The Role of Allama Iqbal's Philosophy of Selfhood (Khudi) in the Preservation and Renaissance of Islamic Civilization in the Subcontinent

برصغیر پاک و ہند میں اسلامی تہذیب کے تحفظ و احیاء میں علامہ اقبال ؒ کے فلسفۂ خودی کا کردار (ایک تحقیقی جائزہ)

Abstract

This research paper evaluates the pivotal role of Allama Muhammad Iqbal's philosophy of Selfhood (Khudi) in the preservation and renaissance of Islamic civilization in the colonial Indian Subcontinent. Writing in an era marked by colonial subjugation and the relentless onslaught of Western secular-materialist ideologies, Iqbal emerged as a preeminent poet-philosopher and religious reformer, advocating for an inner, spiritual, and moral renaissance to revitalize the collective Muslim ego. Grounded on the universal metaphysical doctrines of Tawhid (the unity of God) and the finality of Prophethood, Iqbal postulated Millah—a transnational community bound by transcendental moral principles rather than territorial or racial divisions. He delivered a profound critique of Western modernity, exposing its severe spiritual void and its lack of moral soul and love, while actively warning that territorial nationalism and racial discrimination are the greatest adversaries of global human solidarity. To resolve the deep-seated theological and legal inertia within the Muslim world, Iqbal championed the revival of Ijtihad as the core "principle of movement", which alone could inject the required dynamism for the reconstruction and survival of Islamic civilization in the modern era. This study systematically evaluates how Iqbal's philosophical and poetic exposition provided South Asian Muslims with a separate and self-assertive identity, effectively serving as the intellectual and spiritual blueprint for the establishment of Pakistan.