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Iqbal
and Reconstruction of Islamic Thought
Islamic
Revolutionary Thought II
Dr.
Israr Ahmad
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(Rendered
into English by Dr. Ahmed Afzaal)
We
have defined Islamic Revolutionary thought as the imperative to
remove the dichotomy between Divine Revelation and state authority,
or between the religious and the secular domains of human existence,
and to establish the unconditional and unqualified ascendancy
of the Qur'an and the Sunnah over all spheres of life, so that
the Islamic System of Social Justice can be established in its
totality and, as a consequence, all forms of political repression,
economic exploitation, and social discrimination can be eliminated
from human society. The achievement of this goal in 7th century
Arabia was the greatest accomplishment of Prophet Muhammad (SAW),
and it is this triumph of the Prophet which is acknowledged by
historian Dr. Michael Hart in these words: "he [Prophet Muhammad]
was the only man in history who was supremely successful on both
the religious and secular levels."
The Islamic System of Social Justice, as established by Prophet
Muhammad (SAW), continued in its ideal form for at least 30 years
after his death, and then it started to decline. Gradually, however,
the ideal unity between the religious and the secular gave way,
and a dichotomy appeared in the Muslim society between the political
rulers and the religious leadership, and then the latter themselves
got divided into the scholars of the law (ulama) and the mystics
who concerned themselves mainly with the purification of the soul
(sufia); in this way, the "unity" gradually degenerated
into a "trinity." The political and moral decay of the
Ummah continued to worsen with each passing century. In the meantime,
the development of physical sciences and technology in Europe
under the influence of Renaissance and Reformation which
were themselves a result of Islamic influences reaching Central
Europe through Muslim Spain led to a power potential which
resulted in the conquest of Muslim lands by the forces of Western
Imperialism. The evolution of social sciences in Europe also accelerated,
and French and Bolshevik revolutions gave fresh dimensions to
the human thought, including the ideas of freedom, democracy,
human rights, equality, and the need to eliminate all exploitation.
In the Indian subcontinent, efforts to revive the authentic and
pristine Islam began with Sheikh Ahmad Sirhindi, and gained momentum
with Shah Waliyullah Dehlvi and Sayyid Ahmad Shaheed. The stage
was thus set, at the beginning of the 20th century, for Allama
Muhammad Iqbal to play his momentous role in laying down the intellectual
foundations of Islamic Renaissance.
The achievements of Allama Iqbal vis-à-vis the reconstruction
of Islamic religious and revolutionary thought can be summarized
as follows: In the first place, he proved that the intellectual
and scientific progress that was achieved by the European man
during the last few centuries was actually a manifestation and
unfolding of the Qur'anic spirit. According to Iqbal, the birth
of Islam was the birth of inductive intellect; it was the Qur'anic
emphasis on observation and experience, as well as its stress
on the concrete and the finite, which gave rise to the scientific
method of inquiry. The scientific spirit was born as a result
of the imperative by the Qur'an to give up all superstitious and
fanciful beliefs, to rely on the senses and the faculty of reason
for gaining knowledge of the material world, and to contemplate
the physical and natural phenomena because these are signs of
Almighty Allah (SWT). It was under the influence of such Qur'anic
teachings that the inductive method of inquiry blossomed among
the Arabs, before being carried through the universities in Muslim
Spain into Europe, paving the way for the Renaissance. It was
in this sense that Iqbal saw the intellectual side of the European
culture as "only a further development of some of the most
important phases of the culture of Islam." Secondly, he proved
that the concepts of political and economic rights of man, which
seem to have been born and developed in the West, were actually
derived and borrowed from the teachings of Prophet Muhammad (SAW).
Thus, to say that all human beings are born equal, that every
human being has certain inalienable rights (especially the provision
of basic necessities of life) concerning which there must not
be any discrimination on the basis of gender, race, color, caste,
or creed, and that all forms of exploitation whether political
or economic must not be allowed to continue in a decent
and humane society, is to express the basic tenets of an ideal
Islamic state as given by Prophet Muhammad (SAW), as well as to
describe the most remarkable features of the era of Al-Khilafah
Al-Rashidah.
Thirdly, Iqbal brought to the fore the urgent need and the immense
significance of developing a new ilm al-kalam, i.e., of reconstructing
the Islamic theology in the light of modern knowledge and of rebuilding
the edifice of religious belief on the basis of newly available
scientific data. Iqbal paved the way for this gigantic task by
liberating Islamic theology from the quagmire of Platonic ideas
and the labyrinth of Aristotelian logic, and then by establishing
Islamic beliefs on the foundation of modern experimental sciences,
including mathematics, physics, biology, and psychology.
Two related achievements of Iqbal that we are going to discuss
in this chapter are as follows: first, his challenge to the dominant
Western thought and civilization, especially his forceful criticism
and condemnation of two fundamental socio-political concepts of
the West, i.e., secularism and territorial nationalism; secondly,
the ingenious manner in which he reconstructed the Islamic revolutionary
thought and presented the Islamic System of Social Justice on
the highest intellectual level, harmonizing it with the highest
ideals of human rights, as well as his presentation of a brief
yet comprehensive description of the methodology for bringing
about the envisioned Islamic Revolution.
Iqbal's ideas concerning secularism and territorial nationalism
are so well-known and crystal-clear that we need not go into their
details. Secularism, according to Iqbal, is the biggest evil in
today's world, and the separation of Divine guidance from state
authority is the root cause of all corruption. Human sovereignty
is kufr as well as shirk, irrespective of whether it manifests
itself in the form of individual sovereignty (autocracy and kingship)
or in the form of popular sovereignty (democracy and people's
rule). A number of couplets can be quoted from Iqbal's poetry
to prove this point; however, Iqbal has expressed his abhorrence
of human sovereignty, in a most subtle and perspicacious manner,
in the following couplet of his masterpiece Iblees ki Majlis-e-Shura:
We ourselves have dressed Kingship in the garb of Democracy,
When man has grown to be a little self-conscious and self-observant.
In other words, Iqbal is saying that the consciousness of human
rights, which prospered in Europe under the influence of Renaissance
and Reformation, was essentially a positive development in the
human social evolution. However, it was Satan and his agents who
diverted this consciousness towards popular sovereignty, and in
this way the rule of a king was replaced with the rule of the
people. Both forms of political systems are equally unacceptable
from the Islamic perspective, as absolute sovereignty belongs
to no one but the Creator, Owner, and Ruler of the universe, Almighty
Allah (SWT). The very concept of human sovereignty is a form of
filth, and will remain so whether it belongs to a single Pharaoh
and Caesar or whether it is distributed piecemeal to a few million
citizens of a country.
As for the modern concept of territorial nationalism which
happens to be an absolutely unavoidable appendage of secular polity
the fact is that two of Iqbal's poems on this subject are
so devastating that, even if Iqbal had composed no other poetry,
these two would have been sufficient to establish his place as
the greatest iconoclast of Western culture and political theory
and the greatest ideologue and rejuvenator of Islamic ideological
nationhood. Iqbal has categorically declared, in his Urdu poem
entitled Wataniyyat, that territorial nationalism as a political
concept is the most pernicious of all the various idols of modern
age. Territorial nationalism constitutes a virulent and lethal
disease which, by causing discord and animosity among different
groups of people and by producing mutual rivalry and antagonism,
leads to a type of politics which is devoid of morality and a
kind of trade which becomes an instrument of Imperialism. All
this results in destruction and devastation of weaker nations
at the hands of stronger ones.
As for the famous Persian poem by Iqbal, which he composed as
a rejoinder to Maulana Hussain Ahmad Madani's (RA) comment that
nowadays nations are established on the basis of homelands, the
following points need to be noted. First, as pointed out by Maulana
Madani, the word he had actually used was qaum and not millat,
and it was a sign of Iqbal's magnanimity that he promptly admitted
this oversight. However, even though his personal integrity and
piety as well as his role as a freedom fighter is beyond doubt,
the main clarification given by Maulana Madani that his
remark was only a statement of fact rather than an imperative
sentence can only be described as inane. This is because
Maulana Hussain Ahmad Madani was a religious and political leader,
and it is obvious that every statement that comes from such a
personage necessarily contains a strong shade of advice and command.
Iqbal's condemnation too was specifically directed towards the
essentially Western thought that nations are formed on the basis
of homelands. As a matter of fact, the ability to discern and
recognize kufr and shirk in all their countless forms and myriad
guises constitutes a special gift and favor of Almighty Allah
(SWT) which He bestowed on Iqbal.
In short, it was on the basis of a strong negation of secularism
and popular sovereignty on the one hand and of territorial nationalism
on the other that Iqbal challenged the modern Western civilization,
warning the modern Western man that his attitude will cause his
culture to commit suicide with its own weapons.
Let us digress a little before going any further. It is indeed
ironical that in our country, which came into existence in the
name of "Muslim nationhood" and whose entire struggle
for independence was fought on the basis of "separate electorate",
we find that numerous politically prominent leaders and parties
are nowadays openly talking about a "joint electorate",
where a person's religion could not be included in his identity
card, and where minorities are being given the right of a double
vote. The champions of secularism in Pakistan never get tired
of quoting the 11th August 1947 statement of Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad
Ali Jinnah, in which he declared religion to be a private affair
of the individual. In our opinion, taking this particular statement
of the Quaid as representing an interim and temporary tactic would
be one thing, but to embrace it as a permanent foundation of Pakistan's
constitutional framework and political system would be a clear
and glaring rejection of the very ideology of Pakistan, as well
as an open and flagrant revolt against the views put forward by
the main ideologue of our country, Allama Iqbal. Such a deviation
from the ideological basis of Pakistan would eliminate the very
justification of this country as a separate and independent state,
and would lead, ultimately, to its total disintegration. On the
other hand, strengthening this ideological foundation, and establishing
a complete constitutional framework as well as a politico-socio-economic
system on its basis, would become the starting point of a new
global civilization. In this way, the revival of Islam would then
unleash the power that is urgently needed by humanity to replace
the prevailing "New World Order" with the "Just
World Order" of Islam. It is precisely this "threat"
of Islam as a living force which is so repulsive to Satan and
his agents as well as to the Jews and the WASP (White Anglo-Saxon
Protestants) that even the slightest progress in this direction
disturbs them in a most serious manner.
Iqbal has explained the revolutionary teachings of Islam concerning
the social, political, and economic spheres throughout his Urdu
and Persian poetry. However, one of his last Urdu poems, entitled
Iblees ki Majlis-e-Shura (or "The Devil's Parliament"),
is especially significant in that it represents Iqbal's final
message to the Muslim Ummah on the one hand, and the result of
his life-long deliberations and reflections on the other. The
central theme of this poem is that the evil forces active in this
world represented by Satan and his advisers have
decided that they have nothing to fear from the rising tides of
democracy or socialism; all they are really concerned with is
the possibility of the revival of Islam. The so-called democracy
of the West is only a veil for imperialism (as it is nothing more
than the rule of the capitalists), and socialism cannot heal the
wounds of humanity either. It is only Islam that has the potential
to pose a real challenge for Satan and his diabolical schemes.
Thus, Satan says:
How could I be frightened by these socialists, straying about
the streets?
Wretched and straitened, distracted in mind, incoherent in speech!
The only menace I anticipate may come from that Community:
Which still a spark of ambition hidden in its ashes retains.
Knows he to whom are revealed the inner secrets of time:
Not socialism, but Islam is to be the trouble of the morrow.
In spite of his apprehensions regarding the revival of Islam,
Satan feels content when he notes that the Muslims are in no position
to become a threat to his rule: They have practically given up
the ideals and values of Islam, and their once burning faith has
now been attenuated to nothing more than an inherited dogma or
a matter of theological controversies. Satan, however, warns his
disciples that although the Muslims are not likely to pose any
danger, other people may discover the virtues of Islam after trying
and discarding various man-made systems of life, one after the
other. And it is here, says Satan, that the real danger to his
rule lies:
I do know this Community is no longer the bearer of the Qur'an:
The same capitalism is the religion of the believer now.
And I know too, that in the dark night of the East
The sleeve of the holy ones of the Haram is bereft of the white,
illuminating hand.
The demands of the present age, however, spell the apprehension:
Lest the Shari'ah of the Prophet should come to light one day.
The four couplets that follow are not only the gist of the entire
poem, but the fact is that they represent Iqbal's understanding
of the Islamic System of Social Justice and are the result of
his life-long study and deliberation on this subject.
Beware, a hundred times beware, of the law of the Prophet!
'The protector of women's honor, the tester of men's capacities,
the rearer of worthy men!'
'The message of death to any kind of slavery!'
'No sovereigns and no monarchs, no mendicants begging!'
'It does purify wealth of all pollution:'
'It makes the wealthy trustees of wealth and property.'
What greater revolution in thought and action will there be!
'Not to the crowned heads, but to God alone does this earth belong!'
The first couplet in this series describes the social system of
Islam as being established on two fundamental points. The foremost
goal of the Islamic social system is to establish a society where
the protection and preservation of the honor and dignity of women
can be ensured; segregation of the sexes and enforcement of proper
dress codes are some of the means to this end. Secondly, as far
as the earning of livelihood or the performance of other strenuous
duties are concerned, Islam places such responsibilities on the
shoulders of men, and not of women; it tests and tries the abilities
of men and forces them to be responsible. In the second couplet,
Iqbal describes the political system of Islam as being characterized
by an equality of the ruler and the ruled, a state of affairs
where there is no slavery and no exploitation of any kind. Of
course, there is only one possible way to achieve this egalitarianism
in real life: The exploitation of the weak by the strong and the
enslavement of one class by another can be eliminated only by
rejecting human sovereignty and submitting before the sovereignty
of the Creator. Thus, Islam demands its followers to establish
the sovereignty of Almighty Allah (SWT) on earth, which is the
same thing as the vicegerency (or Khilafah) of the Muslims in
the socio-political governance.
In the third and fourth couplets, Iqbal describes the economic
system of Islam. It is an indication of the rich and versatile
personality of Allama Iqbal that, even though his main subject
was metaphysics, he still had a deep interest in the comparatively
dry and dreary science of economics. Iqbal was fully cognizant
of the fact that, in today's world, economic and financial matters
have assumed central importance in the human society, and that
man has now been reduced to Homo economicus for all practical
purposes. Regarding the issue of "Capital", Iqbal makes
it clear that while Islam takes advantage of the human desire
for profit and encourages investment as well as cultivates a healthy
competitive environment, there is absolutely no chance whatsoever
of the menace of capitalism taking root in a true Islamic society,
as the very foundation of capitalism interest or usury
has been strictly prohibited by the Qur'an. Keeping in
view the references to riba in various other couplets of Iqbal,
it is our humble opinion that the degree to which Iqbal recognized
and expressed the immorality and vice of riba is simply non-existent
in the writings of any other scholar or intellectual.
Concerning the domination of "Feudalism", Iqbal asserts
that this is in diametric opposition to the economic teachings
of Islam. In his numerous Urdu and Persian poems, Iqbal passionately
maintains that land, the source of sustenance for humans and animals,
cannot be the private property of kings or landlords. The earth
belongs to Almighty Allah (SWT), and its productive capacities
are meant by the Creator to be equally available to all those
who are in need of it. The practice of absentee landlordism, in
which the "owner" of the land takes away the lion's
share from the produce of the land without performing an iota
of the labor involved, is not only highly cruel and unjust to
the ill-fated farmer, but it is the principal cause of the concentration
of politico-economic power in the hands of a few hundred families.
The ownership of massive land-holdings provide the landlords with
immense amount of money and influence, and the resulting electoral
and political power allows them to control the legislative and
policy-making process with highly deleterious consequences for
the nation.
Let us add here two crucial points regarding the issue of feudalism
and absentee landlordims. In the first place, the fact is that
all the lands included in the Indo-Pakistan subcontinent are,
technically speaking, kharaji and not usheri. According to the
judgment of the second Caliph, Hadrat Umar Farooq (RAA), which
was later unanimously accepted by the entire Muslim Ummah, all
those lands which are conquered by the Muslim armies in the course
of a war can never become private property of individuals but
must remain the collective property of the whole Ummah. This means
that the agricultural lands of our country, as well as the income
and production thereof, are to be treated as public property and
must, therefore, be used for the welfare of the whole populace,
both Muslims and non-Muslims. This was the opinion of such eminent
scholars as Jalaluddin Thaneseri, Shah Waliyullah Dehlvi, Shah
Abdul Aziz, and Qazi Sanaullah Panipati. Secondly, the practice
of Mazre'at or absentee landlorism is actually a kind of riba,
the only difference is that it involves agricultural land instead
of money. Three great scholars of Islamic jurisprudence
Imam Abu Hanifa, Imam Shafa'e, and Imam Malik have categorically
declared this practice as absolutely haram, that is, prohibited
by the Shari'ah. Only Imam Ahmad Ibn Hanbal, and two disciples
of Imam Abu Hanifa (Imam Muhammad and Imam Abu Yousuf) have allowed
this, but they too have prescribed some conditions to reduce its
unfairness. However, later generations simply legalized the practice
of absentee landlordims by means of various legal excuses; this
was done mainly under the influence of kingship and has, therefore,
nothing to do with pristine Islam or the egalitarian teachings
of the Islamic economic system. The credit for voicing the strongest
condemnation of this in our times goes to Iqbal who, with a boldness
that was unique to him, proclaimed that a revolution is needed
to eradicate the evils of feudalism and absentee landlordism:
Of the hireling's blood outpoured
Lustrous rubies make the lord;
Tyrant squire to swell his wealth
Desolates the peasant's tilth.
Revolt, I cry!
Revolt, defy!
Revolt, or die!
In short, Iqbal fully understood and did his best to educate
others regarding it the three logical corollaries of the
doctrine of Tawheed that had a direct bearing on the Islamic System
of Social Justice, as given below:
Since all human beings are the creation of a single Creator, there
is no inherent or congenital inequality on the basis of race,
color, or gender;
Absolute sovereignty belongs only to Almighty Allah (SWT), and
human beings are His vicegerents who must not transgress the limits
set by the Sovereign; and
The sacred right of absolute ownership belongs to Almighty Allah
(SWT) alone, and human beings are only trustees who must not use
anything they may find in their possession against the wishes
of the rightful Owner.
As a logical upshot of the above understanding of the meaning
of Tawheed, Iqbal made a forceful call for a revolution to replace
the existing state of repression and exploitation with the Islamic
System of Social Justice. In addition to his role in pinpointing
the ultimate goal of the struggle for an Islamic state
which is the establishment of Justice Iqbal also elucidated
the methodology, in an extremely comprehensive yet compact manner,
for bringing about the envisioned revolution.
According to Iqbal, the first stage in the process of an Islamic
Revolution is a purely "educational" one: To inculcate
the teachings and the message of the Holy Qur'an in the minds
of the audience, so that a profound metamorphosis occurs in the
way people think and feel, in their goals and objectives, and
in their values and priorities in life. People must change from
within before they can change the world. It is this internal and
psychological revolution in the personalities of individual human
beings that is the absolutely essential pre-requisite for any
meaningful and stable change in the politico-socio-economic system.
This transformation of the individuals will then cause them to
unite as a force, which will become the starting point for a global
revolution. It must be noted that in the revolutionary struggle
of Prophet Muhammad (SAW), the only instrument that was employed
for exhortation, admonition, purification of the soul, and reformation
was nothing but the Holy Qur'an.
In addition to this Jihad bil-Qur'an, there are two more components
of the initial or preliminary phase of the revolutionary process,
and these can be described as "organization" and "passive
resistance." What is meant by "organization" is
that all those who have accepted the revolutionary ideology
those who have consciously come to believe in the Qur'an
must be organized in the form of a party. This organization must
be highly disciplined, since the task ahead is to replace a deeply
entrenched corrupt and satanic system, and, therefore, the achievement
of the proverbial army discipline of "listen and obey"
is to be the goal of this organization. During the initial stages,
when the number of dedicated and committed workers will be rather
low, a policy of "passive resistance" is to adopted.
What is meant by "passive resistance" is that all persecution,
whether verbal or physical, must be endured without any retaliation.
There must not be any retreat of any kind; yet there must not
be any revenge or counterstrike either, not even in self-defense.
This perseverance and passive resistance must continue till the
time when there is enough strength available, both in terms of
the number of workers and their training, morale, discipline,
and their willingness to sacrifice, that a challenge can be thrown
to the defenders of the status quo.
In the revolutionary struggle of Prophet Muhammad (SAW) and his
Companions (RAA), we see that the entire twelve years that were
spent in Makkah were characterized by passive resistance. The
order of the day was to endure all kinds of ill-treatment and
oppression without striking back, to be patient, to persevere,
and to go on calling people to the light of Islam. Thus, the following
instructions by Almighty Allah (SWT) were typical of the Makkan
period:
For the sake of thy Lord, be patient (Al-Muddassir 74:7)
We know very well that that thy bosom is at times oppressed by
what they say (Al-Hijr 15:97)
And bear with patience what they utter, and part from them with
a fair leave-taking (Al-Muzzammil 73:10)
But wait for thy Lord's decree, and be not (impatient) like him
of the fish (Al-Qalam 68:48)
Indeed, this phase of non-violence is similar to the attitude
of the companions of Hadrat Isa (AS), who were instructed to remain
passive even in the face of persecution. Their prophet had told
them: "Do not resist those who wrong you. If anyone slaps
you on the right cheek, turn and offer him the other also. If
anyone wants to sue you and takes your shirt, let him have your
cloak as well. If someone in authority presses you into service
for one mile, go with him two" (Matthew
5:39-41). Some Muslim scholars have objected to this teaching
as being "unnatural", but what needs to be realized
is that this was not a permanent part of the message of Hadrat
Isa (AS), but that he had ordered his followers to remain passive
and peaceful only till the time when they had enough strength
to challenge the ungodly system. In a similar way, Prophet Muhammad
(SAW) instructed his Companions (RAA) to remain passive and peaceful
during the years in Makkah. This was an interim order and represented
a phase of the revolutionary strategy. Thus, as soon as the situation
changed, and a powerful base of the believers was established
in Madinah after the Hijrah, the policy of passive resistance
was immediately replaced by that of active resistance and challenge.
Almighty Allah (SWT) then allowed the Muslims to launch their
offensive by giving the following instructions:
Sanction is given unto those who fight because they have been
wronged (Al-Hajj 22:39)
And fight them until fitnah is no more and Deen is for Allah (Al-Baqarah
2:193)
And fight them until fitnah is no more, and Deen is all for Allah
(Al-Anfaal 8:39)
The purpose of this fighting (or Qitaal) for the cause of Allah
(SWT) is the elimination of fitnah, or the eradication of the
rule of falsehood, and establishment of the Kingdom of God on
earth.
The two main phases of the Islamic revolutionary process
propagation of the message with a calm fervor and non-violence
in the manner of a saint, followed by challenging the status quo
in the form of an active and even armed struggle are clearly
and concisely presented by Iqbal in the following Persian couplet:
Like the dervish drunken be;
Quaff the winecup instantly,
And, when thou art bolder grown,
Hurl thyself on Jamshid's throne!
The second couplet of this ghazal is also very meaningful:
'This our world', they asked of me,
'Is't congenial to thee?'
'Nay', I answered; and they cried,
'Break and strew it far and wide!'
It was with a strong desire to revive the revolutionary teachings
of Islam and to pave the way for an actual Islamic Revolution
that Iqbal tried to motivate the Muslims, especially their religious
elements. And it was with this very objective in mind that Iqbal
vehemently opposed the prevalent pantheistic trend in Islamic
mysticism, which in his view was responsible for watering down
the spirit of action and dynamism among the Muslims and had led
to their pathetic state of virtual paralysis. We refer again to
Iqbal's poem, Iblees ki Majlis-e-Shura, in which we find Satan
advising his followers on how to keep the Muslims inert:
Our safety lies in that the mo'min remains a slave till Doomsday:
Renouncing this transitory world for others' sake.
Keep him well absorbed in the thought and contemplation of God
in pre-morning hours:
Ye all make him grow stronger in his monastic disposition!
Although Iqbal addressed the sufia as well as the ulama, and tried
to wake them up from their deep slumber, it was actually the educated
youth of Muslim India that were the real target of his poetry.
Iqbal reminded the Muslim youth of the lost glories and grandeur
of their Muslim ancestors, and motivated them to action through
his predictions about the revival and renaissance of Islam. Iqbal,
unlike Altaf Hussain Hali before him, presented a bright picture
of the future, and removed the darkness of despair and pessimism
that had become a hallmark of the Muslim society in the late 19th
century.
Despite all this, the fact remains that Iqbal neither started
any revivalist movement himself nor laid down the foundations
of any Islamic party, even though as disclosed recently
by the late Dr. Burhan Ahmad Faruqi he not only deeply
felt the need for such a revivalist struggle but came very close
to achieving this goal as well.* This is precisely the reason
why we compared Allama Iqbal with Shah Waliyullah Dehlvi (RA)
in the preface of the present book. Although an eminent writer,
scholar, and teacher, Shah Waliyullah Dehlvi spent his life almost
in the style of a recluse, and never attempted to start any revivalist
movement of any kind. He, however, was a well-informed and politically
aware person, and that is why he invited Ahmad Shah Abdali from
Afghanistan to save the Muslim rule in India. On the other hand,
Shah Waliyullah Delhvi did succeed in establishing an Islamic
milieu wherein, in the very next generation, it became possible
for Sayyid Ahmad Shaheed Barelvi (RA), and his own grandson Shah
Ismael Shaheed (RA), to launch a movement of Jihad on the pattern
of the pristine and authentic Islam of the age of Sahaba (RAA).
In a very similar manner, Allama Iqbal invited Muhammad Ali Jinnah
and requested him to lead the Indian Muslims in their national
struggle. On the other hand, it goes to the credit of Iqbal that
he, by reviving the Islamic religious and revolutionary thought,
produced an intellectual climate in which initially Abul Kalam
Azad was able to form his Hizbullah, and later Maulana Maududi
established his Jama'at-e-Islami. It must be noted that it was
none other than Iqbal himself who had invited Maulana Maududi
to migrate to Punjab, a place which had become quite congenial
for the launching of an Islamic movement as a result of the impact
of Iqbal's poetry.
* Cf., Faruqi, Dr. Burhan Ahmad., Allama Iqbal aur Musalmanon
ka Siyasi Nasbul Ain (Lahore: All Pakistan Islamic Eductaional
Congress, 1994)
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