Dimensions of Iqbal Lahori’s Islamism in Kolliyat of Persian Poetry
/ Aliakbar Samkhaniani
Iqbal Lahouri is one of the distinctive and pioneer Islamists whose works have great importance regarding their reference to the Holy Quran, Prophet’s Tradition, and cultural and civil heritage of Islamic civilization. His Islamism, on the one hand, was a reaction toward the performance and action of the West, and its intellectual and philosophical schools, and on the other hand, an ideological rereading of religious decrees, Prophet’s behavior, and retrieval of intellectual heritage of Islamic civilization; in sum, a conscious and creative return to a religious, cultural and historical ego. In this reading, Islam is a religion of Human Nature and it is not only the route to salvation and freedom of Muslims but also the prescription of salvation for all humanity, and its revolutionary dynamics are consistent with the temporal needs. A great part of Iqbal’s Islamist ideas are manifested in his Kolliyat (total poems) of Persian Poetry which can be categorized in 5 sections as below: 1. subject of the Holy Quran and Islam’s Prophet, 2. endeavor to promote Islamic unity and Brothership, 3. self-knowing and primarily attention to intellectual and civil heritage of Islamic civilization, 4. religious innovation and ideological rereading of religious decrees, 5) combat against the intellectual discourse and hegemony of the West culture.