One
of India’s leading Muslim scholars, Asghar Ali Engineer, passed away on Tuesday,
May 14, 2013. Innaa Lillahi Wa Innaa Ilaihi Raajiuun...As a reformist scholar, Engineer’s was an important voice
in the debates on issues concerning Muslims in India in the last couple decades.
In
the post-partition India, the Muslims became a vulnerable minority in a sea of
Hindus. While the country’s secular Constitution and the Laws professed equality
before law and the equal protection of the laws in terms of status, rights and
opportunities for Muslims, these were not borne out by the facts of their
representation and visibility in the public sphere, including in education and employment
avenues in the country. Issues of identity and personal law have taken an
emotional dimension at a time when communal riots raised the physical security
and safety and protection of Muslims under a shadow of uncertainty. The members
of the community have ingrained a ‘siege’ mentality where by Muslims looked at
with suspicion on any reform proposals aimed at the community. The governments in
India were unable to bring about internal reforms to the Muslim personal law system
because of a credibility-deficit and resistance within the community.
In
the 1970’s, as a member of the Dawoodi Bohra (Shia Muslim) Community, Asghar
Ali Engineer stood for internal reforms and democratic deliberations and resisted
the authority of the Syedna Burhanuddin, the ‘Khalifa’ of the Community. In
later years, Engineer worked on several aspects of “social engineering,
dedicating himself to three things that defined his life — helping
interpret and explain Islam from a modern perspective, emphasising gender
justice within Islam, and working for inter-community harmony”. While Engineer
resisted the views of the Hindu right wing in India, which sought to treat the Muslims
as “second- class citizens”, as it were, he also stood up for reforms within
the Muslim community, including for the freedom of conscience of the Ahmadis in
Pakistan and elsewhere in the Muslim world.
Reproduced
below is an Op-Ed Article by Meena Menon, published on May 15,
2013, in The Hindu, one of India’s leading newspapers, paying
tribute to the memory of the departed soul.