Iqbāl’s Position on Reconstruction of Religious Thoughts in Islam

Abstract

Muḥammad Iqbāl’s book: Reconstruction of Religious Thoughts in Islam was published in English first time in Lahore in 1930 and then translated into Arabic. This book contains a collection of his six lectures that were delivered by Iqbāl in Madras and Hyderabad. These lectures were collected under the title: “Reconstruction of Religious Thoughts in Islam”. It is the biggest intellectual wealth left by Iqbāl. In his philosophical style, Iqbāl has addressed those topics that are related to the Islamic sciences, spiritual experiences, Existence of God Almighty, the reality and the nature, the human self, reparation, the choice, the spirit of Islamic civilization, the diligence and development of Islamic law. It seems that Iqbāl’s character appears in this book as an Islamic thinker and philosopher, in which we see him as he wants to develop a new Islamic science of speech. Iqbāl addressed these topics by the careful research and deep study in the light of Islamic knowledge and modern philosophy, and opened the doors of thinking about Islam to the contemporary thinkers and scholars in various fields. First of all, it is important to us to study his Islamic thought so that we can understand his poetry, which he wanted to put in the service of Islam, so we cannot ignore to study his seven lectures written in prose on the reconstruction of religious thoughts in Islam, as we think that the scholar cannot reach the spirit of his poetry and the depth of his thought without studying those lectures.