Theosophical Elements in Iqbal’s Magnum Opus “The Reconstruction of Religious Thought in Islam”: A Preliminary Review

• Main Authors: Hassan Mydin, Shaik Abdullah, Abdul Razak, Mohd Abbas
• Format: Article
• Language: English; English; English; English
• Published: UPM 2021
• Subjects: B Philosophy (General); BL Religion; BP500 Theosophy
• Online Access: http://irep.iium.edu.my/91358/1/Theosophical%20Elements%20in%20Iqbal%27s%20Magnum%20Opus.pdf; http://irep.iium.edu.my/91358/2/Malaysian%20Journal%20of%20Medicine%20and%20Health%20Sciences.pdf; http://irep.iium.edu.my/91358/3/Theosophical%20Elements-Slides.pdf; http://irep.iium.edu.my/91358/4/Payment.pdf; http://irep.iium.edu.my/91358/

Theosophy is a discourse on the divine wisdom of God behind all created things, which includes a man who sits on the highest pedestal in the hierarchy of creations. Through this study, the researchers intend to analyse and discuss the theosophical elements found in Iqbal’s thought process, particularly in his magnum opus “The Reconstruction of Religious Thought in Islam”. As a thinker, mystical poet and religious reformer, Iqbal’s ideas were anchored in the divine message of the Quran. The manifestation of his ideas in relation to theosophy in his work is not only interesting and unique, but at the same time, they go in harmony with the positive demands of the modern world. The crux of his masterpiece focuses on subjects like nature, man and civilization in relation to God. Iqbal, as a mystic, has never failed to embed the element of spirituality to issues pertaining to human survival that should go in tandem with the latest development in modern science. Moreover, through his work, Iqbal emphasized that all philosophical thoughts should be based on lofty spiritual values. For Iqbal, the human ego that originates from God inherits some of God’s attributes like intelligence and creativity to a lesser degree. Man’s God-given minuscule intelligence and creativity in no way can be equal to God’s attributes. A human being identified as an ego in Iqbal’s philosophy must recognize the position of God and subdue the forces around him/her in order to actualize his/her latent potentials. The researchers will adapt the content and textual analysis methods to translate the relevant data taken from Iqbal’s work as library research. In addition, the researchers will refer to the Quran to validate whether Iqbal’s ideas are in line with the Tawhidic teachings of Islam.