“They disguise in new forms and appear in each era, though Adam (Human) is the same in our time, Laat and Manaat are new (new idols and false gods). The one prostration (to Allah) which you find so difficult, grants freedom from a thousand prostration (to anyone other than Allah).”
~ Allamah Muhammad Iqbal
The more I study Allama Iqbal, the more I am convinced that the world has not seen an intellectual the like of him ever since! An academic of the highest calibre having studied Arabic and Philosophy at the university in Lahore (ranking 1st in Punjab and being awarded a Gold Medal), then travelling to Europe to study at the University of Cambridge and the University of Munich; as a PhD Scholar. Subsequently, he became well known as a Poet, Professor of Arabic & Philosophy and Author.
Thereafter, he wrote one of his best and most famous works, a poem in two parts - i. Shikwa (the Complaint) in 1909 and ii. Jawab-e-Shikwa (the Response to the Complaint) in 1913:
i. In Shikwa, Allama Iqbal gives a voice to the inner thoughts and feelings of the Muslims living under colonialism and complains to Allah; citing the achievements of the Muslims along with their role in history, and then mourns the fate of Muslims across the world at the time highlighting a doubt that Allah has let the Muslims down and not fulfilled His Promise. Immediately after Shikwa, controversies sparked as clerics refuted him and even labelled him a ‘deviant’ for being disrespectful and ungrateful to Allah.
ii. In Jawab-e-Shikwa, he poetically presents a direct response from Allah to the complaints and doubts raised in Shikwa. Thus, clarifying them with divine wisdom (based on Qur'anic references). Please note, this poem was not announced with the publication of the first, so when Allama Iqbal published it four years later, he suddenly became a religious authority for those who had criticised him and he received a lot of praise from scholars for his contribution to Islamic philosophy at a global level.
Allama Iqbal also entered politics as the President of the All India Muslim League and travelled extensively in the Middle East and Europe for international conferences. He focused on reviving the concept of ‘Khudi’ i.e. the Islamic Self. Regarded as the 'Poet of the East' and the 'Ideological Founder' of Pakistan; his poetry, philosophy and political thought is embedded in the History of Pakistan. And it all started with a dream; a dream that outlived the dreamer as he passed away nine years prior to it becoming a reality via the Independence of Pakistan as a Muslim State on the 14th of August 1947.
May Allah reward him with the highest level of Paradise, Allahuma Ameen.
Your Brother in Islam,
Usman Abdullah Malik
Thereafter, he wrote one of his best and most famous works, a poem in two parts - i. Shikwa (the Complaint) in 1909 and ii. Jawab-e-Shikwa (the Response to the Complaint) in 1913:
i. In Shikwa, Allama Iqbal gives a voice to the inner thoughts and feelings of the Muslims living under colonialism and complains to Allah; citing the achievements of the Muslims along with their role in history, and then mourns the fate of Muslims across the world at the time highlighting a doubt that Allah has let the Muslims down and not fulfilled His Promise. Immediately after Shikwa, controversies sparked as clerics refuted him and even labelled him a ‘deviant’ for being disrespectful and ungrateful to Allah.
ii. In Jawab-e-Shikwa, he poetically presents a direct response from Allah to the complaints and doubts raised in Shikwa. Thus, clarifying them with divine wisdom (based on Qur'anic references). Please note, this poem was not announced with the publication of the first, so when Allama Iqbal published it four years later, he suddenly became a religious authority for those who had criticised him and he received a lot of praise from scholars for his contribution to Islamic philosophy at a global level.
Allama Iqbal also entered politics as the President of the All India Muslim League and travelled extensively in the Middle East and Europe for international conferences. He focused on reviving the concept of ‘Khudi’ i.e. the Islamic Self. Regarded as the 'Poet of the East' and the 'Ideological Founder' of Pakistan; his poetry, philosophy and political thought is embedded in the History of Pakistan. And it all started with a dream; a dream that outlived the dreamer as he passed away nine years prior to it becoming a reality via the Independence of Pakistan as a Muslim State on the 14th of August 1947.
May Allah reward him with the highest level of Paradise, Allahuma Ameen.
Your Brother in Islam,
Usman Abdullah Malik
