noam chomsky on eqbal ahmed

a review of:

Eqbal Ahmad: Confronting Empire

Interviews with David Barsamian
Introduction by Edward W. Said

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Thoughts Of A Secular Sufi
Noam Chomsky


Inevitably, reading Eqbal Ahmad's words evokes the presence of the person - treasured friend, trusted comrade, counsellor and teacher. The unforgettable voice, beautifully captured in these interviews, is rich with learning, understanding, and compassion. It is a voice of steely dedication, but free from dogmatism.

Though 'harshly secular', as he describes himself, Eqbal - like others who knew him, I cannot bring myself to refer to him more formally - is quick to praise elements of religious thought and practice that he found admirable: among them, the work of the great Islamic religious scholars of India who opposed partition and the idea of nationalism, which they regarded as an anti-Islamic ideology that 'proceeds to create boundaries where Islam is a faith without boundaries'. For Eqbal, 'the perils of nationalism' compare with the curse of religious fanaticism, taking on a still more virulent form when the pathologies merge in the post-colonial state - a configuration that is a harsh image of what came before, he argues.