THE PHILOSOPHY OF ‘ALLÿMAH IQBÿL: SOURCES AND EXPRESSION
IN
BÿNG-I-DARÿ

Introduction

A brief review of ‘All«mah Iqb«l's philosophy is necessary to understand his views on the subjects included in B«ng-i-Dar«. As a preliminary step it must be kept in mind that the history of philosophy does not show the concept of any philosopher with a completely original thought. All scholarship and knowledge is a continuously evolving process, which is considered to be the joint heritage of humanity on whom it is bestowed by God in the form of Divine revelations through His prophets, and spiritual leaders and, as intellect to other wise men. ‘All«mah Iqb«l is no exception to this. He also benefited from various sources in evolving and perfecting his thought. A review of these sources is necessary.

Two classes of philosophers have been recognized, viz. harmonizing and creative philosophers. The former establish harmony and relationship between the philosophies of their predecessors and reconcile their thoughts with those of contemporary philosophers. The latter group consists of philosophers who create their own philosophical thought about life and the universe. Western philosophy, which is based on the Greek philosophy, is now accepted as a chain of philosophical thought whose first link is Plato and the last is Hegel¹ . ‘All«mah Iqb«l has the distinction of producing the first partially organized philosophical system after Hegel. His system is harmonizing as well as creative. It is harmonizing in the sense that after critically examining the philosophical thoughts of his predecessors he established harmony between the thinking of the ancient and the modern Western philosophers. It is creative in the sense that after critical examination of his predecessors' philosophies he created his own philosophy which had a new dimension on account of being based on the Qur’«nic philosophy with emphasis on Khudâ and dynamism. It covers the Truth, the Universe, spiritual realities the Fard-i-K«miL (the Perfect Man) and Fard-i-Musaddiqah (the Proven Truthful Person). These components of his philosophy have resulted from his own Islamic background in combination with those components of other philosophies which were in harmony with the Holy Qur’«n and the Hadâth literature. After understanding these preliminary matters we are in a position to review the sources and the structure of his philosophy as exhibited in 'B«ng-i-Dar«.’