July 7, 2002

It is a matter of pride for South Asian readers that Syed Imdad Imam Asar‘s monumental work, Miratool hukama (The mirror of philosophers) has been translated into Swedish and other Scandinavian languages and forms part of the curricula of some European universities. This fact came to light only recently when an enterprising student from Sweden visited India and expressed her eagerness to see the book in its original form. It is a pity that while Scandinavian educationists were keen to learn from the book, the people of the subcontinent remained oblivious to the presence of such a well documented treatise on philosophical discourses. The book was first published in India in 1877 and has now been reprinted in Pakistan.

Professor Manzur Ahmad, whose credentials in the realm of philosophy are well established and who has written the preface of the book, deplores the appalling ignorance of the present generation, which neither has the ability to understand the thought-provoking contributions of its ancestors nor has access to the books of contemporary writers of other languages.

It is amazing to note that Imdad Imam Asar wrote the book when he was only 28. For a young man living in a desolate part of India, it would have been an immense challenge to produce a book on modern philosophy with an exhaustive discussion on the theories of various thinkers. Though the writer does not claim to have made any original contribution to philosophical thought, he has attempted to introduce the great thinkers such as Aristotle, Descartes, John Locke, Bishop Berkeley, David Hume, Dr Reid, Sir William Hamilton, Avicenna, al Ghazali, al Hazen, Sudroodeen of Shiraz, Mulla Jelal, Nafees as well as other distinguished scientific writers of Europe and Asia.

The Western philosophers have devoted considerable effort to the ‘grand subject of the human mind’. Not much attention has been paid to this subject in the East. In fact some of the Arab scientists, including Avicenna, did not even get their physiological and anatomical facts correct.

There are two distinct ways of discussing the various aspects of the sciences of the mind. The difficult process is called ‘the way of reflection‘. In this case the researcher has to concentrate wholly on his mental faculties. This is an extremely demanding process that many reputed philosophers have failed to pursue. The other course open to researchers is comparatively easy that is of going by ‘analogy‘. In this process , problems are discussed and analyzed through symbols and examples - A method generally rejected by philosophers.

The ‘maulvis‘ who reject everything that is Western do no service to their people. At present Europe occupies a high position in the world of science and knowledge. It is therefore unfortunate that the bigots consider it a sin to learn anything from the West.

Human progress can come from a study of metaphysics and the mental sciences. It is the culture of the human mind and the mode of conducting scientific inquiries which determine the development of a people. We now know that the psychological theories of some of the leading philosophers of Greece, the Arab and Hindu doctrines of the soul and the philosophy of the Muslims under the patronage of the Abasside caliphs at Baghdad have had a profound bearing on human civilization.

Commenting on the book, Adeeb Suhail recalls Sir Syed Ahmad Khan‘s remarks when he received a copy of the book for a review in his prestigious journal Tahzibul Akhlaq. Sir Syed is stated to have said, “The book has appeared ahead of its time. It should have been published after fifty years.”

Sir Syed‘s comment is incomprehensible. It is presumed that he had made this remark by way of appreciation. It is not known whether any review of the book was published in Tahzibul Akhlaq. It is, however, regrettable that for unknown reasons most researchers and scholar adopted an attitude of indifference towards Miratool Hukama. Even now the real worth of the book is not being recognized in the academic circles of Pakistan.

A photocopy of Miratool Hukama was obtained from Khudabakhsh Library of Patna for printing it in Pakistan. It was made possible through the dedicated efforts of Dr Qaisar Imam and Ahmad Jamal Sadiq, grandsons of the author. Syed Imdad Imam Asar belonged to a distinguished category of writers whose academic interests covered various branches of knowledge such as art and literature, philosophy, medicine, horticulture and astronomy. His books which were published in India are not available in Pakistan to the great concern of the people.

Miratool Hukama — an introduction to modern philosophy
By Shamsul Ulema Nawab Syed Imdad Imam Asar
First published in 1877, reprinted in Pakistan and available at Albarka Book Centre, University Road, Shop No 5, Shillozone Centre, Block 15, Gulshan-i-Iqbal, Karachi
408pp. Rs500

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