iqbal and mawdudi....

[armughal]

asked by maryam jameela

I know that Allama lqbal was the greatest Muslim poet of the 20th century some of whose works, even in English translation, are most inspiring but where exactly did he stand? Some scholars insist that he was a modernist par excellence and in support of this view, they can quote copiously from The Reconstruction of Religious Thought in Islam which tries to interpret Islamic doctrine according to the criteria of various contemporary European philosophers and enthusiastically praised the Chemist experiment in Turkey. Yet in his Persian and Urdu poetry, he criticized Western culture and its founders most severely and castigated those Muslims who abandoned their heritage to copy the Westerners. No skeptic or cynic, who a modernist must be, could write on Islamic themes, as lqbal did, with such pure and noble feelings. What I cannot understand about Allama lqbal is, why he contradicts himself in so many places? I can’t believe that he was really hypocritical; his voice rings much too sincere for that. Then what is the explanation?

answered by mawlana maududi

I do not deny the fact that Allama lqbal aptly criticized the West. and did a great service to the cause of Islam especially through his poetry. But unfortunately, as you already pointed out, his writings are not free from contra. Firstly, lqbal had been constantly passing through different stages of mental evolution during his life span and only in the last years of his life had been able to form in his mind a clear and unalloyed conception of Islam. In his earlier life, many extraneous ideas and influences were freely intermingled with his Islamic notions. Secondly, during a major portion of his life, instead or being a Muslim adhering to strictly cosmopolitan views, there was always a tinge of “Muslim nationalism” from which he could not escape. That is why he felt hesitant in condemning Muslim leaders and modernist thinkers. Sometimes, due to poetic license, he went to the extremes of rationalizing and supporting even their un-Islamic activities. Thirdly, you should bear in mind that many historical and political factors were at work to sustain deep-rooted sympathies for Turkey among the Indo-Pakistan Muslims. These Muslims, after being enslaved by British imperialism, had a sentimental attachment to this last vestige of their vanished glory and defended it in every possible way. As a reward for what Kemal Ataturk had done to save this tottering Muslim State, Muslim scholars and thinkers here were prepared to condone Kemal’s anti-Islamic and manifestly blasphemous deeds. With this mental and emotional background, lqbal also until 1930 went on offering apologies and explanations for Kemal Ataturk’s “reforms” and trying to find for them a place within the Islamic order. But at last even our poet’s patience seemed to be over-taxed and he began to condemn Kemalist innovations openly.

this is taken from a letter that is a part of the series of correspondances between mawlana maududi and maryam jameela (former margaret marcus)…
apart from what is asked and what is said, do u think maryam jameela or mawdudi himself hold a position in ‘ilm’ as did iqbal???
with all my respect for mawdudi, and the fact that i try to read all of his books, and that my first ever tafsir was tafheem-al-quran, i dont think mawdudi ranks higher than iqbal…
not only in his service to islam, but also as a thinker, as a scholar, i think iqbal surpasses mawdudi…
and i dont share mawdudi’s idea that iqbal had a personality that dwindled and changed and contradicted itself…

comments…

[rehman1]

Firstly, lqbal had been constantly passing through different stages of mental evolution during his life span and only in the last years of his life had been able to form in his mind a clear and unalloyed conception of Islam.

I think this says It all.

[rehman1]

Re: iqbal and mawdudi....

[QUOTE]
Originally posted by armughal: *
**asked by maryam jameela*

answered by mawlana maududi

this is taken from a letter that is a part of the series of correspondances between mawlana maududi and maryam jameela (former margaret marcus)....
apart from what is asked and what is said, do u think maryam jameela or mawdudi himself hold a position in 'ilm' as did iqbal????
with all my respect for mawdudi, and the fact that i try to read all of his books, and that my first ever tafsir was tafheem-al-quran, i dont think mawdudi ranks higher than iqbal....
not only in his service to islam, but also as a thinker, as a scholar, i think iqbal surpasses mawdudi....
and i dont share mawdudi's idea that iqbal had a personality that dwindled and changed and contradicted itself....

comments....
[/QUOTE]

Both are Great. No need for comparasion.
Both were dealing with different issue.

Ekk Musalamaan Pakistan ke leye worried thaa.
The other one for all of the Ummah.
That's just my opinion.

[ThandyMazaq]

dont hold iqbal as a nabi that he cant be wrong on some issues or change his mind at some point in his life. i have not read much about iqbal, but i have read a lot of his poems and i see in them a clear love and respect for Allah, his rasuul :saw:, the companions of the rasul of allah :saw: and the general islamic ummah. so probably he did have views about some issues in the begining such as modernity in islam which he later in his life rejected, it does not change the fact that iqbal really did great things for islam and wrote many poems which show his love for allah and his rasul :saw: and i respect him for that. seconldy mawdudi too was human, i have known some of his views that even i, just a student of deen, can clearly say were flawed beyond justification, but then again, he also did great deeds for islam and the people of pakistan.
the point is that we all have shortcomings but we all can still do great deeds for islam and have hope of salvation inshallah on the day of judgement.
and allah is the source of all guidance.

[Faisal]

May sound silly, but who is Maryam Jameela? A bio or a link will be appreciated.

Thanks

[armughal]

Maryam Jameela (Margaret Marcus), an american girl, who mbraced Islam and moved to Pakistan, after being invited by Mawdudi due to her problems in living in the american society which at that time had no muslims....

she is an author of many books and articles....
she started writign for Islam even before her conversion (which was at an age of around 26)....

[rehman1]

*Originally posted by Faisal: *
May sound silly, but who is Maryam Jameela? A bio or a link will be appreciated.

Thanks

you can access all the letters here.
i have read a few. buhat sincerety se lekhee gayee
heee.

http://www.islamland.org/modules.php?name=Content&pa=showpage&pid=30

[armughal]

Re: Re: iqbal and mawdudi....

[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by rehman1: *

Ekk Musalamaan Pakistan ke leye worried thaa.
The other one for all of the Ummah.
That's just my opinion.
[/QUOTE]

neither Iqbal, nor Mawdudi, as I see them, were limited to geographical or language barriers....
they held within them passion to serve the whole humanity in general and the muslim ummah in particular....

[rehman1]

Re: Re: Re: iqbal and mawdudi....

[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by armughal: *

neither Iqbal, nor Mawdudi, as I see them, were limited to geographical or language barriers....
they held within them passion to serve the whole humanity in general and the muslim ummah in particular....
[/QUOTE]

OK boss.