THE study of controversy kicked up with the publication of Allama Iqbal’s Asraar-i-Khudi is interesting in that it highlights not only Iqbal’s views on some sensitive issues, including tasavvuf, or Islamic mysticism, but it also calls attention to the role some literary figures played to stir up some trouble.
First, let us have a quick glance over Asraar-i-Khudi and its sequel Rumooz-i-Bekhudi. First published from Lahore in September 1915, Asraar-i-Khudi is Iqbal’s masnavi in Persian. A masnavi is a fairly long poem and Urdu masnavis are often markedly romantic in theme and content, but in Persian poetry masnavi is an effective medium to express mystical notions. Iqbal’s Asraar-i-Khudi is a masnavi characterised by his philosophical ideas and carefully thought out views on secrets of ‘selfhood’, stressing how it can play a vital role in transforming an individual. With Iqbal’s permission, Prof Reynold A. Nicholson (1868-1945), a distinguished orientalist who had met Iqbal during his student days at Cambridge, translated it into English. Titled The Secrets of the Self and first published in 1920, the translation led Asraar-i-Khudi to reach a wider circle and it evoked interest beyond the subcontinent.
Rumooz-i-Bekhudi is a sort of Asraar-i-Khudi’s second part, as mentioned by Iqbal in his letters addressed to some scholars. It appeared from Lahore in 1918. A combined edition published in 1923 — titled Asraar-o-Rumooz — presented both the masnavis in one volume. Iqbal had revised some couplets and added some verses in 1923 edition. Nicholson wrote in his intro that Asraar-i-Khudi “deals with the life of the individual Moslem” and Rumooz-i-Bekhudi “with the life of the Islamic community”.
Now we come to the controversy: In Asraar, Iqbal proffered a vision of a world where all the Muslims would be united by the love of Allah and devotion to His last Prophet Muhammad PBUH. To achieve this purpose, said Iqbal, Muslims must depend on khudi (selfhood) and action and this would not be driven by ‘joo’-ul-arz’, or the lust to conquer the lands, as it is not desirable in Islam. In Iqbal’s view, what hindered the Muslims was the morbid philosophy of, as Nicholson wrote, “idealistic philosophers and pseudo-mystical poets” who were, so Iqbal thought, responsible for the Muslims’ decline. In Iqbal’s opinion, society needed action not ‘tark’ (abandonment) as some ancient Hindu philosopher advocated. The Muslims must learn from European intellectuals’ ideas of scientific observation and interpretation of natural forces, wrote Iqbal in the preface. He also criticised Hafiz Shirazi and the philosophy of wahdat-ul-wujood (unity of being), which, according to some, is pantheism while Islam is based on pure monotheism. Also, in the beginning there were a few couplets in Asraar that criticised Hafiz and his poetry.
The publication of the masnavi sparked a debate and Iqbal was accused of insulting Hafiz, whom many thought of as a sufi saint first and then poet. Iqbal was against Sufism and wahdat-ul-wujood, some opined. Khwaja Hasan Nizami, a sufi, journalist and a prolific writer, was among those who raised the issue with full force. He not only wrote himself but asked others, such as Shah Syed Muhammad Zauqi, to write against Iqbal’s masnavi and his thoughts. The controversy lingered on and Iqbal wrote some articles and many letters to different literary figures, including Akber Allahabadi and Hasan Nizami, to clarify his position. Ultimately, in the second edition published in 1918, Iqbal replaced many couplets, including the ones about Hafiz and the preface, too, was totally removed. But the debate kept on raging and arguments, claims and rejoinders on the issue kept on appearing in one form or the other until Iqbal’s death in 1938. Even after Iqbal’s death some intellectuals wrote on the issue.
Now Prof Dr Khalid Nadeem has done a tremendous job: he has collected, edited, annotated and published in a 548-page book, named Mutala’at-i-Asraar-o-Rumooz, all those writings concerning Asraar that were scattered in different sources. The book includes writings right from the beginning, including letters, essays, reviews, notes, analyses and clarifications written by various scholars and Iqbal himself, as well as Iqbal’s preface. It also includes Hasan Nizami’s last writing on the issue published in 1952. In that piece, Hasan Nizami admitted that Iqbal was right on the issue of tark-i-dunya (abandonment of worldly affairs) as Quran has taught us to pray for the well-being in this world and in the hereafter as well.
Dr Nadeem has taken care to present all that scattered pieces in chronological order. His invaluable annotations add to the understanding of many issues, too. His brief intro encapsulates the entire issue crisply.
Published by Nashriyaat, Lahore, the book is a must-read for the scholars of Iqbal Studies. It is an attempt to keep coming generations aware of the academic and philosophical discussions that took place during the last 100 years or so, says Nadeem.
Published in Dawn, February 5th, 2024
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