Tagheyyur.

Do you think that our conception of God influences how we see our role in the universe?  How, or how not? This was the question asked in our recent lesson. This lesson gave us a chance to explore the possibilities of a human in the light of Iqbal's third lecture in  Reconstruction of Religious Thought in Islam .  There are five elements in the Islamic conception of God, i.e. God is (a) the Infinite Ego; (b) Creative; (c) Knowing; (d) Powerful; and (e) Eternal What I understood from this lecture (and Mr. Khurram's discussion)  is that  the human  reflects in his actions and deeds whom he worships.  The character and color of the one who is worshiped are  automatically transferred into the worshiper. If someone worships  a mere statue then  ultimately they retain the habits of [the material] of their god. This is the case if someone worships money, and could be why the hypocrites are detested so much be...

The lecture 'Islam as a Moral and Political Ideal' was delivered at the annual session of Anjuman Himayat-e-Islam in 1909 and published in The Observer, Lahore, and the Hindustan Review, Deccan, in April and December that year respectively. "The eternal proposition regulating the structure of Islam is that there is a fear in nature and the human being must be liberated from fear and thus become conscious of himself or herself as a source of power; there's no mediator since God is the "birthright" of every human being. "A strong will in a strong body" is the ethical ideal of Islam, completely missing in the Indian Muslim; a great personality is needed for ethical revival of a people. An educational system reflecting its national ideals is the next best option.  Democracy is the most important political value in Islam while two fundamental principles regulating its political structures are that (1) the law of God is supreme, since the authority...

Talha Ahsan 'has written the letters to the wider world which are his poems'. As you will know, I am not in any way a fan of arguments which claim that artists are more sensitive than others, or indeed liable to be more insane than others. I do agree – and find it reasonable to assert – that any profession, or longterm activity, can leave its mark on the practitioner, physically, mentally and emotionally. Forensic anthropologists can identify archers from wear patterns on their teeth; the interested disinterest with which doctors and surgeons can view their fellows is a recognisable trait; as are the impulses towards control and improvement which manifest themselves in educationalists. The arts, if I can be brief with my definition, are about communication. We can argue later about pieces of art which try not to communicate and why I think they're not really pieces of art at all and more like telegrams from people who have issues with commitment. Put simply, someone...

My favorite passage from Javed Namah, an epic story told by Allama Iqbal. “In this world there is no beggar,” said the Martian Astronomer, “Nor anyone is poor; no slave, no master – no ruler and thus none dominated.” I said, “Being born a beggar or a destitute, to be ruled or suppressed, is all by the decree of God. He alone is the architect of destiny. Destiny cannot be improved by reasoning.” “If you are suffering at the hands of destiny,” replied the Martian astronomer with a visible anger, “It is not unfair to ask God for a new one. He has no shortage of destinies for you. Failure to understand the mystical significance of destiny has led the inhabitants of the Earth to lose their identities. Here is a hint to the secret of destiny: change yourself and your destiny will change with you. If you are dust, you shall be scattered by the wind. But if you become solid as a rock, you can break the glass. If you are dewdrop, then you are destined to fall but if you are an ocean, t...

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 psychologic...