IQBAL'S THOUGHTS ON THE PEOPLE AND LAND OF AFGHANISTAN AND THEIR
RELEVANCE FOR PAKISTAN
By Ambassador Mohammad Sadiq
Pakistan and Afghanistan share deep-rooted historic bonds of culture,
geography and faith. They also cherish common customs, languages,
literature and heroes. This historic bond between the two nations was
revived by Allama Iqbal – the national poet of Pakistan – through his
poetry.
Iqbal was a strong proponent of political and spiritual revival of
Islamic civilization across the world. He conceived the creation of a
Muslim state in South Asia . Therefore, he is known as
Muffakir-e-Pakistan (the thinker of Pakistan ). He is also called
Hakeem-ul-Ummat (the sage of Ummah) and Shair-e-Mashriq (the poet of
the East).
Iqbal's poetry is mostly in Persian. Out of 12,000 verses, some 7,000
are in this language, which makes Iqbal Lahori a household name in
Afghanistan .
The primary focus of Iqbal's intellect is on spirituality and
development of human society. His thoughts were influenced by several
Western philosophers such as Friedrich Nietzsche, Henri Bergson and
Goethe but he abhorred the Western society's obsession with
materialism.
Iqbal's study of culture and history of Islamic civilization was
because of his strong liking of Jalal-ud-Din Rumi/Balkhi whom he
called hisMurshid (guide). The poetry and philosophy of Jalal-ud-Din
influenced Iqbal more than any other scholar.
In his 1932 work Javed Nama (Book of Javed), addressed to his son,
Iqbal depicted himself as Zinda Rud – a stream full of life through
various heavens and spheres. As Zinda Rud Iqbal approaches divinity
and come in contact with the divine light. The whole idea is a
reiteration of Jalal-ud-Din Balkhi's thought.
Iqbal's dislike for political divisions amongst Muslim nations is
evident both from his poetry and prose. He promoted the global Muslim
community – the Ummah . A concept influenced by Syed Jamal-ud-Din
Afghani.
In 1915, Iqbal published his first collection of poetry, Asrar-e-Khudi
(Secrets of the Self) in Persian. In this book Iqbal has explained his
philosophy of "Khudi" (Self). He advocated that the whole universe
obeys the will of "the Self". Iqbal also condemned self-destruction.
In his Ramuz-e-Behkudi (Hints of Selflessness), Iqbal considers
Islamic way of life as the best code of conduct for a Muslim nation's
survival. He said a person should preserve his individual
characteristics but sacrifice his person for the betterment of the
nation.
The three messages of Asrar-e-Khudi and Ramuz-e-Bekhudi i.e., (i)
Khudi; (ii) condemnation of self-destruction; and (iii) sacrificing
self for the nation are particularly relevent for us in Pakistan and
Afghanistan in today's uncertain and dangerous era.
In his poetry, prose and speeches Iqbal repeatedly referred to the
heroic struggle of Afghans against imperialism. He was greatly
impressed by Afghans' love for freedom and their natural hatred of
attempts to subjugate them.
Iqbal idealized the bravery of Afghans.
Iqbal praised, and wrote about, Afghanistan and its people more than
any other country or people. In his book Ramuz-e-Ajam, he said:


Iqbal was also impressed with the love of Afghans for Islam. He said:


Iqbal's book Payam-e-Mashreq is dedicated to Amir Amanullah Khan in
recognition of his heroic struggle for a free Afghanistan . In his
first visit to Afghanistan , he presented Payam-e-Mashreq to Amanullah
Khan and addressed him with following message:


Iqbal also advised Afghan nation that only knowledge was the basis of
progress and not the blind following of alien cultures:

Iqbal gave a message of unity to Afghan nation, in addition to several
other messages, by saying in an Urdu poem:



Iqbal was an ardent admirer of great sons of Afghanistan such as
Maulana Jalaluddin Balkhi, Sayed Ali Hajwari, Sanai Ghaznavi, Abdur
Rehman Jami and Sayed Jamaluddin Afghani.
Iqbal wrote about them extensively for example about Sayed Jamaluddin
Afghani he said:



Iqbal also admired Afghan conquers and kings like Zaheer Uddin Babar,
Sultan Mohammad Ghori, Nadir Shah, Alauddin Khilji, Sher Shah Suri,
Mahmud Ghaznavi, Ahmad Shah Baba and Amanullah Khan.
In 1933, at the invitation of King Nadir Shah, Iqbal came to
Afghanistan on his second visit. He paid homage at the mausoleums of
Babar at Kabul , Sanai Ghaznavi and Sultan Ghaznavi at Ghazni and
Ahmad Shah Baba in Kandahar . He extensively wrote about this visit
but what he said at the grave of Emperor Babar was resounding:



Iqbal's love for Afghanistan , its scholars and mystics, its rulers,
its people and its customs and traditions was unlimited. He,
therefore, called Afghanistan the heart of Asia and said trouble in
this land was likely to extend to the whole continent. He said:


Iqbal, yearning for the freedom of his own homeland, further said if
Afghanistan was free the whole of Asia would be free:



Iqbal's poetry was greatly instrumental in re-introducing their heroes
to the people in Pakistan . Almost all these heroes had roots in
Afghanistan .
Afghanistan has an important role in the historic evolution that led
to the creation of Pakistan – a Muslim state in South Asia . Our
faith, culture, languages and attire – that made us a separate nation
on the continent – all came from, or through, Afghanistan .
Iqbal could dream of a separate homeland for Muslims of South Asia
because of what came to the Subcontinent via Afghanistan and created a
separate nation in South Asia .
(This paper was read at a Seminar on Iqbal held in Kabul by the
Ministry of Information and Culture of Afghanistan jointly with the
Embassy of Pakistan on 1 May 2010 )






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*Shahzad Shameem*

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