Without going into the complexity of definitions I’ll use some common sense definition ofsecularism and religion.
Secularism is worldly and religion is divine
Similarly Pukhtunwali, the Pukhtun’s code of life is worldly, is against Islam but survived side by side with Islam which is a divine religion.
For hundreds of years Pakhtunwali and Islam existed harmoniously in Pukhtun’s land. The reasons for this paradoxical existence might be that neither Islam is practiced and understood by Pashtuns in its real sense nor Pukhtunwali can be practiced in an ideal form. Thus religion remained restricted to certain externalities like occasional prayers, fasting or performing certain rituals or celebrating certain days. Islam never took a direct conflict with Pukhtunwali as tribal traditions, problems, individual freedom etc etc were more relevant in Pukhtun’s society than pleasing a God 24 hours a day. Thus life of an individual was worldly.
Yes for the past two or three decades and during the Afghan war our society witnessed certain transformations. This is not just an increased religiosity but a kind of decaying generations and a loss of cultural values. If we closely examine our society the transformation or change that has occurred is not something positive or we cannot call it a relatively improved social order. In cultural context we have not adopted an improved culture but rather our society is in a state of cultural anarchy. Even in pure economic terms we are not better off as compared to our past. The thing that is reshaping as a result of transformation is not the thing that we desire. An imposed Indian culture has polluted our cultural tastes and an imposed religiosity has disturbed the balance between the religious and secular. As a result our society has become more religious and away from its cultural roots with less tolerance and more abstraction. Giving more room to the religious trends would mean a complete annihilation of our culture. To put it simply this religious factor is leading our society to more polarization, anarchy and destruction than to establish a harmonious social order.
In my mind modern secular society has two interpretations: western secular society and our traditional secular society with a touch of modernity. The former is a far fetched reality and is therefore out of context for the time being. The later is the harmonious balance between Pakhtunwali and Islam—the secular and the religious. This system was indigenous to our society and its eradication is quite a recent phenomenon. I don’t know whether the Indian example would be suitable or not but even during my primary school days, in the mid-80s, when Islamization had not yet taken roots in our society I remember people would not pray or keep beard. Women would take Naswar or Chelum and there was no strict concept of Purda. Women would go to Meela (fairs), Urs or they would work in the fields. Even sexual aberrationwas not a taboo. There was a small Hindu community in our town and that was part of the socioeconomic partnership. What I am trying to say that the pivot of our life was worldly and not religious.
Secularism may be a developed western philosophy but it is not all together a western product. In the western history things are formal, organized or systematic. In societies like ours things are random, disorganized and non-systematic.
Secularism is worldly and religion is divine
Similarly Pukhtunwali, the Pukhtun’s code of life is worldly, is against Islam but survived side by side with Islam which is a divine religion.
For hundreds of years Pakhtunwali and Islam existed harmoniously in Pukhtun’s land. The reasons for this paradoxical existence might be that neither Islam is practiced and understood by Pashtuns in its real sense nor Pukhtunwali can be practiced in an ideal form. Thus religion remained restricted to certain externalities like occasional prayers, fasting or performing certain rituals or celebrating certain days. Islam never took a direct conflict with Pukhtunwali as tribal traditions, problems, individual freedom etc etc were more relevant in Pukhtun’s society than pleasing a God 24 hours a day. Thus life of an individual was worldly.
Yes for the past two or three decades and during the Afghan war our society witnessed certain transformations. This is not just an increased religiosity but a kind of decaying generations and a loss of cultural values. If we closely examine our society the transformation or change that has occurred is not something positive or we cannot call it a relatively improved social order. In cultural context we have not adopted an improved culture but rather our society is in a state of cultural anarchy. Even in pure economic terms we are not better off as compared to our past. The thing that is reshaping as a result of transformation is not the thing that we desire. An imposed Indian culture has polluted our cultural tastes and an imposed religiosity has disturbed the balance between the religious and secular. As a result our society has become more religious and away from its cultural roots with less tolerance and more abstraction. Giving more room to the religious trends would mean a complete annihilation of our culture. To put it simply this religious factor is leading our society to more polarization, anarchy and destruction than to establish a harmonious social order.
In my mind modern secular society has two interpretations: western secular society and our traditional secular society with a touch of modernity. The former is a far fetched reality and is therefore out of context for the time being. The later is the harmonious balance between Pakhtunwali and Islam—the secular and the religious. This system was indigenous to our society and its eradication is quite a recent phenomenon. I don’t know whether the Indian example would be suitable or not but even during my primary school days, in the mid-80s, when Islamization had not yet taken roots in our society I remember people would not pray or keep beard. Women would take Naswar or Chelum and there was no strict concept of Purda. Women would go to Meela (fairs), Urs or they would work in the fields. Even sexual aberrationwas not a taboo. There was a small Hindu community in our town and that was part of the socioeconomic partnership. What I am trying to say that the pivot of our life was worldly and not religious.
Secularism may be a developed western philosophy but it is not all together a western product. In the western history things are formal, organized or systematic. In societies like ours things are random, disorganized and non-systematic.
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