The eyes that cannot see the beauty of Allah are better to be blind. Maulana Jalal-u-din Rumi
The book is a treasure trove. Thephilosophical nuances with special reference to Iqbal, Maulana Rumi, and Sartreprovide crystal clear concepts and the process of conceptualization regardingthe nature of man with God. Man as vice-regent, his affinity with the materialand the metaphysics, God as the Creator, His reason behind the creation etc.Thus this exceptional scholarly manual is helpful to all those coteries ofphilosophy in general and those who deal with Islamic philosophy in particular.Prof Kazmi justifies comparatively the serious issues without the slightestincoherence in demonstration.
It discusses the concept of God under thepurview of Dr Iqbal, whose all philosophy is yoked upon the Quran and Islamiccannon called Shariah. Here, Prof Kazmi optimistically commenting comes-up withDr Iqbal’s faith that God is above all without partners and noble in His Divineplans and decisions. A formless entity He is as the Creator and Re-creator. Allissues whether physical or metaphysical are submitted to Him. Man is subjectedto ills and pains, death and decay, elevation and retrogression, while as Godis beyond such limitations which make Him-Lord, Creator, Sustainer andDestroyer, Omnipotent and the Cherisher, and Merciful. None and nothing goes wrongand defective in His issues. This is what the absolute must be. Everywhere isseen no form of Him and thus He is above all the anthropomorphic state. Thesame concept in Bharma-Sutra is mentioned.
God is only One and no second of Him isthere, not at all, not at all, even of the least limit. It also mentions meritin Yajur-Veda: ‘He has no Form (Reflection) 32:2. Quran clearly mentions Hismajesty: No object of the world resembles Him. He does see and listen toeverything (42: 11). Dr Iqbal concedes emphatically as a philosopher thatinactiveness is not the attribute of God; it lies in the nature of creation.The existence of God is purged with defeats and the whole universe with eventsand occurrences has not reached on the station of whole, it is Becoming inBecoming and will be Becoming and Becoming for the cause and effect cycle is onrun.
The concept of time and space has beenbeautifully argued in the book.
God is Supreme in super-time andSuper-space. So even at the stage of high elevation, man cannot contrive toshun the bodily fate and become God, never can he be. Time Space, Causality andDuration are mere objects of interpretation of the world phenomena seen, shown,felt and assumed thereof and however the same belonging to God are Immeasurable.This proves that God in the universe of God-Being is of ontological scheme.Prof Latif in this regard gives reference to Iqbal’s work, Reconstruction ofReligious Thought in Islam as: “The Quran has a clear and definite conceptionof nature as a cosmos of mutually related forces. At the same time, the Quranconceives God as holding all goodness in His hand.’
The book sheds light on the pureontological existence of God. In Rumi’s creed, God is Love, and love begetslove. It is there always but to proclaim it is in the application of the sameover the reason in man’s existence. In love, he is in majority with theSuperbeing. Like Iqbal, the book vividly clarifies that Rumi’s school ofthought after keen reading and inferring is in the middle of Shahood and Wajuud.He clearly claims that God is in man but not man is God and there is aperennial and everlasting closeness between the two existences. God is Love andall of the love and the reach to Him is available when man loves Himselflessly.
Two aspects of philosophies are given spacein the book: spiritual and atheistic with special reference to Jean Paul Sartre.Never the two meet together on any point of agreement. Sartre as the bookmentions in his work, (Being and Nothingness) rejects any God there as SuperEgo or Super Soul and if there existent has nothing to do with the man so holdsit that there is freedom which makes man Self-reliant, self-responsible andnone is there to whom he has to face. He is all of the universe and his life isactualized and idolised because of his own actions and thoughts. Rest isnothing. So, religious or spiritual substance is in negation. Freedom is not abeing; it is the being of man so whole of the existentialism is based on thesubjective nature of man which is clearly espoused by Karl-Jaspers when he says, the dignity of man is in hisfreedom. Let’s dig deep in both the couplets here.
Khudi ke Zoor Se Duniya pe Chah jaa
Mukaam -i-Rang o Buu Ka Raaz Pa ajaa (Allama Iqbal).
See what Rumi says, “
Aadmi Khaakee Zee Haaq Amukath Aalim
Taa Ba-haftham Assmaan Afrooktha Alim
Sartre in his philosophy says God isabsence. God is the solitude of man. On freedom he says, man is condemned to befree; because once thrown in the world, he is responsible for everything hedoes.
The author has tried to give clearunderstanding of Rumi, Iqbal and Sartre which raises certain questions. Is man the maker of his own destination? Isthere any God who created him? The same are discussed comprehensively atlength, but still the substance in the book demands exploration. In a nutshell,it is helpful to all the scholars and teachers in knowing the two differentapproaches on man.