Allama Iqbal’s Child mujahids wishing to die in the path of Allah as well as misconceived notions of bravery, resistance, struggle, purity and sacrifice are the very problems that we face in today’s Pakistan
Fatima bint Abdullah was an 11-year-old Libyan girl from Tripoli. She came to prominence in 1912 when the Kingdom of Italy and the Ottoman Empire were engaged in a colonial ‘jehad’ of control over the area now known as Libya.
In the middle of ferocious fighting, Fatima appeared on the battle scene to inspire the mujahideen. She took drinking water and supplies to the mujahideen amongst exploding shells and was unafraid of losing her life. Her only wish was to die in the way of Allah in the battle for Tripolitania.
An Ottoman soldier once asked her to be careful in her frequent visits to the battle scene, reminding her of her tender age and the fact that she was the only child of her parents. Fatima replied that these things were irrelevant because of the dangers being faced by Islam and that her only wish was to die in the path of Allah.
In her final hours, she was stopped by two Italian soldiers while taking supplies to the injured mujahideen. She picked up a sword lying nearby and attacked one soldier, severely hurting his arm. The other one shot her and she died on the spot.
Her bravery on the battlefield inspired Sir Mohammad Iqbal immensely and he immortalised her deeds by writing a poem ‘Fatima bint Abdullah’.
Fatima, you are the pride of the Ummah that has passed away.
Your dust is holy, every particle of it.
And that:
A jihad in the way of God, waged without sword or shield!
What courage the love of martyrdom gives!
The bravery of the young Mujahida and “what courage the love of martyrdom gives!” continues to be taught as part of curriculum to teenagers in Pakistan even today. But here precisely lie our problems. We have decisively failed to change our heroes with changing times. Child mujahids wishing to die in the path of Allah as well as misconceived notions of bravery, resistance, struggle, purity and sacrifice are the very problems that we face in today’s Pakistan.
On March 24, a national daily ran an article about the very Fatima bint Abdullah, written by Mirza Adeeb. The poem by Iqbal was removed from the 10th class Urdu textbook edition published in February this year. Several other ‘key’ Islamic topics were also removed such as ‘Islamic ideology of Pakistan’ and ‘Hazrat Umar (RA)- a Great Administrator’. The poetry that got the chop included ‘Rabb-e-Kainaat’ by Maulana Altaf Hussain Hali, ‘Mohsin-e-Insaniat (PBUH)’ [the Saviour of Humanity] by Mahirul Qadri, ‘Tulu-e-Islam’ [The rise of Islam] by Allama Iqbal, ‘Siddiq (RA)’ [about the first caliph Hazrat Abu Bakar Siddiq] by Allama Iqbal among others.
The move turned out to be too hot to handle.
The decision by the Chief Minister was swift and firm. Not only was the removal of Islamic chapters and poems reversed. The Chief Minister took a “strict notice” and constituted a four-member committee to examine the process that has led to changes and deletions in the syllabus.
Presumably the chapters were removed initially after a collective decision by some specialists who based it on evidence coming from credible and established pedagogical research. One cannot help but wonder at the education credentials of those who advised the Khadim-e-Aala to override the experts.
It is needless to note that Islamisation of Urdu textbooks happened during the Zia era. A number of other Islamisation programs were carried out including the teaching of Islamiat and Arabic, which were made compulsory. Pakistan Studies and Islamiat were compulsorily taught to BA, B.Sc., Engineering, M.B.B.S, Commerce, Law students and Nursing students. For professional studies extra marks were given to people who were ‘Hufaz-e-Quran’ [one who learns Quran by heart].
Perhaps somewhere, somehow it was thought that Islamic content in education was still lacking and language curriculum, especially Urdu, came under scrutiny.
First and foremost, a language textbook should facilitate development of listening, talking, reading and writing skills. Islamic content belongs to the Islamic Studies classroom just like the Periodic Table, however important it is in real life, should be taught in a Chemistry lab. Just like it is objectionable to fill 8 chapters of an Urdu textbook with a scientific theme, science being as important as it is in today’s age, it is equally inappropriate to have Islamic content being taught as part of the language curriculum. If the compulsory education of Islamic Studies has not provided one with enough information about religion, an extra few chapters in a different classroom would also be of not much use.
Further, what our media jihadists and the like do not understand is that a course book is not just a collection of linguistic items – it is a reflection of a particular world-view based on the selection of resources. Should a nation firmly in grip of many varieties of jehads and jehadis, insist on passing the message of glorifying jehadis from a different era, as is the case with the martyred 11 years old Fatima Bint Abdullah?
The problem is that such parts of the curriculum pass on ideas and values which are not put through proper scrutiny and criticism. A young and impressionable mind is bound to think that if the great Hakeem-ul-Ummat is praising Fatima-bint-Abdullah, there must be nothing wrong with the concept of child soldiers. Educationists describe the range of attitudes, values and opinions that pupils learn in addition to the formal curriculum as the ‘hidden curriculum’.
Pakistan is a multi-religious country where not only Muslims but Christians, Hindus, Sikhs, Parsees and Baha’is are living. One of the unintended consequence of teaching merely the Islamic heroes, Islamic ways of living, Islamic personalities and Islamic history has been rising intolerance within the society.
It is important to note that the world has firmly and squarely shifted from homogeneity towards diversity. A growing number of research studies suggest that geographic openness and cultural diversity—a place’s openness and warmth to different cultures, religions, and sexual orientations—also play key roles in economic growth. A curriculum that does not promote these ideals will hurt us economically too in the long run as our kids become more narcissist and less skilled in the critical evaluation of ideas.
| Mohammad Jawad is a member of the Advisory Council of Rationalist Society of Pakistan (RSOP). He is an economics graduate, currently studying Education at University of Strathclyde. |