IQBAL, AN INTERPRETER OF ISLAM

H.K. Qureshi

Robert Frost once wrote : ‘Poetry is words which can be-come action,’ Iqbal wrote in similar veins on different oc­casions regarding the function of a poet in relation to his art and responsibility. In his collection of poems Asrār-i Khudī, he says :

[O ! you, who have the coin of poetry in your pocket, Test it on the touchstone of life.]

In another line :

[i have nothing to do with songs and melodies, they are only an excuse. ‘The object of my singing is only to bring back to the line the camels that have wandered away.]

Going a step further he declares :

[Don’t take my incoherent chanting to be poetry. I’m one who knows the hidden mysteries of things ]

And thus taking these ideas to their final conclusions, Iqbal asserts :

[If poetry aims at producing ideal men,

the poet may rightly be said to have inherited the qualities of a prophet.]

Iqbal having made himself clear on the subject, it would not be difficult for us to understand why his poetry has attained the distinction of being so unique yet so potent, warm, sincere and lofty. Iqbal as a man and as a poet was moulded in a different cast. Ile was born and raised at a time when the Muslims were at their lowest ebb, particularly in the Indo-Pakistan sub-continent.

In India, they had recently lost their political power and, with it, economic benefits. They were trying to cope with the shock of this loss and were confused and in disarray. To make matters worse, the onslaught of the British power which made itself felt on all the facets of life was taken as a threat to their culture and, above all, religion. Then, there was another front on which the Muslims felt a challenge which leaped right into their face. The rivalry displayed by their compatriots was even more hurting. The Muslims soon realised and watched in dis­belief that other Indians were already better organised and with each passing day were gaining strength and consolidating their economic and political power. The imperial interests of the British Empire also encouraged and helped in creating polarisation between political groups of India.

But the Muslims were neither progressive nor well organised, with the result that they were lagging behind. They developed philosophies which would help them hide behind religion to escape the pain of the loss of their material well-being. More and more emphasis was laid on the ritualistic aspect of religion resulting in obscurantism and fanaticism. In short, the situation was pitiably hopeless. When Sayyid Ahmad Khān started the Aligarh Movement and with it when the Muslims got somewhat acquained with the Western aducation, studied sciences and analysed their condition vīs-a-vis their compatriots, the realisation of their hopelessness became even more acute. The intelligent calss of Muslim population gradually pulled itself together and started moving ahead with the spirit of the time.

On the other hand, a great majority of the poor, the uneducated, the religion-oriented escapist became more rigid and swung to-wards conservatism, rigidity and took refuge in what they perceived as spiritualism. They remained backward, confused and did not know for certain as what to believe, where to turn and how to find the destination through the abyss. However, those who quickly seized the opportunity of educating themselves began to march, although slowly, towards a new horizon seeking a new dawn.

It was under these circumstances that Iqbal came on the scene and immediately called the Muslims to wake up from their state of self-oblivion Through his poetry he infused a new life in the Muslims of the Indo-Pakistan subcontinent. He argued with a reason that was tinged with emotion. His reason­ing was so powerful and logical and yet so sweet and enticing that it soon engulfed all the Muslims of India. Iqbal fought on many fronts. One of the most important was to create an under-standing of Islam which would bring into focus the religion of Islam as a living, dynamic force of life. This understanding was necessary to separate the truth from fiction, din from superstitions and religion from local traditions of its varied adherents. For this, Iqbal crystallised the ideas which had their origin in the Qur’ān, Prophet’s traditions, Islamic history and cultures as practised in Islamic societies through their evolutionary stages. It encompassed a comprehensive study of theology, philosophy, social and political history of various movements which criss-crossed during the history of Islam. What came out of this was later compiled into six lectures that were delivered al Madras and other places in India.

Iqbal explains that from the early periods it was realised that Islam holds a dynamic view of the universe. Accordingly, Muslim thinkers believe that it is but natural for life in this world to seek its own needs and to set its own direction. This is done almost intuitively. Therefore, in this divergent, expanding and often conflicting push-and-pull situation, the unifying and binding factor can be provided by Islam through its principle of Tawhīd. As Iqbal writes, ‘Islam, as a polity, is only a practical means of making this principle a living factor in the intellectual and emotional life of mankind.’

To this extent, there is a universal agreement but, then, as Professor H.A.R. Gibb has pointed out in his Modern Trends in Islam, that, ‘despite many good features and hopeful signs, the besetting intellectual sin of Muslims in general is the readiness to indulge in a romantic glorification of the past and the exist­ence of a paralyzing confusion of thought’. For Iqbal, too, this was the crux of the problem, particularly for the Indian Muslims, in view of their immediate history. While the majority of ulema of India recognised Islam as a natural religion whose major expression is its self-implementation in a social order in this world, they failed to adopt themselves to the exigencies of the ever-changing fluxes of the socio-economic realities of modern times. Not that the Muslim history of the bygone era did not leave any precedents. In fact, right from the days of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) and within the next two hundred years, we see a chain of such adaptations as one can see in Quranic injunctions, traditions of the Prophet and events that led to the establishment of schools of Islamic jurisprudence.

These things had set pace and direction for making Islam a living, organic and dynamic faith, a philosophy and a social order which at the same time assimilated all the attainable ideas of surrounding peoples. Unfortunately, this process had come to a complete halt with resultant stagnation. The inertia thus creat­ed produced passive and escapist attitudes in the Islamic society. Iqbal abhorred this and to restore the dynamism he wrote with such fervour, eloquence and inspirational fieriness that the Indian Muslim society was transmuted from solidity to its ebullience. Iqbal then stressed the need for understanding Islam, not just its religious theology (din), but also the jurisprudence (u usūl) and Muslim law (furū’) in relation to socio-political conditions of the present time. Muslims should think as to how, today, after fourteen centuries the law and rules enunciated by the Qur’ān and as laid down by the traditions of the Prophet and later followed by various schools of jurisprudence can be interpreted and applied in diverse countries in which Islam subsists. On this point he was a bit dejected when he wrote: ‘Unfortunately, the conservative Muslim public of this country is not yet quite ready for a critical discussion of `Fiqh,’ which, if undertaken, is likely to displease most people, and raise sectarian controversies.’[6] Yet, he explained the correct Islamic viewpoint by going into the background of the origin and development of the Islamic law. He drew the conclusion that further evolution of this law is imperative. Explaining briefly the sources of law, he explains that the Qur’ān is the primary source. How-ever, it should not be taken as a book of legal code as its main purpose is to awaken in man the higher consciousness of his relation with God and universe. The Qur’ān does lay down a few general principles and rules of a legal nature, especially relating to family which is considered the ultimate basis of social life. And, it is an undeniable fact of history that the Muslim legislative authorities evolve a number of legal systems from the Qur’ān, yet they remained individual interpretations in accordance with their existing conditions. They could not, therefore, be final to be strictly followed for all times to come. Accordingly, it would be all right for the present-day jurists to reinterpret these foundational legal principles in the light of our own experience and altered conditions of modern life. However, Iqbal emphasised that no one, not even the Prophet, has the authority or right to change and discard the clear Quranic injunctions.

The second source of Islamic law is Hadīth. There have been several searching and animated discussions on this topic. Iqbal quoted Shāh Walīullāh that, generally speaking, the law revealed by a prophet takes special notice of the habits, ways and peculiarities of the people to whom he is specifically sent.

His method is to train one set of people and use them as a nucleus for the building up of a universal Sharī`ah. What follows from this is that the application of those ahkām is specific to the people of his time and are not to be strictly enforced in case of future generations (take, for example, the penalties for crimes). Imām Abū Hanīfah, perhaps in view of this, introduced the prin­ciple of Istihsān, juristic preference, which necessitates a careful study of the actual conditions in legal thinking. But the most important and of immense utility is the intelligent study of the literature of traditions, if used as indicative of the spirit in which the Prophet himself interpreted his Revelations. This may be of great help in understanding the life-value of the legal principles enunciated in the Qur’ān. A complete grasp of their life and value alone can equip us in our endeavour to reinterpret the fundamental principles.

Shāh Walīullāh and Iqbal in their own understanding and interpretation of these two basic sources of Islamic law make a case for legislating Islamic law for our living conditions. We all know that the bulk of traditional ulema maintain a rigid stance, while Iqbal asks us to re-examine the Sharī`ah and kalām in all its aspects by applying modern philosophy, metaphysics, ethics and psychology to formulate and re-state the essential principles. Since the days of Imām Ghazālī, this approach has been aban­doned. Although, if there was any time more appropriate for such application, it is now in the age of scientific reasoning and high technological attainments.

The third source of Islamic law is Ijmā’, which lqbal con­sidered to be the most important legal notion. Apart from being discussed academically in early days of Islam, it never assumed a form of permanent institution anywhere. Iqbal suggests that in these days of modern democracy, it could be used through our legislative assemblies. Here ulema too can play a vital role (say, by being nominated to the upper House of Legislature) by help­ing and guiding free discussions on questions relating to law.

The fourth source is Qīyās, i.e. the use of analogical reasoning in legislating. In the early times, divergent views were taken by Mujtāhīdīn. Imām Mālik and Shāfi’ī criticised Imām Abū Hanīfah on the latter’s stand in formulating legal opinion through Qiyās. There were discussions as to what should be the guiding principle-event or the idea. Should the deductive methods be followed or the inductive? Temporal or eternal? Or precedents over imagined ? Iqbal believes all could be useful according to the temperament and psychological make-up of individual countries. Anyway, it was recognised that the observance of actual movement and variety of life is necessary to apply the juristic principle. In Islamic countries, there is no reason why this cannot be tried out to make Islam a living force. There is indeed a great need that we reconcile the Islamic convictions with the realities of the times. In the early Abbasid and Umayyad periods, there were individual Mujtāhidīn who formulated legal codes. Those were the days of true Ijtihād when Muslim jurists rose to the challenges of the time and responded effectively to the ever-changing and very chaotic political, military, racial and intellectual demands.

All areas of human life from stark ugly tribalism to subtle other-worldly metaphysic were closely examined by our early doctors of law. The rationalistic movements of Ash’arīyyah, Mu’tazilah, and Zāhirīyyah bear witness to this. They exercised great intellectual powers to achieve an Islamic equilibrium. They sought and received in large measures the prophecy of the Holy Qur’ān : ‘And to those who seek, we show Our path’. Iqbal’s call is in line with those of our early doctors like Imām Abū Hanīfah down through Imām Ibn Taimiyyah and Muhammad `Abd al-Wahhāb.

Iqbal strongly feels that the dynamic spirit of Islam requires, rather makes it obligatory upon, every Muslim to exercise his freedom and responsibility in order to achieve the status of ‘representative of Allah’ on earth (Khālīfat Allāh fi’I-Ard). This Quranic injunction is pregnant with far-reaching philoso­phical and intellectual ideas. God has created man from earth and given him soul to achieve spirituality. Thus, the ‘Unity’ called ‘Man’ interfaces the external world. The spirit of his action is to realise the ultimate aim and ideal of such acting. The political

formulation of state (or human organisation), from Islamic standpoint, is an endeavour to transform the ideal principles into space-time forces. Islam is theocracy only in this sense. To quote Iqbal:

‘The ultimate Reality, according to the Quran, is spiritual, and its life consists in its temporal activity. The spirit finds its opportunity in the natural, the material, and the secular. All that is secular is therefore sacred in the roots of its being. The greatest service that modern thought has rendered to Islam, and as a matter of fact to all religion, consists in its criticism of what we call material or natural—a criticism which discloses that the merely material has no substance until we discover it rooted in the spiritual. . All this immensity of matter constitutes a scope for the self-realization of spirit. . . . As the Prophet so beautifully puts it: `The whole of this earth is a mosque.’ The state according to Islam is only an effort to realize the spiritual in human organization.’[7]

This Quranic concept allows unlimited freedom to man. Thus, statecraft becomes subservient to the free-will of man, who through his belief in Tawhīd can function in his own time-space reference. Within this frame of reference by employing Ijtihād, man, the trustee of a free personality, shapes his destiny towards the ultimate Reality.

Unfortunately, the traditional ulema, because of their lack of understanding, equate the use of matter with materialism and consider it sinful. They put considerable constraints on human free-will, thus limiting man’s action t) only rituals. They fail to realise that this age of technological development and new socio-economic order and secular matters have acquired new dimen­sions. In matters of civil law, company law, the law of insurance, the law of air, hire-purchase agreements, international financial transactions involving payments and receipts of interest, govern­ment and corporate loans, industrial and labour disputes, union and labour laws, law of trade and commerce, tariff and such innumerable instances, laws have to be made if one has to live in an international society which is now so closely knitted with each other by reasons of mobility and shared interest, and political and military strategies. On most of these matters, the traditional ulema would react almost impulsively and would refuse to recog­nise them worthy of being legislated. Of course, one can bury one’s head in sand, but the futility of this is quite apparent.

Iqbal in his writings on Islam was quite broadbased. All those aspects of Islam that have degenerated over a period of time invited his wrath. The case in point is mysticism (Tāsāwwuf). Iqbal has come down heavily on this, as the world of Islamic thought had to be purged of all that was impure and alien. Dnring the centuries that followed, the hard but crystal core of the word of Prophetic revelation had become overlaid with layer after layer of false and delusive metaphysics. During ninth-thirteenth centuries Greek ideas played havoc with Islamic out-look, especially so the Platonic influence which affected the health and vitality of Islam. In Asrār-i-Khudī Iqbal described Plato as the ‘leader of the old herd of sheep’. Vedantism was also repudiated as it stresses on the ecstasy of meditation, pantheism and passivity. These were contrary to the philosophy of action embodied in the Qur’ān. Iqbal’s logical mind consequently repudiated the heritage of sufi poets and mystics. Hāfiz also came in for criticism. What Iqbal really objected to was the emphasis sufism placed on the negation of the ego, on its annihi­lation and renunciation and for the absorption of the individual self in the universe. He wrote : ‘This spirit of total other-world­liness in later Sufiism obscured men’s vision of a very important aspect of Islam as a social polity.’[8] Iqbal later developed his own concept of ‘self’ or ‘ego,’ which places emphasis not on self-negation but on self affirmation. The Prophet said : ‘Create in yourself the attributes of Allah’(تخلق با خلاق اللہ)

Further clucidation on this is unnecessary because all of us know what Iqbal’s concept of ‘self’ (khudī) did to the Muslims of India.

It is laden with ideas of self-respect, positivism, dynamism and action. It does not even let the man merge into God and very ardently keeps him away from the benumbing affects of wandat āl­wujūd, ‘pantheism’. It gives man a dignity to follow the real ideal of God’s servitude. Iqbal’s thoughts on religion include politics, economics and culture. He has examined some aspects of various political and economic systems in the light of Islamic thoughts. We do not find an indepth study, although he was able to analyse various systems with his characteristic candour. He applied the touchstone of science and art of Ijtihād and accepted many Western ideas with varying reservation. For example, he did not totally reject Communism. In fact, he welcomed it. Had it not been so red in tooth and claw and devoid of man’s spirituality, it could have come close to the Islamic principle of equality and fraternity.

Iqbal continuously mourned the lack of spirituality in the West. A Western scientist recently wrote : ‘My feeling is that the technical society is in a mess because it has reached the end of its road. How many times do we have to step on the moon be-fore saying, O.K. ; it’s a rock ? What now ? Then maybe we can look inside ourselves again, where things are really interesting.”

This cynicism is not without reason. The fellow who uttered this is a scientist. In the language of philosophy and religion all that he is looking for is spirituality. In the discovery of the matter, man has lost himself. Iqbal wants to keep this equi­librium. The dilemma of this world is that men of reason are after rocks and the old shepherds had turned themselves into cheap ‘faith-healers’. And what Iqbal is looking for is Mārd-i Mu’min.

[As is the hand of God, so is the Believer’s hand,

Potent, guided by craft, strong to create and rule;

Fashioned of dust and of light, creature divine of soul,

Careless of both the worlds beats his not humble heart.

Frugal of earthly hope, splendid of purpose, he earns

Friendship with courteous mien, wins every voice by his glance.

Mild in social hour, swift in the hour of pursuit,

Whether in feast or in fray pure in conscience and deed.]

NOTES