Majeed in Tree Without Roots by Syed Waliullah – A Powerful Portrait of Faith, Patriarchy, and Existential Isolation

Introduction

Majeed, the protagonist of the novel Tree Without Roots by Syed Waliullah, is a rounded character who undergoes changes in the course of the novel. Majeed, who is a rootless, financially helpless and religiously corrupt person at the beginning of the novel, turns into a socially and economically strong and deeply rooted religious guru at the end of the novel.

At the beginning he introduces himself as a saviour of the people of Mahabbatpur and earns their faith. Gradually he becomes the sole proprietor to guide them to spiritual salvation. He also gains material possessions by selling religious faith and becomes rich within a few years. He also fulfils his carnal desires by marrying twice. So, by the end of the novel, Majeed appears socially, economically, and religiously very strong. But Majeed remains very much lonely from the beginning to the end. He also suffers from a sense of insecurity throughout the novel.

Majeed’s Arrival in Mahabbatpur

Majeed, a poor man from a devout Muslim background, comes to Mahabbatpur. He declares an old grave to be the mazar of a pir (a Muslim saint), covers it with the traditional red cloth used for Muslims, and establishes his stronghold on the life of the people using the reflected power on him of the supposed saint.

Through his charismatic behaviour, Majeed quickly establishes himself as a spiritual guide of the people, most of whom are illiterate and hold a blind religious faith. Like a parody of the Prophet, Majeed, the middle-aged protagonist of Tree Without Roots, exiled in Mahabbatpur pretends to be the ‘bearer of the light’ to show the ‘rustic,’ ‘illiterate’ ‘non-believer’ inhabitants, the ‘right path.’

However, Majeed had actually migrated to Mahabbatpur fleeing drought, famine and poverty, driven by a sheer need to survive and thereafter seeking a better life. Majeed wholly capitalizes the religious faith of the poor villagers and soon earns the confidence of the village people. Like the villagers, readers are also enchanted by Majeed’s story-telling genius and by his ability to understand others’ psyche.

Majeed as Symbol of Patriarchal Power

Majeed represents the patriarchal power of the Bengali Muslim society of the 20th century. Using his clever religious role with aids from the patriarchal superstructures, he is able to create patriarchal hegemony in Mahabbatpur.

After settlement, Majeed marries twice:

First, Rahima, the widow, who is ‘wide-hipped, strong and beautiful’

Then, Jamila, the young, lively and curious one

His jealousy of Khaleque’s loving relationship with his first wife Amena leads him to devise the unsolicited fatwa of Amena’s having evil coils in her belly — a strategic move to label her unchaste and work towards a divorce between them.

Existential Loneliness and Tragic Fall

Again, like a modern man, Majeed is very lonely. In existential philosophy, the individual realizes his aloneness. Despite having two wives and a powerful landowner as a friend, Majeed is very lonely indeed. Moreover, he cannot share his secret with anyone, not even with his wives.

To fight back from this oblivious loneliness, Majeed looks forward to strengthening his social security by imposing certain codes of conduct for the villagers as their religious and spiritual guide.

Yet, his second wife Jamila seriously challenges this order and intimidates Majeed so much that she is physically gagged and left to die. However, even in her death, she threatens Majeed’s authority—the feet of her dead body desecrating the sanctum sanctorum of Majeed’s constructed place of worship.