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Iqbars Reconstruction of Political Thought in Islam

In a world whose divisions since 11 September 2001 have never seemed greater. Iqbal’s idea of progressive creation is of immense significance. The debate between Islam and modernity is variously interpreted. For some, there is a clash of civilizations, if not between Islam and the West at least between Islam and modernity. For others the debate cannot be confined in such simple terms. The proponents of a clash between Islam and modernity, in Dr. Hsmail’s view, have ‘crowded out all subtler expressions of Islamic piety” and ignore the ‘endeavour of ^interpretation’ of the late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century reformers.

T his book brings out the considerations of Iqbal on Islam. He was the poet-philosopher and spiritual lather of Pakistan as well as the predominant figure in Islamic thought in the twentieth century. Iqbal prefers the title Reconstruction of Religious Thought in Islam to Reformation and modernization, since Reconstruction aims at restoring the original universalism and dynamism of Islam, which cannot be achieved by adopting the terms ‘reformation’ or ‘modernization’.

The conflict between proponents of the one nation and two nations’ theories served to demonstrate the difficulty of achieving the ‘idea of universal agreement”, which Iqbal considered ‘the fundamental principle of Muslim constitutional theory”. His definition of the Prophet’s mission, to ‘found freedom, equality and brotherhood among all mankind” required enlightened leadership.