Cleanliness and Disease

One thing that creates a divide between the Indians and the British in “Ibn-ul-Vaqt” is the idea of cleanliness and disease. With the outbreak of cholera in the city, the British were not allowed any interaction with the natives and get an exclusive residence in the Cantonment which remains. Owing to his roots and Indian blood, Ibn-ul-Vaqt technically was not allowed to stay in the uninfected area but his cleanliness is vouched for by Noble Sahib in “his lifestyle was the same as the Englishman and his residence was thoroughly cleaned as instructed” (pg 135). Thus, only when Ibn-ul-Vaqt’s purity has been confirmed according to English standards is he considered as a possible resident in the Cantonment.

Yet this clean and un-diseased environment which Ibn-ul-Vaqt holds close to his heart becomes one of the many instruments that lead to his exile. In his conversation with Hujjat-ul-Islam, he talks with disgust about the cholera-ridden city that took the lives of hundreds of natives. He criticizes the state of each house that is filled with “cowdung, rubbish and all sorts of rotting things” and finds himself away from the filth of the city (pg 163). He wonders how people maintain their health in such conditions and is pleased to provide Hujjat-ul-Islam the best possible place to live – his own house. But this obsession with his house, its clean rooms, its “well laid-all too clean” dining tables are absolutely uninviting for his friend who would not stay there even for a single mean. While Ibn-ul-Vaqt assures the guest that there are no “unclean, dirty bakers” preparing the food, he fails to realize that such appearances are not valued (pg 173). It is interesting to note that we never see Ibn-ul-Vaqt considering making any changes in his household to make it more welcoming for Hujjat-ul-Islam. He is not ready to take off any pictures from even a single room to accommodate his family member, neither is he ready to shift his dogs elsewhere. The English lifestyle had seeped deep in his consciousness that the idea of making a few temporary alterations in his physically clean house never crosses his mind. While Ibn-ul-Vaqt is the one in need of Hujjat-ul-Islam to rescue him from financial problems, we never see any struggle on his part to make his house live-able for his friend. He keeps giving justifications of his place being better than any in the cholera-struck city but fails to provide a spiritually clean environment for the staunch Muslim. In this way, the English customs that he has attuned himself to become a problem for Ibn-ul-Vaqt’s existence; they isolate him even within his carefully cleaned and decorated household as it has no room for family.