KARACHI: ‘Zaban-i-Ghayr’, the inaugural lecture organised as a result of a collaboration between the Institute of Business Administration (IBA) and the Centre for Middle Eastern Studies (CMES) in the University of California, Berkley, at IBA Aman Auditorium here on Thursday, looked at how certain indigenous discursive elements were subverted in the service of modernity in a manner that has produced an ongoing intellectual dissonance in post-colonial societies.

Offering thoughts on how Islamic humanities may be a source of cultural, political, and social empowerment for the peoples of the Global South, the lecture, delivered by Asad Q. Ahmed, Magistretti Distinguished Professor of Middle Eastern Languages and Cultures, and Director of CMES Berkley, was more of a reflection on the work of humanities in academia and its impact on the instrumentalisation for the production of communities of discourse.

According to the professor, modernity has played a role in distancing people from their languages and traditions.

He said that our own language stands pre-eminent even among the languages of the West. It abounds with works of imagination not inferior to the noblest of works, which Greece has bequeathed to us, with models of every species of eloquence with historic composition. And yet, we are unaware of its richness.

He said that universities abroad, with various departments, have at least one Muslim scholar. “But those there who are not even Muslim, have a good grasp of Arabic, Persian and Urdu. Therefore, the research work going on there on these languages is of very good standards, which I am happy to see,” he said.

He said that he was also happy to see his young colleagues working on books and manuscripts and appreciating the literature and poetry of the East because there really was a need for a new army of such persons, who could read the Eastern literature and comprehend it.

“English is a universal language. But scholars should know languages such as Arabic, Persian and Urdu and know historiographical approaches or historical methodology to learn English and other languages, too,” he said.

“I tell my PhD students at Berkley that they should be knowing many languages, and they do. The standards there are high,” he added.

Following the lecture, Dr Azam Ali, Assistant Professor, School of Business Studies, IBA and Prof Ahmed, engaged in a conversation in which the esteemed speaker emphasised on instilling enthusiasm for one’s own languages, culture and Islamic history in students and youth.

He further added that learning English was fine as it was a global language, but the significance of learning other languages cannot be undermined.

Earlier, Executive Director, IBA Karachi, Dr S. Akbar Zaidi shed light on the significant collaboration between the institutions, as earlier IBA Karachi and UC Berkeley had signed an MoU to develop collaboration between their faculty and students. “The IBA will work closely with CMES and develop programmes and linkages focusing on the various aspects of Islamic and Muslim societies, enabling a shared landscape for discourse,” he said.

Seher Ali Shah, Coordinator, Foreign Languages Programme and Lecturer at IBA, also spoke.

Published in Dawn, January 19th, 2024