by Mary W Maxwell
This being Labor Day in South Australia, here is a brief chat about the poet Iqbal. He is best known for participating in the establishment of the state of Pakistan, but should also be renowned for pointing out such an important thing as the worth of every person’s labor.
Please watch this less-than-two minute video:
Iqbal was born in Punjab, India in 1877, son of Kashmiri Brahmins. He obtained a Bachelor of Arts in 1906 at Trinity College Cambridge, and practiced as a barrister in London, but soon returned to India and taught at Government College, Lahore. Although he died in 1938 and therefore did not live to see the formation of Pakistan, he is credited with having influenced “the Partition.”
As an Indian he had to face the denigration of that culture by British rule and by the Brits’ claim to be bringing civilisation there. In 1813 British Parliament had legislated a right for Christian missionaries to spread their religion in India and in territories ruled by the East India Company.
But Iqbal also had to contend with his Muslim brethren being looked down upon by Hindus. In later life he looked around at various self-determination movements and felt that Northwest India and Bengal were entitled to some autonomy. Jinnah was his colleague in this. Iqbal looked to Jinnah as the one man who could unite Muslims.
Not that Iqbal was a separatist by nature. He was a deep philosopher looking for ways in which the human spirit could develop. World War I seemed to him to show the pains and violence of nationalism. In his 1918 poem he wrote:
And man creates an ever novel God,
whose joy is shedding blood, whose hallowed name
is Colour, Fatherland, Blood-brotherhood
Humanity is slaughtered like a sheep
Before this worthless idol.
In 1915 he had written Secrets of the Self, in Persian. I wonder if he had heard of Walt Whitman. I wonder if Steve Biko had head of Iqbal. Biko, in 1978, in South Africa wrote: The Quest for a True Humanity, I Write What I Like.
“We do not want to be reminded that it is we, the indigenous people, who are poor and exploited in the land of our birth. These are concepts which the Black Consciousness approach wishes to eradicate from the black man’s mind before our society is driven to chaos by irresponsible people from Coca-cola and hamburger cultural backgrounds.”
Biko also, shortly before he was killed by police:
“I’ve devoted my life to see equality for blacks, and at the same time, I’ve denied the needs of my family. Please understand that I take these actions, not out of selfishness or arrogance, but to preserve a South Africa worth living in for blacks and whites.”
Iqbal had no worries that his culture was less than the culture of the Brits or the Christians. He wanted to interweave polity and the feeling of humanity. In 1918 he wrote:
The Church is busy saying prayers on Peter’s rosary
Quite unconcerned with polity
And as for Western polity it is pure deceit
Thus Soul and Body in the West can never meet.
The intellect should always have the heart in train….
Iqbal made a paradigm of civic virtue; he called it “Loss Intelligence.” I cannot read it in Urdu but Mussarat Jabeen at the Defense College in Islamabad has pulled it apart for us. The rest of this article is a quote from Jabeen’s work in the journal Al-Adwa:
Loss Intelligence
Iqbal articulates the Loss Intelligence. It is cumulative of loss of wealth of caravan and the feeling of loss in the caravan’s heart. The sense of loss articulated by Allama Iqbal is sustainable as it bears the elements of past, present and future.
The Loss Intelligence is composed of the following seven characteristics:
It characterizes a sense of CONFESSION knowledge.
It characterizes a sense of HOPE knowledge.
It characterizes a sense of PURITY knowledge.
It characterizes a sense of TRUST knowledge.
It characterizes a sense of LIGHT knowledge.
It characterizes a sense of MORALE knowledge.
It characterizes a sense of CHANGE knowledge.
The above senses are beyond the five senses possessed by every human being. ‘Loss Intelligence‘, is the source of power and wealth to survive as individual and a nation.
[For Iqbal] civic virtue signifies upright and moral behavior of citizens towards society; it implies the ability and willingness of citizen‘s socio-political knowhow in functional manner to participate in society for good governance….
Virtue may in fact be defined as conduct that reflects universal principles of moral and ethical excellence essential to leading a worthwhile life and to effective self-government. For many leading founders of state system; attributes of character such as justice, responsibility, perseverance, and others were thought to flow from an understanding of the rights and obligations of men
…All sober inquirers after truth, ancient and modern, pagan and Christian, have declared that the happiness of man, as well as his dignity, consists in virtue. (John Adams, Thoughts on Government, 1776).
Virtues are eternal because they are rooted in human nature. Values, on the other hand, can change with the times. The word ―value itself implies that values are relative. While values can change with circumstances, it is always good to be just, to persevere, to be courageous, to respect others, and so on. The word ―character refers to the sum total of virtues an individual displays. A person of character is virtuous.
This extreme push for materialistic gains has ended him disregard the spiritual and moral aspect of his life. He considers them out of date and fruitless. Today, man is forced to do something only if he is guaranteed of realistic profit. He has neither the time nor the proclivity to break and ask himself as to where he is heading.
[Jabeen now applies Iqbal’s thought to the 21st Century]:
Such is the present social surroundings that even a child cannot stay behind unmoved by it. It is so easy to quieting a child with a pledge of a present that turns away his mind from something parents have no tolerance to deal with. Life is becoming more unthinking. A child is supposed to excel in studies and encouraged to compete with rest of the fellows. The child is trained in such a manner to get education just for the sake of acquiring a good job ensuring financial security.
It is not denied that to survive in a material world, material necessities cannot be fulfilled without money. Hence there is explicit need to earn a living. The problem arises when man only focuses to fulfill his physical needs i.e. food clothing and shelter. Man is a thinking being which demands growth and nourishment. It is unfortunate to let down the thinking features of life.
The following are the virtues that can be counted as civic virtues in action:
- Righteousness: adhering to moral principles
- Purposeful: serving as or indicating the existence of purpose or goal; e-g Man is endowed with reason and capable of distinguishing good and evil. Instincts like hunger thirst and several others are the same both in man and animal, it‘s the aim of life that makes the two kingdoms distinct. Animals satisfy only the instinctive requirements while man sacrifices his instincts for achieving the aim. It is the right aim not the material gain that is superior.
- Understanding: the capacity for rational thought or inference or discrimination. We are told that man is endowed with reason and capable of distinguishing good from evil‖, perceptive, appreciative, and kind.
- Contemplation: to think about something seriously and at length, especially in order to understand it more fully.
- Sincerity: the quality of being open and truthful; not deceitful or hypocritical.
- Mindfulness: of surroundings; the trait of staying aware of paying close attention to one’s responsibilities.
- Nurturing: helping oneself grow up to be an accepted member of the community, care for, look after, Cultivate.
– end of Jabeen excerpt.
Happy South Australia Labor Day. Enjoy this song which is about Labor, and in the middle of which the singer forgets the lyrics:
“Virtue” from the Latin means “the qualities of Man” as opposed to that which is only the nature of a beast.
Presently, ubiquitous idiocy claims that Man is only a kind of beast with no transcendent origin, nature or purpose.
How can such an idiotic premise argue with Man acting as a beast in the “survival-of-the-fittest”? How could you possibly argue against “those who can, do” and those who can’t are eaten or enslaved by the “evolutionary supremacist”.
Ol’David, did you capitalize “Man” to indicate “mankind” type thing? The etymology of Virtue shows an antecedent VIR that means man, as in the male sex. As in – therefore — strength. Nothing wrong with complimenting one-half of the population about their strength, is there? The Olympics committee organizes the competitions to handicap males in accordance with that natural differential.
I see that the website ell.stackexchange.com says “Virtue comes from the Latin word vir, meaning ‘man’ with connotations of strength and heroism, whence (also Latin) virtūs, meaning “manliness, courage, character, excellence.” Fab.
And the website “theholisticthinker.wordpress.com” says: “Virtue derives from the Latin word Virtus, which in turn derives from Vir. … But, as the Roman empire expanded, the word vir began to include other qualities – industry, fortitude, dutifulness. Thus it is from the Latin vir that we get the modern word ‘virtue’.” — Sort of like what Iqbal was searching for in his ontology.
To anyone who thinks gals don’t want guys to be strong, u r wrong-o.
I am aware that “vir” in Latin is a word meaning a man as in male human. However usage in English can mean also a woman of virtue or a virtuous woman and it does not imply masculinity or butch.
Man is conventional as reference to both sexes as in “The Rights of Man”
“This extreme push for materialistic gains has ended him disregard the spiritual and moral aspect of his life. He considers them out of date and fruitless. Today, man is forced to do something only if he is guaranteed of realistic profit. He has neither the time nor the proclivity to break and ask himself as to where he is heading.”
I find this observation very pertinent to modern day society.
The “controversy” goes deeper into the cultural subversion than most don’t realise. Here is a contemporary view.
https://youtu.be/O639s8k6jis
While out weeding in the garden I have been wondering where the morals and ethics of our young people will end up. Are they being taught such things at home or at school?
I have recently had a book published and because it is of a local historical nature, I decided to donate a copy to each of the 13 high schools in the Rockingham – Kwinana council areas.
I delivered personally to the reception counter at each school the book with a covering letter addressed to the Headmaster/ Headmistress, on which were my contact details including email address. The receptionists thanked me verbally for the donation. However at this time, three weeks after the event, there has been no official thank you or notification of receival from any one of those government or private schools.
I am not after praise, but during the education of people of my age, it was taught that official acknowledgement of a donation or present was the right thing to do. If school principals don’t see the need for such ettiquette, how will students know that morals and ethics are necessary for the survival of the human form. It is not as though the principals don’t have the time for such trivial matters. In this era they all have large numbers of office staff.
As a matter of fact, when a book is published it is mandatory to supply a copy to the National Library and to your State Library. On two occasions that I have supplied a book to the National Library I have received no acknowledgement either. Very poor public relations, I believe.
Goodonya, Mal, for writing a local WA history book. Future generations will appreciate it. I’m sorry the schools did not write to thank you but at least they did not reject it.
Remember our book “Inquest: Siege in Sydney” of which you wrote the chapter on the Holsworthy mock-up and half the chapter on ballistics? I sent a paperback copy to all state AG’s plus NT and all police commissioners. No replies except SAPOL commissioner’s secretary sent it back to me with a polite letter saying the comish is not allowed to receive gifts.
Thar ya go – ethics and etiquette all in the one letter. I also see from worldcat.org that the Queensland Police Service holds a copy in its library. And there’s now a copy in libraries in every state except SA and WA.
I did receive an acknowledgement from the Coroner’s court when I sent them a submission entitled “Ninety-nine ways in which the official story does not add up.” I guess 99 wasn’t enough to throw the case, however. Next time I’ll go for a hundred and thirty-six; that should do it.
Mary, maybe #100 would have done it. We’ll get to publishing that soon.
https://youtu.be/luVpsM3YAgw
Biko -Peter Gabriel
That’s quite something, Deb, especially at 4 minutes when we see Mr Biko walking around.
Mmm. Fantastic speculations. The usual assumptions that Nothing turns itself into Everything with no cause, or observable mechanism, or purpose.
Hey! see if you can build even a simple house or monument without the architect’s or artist’s vision and the skilled artisan’s technical acumen.
Only a ridiculous day-dreamer could imagine that a Universe created itself for no reason.
How easy is it in the post-modern, post-Marxist victim-hood world to critique British rule in India and elsewhere as patriarchal, hegemonic etc etc etc? It is like shooting fish in a barrel and by now is completely trite.
How about we grow up a bit? How about we compare British rule to Moslem rule in India?
In 500 or so years in India Islam killed ~ 100 million people. But they created the Taj Mahal so it’s alright?
India was a shambles before British rule. However, Indians – particularly the managerial class – took to British civility like mango chutney to a vindaloo curry. They absolutely LOVE Britishness.
What people often fail to do is to imagine what state of affairs would have prevailed had what happened not happened.
Take the Christian church. Has it always been perfect? No. What would life have been like without it? A horror-show with Islam ruling the world.
If the Brits were never in India, it would not only continue to be a shambles it would be a genocidal, shambolic shit-show.
Fair enough up to a point, Richard. But much the same could be said about Babylonian, Persian, Egyptian, Greek (or Macedonian), Roman or many other empires as well. If there was nothing “good” in any of them they would simply dissolve into barbarian chaos… as they all did eventually as narcissism became the ruling ideology.
Curious that my previous comment is still “awaiting moderation” as if it is still being vetted for compliance to an unstated “political correctness” protocol.
At the risk of being permanently banned for failing to “toe the Party line” I propose for consideration this article from a Jew who has no apparent links to any “Jesuitical plots” or “Judaeo-Christian” Protestantism.
https://www.henrymakow.com/jewish_peril.html
Interesting article. I have spent many dozens of hours over the last decade investigating the “JQ”. I think i have a handle on it by now and the answer is simple to conceive but difficult to enact.
I didn’t know Islam could kill people. I thought only people could kill people.
According to Jim and Gerry’s “Hidden History of WWI”, two Brits — just 2 of them, mind you — managed to knock off about 20 million of their conspecifics.