Mera Sultan: During my last visit to Islamabad, I met one of my old friend. We have dinner together. He changed a lot over the years, as many of my other friends and relatives. I used to enjoy his company. We could talk freely on all subjects, politics to our favorite activity of hiking, and jokes around. I have the same frankness with his wife, a lively lady who practice medicine. (He is not on my Facebook, but my close family members will recognize him when they read this post) From last many years from his emails and phones I noticed a great change in his ideological thinking. While chatting over a nice meal in DHA Club, we talked about act of terrorism in Pakistan. He flatly denied that it is perpetrated by Talibans. “It is done by Indians with collaboration of Massad. No Muslim can kill a Muslim”. I changed the subject and asked Bhabhi, is she following TV play “Mera Sultan” ? The play is about the Harem politics of Ottoman Sultan Suleiman. I watched few episode with Bhabhi Shabnum in Karachi. My friends wife asked me that life shown in this play is real history or fiction ? I told her it is based on real facts. Hurrem (Khurram) also knows as Roxelana was a Russian (or Ukrainian) slave girl. She was a concubine of Suleiman. For last 200 years Ottoman Sultans stopped marrying. They were inbreeding with slave girls for 200 years. When Roxelena became his favorite slave-girl and gave birth to many children, she asked Suleiman to marry her. Which he did and broke the 200 years tradition of Ottomans. When I told her, she was horrified. How come Muslim Sultan (Who was a Khalifa) can do this ? Having slave girls and cohabit with them. I told her, try to find book “Suleiman the Magnificent” by Harold Lamb. My friend said, it is true. I have the book and started talking about the history of Roxelana. I remember when I read this book on Suleiman in University days, I was also disturbed. We Pakistanis have some Utopian concept about history of Muslims. We considered Muslim History as a Golden Period, and assume people and kings were living a clean pak saf exemplary life. Although Sind was conquered by Muslim Arabs in 8th Century, Islamization of Pakistan started in 11-12th century. By this time Islamic Civilization in Near East started a long journey of decline and decadence. Theologians working in isolation created Sharia Laws by sitting in their schools. They misused Koranic injection on slavery and marrying more than one wife. A culture of concubine and polygamy got divine acceptance. Where Ulemas and elites failed to develop rules of good governance. Josh Melahabadi autobiography “Yadon Ki Barat” described in detail culture of polygamous household and haram of slave-girls practiced by upper class Muslims in India before British Raj established in India. By the time of Partition in 1947, majority of people of Pakistan were nominal Muslims practicing mostly Aryans “Law of Manu” or tribal Bloch or Pakhtun traditions. We were victim of inferiority complex and always looked toward west to become good Muslims. Our break through to this cherished goal came in 1970s -1980s, when our people emigrated to Gulf countries. Or Afghan war brought Wahabi influence from Saudia. We learned from these Baddus to became “good Muslim” We started to move from our nominal Persian-Islamic Heritage to Arabian-Peninsula Baddu culture. Family life in Saudia is distorted. Most of the households consist of multiple wives with head of the family hopping from one wife dwelling to another. This life style is not conducive to raise a healthy family. In order to promote healthy relations and to promote intellectual creativity child needs to be raised by a family consist of one mother and one father living in one dwelling all the time. Read a recent book “On Saudi Arabia” by Karen Elliott House, which described social and political problems of the Saudi society caused by polygamous culture of its royal family and general public. Polygamy is not norm in Pakistan, neither concubine or existence of harrem, but these practices may exist in remote or tribal set up. “ Mera Sultan “ is the sad story of institution of slavery which our theologians failed to eliminate. The basis of the rules for organizing concubine or harrem life is still part of Sharia Law. Talibans used these provisions during their rule of Afghanistan.
Posted on: Sat, 25 Jan 2014 01:54:57 +0000
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