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Above all, a Muslim

And above it all, Iqbal was a Muslim.

And he was most unapologetic in the love of his Deen – and of his God, and of the Qur’an, and of the messenger of God, Muhammad, Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam, and the spirit of liberty, truth, equality and justice they inspire.

And he wore this love on his sleeve and he wrote and sang about it with a voice, energy, insight, sincerity, devotion and enthusiasm that are matched by few before him or since.

And he was a Muslim who loved and respected all Muslims, regardless of their Madhaahib and Masaalik – regardless of whether they were Bareilvis, Deobandis, Ahle Hadith, Hanafis or Shafi-‘is.

And regardless of their racial, national and ethnic labels such as Sayyid, Shaikh, Afghan, Irani or Turani.

He chided the Muslims for their narrow-mindedness and bigotry; for their factionalism, divisions and strife; for their laziness, ineptitude and incompetence; for their ignorance of their Deen, their heritage and their culture; and for their social, economic and political backwardness.

And he warned them, in the starkest terms, against becoming worshippers of the idols of race, tribe, country, wealth and power.

Addressing the people of what used to be united India, he said – my paraphrase:

“You will be wiped out from the face of the earth if you fail to understand  the complexities of this world or the precariousness of your own situation. No one will even remember your story.”

He said – in his most magnificent Urdu:

“Na samjhogay to mit jaa-o-gay ai Hindostan waalo,

Tumhari daastaan tak bhi na hogi daastaanon main!”

And how right he was!

A Pioneering Thinker and Trailblazer

Iqbal was a pioneering thinker and trailblazer. Iqbal was there, painting a powerful message of liberation, dignity, education and awakening on the horizon of Islam and Muslims, and the world, before a lot of others were there – standing tall and almost alone, right at the turn of the century – Ala Ra’si Kulli Qarn, as Allah’s beloved Rasul, Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam, once put it.

Iqbal was there before there was Hasanul Banna; or Abul Kalam Azad; or Muhammad Ali Jauhar; or Muhammad Ali Jinnah; or Abul A’la Maududi. And they were all affected and influenced by him directly or indirectly.

Before all these people made their mark on Muslim history, there was Iqbal. And Iqbal’s thinking, understanding and elucidation of the role of Islam and Muslims in human life and history blazoned the pathway for others to follow.

Right at the top of the 20^th Century, or the 14^th Century Hijri, straddling them both like a colossus – ‘Ala Ra’si Kulli Qarn, as the Hadith says – Iqbal valiantly, and almost single-handedly, tried to breathe a new life into the battered body and faltering spirit of the Ummah: the Muslim people.

Loved Allah and His Rasul, Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam

Iqbal was a man who loved Allah, and Allah’s Rasul, Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam, and the Qur’an, and Muslims – and the world and all the people that Allah created.

As a result, at one level, Iqbal was all Deen, all Qur’an, all Rasul, Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam, all Haqq, all Aakhirat – the next world.

At another level, Iqbal was all humanity, all Muslim, all practical everyday Islam, all Dunya – this world – all at the same time and in the same breath.

In terms of geography, Iqbal was a child of that lovely land that so captivated the heart of the Mughal emperor Babar and which we all know as Kashmir – but he was also from Punjab, the noble land which Hazrat Baba Farid made his home.

Iqbal was not a Pakistani – for he died before the creation of Pakistan – but he was the man who dreamed the dream that later became Pakistan. He had wonderful Muslim parents but he never forgot his Hindu roots.

His thought and poetry embodied the advice Hazrat Baba Farid is reported to have given to his Murid and Khalifah, Hazrat Khawja Nizamuddin:

“Be like a big tree under whose shade vast multitudes of humanity can gather and find rest and comfort!”

More than anything else – and he said so himself – his ideas and words were nothing but a reflection of the Qur’an.

To prove that point, he begged Allah Subhanahu wa Ta’ala and said:

“Humiliate and dishonor me on the Day of Judgment! … “

“If my words contain anything other than the Qur’an … “

And he said this in Farsi language:

“War ba-harfam ghair-e Qur’an muzmarast …”

“Roozi mah-shar khaar-o ruswa kun mora …”

Shaa’ire-Insaniyyat, Shaa’ir-e-Kaa-i-naat

His admirers have conferred upon him the title of Shaa’ir-e-Mashriq, meaning the Poet of the East, as if his poetry was limited to the East.

And as if the West had a greater poet than him!

Those who look at him from the point of view of Islam and Muslims would call him Shaa’ir-e-Islam: Poet of Islam.

Or Shaa’ir-e-Ummat: Poet of the Timeless and Global Muslim Nation.

Or Shaa’ir-e-Deen: Poet of the culture and way of life that is Islam.

Or Shaa’ir-e-Qawm: Poet of his People.

Or Shaa’ir-e-Millat: Poet of the Muslim People.

But those who would consider his work in the light of the work of everyone else in the world, and would consider the breadth, reach and universality of his vision and his concerns, would accept nothing less than Shaa’ire-Insaniyyat: Poet of Humanity.

Or Shaa’ir-e-‘Aalam: Poet of the World.

Or Shaa’ir-e-Kaa-inaat: Poet of the Universe.

Shaa’ir-e-Qur’an

Personally, when I read the Qur’an and then I read Iqbal’s poetry, I ask myself, isn’t his work really Qur’an in poetry? And shouldn’t we all be calling him Shaa’ir-e-Qur’an: Poet of the Qur’an.

This becomes clearer when we understand why it is that some people find difficulty navigating Iqbal’s poems. It is not because his language is difficult, which it is in some ways, but because his poetry is full of references to Aayats, passages, events and expressions from the Qur’an.

Iqbal was a poet who wrote powerfully in Urdu and still more powerfully in Farsi – Persian. But for anyone who has any sense of language and literature, Iqbal’s poetry is among the finest in the world – in any language or culture.

Iqbal Loved All People – Muslim and Non-Muslim

Iqbal loved Muslims. But at the same time Iqbal also loved all people, Muslim and non-Muslim.

He was a Muslim who loved God, but he was also a human being who loved God’s creation.

He was a visionary and a thinker, a poet and a philosopher, a leader and a reformer, of extraordinary sagacity, wisdom, open-mindedness, talent, reach, depth, perspicacity and insight – and complexity.

Therefore, it does not matter who you are, and it doses not matter where you come from, or what your personal, literary, linguistic, national, ethnic, political or cultural affiliation or identity is, you owe it to yourself to know Iqbal.

Nor does it matter what your ‘Aqeedah or Madh-hab or Maslak or Jama’at is or who your Shaikh, Peer, Murshid or Murabbi is. You still owe it to yourself to know Iqbal.

If you are from Kashmir, you must know Iqbal, for Kashmir had no greater son.

If you are a Pakistani, you must know Iqbal, for Pakistan owes its very existence to Iqbal.

If you are an Indian, you must know Iqbal, for Iqbal was an Indian who sang proudly and touchingly of India and its wonders.

If you are an Arab, you must know Iqbal, for it was Iqbal who sang about Arabia as perhaps few people were able to do.

He said – in paraphrase:

“My song may be Indian,

But my tune is from Hijaz.”

As he put it in Urdu language:

“Naghmah Hindi hai to kya,

Lai to Hijazi hai mayri”

I think I got that one right?

If, on the other hand, you are from the United Kingdom, you must be particularly proud of Iqbal, for Iqbal was an alumnus of Cambridge University.

And if you are from any part of the Western world, you must admire Iqbal, for Iqbal’s Ph.D. was from Germany – and the West.

If you love language and poetry, you must know Iqbal, for Iqbal was a master of both in both Urdu and Farsi.

Muslims Must Know Iqbal – and So Must Non-Muslims

If you are a Muslim, you must know Iqbal, for Iqbal was the best friend, fan and spokesperson Muslims had in a long time.

If you are someone who is actively engaged in serving Islam and Muslims in some organized form or fashion in any part of the world, you must know Iqbal, regardless of your particular language, region or organizational affiliation, for as a true and dedicated servant of the Deen of Allah, Iqbal had few peers.

Everyone everywhere must know Iqbal, for Iqbal was a beacon of light in a foggy, moonless night that kept a near-solitary vigil over the stormy seas of Muslim and human life and events around the world.

Like Ibrahim, Alaihis Salatu was-Salam, Iqbal stood almost alone: he was very nearly the lone Islamic thinker, theorist, reformer and visionary, of his class and caliber, before many of the other thinkers, theorists, reformers and leaders made their appearance.

And like Ibrahim, Alaihis Salam, Iqbal was a nation – an Ummat – unto himself.

Therefore, how embarrassing, painful and disappointing it is, both as a Muslim and as a human being – and as someone blessed by God with a touch of taste for language and literature and with a shade of concern for the Qur’an, Islam, Muslims and the people of the world – that anyone in the world today, Muslim or non-Muslim, Arab or Indian, Punjabi or Kashmiri, man or woman, from the East or from the West, should ask: Who in the world is or was Iqbal!

That Other Forgotten Muslim Genius, Ghalib

When someone asks me that embarrassing question, I can do no better than turn to that master of irony and eloquence, Asadullah Khan Ghalib – that other genius that Muslims and the world of Islam produced in the Indian subcontinent in the 19^th Century.

Like Iqbal, Ghalib also wrote some of the most marvelous and magical poetry that one can find in any language or culture.

And like Iqbal, Ghalib also wrote in both Urdu and Farsi – the two major Muslim and Islamic languages of the time after Arabic.

Here is how Ghalib put it somewhat sarcastically:

“Poochtay hain woh kay Ghalib kaun hai,

Ko-i batlaaye kay ham batlaayen kya?”

Paraphrased, it means:

“They innocently ask, “Who, pray, is Ghalib?”

Will someone tell me what I should say in reply?”

So, what is your excuse – regardless of who you are and regardless of what your ‘Aqeedah or Maslak or affiliation or organization or Jama’at or background or culture or nationality or language is – for not knowing Iqbal?

And what do you expect me to tell you?

END

Copyright © 2004 Syed Husain Pasha

Dr. Syed Husain Pasha is an educator and scholar of exceptional 
talent, training and experience. He can be reached at DrSyedPasha [at] 
AOL [dot] com or www.IslamicSolutions.com