In his poetry, Allama Iqbal presents ‘a scathing critique of democracy’ but in his prose works he considers democracy ‘an essential part of Islamic government’, calling it ‘Muslim/ Spiritual Democracy’
Dr Sir Muhammad Iqbal (9th Nov 1877—21st April1938)—commonly known as Allama Iqbal—was a multi-dimensional personality: poet, philosopher, and a great political ideologist/ activist. He is regarded as one of the most distinguished and dominant figures of 20th century. For most of his life, Iqbal poured his thoughts through his writings—some in prose and mostly in poetry; and that is why we see that a plethora of literature has been produced on Iqbal’s poetry, philosophical thought as well as on his political thought: one substantial example of this is ‘Iqbal Academy Pakistan’ and its journals ‘Iqbal Review’ (English) and ‘Iqbaliyat’ (Urdu). This write-up, as a tribute today on his birth-anniversary, highlights Iqbal’s approach to ‘Islam and Democracy’ issue—in the light of his prose pieces that he published in different newspapers and journals, and deal with different aspects of Islam and Politics.
A number of scholars have thrown light on, and have discussed and deliberated on, the prose works of Allama Iqbal. In 2013, Dr Tehsin Firaqi (one of the renowned experts on Iqbaliyat) in “Democracy in the Views of Iqbal” underscored that in order to understand Iqbal’s stand on Democracy, one must look into his prose pieces, many of which were published in the first two decades of 20th century (1908—17). Dr Firaqi in this context highlights his four (4) prose pieces, while not over-looking his poetry, viz.: “Islam as a moral and Political Ideal” (1909); “Political thought in Islam” (1910); “Muslim Democracy” (1917); and “Forms of Government, Modern Science and Democracy” (n. d.). To this list may be added these three (3) pieces as well: “The Muslim Community—A Sociological Study” (1910); “Divine Right to Rule” (1928); and his famous ‘All-India Muslim League’ Presidential Address delivered in Allahabad (in Dec 1930). All these pieces have been compiled, among others, by Latif Ahmad Sherwani in ‘Speeches, Writings, and Statements of Iqbal’ (first published, under his pseudonym “Shamloo”, in 1944 and 6th edition published in 2015)—so far “one of the most important collections of Allama Iqbal’s prose pieces”.
These prose pieces, along with his magnum opus The Reconstruction of Religious Thought in Islam (first published in 1930; republished in 1934; an annotated edition produced by M. Saeed Shaikh in 1984; and a new edition, with an Introduction by Javed Majeed, Professor of English and Comparative Literature at King’s College London), are considered as the major sources for knowing Allama’s thoughts/ views on Islam and politics in general, and his stand on democracy in particular.
Over the decades, there have been many attempts to highlight, and explore, Iqbal’s position on Islam-democracy discourse. Some of these (published in between 1983—2013) are: John L. Esposito, “Muhammad Iqbal and the Islamic State”, in his edited volume Voices of Resurgent Islam (New York, 1983); Prof. Muhammad Munawwar, “Iqbal’s Idea of Democracy” (1986); Dr. Abdul Haq, “Iqbal: Concept of Spiritual Democracy” (1986); Dr. Waheed Ishrat, “Iqbal and Democracy” (1993 & 1994); Dr Zeenat Kausar, “Iqbal on Democracy: Acceptance or Rejection?” (2001)—all published in Iqbal Review; Riffat Hassan, “Iqbal’s Views on Democracy” (Dawn, 11th June, 2010); Mujibur Rahman, “Iqbal’s Critique of Democracy” (2010); Dr Tahseen Firaqi, “Democracy in the Views of Iqbal” (Quarterly Nazriyyat, 2013); Mustansir Mir, ‘Iqbal: Makers of Islamic Civilization’ (2007), and his entry on Iqbal in G. Bowering’s Princeton Encyclopedia of Islamic Political Thought (2013; pp. 259-260).
From these writings, it becomes evident that Allama Iqbal was a critic as well as supporter of democracy: while in his poetry he seems a staunch critic of (western) democracy, in his prose the situation looks different. Though it is true that Iqbal’s stand on any issue cannot be studied, in isolation with his poetry, but it is also true that over the decades more focus has been on his poetry. That is why scholars, like Prof. Hassan and Dr Firaqi, put it, respectively, as: “That Iqbal was a critic of democracy is well known”; “As far as Iqbal is concerned, he was a less-supporter, and more critical, of democracy”. In most of these writings, it is Iqbal’s poetry which is focused on; and this write-up, in this context, summarizes Iqbal’s views on Islam and democracy, based on his above mentioned prose-pieces:
“The best form of Government” for Muslim community (society), Iqbal believes, “would be democracy, the ideal of which is to let man develop all the possibilities of his nature by allowing him as much freedom as practicable”.
A strong advocate of freedom, individuality, equality, and brotherhood—all of which are necessary ingredients of ‘liberal democracy’—Iqbal asserted that the best form of government is “democracy” because it is “the most important aspect of Islam regarded as a political ideal”.
Considering Islam as an egalitarian faith with no room either for a clergy or an aristocracy, Iqbal recognized the importance of ijtihad and argued “for its democratization and institutionalization in a popular legislative assembly thereby bridging the theoretical gap between divine and popular sovereignty”.
Iqbal is of the opinion that the “republican form of government is not only thoroughly consistent with the spirit of Islam, but has also become a necessity in view of the new forces that are set free in the world of Islam”.
Iqbal believed that Divine vicegerency is the representation of God on earth as revealed in the holy Qur’an and aims at the establishment of “the Kingdom of God on earth” meaning the “the democracy of … unique individuals”.
Calling it ‘Democracy of Islam’, ‘Muslim Democracy’ and ‘Spiritual Democracy’ Iqbal says: “The Democracy of Europe… originated mainly in the economic regeneration of European societies…. The Democracy of Islam [on the other hand] … is a spiritual principle based on the assumption that every human being is a center of latent power, the possibilities of which can be developed by cultivating a certain type of character”.
Iqbal favoured, and preferred the term, ‘spiritual democracy’, considering it the “ultimate aim of Islam”; and stresses: “Let the Muslim of today appreciate his position, reconstruct his social life in the light of ultimate principles, and evolve, out of the hitherto partially revealed purpose of Islam, that spiritual democracy which is the ultimate aim of Islam”.
Iqbal stated that “There is no aristocracy in Islam”; and believes that “the Muslim commonwealth is based on the absolute equality of all Muslims in the eyes of the law. There is no privileged class, no priesthood, and no caste system. Islam is a unity in which there is no distinction, and this unity is secured by making men [humankind] believe in two prepositions—the unity of God [Tawhid] and the mission of the Prophet [(pbuh) Risalah]”.
Iqbal believed that “the republican form of government is thoroughly consistent with the spirit of Islam”; and thus argued: “Democracy, then, is the most important aspect of Islam regarded as a political ideal”.
These statements clearly reveal Iqbal’s stand on Islam and democracy, and evidently show his support for democracy. However, Iqbal’s views on any issue can neither be based solely on his prose nor can be isolated from his poetry. Therefore, to cut it short, it is apt here to quote these statements of Prof. Mustansir Mir (2013: 259), which clearly depict Iqbal’s overall stand on this issue: “Some of Iqbal’s poetry contains a scathing critique of democracy. … But … Iqbal was a strong supporter of the democratic principle and considered democracy an essential part of Islamic government”. From his overall approach to this issue, it becomes evident that in his poetry, Allama Iqbal presents “a scathing critique of democracy” but in his prose works he considers democracy ‘an essential part of Islamic government’—calling it ‘Democracy in Islam’ and/ or ‘Muslim/ Spiritual Democracy’.
The author is Assistant Professor, Islamic Studies, at GDC Pulwama, Kashmir.
tauseef.parray21@gmail.com