TOWARDS GLOBAL PEACE
We often talk of peace in the context of war. But this is a very narrow and restricted notion of peace. Peace is deeply linked with the entirety of human life. Peace is a complete ideology in itself. Peace is the only religion for both—man and the universe. It is the master-key that opens the doors to every success. Peace creates a favourable atmosphere for success in every endeavour. Without peace, no positive action—small or big—is possible.
CONSTRUCTIVE ENTERPRISE VS. POLITICS
ABU ALI MUHAMMAD ibn Ali ibn Muqla (885-940) was a man of great talent and capability. He made a substantial reform of the ancient Arabic script (Kufic script) with his extraordinary artistic ability. He succeeded in making it beautiful and comprehensive. He took the Arabic script out of the early stages and carried it to the highest stages. Philip K Hitti in his book History of the Arabs calls him the founder of Arabic Calligraphy. (p. 468)
Encyclopedia Britannica wrote that Ibn Muqla was born in Baghdad and was the most prominent calligrapher of the Abbasid period (750-1258).
He gave the Arabic letter a novel beauty. (V/272)
Ibn Muqla was initially appointed as secretary on a six-dinar monthly payment in an office of the Abbasid government in Baghdad. His artistic mastery took him to the court of the Caliph. Here he gained so much popularity that he was the vizier of three consecutive kings. First of Al-Muqtadir Abbasi (895-932), then of his brother Al-Qahir Abbasi (899- 950), then of Al-Razi Abbasi (909-940).
It should be noted that the position of ‘vizier’ used to be synonymous with the Prime Minister in ancient times. The king had only one vizier, and he had all the powers. Hamid bin Abbas was a minister in the early days of Al-Muqtadir. The king appointed Ali bin Isa al-Jarrah as a deputy minister. This evoked surprise from the people. A poet wrote:
The strangest thing we’ve seen That is, there are two ministers in one country. These abilities of Ibn Muqla could have helped immensely in the development of his art. If he had put these opportunities into the development and research of the art of writing and other related things in this regard, not only would the Arabic script have reached its perfection long ago but many other inventions of the field of writing and printing which came to light much later would have come into existence much earlier.
For example, the paper was invented in China in AD 105, eight hundred years before Ibn Muqla. It was invented by Cai Lun who, like Ibn Muqla, was the minister of the Chinese Emperor Han Ho Ti. Some Chinese prisoners who came into the hands of Muslims in the Battle of Arabs and Chinese in Russian Turkistan knew how to make paper. They were asked to make paper in Samarkand. After that in 795, the manual papermaking industry was established in Baghdad. However, the work of making paper through the machine was first started in 1750 in Holland. The papermaking in the form of a continuous roll started in 1798 in France.
History can forgive Ibn Muqla of the past, but what is the excuse for the present “Ibn Muqla” who does not put his abilities into constructive work, but is shying away from his valuable opportunities while indulging in selfglorifying acts of personal ambitions?
Similarly, the printing press was probably first discovered by the Chinese in 770. This was 115 years before the birth of Ibn Muqla. The oldest specimen of printing was discovered in China even earlier in the fifth century AD. The developed printing press in Europe was created by Gutenberg in the 15th century and he used it to print the Bible. However, the printing press in the Muslim world reached Egypt for the first time in 1798 through Napoleon.
Ibn Muqla was not only an expert in the art of writing but also had amazing creativity. If he had put his God-gifted abilities in this field, then paper printing and other such blessings which became available in the Muslim world much later would have been made available during the life of Ibn Muqla. Ibn Muqla would have been able to take the Muslim world into the age of the printing press a thousand years ago. But he was not content to restrict himself to this field. He could have utilized the opportunities available at the Ministry in the development of paper, writing and printing. On the contrary, he used these opportunities as stepping stones to jump to a life of fame and glory. As a result, he not only ruined his life but the Muslims also lost the precious advantage that could have been achieved through his abilities.
When Ibn Muqla reached the position of vizier (or Prime Minister), the ideal thing for him was to use this great opportunity in some constructive enterprise. But he suffered from the same psychological disease which often afflicts those who are brought to a higher position.
His artistic and constructive ambitions now turned into political ambitions. Instead of engaging in silent service, he now became the leader of the secret political and military movements. Now he wanted to bring about a revolution in the system of government for his own benefit. He started plotting secretly to dethrone Caliph Al-Qahir and crown Abu Ahmad ibn Muktafi as the Caliph of the Abbasid Empire.
There is an Arabic saying that the love of something makes a man blind and deaf. Ibn Muqla suffered from this weakness despite all his intelligence. He could not accurately assess his circumstances and the power of the Caliph in comparison. So the secret was revealed. Ibn Muqla was accused of conspiring with the army chief Monis Khadim to dethrone Al-Qahir.
Ibn Muqla’s house was burnt down after the conspiracy was revealed. Abu Ahmad ibn Muktafi was entombed alive. The intelligence of Ibn Muqla came in handy for him. He escaped and then received the ministry again after offering 500,000 dinars to the Caliph. But his political ambitions again created problems for him. Al-Razi deposed him from the ministry and put him under house arrest and cut off his right hand. It was undoubtedly the harshest punishment that could have been given to an artist. This is one of the verses he composed in the prison of the house:
There is no enjoyment in life after the right hand is cut off, O my life, when my right hand is separated from me, then you also be separated from me.
Ibn Muqla’s extraordinary ability can be gauged from the fact that when his right hand was cut off, he started practising writing with his left hand. Even with his left hand, he would write as well as he would write with his right hand. He attached a pen in his severed hand and wrote with it too. It is said that no one could discern any difference in the writings before the hand was cut off and from the writings after the hand was cut off. This man of extraordinary talent died at the age of 56 in his prison. (Hitti, p. 424)
Ibn Muqla was also a poet. He penned many verses in mourning his severed hand. He used to say: The hand which wrote a number of copies of the Quran, which recorded a number of Hadith reports of the Messenger of God, which wrote down the court commandments that were sent to the east and the west, was cut off like the hand of thieves. But in this world, such emotional words have no value. Ibn Muqla’s fault was that he did not stop at writing the Quran and Hadith. And whoever goes beyond the limits like this, this is how it ends for him.
Ibn Muqla died, but his character is still alive today. There are still many people who are following exactly the path of Ibn Muqla. They invest their opportunities in acquiring personal glory rather than building society. The result is that today the history of the Muslim community has become a history of destruction rather than a history of construction. History can forgive Ibn Muqla of the past, but what is the excuse for the present “Ibn Muqla” who does not put his abilities into constructive work, but is shying away from his valuable opportunities while indulging in self-glorifying acts of personal ambitions? Do they not remember a saying of the Prophet that a believer is not stung twice (by a snake) from the same hole.
It is a fact that the best talents have always been ruined by political ambitions. Only those jump into the field of politics who are born with great potential from nature. Instead of putting their great potential into a constructive service, they try to oust political rulers from power. As a result, numerous human lives are lost. Numerous economic resources are wasted. What actually transpires is that some people gain leadership and fame, and instead of one ‘wrongdoer’, another ‘wrongdoer’ gets to sit on the throne.
There is no precedent in history that the politics of tussle has ever yielded any real results. The secret of raising the nation is that the leaders of the nation should lower their political flag. When the seeds of individual courage are buried in the earth, then the magnificent tree of the national future grows. Today, our history awaits the same kind of psychological evidence, not murder and death.