Tagheyyur.

The 9th batch of Introduction to Iqbal Studies started this month and I am co-facilitating it with my honorable teacher Mr. Khurram Ali Shafique. This post is about my long journey at Marghdeen Learning Centre; first as a participant and then actively working for it. Interestingly, I was in the first batch of Introduction to Iqbal Studies in June 2011 when it all started. and at that time I had never imagined that I will be one day assisting my teacher run this very course. I remember how I felt when I started studying at MLC. It was the first time I took up virtual learning seriously [apart from my Spanish online lessons]. I was skeptic of some of the ideas presented in the lessons but our teacher was ever so patient and led me to the point where I became devoted to that very idea, the city of Marghdeen . Looking back at myself in my fresh year I was unrelenting, rigid and well, n aïve . Running this course with my teacher is proving to be so healthy, spiritually! It feels ...

"God", says Allama Iqbal, "is the birthright of every human being." He further states that there is fear in nature and man must be liberated from fear and thus become conscious of himself or herself since there's no mediator. ( Islam as Moral and Political Ideal ) In another* place he states, Tauheed is the manifestation of solidarity, equality and freedom.  Now think about what if each human being on this planet starts exercising this right.   * Our online course, Wisdom of Moses, explains this principle quite beautifully. you can also check this principle here  and here .

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...

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...