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Tarek Fatah: Pakistan: Chasing a Mirage - Tragic Illusion of an Islamic State, 2011 ; Vanguard Books, Lahore, Review by Syed Ali Abbas Price: PKR 995/-pp. 410
Introducing himself the author observes: "I am an Indian born in Pakistan, a Punjabi born in Islam an immigrant in Canada with a Muslim consciousness, grounded in a Marxist youth. I am one of Salman Rushdi's many midnight children who were snatched from the cradle of a great civilization and made permanent refugees". (Preface). He further adds: "I write as a Muslim whose ancestors were Hindus. My religion Islam is rooted in Judaism while my Punjabi culture is tied to that of the Sikhs. Yet I am told by Islamists that without shedding the multifaced heritage, if not outrightly rejecting it, I cannot be considered a true Muslim", (ibid).
How long Tarek remained in Pakistan and when and under what conditions he migrated to Canada is not revealed. But he was there inspired by men like Louis Joseph Papineau, Tommy Donglas, Pierra Tradean and Norman Bethune; women like Agnes Macphail, Reoemary Brown and Nelpie Me Clung", (ibid). He makes no mentions of the distinctions of the named persons how they had an appeal and attraction for him, vis-a-vis his vision of an 'Islamic state' and the state of Islam, defined by him most intelligently: "what Islamists seek and what Muslims desire...are two separate objectives sometime overlapping but clearly distinct." (p.xii). He performed Hajj twice, one with his Shia wife and the other with his Sunni mother, the first, according to him, under conservative customs and the second with more relaxed traditions. Tarek makes no mention of what according to him, were conservative customs and what relaxed traditions? (there is hardly any distinction between the rituals of the two sects). He adds: "On both occasions it was the sight of the human multitude, stripped to their bare necessities, that made me recognize the universality of my faith", (p.xii). Tarek, perhaps, is concerned about the worldly needs of the people in which they are usually engaged after visiting the Harem. Certain misperceptions about Islam and its ritual do bring such assessments, which Islam does not challenge. On the contrary, if anything one does in obeisance to the Verdict of Allah,...