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Shivaji is a great icon in Maharashtra. Different sections of society have given him very high status, though for diverse reasons. Folklores about him abound in the state. His statues, popular songs on him are very prevalent. These folk songs (Powadas) praise his multifarious actions. So it was no surprise that when Jayabhagwan Goyal, released his book, ‘Aaj ka Shivaji: Narendra Modi’, at religious-cultural meet organized by Delhi BJP, there was a strong resentment in Maharashtra. Various leaders from Maharashtra were furious. The Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut challenged the Shivaji’s descendent, Sambhaji Raje who is in BJP and is member of Rajya Sabha, to resign on the issue. Sambhaji Raje in turn stated that "We respect Narendra Modi, who was elected as the prime minister of the country for the second time. But neither (Narendra) Modi nor anybody else in the world can be compared with Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj,"

Not to be left behind Jitendra Awhad of NCP felt Modi-BJP are insulting the pride of Maharashtra. It is not the first time that controversy is erupting around the Maharashtra warrior of medieval period. Earlier we had seen Sambhaji Brigrade demanding the ban on James Laine book, Shivaji: ‘A Hindu King in an Islamic Kingdom’, for its objectionable content. Bhandarkar Institute in Pune, which had helped James Laine in his research, was also vandalized. At another level there was a talk that Babasaheb Purandare, a Brahmin, who has written some popular material on Shivaji will be made as the Chairman of the committee for statue of Shivaji. Maratha Mahasangh and Shiv Dharm officials objected to a Brahmin heading the committee for a statue for the Maratha warrior. The caste angel in Shivaji’s case is coming to the fore from quite some time.

While there is no dearth of controversies around Shivaji, it is also true that each political tendency has created Shivaji’s image from their political point of view. Who was the real Shivaji, is the question. One can see two clear streams of projection in this matter. On one hand there is an attempt to present Shivaji as the anti Muslim King, a king who was respecting Cows and Brahmins (Go Brahman pratipalak). This view was brought forward from the times of Lokmanya Tilak and picked up by Hindu nationalists, who have been looking for icons in history to suit their political agenda. Nathram Godse, while criticizing Gandhi says that Gandhi’s nationalism was dwarf in front of the one of Shivaji or Rana Pratap.

In tune with this the Hindu nationalists are promoting both these as icons of Hindu nationalism and giving anti-Muslim slant to the whole discourse. This discourse also hides in this the Brahmanical agenda of Hindu nationalism as Cows and Brahmins are presented as the central object of veneration by Shivaji. This image of Shivaji fits well into the current agenda of Hindu nationalists, being spearheaded by RSS Combine.

It is because of this that for seeking votes in Mumbai Narendra Modi on the eve of 2014 elections stated that Shivaji attacked Surat to plunder the treasury of Aurangzeb. This also presents Shivaji-Aurangzeb, Shivaji-Afzal Khan interactions as battle between Hindus and Muslims. The truth is that Surat was plundered for its wealth as it was a rich port city and Bal Samant’s book on the topic gives in depth description of the same. It is noteworthy that Shivaji began his real career of conquest in 1656 when he conquered Javli from the Maratha Chief Chandra Rao More. He took over the treasures of this kingdom. That it was not a Hindu Muslim battle becomes clear when we know that in confrontation with Aurangzeb it was Mirza Raja Jaisingh who was negotiating and engaging with Shivaji on behalf of Aurangzeb. And Shivaji had Muslim officers like Kazi Haider as confidential secretary and many Muslim Generals in his army.

Darya Sarang was chief of armor division, Daulat Khan was in-charge of his naval division; Ibrahim Khan was another general of significance in his army.  This mixed up administration just shows that the kings were not having Hindu or Muslim administration depending on their religion. In the confrontation between Shivaji and Afzal Khan, Rustam-e-Jaman was Shivaji’s side and Afzal Khan had Krisnaji Bhaskar Kulkarni on his side.

As far as Shivaji’s popularity is concerned it was due to his being a King with welfare of his subjects in his mind. He lightened the burden of taxation on the average peasants, and reduced the domination of landlords over the serfs. This picture of Shivaji is well documents in the booklets by Com. Govind Pansare (Who was Shivaji) and Jayant Gadkari (Shivaji: Ek Lok Kalyankari Raja- Shivaji: King doing People’s Welfare). He did not belong to the warrior caste so Brahmins had refused to coronate him, for which purpose Gaga Bhatt a Brahmin from Kashi was brought in with heavy fees. Teesta Setalvad’s hand book on History for teachers underlined this fact.

Today while BJP-Brahmanical forces want to present Shivaji as worshipper of Brahmins and cows, the non upper caste have seen through the game. As such it was Jotirao Phule who brought forward the caste angel of Shivaji as he wrote Powada (Poem) in his honor and today dalit Bahujan are not toeing Hindu Nationalist projection on the issue.

The likes of Jayabhagwan Goyal of BJP as such are trying to give two messages through such attempts. One hand they want to paint Shivaji in anti Muslim and Brahmanical color, they also want to give the subtle message of similarity of this presentation of Shivaji with what Modi is doing. Non BJP forces have seen this game and want to present the other picture of Shivaji, which was highlighted by the likes of Jotirao Phule and which today many of those standing for rights of dalit-Bahujan are trying to articulate. The criticism of the said, book, since withdrawn is on these twin aspects. One about the picture of Shivaji who was concerned about welfare of the farmers, and two his respect for people of all religions.

One of the distinguish features of the Noble Quran is that it presents different sorts of classifications. It is quite evident as one of the names of the Quran is Furqan that is it differentiates between things through its unique style of classification. The Quran openly proclaims the difference between right and wrong, truth and falsehood, literate and illiterate, light and darkness and so on. The system of Quranic taxonomy has a pivotal element with regard to ranking of human beings. It classifies them into two groups, one, who is honorable in the sight of their Creator and the second, disliked by Him.

This Quranic approach of classification is quite genuine, void of all sorts of bias. Since humans have no say in their birth, color or region, therefore the Quran doesn’t recognize these parameters to classify two groups of people.

The crux of Quranic taxonomy rests with the human ability which has been equally distributed among all humans. In terms of abilities to perform, barring those tasks performed with exceptional talents, all humans are equal. This is where Quran draws a line and specify who is most honorable in the sight of their Creator, it says:

 O mankind, We created you from one man and one woman, and then divided you into nations and tribes so that you may recognize one another. Indeed, the most honorable among you in the sight of Allah is he who is the most pious of you. Surely, Allah is All-knowing, All-Wise. (Chapter 49, Verse 13).

Criterion of judgement

To be most righteous in the sight of God, one has to be of pious nature. The Quran uses term Taqwa (a sense of distinguishing between right and wrong, piety) to exemplify the pious nature. It further specifies that the source of pious nature - Taqwa is an inherent quality of human beings. Along with the faculties of hearing, seeing and speaking they have been bestowed with (Taqwa) the criterion of distinguishing between virtues and vices, it has been mentioned in the Quran as:

And by the human self and by Him Who balanced it, then inspired it with its wickedness and piety (Chapter 91, Verses 7 & 8).

Good deeds and human nature

With the advent of human race on earth, the equation has been set in simple terms. Humans have to be obedient to their Creator by means of using their intellect, smart enough to use their ability to judge between right and wrong and spend their lives in performing good deeds. For this very reason God has created life and death:

Who created death and life that He may try you to see which of you is best in deeds, and He is All-Mighty as well as All-Forgiving (Chapter 67, Verse 2)

Since life is all about performing good deeds, the ability to perform any good action has been made as natural as recognizing any color with naked eyes. It is within the reach of a person to identify the difference between colors, so is his criterion of judgement that tells what to perform and what to refrain from?

Good actions have been synchronized with human nature whereas evil deeds are quite detrimental, that’s why there is a universal consensus over the conception of virtues and vices. No one can dare to differ with virtues like truth, justice and honesty etc, and no one appreciates vices like falsehood, violations and corruption. With this inherent ability of humans to identify good and bad, the concept of virtues and vices has been described with the same bent of human intellect, there is no philosophical and ideological kind of description to tell what truth and falsehood are, it is as simple as this:

Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said: Give up what is doubtful to you for that which is not doubtful; for truth is peace of mind and falsehood is doubt (Tirmidhi)

Highway of actions

The Quran presents a highway of actions for everyone who believes in it and intend to be most honorable in the sight of the Creator. For each and every day, there is a definite plan of action to go ahead with it to please the Creator. Again, for every week and month, there are clear specifications with regard to individual and collective actions. So no place for claims and reservations, no place for any excuse either, things have been made clear. For a person to be honored, he has to be man of deeds, that’s it. Every person has fair chances of performing better, as the life has been given, criterion of judgement between right and wrong has been given, and plan of action has been provided with. Now one has to energize himself for everyday action and try to set right the intention.

Difference in human efficiencies

No doubt there are differences in human abilities and efficiencies, one may argue about the quality and magnitude of actions. Those who are of high efficiency may perform well and those who are inefficient may not? True, to convince what Quran emphasizes is, God doesn’t look at the magnitude of an action, rather He sees with what intention in what circumstances it has been performed? If any person keep fast in scorching heat for more than 16 hours a day will get high rewards compare to the one who fast less than 10 hours a day at a cold place. Again, if the intention is to please the God, than every action, no matter how small or big it is in its scale, will fetch rich dividends. A poor’s donation of few rupees will be equal in rewards as compare to what a millionaire gets by donating thousands of rupees from his enormous wealth. The act of charity has demanded sacrifice; both of them have sacrificed in accordance with their capacities. Therefore upon asking whose charity is noble in the sight of God, the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) said: The charity of poor person who tries hard to get few rupees from his hard earn money to donate in the way of God (Nasai – Book of Hadith).

The Quranic taxonomy of human is quite justifiable as every human bear testimony to its genuine and unbiased classification through what we term as actions. Therefore the world has to witness a race between men and women to see who can compete with others in order to please their Creator?

Whosoever acts righteously – whether a man or a woman and embraces belief, We will surely grant him a good life; and will surely grant such persons their reward according to the best of their deeds. (Chapter 16, Verse 97)

God-oriented actions, privilege for the Humanity

It’s very unpleasant to notice that in today’s world the parameters like statuses, resources and wealth have been regarded as privilege and honor for both humans and their societies. No doubt they are, but not at the cost of losing the very essence of human nature and sacrificing its interest. Today’s advancements speak of this dark phase where the height of inventions and discoveries touching the skies while the dignity and honor of humans have gone to the lowest of the low. The ever increasing poverty, hunger, untimely deaths, different forms of corruption in the land, violation of human rights are just to remind a few. The presence of rich and poor, highs and lows in the society speaks of disparity of actions, lack of selfless service and hearts void of God’s love and fear.

The beauty of humanity is to remain in the service of God and always stand on the toes to help those who are in need. This God-oriented action enables every doer to be dear to his God as the classification of good and the bad is purely based on the actions performed for the sake of the Creator:

Everyone is assigned a rank according to his deed. Your Lord is not heedless of what they do (Chapter 6, Verse 132).

Muhammad Abdullah Javed is the Director of AJ Academy for Research & Development. He can be reached at [email protected]