Exploring the concept of Islamic universalism, Dr Ayesha Jalal's lecture at the Aga Khan University Special Lecture Series (SLS) was food for thought for the intellectual palate. The noted speaker’s fascinating topic, “Islam is the Ocean - Muslims and Globalisation in the Age of Empire” traced the connection between South Asia and West Asia - popularly known as Middle East - borrowing largely from the travelogues of those times.
Dr Jalal is the Mary Richardson Professor of History at Tufts University where she directs the Centre for South Asian and Indian Ocean Studies. The bulk of her work deals with the creation of Muslim identities in modern South Asia.
Dr Jalal referenced from history “a few intellectual voyages from the upper Gangetic plains and the Indus Valley to the Indian Ocean in search of a Muslim world, and Islamic universalism”. She added that while globalisation in our current world is seen as contemporary, there are actually many prior histories of globalisations. Familiar names of Johar brothers, Syed Ahmed Khan, Shibli Naumani and Allama Iqbal cropped up in the lecture, with focus on their contribution towards strengthening the Muslim bond between the two lands.
“Understanding the strands of Islamic universalism emanating from this complex inter-regional arena in a century spanning roughly from 1850 to 1930 is of vital importance,” she said. Indian Muslims under colonial rule had begun exploring whether the concept of a Muslim ummah actually existed, regarding it as the identity that they could associate with. Dr Jalal then traced the route of Islam to South Asia via the oceans, explaining the reasons behind Indian Muslims’ increasing inclination towards West Asian counterparts.
“With the European colonial powers controlling the flow of Hajj pilgrims, largely because of the fear of cholera, the Indian Muslims’ sense of subjugation led to a greater empathy towards the co-religionists in the other parts of Islamic world,” she explained, “Muslim intellectuals, for instance, in the Gangetic plains, adjusted to the loss of sovereignty in 1858 by taking a heightened interest in the Ottoman Empire in Turkey.”
This interest, aided with established bond of trade, language, art and music, eventually led to closer ties between the two regions, bound by the rough Indian Ocean. The anecdotal references of these ties, lying between the late 19th and early 21st century enriched the talk, twisting and turning from one historical bend to another, from rivers of Ganges to the port of Aden, from Bombay to Egypt and from Indian journalist Munshi Mahboob Alam to Egyptian reformer, Mohammad Abdoh.
The lecture revealed glimpses of colonial era in West Asia, courtesy the observation and personal experiences of travelers from South Asia, which were documented in periodicals of those times. Travelogues published in Syed Ahmed Khan’s Tahzeebul Ikhlaq and Alam’s Paisa Akhbar, for instance, were documented evidence of the impact that Muslims on the western port had on their co-religionists in South Asia. From simply informing, the role changed to reforms, politics being an important subject of discussion. Dr Jalal singled out Khan’s contribution in promoting modern, rational and political decisions among Muslim countries.
True to the belief that progress is impossible without travel, the West Asian ports proved to be an eye-opener for the South Asian travellers with their concept of internationalism and cosmopolitism. They were exposed to different languages, modern educational set up and so many mosques, “that you could pray in a new mosque every day,” quoted Dr Jalal.
The experience of being in a Muslim country was new to these travellers, the beautiful buildings enthralled their aesthetic senses, and Urdu speakers among Egyptians and Yemenis pleasantly surprised them as much as finding a Syrian who was a disciple of an 18th century Indian Muslim scholar. However, the most valuable gift was the intellectual exchanges and the friendships that they forged with their Muslim brethren, an influential factor that linked the people of their homeland with the residents of the Arab world.
Focusing on the post Ottoman period, Dr Jalal insisted that Indian Muslim’s interest in the affairs of the ummah intensified as was evident from the Khilafat Movement. She briefly touched upon the initial rule of Ibn-e-Saud, and the Movement’s stance against it, before moving on to discuss the role of Ghulam Rasool Mehr and Iqbal and their visits to Europe. Iqbal in particular was against territorial nationalism, which he felt was the root of most conflicts, said Dr Jalal. Citing particular reference of the Second Islamic Conference, she reiterated the efforts of Muslim scholars to present a unified stance in favour of Palestine, once again reflecting the bond between South Asian Muslim and their Arab counterparts.
