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Article 923
Rumi and Iqbal (Part I)
Allama Muhammad Iqbal is generally known as a poet and philosopher, but he was also a jurist, a politician, a social reformer, and a great Islamic scholar. People even bestowed on him the title of “Shaere-Mashriq” [Poet of the East]. It may sound strange that Iqbal never considered himself a poet as is evidenced by his correspondence with Syed Sulaiman Nadvi.
“I have never considered myself a poet. Therefore, I am not a rival of anyone, and I do not consider anybody my rival. I have no interest in poetic artistry. But, yes, I have a special goal in mind for whose expression I use the medium of poetry considering the condition and the customs of this country.” [1]
In his writings, he addressed and exhorted people, particularly the youth, to stand up and face life’s challenges. He was saying that:
“The central theme and main source of his message was the Qur’an. Iqbal considered the Qur’an not only as a book of religion (in the traditional sense) but also as a source of foundational principles upon which the infrastructure of an organization must be built as a coherent system of life. According to Iqbal, this system of life when implemented as a living force is Islam. Because it is based on permanent (absolute) values given in the Qur’an, this system provides perfect harmony, balance, and stability in the society from within and the source of security and a shield from without. It also provides freedom of choice and equal opportunity for the development of personality for everyone within the guidelines of the Qur’an[2].
Thus, in Iqbal’s opinion, Islam is not a religion in which individuals strive for a private subjective relationship with God in the hope of personal salvation as it is done in secular systems.
Iqbal firmly opposed theocracy and dictatorship and considered them against the free spirit of Islam.
Humanity, as a whole, has never faced the challenge posed by the enormity and complexity of human problems, such as it is facing today. The problems have taken on a global dimension now and transcend the barriers of race, color, language, geography, and social, political, and religious ideologies. Most of the problems of mankind are universal in nature and, therefore, require a universal approach to the solution. Iqbal’s universal message is an attempt to address this challenge faced by humanity” [3].
Iqbal as a freedom patron, under the imposed situation by British colonialism in his young hood, became an advocate of independence of all India under one banner regardless the sectarian differences, but later on, his whole energy was focused on gathering only Muslims of the Indian subcontinent under one flag marching toward the establishment his own Islam country in the northwest of India subcontinent[4], “stressing the rebirth of Islamic and spiritual redemption through self-development, moral integrity, and individual freedom[5]. His many works including The Secrets of the Self; a long poem; A Message from the East, and The Reconstruction of Religious Thought in Islam are fully covered with this idea[6] and he succeeded. In his 1930 Presidential speech delivered to the annual session of the Muslim League at Allahabad, Iqbal justified his demand in this way: “Therefore, demand the formation of a consolidated Muslim state in the best interests of India and Islam. For India, it means security and peace resulting from an internal balance of power; for Islam, an opportunity to rid itself of the stamp that Arabian imperialism was forced to give it, to mobilize its laws, its education, its culture, and to bring them into closer contact with its own original spirit and with the spirit of modern times[7]”.
Although Iqbal did not live to see the creation of an independent Pakistan in 1947, he is nevertheless regarded as the symbolic father of that nation and it is commonly said that Pakistan owes its existence to Allama Iqbal.
Reference:
1- http://www.allamaiqbal.com/webcont/169/Main. Translated from the original in Urdu; Maktoobat, Volume I, page195
2- Through his travels and personal communications, Allama Iqbal found that the Muslims had detached themselves from the Qur’an as a guiding principle and a living force.
3- http://www.allamaiqbal.com/webcont/169/Main
4- It was mainly after the disaster following the Balkan War of 1912, the fall of the Caliphate in Turkey, and many anti-Muslim incessant provocations and actions against Muslims in India (1924-27) and elsewhere by the intellectuals and so-called secular-minded leaders.
5- http://www.faratarazmarzha.org/En/Index_Iqbal.htm.
6- Iqbal believed that if a separate state was given to the Muslims of the Indian subcontinent, they could express the vitality of Islam to its fullest.
7- http://www.facebook.com/topic.php%3Fuid%3D19
Source: Ahmad Shahvary, Rumi and Iqbal Lahori, 2018
ADABSARA 