When Mussolini requested Dr Muhammad Iqbal for some exceptional suggestion, Iqbal advised, “Don’t allow overcrowding of the cities. Limit the size of the population of a city. Once that limit is reached instead of allowing more people to settle there, build new settlements and cities for them.” Bemused, Mussolini requested Iqbal to elaborate on the idea. Iqbal said, “As the population of a city increases, its moral values and economic strength start waning. Worse, immoral activities start challenging it cultural vigour.” Mussolini looked at the Indian great in disbelief for a moment but the next moment he stood from his chair and shouted with excitement, “What an excellent idea!”—Extract from Allama Iqbal, the Great Poet of the East.

The extract above emphasises the importance of small administrative units for effective administration leading to good governance. Sir Muhammad Iqbal was not a town planner but his advice speaks volumes about the wisdom that surprised Mussolini appreciate him.

While he is praised for coming up with idea of Pakistan and for being the Hakeem-ul-Ummat, very few people know about Iqbal’s work titled, Ilm al-Iqtisad, published in 1903. It was the pioneering work on economics in Urdu. In this book and many others, he presented ideas for reforms for the well-being of the people, especially Muslims. It is important to discuss these as we prepare to celebrate our 74th Independence Day.

Welfare societies, even in large metropolises, provide citizens with the basic amenities that a majority of Pakistanis lack in both urban and rural areas. Based on the principle of self-governance, big cities are divided into smaller units to cater for essential services for all. Except for recreation and travel, residents get most of their needs in close proximity to their houses.

Unfortunately, in Pakistan the situation is quite the opposite. Population density—due to migration from rural to urban areas is increasing rapidly. Housing settlements are fast mushrooming without there being similar growth in services like sewage, drinking water, roads, walking pavements, parks, government-run educational institutions, hospitals and public transport.

Consequently, even the newly established localities in big cities turn into ghettos. Besides, people are forced to seek a living or reach affordable educational institutions and hospitals in distant areas because of which roads are choked with commuters moving in opposite directions. The daily life is a challenge due to heavy traffic and air/noise pollution leading to tension, anxiety, diseases, accidents and depression.

For 11 years now, we have failed to implement Article 140A(1) of the Constitution of Pakistan which says, “Each Province shall, by law, establish a local government system and devolve political, administrative and financial responsibility and authority to the elected representatives of the local governments.”

In successful democracies, elected municipalities levy municipal taxes in accordance with local government laws. The elected members perform their functions according to the laws. In our country, local councils, when functional, are usually headed by elected but incompetent people who show apathy towards those who elect them.

Had we been successful in establishing grassroots democracy by giving extensive functions to local governments, including education, healthcare, social welfare services, etc, today the municipalities would be taking care of matters related to the residents’ recreation, housing, health, education and management of their living environment (i.e. roads, streets, water supply and sewerage), as well as land-use planning and Covid-19 related challenges.

We can still find solutions for our immediate woes by making use of mosques in almost every corner of our cities/ towns/ villages. The jamia (main) mosques which are comparatively larger buildings and host Friday congregations can be utilised for many purposes besides prayers.

The following extract from Chapter V of the book, A Manual of Hadith published in 1944 and compiled by Maulana Muhammad Ali, MA, LLB, throws light on the significance of the mosque.

“The mosque is meant primarily for divine worship. To the Muslim, however, the mosque means much more than a mere house of divine worship which could, in fact, be offered anywhere; it is the real centre for the society of Islam in a certain locality, as the Ka’bah is the centre for the Muslims of the whole world. The mosque is also the cultural centre of Islam. The Prophet’s (peace be upon him) Mosque at Mad nah had a kind of boarding house, called the Suffah, attached to it for students where at one time as many as seventy students were accommodated (hh. 16, 17). In fact, the mosque is plainly stated to be a place to which one should go to learn or teach some good (h. 18). The Suffah of the Prophet’s Mosque has left its legacy in the form of the maktab or madrasssah (the school) — considered a necessary adjunct to the mosque to this day—and the library which was generally attached to the more important mosques by Muslims in all ages.”

It is tragic that over a period of time, like many others institutions, mosques have been converted into clergy houses, as highlighted by Allama Iqbal and others. In this article, we are not going into the details of this deterioration, monarchies managing clergy for their perpetuation. If we want to fight bigotry, obscurantism and religious militancy, we will have to reform the institution of mosque to restore its original role.

Dr Nadeem ul Haque, the Pakistan Institute of Development Economics (PIDE) vice chancellor, in his article How to solve Pakistan’s problems, opined:

“If Pakistan is serious about eradicating fundamentalism, as an essential step in allowing the country to progress, it must reconsider the role of the mosque and the mullah (or maulvi), the equivalent of the priest or teacher in Islam. Indeed, the way the mosque operates today has moved far from the early days of Islam. It is no longer a community place.

No true learning activities take place there, no seminars or journeys of discovery; no birthday parties or weddings either. The maulvi uses the mosque virtually as a private domain to advance a personal-political agenda.

A reformed system of mosque should be publically owned and based on a system of community control. A hierarchy of mosques should be developed on the basis of size and the area that they serve.

Smaller mosques close to larger mosques should not be allowed to use loudspeakers; their roles should be confined to the service of tight-knit communities on a one-to-one basis. The larger mosques should have libraries, internet and learning facilities”.

The following can be added to proposals by Dr Haque:

Mosque should be renovated to provide primary level education adopting the same curriculum as other public/ private schools (normal school timings should be between Fajr and Zuhr prayers).

A government-run clinic should be opened in every mosque to take care of the neighbours’ health.

A gym can be accommodated in the Jamia Mosque to cater for the health/ free time activities for the youth of the locality.

A vocational centre for women within mosque premises can provide work and productivity for the neighbourhood.

A soup kitchen in the mosque can be a vital source of nourishment for labourers and those who maybe too modest to ask for food.

These measures could go a long way in solving many problems suffered by the people every day. A primary school for children, clinic and gym in the near vicinity would reduce traffic congestion on the main roads as these vital facilities are made available at a walking distance from the people’s residence. Besides, when members are forced to meet daily on one pretext or the other, social and economic issues could also be resolved by mutual consultation. A feeling of belonging and good-neighbourly relations would be a natural consequence of these meetings. In short, much could be gained from making the most of mosques rather than rendering them isolated as concrete buildings for worship alone as resented by Allama Iqbal.

The writers, lawyers and partners in Huzaima, Ikram & Ijaz, are adjunct faculty at Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS), members of the Advisory Board and visiting senior fellows of Pakistan Institute of Development Economics (PIDE)