What picture of religious fanaticism do you get in Tree Without Roots?

Answer

What picture of religious fanaticism do you get in “Tree Without Roots”?

“Tree Without Roots” (1967) is one of the best creations of the best-known novelists among the Bengali-Muslim writers Syed Waliullah (1922-1971). In his outstanding novel, he reveals a backward and superstitious village with the imagination of an artist and religious hypocrisy. He portrays the religious fanaticism of the people of the village of Mahabbatpur. Through his novel, Waliullah mentions religious fanaticism, superstitious beliefs, religious hypocrisy, illiteracy, and poverty.

Religious Fanaticism of Muslim Society: Religious fanaticism of Muslim society is one of the main themes of the novel “Tree Without Roots”. Here, Syed Waliullah represents the traditional religious fanaticism of the Muslim society of Bangladesh. Muslim society believes in many religious superstitions. The protagonist of the novel, Majeed, is a fraud. His home village is poverty-stricken.Majeed is the muezzin of a mosque of Madhupur in Garo Hill. One day, he learns about Mahabbatnagar from a government official. Then, he feels this place is not sufficient for his existence. So, he leaves Garo Hill for the betterment and feels his existential crisis. He leaves with: 

A Kurta, a couple of old Lungis, two thin towels, and a small, much-thumped Koran,

He comes to Mahabbatpur and scolds the villagers for leaving the mazar of Saint Shah Sadeque neglected. Actually, it was not a mazar but an age-old grave of an unknown person. As the people of Mahabbatpur were ignorant and fanatical, they believed what Majeed said. Majeed tells them that one night, Saint Shah Sadeque tells him to go to Mahabbatpur in a dream. He tells the villagers, showing his hypocritical attitude.

 You are all blind. You are ignorant men, men without understanding. How could you left the Mazar of Saint Shah Sadeque unattended like this?

He also asks him to tell the villagers to take care of his Mazar and to honour him. So, Majeed leaves Garo Hills and comes to Mahabbatpur. But actually, he leaves Garo Hills to change his fortune. At the attempt Majeed, the unknown grave is turned into a mazar by covering it with red cloth and lighting incense sticks on all sides and candles at its head. Khaleque, the landowner, contributed most of the money to transform the unknown grave into a Mazar. Thus, Majeed is able to create a false Mazar to achieve prosperity because of the religious fanaticism of the villagers.

Majeed’s Treachery: Majeed takes advantage of their illiteracy. He targets these people and creates his dominion over them. Due to a lack of education, the villagers fail to understand Majeed’s treachery. Even when Akkas offers a proposal to build a school in the village, he cunningly insults him with irrelevant questions. 

Where is your beard, Mian?

Religious Superstitions: Through this novel, the novelist tries to show the religious superstitions of rural Bengal people. The villagers believe in religion but don’t have enough knowledge about it. A famous quotation from Waliullah,

There are more tupees than heads of cattle ,more tupees than sheaves of grass,

Because of their superstitious beliefs, the villagers respect the pir blindly. Amena, Khaleque’s first wife, was childless. When a new pir came to Awalpur, she wanted to get some water blessed by the pir so that she could conceive. Majeed took this as an insult and as a threat to his existence. So, he decided to punish her. 

He tells Khaleque that she could not conceive because there were coils in her belly. To unwind the coils, Majeed made her keep a whole day’s fast and circle the Mazar without breaking the fast with any food. Amena was so weak that she fainted after circling the mazar four times and a half. Majeed then sowed the seed of suspicion in the mind of Khaleque by telling him that she had fainted not because she was weak but because once she had sinned a great sin. Khaleque believed it and sent her to her father’s home. Thus, because of her superstitious beliefs and fanaticism, Amena had to suffer a lot.

Religious Fanaticism for Illiteracy: The people of Mohabbatpur lead a very simple life. There is no school in this village. They suffer from illiteracy. They only go to Maktab to learn the Quran. They just memorize it. No one even knows the meaning of any word of it. Their illiteracy brings other problems to their lives. When Majeed declares an old grave as the Mazar, they believe it. Amena believes if she can drink some water blessed by the new pir, she will be able to give birth to a child. Because of Khleque’s religious fanaticism, Majeed is able to make Khaleque believe that his wife is a sinner. Khaleque believes it and tries to wash away her sin by building a mosque.

In termination, we can say that religious fanaticism is a great problem of the rural Bangel Muslim Society of Bangladesh. Here, Syed Waliullah represents religious fanaticism and contemporary social issues like child marriage, religious superstition, male-dominated society, literacy, and poverty. He also reveals the rebellious character Jamila, who raises his hand against religious superstition and fanaticism.