Discussing the circumstances which led to the decline of past Muslim glories, Javid Iqbal, the son of national poet Allama Mohammad Iqbal said past glories of the Ummah can be revived by following the Iqbal’s philosophy of ‘Ijtehad’(independent reasoning).

He was speaking at a seminar on the decline of Muslim power and its revival organised on Thursday at Allama Iqbal Open University (AIOU). The seminar was jointly organized by AIOU and Pakistan Academy of Letters and Ribat-e-Iqbal (RIP).

Dr Javid Iqbal said that Iqbal pleaded for spiritual democracy as a solution for problems of the day. “Iqbal wanted to see Pakistan as model Muslim state,” he said.

He added that the nation can achieve its socio-economic targets by following the guiding principles of the great poet.

He said that Iqbal has warned the Ummah to be aware of emperors, clerics and saints. Shiraz Latif, Chairman, PAL said that to truly understand Allama Iqbal’s philosophy and thought there should be a focus on his prose writings along with his poetry.

Vice Chancellor AIOU Professor Dr Shahid Sidiqui also spoke on the occasion and discussed Iqbal’s philosophy, saying that Iqbal was a poet of hope and through his poetry encouraged people to move forward in various field of life.

Published in Dawn, November 28th, 2014