The Thoughts of Muhammad Abduh and Muhammad Iqbal

   The term science kalam consists of two words science and kalam. The word science in the Big Indonesian Dictionary, implies knowledge of a field which is arranged systematically according to a certain method. While kalam is Arabic which means words. Kalam science uses words in compiling the arguments it uses. Therefore kalam as a word that can contain the meaning of human words can also be the words of God.

1. Muhammad Abduh's thoughts

    Muhammad Abduh was born in Mahaalat Nasr, Egypt in 1849 and died in 1905. His father was named Abduh Hasan Khairulah who was of Turkish blood who had long lived in Egypt. His mother is of Arabic origin. Education was initially carried out at home by reading, writing and memorizing the Qur'an. In a relatively short time, namely two years Abduh teenagers have memorized the Qur'an.

a. Position of reason and function of revelation

Muhammad Abduh argues that with the power of reason that exists in humans, humans try to know about the existence of God. Meanwhile, the function of revelation according to Muhammad Abduh is to give confidence to humans that the soul will continue to live after the physical body is destroyed, help the mind to know the state of human life in the hereafter and provide guidance on how to give thanks to the procedure of worship.

b. Scrape old-fashioned attitudes and khurafat

According to Muhammad Abduh the cause of the decline of Muslims in the late Middle Ages was the old-fashioned attitude. In this attitude implies the attitude of freezing, static, holding fast to customs. Because it is influenced by the attitude of old-fashioned Muslims do not want to accept change.

c. The door of ijtihad is not closed

Muhammad Abduh initially started the Maliki school, but in al-Azhar he studied the Hanafi School. He respects all schools of thought, but he does not want to be bound to any of them. Schools in his opinion are the paths taken by past scholars in understanding the Qur'an and Hadith.

d. Education

Another renewal idea in the field of education is to overhaul the dualism system of education. According to him in public schools must be taught religion, while in religious schools must be taught modern science.

e. Political

In the political field, Muhammad Abduh argues that state power must be limited by the constitution. The government is obliged to be fair to the people. In contrast to a just government the people must be obedient and loyal. Muhammad Abduh wanted a democratic political life based on deliberation. 

2. Muhammad Iqbal's thoughts

     His full name is Muhammad Iqbal Muhammad Nur Muhammad Rafiq. Born in 1877 AD, on Siyalkut in the province of Punjab, India. His father is a Sufi. Because his father saw Muhammad Iqbal always reading the Qur'an, his father said "if you want to understand the Qur'an, then always read the Qur'an." I see the Qur'an as being revealed to you. "
He was the head of the Islamic Protection Organization and chairman of the Indian Muslim Party and was the first person to propose that Muslims separate themselves from the government of Hindus. After that, he was appointed as a lecturer in philosophy philosophy at the Oriental Faculty (who studied the culture and language of Eastern countries) at the University of Lahore.
In Iqbal's view, Islam teaches dynamism in which there is dynamic dynamics. Next Iqbal emphasized that the Islamic concept of nature is dynamic and is constantly evolving. That dynamic motion becomes the central point of change in the middle of the universe. Strictly speaking, Iqbal said that the essence of life is motion, the law of life is creating.

a. The Nature of Theology

In general he sees theology as a science that has dimensions of faith, based on the essence of monotheism (universal and inclusivistic). In it there is a moving soul in the form of "equality, solidarity, and freedom". His views on ontology theology made him successfully see anomalies (deviations) attached to the literature of classical science.

b. God's Proof

In proving the existence of God, he rejects both cosmological and ontological arguments. He also rejects theological arguments that try to prove the existence of God who governs His creation from the outside. Nevertheless, he accepted theological foundation.

c. Human identity

Understanding his dynamism greatly influences human identity. Search for his opinion on this issue can be seen from his concept of the ego, the central idea in his philosophical thinking. The word is interpreted with personality. Humans live to know their personality and strengthen and develop their talents.

d. Sin

He expressly states in all his qualities that the Qur'an presents teachings about the freedom of the creative human ego. In this connection, he developed the story of the fall of Adam (because of eating the forbidden fruit) as a story that contains a lesson about "the resurrection of humans from primitive conditions that are controlled by instinctive lust to the possession of a free personality that he acquired consciously.

d. Heaven and hell

Heaven and Hell, he said, were circumstances not places. The images of the two in the Qur'an are visual displays of inner reality, that is, their nature. Hell, according to the formulation of the Qur'an is "The fire of Allah that burns and that rises above the heart", a painful statement about human failure. Heaven is human excitement because of the victory in overcoming the various impulses that lead to division.