A. B. Shah
Encyclopedia
A. B. Shah is best known and remembered as the founder-president of the Indian Secular Society. The organization had its head quarter in Pune in Shah’s lifetime but has now shifted to Mumbai
. Until his death, A. B. Shah was the editor of The Secularist, a journal published by the Indian Secular Society (ISS). He also the edited the New Quest published by the Indian Association for Cultural Freedom. Shah took much interest in the problems of Indian Muslims. Shah's writings include What Ails our Muslims? and Religion and Society in India. Shah also edited Jayaprakash Narayan
's Prison Diary, written by the prominent Indian leader in jail during the Emergency of 1975.
's The Riddle of the Universe and Hyman Levy's The Universe of Science convinced Shah that not only God
but even soul did not exist. Jainism
believes in the existence of soul. Shah was also influenced by M. N. Roy. Hamid Dalwai
, the author of Muslim Politics in India was a friend of A. B. Shah. Shah started taking interest in Islam only after meeting Dalwai. Dalwai co-operated with Shah in founding Indian Secular Society and Muslim Satyashodhak Mandal. Shah was the Director of the Institute for the Study on Indian Traditions in Pune
, Maharashtra
at the time of his death in 1981.
and to the problems of Indian Muslims in his works. Hamid Dalwai played an important role in the formation of the organization. The foundation-conference of ISS was presided by Prof. G.D. Parikh, who was an associate of M. N. Roy, a prominent Indian humanist of Twentieth Century.
As elaborated by A.B. Shah himself, the Indian Secular Society works mainly at the level of ideas and communication. It has tried to document and discuss secularist and obscurantist trends in Indian society. Shah was also opposed to Hindu
communalism
. The ISS stands for the spirit of the Indian Constitution and the United Nations Charter of Human Rights. The organisation has published several books and booklets in English including those written by Shah himself.
Both Shah and Dalwai faced threats from conservative Hindus and Muslims for the reform-work they were doing.
A. B. Shah, What Ails Our Muslims?
Narsingh Narain, A Commonsense Humanism and other Essays
V. K. Sinha (ed.), The Reason Case
Jawaharlal Nehru, What is Religion?
Bertrand Russell, Why I am not a Christian
A. Solomon, Rationalism and the Humanist Outlook
Paul Kurtz (ed.), A Secular Humanist Declaration
Finngeir Hiorth, Introduction to Humanism
Finngeir Hiorth, Atheism in India
Finngeir Hiorth, Introduction to Atheism
Finngeir Hiorth, Ethics for Atheists
Religion and Society in India (Pune: Indian Secular Society, 1981)
What Ails our Muslims? (Pune: Indian Secular Society, 1981)
Challenges to Secularism Planning for Democracy and Other Essays
Mumbai
Mumbai , formerly known as Bombay in English, is the capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the most populous city in India, and the fourth most populous city in the world, with a total metropolitan area population of approximately 20.5 million...
. Until his death, A. B. Shah was the editor of The Secularist, a journal published by the Indian Secular Society (ISS). He also the edited the New Quest published by the Indian Association for Cultural Freedom. Shah took much interest in the problems of Indian Muslims. Shah's writings include What Ails our Muslims? and Religion and Society in India. Shah also edited Jayaprakash Narayan
Jayaprakash Narayan
Jayaprakash Narayan , widely known as JP Narayan, Jayaprakash, or Loknayak, was an Indian independence activist and political leader, remembered especially for leading the opposition to Indira Gandhi in the 1970s and for giving a call for peaceful Total Revolution...
's Prison Diary, written by the prominent Indian leader in jail during the Emergency of 1975.
Biography
A. B. Shah was born in 1920 in a Digambar Jain family in Gujarat. As a result, he was an atheist even in his childhood. However, till the age of seventeen he was to some extent a practising Jain. Ernst HaeckelErnst Haeckel
The "European War" became known as "The Great War", and it was not until 1920, in the book "The First World War 1914-1918" by Charles à Court Repington, that the term "First World War" was used as the official name for the conflict.-Research:...
's The Riddle of the Universe and Hyman Levy's The Universe of Science convinced Shah that not only God
God
God is the English name given to a singular being in theistic and deistic religions who is either the sole deity in monotheism, or a single deity in polytheism....
but even soul did not exist. Jainism
Jainism
Jainism is an Indian religion that prescribes a path of non-violence towards all living beings. Its philosophy and practice emphasize the necessity of self-effort to move the soul towards divine consciousness and liberation. Any soul that has conquered its own inner enemies and achieved the state...
believes in the existence of soul. Shah was also influenced by M. N. Roy. Hamid Dalwai
Hamid Dalwai
Hamid Dalwai was a Muslim social reformer, thinker, activist and Marathi writer in Maharashtra, India.-Early life and education:He was born in a Marathi-speaking Muslim family in the Ratnagiri district of Konkan....
, the author of Muslim Politics in India was a friend of A. B. Shah. Shah started taking interest in Islam only after meeting Dalwai. Dalwai co-operated with Shah in founding Indian Secular Society and Muslim Satyashodhak Mandal. Shah was the Director of the Institute for the Study on Indian Traditions in Pune
Pune
Pune , is the eighth largest metropolis in India, the second largest in the state of Maharashtra after Mumbai, and the largest city in the Western Ghats. Once the centre of power of the Maratha Empire, it is situated 560 metres above sea level on the Deccan plateau at the confluence of the Mula ...
, Maharashtra
Maharashtra
Maharashtra is a state located in India. It is the second most populous after Uttar Pradesh and third largest state by area in India...
at the time of his death in 1981.
Indian Secular Society
The Indian Secular Society is a non-political organisation, which works for promoting secular human values in Indian Society. Shah has paid much attention to IslamIslam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
and to the problems of Indian Muslims in his works. Hamid Dalwai played an important role in the formation of the organization. The foundation-conference of ISS was presided by Prof. G.D. Parikh, who was an associate of M. N. Roy, a prominent Indian humanist of Twentieth Century.
As elaborated by A.B. Shah himself, the Indian Secular Society works mainly at the level of ideas and communication. It has tried to document and discuss secularist and obscurantist trends in Indian society. Shah was also opposed to Hindu
Hindu
Hindu refers to an identity associated with the philosophical, religious and cultural systems that are indigenous to the Indian subcontinent. As used in the Constitution of India, the word "Hindu" is also attributed to all persons professing any Indian religion...
communalism
Communalism
Communalism is a term with three distinct meanings according to the Random House Unabridged Dictionary'.'These include "a theory of government or a system of government in which independent communes participate in a federation". "the principles and practice of communal ownership"...
. The ISS stands for the spirit of the Indian Constitution and the United Nations Charter of Human Rights. The organisation has published several books and booklets in English including those written by Shah himself.
Muslim Satyashodhak Mandal
In 1970, Hamid Dalwai and A.B. Shah, founded Muslim Satyashodhak Mandal in co-operation with the Indian Secular Society. This organisation provided a forum for secular Muslims for reforming and modernising Muslims in India. Dalwai was opposed to the notion that religion could help in encouraging modernisation and secularism. He considered "religious reformation" as an anachronistic concept. He wanted religion to be confined to its "proper sphere", that is, the personal relationship between the individual and his God. According to Dalwai, trying to justify social reform in the name of religion was counterproductive and would only strengthen those who were in a position to claim traditional authority to interpret the scriptures. Hence, Dalwai was in favour of making a clear distinction between religious revivalism camouflaged as a reform movement, and a renaissance based on reason and knowledge.Both Shah and Dalwai faced threats from conservative Hindus and Muslims for the reform-work they were doing.
Some publications of the Indian Secular Society
A. B. Shah, Religion and Society in IndiaA. B. Shah, What Ails Our Muslims?
Narsingh Narain, A Commonsense Humanism and other Essays
V. K. Sinha (ed.), The Reason Case
Jawaharlal Nehru, What is Religion?
Bertrand Russell, Why I am not a Christian
A. Solomon, Rationalism and the Humanist Outlook
Paul Kurtz (ed.), A Secular Humanist Declaration
Finngeir Hiorth, Introduction to Humanism
Finngeir Hiorth, Atheism in India
Finngeir Hiorth, Introduction to Atheism
Finngeir Hiorth, Ethics for Atheists
Books by A. B. Shah
Scientific Method (Bombay: Allied Publishers Pvt. Ltd.,1964)Religion and Society in India (Pune: Indian Secular Society, 1981)
What Ails our Muslims? (Pune: Indian Secular Society, 1981)
Challenges to Secularism Planning for Democracy and Other Essays