Iblees ki Masjid-e-Shurah or The Devil’s Council

Written in 1936.
Iblees, or Beelzebub / Satan, has called a meeting of his counselors. His cabinet members are present to listen to the wisdom their leader has to impart.

Iblees starts the proceedings like any other world leader of a super-power, by pounding his chest and reliving his exploits to-date.

Iblees: This creation of the universe, with its numerous celestial bodies that are in constant motion; this lowly world that was created against the wishes of the angels that tread the highest clouds, is about to be destroyed by the same creator who uttered but two words – kaaf and noon – for the world to come into existence.

Iblees speaks with derision and contempt: This lowly earth’s sole existence, since its inception, has been limited to the materialistic interplay of everything within its domain. It came into existence and the angels wept because Man inherited what they thought was their rightful place.

Iblees is worried that God is about to destroy what he created himself. The reason for his concern is that his own time will end when the earth is no more. God gave him time until the day of resurrection to tempt and lead mankind astray. When there will be no more mankind, there will, at that time, be no need for Iblees. His rule will end too. This is his cause for concern.

Allah had said “K’un” and the world was created. This word is a composite of the letters kaaf and nuun.

Iblees is livid, his rage is spilling over when he questions how dare God destroy something one of His own creations. God’s own angels were not happy bowing to Man, a being made of mere dust. And they did not want the world to be created for the man to reside in. How is it that God is bent on destroying something that has existed for centuries?

What the reader does not know is what is prompting Iblees to think that God is ready to end the world. Allama has caught the reader’s attention from the first sentence. The reader is intrigued. He is curious why the poet philosopher thinks that his abode, his world, might come to an end. Allama is able to catch the attention, which, as a master writer, he will continue to draw on and increase in its intensity.

Iblees continues: I, it was me alone, who taught Europeans the lessons of colonialism – to rule over other people’s lands, to pillage their villages and cities, to destroy their towns and in its place, create a proxy government. It was I who broke the allure that the mosque and church once held over people in the nascent days of Islam and Christianity. It was I that led people astray from the good lessons that their religions once taught.

I taught mankind that they should not be dependent on religious shrines. I created a Godless earth.

The broad lessons of all religions is the same, whether it is Islam or Christianity. All religions teach man to be a good human being first. But Iblees has made sure that the pure message at the crux of religions has become dull with the rust of religious dogma and outwardly things that are of least importance…..

Rumi: I sucked the marrow out of the Qura and left the bones for the dogs.

It was my cunning planning that made sure that the poor blame their state of affairs to fate. I taught the poor of the world that there is such a thing as fate, and that it is their fate to stay poor so they will not strive to try to do better. And instead, be content in their abject poverty of mind and means.

And, on the flip side, I taught the powerful and people of means to never be satisfied with what they have; to continue to create wealth for themselves and to hoard it and keep it away from the poor. I taught them that “Greed is Good.”

Iblees points out 4 major accomplishments of his:
1) Colonialism
2) Secularism
3) Unnecessary dependency on fate, especially for the poor. To depend or to be limited by their abject fate and to never work hard to better oneself
4) Sarmayadari Collection of wealth. Wealth of Nations

Who dares to lay cold this burning fire that has the blood of the mighty Iblees?

A point to keep in mind is that Iblees himself is made of fire, like man is made of dust; or as Allama aptly put it in his other works: musht-e-khaq – a handful of dust

Who has the strength to take down the ancient tree that has grown strong and mighty by my nurturing?

By tree, he is referring to the tree of life, or the lives of the humans that he has affected by his satanic ways.

FIRST COUNSELLOR REPLIES:
There is no doubt that this system setup by Iblees is indeed stable and bears longevity
This system has made slaves of the common citizens of the world. The bonds of slavery has been strengthened by your doings, by your institutions

From the beginning of time, these poor people are constantly in a state of prostration.
They are habitually inclined to not lift their heads from bowing [to power]; they are unaware that even the most powerful of entities, God himself has prescribed the act of standing on one’s own two feet while praying to him.

Although there can never be a chance that these people can ever dream of something of their own. You have created an environment that extinguishes any ray of hope that any person may breath. And if some are able to break the hold and dream of something, their thoughts and their aspirations are stifled and the fire get extinguished.

But, if perchance, a wish is borne, it dies without being molded into a more solid plan.

It is the fruit of our hard work that the sufis and priests are beholden to a nation’s president or prime minister. They have given up God of their respective religion and are more worried about pleasing the head of a state

This is the right drug for the population of the East
Otherwise, Ilm-e-Kalaam (the knowledge that deals with using science and philosophy to prove Islamic teachings right) is no less than Qawwali (a form of devotional singing where a group of men sing together and the audience typically swoons at their words)

Qawali used to be appreciated by Sufis
Ilm-e-kalam was and is appreciated by the religious mowlvi

In the results that it bears, Ilm-e-kalam is no less than what qawaali achieves. Basically, Qawali is useless according to Allama. People get “drugged” and enthralled by it and they leave more meaningful work and derive pleasure from Qawali. Similarly, Ilm-e-Kalam is quite similar to qawali in the result that it achieves. It too, renders a person useless by distracting his attention from more meaningful thoughts and work. People involved in Ilm-e-Kalam are ostensibly working for the betterment of religion but instead of meaningful hard labor that will produce positive results and nurture religion, they spend their days and nights embroiled in meaningless nit-picking and split hair over finer points in religion.

Seerat, or the will to do something gets drugged by both qawali and ilm-e-kalam.

So what if there is cyclical noise about people going to perform yearly pilgrimage at Mecca (Hajj).
It is merely noise, don’t think much of it, as the man of religion (mard-e-momin) is but a Muslim by name. His traits that made him a strong contender for paradise by the virtue of his character is no more, it is a mere veneer or a charade.
The pilgrimage is not having any meaningful effect on people. These Muslims are merely going through the motions without benefiting from its spirit.

But what has caused you to issue this new declaration? Why have you called this senate anew? Why are we scared, Muslim men have already declared Jihad as haram, illegal.

SECOND COUNSELLOR ADDRESSES FIRST COUNSELLOR:

This is all great my fellow counsellor but you are not aware of new happenings in the world, which may be injurious to the laws laid down by our boss, Satan. For example, what do you say to this new rule of democracy (Sultani Jamhoor) that is taking root in the world all over. Do you think it is sheer noise or harmful?

FIRST COUNSELLOR REPLIES:

I am quite well aware of all that transpires in the world, my friend, but why be afraid of a system that is but a veneer to what it is in reality: kingship.

The sham democracy that you think will cause Satan’s laws harm is nothing but demagogues, dictators and party rule that drink from the same fountain as the previous system of Kings that benefitted us so well.

Little do you know my naive friend but we ourselves have obscured kingship of yesteryears in the thin garb of democracy. When the son of Adam became more self-conscious and saw that his rights were being trampled under imperialism and kings’ rule, we lulled him into false hope by erecting a more amenable system to his sense – an alternative system that is a change only in name – deep down, it is no different than the one it ostensibly replaced.

In actuality, the ways of rules are not limited to kings or lords of olden times. It does not matter one bit if the majestic court of days past has been replaced with dens of democracy. They are one and the same because, in both cases, the one being ruled is exploited. Ones with power in democracy have same ulterior motives as the kings before them who lusted after property of their people.

Have you not closely observed west’s call to democracy? Seemingly, it is quite attractive as a panacea to end all grievances of common people, but in fact, its heart is as dark and hardened as the one that belonged to Genghis Khan (Changaiz Khan), who ruthlessly conquered vast lands.

THIRD COUNSELLOR:

Listen, I would not care two hoots if the old system that exploited common man breathed inside this new democratic structure, but you are overlooking a new phenomenon being introduced by this man (Karl Marx).

He does not talk to God like Moses. He is Christ without a cross. Not a prophet but, like a prophet, he carries a book (Das Kapital).

His vision has been a clarion call that has awakened countries from East to West. Because of his inflammatory ideas about Socialism and Communism, common man has uprooted foundations laid by the powerful masters.

FOURTH COUNSELLOR:

This is true but you only have to look to Rome to see a rebuttal to Socialism. There, we have breathed new life in the progeny of Caesars. See who is enamored with the sea, rising one instance like the tall Sanober (pine) tree and making oneself heard like the rubab (lute).

In 1935, a year before this poem was released, Italy had invaded Ethiopia. Mussolini’s charismatic and boisterous personality is being likened to the Pine and his rodomontades to the lute.

THIRD COUNSELLOR:

Personally, I am not a huge fan of Mussolini. He has laid bare the European imperialism that is hiding beneath democracy.

FIFTH COUNSELLOR ADDRESSING IBLEES/SATAN:

Oh our Lord, you breathe life into the workings of this world. It cannot function without you. Whenever you have willed, you have been able to lift veil from secrets to shine light into the inner goings on.

This world made-up of water and soil/dirt (Aab-e-Gil) would have remained barren had it not been for you. Your attention has made it brimming with life. Man who is ignorant of heaven is “wise” because of you.

Man is ignorant of what lies ahead of him in heaven because he listens to Satan, and by doing so closes the gates of heaven for him. In another of his classics – Gabriel and Beelzebub (Jibrael aur Iblees) – Gabriel and Satan have a conversation. At one point, Satan claims:

It is because of my courage [of having refused to bow to Adam] that Man, who is made of clay (musht-e-khaak), has learnt to grow and gain wisdom. My mischief creates the thoughts in Man’s mind [with which he rules the earth].

Hay meri jurrat say musht-e-khaak meiN zauq-e-namuN

Meray fitnay jama-e-aql-o-khird ka taar-o-pu

The counsellor continues:

You are closer to Man than the God (Parwardigaar) who created him in the first place.

The angels whose only mission was to remain sanctimonious and spend time in praising God (taqdees-o-tasbeeh-o-tawaaf) now have their heads bowed in shame (sar-nigooN-o-sharmsaar) forever because of your act of boldness. It was you who declined to bow to Adam, when all other Angels complied to God’s command but you stood your ground.

Then the conversation shifts.

Even though the European rulers (Afrang kay sahir) are your disciples (mureed), I have no longer any faith in their wisdom.

He calls the European imperialistic rulers magicians (sahir) because they hide the truth from the world and concoct their own version of reality especially for people of the countries they rule.

He then goes on to warn against Karl Marx whom he never calls by name but refers to as the Jew.

My Lord, that Jewish man (Karl Marx) philosophizes like Mazdak himself and his mischief is about to tear the fabric of this world that we took so long a time to create.

Mazdak was a Persian priest in 6th century. He instituted communal possessions and social welfare programs. He called for social revolution, and his ideas were have been thought of as early Communism.

The 5th Counsellor thus compares Karl Marx to Mazdak in his ideas. Mazdak was supposed to have been killed in 529. He maybe hinting that a similar fate that befell his predecessor should be the destiny of Karl Marx.

Because of this mischief-maker, the unthinkable is beginning to happen.

The desert crow (zagh-e-dashti) that is the lowest of the birds is now beginning to think of itself as equal to the majestic birds of prey like the falcon (Shaheen o Chirgh). Thus, while we may not be paying attention but the winds of change have been swift (sar’at) and the affairs of the world are changing under our nose.

That which we thought was simply a naive attempt (nadaani) that would amount to nothing has become a movement worldwide. That, which we thought of no more than a handful of dust (musht-e-ghubar) has in fact turned into a whirlwind that has covered the breadth of skies (wus’at-e-aflaak).

He is worried that Communism and Socialism concepts were not given much thought but now it has reached the far corners of the earth and the rulers that beckoned to the call of Satan are being bested by the common people they ruled. These common people are not under the control of Satan and carry the power to shatter the system so carefully manicured and curated by his boss.

The threat of tomorrow [from Communism’s dread] is so fierce that entire mountain ranges, oasis and water springs (kohsaar-o-marghzaar-o-jo’ebaar) shake under its affliction today.

Iqbal does not mention Communism by name just like he does not mention Karl Marx by name.

My Lord (meray Aaqa), I am afraid that the world is about to be turned upside down [because of Communism] that was once dependent upon your leadership.

IBLEES/SATAN MAKES HIS CLOSING REMARKS:

After listening to his counsellors, Iblees concludes the meeting with these remarks.

(to be continued…)