Ramadan Kareem or Ramzan Mubarak?
Which is it?
Ramadan is upon us, virus or not. The dawn to dusk abstinence from food and drink have begun. Depending on which hemisphere one finds himself in these summer Ramadans, one may dread the long hours (hello Norwegian brothers & sisters) or complete the fasting at a canter (good on you, dear Aussie ummah).
But time relatively holds still for South Asians. You can expect the same recurring fasting hours, year in year out. What you can also expect without fail, are discussions where cultural Islam is headed in the region.
I came across an interesting article on “Why Indians should stick to saying Ramzan Mubarak, not Ramadan Kareem.” The essence of the author’s argument is that we (India, Pakistan & Bangladesh) sub-continental Muslims should not blindly follow the puritanical Arab world as it has deep repercussions on not just our language but our form of Islam.
Did Uncle notice this phenomenon? Having witnessed the evolution of three generations, how did he feel about this? He responded, sure enough.
“Baba Raihan,
I have now had the opportunity to have read the article. Islam as we practise it in the Indian sub-continent (India, Pakistan and Bangladesh) largely differs from that practised in the Arab countries.
The conquest of Sindh under the generalship of Muhammad Bin Qasim in 712 during the Ummayad caliphate of Al Walid I marked the advent of Islam in the sub-continent. Over the next few centuries, Muslims came for trade and commerce and, for other expeditionary purposes. Some of them settled here, still some others ruled here establishing their suzerainty over the occupied lands. Islam was spread primarily by the sufi saints, preachers and teachers who were ascetics; who believed in the egalitarian teachings of Islam.
In this context the pivotal role played by the sufi Saint Khawaza Moinuddin Chisti (popularly known by the honorific epithet Ghareeb Nawaz) cannot be overestimated.
Khawaza was a teacher, preacher, ascetic, mystic and philosopher. He was sagacious enough to foresee that the new religion he was preaching had to be relatable to the indigenous people and their hitherto held belief systems; he allowed his followers to introduce music into their hymns, liturgies and thus sought to enhance their devotion to their religious practices.
A spiritual communion between man and his Creator was the goal which could be achieved only when the devotees became blissfully oblivious of their immediate surroundings in times of prayers. His liberal outlook, egalitarian teachings and spiritual conduct were mainly responsible for the people being drawn to him. He was born in Sistan in modern day Iran.
It can be safely concluded that his language was Persian or Farsi.
Khawaza’s philosophy could be summed up as follows: unalloyed love, deep compassion and genuine empathy constituted the bedrock of his teachings. In the prevailing caste-ridden society of the sub-continent it was but natural that the common people fell for him, gathered round him and embraced his teachings irresistibly. He became a symbol of humility and human dignity.
Even at this point in time when divisiveness and bigotry are alarmingly on the rise, people from all walks of life cutting across the religious divide throng his tomb in Ajmer — a fine testimony to his teachings of love and compassion — where Ghareeb Nawaz died in 1236.
Emperor Babar was the founder of the Mughal dynasty in India. He established the Mughal empire in 1526 when he had become victorious in the Battle of Panipat. Farsi used to be the court language of the Mughal Empire. It was inevitable that the subjects had to learn the language of the rulers for their own self-interest. To transact business, to interact with people, to find favours with the ruling class and to earn mobility in the upper echelons of the society you had to be conversant with their language.
It was both indispensable and inevitable that Farsi words made their slow but sure way into the local vocabulary.
The British East India Company would entrench themselves firmly in the Sub-continent when they won the Battle of Plassey on 23 June 1757. The Company continued with Farsi as the official language until the act of 1837 replaced it with vernacular languages. One does not need to be a rocket scientist to understand that Farsi became not only a language of rulers, it inevitably had far-reaching influence on how the Muslims conducted their religious rituals and practices.
During the British rule, the study of Persian literature and Persian philosophy was a common phenomenon in the sub-continent. Persian poets and Persian philosophers like Hafiz, Rumi, Sadi, Ferdowsy and Omar Khayam were household names in the sub-continent. Edward Fitzgerald translated Khayam’s The Rubaiyat into English in 1859 and he gained instant popularity in the Western world.
The Bangladeshi National Poet Kazi Nazrul Islam translated Khayam into Bangla from the original Farsi in 1935. Left to themselves, the common people are not bothered whether you say ‘siyam’ or ‘roja’, Allah or Khoda. Only those with vested interests are extra sensitive with these issues.
On a lighter note: The traders and merchants in spite of their flaws, follies or foibles (perceived or real) are not too fastidious about these things. After the murder of King Duncan, Lady Macbeth started suffering from somnambulism. Under the burden of remorse, she used to mutter:
‘all the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little hand’
Macbeth Act V Scene 1
It signifies that Arab traders used to visit England in the sixteenth and seventeenth century with their merchandise. No one till date is reported to have accused them of any shred of evangelism!”
3 May 2020
Uncle’s ruminations always make me think twice about my preconceived ideas and beliefs. But on a personal level, far removed from epistemology, it comes down to simply putting feelings into words.
No matter how we want to say it, no matter how deep or shallow our understanding of the reasons for the phrase, Ramzan Mubarak to you all.
