Sorrows of Gibran

Allah Miyan’s Workshop is a novel that conveys much more than what it says. It was only after reading for a while that I realised that it telegraphed a note about the fragility that defines the lives of Muslims in contemporary India. What struck me the most was how subtly, slowly, and patiently Mohsin Khan communicated this message.The book is set in Awadh in Uttar Pradesh where the narrator, 14-year-old Gibran, named after the Lebanese American author Khalil Gibran, grows up in a poor household. His father, Waleed, is a devout Muslim who wants his children to memorise the Quran and become hafizes (an honorific for a person who has memorised the complete Quran) so that they can earn their living by teaching the Islamic tenets. Estranged from his family because of his single-mindedness, Waleed often joins the Jamaat, the group of peripatetic missionaries who go from place to place preaching the word of Allah.Allah Miyan’s WorkshopBy Mohsin Khan, translated by Maaz Bin BilalHarper Perennial IndiaPages: 280Price: Rs.499Gibran does not like to go out for prayer in the harsh winters. Why should Allah Miyan impose such a burdensome obligation on believers, he wonders. Such doubts about Allah Miyan’s discretion surface every now and then through the story. At one point, a cat sneaks into the family courtyard and carries away a hen. This adds to the disadvantaged family’s mounting miseries. Gibran ponders why Allah Miyan created cats who can prey on hens, which, too are his creation.But Gibran has his share of joys too, no matter how fleeting. Such as when he memorises a sipara (the Quran can be sectioned into 30 siparas, each of which can be read in a day during the 30 days of Ramzan), and his parents reward him by giving him money to buy kites. Kite-flying is a recurring motif suggesting the innocence of childhood. Even when he is immersed deep in the grief of his mother’s demise, Gibran drifts into reverie watching an abandoned paper kite flutter in the wind.Gibran’s already troublesome life is punctuated by frequent admonishments from Haffiji, his tutor at the Islamic seminary. On one occasion, Haffiji catches Gibran siphoning off money while buying digestive aids for him. On another occasion, he scolds Gibran for skipping madrasa to watch tamasha performances. Scenes from the tamasha unfold in the novel like those from a 1980s’ Bollywood movie, adding to the pleasure.Unbearable realityIf Haffiji disapproves of Gibran drawing living people because, Haffiji says, that would be tantamount to trying to play Allah Miyan, he encourages Gibran to draw flowers, petals, trees, the moon, and stars. “I wanted to tell Haffiji that flowers, petals, trees, the moon and the stars are also made by Allah Miyan.... Sketching them is imitation too,” Gibran muses. Coming from the mouth of an innocent like Gibran, such questions carry weight, driving home the truth. Gibran doubts not just Allah Miyan but also the rules of creation, irrespective of religion. He makes us rethink human laws and so-called divine diktats, which, too, are human constructs. It is his guilelessness that enables him to look straight through the hypocrisies.But prevailing modes of thinking infect his mind too. When Waleed suddenly disappears and the police detain him saying that he might be on the payroll of Pakistani agencies, Gibran is consumed with shame and fear. The police’s treatment of Waleed is symbolic of the mistrust with which the country seems to treat every Muslim. It deeply affects Gibran, disturbing his sense of self, and at one point he behaves like a right-winger, accusing his mother of being a Pakistani.Allah Miyan’s Workshop is a translation of Mohsin Khan’s Allah Miyan ka Karkhana. | Photo Credit: By Special Arrangement After Waleed’s arrest, Gibran’s life sharply spirals downwards. His mother, expecting a third child, scrounges for a living. They sell their surviving hen to a neighbour for a few pennies, breaking Gibran’s heart. He hopes that the new owners will rear her with as much love as they had for her, only to discover her blood-soaked feathers in the dustbin.After their mother’s death, the siblings, Gibran and Nusrat, start living with their Chachajaan (uncle), a patrician figure with a passion for literature and silent contemplation. He wants the children to have a secular education. Chachajaan offers an alternative to Waleed’s tunnel vision, but he is not meant to last. He passes away soon, and his wife drives Gibran out. Gibran’s dog, Qitmir, dies too.Homeless again, Gibran finds refuge in Haffiji’s house. In return for the favour, he takes care of the cleric’s goat, Yamin, taking it out everyday for grazing. The routine fosters a strong bond between Gibran and Yamin. The boy is devastated on learning that come Eid, the goat will be slaughtered. Worse, after the festival, Haffiji will move to a different city. Gibran is like a Dickensian child character, constantly battered by loss.As reality becomes unbearable, magical realism intervenes. Gibran has a vision of Yamin and Haffiji levitating skyward: Yamin’s head detaches itself from his body before both goat and Haffiji are drawn towards the heavens. Gibran then sees his deceased mother, who reminds him that it is time for him to join Chachajaan and Qitmir. The concluding lines read: “It is late at night. The light of the lamp has dimmed. Perhaps, the oil is running out.”Allah Miyan’s Workshop is special for various ways, but it stands out for its nuanced portrayal of the lives of Indian Muslims, who tend to be flattened into caricatures in the popular imagination. Through seemingly innocuous scenes—a cleric sobbing on the pulpit while reciting prayers, Gibran breaking down when his hen is slaughtered for Eid—it lays bare the delicate textures of their everyday lives. And in doing so, it questions the narrative of difference that has poisoned contemporary India.Shakir Mir is an independent journalist based in Srinagar. His work is located at the intersection of conflict, politics, history, and memory.Also Read | Whispers of mortality: Kashmir beyond the conflictAlso Read | The Kushans of Kashmir