I have been honoured to talk about Hazrat Allama Iqbal (ra).

He succeeded at the finest academic institutions, and attained his doctorate from Oxford University. He had an extremely fine mind, with breadth of vision and profound insight. He was fluent in many languages English, Urdu, Farsi and Arabic. What distinguishes this individual is that he was a contemporary seeker of truth. Devoting every facet of his self in an effort to connect with Truth, connect with the source of all truth, the Creator. A devotional Muslim, he expressed his experiences with insightful poetry and those who read his works can clearly see that he had genuine and profound love for his Creator and His beloved. In his lectures, essays and articles, Allama Iqbal first poses questions, then answers them with the help of ancient and modern insight and shows how it effects and concerns the world of action.it is clear the he is a man of the gift of seeing things as they truly are. He could see the ills and consequences of sticking to a model of atheistic materialism and pure rationalism. We are experiencing the resulting diseases in our families and wider society today. I could write a long list but I will just highlight some of the key catastrophes, such as the loss of the essential family structure, the degradation of all consistent, coherent positive moral value systems, and the constant erosion of the distinguishing characteristics which makes humanity truly beautiful.

Through reading his literature, it can be seen that he nurtures a crystal clear perception, and this is established through a systematic process of reasoning of everything he accepts as knowledge. This is a very modern approach, and something that we take for granted but in fact, this is very unique. He manages to develop a robust, consistent and sophisticated perspective of the world around him. He applies this process of questioning to all aspects of human experience. This led to be him creating his uniquely insightful perspective. However, he balances this rationalism with established religion and reconciles the potential conflicts. This fortifies his faith, and likewise, in this way we can fortify our own. He shows that philosophy or rationalism or science cannot rank religion as an inferior way of understanding the world, as he highlights the unique role of religion by saying: it is neither mere thought, nor mere feeling, nor mere action; it is an expression of the whole man. He emphasises the need to recognise that the truth exists absolutely. But despite our best efforts to cognitively understand the truth, we must also appreciate the limits of our intellect and recognise that the Truth is to be experienced through our essential humanity. This man, in the 1920s has already addressed some of the key issues of modernity, capitalism and scientism that the genuine seeker of Truth will have to confront, and is confronting all the time, in every situation, especially in these modern times. How many muslim scholars today have been so futuristic in their outlook, let alone the scholars around at his time? He reconciles science and religion showing that both actually depend on concrete experience/evidence, but underlining that the type of experience/evidence is different: He says We forget that religion aims at reaching the real significance of a special variety of human experience.

Reconciling materialism and spirituality In the 1800s, the western scholar Goethe criticised that the West had become too materialistic in outlook and expected that the East would provide a message of hope that would resuscitate spiritual values. That is over 200 hundred years ago! How much more materialistic are we now! If Goethe were to look at us now, he would see how much more decadent we have become. A hundred years after Goethe, Allama Iqbal (ra) reminded the West of the importance of morality, religion and civilization by underlining the need for cultivating feeling, ardour and dynamism. He explained that life could, never aspire for higher dimensions unless it learnt of the nature of spirituality. Almost one hundred years have transpired since Allama Iqbal highlighted the concerns of the materialistic concerns of the West, and its need for true spirituality, and we can see the consequences of this in the human suffering that occurs throughout the developing worlds in order to fuel our desire for the material, as well as the damage to our own homes and communities. Allama Iqbal (ra) through systematic, objecting reasoning, he proves that Islamic way of life is the best code of conduct for a nation's viability. A person must keep his individual characteristics intact but once this is achieved he should sacrifice his personal ambitions for the needs of the nation. Man cannot realize the "Self" out of society. Reference: In Rumuz-i Bekhudi Allama Iqbals methodological approach has been an inspiration to the development of the Hijaz Community Vision. He develops clear conceptions of the nature of mans essential self, his role and function in society and his ultimate purpose. To have a clear conception of this is a prerequisite and necessary before you can create a vision to move humanity forward and so that it may achieve its true potential and fulfil its ultimate purpose. Iqbal condemns self-destruction. For him the aim of life is self-realization, personal progression and self-knowledge. He charts the stages through which the individual "Self" has to pass before finally arriving at its point of perfection, enabling the knower of the "Self" to become the viceregent of Allah on earth/Khalifat ullah fi'l ard. Reference: In Asrar-i Khudi, He has a beautiful understanding of the role of man in the universe, a quote from one of his lectures: It is the lot of man to share in the deeper aspirations of the universe around him and to shape his own destiny as well as that of the universe, now by adjusting himself to its forces, now by putting the whole of his energy to mould its forces to his own ends and purposes. And in this process of progressive change God becomes a co-worker with him, provided man takes the initiative. He also emphasises the need for each generation should be permitted to solve its own problems, guided, but unhampered by the work of its predecessors and this is based on the teaching of the Qur'an that life is a process of progressive creation. Such beautiful ideas need to be grounded and implemented in practical action and hence Hijaz Community, through years of thought and research, and under the guidance of Hazrat Faiz ul Aqtab Siddiqi and his father, has further developed some of these ideas as well as developing its own and

forged a vision to enrich society. Hijaz Community has developed an ambitious, beautiful and power vision, and created sophisticated tools and projects in order to practical implement and drive the progressive change, enriching both the individual and society. So what is the Hijaz Community Vision? 1. Through systematic contemplation, creating an inner forum for the individual to achieve a complete sense of realisation; i. The person looks to create a system of reflection within himself, in order to understand himself, his purpose, and the world around him 2. Empowering individuals by training and educating them through mentoring and counselling to undertake and accomplish their civil, social, moral, ethical, economic, religious, environmental, and familial duties and responsibilities; i. Thereby providing practical training and support in helping him achieve his own personal ambitions 3. Developing the individual to such a standard that his aim in life becomes what can I do for the community rather than what the community can do for me; i. The individual is no restrained by his own personal circumstances and is attitude re-focussed towards serving the community 4. The individual develops distinguished characteristics so that he can accomplish a profound personality which continues to flourish by adhering and fulfilling the needs of others. i. This means that the persons character and personality is developed to his maximum, not in isolation, but through serving others 5. The individual consistently relinquishes self-interest over all other social interests, to the point that he is deemed by others as a role model; i. A person continues to try reduce his self-interest to the extent that others social interest take priority as his own, and in doing so he becomes a sincere role-model 6. In the advancement of the above process the individual places themselves at the zenith of their efforts to attain purification, and initiates the development of the inner self to a stage of tranquillity; i. The individual continuously attempts to purify and improve himself and at the zenith of his efforts to attain purification, he initiates the development of the inner self 7. Absolute purification is bestowed upon the individual when their spirituality and selflessness is accepted by he who is the final Messenger of the Lord of the Universes; i. True, complete and absolute purification is given to the individual, when his efforts are accepted by the our beloved Prophet (saws) 8. Having reached the pinnacle of material life, one then stands at the doorway of acquiring the pleasure of and connection with the Creator of the Universes.