The Thoughts of Muhammad Abduh and Muhammad Iqbal | Philosophy 11

The Thought of Muhammad Abduh 

   Muhammad Abduh was born in 1266 H or 1894 AD in a district called Sibsyir, the city of Mahallah Nasr, Bakhirhah province, Egypt. His father, Abduh Hasan Khairallah, was a Turkish who had lived in Egypt for a long time. While his mother is said to be of Arab descent whose nasab line is associated with the Umar bin Khattab ra.

   In the age of 12 'Abduh had memorized the Qur'an. Then, at the age of 13 he was taken to Tanta to study at the Ahmadi Mosque for 2 years. However 'Abduh felt he did not understand anything. About this experience 'Abduh recounted:" One and a half years I studied in Sheikh Ahmad's mosque without understanding anything. This is because the method is wrong.

   When Abduh was 16 years old, precisely in 1865, Abduh was married and worked as a farmer. But that only lasted for 40 days. Because he had to go to Tanta to study again. 1866 'Abduh left his wife and family to Cairo to study at Al-Azhar. His hopes were not fulfilled. He came out because the ongoing learning process highlighted knowledge and memorization without thinking, like his experience at Tanta. This is also the background 'Abduh wanted to hold reforms in the field of education.

Muhammad Renew's ideas Muhammad Abduh :

   Regarding renewal ideas, scholars differ in classifying. These ideas by H.A.R. Gibb, summarized in four main activities, namely :

1. Cleansing Islam from heresy

2. Renewal of al-Azhar's education

3. The reformulation of true Islamic teachings with modern thought.

4. The defense of Islam against European influences and Christian attacks.

Among some of Muhammad Abduh's works include:

1. The Message of Tawheed

2. Syarah al-Bashair al-Nashiriyah Fil Mantiq

3. Hasyiyah 'ala Syarah al-Dawani Lil' Aqaid al-Adudiyah.

4. Syarah Maqamat Badi'as Zaman al-Hamazani.

5. Al-Islam wan Nasraniah ma'al Ilmi wal-Madaniyah.

6. Taqrir Fi Ishlahi al-Mahakim al-Syar'iyah

The Thought of Muhammad Iqbal

   Iqbal was born in Sialkot-India (a historic old city on the border of West Punjab and Kashmir) on November 9, 1877/2 Dhulqa'dah 1294 and died on April 21, 1938. He was born into a family of devout worshipers so that since his childhood he has received direct guidance from his father Sheikh Mohammad Noor and Muhammad Rafiq his grandfather. He completed his elementary education to secondary level at Sialkot and then went on to study at the University in Lahore, in Cambridge-England and finally in Munich-Germany by submitting a thesis entitled The Development of Metaphysics in Persia. Upon his return from Europe in 1909 he was appointed Professor in Lahore and had become a lawyer.

   He brought out thoughts about politics. Politics with a view about the Koran. According to Iqbal, the Koran is something that raises human consciousness higher about its relationship with God and the universe. From his ideas about the Koran which greatly values movement and dynamics, M.Iqbal is obsessed with making Muslims aware of the move to change the static and stagnant state into dynamic and progressive life and create changes under the demands of the teachings of the Koran. Therefore the Koran considers it necessary to unite religion and state, ethics and politics in one revelation.

   The works of Iqbal include: Bang-i-dara (Genta Bells), Payam-i-Mashriq (Message from the East), Asrar-i-Khudi (Self-Secrets), Rumuz-i-Bekhudi (Secrets) Self-Abandonment, Javanese Name (Book of Immortality), Zarb-i-Kalim (Punch of the Prophet Musa), Pas Cheh Bayad Kard Aye Aqwam-i-Sharq (What Will You Do O Eastern People?), Travelers Names, Bal- i-Jibril (Wings of Jibril), Armughan-i-Hejaz (Gifts from Hijaz), Devlopment of Metaphyiscs in Persia, Lectures on the Reconstruction of Religious Thought in Islam Ilm al Iqtishad,, A Contibution to the History of Muslim Philosopy, Zabur- i-'Ajam (New Secret Garden), Khusal Khan Khattak, and Rumuz-i-Bekhudi (Secret of Self-Disappearance).