Tools of Exile

Edward Said signs of his essay Reflections on Exile with “Exile is never the state of being satisfied, placid, or secure… Exile is life led outside habitual order. It is nomadic, decentered, contrapuntal; but no sooner does one get accustomed to it that its unsettling force erupts anew.”

In Ibn’ul Waqt we witness the titular character undergo a similar experience where “habitual order” is stripped away from his life as he attempts to convert himself into an English gentleman. As part of his conversion Ibn’ul Waqt not only absorbs many practices foreign to his sensibilities but also lets go of those that made him part of the Muslim community in India. One of these crucial practices is namaz. Prayers not only signify ones affiliation with Islam but is also a habit that gives “order” to a Muslim’s life, as it is around it that he carries out his daily activities. The loss of namaz, and the desire to be British leaves Ibn’ul Waqt stranded as if in a jungle (a place of little security). As Nazir Ahmed says, “Bhala aadmi jiss ko angrezi kay khabt nay ghar sey, khandaan sey, abanaye jins sey, shehr sey chutraa kar tanha jungle main laa kar daal dia ho.”

Thus the primary tool of exile is the removal of the known, of that which gives you comfort and stability.

An example of something that allows this comfort and stability is language. Though the imposition of English is unsettling for all natives, the issue of language is much more complex for the Muslims. There is already within them a struggle between Arabic and Urdu (as well as its influencer, Persian) and this struggle is depicted earlier on when Ibn’ul Waqt keeps rotating between the two languages during his time at Delhi College. The Muslim already has no language and strives to cultivate an identity from these two very different (contrapuntal?) options. Ibn’ul Waqt just chooses the one that is taught by the teacher who is favored by the principal, in essence latching onto the more influential option. It is no wonder then that later he attempts to adopt English, as it is at the time the language of power. This though fails him for he is not intimate with the language and has little knowledge of its intricacies.