British Muslims Must Learn from South Indians' Indigeneity: Idris Mears

Abridged transcript of Idris Mears, the British book merchant, at the launching of The Cool Breeze From Hind, Mujeeb Jaihoon’s historical novel, at Sharjah International Book Fair (Nov 08 2018)

Many are rewriting history for sake of political correctness. The writing of history is not about simply looking at the past. Rather, it is about marching to the future. The secret of the historical novels is what the author wants to tell and aspire about the future. I am really looking forward to read that secret from Mujeeb Jaihoon’s book, The Cool Breeze From Hind.

If you made a map of the world by the speed of travel, then South India is closer to Arabia than North India. That trade route brought Islam to Malabar so early on. Their Faith is still very strong and the Malayalee people are cross current between Indian Ocean and China Sea. You connect the people from the Middle East to the Far East. They have wonderful heritage and they must not abandon it.

When I visited Calicut, I was shown some of the wonderful oldest mosques built out of wooden material in the ethnic style of Kerala. Then I came across the modern mosques, which looked identical to those in Dubai and Jeddah. Unfortunately, the new mosques are part of the Globalization of the world with its one world mantra. However, the richness of each place is what gives it life. In Tamil Nadu, too, I saw Islam had embedded itself in very natural way into the lives of people. I thought the Muslims in England need to see this. It is as if the latter just came from the Moon and haven’t properly settled there.

Reading a book should be an act of discovery. Reading only books of one’s own viewpoint does not guarantee that experience.

I look forward to reading Mujeeb’s novel and discuss more about history.

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Posted Nov 12 2018