Iqbal’s Methodology to Encounter Modern Western Thought

Abstract

It is a harsh reality that Islamic and Western civilizations have been active opponents and reviler throughout the Islamic history. Islamic civilization is proud of its revealed sources and guidance, while the Western civilization claims out as one of the richest and liberal human ideas in the existing world. It is also a known fact that every civilization has some distinct features and characteristics on which it differentiates from others. It is a status of Islamic and Western civilization. In some issues they agree but most of the time they disagree from each other. Sometimes this difference creates a situation of conflict and clash. This is not a beneficial for human being at all. Many Muslim and Western scholars have been tried to discuss these in their own way and style. One of the most relevant and prominent personality and active voice in this field is the Poet of the East and famous Muslim thinker and philosopher Allāma Muhammad Iqbal. It is an undeniable fact that he was not only a Muslim thinker and poet but he was also a warm critique of the Western civilization. He adopts comparison method for analysis to study and criticize the West. Sometimes he appreciates and says Muslims to get benefit from the Western civilization but mostly he actively criticizes the Western civilization. It is noticed that Iqbal want to get benefit from the Western technology and innovations but he strictly prohibits Muslims to enjoy the West social and moral values. According to Iqbal, the Western moral, political and social philosophy is poison for the East and especially for the Muslims. Therefore, it can be perceived that the Iqbal’s strategy to study the West is dialogue and encounter. It is also suggested we can get benefit from Iqbal’s critique to nurture and reshape our sociopolitical and socioeconomic national narrative. In this context, this study examines Iqbal’s approaches to criticize the Western thought civilization in the light of his dynamic work with special reference to Islamic teachings. Analytical and historical approaches are adopted during this study with quantitative research methodology.