Allama Iqbal’s poetry is a profound analysis of the history of human thought and action. Through his extraordinary insight, he derived multiple far-reaching conclusions from historical events, including some outcomes that had yet to occur. This verse of his encapsulates this truth:
حادثہ جو ابھی پردۂ افلاک میں ہے
عکس اس کامرے آ ئینہ ادراک میں ہے
Iqbal paid special attention to the history of the Muslims in the Indian subcontinent. He observed that this vast region served as a grand stage for Muslim thought and action for a long time, and they successfully established a magnificent Islamic society whose prominent cultural marks are indelible. Although Muslims here were fewer in number compared to other communities and were scattered across various regions, the belief in monotheism always united them in the bond of Islam. Several Muslim dynasties ruled here for a thousand years, with the Ghaznavids, Ghurids, Khaljis, Tughlaqs, Lodis, and Mughals being the most renowned. Although these governments were named after their respective families, they were based on Islamic principles, and they strived to preserve and propagate Islamic values, earning them the title of Islamic governments. Their rulers were Muslims who considered Islam the identity and distinguishing feature of their governance. They implemented Islamic laws in their courts, established madrasas and mosques, and promoted Islamic teachings, traditions, and the language and literature of Muslims. Many rulers honoured and respected Sufis and scholars, seeking their guidance. Sufis always urged the rulers to act with justice and kindness towards their subjects.
After Muhammad bin Qasim, Mahmood Ghaznavi opened the doors of India for Muslims, declaring Delhi the capital of the Muslim government. All Muslim kings and rulers identified their rule with the religion of Islam, each considering themselves promoters and protectors of the faith and its greatness. This is evident from the titles of many sultans, such as Muizz-ud-Din Ghori, Qutb-ud-Din Aibak, Shams-ud-Din Iltutmish, Rukn-ud-Din Firoz Shah, Ghiyas-ud-Din Balban, Ala-ud-Din Muhammad Shah, Zahir-ud-Din Babur, Nasir-ud-Din Humayun, Jalal-ud-Din Akbar, Nur-ud-Din Jahangir, Shahab-ud-Din Shah Jahan, and Muhi-ud-Din Aurangzeb Alamgir. This shows that upon ascending the throne, they insisted on always striving to protect and promote Islam. If any king ever neglected religious matters, the Sufis and scholars would warn him and earnestly try to correct him. Sufis like Nizam-ud-Din Auliya, Baha-ud-Din Zakariya, Sharaf-ud-Din Bu Ali Qalandar, Jalal-ud-Din Bukhari, Sheikh Ahmad Sirhandi, and Shah Waliullah continued to urge the rulers to comply with Islamic commands.
Among the great rulers of the subcontinent whom Allama Iqbal praised are Mahmood Ghaznavi, Aurangzeb Alamgir, Ahmad Shah Abdali, and Tipu Sultan. These were the individuals who always kept the flag of monotheism high and fought against false powers. In the 18th century, when the magnificent Muslim society fell into chaos and disorder due to the moral decadence of kings and nobles, power slipped into the hands of the British. After this, the awakening of Muslims saw significant contributions from Sir Syed Ahmed Khan, Shibli Nomani, Maulana Hali, Akbar Allahabadi, and most notably, Allama Iqbal. Considering the historical role of the Hindu nation and its contemporary dangerous ambitions, Allama Iqbal dedicated his intellectual and practical energies to protecting the religion, lives, and culture of Muslims. He said:
“The future generations must be our concern so that their lives do not become like the Gond and Bhil tribes, gradually losing their religion and culture in this country.”
Allama Iqbal proposed the idea of an independent state for Muslims in the subcontinent to protect and sustain the thousand-year-old Islamic civilization. For him, religion without power is merely a philosophy. He stated:
“If we want Islam to remain a living cultural force in this country, it is necessary for it to establish its centrality in a specific region.”
Iqbal could not conceive of a Muslim life without Islam. He sought to protect the freedom of Muslims solely for the implementation of Islam. He said:
“If the aim of Muslims in India is merely freedom and economic welfare, and the protection of Islam is not a part of this goal, as today’s nationalists suggest, then Muslims will never succeed in their objectives.”
In our literary history, Allama Iqbal is the greatest poet of the freedom of the homeland. His poetic compositions resonate with the melodies of liberty and independence. However, he could not even imagine the freedom of the homeland without Islam. He proclaimed with great pride:
If the result of India’s independence is that it remains the same as it is, or becomes even worse, then the Muslim curses such freedom of the country a thousand times. Allama Iqbal had demanded the formation of an independent Islamic state in the sub-continent simply so that the Islamic Shariat could be implemented so that as a result every person could get a guarantee of religious and safe livelihood. In this regard, he wrote in a letter to the Quaid-i-Azam………. After a long and deep study of the Islamic Shari’ah, I have come to the conclusion that if the Islamic law is understood and implemented in a reasonable manner, every A person may be satisfied by at least a modest livelihood, but in the absence of an independent Islamic state or a few such states, the implementation of Islamic Shari’ah is impossible in this country.
He made it clear to the Muslims that the only way for the salvation of the Muslims in the subcontinent is for them to give up the concept of Indian nationality and make Islamic nationality their identity because only Islam can protect them from the present disastrous situation. He mentioned the great favours of Islam on the Muslims and said: Islam was the biggest ingredient that affected the lives of the Muslims of India. Thanks to Islam, the hearts of the Muslims were filled with those feelings and emotions on which the life of the parties depended and from which the disparate and dispersed people gradually united and took the form of a distinct and definite nation and a specific moral consciousness within them. is born.
The greatest achievement of Hakeem-ul-Ummat, on the basis of which Pakistan was established, is that he completely negated the concept of Indian nationality and created the consciousness of Islamic nationality among Muslims. Iqbal was strongly opposed to geographical patriotism because according to him it is the biggest obstacle in the way of national unity. Describing Islam as a life-giving force, he said: Islam is a living force that can free the human mind from the constraints of race and country, which believes that religion has an exceptional status in the life of both the individual and the state. And who believes that the destiny of Islam is in his hands. Islam as a religion is comprehensive of religion and politics, even separating one aspect from the other aspect is killing the facts of Islam.
For Iqbal, Islam is the life of a Muslim, no Muslim can maintain his existence outside of Islam. He said: The Islamic concept is our eternal home or homeland in which we live our lives, which is what England is to the British and Germany is to the Germans, Islam is to us Muslims.
Explaining the importance of Muhammadiyah’s mission, he said: According to our belief, as a religion, Allah Almighty revealed Islam through revelation, but the existence of Islam as a society or a nation is entirely due to the blessed nature of the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him.
لوح بھی تو قلم بھی تو تیرا وجود الکتاب
گنبد آبگینہ رنگ تیرے محیط میں حباب
شوکت سنجر و سلیم تیرے جلال کی نمود
فقر جنید و بایزید تیرا جمال بے نقاب
تیری نگاہ ناز سے دونوں مراد پاگئے
عقلِ غیاب وجستجوعشق حضور و اضطراب
شوق تیرا اگرنہ ہو میری نماز کا امام
میرا قیام بھی حجاب میرا سجود بھی حجاب
تیرہ و تار ہے جہاں گردش آفتاب سے
طبع جہاں تازہ کر جلوہ بے نقاب سے
( Pen and Tablet are yours, your existence is written.
The dome of water colour sky is like a bubble in your ocean
Glory of kings Sanjar and Saleem is the expression of your glory
Humbleness of Junaid and Bayazid is the expression of your grace
Your eye has taught wisdom and love deep
If your fondness is not the key of my prayers
My standing (in prayer) is worthless as well as my prostrations
The world is darkened due to motion of sun
Refresh the memory of mankind by another appearance.)
In 1919, he wrote in a letter: I have done everything I could in the way of God, but my heart wishes that what happened should have been more than what happened and that my life should have been spent in the service of the Holy Prophet ﷺ.
Iqbal was a firm believer in the eternal truths of Islam. He spent his life in the interpretation and explanation of Islam so that Muslims can enjoy its endless blessings according to the requirements of the present age. According to Hazrat Allama, Islam is the best defender and protector of Muslims. Islam does not demand protection from Muslims but guarantees them protection. The protection of the country, nation and life and property of Muslims is only in commitment to Islam. He said:
One lesson that I have learned from the history of Islam is that Islam has sustained the lives of Muslims in recent times, Muslims have not protected Islam. has been focused only on finding a modern social system and it seems logically impossible to ignore such a social system in this effort, which aims at the unity of all caste, rank, colour and race. Discrimination is to be erased.
Islam respects the rights of all human beings. In this religion, there is no distinction between black and red Arabs, foreigners, servants and masters. Iqbal strongly rejects the ignorant notion that Islam should be removed from social status and made into a personal code. He said in his historical sermon of 1930: Do you also want Islam as a moral and political ideal? The same fate that happened to Christianity in the West? Is it possible for us to retain the universal Islam as a moral imagination but instead of its political system adopt those national systems in which there is no possibility of interference of religion? .The religious objective of Islam is not separate from its social objective, both are one. Seeing the plight of Muslims in India, Allama Iqbal tried hard to free them from the life of slavery, even during his studies in Europe, he mentioned this in his writings:
زِمستانی ہوامیں گرچہ تھی شمشیرکی تیزی
نہ چھوٹے مجھ سے لندن میں آدابِ سحرخیزی
کہیں سرمایہ محفل تھی میری گرم گفتاری
کہیں سب کوپریشاں کرگئی میری کم آمیزی
زمامِ کاراگرمزدورکے ہاتھوں میں ہوپھرکیا
طریقِ کوہکن میں بھی وہی حیلے ہیں پرویزی
جلالِ پادشاہی ہوکہ جمہوری تماشاہو
جداہودیں سیاست سے تو رہ جاتی ہے چنگیزی
Although there was a sharp sword in the winter air
No more manners than me in London
Somewhere there was a capital gathering, my warm conversation
Somewhere everyone was disturbed by my lack of communication
The control of the work was again in the hands of the labourer
Parvezi has the same tricks in the Kohkan method
May it be the glory of the kingdom or the democratic spectacle
Genghis Khan is left with political differences
Allama Iqbal’s complete belief was that Islam as a religion is a combination of religion and politics. They are indispensable to each other. If you give up one, you will eventually have to give up the other. I do not think that any Muslim would be willing for a moment to consider such a system of politics based on any patrimonial or national principle that is contrary to the principled unity of Islam.
According to Hazrat Allama, Islam is the constitution of welfare and peace for the world of humanity. Islam is a social system that stands on the pillars of freedom and equality and is the greatest blessing for human respect at this time. Islam demands loyalty only to God, not to the throne and crown, and since God is the spiritual basis of all life, obedience to Him actually means that man obeys his own true nature.
According to Hazrat Iqbal, Islam is definitely looking forward to a universal empire that will be above racial distinctions and in which there will be no room for personal and absolute kings and capitalists. Hazrat Allama said with his strength of faith in the darkest days of the Muslims:
The powerful forces in the world are often working against Islam, but I have faith in the claim of
هُوَ الَّذِي أَرْسَلَ رَسُولَهُ بِالْهُدَىٰ وَدِينِ الْحَقِّ لِيُظْهِرَهُ عَلَى الدِّينِ كُلِّهِ وَلَوْ كَرِهَ الْمُشْرِكُونَ
It is He who sent His Messenger with guidance and the religion of truth to manifest it over all religion, although those who associate others with Allah dislike it. That the forces of Islam will be successful and victorious.
آسماں ہو گا سحر کے نور سے آئینہ پوش
اور ظلمت رات کی سیماب ہو جائے گی
اس قدر ہو گی ترنم آفریں بادِ بہار
نکہت خوابیدہ غنچے کی نوا ہو جائے گی
آملیں گے سینہ چاکانِ وطن سے سینہ چاک
بزمِ گل کی ہم نفس بادِ صبا ہو جائے گی
پھر دلوں کو یاد آجائے گاپیغامِ سجود
پھر جبیں خاکِ حرم سے آشنا ہو جائے گی
شب گریزاں ہوگی آخر جلوۂ خورشید سے
یہ چمن معمور ہو گا نغمۂ توحید سے
The sky will be mirrored with dawn light
And the darkness will turn into night
So much will be the song of the spring wind
Nakhat will become the dream of the dreamer
Let’s meet Sena Chakan-e-Watan with Sena Chaak
Bizm-i-Gul’s soul will become the wind-Saba
Then hearts will remember the message of prostration
Then when it becomes familiar with the soil of the Haram
The night will fade away from the last rays of the sun
This garden will be filled with the song of Tawheed
The path shown by Hazrat Allama Iqbal for the protection and survival of Muslims, Quaid-e-Azam took the caravan of Muslims and followed it and in a very short period of time succeeded in achieving the destination i.e. Pakistan………Islam’s Pakistan Ever-living in Pakistan. Quaid-e-Azam paid tribute to Allama Iqbal and said:
No one understood Islam better than Iqbal, I have never seen anyone more faithful and passionate about Islam than him. Iqbal will live as long as Islam lives and no doubt Islam always lives and will live. In today’s blessing like Pakistan, the love of a great poet like Allama Iqbal demands that we show the Pakistan that the painter dreamed of as its interpretation. Spend your days and nights to fulfill the great reward that was promised to him, that we may take the servants of Allah on this earth from the slavery of the servants and bring them back into the slavery of Allah, i.e. the shadow of the upper hand of the complete Qur’an and Sunnah. I run the system of this country. May Allah be with us.
