Ulama Must Heed Allama Iqbal’s Idea Of Reconstruction Of Religious Thought In Islam: New Age Columnist Ghulam Rasool Dehlvi Addresses “National Sahiyotsav 2022” Organised By Sunni Students' Federation Of India
In his
conclusive remarks, Mr. Dehlvi said: At a time when a new narrative of Islam is
emerging in the Arab world with radical Islamists and extremists losing their
appeal, it would be pertinent for Indian Muslims to look into the major
theological overhauls that they need to introduce in full synergy with their
multicultural society. They must chalk out a progressive, modernist path for
the new generation of Muslims in India and thus contribute towards
strengthening the cultural, religious and social fabric of the country, he
said.
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1. Main Points:
1.
A 3-day national cultural and educational
festival “Sahiyotsav 2022” was organised by Sunni Students' Federation (SSF
India) at the Garden College of Integrate Islamic Studies (Hadiqat-ul-Taiba) in
Dakshin Dinajpur, West Bengal.
2.
Mr. Ghulam Rasool Dehlvi, Indo-Islamic Scholar
and New Age Columnist was invited as one of the Juries/Judges to evaluate the
cultural, educational and Sufi musical performance of the Madrasa students who
participated in this festival from across the country.
3.
In his reflections, Mr. Dehlvi highlighted the
importance of Allama Iqbal’s idea of Reconstruction of Religious Thought in
Islam for the madrasa graduates and Ulama (classical Islamic scholars).
4.
He delved deeper into the profound religious
thoughts of Allama Iqbal through the lens of his thought-provoking Urdu poetry
and explained what he meant in his famous Urdu couplets revolving around the
various precepts and postulates of Islam.
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By
New Age Islam Staff Writer
6 December
2022
Allama
Iqbal—widely known as the Sage of Ummah or Hakimul Ummat—who called for
the ‘reconstruction of religious thought in Islam’ in one of his famous Khutbaat
or lectures which he delivered on re-examination of the intellectual
foundations of Islamic theology in 1930: “If the aim of religion is the
spiritualisation of the heart, then it must penetrate the soul of man, and it
can best penetrate the inner man.…..” He went on to say: “We find that when
Muhammad Ibn Tumart—the Mahdi of Muslim Spain—who was Berber by nationality,
came to power and established the pontifical rule of the Muwahhidun, he ordered
for the sake of the illiterate Berbers that the Quran should be translated and
read in the Berber language and that the call to prayer should be given in
Berber.” Thus, the Allama laid out a strong case for the reconstruction of
religious thought in Islam which has been stagnant for centuries. And this, he
viewed, was a great disservice to the essential message of Islam and universal
and dynamic wisdom embedded in the Qur’an.
New Age Columnist Ghulam Rasool
Dehlvi
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This was
articulated in the reflections delivered by Mr. Ghulam Rasool Dehlvi,
Indo-Islamic Scholar and New Age Columnist in the closing ceremony of the 3-day
national cultural and educational festival known as “National Sahiyotsav 2022”
which was organised by the Sunni Students' Federation (SSF India) as part of
the annual students’ function at the Garden College of Integrate Islamic
Studies (Hadiqat-ul-Taiba) located in Dakshin Dinajpur, West Bengal. Mr.
Dehlvi was invited as one of the Juries/Judges to evaluate the cultural,
educational and musical performance of the Madrasa students who participated in
this festival from across the country. They took part in an all-India level
competition in various academic and extra-curricular activities around the
Islamic and contemporary themes.
In the
closing ceremony of this festival which was inaugurated by Mr. Biplab Mitra
(Minister of Consumer Affairs, Govt. of Bengal), Mr. Dehlvi shared the stage
along with Shoukath Naeemi Al-Bukhari (Director of YES India Foundation), Dr.
Farooq Naeemi Al-Bukhari (General Secretary, SSF India) and Mr. Zuhairuddin
Nurani (Finance Secretary, SSF India).
Referring
to Allama Iqbal’s seminal work, “The Reconstruction of Religious Thought in
Islam”, Mr Dehlvi said in his remarks: “Madrasa students need to understand
what Allama Iqbal meant by his “reconstruction” or reformation. It actually
connotes the restoration of essential and universal values of the Qur’an. That is to say, when the Islamic postulates,
precepts and practices became obliterated, he advocated restoring the true and
original version of Islam. However, by ‘reconstruction’, Iqbal did not aim to
change or alter Islam, but rather to change the religious attitude of the
Muslims. For instance, he viewed that the Muslim religious thought in India was
deeply entrenched in Riwayat (tradition) in place of the Haqiqat
(truth). By the reconstruction of religious thought, he advocated the
replacement of the Riwayat with the Haqiqat. This is the true
spirit of Islamic reformation well-embedded in Iqbal’s religious thought.
Mr. Dehlvi
then delved deeper into the profound religious thoughts of Allama Iqbal through
the lens of his thought-provoking Urdu poetry and explained what he meant in
his famous Urdu couplets such as the ones in his poem titled as
“Mard-e-Musalman” which goes like this: Har Lehza Hai Momin Ki Nai Shaan,
Nai Aan. Kirdar Men, Guftar Men Allah Ki Burhan. This can be loosely
translated as follows:
A Muslim true gets grandeur new
with moment’s change and every hour
By words and deeds he gives a proof
Of Mighty God, His reach and power.
Mr. Dehlvi
explained what Iqbal intended to convey through his conception of Mard-e-Momin.
He said: Just as this universe is dynamic, so is God as the Creator who is
constantly busy with His creation and their affairs. Similarly, God has given
man complete freedom of choice and man is not restricted by his destiny.
Therefore, man must constantly strive to achieve the best possible pursuits. He
went on to say that Muslims today have committed a grave blunder with their
continued state of stagnation when it comes to the evolution and restructuring
of Islamic theology. More deplorably, they have rather confined their religious
seminaries and madrasas to a narrow interpretation of their Fiqhi Mazahib
(schools of Islamic jurisprudence), and various Masalik (Islamic sects)
as well as Masharib (Sufi orders). Mr. Dehlvi then referred to another
stimulating Urdu couplet of Iqbal as follows:
Gala To Ghoont Diya Ahl-e-Madrasa Ne Tera
Kahan Se Aye Sada ‘LA ILAHA ILLALLAH’
(The
Madrasa-men have strangled your nascent soul, and stifled the voice of
passionate faith in you).
Commenting
on the above, Mr. Dehlvi averred that even the mystical experience and practice
of Islam is an incomplete way to find the Ultimate Truth if it is not viable
with the influx of time. In an effort to reclaim the true mystical narrative of
Islam, there is rather greater need for the reformation of Sufism in the modern
age in the light of his book, The Reconstruction of Religious Thought in Islam,
he said.
In his
conclusive remarks, Mr. Dehlvi said: The new year—2023—is around the corner.
One of the resolutions with which Muslims in general and Madrasas must take in
the New Year is: Rethink and reconstruct the Islamic thoughts in the light of
the 21st century’s changing dynamics. He also pointed to the current
development in the Arab world which he called the ‘Theological Arab Spring’,
particularly in West Asia and North Africa. As a result, the West Asian Muslim
population in general is turning less extremist and more multi-cultural and
tolerant, he said.
At a time
when a new narrative is emerging in the Muslim world with radical Islamists and
extremists losing their appeal, it would be pertinent for us Indian Muslims to
look into the major theological overhauls that we need to make in synergy with
our most multicultural society with an aim to chalk out a progressive,
modernist path for the new generation of Muslims in India and thus contribute
towards strengthening the cultural, religious and social fabric of the country.
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