Finding Self in Iqbal
Allama Iqbal is remembered as a prophetic-poet and a philosopher among the literary circle. His works are to awake the minds of readers than to entertain and please them. His works contains a strong passion and love towards prophet Muhammed(Pbuh). Also a strong and striking message to the entire world. In most of his works he emphasized on the concept of ‘Khudi’. Khudi is an Urdu word which means ‘self’. The word khudi itself comprises the whole message of Iqbal and it too have a connection with God i.e. ‘Khuda’. His philosophy was contrary to certain views of Sufism or some other religious dogmas which believes in neglecting the self for the divine as their ultimate goal.
Muslim world faced a stagnation after the collapse of Caliphates and Iqbal was deeply concerned with the revival of lost identity and status of Muslims. He was despaired with the Muslim religious philosophic tradition of his time which was entirely different from the teachings of Prophet. As Iqbal was greatly influenced by Moulana Rumi, he went through the lines of Rumi and found out that the human is lost in him self. This made him to express ‘khudi’ in his works.
‘Khudi’ and Iqbal’s views.
The word khudi symbolizes the realization of self. According to Iqbal realization of self is recognition of one’s ego , one’s self sufficiency and the divine connection of creator to creation. His philosophy aims at introducing man to his real self and to project him as a vice-regent from God to Earth. As vice-regent , human being has enough potential and it is his duty to accomplish this potential by affirming his selfhood. Iqbal proposes affirming the self rather than ignoring it. His conception about reality of human personality lead him to the realization that man is micro universe and the shadow of external universe.
The dominant idea of Iqbalian philosophy is that knowing oneself is an immediate perception of God. He takes the mind of readers from divine to human. The path of knowing the self is the path to understand the Absolute. Iqbal writes in the introduction to The Secret of the Self :
Physically and spiritually man is self-contained centre, but he is yet a complete individual. The greater his distance from God, the less is his individuality. He who comes nearest to God is the complete person. Nor that he is finally absorbed in God. On the contrary he absorbs God in himself (translated by Nicholson).
Iqbal says that man who realised himself and got complete growth of khudi, is the insan-e-kamil. To achieve the completeness of the self , Iqbal proposes three stages. Which are:
Knowing the self
Knowing the others/ reality of universe
Knowing God.
According to Iqbalian philosophy, it is the khudi that is the root of all existence. The first stage i.e. knowing the self get completed by reaching to the I am ness. In this level the self have to be conscious about its self. Achieving I am ness is the first stage of awakening the self. The first step is to understand himself as a physical and biological being. So, in this stage the achievement is that to full fill the physical as well as the biological needs or desires.
The second stage is to know the reality of universe. Going through this process one will get to know the world where he belongs and who else are there with him in this universe. The development of the self will not takes place in a vacuum, so the life exists for him to develop. Going through a smooth and free way will not develop a person’s ability. That’s why the life brings relations and obstacles in his way. Each relation, no matter if it’s simple or complex , is a kind of school to know the self and the surroundings. And the obstacles are to understand the potential hidden inside the self by facing them. The man who successes in this stage will get to realize who is he and what is he and the taste of infinite power hidden inside him.
After knowing the universe or realizing his potential he will have a strong thirst to know the cause of his life i.e. why is he…? For that he have to understand the relation between the creator and the creation. According to Iqbal the recognition of God is to see oneself in the light of God. This sense of creativity makes him to understand the truth that he is a vice regent from God to Earth. In Iqbalian view the self actualization is the cultivation of God in human self.(The concept of khudi in Iqbal’s The Secret of the Self, by Aurang zeb, 2014). This is when a man reaches Insan-e-kamil.
At this self actualization or insan-e-kamil stage one attains a spiritual power. Absorption of the Divine attributes is the right way not annihilation of the self. In this state he will be capable to tune himself to the higher reality through mystical experience. Iqbal marks such an experience in Reconstruction of Religious Thought in Islam as:
The mystic state brings us into contact with the total passage of reality in which all the diverse stimuli merge into one another and form a single unanalysable unity in which the ordinary distinction of subject and object does not exist…the mystic state is a moment of intimate association with a unique other self.. (Iqbal 23-24).
The highest goal of the self is attained by becoming deeply related to God , thus happens the union between temporal and eternal. This gives him the knowledge that the world is created for him and he is for the world.
Consciousness of the self about its significance helps to move to the stage of awakening of the self. Iqbal explains this awakening of the self by burning passion of desires and the creation of ideals. The desires to explore, to discover, and to bring light to the secret and mysteries of existence . Iqbal quoted in Reconstruction of the Religious Thought in Islam:
Life is only a series of acts of attention, and an act of attention is inexplicable without reference to a purpose, conscious or unconscious. Even acts of perception are determined by our immediate interests and purposes. Thus ends and purposes, whether they exist as conscious or sub conscious tendencies, form the warp and woof of conscious experience (Iqbal 52-53).
Awakening of the self with the burning passion of desires will end at the purification process. It cleans itself by the magical power of love i.e. the way to the self is the way of love. Only true love can make deep faith in soul and it will let him to have a deep relation to the Divine.
The luminous point whose name is the self
Is the life spark beneath our dust
By love it is made more lasting,
More living, more burning, more glowing
From love proceeds the radiance of its being
And the development of its unknown possibilities
Its nature gathers fire from love
(The Secrets of the Self: lines 323-329)
Iqbal tells in his work The Secret of the Self that the self has to go through certain steps to become perfect. Self can not be left uncontrolled, it first grab the habit of obedience. It should carry the burden of duties with patience.
So wilt thou enjoy the best
Dwelling place , which is with God
Endeavour to obey, o heedless one!
Liberty is the fruit of compulsion
(The Secret of the Self : lines 826-829)
The next step is to attain self control. In Iqbal’s view belief in God and His commandments confers self control.
He that doesn’t command himself
Becomes a receiver of commands from others
(The Secret of the Self : lines 853- 854)
The third step is to recognize the Divine Vice regency which is attained when the self achieves free personality by discovering the ultimate source of law within the depth of his consciousness. Iqbal defines this as the infinite passing into the loving embrace of the finite.
The absorption of the Ultimate self into the self is the final destination of the self.
It is sweet to be God’s vice regent in the world
And exercises way over the elements
God’s vice regent is as the soul of universe ,
His being is the shadow to the greatest name,
(The Secret of the Self : lines 893-896)
The realisation of one’s consciousness helps him to achieve the ultimate connection with the truth. Iqbal's thought reflects the Qura'nic firmness. His works urges man to think, reflect, and pursue knowledge. Acting as a sheep (Iqbal's expression for laziness) is truly against the spirit and route of Qura'n. The journey of self actualization is eternal. A highly developed and succeeded ego will not dissolve even after death. Life is an opportunity to attain the strengthened self and as Iqbal said :
“ and death is the first test of the synthetic activity of the ego”
(Reconstruction of the Religious Thought in Islam p.94)
Conclusion.
Iqbal emphasizes on strengthening the khudi through his works. He says that man should lead a life of shaheen (eagle) not a sheep's. He explains the value of human and opposes the self negating dramas of Religious dogmas. He promotes affirming the self rather than ignoring it. Each self is a vice regent from Divine to the earth. Understanding this truth is the ultimate aim of man. It is not a verbal understanding but an experiential. Those who achieves strengthened self will came to know the glorious connection of the self with the universal self. The connection between the creator and the creation is better understood and experienced in this state.
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Written by Safhana Maryam
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