Universal Muslim culture doesn't exist -- Engineer

Universal Muslim culture doesn't exist -- Engineer
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE

Thiruvananthapuram, March 8: Social scientist and columnist Asghar Ali Engineer on Tuesday disputed the existence of a universal Muslim culture and argued that nationalism was a territorial concept and not a religious one.

Addressing the national seminar on Muslim society, law and culture, organised by Department of Islamic Studies, University of Kerala, here, he said the attempts for a universal Muslim culture would neither help as deep-rooted regional customs and traditions were hard to overcome.

According to Engineer, religion was just one of the factors that would determine a culture, but not the only factor. ``The extent to which Islam determines a Muslim's culture is a debatable question. It (Islam) may be an important factor, but not the only factor,'' he said.

``The customs and traditions of a Bihari Muslim are different from that of a UP or a Kashmir Muslim. So is the case of the Malayali Muslim, Tamil Nadu Muslim or the Bengali Muslim. There are also sub-cultures within a culture. Even the Prophet did not treat Muslims as a homogeneous community. Arabs of Mecca and Medina have different traditions and customs as they belonged to different tribes.''

In India, Bohra Muslims did not identify with other Muslims. So were Hoja Muslims or Memons. Meo Muslims of Rajasthan and Haryana had traditions and customs similar to that of Hindus, he pointed out.

Referring to the partition, Engineer said Muslims were not entitled to a nation on the basis of religion. Nationality was a territorial concept and not a religious one. Not all Indian Muslims responded to Muhammed Ali Jinnah's call for Pakistan. In fact only a small section of elite Muslims in UP and Bihar accepted the idea. Even Muslims of Punjab were not interested.

All religions had two traditions, scriptural view and popular view. Theologians would insist on scriptural religion, but the ground realities were different and complex. He also advocated a dynamic view of culture and not a static one.

Later, while addressing the national colloquium on ``Freedoms Yet To Win,'' organised by International Centre for Kerala Studies and Manaviyam Cultural Mission, Engineer lamented that universities had become centres of recognition and not cognition.

He said that without questioning status quo, one could not ensure freedom of thought or make happen changes.

Referring to the recent assault on him at the Mumbai airport, he said though several members of the Bohra community, to which he belonged, wanted to condemn the attack, they did not do so out of fear for the religious leadership. He was sad that his community was reeling under the burden of religious rites.