Last Tuesday morning a young man, in a fit of misguided rage, attacked and badly damaged the bronze statue of Maharajah Ranjit Singh inside the Lahore Fort, where he had ruled (1799-1839) for 40 years. This was the third such attack on this recently-installed statue.

This is a very serious matter which all of us should think about … and discuss among ourselves. From the very beginning let it be clear that all of us have an inalienable right to follow, peacefully only, any belief system we wish. No one, not even the State, has the right to attack that right, let alone try to disfigure the very symbols that represent our history. Whether we like it or not, everything that has happened to and in this land that today is Pakistan is part of our history.

In this piece we will be exploring, very briefly, the history and origin of our rulers, the faiths they followed, the role of statues and idols in the various religious texts, the alleged beliefs of the three attackers, and, finally, the protection of our treasures from misguided persons. The arguments might overlap, but hopefully we will be able to understand just what is wrong.

Over the last 3,000 years till 1947 Lahore has been ruled by Jains, Zoroastrians, Buddhists, Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs and the British. In 1021 Mahmud, the Turko-Afghan ruler of Ghazni, invaded Lahore and since then a long line of foreign armies from Turkey, Iran, Afghanistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan have ruled the Punjab and Lahore. Each followed different strands of Islam, with the Sufi tradition of Turkey having a soothing tolerant effect on all extreme trends of every religious belief. So our religious practices have small traits of all these past experiences, however small it be.

The population of Lahore over the last 900 years, in a slow process, partially converted to Islam, depending on who the ruler was. Come 1947 and the population of Lahore had 64.5% Muslims, with the remaining being Hindus, Sikhs, Christians and other religious belief followers. After Partition the Muslim majority rose to 96 per cent, with the majority being Punjabis. In 1979 when the Russians invaded Afghanistan, the population of old Lahore underwent a drastic change. Today the Afghan-origin population in the walled city, all tribal in mindset, is approximately 62.3%.

The role of Afghans inside the old walled city has been, increasingly, aggressive. This is so because of their tribal mindset which clashes with the sedate mood of old city dwellers. The examples are innumerable, but one stands out. Inside Mochi Gate is the famous Lal Khoo, which is where Guru Arjan Dev was imprisoned and finally paraded to the Lahore Fort and tortured and killed by the Mughal emperor Jahangir. That place is revered by Sikhs, and rightly so. But a local religious leader has converted it into an Islamic shrine with a collection box outside.

Now on to the interpretation of the role of statues and idols, a field that has differing interpretation. For this piece I consulted, thanks to emails, the views of different scholars. Our experts were the Shaikh of Al-Azhar in Cairo, then the head of Islamic Studies at Cambridge, and, finally, a well-known Pakistani scholar in USA.

The Al-Azhar scholar made it very clear that the depiction of human figures is not prohibited in the Quran. He made it clear that idolatry was certainly condemned by all religions. Statues and idols are two very different things. Then followed an amazing lecture by him on idols and statues. “No religion, let alone Islam, worships idols. The Buddha strictly forbade it. Judaism strictly forbids idol worship, Christianity forbids idol worshipping, Islam strictly forbids it”.

Then came the stunning part: “You might be surprised that even the Hindu faith does not worship idols, they worship the Almighty whom they call Bhagwan and stone idols are mere symbols of an attribute”. He explained in the context of the 99 attributes of Allah and also 99 attributes of the Holy Prophet (Peace be upon him) are given in the Quran. “Attributes are respected and one tries to follow them to the best of our abilities”.

He explained: “A statue does not have a soul, so from an Islamic point of view it is allowed. When Hazrat Umar kissed the black stone (Hajr Al Aswad) in the Kaaba, he reminded everyone that he was kissing it because the Holy Prophet (Peace be upon him) also kissed it and it was a gift from Gabriel to Hazrat Ibrahim and is revered by Muslims”. Mind you it was present in the Kaaba when other idols were there. But it is respected because of its history, not its ‘godly’ powers.

Then we come to the Cambridge scholar: “The Almighty Allah, whom every belief system has different names for, is worshipped directly, as well as indirectly. No human, let alone a mullah, can help you reach the Almighty. You have to read and research and reach the Almighty yourself. The Sufi view is that he lives within has a lot of substance. That is why the wisest, irrespective of age, is called upon to lead prayers. Earning money in the name of the Almighty is ‘shirk’. Once the Holy Prophet (Peace be upon him) allowed a women to lead the prayers. Idols have no place in any religion. Statues have nothing to do with idols”, he explained.

The Pakistani scholar explained: “Every Prophet was ordered to teach his followers ‘Iqra’, which means study, read, research and discuss. If we follow ‘Iqra’ there will be no conflict between sects, beliefs and people”. It was a profound statement, but worth considering. There is no doubt that making a statue is fine in every religion, but imagining them to be idols is silly. It merely reflects a tribal mindset.

Now we come to the current situation where the extreme view of all statues being idols has taken hold of the minds of simpletons. They surely lack the wide interpretative skills of scholars, more so Islamic scholars. Experts are of the view that it is a primitive tribal mindset, not a religious one based on reasoning, let alone the Quran. If anything it negates Islamic reasoning.

An example of this mindset is the Christian society in the year 1450 AD, which is the exact time life of Islam. The Inquisition was in full force and women were declared witches and Muslims in Spain were executed as Infidels. So it is clear that a statue has nothing to do with an idol, because even an idol is not the Almighty.

A statue depicts history, or an idea. It has absolutely nothing to do with the Almighty. Just as in England the statue of slave owners are now being toppled, or disgraced. The question is: “Will it erase the history of slave-owning?” A new sense of toleration based on historic facts and understanding is slowly setting in.

It is sad that the statue of the only Punjabi ruler of the Punjab, who tolerated every religion and donated lavishly to mosques and Islamic shrines, is attacked. He did not execute a single Muslim over his 40-year rule. In simple legal terms it is an attack on public property and the culprit should be severely punished. He should be taught the Quran and introduced to what the scholars say on the issue.

About the statue it should be repaired, and if possible be reconstructed as one piece of solid brass. It should also be exhibited on a raised platform with a rail allowing visitors to view it fully from a slight distance. There should be guards near the statue. We should respect our history and our past rulers, no matter of which era.

Published in Dawn, August 22nd, 2021