SELF AND SYNTHESIS

MUHAMMAD FAYYAZ

Without naming it as such, Iqbal[1] has been, in prose and poetry, explicating philosophical and sociological theories of universe, self, society, and religion, using a mode of thought to be properly understood as dialectics. The spirit of his theories reveals the tension that permeates the universe, from the self to the cosmos, and thus constitutes the ultimate source of perpetually creative movement in nature.

In man the centre of life becomes an Ego or Person. Personality is a state of tension and can continue only if that state is maintained. If the state of tension is not maintained, relaxation will ensue. Since personality, or the state of tension, is the most valuable achievement of man, he should see that he does not revert to a state of relaxation. That which tends to maintain the state of tension tends to make us immortal.[2]

Iqbal’s conception of dialectics as a theory and a methodology of comprehending reality of existence is, however, neither Hegelian, neo-Hegelian, nor is it of pantheistic sufism form which “regard absorption in a universal life or soul as the final aim and salvation of man.”[3] The kind of dialectics that.Hegelianism and sufism proclaim, exhorts asceticism and self-negation, in short lures tension to relaxation -- a state of being which Iqbal denounced vehemely all his life. His dialectics, it would seem, is at once materialistic (as opposed to idealistic), scientific (as opposed to mythical and superstitious), and theistic (as opposed to those brands of materialistic-scientific dialectics popularized by left-Hegelians which negate the existence of any Ultimate Being of spiritual-ethical nature).

Scholars have endeavoured to sharpen the contours of Iqbal’s dialectics in various ways: on one end of the continum are those who see a wide-ranging eclecticism in Iqbal’s thought, for, they believe, it combines in itself cheifly the ideas of such western thinkers as Dante, Goethe, Kant, Fichte, Schopenhauer, Bergson, and Nietzsche, while on the other end are those who consider his ideas as reflecting purely true Islamic spirit. From among these, Dar takes a middle position and argues that “The main source of Iqbal’s thought is Islamic philosophy, as he himself claimed, but in developing his ideas he drew upon the wealth of thought available to him from Western thinkers, especially who developed a particular trend or school of thought -- Kant, Fichte, schopenhauer, bergson, and Nietzsche.”[4] Khalifa Abdul Hakim echoes almost identical interpretation by saying that “A question is often raised about Iqbal’s originality. Was he merely an eclectic bringing together various trends of thought without any successful attempt at harmonizing them into an. intellectually consistent organic system or did he succeed in removing the fragmentariness of different systems f thought and belief dissolving half-truths into the unity of one great truth?”[5] In summoning up an answer to this vexing question, Khalifa notes that “Most of Iqbal’s thoughts and sentiments are expressed within the framework of Islam, and a substantial portion of his message is directly addressed to the Muslims[6] to whose regeneration and awakening he had dedicated his life.”[7] In Iqbal’s writings, this framework emerged as an inspiration from Rumi (1207-1273) whom Iqbal adores as his ‘Master’:

The Master from Rum, a thinker of pure disposition, Unravelled Unravelled the secrets of Life and Death for us.[8]

Vahid who undertook intensive study of Iqbal’s art and thought, arrived at a similar conclusion:

Rumi and Iqbal are so interconnected today that no student can work on one without referring to the other. So long as there are people in the world who will read Rumi’s poetry and rejoice in its spiritual raptures, and seek sustenance in the peace and solace it generates, Iqbal’s poetry will also be read with it, and will continue to be a source of inspiration, delight, and spiritual comfort for humanity.[9]

The distinctiveness of Iqbal’s dialectics, namely, its entrenchment in theism, becomes yet more vivid when we read his critical appraisal of western thinkers. As ably condensed by Sibte Hasan, Iqbal in his poem ‘Sohbat-i-Raftgan’ [Assembly of the Departed] brings out the salient features of Western socialist thought in the following manner:

Explaining his theory .of dialectics, Hegel says that “the garden, and the valley are manifestations of the hidden Reality. The nature of the contradiction has provided the,taste of strife to the Master and the Worker, to the dictator and the dictated.” Tolstoy says that “the double-faced intellect has, on the one hand created the philosophy of self-worship (egotism) and on the other teaches submission to the poor worker.”… Karl Marx says that “Man, who knows the secret of the whole and parts is estranged from himself; and on account of capitalism, man has become the executioner of man.” It is remarkable that a man (Iqbal) who was not familiar with Marx’s early philosophical manuscripts should have presented in two lines the kernel of Marx’s philosophy of man in capitalist society.[10]

However closer this version of socialist thought may seem to that of Iqbal’s, the fact remains that Iqbal has prefaced the above poem with an incisive critique of western civilization of which socialism is but one intellectual product. Iqbal is convinced[11] as does he establish in this preface (‘Naqsh-i-Frang’), that West is deeply engrossed in intellectualism without distinctly realizing the limits of human intellect and without having any regard for the suffering humanity. As a consequence of this world-view that has inflicted global dehumanization under the garb of imperialism and colonialism, not only has the West donated crises to the non-West, but has also plunged itself deeper into these self-invited crises despite its scientific and technological marvels.[12] Not knowing where and how to search for solution, West is gradually but surely sinking into an abyss. Solution, says Iqbal, certainly exists for the one who wishes to sincerely look for it and implement it: it lies in complementing intellect with love for humanity, in exploring the true essence of existence hidden beneath the surface of perception, and in creating a system of social relations that transcends economics of human existence in order to view totality of existence as a synthesis of uniqueness of the self and the sociality of the community. In a pessimistic yet an argumentative tone, Iqbal asserts that the course that western civilization has charted for itself, is completely alien to this complementation and synthesis. The inevitable result of traversing such course would therefore be that:

Your (western) civilization will commit suicide with its own dagger,

For, a nest built on a tender bough is fated not to survive for long.[13]

Or

Western civilization is nothing but a confusion of perception and heart,

The reason is that its spirit could not resist contamination.

If the spirit does not remain pure, then all these finer things disappear---

Purity of existence, exalted imagination, nobler tastes.[14]

It is clear then that Iqbal did study western philosophical systems,not for imitation and emulation but in a quest for a self-sustaining, self-perpetuating social system which is in harmony with the potentialities and principles of nature and human nature:

Demean not thy personality by imitation. Guard it, as it is a priceless jewel.[15]

Returning to Iqbal’s dialectics, at least one thing becomes irrefutably evident that it is not akin to a mode of thought adopted by western civilization which, through this adoption, enslaved itself of its own social product, leaving virtually no room for any possibility of transcendence. Iqbal’s dialectics is of supreme theistic king which operates in the domain of nature, self, and society, and moves forward teleologically, clearing up obstructions with will and action, to a destiny that has been awaiting its ascendence and completion since the very first day of coming into being of the universe. “…the universe,” argues Iqbal, “is not a completed act: it is still in the course of formation. There can be no complete truth about the universe, for the universe has not yet become ‘whole’. The process of creation is still going on, and man too takes his share in it, inasmuch as he helps to bring order into at least a portion of the chaos.”[16]

The process of creation, or creative movement, hinges ‘becoming’,” and Iqbal firmly believes in their oppositional and appositional relations:

This world is perhaps still incomplete,

Since the sound of ‘Being’ and ‘Becoming’ is constantly heard.[17]

This dialectical relationship between Being and Becoming through transmutation and transformation of the one into the other, has occupied philosophical thought for a considerably long time. Even today the most contemporary philosophies like phenomenology and existentialism, show their deeper concern with the essence of these two basic entities with as much rigour as the early pre-Socratic philosophy. In fact, according to a well-respected norm of philosophical thinking, it is the exploration and understanding of the relation between Being and Becoming which legitimately claims a central concern in philosophy as distinct from natural sciences which deal primarily with its manifestations in the phenomenal world.

Iqbal as a serious student of philosophical thought was fully aware of the centrality of Being and Becoming in classical and contemporary idea-systems. Those who considered being as an abstraction and proposed to capture its essence in a language devoid of action, did not have any word of admiration or sympathy from Iqbal, may they be Plato, neo-Platonists, or rationalists: he is thoroughly critical of them all. About plato, for instance, he observes:

Since he (Plato) was without any taste for action,

His soul was enraptured by the non-existent; He disbelieved in the material universe And became the creator of invisible Ideas.[18]

And:

The peoples were poisoned by his intoxication: He slumbered and took no delight in deeds.[19]

‘Action’ and ‘deed’ are certainly the prime foci of Iqbal’s thought, so much so that platonic philosophy which dominated idealistic thought for several hundred years became no more than deceit and opiate in Iqbal’s judgement. Perhaps it is too severe a verdict which needs some restructuration, especially in view of the most recent discoveries of quantum physics. Iqbal, so it seems, like Bergson was still appreciative of the atomistic theory first enunciated by Democritus: at times, he alludes to its authenticity fervently. However, this theory as an explanatory paradigm for the structure of matter has been shown to be inadequate by the theory of relativity and quantum theory. Heisenberg while discussing the philosophical history of the conceptualization of matter, unequivocally declares that:

This whole description agrees in every way with the central theme of Plato’s idealistic philosophy. The fundamental structure in the phenomena is not given by material objects. The ideas are more fundamental than the objects.[20]

Iqbal had the knowledge of Heisenberg’s principle of indeterminacy and its implications for the philosophy of matter[21]--and he invoked this principle to emphasize the incompletenesss’ of the universe -- yet Platonic idealism as it penetrated and disfigured Muslim thought, remained with him a major target of disgust.

It seems obvious from Iqbal’s writings that he considers this version of idealism as the most singular source of decadence that humanity in general and the Muslims in particular experienced in past centuries. Under the influence of this philosophy, he maintains, Muslims lost every regard for action and indulged in utopianizing worlds and futures that would descend from above on their own volition. As remarked by Vahid:

He (Iqbal) began looking beyond symptoms for the root-cause of the evil (decadence). It did not take him long to diagnose the disease. His deep and wide knowledge of sociology and the history of different cultures convinced him that the main responsibility for Oriental decadence lay at the door of philosophical systems which inculcated self-negation, abnegation and self-abandonment.[22]

Such self-negation and self-abandonment promoted asceticism and fatalism which assumed the mystical form of ‘Wandat-al-Wujud’ (unityism) and gradually eroded all the vitality f existence. to what degree is this influence valid, is rather difficult to ascertain, yet fact of the matter is that degeneration had taken hold of Muslims and became chillingly pervasive in Iqbal’s days. The West, contends Iqbal, freed itself of idealism, invigorated itself with philosophies of empircism and materialism and consequently overpowered nature and human societies. It must be quickly added here that it should not be understood as meaning that by postulating this shift in western thought Iqbal tends to condone this thought’s consequences and the intentions of its entrepreneurial practitioners. Quite to the contrary, as discussed earlier, Iqbal sees in this thought and civilization seeds of their own demise germinating. They lack, he holds, those essential ingredients of a lasting happiness which comes through only by articulating individuality with the centrality of community. As it is, the West has dismantled community -- the spiritual and moral focus of human existence -- and pitched one individual against another in the name of free competition. The nihilistic tendency woven into this kind of materialism is fatal to self-development, the very essence of individuality, and turns individual human beings into bundles of particles and perceptions that aimlessly wander in this vast universe. Godlessness, says Iqbal, is a logical outcome of such thought-systems and, therefore, it is bound to take away all that which could potentially provide a basic unifying force. As a result, instead of replenishing energy lost in aimlessness, constant depletion occurs, to the extent that a void envelopes the individual. Vitality and optimism as unique attributes of natural individuality, give way to decadence and despair.

Iqbal is a philosopher of hope, and his main task, after carrying out an intensive analysis of human thought, consists in synthesizing materialism with spiritualism: materialism of a different order, not of the western brand which legitimizes and nurtures exploitation of both nature and human beings; similarly, spiritualism of a novel kind, not of the traditional form of mysticism which rejects the existing world as unreal. To be sure, the task is an arduous one, and requires the philosopher and his audience to be simultaneously meditative and articulate. while the philosopher was undoubtedly a profound thinker, the audience -- the nation of Iqbal’s time -- perhaps was not so patient with him. He complains with anguish:

It is not easy for the candle to throb alone: Ah, there is no moth worthy of me?

How long shall I wait for one to share my grief? How long must I search for a confidant?[23] And prays to God:

I beg of Thy grace a sympathizing friend, And adept in the mysteries of my nature,

A friend endowed with madness and wisdom,

One that know the not the phantom of vain things,

That I may confide my lament to his soul And see again my face in his heart.[24]

The synthesis Iqbal sought was the synthesis of ‘madness’ and ‘wisdom’ and he found it vibrating in what he calls khudi or self.[25] for its expression, he chose poetry as the most appealing medium and, from within poetry, the ‘masnavi’ as the most fluent and most effective form. The choice produced a systematic exposition in the philosophical poem, Asrar-i-Khudi [The Secrets of the Self] written, as tells Iqbal in the Prologue, under inspiration of the ‘Master’ [Rural] who said:

“0 frenzied lover,

Take a draught of love’s pure wine.

Strike the chords of thine heart and rouse a

tumultuous strain.

... Thou art fire: fill the world with thy glow!

Make others burn with thy burning![26]

In Iqbal’s own words, his philosophy of self as elaborated in the Secrets is based on the premise that “All life is individual; there is no such thing as universal life. God himself is an individual: He is the most unique individual.”[27] Life being individual, explains Iqbal, “its highest form, so far, is the Ego [Khudi] in which the individual becomes a self-contained exclusive centre. physically as well as spiritually man is a self-contained centre, but he is not yet a complete individual. The greater his distance from God, the less his individuality. He who comes nearest to God is the completest person. Not that he is finally absorbed in God. On the contrary, he absorbs God into himself.”[28]

Here Iqbal seems to be resorting to the Heglian idea of alienation, but it must be remembered that unlike Hegel he does not consider God as a transcendental idea whose very being depends on the self-consciousness of the individual being.[29] It is not so that an abstract idea is conceived in order to capture another abstract idea and thus a conceptual world apart from the real one created; on the contrary, Iqbal’s individual is a person of here and now who lives and transacts with other persons and nature, with full consciousness of his own- and their potentialities:

subject, object, means, and causes ‑

All these forms it (Self) assumes for the purpose of action.

The self rises, kindles, falls, glows, breathes, burns, shines, walks and flies.[30]

Asceticism or withdrawal from action and drifting into self-negation, as mentioned before, are the antinomies of self. Self is a vitality that permeates the universe. While God created the universe and left it to its essence (self) to propel it, the individual, by the faculty of self-consciousness, took over the task of pulling it out of chaos and pushing it toward completeness. The strife is not over yet: the movement is continuing. To submit to chaos and to develop a sense of helplessness, is, in Iqbal’s vocabulary, the defeat of the mission for which the act of creation of both the universe and the individual was first taken in hand. Such a defeatism was advocated and practised by Sufis of unityism which eventually infiltrated common people and led to inaction and stagnation. Such a world-view is nothing but a betrayal of the mission that was assigned them the very first day with their very first breath, and which they ‘promised’ to carry out. In the following verse, Iqbal reminds the Creator and the individual alike of this mission:

Why did you ask me to leave the paradise (and descend on earth)?

(Now when it is so) there is a lot to do in and for this world, so do not press me for return to you.[31]

Being matter-bound yet conquering matter, and being with human beings yet nurturing individuality, are the kind of assertions which can lead one to declare in exasperation, as they did to Anand, that there is no doubt that there are contradictions in Iqbal’s thinking; “but,” defends Anand by saying that “Iqbal would say: Yes, I contradict myself! I contain multitudes.”[32] ‘Multitudes’ have perhaps emanated from Iqbal’s dialectical conception of reality of existence, which Khalifa has succinctly described as follows:

Iqbal has an organic view of life and existence in which heaven, embraces earth, intuition and faith _ are reconciled with universal reason, science ceases to be antagonistic to religion, and infinity informs and animates finitude. His view of existence is based on a conception of the unity and continuity of all aspects aspects of Being with no breaks, gulfs, or gaps.[33]

Additionally, it could be argued that that which appears as contradictory on the surface is intrinsically not as such if we pay serious attention to two considerations: totality and symbolization. Thought and matter, subject and object, means and ends, particular and universal, and a host of other dichotomies coined by traditional philosophy, specifically idealism, are not in fact dichotomies in Iqbal’s language: they are one whole, one totality, engaged in the process of constant evolution and shifting positions. Being of evolutionary character, it sounds unjustified at any point in evolution to freeze them and treat them as static entities. Until such time the evolution realizes its own will, transformation would continue resulting in infinite alternations, infusions, and diffusions, thus defying the application of any analytic approach.

With regard to the second consideration, namely, symbolization, Iqbal has emphatically stated in many passages and verses the role of knowledge -- true, mature knowledge, not the one which is a slave to perception and superficialities -- in fortifying self: “The highest power is united in him with the highest knowledge. In his life, thought and action, instinct and reason, become one.”[34]

Iqbal separates true knowledge from ‘modern’ knowledge on the grounds that while the former is the knowledge of the essence, the latter confines itself to the appearance and phenomena:

Modern knowledge is the greatest blind –

Idol-worshipping, idol-selling, idol-making!

Shackled in the prison of phenomena,

It has not overleaped the limits of the sensible.

It has fallen down in crossing the bridge of Life,

It has laid the knife to its own throat.[35]

It is through symbolization that transcendence becomes a possibility in spite of its roots in matter, space and time -- in other words, in specificity. symbolization is not necessarily a generalization though it has its seeds in it. Its primary purpose is to mediate matter with action and reason, gain its knowledge and understanding, and absorb it into experience. The raw matter and its manifestations now become meaningful and sharable, and generate ideas which go beyond the immediacy of sense perceptions.

Self vis-a-vis community experiences these processes of transformation and transcendence: while it is unique, assertive and aggressive, it has to accept its negation. (non-Self) as an equally vital force in itself, contend with it, and grow through continuous syntheses. In Ramuz-i-Bekhudi [Mysteries of selflessness], Iqbal lays down eight essential requirements for an ideal community:

(i) It must be based on spiritual considerations such as monotheism.

(ii) It must centre round inspired leadership or prophet-hood.

(iii) It must possess a code for its guidance.

(iv) It needs a centre.

(v) It must have a clear goal towards which the whole community should strive.

(vi) It must gain supremacy over the forces of nature.

(vii) It must safeguard maternity.[36]

given the above requirements and the political-economic system that western civilization has created for itself, it is obious that ‘community’, in its authentic sense, disappeared from its landscape with the onslaught of capitalism (privatization of property, glorification of profit motive) and pluralistic-democratic liberalism. Unless a reinstitution of ‘community’ in its genuine form is passionately sought and implemented in the West, self, as Iqbal envisages it, has no conceivable means of realizing its own potentialities through transcendence and synthesis.

By laying down properties of the self, its uniquenss, its grace and dignity, its potentialities, Iqbal has accorded self a meaning-context rarely accorded it in the earlier thought. Self and self-consciousness flow from the consciousness of potentialities, unobscured and undistorted by circumstances of subservience, dependence, and exploitation. In other words, the circumstances of subjugation which not only obliterate the very sense of self and self-realization but also make its achievement an’ impossibility. The result, then, could be, as witnessed by Iqbal, a negation of the role of self in guiding the universe to its ultimate destiny of peace and harmony. While the universe awaits its completion, the self remains unresponsive to its calling. It is, in Iqbal’s thinking, a treason!

How long wilt thou fain lament like the nightingale?

How long make thine abode in gardens?

O thou whose auspicious snare would do honour to the Phoenix

Build a nest on the high mountains,

A nest embosomed in lightning and thunder, Loftier than eagle’s eyrie,

That thou mayst be fit for Life’s battle,[37]

That thy body and soul may burn in Life’s fire. Notes and References

Notes and References