"Iqbal
begins and ends with the belief in tauheed"
This statement, at first sight, may look like an over simplification,
but, in fact, it is not. For Iqbal the implications of the
KALIMA "LA ILAHA IL LAL LAAH". "There is no
god, but GOD" are very profound and far reaching, and
provide a basis both for theory and philosophy.
As professor Anne Mary Schimmel observed;
" Iqbal has built his system upon the principle of tauheed, the
acknowledgement of the absolute uniqueness of the GOD which is
reflected in the unity of the individual life, and the unity
of the religio-political groups.
The internationalism which Iqbal finds implicate in Islam and
to which he refers untiringly in his writings, derives from the
idea of divine unity.
As Iqbal points out in his lectures that Islamic culture " finds
the foundation of world unity in the principle of tauheed. Islam,
as polity, is only a practical means of making this principle
a living factor in the intellectual and emotional life of mankind.
It demands loyalty to God, not to thrones. And since God is ultimate
spiritual basis of all life, loyalty to God virtually amounts
to man's loyalty to his own ideal nature”
The implications of the principle of tauheed when applied to
the collective life of the Muslims are worked out in considerable
details in RAMOOZ-e- BAKHUDI.
Iqbal points out that unity of the Muslims not dependant on ties
of country or kinship, but on the principle of divine unity,
which is “a formative factor for the unity of mankind”.
Thus the brother hood of Islam transcending all barriers of race,
color or nationality is directly driven from the idea of tauheed." From
the unity of the all inclusive ego who creates and sustains
all egos" says Iqbal, “Follows the essential unity
of all mankind"
"The essence of tauheed as working idea," says Iqbal, " is
equality, solidarity and freedom.” Islam doesn’t
recognize the “tyrant overlord ship" of either “the
scepter monarch " or " the surplice priest". The
prophet of Islam translated the principles deriving from God's
unity and sovereignty in to terms of actual living:
Iqbal also applies the idea of the unity of God to the unity
of the mind and body -an ideal realized in the sphere of Mars
in Javaid Nama:
If body and spirit could be regarded as one then, there would
be no need to separate religion from state.
The ideal millat, in Iqbal's view, beginning from the principle
of tauheed, recognizes the organic unity of ma's life and doesn’t
not seek to bifurcate it into mutually exclusive compartments
either in individual life of in collective life.
Because it preserves the wholeness of life, creative tauheed
produces both outstanding individuals and nations.
In Ramooz-e-baikhudi, Iqbal gives as a " summary of purpose
of the poem: a commentary on suraah CXII
entitled " at tauheed".which has been called " the
essence of the Quran ". The suraah reads" say God is
one God". The eternal God:
He begetteth not, neither is He begotten, and there is not anyone
like unto HIM". Iqbal takes the various parts of the suraah
and delineates the philosophical implication of each part in
practical terms.
Taking the first part of the suraah, Iqbal exhorts the Muslims to believe in
unity and to translate their belief in to action so that their faith becomes
a living thing.
The second part of the suraah deals with God self-subsistence like God, a Muslim
must not depend on things or person out side him self. Iqbal's voice rings
out loud and clear.
Individuals
and nations attain spiritual perfection only if they guard
selfhood, jealousy and resist assimilation.
The third
part of the suraah tells a Muslim that he not to set store by
his lineage since God “Begot not, nor was begotten".
what binds the Muslims to gather is love , not ties of blood
.The last part of the suraah affirms that God has no equal: If
the Muslims posses fortified ego , then they too can become " an
unequlised people." Able, like the perfect man to command
all things.
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