| November 2, 2002 | Saturday | Sha’aban 26,1423 |
A topic too hot to handle
Dilemma of authority
THE Quran reveals two kinds of rights; one consisting of the rights of Allah over human beings and the other about the rights of human beings over one another. A third kind of obligations having no corresponding rights as such but still as emphasised by the Quran could be the obligations of human beings in relation to other creations of Allah.
It is an admitted fact that every obligation has some source or basis even if it has no corresponding right. At the same time it is argued that all the obligations referred to above are nothing but the Will of Allah. True, but that will of Allah is not an arbitrary will in the sense that Allah simply wishes the human beings to discharge these obligations. All the three kinds of obligations emanate from sound and upstanding sources.
The first of the sources from which the obligations of human beings to Allah emanate is their creation and that too in the best possible form (95:4). The other is their placement as Allah’s vicegerents on earth, an exalted position for which Allah chose the human beings (6:165). The third is the endowment of all faculties necessary for discharging their duties as Allah’s vicegerents. They are the ability to think, the ability to reason, to hear, to feel, to see, to talk to love and to be merciful (16:78) (30:21) (91:8).
The fourth is the provision of necessary guidance starting from Adam and completing with Muhammad (peace be upon him) (20:123,124) (76:3). The fifth is that whatever is on the earth and in the heavens has been subjected to them to serve their interests or to be made use of by them (31:20). The sixth is the prescription of a common and easiest possible way for seeking forgiveness for the wrongs committed, namely, sincere repentance (11.90).
The seventh is the placement of an obligation by Allah on Himself in relation to human beings, namely, Mercy (6:54) with a categorical assurance that they should not despair of it even if they have wronged themselves (39:53). All these favours have been summed up by the Quran thus “and conferred on them special favours above a greater part of our creation” (17:70).
For all the above favours, a human being is expected to discharge three obligations to Allah. One is to have faith in the existence and Unity of Allah and in all his Messengers and Books (112:1-4) (2:136,177). The other is to be obedient, devoted and faithful to Allah or to be more specific to understand, act upon and implement what Allah has ordained (51:56). This is what the word “worship” in this verse implies. The third is to have faith in the Day of Judgment (2:4) and in the fact that he will be called to account for whatever he has done or not done in this world, in general, and about the discharge of his obligations in particular (7:6).
The sources from which the obligations that the human beings owe to one another emanate are: the fact they are born of the same male and female couple (49:13) the intellect and affection, including the ability to empathize, they have been endowed with (16:78), the love and mercy that Allah has put in their hearts (30:21), the ability to make distinction between right and wrong (91:8) and the guidance provided to them.
Hence, the first obligation that a human being should owe to his fellow beings could be to accept that they are all basically equal (49:13) and are, therefore, entitled to all such rights that could be basic to human needs and dignity within the acceptable limits of fairness, decency and morality. The other obligation of a human being to his fellow beings, a necessary concomitant of the first obligation, could be to accept and act upon the premise that all human beings are entitled to the same opportunities, to the extent possible, in order to make use of the faculties they have been endowed with, including the opportunity to learn, contribute and be accordingly rewarded.
The third obligation of a human being to his fellow beings could be to observe, to the extent possible, the principles of justice and fair play (57:25) in all his dealings with others. This, among other things, should mean to be just and fair to others without any distinction (4:135) (5:8), not to usurp what belongs to others (2:188) (4:32), not to violate rusts (8:27), to fulfil promises made (17:34), not to withhold from others things that are due to them (11:85), to render financial help to the needy (2:219), not to commit excesses (5:87), deal with the orphans in the way which is for their benefit (2:220), to refrain from bigotry and to love others and seek their welfare.
The fourth obligation of a human being to his fellow beings could be that in all matters of general treatment he shall, as far as possible, treat the others in the same way in which he would like himself to be treated. Clear indications in this regard may be found in the Quranic verses which say “and do not pick up for charity those worthless things which you yourself will only accept in disdain by connivance (2:267), and “return the same or better greeting when you are greeted” (4:86) and in the saying of the Prophet when he said “take care of your slaves and let them eat what you yourself eat and let them wear what you yourself wear.”
The sources from which the obligations of human beings in relation to other creations of Allah emanate are the endowment of the faculties of thinking, reasoning and imagination (16:78), the fact that every thing in the earth and in the heavens has been subjected to them (31:20) and the guidance provided. From the word subjected in the verse (31:20) it follows that all these things are either providing services to the human beings or can be made use of by the human beings. That’s why the Quran says “He gave you all you ask of Him and if you count the favours of Allah you cannot reckon it” (14:34).
The Quran repeatedly exhorts the believers to seek the Bounty of Allah (17:66) and reflect over the Signs in His creation (45:13). Seeking does involve some kind of effort, mental or physical, while reflecting does not mean mere thinking over but also drawing conclusion there from for some use or purpose. Sir Isaac Newton formulated his laws of gravitation while pondering over the fall of an apple from the tree. Likewise, the use of a thing does not mean simply its consumption or conversion into something else. The preservation of a thing, as it is, may be more useful than its consumption or conversion.
Thus, the main obligations of human beings in relation to other creations of Allah could be to seek and explore whatever of such creation they can, to reflect over various signs in the creation, to make proper use of such creation as are within their reach and of the conclusions drawn from the signs reflected over, and to preserve so much of such creation as may be necessary, whether it be on earth or in the heavens.
THE function arranged last Sunday by the Pakistan Academy of Letters in its local office was not to launch the latest book of Anis Nagi, Jins aur Wajood, but to initiate a discussion on a subject which is normally considered too hot to handle.
Ashfaq Ahmad was there to preside but Parveen Atif, Shahzad Ahmad and Asghar Nadeem Syed who were supposed to express their views on the occasion were missing. However, the gap was adequately filled by Mahmood Gilani and Dr Salim Akhtar. The veteran writer, Hamid Akhtar, was also there that day but he preferred to remain silent. It was nice to see him putting on weight and even lighting a cigarette after a long layoff.
Initiating the discussion, Kazy Javed said Anis Nagi had broached a subject which people did not feel like holding even with a pair of tongs. Talking about it had all along been considered taboo. All the same, it had its importance and one could not close his eyes to it. To begin with, he said, it was essential that the misconceptions existing in our minds about women were removed.
He referred to the saying that women should only be seen but not heard. Somehow, woman was considered an enigma and it took a lifetime to understand her. Even Tolstoy said he would be able to say what a woman actually happened to be when he was being lowered into his grave.
Asked by Ashfaq Ahmad to say something why he had chosen to pick up the subject, Anis Nagi said the primary reason was that no one tried to talk about the women of the present times. In ancient Greece, he said, people considered women to be human, and that was about all.
Husain Majrooh said today we had among us women who seemed to belong to the 15th as well as the 21st century. While talking about them, therefore, we must give due consideration to the two extremes.
Interruptions were common that evening. Someone pointed out that in his book, Nagi had kept only the urban woman in view and had said nothing about those living in the rural areas and working much more than their male counterparts.
Voices kept coming up from all corners of the hall that evening. When someone remarked that a man and a woman were two wheels of a vehicle on which humanity moved forward, many interesting comments were heard. Someone said even if we accept the two-wheel theory, one could not help but notice that more often than not it turned out that one of the wheels happened to be that of a car and the other of a tractor. But soon someone came up to rebut that. “Forget about the size of the two wheels. Why don’t you talk about the uneven path on which the vehicle is forced to move?” he asked.
The list of speakers mentioned in the invitation letter included Bushra Naqvi. In fact, it was Bushra Naqi, although even that is not her present name. She used her maiden name when her first collection of poetry, Diorama, was published. Today she is known as Bushra Shams. It was she that evening who had made a thorough study of the book by Anis Nagi and come up with some pertinent remarks. She resented Anis Nagi’s view that sexuality was the origin and meaning of a woman’s existence. This, she felt, was a focussed perception viewed through masculine eyes. She went on to say that Anis Nagi’s “cynicism is directed towards women, and although he tries to understand them, there is a definite lack of empathy.”
Anwar Bukhari, whom I hold in high esteem for his intellectual vision, was also present. He rebutted the contention that a man and a woman were different species. He said it amounted to negating the Holy Quran.
It was after a long time that I saw Nasreen Qureshi. Better known as a TV artiste, she used to be a regular at the literary sittings at the residence of Fakhruddin Balley in the GOR. She was vociferous even on this occasion and opposed all that Anis Nagi had written about women in his book. “Forget about the two wheels of the vehicle. Even if they are uneven. Why don’t you see the power that keeps the vehicle moving forward? It is woman power,” she said.
EARLIER, the Pakistan Calligraphy Artists Guild patronized by the former Rhodes Scholar and bureaucrat, Athar Tahir, arranged an evening with the noted poet, Murtaza Barlas, in the Guild’s office. The function was presided over by Hanif Ramay who is equally at ease both with the pen and the brush. In his introductory remarks Athar Tahir recounted the achievements of the guild since its formation and the services provided by it to calligraphy which was the mother of all arts. Later, Abbas Tabish spoke at length on the personality and poetry of the guest of the evening. He said Murtaza Barlas had written nazms and quatrains but he was basically a poet of the ghazal.
When called upon to recite his verses, Murtaza Barlas enthralled the packed hall both by his poetry and its rendition. I’ll just reproduce some of the verses he presented that evening:
Khud rehbaran-i-qaum hein aasaishon mein gum
Ham se magar matalaba qurbanion ka heh
And
Hamarey qaul-o-amal mein tazad kitna heh
Magar yeh dil heh keh khush-aitqad kitna heh
Heh abbto sarey marasim ka inhisar yahi
Kisi ki zaat sey ham ko mafad kitna heh
In his presidential remarks Hanif Ramay while complimenting the guild for projecting the art of calligraphy, was all praise for Murtaza Barlas. He said it was normally believed that a poet was a carefree person and remained cut off from the mainstream of life but after listening to Murtaza Barlas all such misconceptions were washed away. He said many great poets of the olden days were not appreciated during their lifetime only because their thoughts did not correspond with the times and, as such, they were not understood. With Murtaza Barlas the situation was totally different: he went with the times and was easily understood, he said. —
ASHFAQUE NAQVI
Sadia Qasim Shah
As the saying goes, many cooks spoil the broth, it is a true reflection of the two-tier government system in the future. The provincial and district governments will face a dilemma of authority. Who will play the shots?
The system conceived in Islamabad, is headed for hot waters due to the recent elections to the national and provincial assemblies. The devolution plan, structured by consultants, who were perhaps not fully capable of appreciating the intricacies and matrixes of politics, are in for a shock throughout the country in general and in the province in particular.
With the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal making a clean sweep in the general elections and with most of the districts having District Nazims of parties, the working of the government machinery will have to face with the smooth and efficient functioning.
The Nazim shall head the district government, according to the Local Government Ordinance, 2001, promulgated by the federal government to reconstruct and regulate the local government. The aim of the ordinance was “to devolve political power and decentralize administrative and financial authority to accountable local governments for good governance, effective delivery of services and transparent decision making.”
“With the local governments coming under the purview of the Provincial Assembly, we seem to be entering an era of further confusion and conflict,” a government official told Dawn.
The federal government decentralized the administrative authority for speedy and efficient functioning of the government at district level but this will create problems in the NWFP when the MMA forms the government in the province in the presence of the Nazimeen having association with the other political parties.
The Nazimeen in Peshawar, D. I. Khan, Mingora, Chitral, Swat, Charsadda, Hangu and Mardan belong to those political parties which will not enjoy a majority in the provincial assembly. The MMA “government to-be” in the NWFP will have a majority in the house and make laws which will be implemented by the local governments.
If both the bodies remain in their limits then may be the developmental goals to be achieved without any hurdles. But the political governments since 1991 not only took part in the legislation, but MPA’s have a habit of interfering in the development work. As there was no local government system at that time the government worked smooth even when MPAs had a free hand in provincial government affairs, but the situation is not the same now.
The problem is not only of the political differences it is also a matter of exercising powers in the province.
The local governments under the Section 4 of the Ordinance shall work within provincial framework and adhere to the provincial and federal laws.
The provincial assembly is the legislature or law-making body and district Nazimeen being head of their district government will deal with the daily business.
A close coordination between the two is a basic requirement to make the local government system successful in the province.
A Nazim will be responsible for the development of “relevant goals” and shall provide vision for the district-wide development He is the head to effective running of the respective district government. A Nazim is empowered by this ordinance to ensure implementation of the functions decentralised to the district but he is also accountable to the chief executive of the province.
According to the Section 24 (1),”The Chief Executive of the province may move a motion in the Provincial Assembly stating the grounds for the recall of district Nazim.”
Moreover, under the sub-section(2) of the same section where the motion referred to in sub-section(1) is approved through a resolution passed by a simple majority of total membership of the provincial assembly, the Nazim shall cease to hold office immediately on passing of such resolution.
The section 25 gives the chief executive of the province the power of “setting aside an order of Zila Nazim”,.
The Nazim, though may have enjoyed powers up till now and the functions of the district government were smooth and efficient, after the formation of the provincial government there might be some check on the power of the Nazimeen because the section 31 of the Local Government Ordinance, 2001 states,” for smooth and efficient disposal of official work, the government shall make District Government Rules of Business.”
The devolution plan seems to be unsuccessful in the NWFP. The encroachment on power of one body by the other may cause disharmony in the provincial government and paralyse the government in the province.
It is also very much possible that the provincial ministers will have association with one party and the Nazim may have affiliation with the opponent party as is evident from the October election in the NWFP.
In the NWFP, there are some districts where the Nazimeen and the provincial ministers and MPAs may have difference of opinion on certain issues. The clash between the two authorities will create problems and confusion instead of solution of the problems of the people in the province.
The Nazim will have to work in close association with the provincial government. Those districts where the Nazimeen are associated with PPP or ANP and the MPAs and provincial ministers have political affiliation with the MMA will certainly have difference of opinions.