Moin Ahmed: Imperialism and Exile

Nazir Ahmeds book “Ibn ul-Waqt” (the Son of the Moment) is a commentary on the colonial impact especially as it pertains to the acceptance of “foreign” ideals and the emergence of a “reformer” in the character of Ibn ul-Waqt who seeks to internalize the values of the British Empire and integrate them within his own lifestyle and worldview. The text does a remarkable job of portraying the inherent animosity towards the British rulers while documenting a grudging acceptance of the overlords: “A high ranking British official visited the college and look what respect he got! He shook hands with all the teachers. Willy-nilly the Head Maulvi too had half a handshake with him but then he held his hand aloof as if it had become an impure limb”.  After saving the life of “Noble Sahib”, Ibn ul-Waqt is accepted and rewarded by the British, but the relationship that emerges between Noble Sahib and Ibn ul Waqt is necessarily that of a colonizer and the colonized. In a rather discomforting chapter, “At the Dining Table” we witness Ibn ul-Waqt’s unease and lack of “manners” at the dining table, yet at the same time it marks a sort of “baptism” that Ibn ul-Waqt undergoes. Nazir has subtly hinted towards the ignorance of the British in that they make fun of the Indian’s English accents while they themselves cannot speak but a few sentences in Urdu, and that too in a manner that cannot elicit but tears in the eyes of the listener. Prompting Ibn ul-Waqt to take upon the role of reformer, Noble Sahib, after referring to the Muslims as a “martial race” says:

I think it is due to the fact that Muslims have been rulers for a long time. But if the Muslims have to face such conditions for a hundred years more, their coming generations will be so impaired that it may not be possible to reform them. This community already needed a reformer and now its very survival depends on the emergence of one. Why shouldn’t you be the reformer?

Ibn ul-Waqt’s ascension into the folds of the imperium exhibits two extraordinary things. Firstly that there must be a displacement from common values and norms- an exile from the nationalistic identity one adheres to and the quest for internalization of new value systems. This becomes necessary for reformation of others. This brings me to the second point, that this exile (in Ibn ul-Waqt’s case) leads to the formation of a vacuum of ideas, which is then filled by the British Empire to expedite its own ideological control over the community. The reformer Noble Sahib wants to create will indirectly smooth the control of the British Empire over the Muslims of India, and therefore I would argue that the reformer is a hegemonic tool.  In conclusion, I feel that where the relationship between Exile and Imperialism is complex, yet in cases similar to this, it necessarily results in the “imperial reformer”.