Asghar Ali Engineer Quotes
The individual cannot exist on his/her own and the collectivism should respect freedom of conscience. My struggle is about the freedom of thought.
Engineer, Asghar Ali. A Living Faith: My Quest for Peace, Harmony and Social Change. Orient BlackSwan, 2011.
Spinoza was one of the most feared intellectuals in human history—feared that is by the established power structures. He is the only known person who was excommunicated by the Catholics, the Jews and the Muslims—all were forbidden to read his works. He was the enemy of authority and advocated personal reason as the guide for men.
Many people who were opposed to slavery, were not willing to take any draconian steps to end or curtail the practice as every proposal had implications for the existing institutions in the country and the society. Starting with the Union itself and the Congress and the government, churches, associations, states, even families were irrevocably split.
Political opponents of FDR claimed the New Deal programs would destroy individualism. That was one of the likely outcomes of the Great Depression had the New Deal programs not worked to improve the economy and bring relief to the millions of unemployed, starving and destitute people who would likely have turned to Fascism as did Italy and Germany. Roosevelt and his staff used this phrase often.
Asghar Ali Engineer was an Indian reformist-writer and social activist. Internationally known for his work on liberation theology in Islam, he led the Progressive Dawoodi Bohra movement. The focus of his work was on communalism and communal and ethnic violence in India and South Asia. He was a votary of peace and non-violence and lectured all over world on communal harmony.
