Maqsood Ahmed, OBE
1. INTRODUCTION
Twentieth-century philosopher and poet Muhammad Iqbal offered a dynamic concept of nationhood and civilisation that synthesised the spiritual heritage of the East with the rational advancement of the West. Iqbal’s conception of nationhood was founded on religion, ethics, and spiritual solidarity, not on race, geography, or language. Though impressed by Western philosophy, Iqbal continued to be critical of its materialism as well as spiritual poverty.
Iqbal’s personal journey from his early notion of nationalism expressing romantic patriotism to a markedly different orientation, which is based on a profound philosophy of Muslim identity and global unity. This also explains the reasons for the shift in his thinking.
For Iqbal, true nationalism is not love for land but love for divine ideals that inspire and uplift humanity.
Iqbal’s journey into nationalism reflects his intellectual maturity — from romantic patriotism to a profound philosophy of Muslim identity and global unity, based on the unity of thought, emotion, and purpose. To him, Muslim nationalism is not territorial.
He replaced territorial nationalism with “spiritual nationalism” — loyalty to God, faith, and moral ideals — which is reflected in his deliberations on the reconstruction of religious thought, a sign of his intellectual maturity.
Allama Muhammad Iqbal’s personal evolution about nationalism is one of the most significant aspects of his intellectual and philosophical journey in this regard. His views transformed over time, moving from early admiration of territorial nationalism to a mature vision rooted in Islamic universalism (ummah) and spiritual unity.
No doubt Iqbal admired territorial nationalism before 1908. During his student days in Lahore and early teaching career, Iqbal was influenced by Western political thought and admired territorial nationalism that inspired European independence movements.
Thus, he initially admired the idea of Indian nationalism and unity among Hindus and Muslims against colonial rule.
His famous early poem “Saray Jahan Se Achha Hindustan Hamara” (1904) celebrates territorial patriotism and the beauty of India.
maz.hab nahīñ sikhātā aapas meñ bair rakhnā
hindī haiñ ham vatan hai hindostāñ hamārā
“Religion does not teach us to bear enmity among ourselves;
we are Indians, and India is our homeland.”
At this stage, he believed that coexistence and cooperation could form the basis of national unity.
After studying in Europe (Cambridge, Munich, London), Iqbal witnessed both the strength and dangers of nationalism — especially its role in wars and imperialism. He saw that Western nationalism was often materialistic and divisive.
A marked Shift was noticed in his Thinking. Iqbal began to criticise nationalism as a divisive and secular ideology that threatened the unity of Muslims. He came to view nationhood based on geography or race as incompatible with Islam’s spiritual and moral vision.
In his poem “Wataniyat” (from Bang-e-Dara), he warns:
In Taza Khudaon Mein Bara Sub Se Watan Hai
Jo Pairhan Iss Ka Hai, Woh Mazhab Ka Kafan Hai
Country, is the biggest among these new gods!
What is its shirt is the shroud of Deen (Religion)
As the political struggle in India intensified, Iqbal developed his vision of a separate Muslim identity grounded in faith, ethics, and collective spiritual purpose.
Islam provides a complete system of life that transcends race, territory, and language. Muslims constitute a spiritual brotherhood (ummah) — a universal community bound by shared belief, not geography.
True nationalism should be based on faith and values, not soil.
In the Allahabad Address (1930):
Iqbal proposed a separate homeland for Muslims in northwest India — not as an ethnic state but as an “Islamic polity” where Muslims could live according to their principles.
“I would like to see the Punjab, North-West Frontier Province, Sind, and Baluchistan amalgamated into a single state”.
2. IQBAL’S CONCEPT OF NATIONHOOD: PHILOSOPHICAL FOUNDATIONS
Iqbal’s concept of nationhood is born out of his metaphysical view of human unity and divine purpose. The Qur’anic concept of Ummah forms the foundation of his theory. “Verily this community of yours is one community, and I am your Lord, so worship me.” (Al-Anbiya 21:92). For Iqbal, a nation’s foundation is not race, blood, or earth, but unity of faith and moral purpose. The Islamic nation is thus a spiritual brotherhood.
In The Reconstruction of Religious Thought in Islam (1930), Iqbal contends that Islam is a “spiritual democracy” — an arrangement where there is God-given sovereignty and equality based on belief and merit, not earthly circumstances. “Islam, as a polity, is only a practical means of making the principle of Tawhid a living factor in the intellectual and emotional life of mankind.” (Reconstruction, Lecture V)
The metaphysical aspect of Iqbal’s thinking is derived from both Islamic mysticism and contemporary philosophy. From Rumi, he acquired the mystery of love (ishq); from Nietzsche and Bergson, he took the concept of creative will. But in contrast to them, he spiritualized the concepts, developing Nietzsche’s Übermensch into the Mard-e-Momin — man of faith and self-control. “Strengthen your selfhood so much that before destiny is written, God Himself will ask you — tell Me, what is your desire?” (Bal-e-Jibril)
Iqbal’s nationhood, therefore, starts from the awakening of the self and ends in the awakening of the community.
3. IQBAL’S CRITIQUE OF THE EUROPEAN MODEL OF NATIONHOOD
To properly understand Iqbal’s critiques of nationalism per se, it is necessary first to understand his foundational conception of the universe in general. Iqbal’s philosophical starting point is that the universe is intimately related to God in that it continually discloses the divine reality in new ways at each moment.
He was convinced that spiritual democracy — in which the sovereignty of God reigns supreme and presents an ethical paradigm for all humankind.
To Iqbal, Western civilisation had separated knowledge from religion, intellect from emotion. It rendered reason and material prosperity glorious and disregarded man’s spiritual fate. He considered nationalism as the most dangerous threat to human oneness: Iqbal’s experience of Europe was both educative and disquieting. He admired its discipline, order, and scientific competence but lamented its spiritual decline and moral bankruptcy. In Bang-e-Dra and Zarb-e-Kalim, Iqbal time and again faulted the West’s moral bankruptcy: “Europe’s heart has lost its soul, though its mind still shines bright; its science is a flame without warmth, its culture a body without life.” “The nations of the West are bound by race, but their unity lacks the warmth of the heart.” (Rumuz-e-Bekhudi)
In The Reconstruction, Iqbal writes:
“The modern European mind, in its rejection of religion, has made intellect the final arbiter of truth, and thus lost contact with the eternal.”
He was convinced that the European sense of progress, lacking moral and spiritual guidance, inexorably leads to devastation — a foretelling which was justified by the two World Wars.
4. EAST AND WEST — A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS
Iqbal perceived the East and West as two contrasting but complementary planes of civilisation. The East represents love, intuition, and spirituality; the West embodies intellect, power, and material dominion. “From the West comes knowledge and organisation; From the East comes love and illumination. The perfect man unites both in his soul”.
Iqbal’s intention was not to reject the West but to reconcile the two. He believed in a new world where Western intellect and Eastern heart could exist in harmony under the illumination of Tawhid. He called upon Muslims to embrace Western discipline and reasonableness without sacrificing their spiritual legacy. His is a message of synthesis, not separation: “Take reason from the West and heart from the East —your world will shine with both light and flame.”
5. IQBAL’S VISION OF THE ISLAMIC MILLAT
Central to Iqbal’s political thought is his vision of the Millat-e-Islamia — the global Islamic nation. He regarded Islam as a comprehensive way of life which encompasses the spiritual, moral, and social aspects. In his renowned Allahabad Address (1930), Iqbal suggested the establishment of a sovereign Muslim state in India — not as a territorial claim, but as a trial of Islamic statesmanship. He asserted:
I should prefer to see the Punjab, North-West Frontier Province, Sind and Baluchistan united into one state. The creation of a solid North-West Indian Muslim state seems to me the ultimate fate of Muslims.
This thought was based on his conviction that Muslims, as a moral and religious community, require a social order in line with their values. In Reconstruction, Iqbal describes: “The State in Islam is an endeavor to transform the ideals of Islam into a living reality.”
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