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"
And be it further said to the shame of us men of the
older generation, that we have failed to equip the
younger generation for the economic, political and even
religious crisis that the present age is likely to
bring. The whole community needs a complete
overhauling of its present mentality in order that it
may again become capable of feeling the urge of fresh
desires and ideals. "
--Allama Iqbal
Iqbal's Clarion Call !
The muslim poet-philosopher, Dr. Muhammad Iqbal
addressing the All-India Muslim League as its president
at the Lahore meeting on March 21, 1932, reminded the
delegates of the Indian Muslims:
" The superb idealism of your faith needs emancipation
from the medieval fancies of theologians and legists.
Spiritually, we are living in a prison-house of thoughts
and emotions, which during the course of centuries we
have weaved around ourselves. And be it further said to
the shame of us men of the older generation, that we
have failed to equip the younger generation for the
economic, political and even religious crisis that the
present age is likely to bring. The whole community
needs a complete overhauling of its present mentality in
order that it may again become capable of feeling the
urge of fresh desires and ideals. The Muslim has long
ceased to explore the depths of his own inner life, and
is consequently in danger of an unmanly compromise with
forces which he is made to think he cannot vanquish in
open conflict...
This then is the mulla_ peril, which indicates the
urgent need for radical revision of the curriculum of
the madrasahs which will provide for their students a
more realistic and appreciative understanding of the
times in which they live. Only by so doing can the mulla_
be fitted in spirit and in method to meet the demands of
this new day for the community he serves ‘In the name of
Allah!’ "
This is an excerpt from Allama Iqbal's 1932 Address.
Alas, some seventy three years later, the remarks of one
of the greatest Muslim visionaries are as true and
applicable today as they were in his day and time !
Nasir Shamsi |