The importance of the mosque

When Mussolini requested Dr Iqbal to give some exceptional suggestion for him, Iqbal advised, "Don't allow overcrowding of the cities. Limit the size of the population of a city and after that limit instead of allowing them to settle there, create new settlements and cities for them.
"Bemused, Mussolini requested Iqbal to elaborate further. Iqbal said, "As population of a city increases, its moral values and economic power start waning. Worst, immoral activities start challenging the cultural strength."Mussolini looked towards the Indian great in disbelief for a moment, but in the next moment stood from his chair and shouted with excitement, "What an excellent idea!"-Extract taken from "Allama Iqbal, the great poet of the East" by Aleem Faizee
The above discourse, emphasising the importance of smaller units as effective means of administration, provides key for good governance. Allama Iqbal was not a town planner, but his advice speaks volumes about human wisdom that prompted Mussolini to appreciate him. Today's Europe represents a model of good governance-citizens are provided all kinds of facilities and rule of law prevails. Even a large metropolis is divided into smaller self-governed councils, responsible for providing essential services to all. Switzerland comprises many small towns, a short distance from each other, but each is planned ensuring even development and facilities for all. The inhabitants of a particular area leave their abodes only for purposes of recreation or travelling; otherwise all their needs are catered for where they chose to live.
Unfortunately, in Pakistan the situation is quite the opposite. Population density-due to exodus from rural to urban-in cities like Karachi, Hyderabad, Lahore, Faisalabad, Rawalpindi, Peshawar and Islamabad is thickening rapidly. Hence urban centres are overpopulated without comparative growth in essential facilities like housing, sewage, and drinking water, roads, walking pavements, parks, educational institutions, hospitals and transport.
Resultantly, even the newly established localities soon turn into slums-65% of population in big cities lives in Katchi abadais. Besides, people are forced to seek a living or reach affordable educational institutions and hospitals far away from their homes because of which the roads become choked with commuters moving in opposite directions. The daily life depicts misery-heavy traffic, over-flowing gutters, bad roads, air/noise pollution and what not leading to tensions, anxiety, unrest, diseases, fatal accidents and disillusionment.
Had our governments been prudent, we too would have had smaller cities/towns divided into cantons-where administration was based on the self-government of their residents. In all democratic countries, the decision-making power of local authorities is exercised by a council elected by the residents. Provisions on the general principles governing municipal administration and the municipalities' duties are set out in an act. Additionally, the municipalities have the right to levy municipal tax in accordance with the local government act-they generate their own funds for development and welfare of local residents. In our country local councils were usually headed by incompetent and corrupt people, though elected by the residents they showed disrespect towards their rights and indulged in massive squandering of funds.
Had we, like other responsible states, successfully established grassroot democracy by giving extensive functions to local governments, including education, healthcare, social welfare services etc, today the municipalities, would have been in action taking care of matters related to the residents' free-time, recreation, housing, health, education, and management and maintenance of their living environment (ie roads, streets, water supply and sewerage), as well as land-use planning. We have wasted 64 years, but there is a famous saying, "Better late than never." We can still find solutions for our immediate woes by making use of mosques that are in abundance, in almost every corner of our cities/towns/villages. The Jamia Mosques, which are comparatively larger buildings for holding Friday congressional prayers, can be utilised for many purposes, other than prayers. The following extract from Chapter V of the book "A Manual of Hadith" published in 1944 and compiled by Maulana Muhammad Ali, M.A., LL.B, throws light on the significance of the mosque.
The mosque: The mosque is meant primarily for Divine worship. To the Muslim, however, the mosque means much more than a mere house of Divine worship which could, in fact, be offered anywhere; it is the real centre for the society of Islam in a certain locality, as the Ka'bah is the centre for the Muslims of the whole world. The mosque is also the cultural centre of Islam. The Holy Prophet's (Peace be Upon Him) Mosque at Madinah had a kind of boarding-house, called the Suffah, attached to it, for students, where at one time as many as seventy students were accommodated (hh. 16, 17). In fact, the mosque is plainly stated to be a place, to which one should go to learn or teach some good (h. 18). The Suffah of the Prophet's Mosque has left its legacy in the form of the maktab or madrisah (the school) - considered a necessary adjunct to the mosque to this day - and the library, which was generally attached to the more important mosques by Muslims in all ages.
The mosque, being the essential meeting-place of Muslims five times a day, became also a general centre where all important matters relating to the welfare of the Muslim community were transacted and where Muslims gathered together on all important occasions. The Holy Prophet himself (with his wife Aishah) witnessed a display with lances given by some Abyssinians in the mosque (b. 19). Hassan ibn Thabit recited in the mosque his poems in defence of the Holy Prophet (h. 20), juridical affairs were also settled in the mosque (b. 21). A tent was set up for a wounded soldier in the mosque (b. 22). Even a freed handmaid had a tent set up for her in the yard of the Mosque (h. 23). Deputations were received in the mosque and sometimes even lodged there (h. 24). A prisoner, who was an idolater, was once kept in the mosque (h. 25). On another occasion, it served the purpose of the treasury (h. 26). The mosque was thus not only the spiritual centre of Muslims but also their educational, political and social centre, their national centre in a general sense-(Emphases are ours).
It is tragic that over the period of time like many others institutions, mosques have been converted into a mere 'place of worship'. In this article, we are not going into the details of this deterioration and how kings managed to hire mullah for perpetuation of their rules. If we want to fight bigotry, obscurantism and militancy, we will have to reform the mosque institution.
Nadeem Ul Haque, presently Deputy Chairman of Planning Commission, in his article How to solve Pakistan's problems, aptly opined, "If Pakistan is serious about eradicating fundamentalism, as an essential step in allowing the country to progress, it must reconsider the role of the mosque and the mullah (or moulvi), the equivalent of the priest or teacher in Islam. Indeed, the way the mosque operates today has moved far from the earlier days of Islam. It is no longer a community place. No true learning activities take place there, no seminars or journeys of discovery; no birthday parties or weddings either. The moulvi uses the mosque virtually as a private domain to advance a personal-political agenda".
According to Nadeem, a reformed system of mosque is the need of the hour and it should be based on the following principles: "All mosques when built and opened should be publicly owned and based on a system of community control. Defined mosque areas, which the mosque is supposed to serve, would elect the mosque committee, run the mosque and define and appraise the work of the moulvi. The case for another mosque in the mosque area should be very carefully made. The use of a loudspeaker should be carefully regulated for azaan (the call to prayer) only and loud enough only to cover the immediate mosque area.
The community uses for the mosque should be clearly defined. Learning activities at mosques should be actively encouraged. A hierarchy of mosques should be developed on the basis of size and the area that they serve. Smaller mosques that are in the area of larger mosques should not be allowed to use loudspeakers; their roles should be confined to the service of tight-knit communities on a one-to-one basis. The larger mosques should have libraries, internet and learning facilities. All mosques should display a learning calendar based on professional seminars and training delivered by professionals in the community. The moulvi's performance should include the development and management of this calendar.
-- The profession of the moulvi should be organised according to professional standards and peer-and community-review. The following five principles in turn could be useful:
-- Entry: the moulvi should be allowed to enter the profession only on the basis of competitive exams. These exams should test for knowledge of Islam, comparative religions, the humanities, and social science.
-- Career: to graduate to managing a bigger mosque, knowledge of English and the use of the internet should be considered necessary. The moulvi should be ranked and graded and have clear guidelines for promotions. The local moulvi should have an annual appraisal conducted by the mosque committee, supplemented by a performance report from the district auqaf (religious-administration) head. A moulvi should have a maximum tenure of four years in a mosque. An auqaf council made up of the most senior moulvi - those who have been promoted after having served in many positions - should manage the whole system.
-- Peer - and community - review: the moulvi should be encouraged to publish selected sermons as well as personal research in journals created for this purpose. Debates should be encouraged. The community, the moulvi profession and especially the auqaf council can occasionally highlight the best sermons and research, and use these as an element in the evaluation of the moulvi.
-- Fatwa: no moulvi alone can issue a fatwa or other religious injunction; only the auqaf council can deliver them, with adequate review by the council and senior moulvi as part of the process.
-- Sectarian concerns: the constitution of the auqaf council should accommodate those sect-specific issues that need to be referred to the members of the council belonging to that sect. No sect, big or small, should have the feeling that it is losing out to a tyranny of the majority".
We would like to add the following to already good proposals advanced by Nadeem: Mosque should provide primary level education adopting the same curriculum as in existence in the public/private schools. Adult literacy programmes can also be launched on regular basis.
A clinic providing basis medical facilities should be opened in every mosque.
A gym can be accommodated in the Jaima Mosque to cater for the health/free time activities for the youth of the locality. A vocational centre for the women within mosque premises can provide work and productivity for the neighbourhood. A soup kitchen in the mosque can be a vital source of nourishment for labourers and those who maybe too modest to ask for food.
These measures could go a long way in solving many problems faced by the people every day. A primary school for children, clinic and gym in the near vicinity would reduce traffic congestion on the main roads as these vital facilities are made available at a walking distance from the people's residence. Besides, when community members will meet daily in mosque, societal issues would be resolved by mutual consultations. Feelings of brotherhood, belongingness and good neighbourly relations would be a natural consequence of these interactions. Mosque as an institution can play a vital role in improving our political economy-as the reformed system will help learning and intellectual inquisitiveness as opposed to anti-human fundamentalist mindset. Most important of all, as Nadeem pointed out, "the youth of Pakistan will be the biggest gainers as they benefit from a 'community mosque' that promotes skills-development".
(The writers, tax lawyers, are visiting professors at Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS)