Jamaluddin Afghani

See also Chapter 70, 'The World of Quran' in The Republic of Rumi: a Novel of Reality

The most notable references to the nineteenth century activist Syed Jamaluddin Afghani (1838-1897) from the pen of Iqbal appear in The Reconstruction of Religious Thought in Islam (1930-34) and Javid Nama (1932) among the collected works, and in the pamphlet ‘Islam and Ahmedism’ (1936) among the uncollected writings.

There can be no doubt that Afghani, despite his disagreement with Iqbal’s predecessor Sir Syed, was one of the cornerstones of the worldview of Iqbal as well as the modern Muslim world (and hence there may be a need to approach with caution the controversial material casting doubts about Afghani’s personality, floated internationally with unusual zeal since the collapse of European colonialism).

In the Reconstruction, Afghani is introduced in the fourth lecture as the person “who fully realized the importance and immensity of the task [of rethinking the whole system of Islam without completely breaking with the past], and whose deep insight into the inner mean-ing of the history of Muslim thought and life, combined with a broad vision engendered by his wide experience of men and man¬ners, would have made him a living link between the past and the future.”

Iqbal goes on to add, “If his indefatigable but divided energy could have devoted itself entirely to Islam as a system of human belief and conduct, the world of Islam, intellectually speaking, would have been on a much more solid ground today.”

These traits of Afghani are dramatized in Javid Nama, where he leads the prayers for Rumi, Iqbal and a Turk reformer on the Sphere of Mercury, and his recitation of Quran reveals the universal archetypes on Iqbal’s soul. Then Afghani proceeds to explain the foundational principles of the unborn “World of Quran”, and offers reflections on the political situation of the world.

In ‘Islam and Ahmedism’, Afghani, Sir Syed and Mufti Alam Jan of Russia are named as reformers who “concentrated their whole energy on creating a revolt” against the decadent forces of Mullahs, mystics and kings.

Afghani’s description in this pamphlet helps us understand even better why he was chosen for his particular role in Javid Nama. “A perfect master of nearly all the Muslim languages of the world and endowed with the most winning eloquence,” Iqbal wrote of Afghani. “His restless soul migrated from one Muslim country to another influencing some of the most prominent men in Persia, Egypt and Turkey. Some of the greatest theologians of our time, such as Mufti Muhammad ‘Abduhu, and some of the men of the younger generation who later became political leaders, such as Zaghlul Pasha of Egypt, were his disciples. He wrote little, spoke much and thereby transformed into miniature Jamal¬uddins all those who came into contact with him. He never claimed to be a prophet or a renewer; yet no man in our time has stirred the soul of Islam more deeply than he! His spirit is still working in the world of Islam and nobody knows where it will end.”