Dr. Mohd Abbas Abdul Razak Department of General Studies

Kulliyyah of Islamic Revealed Knowledge and Human Sciences

PosterID: 1353

Iqbal’s Ego Philosophy and Its Importance in Awakening Man’s Religiosity

IIUM Research, Invention and Innovation Exhibition 2013

Introduction Secularization of the human mind all over the world has deprived modern man from the true meaning of life and the ultimate reality of his existence in this world. Not knowing his actual role as God’s vicegerent and his position in the hierarchy of God’s creations has led him into conflict with God, nature and rest of mankind. Moreover, the absence of God in his life has alienated modern man from binding a harmonious relationship with his Self, nature and others. This state of life has taken him to the brink of destruction in the form of harming the environment, going into endless war, etc. In the wake of this catastrophic condition of man, this research explored the philosophical ideas of Iqbal with regard to the life of the ego and the multifaceted relationship it has, as stated by Iqbal in showcasing his concept of the ego to the world. As a prelude to the crux of the matter of this research, the researcher provided some information on the scenario in the East which challenged Iqbal’s mind to come up with his ego philosophy. This research aimed at exploring Iqbal’s ideas on the life of the ego in order to draw out some understanding as to how modern man could find meaning to life and through which he could strengthen his sense of religiosity.

Scenario in the East

The scenario at the time Iqbal appeared on the intellectual stage of the

world was when the Muslim world was lagging behind the West in the

areas of education, science and technology. Some of the contributing

factors to this pathetic scenario were the widespread influence of the

doctrine of Wahdah al-Wujūd in the Muslim countries, particularly in India,

prevalence of conservatism in the mental attitude of the masses which led

them to fatalistic thinking, and colonization of the East by the West,

particularly Muslim countries (Iqbal,1992).The following figure below

provides a vivid picture of the scenario during the time Iqbal emerged as a

scholar who wanted to carry out his reformation works:

Khudi/Self

Political & Social

conditions in India

Blind Imitation of the West

Wahdatul Wujud

Fatalistic Thinking

Colonization of Muslim

Lands

Ideas on the Human Ego Iqbal’s theory of personality explains that man who is God’s best creation, needs to assimilate into his own personality many of God’s attributes mentioned in the Asmā’ Al-Husnā (the Beautiful Names of Allah). Through this process of assimilation, man can transform himself into a complete individual. What one sees as an end result of this assimilation of the godly attributes in man is one that has strengthened and solidified his personality (El-Muhammady, 2002). In Iqbal’s view such an individual has prepared his ego for immortality. According to him, the assimilation of God’s attributes by an individual prepares his ego for a state of immortality after death. In his theory, Iqbal further stressed that the immortality of an individual’s ego is not a God-given right to him. As such, in order to achieve the state of immortality of the ego, one has to work hard during this earthly life, performing all actions which are considered as ego sustaining acts, and at the same time one has to refrain from all ego dissolving acts. Another interesting fact stated by Iqbal in his theory of personality is that man by assimilating God’s Divine attributes gets closer to God spiritually. The closer he is to God, the stronger is his personality. On the contrary, the further one moves away from God the weaker becomes his personality (Iqbal,1983 &1996).

Conclusion Iqbal’s ideas on the human ego has brought to our understanding that in the absence of a true understanding of God and his inner-self (ego) has caused great confusion in the mind of the modern man. Iqbal’s ideas have highlighted that the ego has its beginning with God and it is man’s duty to tap the hidden and latent potentials that lie within the ego. In order for the ego to attain its state of immortality, man has to bind a good relationship with God, nature and other egos in the society. Besides that, man has to perform all ego sustaining acts and avoid all ego-dissolving activities. Iqbal has also explained that man must actualize all godly attributes that are dormant within his psyche in order to attain the nearness to God. Iqbal’s ideas have also indicated that an ego that is conscious of its duties living in this world will have a harmonious relationship with God, the environment and humanity at large. When this ideal situation is achieved one can witness that the human race as whole will enjoy the much needed peace, harmony and happiness in this world.

Significance of the Study Iqbal’s ideas on the human ego and personality development when

applied in the field of education can produce the most desired results in terms of education which is seen as a dynamic process for personality development. Besides that it is expected that through the application of his ideas, educators and learning institutions can bring out all the positive aspects of what is latent and innate in the human psyche. Moreover, in terms of personality development, his ideas are very much relevant in producing students who possess an integrated personality with the inculcation of moral values and a good relationship with God, environment, society and humanity at large.

This research was presented at CMR2012 International Conference on Multidisciplinary Research, 1-3rd Nov.2012, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Pulau Pinang.

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