Gonda Yumitro

1. Explain the historical background of M Iqbal

2. Explain the human being philosophy in the point of view of M
Iqbal
3. Explain his critics on the western materialisme!
4. Discuss the influences of Rumi to his notion!
5. Explain the urgency of religion in his notion!
6. Describe his argument on the existenc of global exploitative
system!
7. Discuss the existence of Islam as the alternative to the global
exploitative system in his opinion!
8. Evaluate his ideas on the importance of religious values as the
basic/foundation of government!
9. Evaluate his concept of two nations theory in the process of
separation of Pakistan from India!
10. To what extent do you agree on his muslim community notion!
 He was born in Sialkot, Punjab on November 9,
1877.
He is the eldest among five siblings.
His father Shaikh Nur Muhammad was a prosperous
tailor, well-known for his devotion to Islam.
His ancestors were Hindu Brahmins; his forefather
Sahaj Ram Sapru embraced Islam.
At the age of 15, Iqbal married Karim Bibi who was
the daughter of an affluent Gujarati physician.
Initially, Iqbal was educated by tutors in languages
and writing, history, poetry and religion.
He continued to study at the Scotch Mission College
in Sialkot.
 He then entered the Government College in
Lahore to study Philosophy, English
literature and Arabic, and obtained a
Bachelor of Arts degree.
Later, he obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree
from Trinity College at Cambridge in 1907.
He traveled to Germany to pursue his
doctoral studies at Ludwig-Maximilians-
Universityat Munich.
He studied law at Lincolns Inn in England
and qualified for the bar in 1908.
 He is a leading Muslim poet, philosopher and
political theorist.
He taught History, Philosophy and Political
Science at Oriental College, Lahore.
While pursuing his Honors Degree, he taught
Arabic at Cambridge University to substitute for
Prof. Arnold.
Upon returning to India in 1908, Iqbal took up
assistant professorship at the Government
College in Lahore.
He also practiced law.
He was a very strong supporter of the revival of
Islam around the world. He delivered a famous
set of lectures in India, which was later
compiled and published as The Reconstruction
of Religious Thought in Islam (1930).
He worked in close collaboration with
Mohammad Ali Jinnah (1876-1948).
 In 1933, Iqbal began suffering from a
mysterious throat illness.
He spent his final years working to establish
the Idara Dar-ul-Islam, an institution for
studies in classical Islam and contemporary
social science.
He stopped practicing law in 1934.
Died in Lahore on April 21, 1938.
Iqbal is the namesake of many public
institutions including Allama Iqbal Open
University and the Allama Iqbal
International Airport in Lahore in what is
now Pakistan.
 Iqbals thoughts, as reflected in his work, are
primarily concerned with the spiritual direction and
development of human society.
He was profoundly influenced by Western
philosophers, such as, Friedrich Nietzsche, Henri
Bergson and Goethe.
He soon became a strong critic of Western societys
separation of religion from the state and what he
perceived as its obsession with materialist pursuits.
However, Rumi is the biggest influence on Iqbals
mind.
Iqbal would feature Rumi in the role of a guide in
many of his poems, and his works focus on
reminding his readers of the past glories of Islamic
civilization, and delivering a message of a pure,
spiritual focus on Islam as a source for socio-
political liberation and greatness.
 In Asrar-e-Khudi (1915, Secrets of the Self),
Iqbal explains his philosophy of Khudi, or Self.
His use of the term Khudi is synonymous with
the word of Rooh mentioned in the Quran.
Iqbal condemns self-destruction, as for him the
aim of life is self-realization and self-knowledge.
He charts the stages through which the Self
has to pass before finally arriving at its point of
perfection, enabling the knower of the Self to
become the vicegerent of Allah on earth.
Zarb-i Kalim (1936) is described by the poet
himself as a declaration of war against the
present era.
He argues that Sufism is the necessary product
of the play of various intellectual and moral
forces and could take the slumbering soul to a
higher ideal.
 Some of the main subjects in his written The
Reconstruction of Religious Thought in
Islam (1930) are Knowledge and Religious
Experience, the Conception of God and the
Meaning of Prayer, the Human Ego,
Predestination and Free Will, the Spirit of
Muslim Culture, and the Principle of
Movement in Islam (Ijtihad).
He tries to meet the challenge of materialist
thought on its own ground.
 Our culture has been grossly corrupted through
the natural phenomenon of the rise and fall of
nations. The beliefs, values and attitudes that
led to the development and advance of Islamic
civilization across the world have significantly
decayed over time, rendering our social
systems, including religion as dysfunctional
Consequentially, we have lost social vitality,
viability and are incapacitated to advance as a
people. In order to regroup, and reposition
ourselves as a vital polity with an integrated
sociopolitical identity, we must get back-to-
basics and pick up the lost pieces
Failure to recognize the above need of the hour
would further dampen our national and social
existence, ultimately leading to further
fragmentation and disintegration
After salvaging the lost values, attitudes and
revitalizing our social system, we must initiate a
process of reinterpretation of Islamic thought to
address contemporary challenges and to
reclaim our status as a modern, vibrant and
dynamic polity
 He makes us review our false beliefs,
negative attitudes and social norms that
were shaped and corrupted through history
Then carefully connects these attitudes and
norms with our failures and desperate social
conditions thereby establishing a causal link
He makes us vividly see our social and
religious systems as dysfunctional and
points to the ideal type from Islamic History
for therapy
 He recognizes the western contribution in
advancing the human civilization in terms of
thought and the sciences and sees opportunities
for the Muslims to draw from western
experience
While on one hand he vehemently criticizes the
social evils of the Muslim culture, he is also
relentless in condemning the corruption of the
western system, especially the devices of
colonization, subjugation and exploitation of
humanity
It is important to note that while Iqbal heralds
and impatiently anticipates the encounter
between Islam and the West, his notion of this
encounter is not militaristic in essence
 He considers the unhindered advance of the exploitative
system of the West as a threat to humanity including the
West itself
He asserts the potential in Islam for providing alternatives
in the following areas
Social system (based on justice, humanity and
brotherhood as against racism and other class systems)
Economic system (equitable distribution of wealth, free
from interest, and other forms of exploitation)
Political system (A value based system, an alternative to
utilitarianism, nationalism and other exploitative systems
that by design, empower and enrich a fragment of the
population by manipulating, enslaving, and depriving
much of humanity)
so, Islam is the alternative to the global exploitative
system
 Iqbals ideas have a great influence on the
Islamic thinkers of the 20th century, especially on
those in Pakistan. His perspective on the role of
religion in society has been extremely relevant to
the Muslims. He explains the concept of khudi
or self.According to him, the aim of life is self
realization and self knowledge. One must realize
that s/he is the vicegerent of Allah on earth.
According to Iqbal, the key to Muslims revival is
the construction of Islamic thought and the
adoption of Islamic identity. Based on this
premises, he promoted an independent idea of
The development of Muslim in India. As the
representative of Indian Muslims in England, he
suggested his idea of creating a homeland for
Muslims in the South Asian subcontinent. This is
because of the oppression of Muslims by non-
Muslims and the persistent denial of Muslims
rights.
 He called upon Muslims to assert their identity
through affiliation to the Islamic faith. For him
Islam is both a religious and political system.
He regards Tawhid (Unity of God) and Risalat
(Prophet-hood of Muhammad) as the two
determinants of a national identity for Muslims.
To him, these two are sufficient to bind Muslims
together.
His notion of self is actually a call to action for
Muslims to shape the development along the
lines of Islamic culture.
In his philosophy, he takes religious foundation
as the first principle for any society and argues
that if a government is not based on religious
values, it will become tyrannical.
 Iqbal convinced Jinnah that Hindu and Muslim were
two separate (national) identities. He urged Jinnah
to return to India to lead the Muslims.
At that time the Pakistan movement gathered huge
momentum. Islam was used as the motivation force
to rally the Muslims to the cause of creating a
separate land for themselves, that is, Pakistan.
The demand of Pakistan was due to the denial of
Muslims rights in the Indian subcontinent. A deep
sense of brotherhood united the Muslims and
facilitated the victory of the Muslim League. In
1947, India and Pakistan were created. 9 years after
Iqbals death, Jinnah and the other politicians
credited Iqbal as one of the visionaries, founder of
the state and spiritual father of Pakistan.
 Iqbal reiterates the obvious when he underlines the
cosmopolitan character of the Islamic Umma transcending
time and space. There is hardly any other faith that
inspires so mnuch international solidarity amron its
followers as Islam does.
Three main aspects of the international community of
Muslim are political, ideological and cultural. Pan-islamic
ideas reflect the urge for unification of the muslims under
one Islamic World Governmne khilafat movement.
Traditionally, Pani-Islam-ism has been an ally of Indian
national-ism. The Khilafat movement was an outstanding
example of the alliance.
Jqbal, on the other hand, was sceptical about the
unification of Muslims of the world i-nto a political state
and even rejected the contention that Jamalud-Din Afghani
was ever associated with this 'dream'. He, in fact,
suspected that the idea was planted by the British to
divert attention of the Muslims of India from internal
political questions and to 'dissipate their power of action
by lip sympathy with the Muslim world.` He considered it
significant that "in no Islamic language - Arabic, Persian or
Turkish -- does there exist a phrase corresponding to Pan-
Islamism. On Khilafat also. lqbal was less sentimental than
most of its Hindu and Musliml supporters.
 His basic concern is the Muslim Community. In order to
meet its growing needs, he even attempted a 'revision'
and reconstruction' of r eligious thought in Islam. "Evern
the most orthodox mullah has no right to expel anybody
from Islam as long as he has faith in its two basic
principles: Tanwheed (oneness of God) and finality of
Mohammad's prophethood. To him social polity of Islam
was more important than its theology agains the ideaof al
maududi.
Iqbal concedes that the Quran used the world Uonrna and
not nation for Muslims. Buit he merely asserts that the
status of Umma is superior to that of the nation. Nor is
he unmindful of the legitimate obligations that the citizens
owe to nationalism. "If nationalism means patriotism and
sacrifice of one's life for the honour of one's country,
such nationalism is a part of Muslim faith.
Iqbal suggested reorganisation of the countiy on the basis
of language, race, history, religion and economic interests
within the Indian federal system with maximum autonomy
for' the states.