Parwez
Chaudhri Ghulam Ahmad Parwez
G. A. Parwez was born in 1903, in Batala, a town now in the Indian Province of Punjab. At the time, Batala was a celebrated constituency of Islamic learning, culture and philosophy.
An outstanding and distinguished scholar of Islam was the author of over forty books on various topics of the Qur’an. His most famous works in Urdu include ‘Mafhum-ul-Qur’an’ (Exposition of the holy Qur’an) — ‘Lugh’at-ul-Qur’an’ (Dictionary of the words and concepts of the Qur’an) — IV volumes, ‘Mat’alib-ul-Furq’an’ (Tafseer of the holy Qur’an) — VI volumes (seventh volume is being printed posthumously), ‘Tabweeb-ul-Qur’an’ (Classification of the Holy Qur’an) — III volumes, ‘Meraj-e-Insaniyyat’ (Biography of Muhammad Rasool-Allah (peace upon him) — Niz’am-e-Rabubiyyat (Qur’anic Economic Order) —and Islam A Challenge to Religion’ (English) and numerous others. He was the founder of ‘Tolu-e-Islam’, a monthly magazine, which he started in 1938 at the instance of late Allama Muhammad Iqbal and under the guidance of Quaid-e-Azam Mohammad Ai Jinnah, founder of Pakistan; this magazine is being published regularly even after his death. It was his ardent desire and of all those influenced by his unique interpretation of the Holy Qur’an, to render his works into English so that the educated modem youth in Pakistan and abroad should be able to understand and appreciate the real message of Islam.
The Early Years
From a very young age, Parwez studied the Quran from his grandfather. He acquired much knowledge about “Islam”. His grandfather, who was a well-known scholar was also a distinguished Sufi. Sufism is the Arabic term for Mysticism. It is the belief of Sufis, that in order to attain God, one has to forsake the world and worldly affairs and in seclusion meditate, and pray. By doing this, God will come to them
Parwez, influenced at an early age by his grandfather, practiced Sufism. However as he matured, he began to question the ethos of Sufism and the very purpose of the religious rituals he had been taught. He began to have doubts about all that he had been taught. He could not satisfy himself that the humanity at large derived any benefit from all the meditation and religious rituals, and prayers that he performed. There had to be more to God than this. Parwez believed that the Quran was a guidance to mankind from God, and that this guidance had been misunderstood. He therefore rejected all that he had been taught and formed the opinion that the salvation, for him, nay the entire Mankind lay in understanding the message of the Quran. He therefore set about learning the Arabic language, the Quran is written in, along with the idioms and sayings of that language.
Deen and Religion
During his research, Parwez came across the writings of Dr. Sir Allama Muhammad Iqbal, the poet philosopher of Pakistan- From these he finally realised that what he had been taught about Islam was nothing more than “religion”. This confirmed his belief that the message of the Quran had been misunderstood. For Islam was not a religion but a Deen. There is no equivalent word for Deen in any other language. Far from being a religion, Deen challenges it.
Religion
Parwez discovered that the basic idea of any religion is that God created by human imagination is sitting somewhere away from the universe. He is like a king or dictator. If someone incurs the king’s wrath, he is doomed and subjected to all kinds of afflictions. The only way out is to humour the king by reciting his praises, flattering him, making offerings. seeking intervention of those near him. The moment the king is brought round, all troubles vanish and are replaced by munificence, rich gifts, awards of honour inclusion among the king’s trustworthies and so on. Since the God created by man’s imagination is on the pattern of a king, the devotees of the God try to propitiate him by means similar to those adopted to please a king. The means so adopted are given the name of religious ceremonies and rituals.
According to this conception of God man does not require to lead a gregarious or collective life. His relationship with his God is essentially an individual and private affair. In lonely seclusion he seeks, through worship God’s forgiveness and bounties, and having done that, proceeds according to his will to engage in matters material and mundane. He is a religious man.
Revealed God
There is another conception of God vouchsafed to man through revelation. (Torah, Bible, Quran). According to the revealed conception, God is a being who controls the entire universe and moves it on to its final destiny in accordance with certain inviolable laws. (Scientists have observed only recently that, the universe is expanding. The Holy Quran pointed towards this fact fourteen hundred years earlier. In verse 51:47 the Quran states, “With power and skill We did construct Heaven. Verily We are expanding it.” According to these laws, everything in the universe from its initial state, develops, and, in time, attains its full stature, like the seed which gradually grows into a huge tree.
Man is no exception. There are God’s inviolable which govern man’s development also. (The source of these laws is the same as that of the laws of nature- The laws governing the planetary orbits around the sun, laws governing the process of photosynthesis in plants.) According to this conception of God the relationship between man and God comes about through the laws which He has designed for man’s development. (Man has not yet developed to his full potential as he uses only 25% of his brain.) To understand the essence of God and to know what He is, is beyond the scope of human intellect. (God is infinite and human intellect is finite. Just as you cannot pour the whole ocean into a beaker. Thus something which is finite cannot comprehend something which is infinite.) What we can understand, however are his laws which pertain to our development. These laws were revealed to man through Moses, Jesus, and Mohammed (P.B.U.H). They have been preserved in the Holy Quran. Those who follow them, develop and move ahead, those who contravene them are deprived of growth like the seed which happens to be burned under hard soil.
What is Deen?
As stated earlier, there is no equivalent word for Deen in any language. Basic misconception in this regard is that Deen is thought to be no more than an ethical code. Deen is not the collection of a few moral values. It is a comprehensive system of life covering all aspects of human life. The moral values become operative within this system, or in other this system provides that sound base on which the edifice of these moral values is established. The history of mankind makes tragic reading. Down through the ages we come across a series of sequences, of the rise, growth, decline and fall of not only nations but even of the civilisations and cultures. Through the ages man has evolved many systems of government. The Western democratic system is now considered as the best endeavour so far. Like Capitalism, Socialism, and Communism the Democratic system is born out of human intellect. Since humans are fallible (the saying “To err is Human”) none of these systems are perfect. (If they were, there would be peace and harmony if not in the world then at least in the Nations that have put these systems into practice)
In order for man to reach the state of perfection, man needs something more than the human intellect. Just as the eye needs the light from the sun to see, the human intellect needs revelation to solve the problems of life. Deen is also a system similar to those described above, the difference being that it is a system, prescribed by God for the growth and development of the whole of mankind.
Under this system, all human beings inhabiting the earth are individuals, belonging to one universal brotherhood of man. The practical aspect of establishing this brotherhood would be that all. mankind may lead their lives, according to one set of laws. This universal organisation of life may be formulated in such a manner that people of every era according to the requirements of their time, may compile the details of law in the light of the Quran, and by mutual consultation. This would be done in the light of the immutable principles of the Quran. The details of the law will keep changing according to circumstances, but the principle of the Quran shall forever remain unalterable.
Under this system, the distribution of the means of living would be in accordance with the needs of every One. Thus no human being will be at the mercy of another human being. No human being will have the right to rule over another human being. All sovereignty will belong to God (Not priests). Every individual will get the opportunity to develop to his full potential. The sources of these laws that help to nurture and develop man as free individual personalities but belonging to one brotherhood of man, is the same as that of the laws of Nature.
This is what Parwez learnt from his research of the Quran, and his association with Dr. Sir Allama Iqbal. In addition, he read books written by the scholars of the West and East. After doing the comparative study he came to the conclusion tat man through out the ages has endeavoured to solve the problems of life. When the answer to all life’s problems lay secure in the Quran, Parwez then set about setting the record straight. He spent the rest of his life writing books in Urdu presenting Islam as a Deen. This became his life’s mission. Since he was presenting Islam as a Deen, and since there is no place for priestcraft in Deen his writings posed a threat to the priests livelihood for they have turned God into a business. Over one thousand priests got together and declared a fatwa excommunicating Parwez from Islam, but he remained steadfast continued to write books in Urdu and publishing a monthly magazine called Tolu-e-Islam, (The Islamic dawn), He also played an active part struggle for the creation of Pakistan, and fought valiantly the Muslim priests of India who were opposed to the creation of Pakistan, with his superior intellect and his pen. As he had single handedly taken on the entire Muslim priesthood, he devoted his entire life to this one mission. He spent his meager earnings from his job as a British civil servant and later a Pakistan civil servant on publishing his magazine a books.
Parwez also recorded his commentaries on the meaning of the Quran on both audio and video cassettes his ideas are beginning to get a large following amongst the educated and knowledgeable people internationally. Parwez passed away in 1985 of natural causes. The foundation, Tolu-e-Islam which he set-up continues to do good work today.
Religion Today
Many people in the world do something “religious” and believe some good has come out of it (i.e. Praying, fasting, studying religious writings/sayings).
Also, many people try to live their life according their religious teachings, but they do not have any connection with God. God remains somehow an abstract entiity, they just believe that he is something or someone greater than them, and they just leave it at that. There are also people who believe in God or any teachings. They don’t believe that there is more to life and reality than us corporeal beings. But these people are in a minority. Most people around the world believe in God, believe in something more than life as we know it.
If one thinks about the religious writings (Torah, Bible, Quran etc.) they all have a few things in common. The most important similarity they have is, that they all tell humanity the difference between right and wrong. Between good and evil, and that telling lies is bad. Everyone in the world, no matter what religion they belong to agrees that telling lies is bad. Yet everyone does so. Even Presidents of super powers.
Looking at the world today there is lots of crime, corruption. poverty and an uneven distribution of wealth. This is with the presence in the world, of a multitude of religions. Imagine a world without any religion? This shows us that the religious faith is profoundly needed in the world today. This also shows, unfortunately that the message of God has been misinterpreted if not totally misunderstood. The guidance of God is within our grasp, if only we were not blinded greed, we would see it.