Ana al-Haque & Seeing the world through Iqbal's Eyes

The question may be asked: If Mansur al-Hallaj was put to death for uttering "Ana-al-Haque," why was Iqbal not misunderstood by his contemporaries for backing Mansur's stance?

I think Iqbal *was* (*is*) misunderstood, certainly not by all, but by many.  And the misunderstanding can be so subtle.

During our Iqbal studies, made possible by the many high quality learning opportunities provided by the Marghdeen Learning Centre for Iqbal Studies, we have examined how a great deal of so-called "Iqbal Studies" are programs of study wherein Iqbal and his philosophy are approached with a specific academic model already firmly in mind. Academics, then, approach him from a historical model, or a political model, or a psychological model, or a literature model, etc. He then is appropriated by those disciplines, and given a place in those studies.

How, though, may we come to better understand Iqbal and his philosophy if our academics simply absorb him into their studies, interpreting his works according to their firmly defined boundaries and prescribed lens of perception?  How, then, may we (individually) come to understand Iqbal and his philosophy if we simply invite him into our minds which are already full of so many other worldly ideas many of which stand in stark contrast to the transformative shifts that Iqbal (I would argue) is seeking to introduce to us?

The alternative path toward getting closer to Iqbal, and particularly to how we may make practical use of his philosophy (rather than simply relegating him to college lectures and bookshelves), is to approach the study of history, the study of politics, the study of psychology, the study of literature, etc. from an Iqbalian perspective. Here, compared to the former method, the Iqbalian understanding absorbs these disciplines. Here, Iqbal (and we who strive to live the Iqbal philosophy) decides where and how those disciplines fit.  Here, these disciplines stand to be transformed.  Here, we stand to be transformed.

Sticking with the former (and very common) method contributes to a societal spinning of wheels. Things churn, but nothing changes.  The former and very common method of so-called Iqbal Studies is little more than the continuing millstone of society which turns and grinds all that is introduced to it.  We all realize, however, that what is produced from this millstone is little more than world-approved food.  We need food now, however, which will nourish the essence of humanity.  We need sustenance which will not lull the soul to sleep, but awakens and enlivens it!

Many thanks to Khurram Ali Shafique for all his efforts toward introducing Iqbal to the world so that we can see the world anew, and thus transform her.

Iqbal: His Life and Our Times

Iqbal never took it upon himself to tell the community what it should do.  Instead, he placed his intellectual energies at the disposal of his people.

Born to serve rather than dictate, he became the conduit through which the collective dreams of the masses were articulated into the language of the elite, rather than the other way around.  This was a journey in which he and his people underwent three distinct stages of evolution, and the chapters of the present volume have been arranged accordingly.

The above is a quote from the brand new book, Iqbal: His Life and Our Times.  In the Introduction, it is written that this book fulfills the need for a simple and reliable introduction to the life and work of this unmatched genius, highlighting the practical relevance of his ideas for those who wish to consider them for implementation.

This book definitely does fulfill this.  Indeed, turning to Iqbal's philosophy for practical implementation in one's world is precisely why I like this book so much.  It has ignited for me new understandings of, and passion for, Iqbal's philosophy.

There is so much to this new book.  It is indeed, as it states at the beginning of the book, a fine introduction to Iqbal.  It is, however, so much more.  The connections, for instance, between Iqbal's political philosophy and that of the American thinker, Mary Parker Follett, and the Bengali visionary C.R. Das are explored. The author also describes in detail how Iqbal's poetry and prose are actually a coherent system of thought.

The author, Khurram Ali Shafique, is an historian and educationist, and the author of biographies, screenplays, and numerous articles in English and Urdu.  Well known in the field of Iqbal studies, he is the founding director of the Marghdeen Learning Centre which provides unique online courses in Iqbal's philosophy.  He is also a research consultant at the Iqbal Academy, Pakistan.

It can be ordered now directly from Createspace Website.

This book is presents fresh insights about Iqbal.  For scholars, and particularly for those who desire to be change-agents in this world, helping themselves, their societies, and all of humanity, we highly recommend this book!  

Level of Being: A Life Evolved

Please go here for a very significant article by Khurram Ali Shafique (award-winning Iqbal scholar, historian, screenwriter and educationist) on two distinct models of democracy, both manifestations of worldviews that can be traced to distinctly different religious understandings.  It is clear that the understandings granted to us from differing religious contexts has a profound psychological influence on how we conceive of ourselves, and thus how we grow and evolve in life, and create the outer world.

The ideas in the aforementioned article demonstrate that there is a level of being - not isolated to the intellect - which is a key to be remembered (and developed) if humanity is to liberate itself from its condition, and evolve onward toward more elevated states of life. 

Compare the philosophy of Iqbal to this below by Maurice Nicoll, a British psychiatrist and noted Fourth Way teacher.  Written in 1941, and in the form of a letter, Nicoll writes;

"Ordinarily, of course, we imagine that man can grow and develop in what I might call the natural normal way, simply by education, example, and so on.  Yet, if we look at history, we find that man has not really developed, and particularly if we look at the present day we cannot boast that man has reached any real further stage of development. Look for a moment at the horrors that humanity imposes on itself nowadays.

Yet people are prone to imagine that time means progress and that everything is getting better and better as time passes. And as a rule people take the obvious contradictions as *exceptional.* That is to say, people are always inclined to think that what are really the usual and ever-present circumstances of life, in a bad sense, are exceptional. You will agree with me perhaps that people usually regard war as exceptional.

Yet you must admit that if you pick up any book of history you will find that it deals with war in the main, with war, intrigue, people seeking power, and so on. Actually, unless we have the strength of mind to see what ordinary life on this planet is like, we will remain in imagination, or illusion, if you prefer the word. As you know, in this system of work, amongst many sayings which have a great density of meaning- namely, that it takes a long time to understand- there is one saying that 'the level of being of a man attracts his life.' This saying applies to humanity in general- that is, the general level of humanity with regard to its being attracts the form of life that it experiences. It is useless to think that wars and horrors and revolutions, etc., are exceptional. What is at fault is the level of being of a people. But nobody is willing to understand this and whenever war takes place, as I said, people take it as exceptional, and even speak about a future free from war, as soon as the existing war is over. We can see the same process at work now. History repeats itself because man remains at the same level of being- namely, he attracts again and again the same circumstances, feels the same things, says the same things, believes the same things. And yet nothing actually changes. All the articles that were written in the last war are just the same as the articles written in this war, and will be for ever and ever.

But what concerns us more is that the same idea applies to ourselves, to each individual person. As long as there is no change in the level of being, the personal history of a man remains the same. Everything repeats itself in his own life: he says the same things, he does the same things, he regrets the same things, he commits the same things. And all this belongs to this immensely deep idea that the level of being attracts the life."

5 Principles of Spiritual Democracy

Go here for a brief yet incisive post from Khurram Ali Shafique (award-winning Iqbal scholar, historian,

screenwriter and educationist) detailing five statements which, according to him, constitute the basic principles of spiritual democracy.

He asks, when examining the statements, if they challenge our existing views in any manner.

If they do challenge our existing views, what shall we do?

What do we typically do when potentially new understandings challenge our existing views?

Please go and read the post now. 

Named must your fear be before banish it you can.

~ Yoda

Application of Iqbal's Vision

Writer, teacher, and scholar, Khurram Ali Shafique, has shared the following about the BASIC thing, in his opinion, which we should all keep in mind while seeking to apply the vision of Allama Iqbal.  And isn't the application  - in practical ways - of Iqbal's vision and philosophy one of the greatest ways by which we can thank him for his gift to humanity?

We can (should) unwrap this gift fully, realizing that he has something qualitatively special to share which should not merely be just another chapter in a literature book.  The world needs a revivifying, healing touch.  Iqbal has granted to us such a touch.

If you're not already familiar with the courses and study opportunities offered by the Iqbal Academy Pakistan, through the Marghdeen Learning Centre, in collaboration with other organizations, and facilitated by Khurram Ali Shafique, I strongly urge you to explore these precious resources now.  You will discover there a wealth of opportunities to study, in new ways, the philosophy and vision of Iqbal related to Pakistan, the entire world, literature, politics, history, self-development, religion, and more. 

This is not a sales pitch; this is a humanity pitch!  May we believe afresh, in ourselves, and in each other!

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I want to share the BASIC thing which, in my opinion, we should keep in mind while thinking about the application of Iqbal's vision.

You know that Iqbal believed that literature plays the most important role in the life of a nation. In fact, he treated literature like a collective dream which comes true. Therefore, the most courageous and daring stand which Iqbal Studies demands from us is that we insist that if anything is wrong in the world, its ultimate root can be traced in the kind of literature that has been venerated, and if we want to bring any positive change, the first step has to be the representation of that change in idealistic literature: "No new world can come into being around us until it is first created in the depth of our souls (i.e. in our imagination)."

Therefore, if we have to judge or evaluate the impact of Iqbal on his society, or the overall progress of the nation created through his vision, our survey CANNOT start with politics and economy. It HAS TO start by seeing what kind of literature this society has produced and liked, and whether or not that literature was respected.

You know that the history of Pakistan can be divided into seven stages since 1887. Now, I am presenting here a list of the most POPULAR authors of these stages: one for each stage. Please REMEMBER, that we are not speaking about good or bad authors, only the most POPULAR ones. (Secondly, at present, I am only picking up authors from West Pakistan for the years 1947 to 1971, when in fact Bangladesh also formed the more populous part of Pakistan in those years, but this is for the sake of simplicity right now and I may expand this model later sometime to do full justice to our unique history).

My findings of many years indicate that purely on the basis of statistics it can be stated without any doubt that the most POPULAR authors of the seven stages of Pakistan, and their key messages, have been the following:

• 1887-1906: Sir Syed Ahmad Khan, "seek consensus"
• 1907-26: Muhammad Ali Jauhar, "think long-term"
• 1927-46: Allama Iqbal, "rise above yourself"
• 1947-66: Ibne Safi, "respect the law"
• 1967-86: Waheed Murad, "unite organically"
• 1987-2006: Mustansar Hussain Tarar, "learn experientially"
• 2007-26: I'm Pakistan - by which I mean that there is not likely to be any particular author, but all Pakistanis together must create a larger picture through "new media" (Internet, mobile phones, photo copies, and so on); message should be, "accept consensus"

If we look at this list, we arrive at three conclusions, and those conclusions are the sum total of what MLC can teach, and the message that should get written on our hearts and minds, and should be disseminated by all of us:

These authors, and their messages, are exactly parallel to the seven stages of ancient history studied in the "DNA Course", the 7 visions of the Sphere of Moon, the 7 chapters of Javid Nama, the 7 verses of Surah Fatiha, the 7 valleys of Attar, and any other model of self-development which we may find reliable.

Sir Syed - the Cave of Vishvamitra, the message of Adam
Jauhar - the Music of Sarosh, the message of Noah
Iqbal - the Poetry of Sarosh, the message of Abraham
Ibne Safi - the Tablet of Buddha, the message of Moses
Waheed Murad - the Tablet of Zarathustra, the message of Zulqarnayn
Tarar - the Tablet of Jesus, the message of Jesus
"I'm Pakistan" (all people attaining a common vision) - the Tablet of Prophet, the message of Prophet (peace be upon him)

What does this mean? By the grace of God or due to the life forces of our own society (but I think that due to both), we have had one major writer in each stage whose intuition guided him to bring out the true meaning of that stage from the depths of our collective ego - the writers listed here were inspired by our collective ego, and their perfect sequence shows that the collective ego of Pakistan has been alive and sound and healthy, and constantly communicating to us through these authors and their colleagues (each of these authors has been the pioneer of a school of thought including many, many other like-minded writers). Now, why did these writers became so popular with all segments of the society?

They became popular because the collective judgement of the Pakistani nation has been sound. There can be no other conclusion. THIS is the main thing which we need to remember - more important than the authors themselves. We need to regain our belief in our collective judgement, in ourselves. We need to understand that our CONSENSUS has been always on those authors who were inspired by the collective ego, and who were presenting the true message of that stage. Then why are we in a state of mess?

We are in a state of mess because, while we appreciated and respected the "consensus" authors in the first three stages, leading us to independence, we FAILED to appreciate and respect the "consensus" authors of the latter stages soon after the birth of Pakistan. Since politics invariably follows the course of literature, our political life was a story of success in the first three stages when we recognized the consensus authors and followed their message, and our political life became the joke of the century when we failed to recognize the consensus writers of the latter stages, and we failed to respect them. Instead, we promoted and venerated other kind of writers who, no doubt were talented according to international standards, but they were selling dreams of pessimism and their dreams came true.

Therefore, our action must begin by getting the messages of these authors understood by the society. We need a cultural revolution, a revolution of love and self-acceptance. This is khudi, in all its meanings: if we lack the courage to accept our own consensus, our own collective choices, how can we claim to have a self, or even self-respect? Needless to say, these authors are not just the heritage of Pakistan but they have got things which can be useful for the whole world. They are the dreams that must true, and almost everyone who hears their dreams wants them to come true. The whole world is looking for exactly the messages which these authors gave, but unfortunately and ironically we are the ones who are getting in the way - then why should we not be in a bad state?  

اُس کی تقدیر میں محکومی و مظلومی ہے
قوم جو کر نہ سکی اپنی خودی سے انصاف

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Dare and Live: Pakistan Remembered

May Pakistan be remembered, on this Independence Day, in the light of the words of Quaid-i-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah, Allama Iqbal, and the historian, screenwriter, educationist, and Iqbal scholar, Khurram Ali Shafique.

Go here to read the words of Quaid-i-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah on the occasion of the celebration of Iqbal Day in 1943.

View this excellent video created by MarghdeenTV.  It includes beautiful art, photographs of Iqbal, and some of Iqbal's most lovely passages from Javid Nama.

Go here to read about the release, on this auspicious date, of Khurram Ali Shafique's new book entitled, 2017: The Battle for Marghdeen.  As he describes:
 

"Marghdeen is the name of the ideal society conceived by Iqbal, the foremost Muslim thinker of modern times, in 1932. It is a world where life is inside-out, people know their destinies and there is no poverty, neediness, crime or injustice. In 2017: The Battle for Marghdeen, the author shows how such a society can be achieved in a short space of time, as long as we are prepared to change our perception of history and other domains of knowledge. 

This book presents the basic principles for achieving Marghdeen. They are illustrated with examples from modern history. There is a special emphasis on Pakistan and the Muslim world, but the principles can be applied anywhere in the world."

“One of the finest achievements of the human mind is to see, to understand, and to put the things seen and understood into a greater perspective. With Khurram Ali Shafique, some kind of thinking of the heart has returned into the arena: a greater perspective, so to speak.” Dr. Thomas Stemmer

I am personally very excited about the release of this new book, 2017: The Battle for Marghdeen.  My hope and prayer is that it will, God willing, spread by tongue, thought, heart, and soul, and contribute to nothing less than a new world born.