might disagree with his beliefs but I respect his philosophy as a secular person. He sounds sincere. He is not challenging Islamic traditions to gain power or money or fame. He does not seem to have ulterior motives. It is his honesty and integrity that impresses me the most. He is a wonderful writer but he is a more wonderful human being and I feel proud to be his friend and congratulate him to share his truth with us. I hope he keeps traveling on the road to philosophical pilgrimage and keep sharing his creative writings.

In the end all I can say is that I think Zia is sitting on the fence between believers and non-believers, traditional Muslims and atheists and it is not uncommon for such people to be criticized from both sides.

Zahid-e-tang nazar nay mujhay kaffir jana

Aur kaffir ye samajhta hay musalmaan hoon main

I will be curious to see what will be the next milestone of his personal growth and creative evolution.