Political ideas of Mahjoor by Prof. Tasneem Bakhshi | Part3

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On Religion

To the established rule of ‘Man being the product of his time’ Mahjoor proved a starting exception. He rose in clear rebellion denying the sanctity of the religion. This was done in a manner rather unexpected of a student of a fixed creed as he was. True he said:

Or what use are the creeds and rituals to a freedom loving person like me?

He made religion a kind of humanitarian philosophy and attached high value to the ideas of truthfulness, love and purity of heart. All these put together constituted the essence of religion for him. Religiosity devoid of purity of heart is regarded as useless;

Mahjoor 1 www.thecherrytree.in

Mahjoor 2 www.thecherrytree.in

Decking myself in all earnest, my body exuded fragrances unbounded, the loved one (God) tested my heart (impure) and discarded me in anger.

 

Excellence of moral virtues leads to the Infinite, in Mahjoor’s opinion:

Mahjoor 3 www.thecherrytree.in

Be perfect, cultivate in yourself the essence of the loved one (God). Remove all obstacles in ‘Self’ that keep away from him.

 

The external blessedness, according to the poet, lies within a pure heart and pure conscience of man and not in seeking the Divine.

Mahjoor 4 www.thecherrytree.in

Why do you offer flowers and who do you pray to? Your heart is the source of all piety, O, Man, worship thyself.

The transcendental and eschatological aspects of religion did appeal to him. In tracing his aversion to rigid and narrow creeds, the following verse is an important indicator to this regard:

Mahjoor 5 www.thecherrytree.inThe religious laws create barriers between two brothers. But, a bond of love brings close even two strangers.

A kind of humanitarianism seems to have crystallised into an ultimate religion for the poet by transcending all other religions. Yet this transcendence is not absolute. His humanitarianism does not strive to supersede other religion but rather at times seeks to harmonize them by tracing their similarities. This attempt at harmonizing coupled with another basic belief – that the fundamental maxims of all religions are the same postulate of same virtues – is reflected in the verse;

Quran reveals the greatness of love and Geeta tells us the same truth that love makes a man a pure human being.