Daily Times

Whenever I come across a book for review in which impressions of one person on the works of another person are offered, a feeling of awkwardness engulfs me. That is why I started searching the reason behind me feeling this way. One answer was provided by Tony Schwartz in his submission in Harvard Business Review.

He thought that heartfelt appreciation is a muscle we have not spent much time building. Oddly, we are often more experienced at expressing negative emotions. So the solution was found in taking a few moments at the end of the day to ask oneself this simple question, “What can I rightly feel proud of today?” If you are committed to constant self-improvement, you can also ask yourself, “What could I do better tomorrow?” Both questions hold value. This reasoning made this reviewer appreciate the fact that Dr Tabbasum must be a great man that he undertook the gigantic task of appreciating the works of one of his junior colleagues Dr Zahid Munir Amir in the book Mufakir-o-Iqbal Shanaas.

Dr Haroonur Rasheed Tabbasum is a giant; the way he writes so many books of good quality. The overview of Dr Zahid Munir Amir in a voluminous 800 pages book is one of such piece of work. While writing on Zahid, one observation is very pertinent that for those who work hard in their youth, they are rewarded in their old age. Normally books are written, references made, tributes paid when any icon dies. It is a healthy tradition set by Dr Tabbasum that he has comprehensively written on many people who are still alive. Dr Tabbasum has compiled impressions of many scholars, colleagues and students of Dr Zahid in the book under review. The writer says that it is only after one has had a conversation with Dr Zahid that one realises the depth of knowledge and observations he possesses who has command on Urdu, English, Arabic, Persian and Punjabi languages at the same time. According to the writer, Dr Zahid is like Iqbal’s eagle who has learnt the trait of flying for attaining and advancing knowledge. Dr Zahid’s PhD thesis was based on the works of Mir Taqi Mir’s poetry.

An intellectual of the calibre of Dr Khurshid Rizvi states that whenever Dr Zahid visits him, he also learns something from him in return. He makes special reference to Dr Zahid’s latest book Religious Tolerance in Iqbal’s Philosophy that emphatically answers Dr Rafiuddin Hashmi’s opinion that message and philosophy of Iqbal is desperately needed to be transmitted to our youth.

From page 167 to page 312, many personalities have commented on various traits possessed by Dr Zahid in a section titled ‘Aina-e-Fikr’ (mirror of thought). Dr Waheed Qureshi and Mushfiq Khawaja commented on the book Lamhon Ka Qarz (Loan of moments). Hakim Muhammad Saeed observed that the book provided a solution to the emotional and mental issues of youth.

A separate section titled ‘Dr Zahid Ki Fikiri Khidmat Aina-e-Kirdar Ke Aine Main’ (thought provoking content calibrated with character) contains articles printed in various newspapers and includes readers’ views. The most important section in this reviewer’s opinion however is a section on Iqbal. Apart from Dr Tabbasum’s articles, the others are by Dr Aslam Ansari, Justice Javed Iqbal, Dr Aqdas Ali Kazmi and alike. The latter states, ‘”Given the unique depth, diversity and differentiability in Iqbal’s philosophical landscape, three strands of thinking give Iqbal the characteristic aloofness: 1) the oneness of mankind as the foundation of universal humanism, 2) the mode of spiritualism as the foundation of man’s search for reality and unity, and 3) the tenet of unity of God as the foundation of all modes of spiritualism as espoused in teachings of Islam and holy Quran in particular. Presentations by Dr Zahid for the projection of Iqbal’s thought in international press are also included. Apart from summarising the contributions of Dr Zahid in the book, it throws light on many socio-political, intellectual and philosophical issues.