EDUCATIONAL IDEAS OF IQBAL

ABADULLAH FARUQI
It is important to note that all great educators have been great philosophers.
Plato’s scheme of cultural education depended upon his idealism. Rousseu’s anti-
social philosophy gave rise to his natural education. Pragmatist philosophy has been
responsible for the project method in education. It is true that Iqbal was not an
educationist in the strict sense of the word; but one cannot deny his contribution to
our educational ideology. He did not present any specific educational technique or
methodology; but he directed our attention to those basic and fundamental principles
of education which underlie all the sound educational practices. When we work out
the practical implications of his educational ideas they do throw lurid light on the
modern problems of education and point out to their healthy solution.

Education
Education, which signifies the development of personality, is a purposive process;
it is a process which is consciously directed towards some end. Mill defines it as,
“culture which each generation purposely gives to those who are to be successors in
order to qualify them for at least keeping up and if possible for raising the level of
improvement which has been maintained”. Similarly, K. G. Saiyadain remarks that
“Education in its full and correct signification must be visualized as the sum total of
cultural forces which play on the life of individual and community. If this is clearly
understood, it follows that an emergence of an outstanding creative thinker, who has
distinctive message to give or new values to present before the world, is a
phenomenon of the greatest interest for the educationists, and the more his ideas
catch the imagination, the understanding and enthusiasm of his contemporaries, the
greater must be his influence as the educative force”.
Viewed in his perspective, one cannot escape the fact that Iqbal comes under the
category of the educationists, though he is not an educationist in the limited sense.
Every educational system is concerned with the critical evaluation and transmission of
the cultural heritage, knowledge and ideas of social groups, to its young members, and
is thus much wider in its outlook than the narrow system of education that goes on
within the precincts of schools and colleges. This limited process of teaching and
learning does not take into account the social and the personal influences which shape
and modify the destiny of the individual and of the community. Iqbal lays special
emphasis on these cultural factors and his philosophy of life is of infinite value for
education. Like other educationists, he stresses the fundamental point that the
educator must necessarily inquire into the nature and function of the self in relation to
the environment in which it is placed.
Self, according to him, is not a mere illusion, as some of the pseudo-mystics and
pantheists would have us believe. It has, on the other hand, an abiding significance of
its own. The doctrine of self-negation, according to Iqbal, is positively dangerous in
its socio-political implications.
Thus, Education is concerned with the problems of individual and society. It is
the process of enabling the individual to take his rightful place in the society. It must,
therefore, be interested in those studies which concern the individual on the one hand
and the society on the other.

Naturalism in Education
The child occupies the central figure in the educational system of the naturalists.
The subject and method of education must be in consonance with the natural
tendencies of child’s mind, his instincts and emotions. While educating the child the
teacher must take into consideration his dominant psychological trends and the stage
of development of his personality. The psychology of development is of utmost
importance for education. We must study the nature of infants, children and
adolescents and adjust our educational approach accordingly.
Psycho-analysis has given a great impetus to naturalism in education. It stands for
unrestricted expression of the unconscious impulses of the child. He must be given
freedom and opportunity for natural development so that he may not suffer from
mental depression and conflict. It condemns sexual taboos, authoritarian methods and
corporeal punishment.
Rousseu considered that the first twelve years of human life are extremely
important. During this period the child must be given full opportunities for the
perfection of his instruments of knowledge, namely, his sense organs. Nothing was to
be done during this period to mould child’s mind. He was not to read and write. His
body and his sense organs were to be exercised and trained. No moral training should
be imparted to him during this period.
Like, Rousseu, Iqbal emphasises the empirical aspect of know-ledge. He realised
the importance of sense-perception. According to him development of an active
personality is impossible without concrete environment. Self-realization, which
according to Iqbal, is conducive to educational goal cannot be conceived without the
material environment. He further realised the importance of freedom which was
particularly emphasised by the naturalists. According to Iqbal, the latent power of the
individual cannot develop, unless he is placed in an atmosphere of freedom and is
thus able to interact with the environment and thereby get direct and first hand
experience. Yet, he is a rigid disciplinarian and advocates such strict regulations as
prepare the child for straneous obligations of life. In other words, he does not agree
with Rousseu’s “freedom idea” in its extreme form. Naturalists further stress on
adjustment to environment as the educational aim. Iqbal differs from the naturalists,
insofar as he holds that, not adjustment, but the conquest of the environment is the
real aim of education. Therefore, according to him the child should not yield himself
to environmental forces. Man has always been mastering his material environment
and shaping and re-shaping it according to his own needs and desires. Consequently
against the views held by the naturalists, Iqbal contends that the environment should
be shattered and remoulded if it does not accord with the aspiration of the individual.
He expresses this idea when he pleads that if the world does not conform to your
standards, instead of submitting to it you should destroy and remold it.
‫گفتند جہان ما آیا با توے سازد‬
‫گفتم کہ نمی سازد و گفتند کہ برھم زن‬
Idealism in Education
He agrees with the idealists that the material and the physical universe, as known
to science, is an incomplete expression of reality. Man has a peculiar power which
manifests itself in the form of intellect, intuition, culture, art, morality and religion.
These are peculiar to man and are certainly beyond the range of positive science.
Idealism is bitterly opposed to naturalism, in so far as it regards that the real aim
of education is to mould the environment according to ideals or the individual values
and not to yield oneself to the physical environment which is an eternal embodiment
of human will and intelligence; much of it is the result of man’s capacity for
inventiveness. Iqbal beautifully gives expression to this idea:
‫تو شب آفریدی چراغ آفریدم‬
‫سفال آفریدی ایاغ آفریدم‬
‫بیابان و کوھسار و راغ آفریدی‬
‫خیابان و گلزار و باغ آفریدم‬
‫من آنم کہ از سنگ آئینہ سازم‬
‫من آنم کہ از زھر نو شینہ سازم‬

You (God) created the night, I the lamp;

You created the clay, I the vase.
You created the jungle, mountains and deserts
I created gardens, orchards and flower-plots.
It is I who make glass out of stone
It is I who extract elixir out of poison.
So far as the cultural and the spiritual environment is concerned it is entirely a
product of man’s creative activity. Man sets before himself philosophical and cultural
problems and has been tackling them since long. Hence, he cannot be said to be a
slave of environment in any sense. To set about questions, to inquire into the origin
of things and to strive for something better than the given are distinctive marks of
man alone. The cultural environment consisting of religion, science, art, and literature
is overgrowing. To it many sages in all ages have contributed. It welds together all
mankind. Underlying this cultural environment are three eternal values which man can
apprehend by his spiritual capacity. They are “Truth, Beauty and Goodness”. To these
three eternal values Iqbal adds a fourth, viz: apprehension of God, having the eternal
values as His attributes.
The Muslim philosophers, who were under Aristotle’s influence, thought that
God was in essence ‘Reason’, another class held that He was the Highest Good, the
Sumum Boman; and yet another group regarded Him, as the one Supreme Beauty.
The Neo-Platonic mystics belonged to the last group, and Iqbal in the early period of
his development seems to be entirely under their influence. Latter on there wasa
change in his position and he came to regard Beauty as one of the ninety-nine Names
of God which denoted the different names of divine shades.
Thus, following the Neo-Platonic tradition he regarded Beauty as eternal; but later
on he came to regard it as the product of man’s experimentation and grappling with
the stern realities of life. In other words, the eternal values came to be regarded as the
creation of man in the course of his attempts to meet his own needs and to overcome
the difficulties in his way. His philosophy, thus, becomes humanistic under the
influence of pragmatic philosophy.
As an idealist, he lays emphasis on the doctrine of self-realisation, which means
the realisation of divine attributes forming the essence of man’s nature and ultimately
leading to progressive socialism. That is exactly what is meant by the holy Prophet’s
tradition ‫ ;تخلقو با خالق ہللا‬i.e. create divine attributes. Thus, the idealist goal of self-
realisation is not egoistic. This goal aims at the realisation of those values and
attributes which are essentially social and altruistic. The purpose of education is to
help the student in his self-realisation. As such, the task of any system of education is
to transmit to the individual the entire cultural heritage and to guide the student in the
continuous growth of his apprehension of the ultimate reality as well as of the divine-
attributes. The knowledge of his cultural heritage enriches the individual self. The
educator by his efforts assists the educant who is developing his personality in
accordance with the laws of his own nature to attain levels that would otherwise be
denied to him.

Thus, self-realisation means consciousness of divine attributes which constitutes

the very essence of man. Such a self is also in union with the whole world and has
realised the ultimate value of such union, namely goodness, truth, beauty and unity of
God (‫)توحید‬. Thus, education must be religious, moral, intellectual and aesthetic. In
order to produce a balanced and harmonious personality none of these aspects may
be neglected. Hence a man, who is perfect according to the idealist standpoint, is
identical with the self of the whole society.
Iqbal, thus, combines the best of materialism and of spiritualism in his
philosophy, and exhorts the Individual to make full use of the physical aspect of
education, which should aim at physical fitness of the body and acquisition of
necessary bodily skill. According to him physical and spiritual are not sharply opposed
to each other; they have a certain amount of common ground. Iqbal, also considers
mind and body as a single inseparable reality and emphasises the need of intellectual,
aesthetic and social values, which must be pursued for the development of self.
Pragmatist Theory of Education & Its Influence on Iqbal’s Thought Unlike the
idealists pragmatists do not believe in the existence of eternal values like “Beauty”,
“Truth” and “Goodness”. According to them these values have no prior existence;
rather they are created by man in the course of his attempts to overcome the
difficulties in his way. Pragmatism is essentially humanistic as it stresses the fact that
there are human purposes to be fulfilled and that philosophy is only a weapon which
helps in pursuing such aims. Since man is the measure of all things, pragmatism
stresses individual needs and their satisfaction for them. Again, since all values arise in
the course of man’s activity and since they are pursued only to satisfy human needs
and wants, pragmatism is essentially enterprising and experimental in nature. The
pragmatists deprecate any attempt on the part of the educator to prescribe any
specific goal for the education of the child. Life is itself experimental. Therefore, there
is no definite goal to which the child must advance. Like naturalists they start with the
child as it is. For them the child, his physical and social environment and interaction
between them are of fundamental importance. However, they are more deliberate in
their method than the Naturalists. It is child’s nature to experiment with life. He
should be encouraged to do so because when he is face to face with new situations, he
develops new responses and attitudes. The pragmatists are not in favour of giving the
child a set course of study. They hold that true knowledge does not consist in
acquiring of a dead culture, particularly from books; rather, it consists in developing
skill that is useful to deal effectively with the situations of real life. In other words,
education consists in encouraging the child to learn for himself through experimental
creative activity. “Learning by Doing” sums up the educational method of
pragmatism. Human activities are more important than school subjects. Instead of
working at separate subjects, the pupil is encouraged to draw freely upon all
knowledge that is relevant to the activity to which he happens to be engaged. Any
study they undertake is motivated by their desire to solve their own problems; it is
viewed and valued from the standpoint of its utility in dealing with such problems.
Such a method of education is the characteristic contribution of pragmatism and is
called the project method. The essence of this method is this: “the problem comes
first and learning is acquired in the course of its successful solution”.
Iqbal, while agreeing with Dewy’s pragmatism and also with certain aspects of
humanism does not confine the utility of education to the material end; but rather
comprehends the need of spiritual aspect as well. While, Dewey tests everything
including any idea, hypothesis, faith or religion by the way it works, by the
consequences; Iqbal, on the other hand, tested the ideas by their conformity to the
principles of the development of self, often accepted on the authority of religion.
Subsequently, however, being influenced by the pragmatist philosophy, he brought
experimentalism to some extent in the realm of education and philosophy. He
believes in the equality of opportunity among mankind for full development of every
individual. Dewey is against idealism, which believes in universal and unchanging
values. He is opposed to Plato who believed in the world of ideas. In his opinion the
imaginary world tends to become the property of the leisured classes who leave the
phenomenal world or the actual world to the craftsman and artisan and the slaves.
Dewey’s published views are contained in his book namely “Democracy and
Education”, and “Reconstruction in Philosophy”. His influence beginning with the
modern educational field of Columbia University New York has gradually extended to
the Far East and Russia.
Iqbal shows indebtedness to pragmatist philosophy. While under the influence of
Neo-platonism (i.e. before 1908), he believed in the eternal values (Beauty, Truth and
Goodness) and despised the phenomenal world. Under his emancipated position,
however, he identified God with “Supreme ego” or “the eternal will”. Further, Beauty,
instead of being an eternal value came to be regarded as “only a quality of the ego—in
action; of the ‘will to power’, when it climbs to its heights. Ugliness appears when ‘will
to power’, the fountain of all life and all growth, runs dry”.
Iqbal gives expressions to these ideas in his following beautiful lines:
‫ وہ جمیل‬،‫نمود جسکی فراز خودی سے ھے‬
‫ قبیح و نا محبوب‬،‫جو ھو نشیب میں پیدا‬
‫مری نظر میں یہی ھے جمال و زیبائی‬
‫کہ سر بسجدہ ھوں قوت کے سامنے افالک‬
“Glorious is he, who reveals his identity through the attainment of self While, ugly
and repugnant is he who takes its birth in the lowest strata of being, Nothing but
submission of heavens to the dynamic power of self Constitutes elegance or beauty in
my eyes”.
Thus, the essence of reality as held by Iqbal is the will of the ego. His theory,
therefore, ceases to be idealistic. It, on the other hand, becomes atavistic. For, life
according to him, is essentially volitional and is definitely directed towards some end,
the end being spiritual rather than material.
Briefly, according to Iqbal, the highest aim of education is to strengthen the
individuality of all persons so that they may develop their potentialities. Naturalists,
on the contrary, stress on adjustment to environment as the educational aim. Idealists
emphasise the development of personality and attainment of universal values. The
pragmatists hold progress and creation of human values as the goal of education.
Knowledge is the essence of education and is an indispensable means for it.
Obviously, adjustment to environment cannot be achieved without the knowledge of
the environment; nor appreciation of eternal values without the knowledge of spiritual
and cultural universe. Likewise, progress and creation of values are empty cries
without full knowledge of man and the world around him. Iqbal contends that the
essence of self is revealed only through intuition. Psychology which regards self to be
a mere flux of sensation and feelings and thoughts fails to grasp an inner unity of self
behind all the multiple experiences. In order to apprehend the unity of self which is
the pivot of all experiences, Iqbal turns to the inner depths of our consciousness and
has recourse to intuition. He further holds that it is definitely not the aim of education
to yield one self to environmental forces; rather the real aim of education according to
him is to subjugate the material force. As he himself remarks that if the time does not
move in harmony with you, change the times:
‫زمانہ تو نسادزد تو با زمانہ ستیز‬
Thus, according to K. G. Syedain:-
“No one can develop any intelligent theory of education without consciously
postulating some conception of the nature of the individual to be educated, his
relationship to the community and, what may be called, his ultimate destiny. For, the
essence of the educative process, reduced to its most elementary terms, lies in the fact
of a living human organism being in constant interaction and contact with a vast and
complex environment, which keeps on changing and growing as a result of the
continuous, mutual intercourse. Like the philosopher the educator must necessarily
inquire into the nature of these two terms of his activity—the individual and the
Environment—which ultimately determine the solution of all his problems”.
The naturalists stress, like Iqbal, the development of human personality, but they
seem to have no idea of any goal for the education of the child. They only aim to give
the child every facility for growing in-to free, active, happy and well-adjusted human
being. They believe that when every one in the society has such a normal and free
growth of his personality, the society as a whole will progress,—thus individual aim
becomes identical with social aim.
Pragmatists, on the other hand, do not look at the curriculum from the narrow
view of utility. Their aim is human progress and they look at education as the chief
means of achieving it. They stress the need of systematic experiments in school which
should be based on the present activities and interests of the child. The child’s
experience must be enriched so that he may be prepared for adult life. Thus Dewey’s
curriculum is based on child’s nature and life; and its material is selected from
different activities of real social life. In this way a child’s personality is so enriched and
so socialized that he not only develops a well-adjusted dynamic personality but he also
becomes an effective social unit contributing to the democratization of the society.
Idealism approaches the problem in an entirely different way. It concentrates not
on the present experiences of the child but on the experiences of the human race as a
whole. In the word of Ross, “It stands on the position that the purpose of the child is
to reflect civilization itself; the main purpose, therefore, of the course of studies is to
epitomise and organize, in representative fashion at least, the capitalized experiences
of race of which the child is a member”.
School studies must, therefore, represent (a) what man does and strives to do. It
ought to improve the major crafts of mankind especially those which provide the
fundamental needs of food, clothing and shelter. This would involve the use of tools
and learning of the fine arts. The curriculum should also include (b) what man knows.
This must include literature, science, mathematics, history and geography. Finally, the
school must provide (c) man’s mode of feelings and their expressions in art, poetry
and music.
From the above it is evident and abundantly clear that the idealists stress on such
a school curriculum which insures that the child would become a member of the
human race in the real sense of the word, possessing all that is valuable, imbued with
the social and spiritual traditions of the society and doing his best to carry humanity
ahead to the goal of realization of fundamental social values. Iqbal agrees partially
with the naturalism of Rousseu, with pragmatism of Dewey and with certain aspects
of humanism. He has reconstructed religious thought in Islam by combining religion
and science on the one hand and has bridged the gulf between science and philosophy
on the other. He has revolted against the old system of Muslim education which he
thinks has outlived its utility. He condemns speculative attitude of philosopher and
goes to the extent of subjecting Greek thought to a scathing criticism and points out
that the spirit of Greek philosophy is opposed to Islam. Mere speculation, he
maintains, can neither afford to grasp the material world nor can it give us any definite
knowledge of the ultimate reality. Plato denied the reality of the phenomenal world,
which Iqbal affirms in his philosophical and educational thought. Almost all the
idealists are unanimous on the point that all cognition through the senses and
experience is illusory, and that only the ideas of pure reason constitute reality. Iqbal
positively holds that speculation without experience leads us nowhere. For him no
knowledge is possible without experience. In his own effort at the reconstruction of
religious thought in Islam he avails from modern philosophy which is essentially
empirical since Kant. The spirit of Islam, too, is essentially empirical and lays special
emphasis on the reality of the phenomenal world. Consequently, according to Iqbal,
experience is a necessary source of knowledge and beyond the world of senses there is
also a new horizon of transcendent reality which the scientists have failed to
comprehend. Iqbal affirms the existence of God, the reality of the self, its freedom
and immortality and instead of confining knowledge to the empirical reality alone he
goes further and believes also in the intuitive reality. He vigorously holds that
empiricism and rationalism both have failed to reveal the true nature of the finite or
infinite self. This knowledge of self, according to Iqbal, is therefore possible only
through intuition. Thus, the intuition of the self then gives us a point of departure
from the rationalistic and empirical method of enquiry and makes possible the divine
knowledge of the supreme’s ego. This opens a new avenue of knowledge for the
affirmation of self and the existence of God.
Thus, it is rightly held by Iqbal:
‫خودی ھو علم سے محکم تو غیرت جبرئیل‬
‫اگر ھم عشق سے محکم تو صور اسرافیل‬
He combines reason and Intuition to attain a true vision and knowledge of self
and, therefore, condemns that knowledge which is not so characterized.
‫وہ علم کم بصری جس میں ھمکنار نہیں‬
‫تجلیات کلیم و مشاھدات حکیم‬
God, according to Iqbal, is a Supreme Ego and is characterised by eternal will.
The finite ego can come in personal communion with Him, without obliterating their
own selves. He, thus, starts with self-consciousness and passing through the
consciousness of the objective phenomenal world arrives at the infinite.
In view of his philosophical concept it becomes abundantly clear that he is neither
a humanist nor an idealist nor a pragmatist in the strict sense of the term; he has
rather his own ideas on education based en his own concept of ideal life. The aim of
education, according to him, is to develop personality by activity, creativity and
originality, with a view to preparing man for the conquest of the material forces of the
universe and further the achievement of spiritual heights of man. His conception of
‘individuality’ is, therefore, unique and is altogether different from the conception
held by the traditionists. “The individual” of his conception is thoroughly
“community minded man” who according to him will be the voice of the society.
Iqbal also stresses the need of a balanced development of body and spirit and
considers them indissolubly connected with each other. This constitutes the crux of
his philosophy. Dr. S. M. Abdullah, in his article on Iqbal’s philosophy of education,
maintains that the fundamental subject of study according to Iqbal is “Din”, which
includes science. Science should not be considered merely “Knowledge gained by
observation and experiment”, but it should embody all “Knowledge based on truth”.
Thus, Iqbal’s conception of science is characteristically his own. Science, according to
him comprises the knowledge of Anfus (Lein) and Afaq (cyi91 ) i.e. the realm of the
self and the cosmos. Iqbal has also emphasised the study of history and is also an
admirer of “vital” literature and arts including architecture. He has, however, opposed
drama and theatre keeping in time with the general Muslim temper.
A comprehensive view of Iqbal’s ideas about education would reveal that he has
tried to reconnect the broken links of the educational tradition of Islam. His emphasis
on “anfus” and “afaq” is, in a way, a restatement of the doctrines propounded, on one
hand, by Rumi, and, on the other, by Ibn Khaldun and later on by Shah Wall Ullah of
Delhi. His chief contribution to the educational ideology is the emphasis on “din”, as
the main subject of study.
Briefly, education, according to Iqbal, is a means to an end and not an end itself.
The end of education being Islamic Ideology and Culture. It is through education that
a culture perpetuates itself. Since every system of education basically consists of social
ideals, norms, and values and is based on its specific culture, Iqbal exhorts us not to
imitate other nations. For this tendency of aping, according to him, is suicidal. He
therefore says,
‫اٹھا نہ شیشہ گران فرنگ کے احساں‬
‫سفال ھند سے مینا و جام پیدا کر‬
“Seek not the bounty of the glass-blowers of the West Make your own cups and
goblet from the clay of India”
‫تا کجا در تہ بال دگراں می باشی‬
‫در ھوائے چمن آرا در پریدن آسوز‬
“How long will thou abide under the wings of others? Learn to wing thy flight
freely in the garden of breeze”.
In the following lines, he criticizes those, who, having neglected their own system
of education, have adopted alien system of education.
‫علم غیر آموختی اندوختی‬
‫روئے خویش از غازہ اش افروختی‬
‫ارجمندی از شعارش می برید‬
‫من ندانم تو توئی یا دیگری‬
‫عقل تو زنجیری افکار غیر‬
‫در گلوئے تو نفس از تار غیر‬
‫بر زبانت گفتگو ھا مستعار‬
‫در دل تو آرزو ھا مستعار‬
‫قمریانت را نواھا خواستہ‬
‫سروھا بت را قباھا خواستہ‬
‫باد مے گیری بجام از دیگراں‬
‫جام ھم مے گیری بدام از دیگراں‬
‫آفتاب ھستی یکے در خود نگر‬
‫از نجوم دیگراں تا بے خبر‬
‫تا کجا طوف چراغ محفلے‬
‫ز آتش خود سوز اگر داری دلے‬
“You have learnt and amassed knowledge of others and brightened your face with
rouge borrowed from others.
You seek honour by aping the manners of others.
I know not, whether you are yourself or just ‘another self’
Your intellect is chained in the thought of others;
The very breath in your throat comes from the strings of others.
Borrowed speeches are on your tongues;
Borrowed desires in your heart.
Your canaries sing borrowed songs;
Your Cypresses are clad in borrowed mantles.
The wine in your cup—you get from others;
The cup, too, you borrow from others.
You are sun; look for once into your own self.
Seek not your light from the stars of others.
How long will you dance around the candles of the Assembly?
Lit up your own light, if you have a heart.”
Iqbal further makes a fervent appeal for the adoption of ideological system of
education, which is purely Islamic. According to him culture and ideals of society
should be the guiding factors of our education. He therefore very aptly remarks
‫زندہ فرد از ارتباط جان و تن‬
‫زندہ قوم از حفظ ناموس کہن‬
‫مرگ فرد از خشکی رود حیات‬
‫مرگ قوم از ترک مقصود حیات‬
“Life of the Individual depends on the relationship of the body
and soul.
Life of the nation depends on the preservation of its tradition and
culture.
Individual dies if the life-flow ceases.
Nation dies if the ideal of life is spurned”.

Further, according to Iqbal, the Islamic ideology which is the end of our
education is the only means to establish a balance between- in-dividualism and
collectivism. He regards the development of Individuality as the fundamental value,
but does not ignore, at the same time, the growth of social sense and collective
responsibilities. While, he holds that man must not loose his individuality in the social
collective, he also enjoins the Individual to subscribe to the social good. There-fore an
ideal system of education will always aim at the establishment of balance between the
development of Individuality and social consciousness of the individual.
‫فرد قائم ربط ملت سے ھے تنہا کچھ نہیں‬
‫موج ھے دریا میں اور بیرون دریا کچھ نہیں‬
Individual exists by virtue of his social contacts. He is nonentity without that
association.
“He is like a wave in the river and has no existence outside it. Again he says
‫فرد میگرد ز ملت احترام‬
‫ملت از افراد مے یابد نظام‬
“The Individual derives dignity from his nation.
A “millat” is constituted when the Individuals group together.
Iqbal, in his Letter to K. G. Saiyidain explains his ideological conception of
education:
“By ‘Ilm’ I mean that knowledge which is based on senses. Usually I have used
the word in this very sense. This knowledge yields physical powers which should be
subservient to “Din” (i.e. the religion of Islam). If it is not subservient to Din then it
is demonic, pure and simple-It is incumbent on Muslims to Islamize knowledge.
“Abu Lahab should be metamorphosed into Haiyder”. If this Abu Lahab
becomes Haider-e-Karrar, or in other words, if it i.e. (knowledge and power it wields)
becomes subservient to Din, then it would be an unmixed blessings into Mankind”.
Iqbal’s Educational Philosophy P. 99 by K. G. Saiyidain.
This conception of education is further elucidated by the author of Principles of
Islamic Education in the following lines:
“Thus the primary purpose of education should be to imbue the students with
their religion and ideology. They should be taught the meaning and purpose of life,
Man’s position in this world, the doctrine of Tauheed (Unity of God), Risalah
(Prophethood), Akhira (Life here-after) and their bearing upon Individual and social
life, the Islamic values of morality, the nature and content of Islamic culture, and the
obligations and the mission of a Muslim. Education should produce men with deep-
held conviction about Islamic ideals of Individual and collective life”.
Islam, again, is positively opposed to idealism and abstract thinking and so is
Iqbal. Following this scheme of education, he lays special emphasis on life-affirmation
and the conquest of the world. Education, according to him, should always aim at the
development of balance of the Individuality and the social consciousness of
Individual.
Dr. Rafi-ud-Din,[*] while accepting the view that Education is a process of Natural
Growth, held that man has a natural urge for this growth. This urge takes the form of
love of an ideal of the highest Beauty and perfection. He therefore very aptly remarks
that “love of the ideal is an independent urge of human nature which is neither a
product nor a servant of the animal instinct or the basic economic need of man, but
which on the other hand rules and controls his animal instincts and basic economic
needs for its own expression and satisfaction”.
He, further, subscribes to the view that human nature is the only dependable
guide to knowledge. For, according to him, the end of education is determined by
human nature or by the natural qualities of human consciousness. These natural
qualities of human consciousness are identified by him with man’s urge to love an
ideal of the highest Beauty and perfection. He very aptly says that if a person’s ideal is
not perfectly good, beautiful and true, he is obliged to judge many actions which are
really right as wrong and many actions which are really wrong as right. It is on account
of his love with imperfect ideals that he makes different judgments about what is just,
virtuous, moral, good or true. Thus “the justice, truth, morality, virtue, honesty,
fraternity, equality or a liberty of a man who believes in a wrong or imperfect ideal is
very much different from and very much inferior to the justice, truth, morality, virtue,
honesty, fraternity, equality or a liberty of a man who believes in a perfect ideals. The
former is forced by his love, unconsciously to interpret these terms narrowly and
wrongly and hence immorally and wickedly”.
He further maintains that “the ideal being the generator of the deed and the
creator of its value, the deed is good or bad according as the ideal from which it
results is good or bad. Hence the character of a man who loves a wrong ideal is never
really noble or lofty. He thinks that no truth, no justice, no equality, no liberty and no
virtue is good enough which conflicts with the interests of his ideal. The result is that
he cannot express and satisfy completely his moral urge and cannot grow
educationally to the fullest extent. If, on the other hand, a person’s ideal is perfectly
good, beautiful and true, his moral action is of the highest ethical standard. The
reason is that, in such a case, his desire for an ideal does not interfere with his desire
for moral action for its own sake. Both of these desires seek expression and
satisfaction in the same direction. The love of the ideal reinforces the desire for moral
action and the desire for moral action for its own . sake reinforces and strengthens the
love of the ideal, while both of them are seeking expression in the right direction.
Each helps the other to achieve its full expression and satisfaction”. (First Principles
of Education by Muhammad Rafiuddin P. 292-93).
To conclude, Love of God, His qualities of perfection and Beauty is the innate
urge of the child. The educator must see to it that the innate urge of love is not
diverted into the channel of any other ideal and that his love for God actually
determines his action.
“Action is the test of love. A person loves an ideal only to the extent to which he
is able to act according to its moral demand and no more. Only those moral
judgments and moral actions can be really moral and conducive to the perfect
educational growth of an individual which result from a sincere, unmixed and whole-
hearted love of God”.