The Philosophical, Political and Economic Thought of Dr. Muhammad Iqbal: A Brief Reappraisal

This paper discusses some key points in the philosophical, political and economic thought of the famous Indian Muslim poet Dr. Mohammad Iqbal. Iqbal sought to reform the Muslim identity and the wider Islamic world in order to deal with the Western challenge. He was deeply perturbed by the ideological domination of the East by the West in the political, cultural and social spheres. His political and economic perceptions, as indicated in his poems, seek to revive the self-confidence and creativity in the Muslim Ummah (Community). Iqbal exhorts the Muslims to realise their identity and selfhood (Khudi) to confront the Western challenge. Iqbal’s politico-economic thought is tinged with his dislike of capitalism and colonial rule. As an anti-dote to these elements, Iqbal speaks positively of socialism and its main proponents in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century although he rejects the atheistic form of socialism. Iqbal also purposes a reconstruction of Islamic thought in order to make it compatible with the demands of the modern world. All in all, Iqbal’s philosophy reveals an eclectic mixture of Islamic modernism, anti-imperialism, pan-Islamism and a desire for a socially equitable society within an Islamic framework.