Muhammad Iqbal (1877–1938)

Muhammad Iqbal, widely known as Allama Iqbal, was a philosopher, poet, jurist, and political thinker from British India. He is celebrated as one of the most influential Muslim intellectuals of the modern era and is regarded as the spiritual father of Pakistan. Iqbal’s philosophy aimed to awaken the self-consciousness of the Muslim world and to reinterpret Islamic thought in light of modern philosophy, science, and spirituality.

1. Background

Origin – Born in Sialkot (in present-day Pakistan) under British colonial rule.

Career – He studied philosophy and law, practiced as a barrister, and became an influential public intellectual. His poetry in Persian and Urdu conveyed profound philosophical and spiritual themes. He delivered the famous Allahabad Address (1930), which envisioned a separate homeland for Muslims in South Asia.

2. Education and Influences

Teachers

• Thomas Arnold: A British orientalist and professor at Government College, Lahore. Arnold introduced Iqbal to Western philosophy and influenced his intellectual development deeply.

• Dr. Friedrich Hommel: A German professor of Semitic languages at the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, Hommel was Iqbal's doctoral supervisor. Under his guidance, Iqbal wrote and defended his 1908 thesis, The Development of Metaphysics in Persia, and received his PhD in philosophy.

Influences

• Rumi – Iqbal’s spiritual guide and poetic model; from Rumi he absorbed the idea of the soul’s ascent and the transformative power of love.

• Friedrich Nietzsche – Inspired Iqbal’s concept of self-affirmation and creative will, though he reinterpreted it within an Islamic, ethical framework.

• Henri Bergson – Shaped Iqbal’s understanding of time, intuition, and dynamic reality.

• Goethe – Influenced Iqbal’s poetic imagination and universal humanism.

• The Qur’an – The ultimate foundation of his worldview, which he saw as a living source of renewal, creativity, and moral guidance.

3. Main Themes of His Philosophical Thought

Philosophy of the Self (Khudi)

At the core of Iqbal’s thought lies the concept of Khudi (Selfhood or Ego):

• The self is a dynamic, creative force that must realize its divine potential.

• True individuality arises through self-discipline, moral action, and love.

• The perfected self (Insan-e-Kamil) mirrors the divine attributes, echoing the Qur’anic ideal of humanity as God’s vicegerent (khalifah).

Reinterpretation of Islamic Thought

Iqbal called for a reconstruction of Islamic philosophy to meet the challenges of modernity.

• In his lectures The Reconstruction of Religious Thought in Islam, he reexamined classical Islamic metaphysics through modern epistemology and science.

• He emphasized ijtihad (independent reasoning) as essential for intellectual and spiritual renewal.

Dynamic Nature of Reality

Building on Bergson’s philosophy of duration, Iqbal saw the universe as in continuous creative evolution.

• Reality is not static but a process of becoming — a ceaseless act of divine creativity.

• Time and change are not illusions but manifestations of God’s ongoing creation.

God and the Cosmos

• God is the Ultimate Ego, the source of all individual selves.

• The relationship between God and creation is intimate yet dynamic — the self grows closer to God through love, action, and creativity.

• He rejected pantheism, instead advocating panentheism — all things exist in God, yet God transcends them.

Community and the Ummah

• Iqbal envisioned a spiritual and moral community (Ummah) built on justice, equality, and self-realization.

• He linked the regeneration of the Muslim world to spiritual awakening rather than political dominance.

• His vision inspired later Muslim reformists and the intellectual groundwork for the creation of Pakistan.

Ethics and Action

• Action (‘amal) and creative struggle (jihad al-nafs) are central to Iqbal’s ethics.

• Life achieves meaning through purposeful effort and self-transcendence, not resignation.

• He rejected fatalism and passive mysticism, advocating “actional spirituality” grounded in faith and creativity.

4. Influence on His Generation and Beyond

In His Own Time

• Iqbal was revered across the Muslim world as both a poet-prophet and a reformist philosopher.

• His Persian and Urdu poetry, such as Asrar-i Khudi and Bang-i Dara, awakened a sense of dignity, vitality, and selfhood among Muslims under colonial rule.

• His political thought influenced leaders like Muhammad Ali Jinnah, shaping the ideological foundation of the Pakistan Movement.

On Later Generations

• Iqbal’s ideas continue to influence modern Islamic philosophy, education, and political theory.

• His synthesis of spirituality, rationalism, and activism inspired generations of thinkers across the Muslim world, from Iran to Indonesia.

• He remains a national poet of Pakistan and a philosophical icon of Muslim renewal in the modern age.

5. Major Works

• Asrar-i-Khudi (Secrets of the Self) – Persian philosophical poetry exploring the development of the ego and selfhood.

• Rumuz-i-Bekhudi (The Secrets of Selflessness) – Companion to Asrar, focusing on the collective self and the community (Ummah).

• Payam-i-Mashriq (Message of the East) – Response to Goethe’s West-östlicher Divan, celebrating Eastern spiritual wisdom.

• Bang-i-Dara (The Call of the Bell) – Urdu poetry covering themes of awakening, history, youth, and moral revival.

• Zabur-i-Ajam (Persian Psalms) – Philosophical and mystical reflections in Persian verse.

• The Reconstruction of Religious Thought in Islam – A series of philosophical lectures in English offering a new foundation for modern Islamic thought.

• Javid Nama (Book of Eternity) – A spiritual journey modeled after Dante’s Divine Comedy, written in Persian verse.

• Bal-i-Jibril (Gabriel’s Wing) – Philosophical and political poetry in Urdu.