Iqbal on Slavery of the Heart & Liberation Therefrom

Why did Iqbal have to propose a "reconstruction" of religious thought when he wrote his The Reconstruction of Religious Thought in Islam?

Could it be that he perceived well the locus in need of this reconstruction and precisely how the reconstruction needed to occur?  I would argue yes to both points.
 
In Iqbal's, The Book of Slavery (part of his Persian Psalms, 1927), he wrote:

"The fetters are not on feet, but on the heart and soul; this is indeed a very intriguing situation."

In The Book of Slavery, Iqbal appears to have been anticipating a situation with which many Muslims in the world today resonate.  In his own day, Iqbal saw firsthand the political slavery associated with the colonizers.  He also believed that this political slavery was influencing, and enervating toward, religious beliefs and faith.  It is this that could be termed Iqbal's concept of the religion of slaves. 

Iqbal, applying his deep psychological insight, found this inner, voluntary capitulation to reside in the hearts of the people.  It is this that he was striving to reconstruct.  In The Book of Slavery, Iqbal describes how political slavery affected the religious thought in Islam:

In slavery, religion and love are separated Honey of life becomes bitter. What is love? It is imprinting of Tawhid (Unity) on the heart, Then to strike oneself against difficulties. In slavery, love is nothing but an idle talk,Our actions do not correspond with our professions. The caravan of his ambition has no inclination for a journey, It lacks faith, has no knowledge of the road, and is without a guide.  A slave underestimates both religion and wisdom; In order to keep his body alive, he gives away his soul.  Although the name of God is on his lips, His centre of attention is the power of the ruler— Power that is nothing but ever-increasing falsehood, Nothing but falsehood can come from it. As long as you prostrate before it, this idol is your god,  But as soon as you stand up before it, it disappears.

I comprehend Iqbal's concept of the religion of slaves from a perspective outside of a Muslim society.  That is simply because I happen to have been born in a society not considered Muslim.  I look at Iqbal from where I find myself, and indeed consider him as not only a prominent blessing for the Muslim world, but for all people everywhere.

I understand Iqbal, with regard to The Reconstruction of Religious Thought in Islam, as not offering commentary on Islam.  Rather, he was pointing at something that, if not revivified, would stand in the way of the religious understanding and consciousness of Islam.  If brought back to life, it would be a gate-opener.

I perceive Iqbal not as a theologian or interpreter of doctrine (although his work may manifest as such). Rather, I perceive him more as a physician who goes about healing, tuning, and adjusting the human being.

I perceive that Iqbal was not seeking to resurrect religion for the sake of humans. Rather, I sense that he was seeking to resurrect humans for the sake of religion.

His mission, I sense, was in guiding people to find, take back, and keep their righteous mind. Without this locating, reclaiming, and keeping of the righteous mind, mental slavery is inevitable. 

I sense that he fully knew that this was the path to overcoming fear and of attaining genuine independence for the Muslim world.  The movie clip above (The Great Debators) is based upon the true story of African American debate coach, Melvin B. Tolson, at a historically black college wherein he sought to place his team on equal footing with whites in the American south in the 1930s.  The actor, Denzel Washington (as Mr. Tolson), speaks well to the dynamic that it is the mind that must be released from its fetters in order for genuine freedom to be birthed.

Many thanks are due to the generous and expert tutelage of Mr. Khurram Ali Shafique in the many high quality study opportunities he offers through the Marghdeen Learning Centre, his The Republic of Rumi blog, in association with Iqbal Academy Pakistan, the International Iqbal Society, and others.  With his guidance, the very important vision and philosophy of Iqbal are reaching many people.

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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Iqbal's Message ~ Belief in the Unseen

There is a need to unlock the wisdom of Allama Iqbal.  It will not simply unfold in front of you when studied through current models of understanding (e.g., literature, history, religion, poetry).  Indeed, forcing Iqbal's wisdom to conform to these models can eviscerate it, leaving hidden the potential of his vital message to humanity.

Many people outwardly profess belief in the possibility of a Marghdeen world to manifest. But I sense that there is nonetheless a present but unspoken incredulousness that is a point beyond which many modern people just refuse to go. It's as if pessimism has become so widespread that it's infected people to the point of blindness. And this active, though disguised, distrust is, essentially, flipping the order from "Thy Will be done" to "My will be done." There is then, at least as I'm thinking of it now, an active, though subtly quiet doubt, that refuses to really, truly believe in the literal real-ness of the Divine. And of course, to harbor doubts along these lines is also to harbor doubts as to just what level of beauty and integrity is able to come through (all) human beings. The doubting of the Divine involves a simultaneous doubting of the sanctity of human beings.

This kind of pseudo-connection to God (i.e., doubting the literal real-ness of the Divine) is a constricted connection, and essentially puts a human-driven limit on the Divine. I sense it is *the* obstacle in need of being overcome. It is like trusting the Divine only so far, and reaching a point beyond which faith is not allowed to go. The trust is, really, counterfeit all along.  This is essentially just another face of, and being one and the same with, being captive to an inner idol, this idol being that which denies the truly-existing reality of The Unseen at the root and crown of humanity. A lack of sincere belief in the Unseen is a crippling disease for humanity. 

There is a great deal of so-called belief in "human potential."  In my opinion, however, a lot (not all) of this is relegated to the understandings of western psychology which still today are extremely limited in their acknowledgement and understanding of states of awareness outside of consensually agreed-upon states.  The fact that subtle states of consciousness are most often pathologized by most of modern psychology is indicative of its (i.e., psychology) adolescent understanding of subtle states of awareness and an Unseen Root to humanity.   

As long as the model that Iqbal offers the world is forced to adhere to pre-existing models of understanding, the r-e-a-l vitality of the keys he shares will remained veiled from humanity.  Until the younger understandings take a seat at the foot of Allama Iqbal - who offers an older, perennial wisdom based entirely in a Quranic understanding - what he offers will remain hidden.

A choice must be made.  One is attractive and addictive.  One leads to another land, a land called Marghdeen.

Open Your Eyes to Yourself

Eid Mubarak to everyone!

The New Moon of Eid

New moon of Eid,
You cannot manage to evade
The eager view
Of people waiting for a sight of you.
A thousand glances have
Conspired to weave
A net to catch you in.
Open your eyes
To yourself. Do not grieve
That you are a bare outline.
Within you lies
A real full moon.

~ Allama Iqbal

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.

Marghdeen Now

In the Javid Nama, Allama Iqbal shares a journey through 7 stations. He is guided through these 7 by the spirit of Mawlana Rumi. One of the stations includes the planet Mars. Here Iqbal introduces Marghdeen.  Read this excellent abridged version of this Mars journey at:

 

http://therepublicofrumi.com/iqbal/works/javidnama06.htm 

Marghdeen is, we learn, a world that was the outcome of Barkhia, a Martian ancestor, refusing an offer made by Farzmurz to have a world free of any religious restriction. Indeed, this world offered by Farzmurz to Barkhia would be unknown to God. Barkhia resisted this offer, declined it, with the outcome being that God rewarded the descendants of of Barkhia with Marghdeen.

The people of Marghdeen are described as advanced in science and spirituality. What distinguishes them from earthly humans is that their knowledge is solely dedicated toward improving life. Selfless and simple, they are a race of beings who live soulfully. It is explained that, while the hearts of humans are contained in their bodies, the bodies of the Martians are contained in their hearts.

Marghdeen is described as a world in which no one is poor. No one is ruled by any other. A Martian astronomer offers a dramatic clarification, when asked about whether one might have a destiny of, for instance, being a beggar. He shares that there is no shortage of destinies, and that one only needs to ask God. He explains a secret of destiny: Change yourself and your world changes.

The Martian alludes to earthly humans, stating that they have forgotten themselves, and thus also genuine faith. Humans, he explains, conform to what is outside of themselves (including religion), while, however, leaving unsought and unrealized what is genuinely precious within themselves.

What was Iqbal communicating in this story of Marghdeen?

I propose that he points to a formula for how we human beings may choose to live. I also propose that he was not merely being poetic for the sake of sharing beautiful words. 

He was, I believe, giving something to us in this world, here and now, which, if understood, could be a pathway to a newly created world.  I emphasize that I do not view Marghdeen as merely poetic.  I believe Iqbal was pointing to something that is to be actually (for real) manifested in this place we call the world.

Iqbal believed strongly that all people should seek consensus with each other. That seems very achievable when we love one another. Indeed, love seems to be the way.  It is, I believe, the pathway toward creating a Marghdeen here and now.  

I believe that Marghdeen may consist of genuinely choosing to connect with other people through an ethos founded on Love, instead of through bodies. So we depart from connecting with other people as things. Rather, we connect on the basis of love which has the power to generate the offspring of sincere respect for the opinions of all people. The genuine respect for the opinions of all people is a manifestation of love (and not merely, in the absence of love, what is just tolerance).

In love, one’s personal ego would be eclipsed in the greater being of the collective awareness/consciousness (manifesting as genuine respect for the opinions of all people in one's culture).  Marghdeen can then arise because of a love-rooted acknowledgement and respect for other people.  One truly desires what is best for one's neighbor. 

This awareness of the larger, collective group (culture, nation, all the world) is not merely being aware of the collective self, but actually being a part of it, essentially dousing the personal ego in the waters of the larger, collective self. Adab brings us along this path, acting as a check and balance on one’s personal, willful, self, allowing the natural growth of something much larger to occur.  

Acknowledging our Common Source, and loving This Source (and all people as expressions of It), we can come together with a shared vision of principles upon which all people can agree. It is a like-mindedness of heart, and not merely another contrived way of putting forward a particularized agenda. 

If there's an agenda, it's one of love, adab, and proactively seeking consensus with everyone in one's culture, nation, world.  It is being big enough (by being small enough) to put aside one's personal agendized drive and, instead, holding the Good of All as supreme.

Quenching one’s personal ego by consciously placing it in the larger context, the larger self, of one’s culture, one’s nation, and even all of humanity essentially dethrones the head, and elevates the heart into her rightful, sovereign place. This replicates what is described in the Javid Nama of the bodies of the inhabitants of Marghdeen being inside their hearts.

Our hearts can indeed become like those described in Marghdeen. If they are now different than Marghdeen hearts, perhaps it's only because a very subtle, but powerful, shift (change) has not occurred.

Can we not enable this shift by requesting a new destiny?

Sain Zahoor: Pakistan's Mystic of Music

In the most current issue of the magazine "Sufi" (Issue 83, Summer 2012) is a brief interview/article entitled Sain Zahoor: Pakistan's Mystic of Music.  There were a few bits of this interview (by Sheniz Janmohamed) that stand out.

 

Lines were quoted presumably sung by Sain Zahoor at a 2011 music festival in Canada:

 

Parh parh ilm te faazil hoya

Te Kaday apnay aap nu parhya ee na

 

You read to become all knowledgeable

But you never read yourself

 

The interviewer asked a question about the sectarian violence in Pakistan.

 

Sain Zahoor responded: We are here for a short time, ultimately we are going to meet the dust.  When our souls fly off, what will count is our deeds, not the differences between us.

 

The article ended with a quote by Bulleh Shah.

 

When I acquired the knowledge of love,

I dreaded the mosque.

I fled to my Lord's dwelling,

Where a thousand sounds reverberate.