Allama Iqbal: Political Philosophy
Introduction
While reading a political philosopher, always keep in mind his personal life experiences and the socio-economic and political conditions of the time he was living. Both have a deep impact on his ideas. Allama Iqbal was no exception
B. Allama Iqbal-Life
Allama Iqbal (1877–1938) was born into a middle-class religious family, studied in an Islamic Madrassa and also got the best secular education in British India. He was deeply impressed by Rumi, whom he regarded as his Guide.
His stay in Europe, where he studied European political thoughts and observed Western civilization, proved a turning point in his life. Possessing qualities of head & heart, he became a profoundly knowledgeable person — religious and secular, Eastern as well as Western.
C. Allama Iqbal-Environment
Allama Iqbal was the product of an age that saw an intellectual clash of civilisations between West and East, which made the Muslims gradually conscious of their stagnancy and began to awaken them from their age-long slumber.
After five centuries of a downward trend, various Renaissance movements started in different Muslim countries, advocating different strategies. Though not successful, these movements set in motion a desire among intellectuals to find solutions for Islamic revival.
D. Core Ideas of Allama Iqbal
To understand Iqbal’s political philosophy, we must keep in mind the following three points:
- Firstly, though Dr. Javed Iqbal maintains that Iqbal’s philosophy is only in his prose, not in his poetry, we cannot understand Iqbal unless we read them together
- Secondly, to properly understand his political views, we must adopt a developmental approach. Like some other great thinkers, his views matured over time, and we can observe a process of evolution of thought, particularly in the sphere of his political thought.
- Thirdly, Iqbal was a deeply religious person, Islam was the basis of his thought. In his attempt to reconstruct Muslim religious philosophy and interpret Islamic principles according to the spirit of Age, Iqbal has discussed different spheres of life from the Islamic point of view
F. Iqbal’s Political Philosophy: Core Ideas
- Reality=reason and intuition
- Politics bereft of religion or morality is Anathema
- State in Iqbal’s Political Philosophy
- Iqbal and Two-Nation Theory
- Ijtihad’s only solution for Islamic Revival
- Theo-democratic system
- Pan Islamism
1. Reality can be assessed from both reasons and intuition.
According to Iqbal, reality can be known through Intuition as well as intellect. But intuition is a better guide, as it is “ a higher kind of intellect”. Criticizing Imam Ghazali, Iqbal maintains that
“He failed to see that thought & intuition are organically related. Nor is there any reason to suppose that thought and intuition are essentially opposed to each other. They spring up from the same root and complement each other.”
Iqbal firmly believes that the only difference between reason and intuition is their respective methods of grasping Reality, somewhat different from each other. “The one(reason) grasps reality piecemeal, the other(intuition) grasps it in its wholeness.
The one(intuition) fixes its gaze on the eternal and the other(reason) on the temporal aspect of reality. Both need each other for mutual rejuvenation. Both seek visions of the same reality which reveals itself to them by their function in life”.
2. Iqbal bases politics on Religion and Morality.
Being a deeply religious person, Iqbal condemns anyone who makes politics independent of Morality and Religion. He maintains that if politics is divorced from religion, then, according to Iqbal, it changes itself into tyranny.
According to Iqbal, Religion, in the real sense of the term, includes politics. If the two are separated and made independent of each other, Religion becomes just a code of beliefs, and, losing its grip, has very little influence on our lives.
3. State in Iqbal’s Political Philosophy
Initially, Iqbal, following Plato and Hegel, regarded the state as an end-in-itself, irrespective of any other function or purpose, that exists independently of the individuals who depend upon social organization for every right, even for life
However, as his ideas matured, Iqbal modified his views and believed that the State and individual were interdependent, and regarded them as equally important. Individuals cannot realize themselves spiritually without the help of the state, and the state cannot maintain itself or progress
Maintaining that the end of any state is the perfection of humanity, Iqbal argues that the Muslim state aims to eradicate evil and perpetuate virtue by a specific ethical ideal, as laid down in the Holy Quran. So the importance of the state, as a means, and not as an end
4. Iqbal and Two-Nation Theory
During his stay in Europe, Iqbal realized that nationalism and patriotism would ultimately result in tyranny, cruelty, despotism, aggression, and the exploitation of other nations and humanity at large.
So he turned against these ‘isms’, and after his return from Europe, he preached against nationalism based upon geographical boundaries, racial distinctions, linguistic differences, etc. So how did he become a proponent of the nation theory? Apply a developmental approach.
His acceptance of the Two-nation Theory and advocacy for the creation of a separate state for British Indian Muslims has a lot to do with his deep religious leanings, as well as his assessment of the conditions the British Indian Muslims were facing in the early 20th-century
Regarding the first, his statement that “The essential difference between the Muslim community and other communities of the world consists in our peculiar conception of nationality. We believe in a certain view and are members of the society founded by the Prophet of Islam.”
Regarding the second, his letter to Quaid-e-Azam dated May 28, 1937, says, “But the enforcement and development of the Shariat of Islam are impossible in this country without a free Muslim state or states, as well as the only way to solve the problem of bread for Muslims.”
5. Ijtihad is the only solution for Islamic Revival
Out of all of Allama Iqbal’s tremendous contributions to multiple fields of study, his emphasis on the need and importance of Ijtihad for the Islamic Renaissance is outstanding.
As opposed to Taqleed (conformity to Islamic jurisprudence precedents), Ijtihad is an Islamic legal term referring to independent reasoning by an expert in Islamic law, or the thorough exertion of a jurist’s mental faculty in finding a solution to a legal question.
Though widely and frequently practiced during the first 5 Islamic centuries amongst Sunni Muslims, it fell victim to unnecessary controversy, which saw its eclipse for the next several centuries, leading to the gradual decline of Islamic civilisation.
Though Iqbal was not the first Islamic scholar to emphasise the need and importance of Ijtihad for the Islamic Renaissance, it was Allama Iqbal who, because of his extraordinary scholarship, both Western and Islamic, put it in its proper perspective
Highly critical of contemporary Islamic thought for its narrowness and rigidity, Iqbal considered ijtihad to be key to updating the legal, political, and social institutions of Islam. For him, ijtihad is the intellectual method to create intellectual creativity among Muslims.
He maintained that to resolve the problems Muslims were confronting in the modern age, they needed to reinvent themselves. Advocated the need for Ijtihad, Ijma, and Qiyas according to the Quran and Sunnah in an ever-changing world.
6. Theo-democracy or “spiritual democracy”
If Ijtihad is the only way forward for the Islamic Renaissance, then who would perform it in a democratic setup? It is exactly this that characterizes his finely balanced conception of “spiritual democracy”.
Maintaining that “secularism would weaken the spiritual foundations of Muslim society.”, Iqbal proposes “The transfer of the power of Ijtihad from individual representatives of schools to a Muslim legislative assembly as the only possible form Ijma can take in modern times.”
To Iqbal, the spiritual democracy of Islam is not people's empowerment, but rather the ascendency of the ulema to avoid major errors in interpreting the laws. Being a vital part of a Muslim legislative assembly, these jurists would help guide free discussion on questions of law.
7. Pan Islamism of Iqbal
A bit contradictory: How come a staunch advocate of a separate state for Indian Muslims believes in Pan- Islamism? However, a deeper understanding would reveal the unity of Iqbal’s approach-same thing in a different context
Iqbal believed that the religion of Islam has no country or society, it neither has any specific language or script, nor any specific dress. It engenders a social mechanism that gives eternal unity and homogeneity to the Muslim community as a whole.
However, Iqbal was also a practical thinker, who understood that in an overwhelmingly non-Muslim country, Muslims would become an underclass, and may lose their identity. The same fear that was the backbone of all great Muslim thinkers of India
Thus, a separate state for the British Indian Muslims was to preserve their identity for a greater cause he had in mind: Pan-Islamism. To Iqbal, Pan-Islamism does not translate into the formation of an Islamic state but a sort of unity of faith
G. Impact of Allama Iqbal
1. Iqbal belongs to that class of thinkers who have taken their whole life into view and have discussed nearly all its problems. He has discussed not only cosmological, ontological, epistemological, etc., but also those that have a direct bearing upon our lives—moral, political, social, educational, economic, aesthetic, etc.
2. After the fall of Baghdad, a downward trend was at once discernible in the Muslim world for the next five centuries. In the middle of the 18th century, movements started in the Islamic world for a renaissance from a religious point of view.
The 19th century saw a real intellectual clash of civilizations between West and East, which made the Muslims gradually conscious of their stagnancy and began to awaken them from their age-long slumber. Various movements started, one after the other, in different Muslim countries
The spirit of the Age certainly demanded a great thinker to guide life in all its aspects; to analyze all the new forces of the modern age, and to interpret Islamic laws and principles afresh.
Iqbal proved himself equal to this difficult task. He was a great scholar; possessing all the necessary qualities of head and heart, a man of profound knowledge — religious and secular, Eastern as well as Western.
3. A major work of modern Islamic thought, his ideas were a major influence on Iranian sociologist Ali Shariati and other contemporary Muslim reformers, including Tariq Ramadan
