The Continuity of Iqbal’s Qur’anic Thought Prof. Yusuf Saleem Chisti (d. 1984) was arguably the most prominent expert in comparative religion, philosophy, and Islamic thought that Indian subcontinent has produced in the recent past. The fact that he had a close and intimate relationship with Iqbal spanning more than fourteen years is not an insignificant factor in this regard. Consequently, Prof. Chisti was eminently qualified to judge the worth and caliber of a work in Islamic thought. According to him, Dr. Israr Ahmad’s brief treatise Islamic Renaissance: "The Real Task Ahead contained the most insightful diagnosis of the malaise afflicting the Muslim society as well as the most effective cure, that he had come across in more than fifty years of surveying the literature produced on this topic by Muslim thinkers". 6 What is the basic argument presented in this work? According to Dr. Israr Ahmad, genuine Islamic renaissance cannot take place in the Muslim society unless there is an authentic revival of Iman among the intellectual elite. He further argues that the Holy Qur’an constitutes the only source for such a revival of Iman. This diagnosis and proposed cure of the disease afflicting the Ummah differs from the analysis given by others in that it locates the source of Muslim weakness in the deficiency of Muslim personhood, not in the weakness of Islamic institutions. One can clearly detect the echoes of Iqbal’s philosophy of the Self echoing in the work of Dr. Israr Ahmad. The only remedy for the reconstruction of the Muslim personhood is the strengthening of Iman by a strengthening of the bond between the Muslim and the Qur’an. This requires articulation of the Qur’anic wisdom in the most sophisticated contemporary idiom so as to attract the intellectual elite in Muslim society towards Islam This, in turn, is possible only through the efforts of sincere and dedicated scholars of the Qur’an. The need of the hour, therefore, is to produce young Muslims inspired by the call of the Qur’an who dedicate their lives to studying the Qur’anic sciences. Here the continuity of Iqbal’s Qur’anic thought in the work of Dr. Israr Ahmad is quite apparent.
Posted on: Fri, 13 Sep 2013 07:46:47 +0000
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