Iqbal as a Messenger poet

The philosopher poet, thinker and sociologist of the sub-continent, Allama Mohamed Iqbal was born when the inhabitants of India were suffering from miseries and acute sufferings ,while struggling for the independence of their country from British Raj. The people of Muslim community of India were the worst hit and were crushed ruthlessly. At that time Iqbal’s poetry played phenomenal role. It awakened the people from desperation and brutal subjugation to make them stand on their own feet. They were united and then fought daringly for independence with the result that they achieved a free homeland for them within a few years time.

KYA AZADI KA EK LAMHA HAI BEHTER

GULAMI KI HAYATE JAVIDAAN SE. ”. (Iqbal)

Iqbal based his poetry on teaching of Islam and he wanted his readers to comprehend the essence of his message. Though he was reluctant to be known as a poet, He used to call his poetry "Iqbal-e-Islam". Most of his couplets directly translate the verses of the Holy Quran. For instance, one of his verses: “HO KHALKAN YARAAN TOU, BARAYSHAM KE TARHA NARM… RAZM-E-HAQ-O-BATIL HO TOU FOLAAD HAI MOMIN”. (Iqbal) Iqbal is a messenger of love. His message of love is universal .The humanity needs him. We do need him without any doubt.

“AUROON KA PAYAAM AUR HAI MERA PAYAM AUR HAI

ISHQ KEY KHIRD MANDOON KA TARZ-E-KALAM AUR HAI”. (iqbal)

In his book, ‘The Reconstruction of Religious Thought in Islam’, iqbal proves himself a messenger as he gives the message of religion, faith, etc, to the humanity. He writes that Religion in its more advanced form moves from individual to society. We have to trace the uncritical assumption of human thought to their hiding places. The essence of religion is faith, and faith, like the bird, sees its ‘trackless way’ unattended by intellect which only way lays the living heart of man and robs it of the invisible wealth of life that lies within”. He further says, that the modern world stands in need of biological renewal and religion, which in its higher manifestations is neither dogma, nor priesthood, nor ritual, can alone ethically prepare the modern man for the burden of the great responsibility which the advancement of modern science necessarily involves, and restore to him that attitude of faith which makes him capable of winning a personality here and retaining it hereafter. Iqbal's own teacher Professor Reynold A. Nicholson has written following words in the preface of his book, The Secrets of the Self, an English translation of Iqbal’s" Asrar-i Khudi".its (Iqbal’s poetry) logical brilliancy dissolves in the glow of feeling and imagination, and it wins the heart before taking possession of the mind"

Prof. Nicholson also expressed his views on Iqbal’s importance of ‘today’ and ‘tomorrow’ in these words, "He is a man of his age and a man in advance of his age; he is also a man in disagreement of his age." Iqbal says for himself, "Mon Nawaa-i Shair-i Fardaastam" (I am the voice of the poet of tomorrow). Iqbal’s ‘tomorrow’ is our ‘today’ and also it will be our ‘tomorrow’. Indeed Iqbal is our need of the day. His teachings are the teachings of Qur’an of which most of us are ignorant. The teaching of Qur’an is never outdated. It is like a spring of fresh waters always flowing, always fresh, always transparent. The works of Iqbal cover Religion, politics, ethics, philosophy, morality and economics,Sociology,etc, all of which are the fundamentals for the society of mankind. In particular Iqbal is the call for revival of Muslim nation, which was almost on the brink of death in his times. To achieve the goal Iqbal tells us to acquire knowledge in all fields of life and complete the task, which was left unfinished by our ancestors. He warns us not to follow others blindly but instead learn the lesson from them as they had done earlier for themselves. They acquired knowledge from our forefathers and then marched onward with new ideas in all the fields of learning. The present glittering light of the West is the gift of Muslims of the past. Iqbal insists us to embrace modern knowledge and by entering into the main stream of advanced science and technology play our part towards welfare of the human society. Let us prove by our action that we are the custodian of the best code of life for mankind. Iqbal being a philosopher of the east is equally important for the west. He is a great preacher of humanity. Loving the ‘other’ is considered by him as an essential quality in a man. He comes from among the great philosophers of the world on humanism. His philosophy of existentialism and Understanding the ‘Self’ as well as his beautiful poetical expressions of love show exactly the place of man on earth. Speaking on the great qualities inculcated in man he says in Bang-i Dara,, ‘Teray Ilm-o -Muhabbat Ki Naheen Hai Intaha Koi, Naheen Hai Tujh Sey Barh Kar Saaz-i Fitrat Men Nawa Koi'(Iqbal) (The bounds of your knowledge and love are none, Melody sweeter than you in the Divine orchestra is none). In one of Iqbal’s couplet in his famous Persian book ‘Javidnama’, he tells us the meaning of humanity in these words: ‘Admeeyat Ehtram-i Admi, Ba-Khabar Shau Az Maqaam-i Admi’. (Iqbal)

(Humanity is to respect the human being, you must be aware of the place of man).

‘TU APNI KHUDI KHOCHUKA HAI

KHOIYI HUI SHAI KI JUSTUJOO KAR’. (Iqbal)

The question is do we need Iqbal today? The reply is an absolute ‘YES’.HIS messages are the need of the contemporary times where muslim are in utter chaos and turbulence. And iqbal is not the poet of yesterday but of today ,tomorrow and bears relevance for all times to come as he foresaw the situations and had the capability to speak ahead of his times. His message was not that of unfriendliness or intolerance. Never losing the universal perspective of the entire humanity, his message was simple: Muslims, having all the ideological capacities to do great service to humanity, ought to exploit this capability; they ought to lead the humanity towards a better world by excelling both in modern sciences and in their knowledge and understanding of Islam and its message. Iqbal wrote for the youth which truly contains the trace of that fire of redemption which, when ignited in the hearts and minds of individuals, leads their nations to the zenith of excellence and marvel like in his couplets,sitaroon se aagay jahan aur bi hain……or uqabi rooh jab bedaar hoti hai jawanoon main. (Beyond the stars are even more worlds There are still even more tests of passion….). Though many blame him of sending a radical message and over emphasizing on Muslim ummaha unity or its separate existence ,he was not a fanatic but opposed exploitation, traditional Mullahism, emphasized upon the principle of movement in Islamic thought and highlighted Ijtehad(intellectual assertion).Iqbal did not feel that Muslims had to fear modern science and philosophy though some argue that he espoused negative values. There is a dire need to understand and then spread Iqbal’s message and his advices to muslim ummah especially youth whom Allama cherished the most.

(Adfar shah is a Ph.D Scholar of sociology at Jamia Millia Islamia,New Delhi)

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