Introduction
In his ground-breaking work Orientalism, Edward Said writes, ‘Orientalism … as such has less to do with the Orient than with our “own” world.’Footnote 2 In this succinct sentence, Said harks back to Foucault's writings on the relationship between power and knowledge-construction to expose the subjective nature of all recounting. Moreover, Said explains that the manner in which we construct any account (historical or otherwise) is more telling of our own predilections and agendas than of the person, region, or culture that we are attempting to represent. Hayden White, the renowned historian and literary critic, shows a similar understanding in his rendition of the relationship between narrative construction and historical representation. He writes, ‘Narrative is not merely a neutral discursive form … but rather entails ontological and epistemic choices with distinct ideological and even specifically political implications.’Footnote 3
Given this nature of narrative construction, it is not surprising to see the Indian poet-philosopher Mohammad Iqbal painted in a variety of hues by his numerous biographers. Born in 1877 into a middle-class family in Sialkot in present-day Pakistan, Iqbal took the Muslim world by storm with his incisive verses and calls for social and religious reform. Addressing those of his readership who lived in pre-partition colonial India, he urged self-empowerment and a revival of Islamic civilizations’ grandeur.Footnote 4 Some have termed Iqbal the ‘poet of Islam’, while others have emphasized the universality of his message.Footnote 5 Either way, the undisputed fact remains that Iqbal manages to inspire and move a diverse group of individuals. This was shown not just in the acclaim he received while alive, but also in the events that have unfolded since. A good gauge of Iqbal's fame, even in his own lifetime, is the scene that ensued on the day that he passed away in April 1938. One of his biographers describes the pandemonium as follows,
All Public offices including the civil secretariat, the district court offices, schools, colleges and markets remained closed. [A] huge crowd estimated from 20,000 to 50,000 assembled to join his funeral possession. [The] rush at the plot where Iqbal was to be laid to his eternal rest was so great that the City Magistrate had to put in great effort and had the police posted to check the people from rushing to the grave side.Footnote 6
Touching the hearts and minds of this many individuals is no mean feat, nor is it one that goes unnoticed. It is no wonder, then, that Iqbal has been written about, critiqued, lauded, and appropriated by groups and individuals ranging from German intellectuals to the Pakistani state. Iranian reformers such as ‘Ali Shariati have written extensively on Iqbal, as have more traditional Iranian leaders such as Sayyid ‘Ali Khamene'i.Footnote 7 Similarly, in the Indian subcontinent, Iqbal has been appropriated by both modernists and the traditional religious elite (‘ulama; sing. ‘alim).
In this article I examine Iqbal's appropriation by one particular group of ‘ulama—those affiliated with the Nadwat al-‘Ulama.Footnote 8 Founded in Lucknow in 1894—the peak of the colonial era—the Nadwat al-‘Ulama is a unique institution that was characterized at its inception by moderate theological liberalism. The institution aimed to unite ‘ulama from a variety of sectarian persuasions in an effort to revive their role in public life, counter Western intellectual antagonism towards Islam, and preserve Islam's heritage.Footnote 9 The institute was the brainchild of Shibli Nu‘mani, Muhammad ‘Ali Mongiri, and their fellow intellectuals who—despite their differences—espoused a critical yet insightfully positive response to the onslaught of Western sciences.Footnote 10 Other Indian Muslims’ responses to colonialism and the socio-political circumstances of the era ran the gamut from advocating a return to ‘true’ text-centric Islam, to emphasizing the English language and Western modes of education.
At one end of these responses was the educational programme of the modernist educator Sayyid Ahmad Khan (1817–1898). Khan's efforts at educational reform culminated in the establishment of the Anglo-Muhammadan Oriental College at Aligarh in 1875. The institute began as a school but by 1878 college classes were also being taught.Footnote 11 It was modelled on the University of Cambridge: English was the medium of education and European arts, sciences, and etiquette were incorporated into the curriculum.Footnote 12 Graduates were encouraged to participate in government services. In the words of Aziz Ahmad, ‘It smoothed the transition of the young generation of Muslim elite from almost medieval conservatism to at least superficial modernism. And, finally, it was to produce the leadership for Muslim political separatism in India as a counter-balance to the growing influence of the Indian National Congress.’Footnote 13
Situated at the other extreme of Indian Muslims’ responses was the Deobandi movement and its educational agenda. The headquarters of this prominent Islamic reform movement were, and continue to be, its first religious seminary (madrasa) founded in 1867. It is located in the town of Deoband, approximately a hundred miles from the Indian capital of Delhi.Footnote 14 Qasim Zaman describes this movement as ‘perhaps the most prominent instance on the Indian subcontinent of inviting people to conform to the “true” Islam of authoritative religious texts’.Footnote 15 In addition to their textual focus, the Deobandis maintained a very strong emphasis on Islamic jurisprudence.Footnote 16
The Nadwat al-‘Ulama initially traversed the middle path between Aligarh's embrace of the West and Deobandis’ Islamic traditionalism.Footnote 17 However, by the 1920s the Nadwa ‘ulama increasingly began to align intellectually with the Deobandi project.Footnote 18 Eventually, only a very fine line distinguished the work and approaches of the Nadwis and the Deobandis.Footnote 19
With Nadwa's move towards conservatism serving as the backdrop to my research, I argue that the particular depictions of Iqbal by the Nadwa ‘ulama can be mapped onto the larger evolutions within the institute. The initial Nadwa imaginary about the limits of Islamic orthodoxy and orthopraxy is reflected in the early Nadwa ‘ulama's works on Iqbal. This particular imaginary is more open to divergence from conservative interpretations and does not perceive Islam as solely or primarily defined by embodied ritualistic actions and practices. Given the more moderate understanding of Islam espoused by the Nadwa ‘ulama of the time, Iqbal is accepted on his own terms and the tenor of his religiosity is not questioned.
On the other hand, the morality imagined by the later Nadwa ‘ulama is strongly aligned with that of the Deobandis. Ernst and Lawrence describe the Deobandi imaginary as emphasizing Islamic legal scripture and legal norms. ‘No single concern was more central to them [the Deobandis] than this quest for correct belief and practice in the light of classical texts.’Footnote 20 I argue that the later Nadwa ‘ulama's writings on Iqbal are reflective of this particular understanding of Islam and morality. The near-ubiquitous shift in the imaginary of the Nadwa ‘ulama towards a more conservative, textual, and legal Islam espouses two distinct responses towards the poet. While maintaining the same ideas about piety and Islam, one camp critiques his heterodox beliefs and transgressive practices. The other camp attempts to salvage him by reclaiming and refashioning him as poet. The latter camp makes an effort to align Iqbal with traditional understandings of religious practices and piety, and attempts to fit Iqbal into the mould of a traditional, practising Muslim.
While focusing on the Nadwa, I also place my specific examination within its broader historical context. I argue that the impact of the political milieu in India must be taken into account so as to understand shifts in the Nadwa and South Asian Islam more broadly. I also assert that the political environment in South Asia influenced Iqbal's reception by the Nadwa ‘ulama.
The Nadwat al-‘Ulama and historiography
One of the unique trademarks of the Nadwat al-‘Ulama was, and continues to be, its emphasis on narrative historiography. The historian Hayden White understands narrative historiography to be just one form of recounting history—other forms being annals, chronicles and so on. White informs us that, although a variety of conceptions of historical reality have existed, in the modern era, the narrative form of historiography has taken precedence over all other forms. This preference for narrativity stems from the modern scholar's yearning for ‘fullness and continuity in an order of events’.Footnote 21 This yearning strategically disregards the possibility that the annalist, for example, finds both fullness and continuity in the sequence of the years, and could possibly provide a more ‘realistic’ portrayal of history.Footnote 22 Even more importantly, there is an overlooking (deliberate or otherwise) of the fact that the self-conscious fashioning activity of the narrator decreases the objectivity of any historical recounting.Footnote 23
Consequently, White contends that not only is narrative historiography always subjective, this particular form of historical recounting also becomes a universal code that serves as a vehicle for transmitting ‘messages about the nature of a shared reality’ as a result of its self-conscious fashioning.Footnote 24 Given the Indian context of the time, the messages encoded in the Nadwa ‘ulama’s historical scholarship were about Islam's glory and the need for its revival. Mired in a colonial setting where theories about Islam's ‘golden past’ and the decline of Islamic civilization were widely accepted, Muslim reformers of all bents strove to emphasize the glory of this past and the need to return to it. They did so for a number of reasons, foremost among them being to refute Western retellings of Islam's history and to exalt this past so as to inspire their fellow Muslims.
Aziz Ahmad, Michael Gottlob, and other scholars of colonial India understand modern Indian historiography to have originated (at least in part) with Sayyid Ahmad Khan's ground-breaking English work Essays on the Life of Mohammad (1870).Footnote 25 We are told that Ahmad Khan's methodology resembled Western understandings of historiography; Khan's work was ‘partly scientific and partly speculatively apologetic’.Footnote 26 Other groups and individuals soon followed in Khan's footsteps. Foremost among his antecedents were the ‘ulama of Nadwa who embraced the challenges and opportunities presented by the venture of critical Islamic historiography to the extent that it became their defining characteristic.Footnote 27 Commenting on this Nadwa trademark, Qasim Zaman writes that, although the Nadwa institute might have failed in all its other ambitious inspirations, it succeeded in instilling in its graduates an interest in the study of history.Footnote 28
The main question that arises from this revelation regarding the Nadwa's emphasis on historical scholarship is in regard to the purpose of its historiographical ventures. As mentioned earlier, in nineteenth- and twentieth-century India, Islamic historiography was considered the tool with which to ward off Western retellings of the Islamic past as well as the apparatus by which to rejuvenate the Muslim masses of the time by harking back to their past glory. But, most importantly, in the Nadwa case, ‘Islamic historiography was made the vehicle for the expression of moral and reformist ideas.’Footnote 29 Of course, the moralizing of narratives is far from being limited to the Nadwa ‘ulama. Hayden White writes, ‘Narrativity, certainly in factual story telling … is intimately related to, if not a function of, the impulse to moralize reality, that is to identify it with the social system that is the source of any morality that we can imagine.’Footnote 30 The ‘social system’ to which White refers is what the sociologist Charles Taylor would call a society's ‘social imaginary’.Footnote 31 Taylor explains that our social imaginaries are premised on our ideas of moral order. He writes, ‘The modern theory of moral order gradually infiltrates and informs our social imaginary.’Footnote 32 Thus, our understandings of the world and ourselves are informed and constructed by a particular moral order. Moreover, this moral order manifests itself even in our attempts at historiography and narrative construction—so much so that we are unable to accurately depict any succession of past events.
However, even when we have accepted that all narrative historiographies are flawed representations of actual events, we are still left with much to work with. The primary issue that arises in this unfolding is the manner in which narratives are constructed and the task of historiography is undertaken. We are left wondering: what sort of social imaginary and ideas of moral order underlie particular historical recounting? How and why are particular sources chosen and handled? What motives dictate these choices and engagements? Of course, as critical scholars of historical literature and narratives, we too are not free from this trap: our recounting and portrayals are bound to be informed by our own understandings and agendas, as are those of the individuals whom we study. This is what the anthropologist of religion Thomas Tweed terms the ‘dwelling’ of the scholar. Our situatedness in our field, in our methods of inquiry, in our personal lives inform our work and circumscribe our existence.Footnote 33 However, as Tweed states, all theories and theorists have blind spots and we cannot let those inhibit us from our intellectual enterprises. In that spirit, let us return to our examination of the Nadwat al-‘Ulama.
Much of the credit for the Nadwa's historical interests is attributed to one of the Nadwa's founding figures: Muhammad Shibli Nu‘mani (1857–1914).Footnote 34 Before officially joining the Nadwa staff in 1904 Nu‘mani taught for 16 years (1882–1898) at Sayyid Ahmad Khan's Muhammadan Anglo-Oriental College at Aligarh.Footnote 35 Although Nu‘mani failed to impose his vision of treading the middle path between Aligarh and Deoband onto the future of Nadwa, he succeeded in imparting ‘his historical interests to his pupils there. He also tried to imbue them with a “reformist” vision…’.Footnote 36
Nu‘mani's own historiographical project was centred on composing an authoritative sira of Muhammad (that is, a book on the life and conduct of the Prophet).Footnote 37 Nu‘mani envisioned that this sira would cater to Muslim youth who had been trained in the Western academic tradition or were subject to Western influences and were currently turning to Western biographies of Mohammad. In Nu‘mani's eyes, these European works were inaccurate, prejudiced, and misleading—thus making imperative the need for a new sira that indulged the literary and academic tastes of Westernized Muslims.Footnote 38 Nu‘mani died before completing this multi-volume work; it fell to Nu‘mani's student Sayyid Sulayman Nadwi to finish it.
Sayyid Sulayman Nadwi (1884–1953) was born in the town of Desna, near Patna, the capital of the North Indian state of Bihar. In 1906 he graduated from the Dar al-‘Ulum of the Nadwat al-‘Ulama. Recognizing the talents of young Sulayman, in 1907 Nu‘mani appointed him as assistant editor of Al-Nadwa, the institute's official magazine. From 1908 until 1913 Sulayman taught theology (kalam) and Arabic literature at the Nadwa, and in 1923 he was appointed the chairperson of its educational committee (mu‘tamad ta‘limat). In 1915 Sulayman established the Academy of Authors (Dar al-Musannifin), one of the most renowned research institutions in India. A year later he launched its celebrated magazine Ma‘arif, which continues to be in circulation to this day. The journal often focuses on historiographical issues.
Sulayman Nadwi also took on the mantle of historiography from Nu‘mani and composed many other historical works. This trend was furthered by his contemporaries and students Abu'l-Hasan ‘Ali Nadwi (1914–1999) and ‘Abd al-Salam Nadwi (1882–1956), among others. In this article I focus on the works of these three historians and their particular depictions of Muhammad Iqbal.
Sayyid Sulayman Nadwi and Iqbal
Of the three Nadwa ‘ulama examined in this article, Sulayman had the greatest degree of personal contact with the poet. Their frequent correspondence spanned more than two decades (1916 to 1937). They also shared many moments in each other's presence—the most extended being their joint trip to Afghanistan in 1933 at the behest of the Afghan king, Nadir Shah.
Sayyid Sulayman Nadwi wrote prolifically on Iqbal's life and works for more than a quarter of a century. One of his first articles on Iqbal is his 1918 piece ‘Mysteries of Self-Denial’ (Ramuz-i Bekhudi) in Ma‘arif on Iqbal's poetic work.Footnote 39 Among the last of Sulayman's works on Iqbal is a 1946 article ‘Iqbal's Teachings: An Elucidation’ (Ta‘limat-i Iqbal, ek Vazahat) which also appeared in Ma‘arif.Footnote 40 Sulayman's articles on Iqbal, all written in Urdu, have been compiled by Akhtar Rahi into a book entitled Iqbal, Sayyid Sulaiman Nadvi ki Nazar men (Iqbal from the Perspective of Sayyid Sulayman Nadwi). It is divided into two parts: the first consisting of the various articles that Sulayman Nadwi wrote on Iqbal and the second comprising the letters exchanged between the two intellectuals.
Sulayman Nadwi has been described as an ‘enlightened traditionalist’ whose views and ideas are, I contend, representative of the earlier Nadwa social imaginary.Footnote 41 This particular social imaginary conceptualizes Islam as running the gamut from Ahmad Khan's rationalism to Deoband's emphasis on traditional piety and ritual practices.Footnote 42 The vital aspect of this imaginary is refraining from delineating a narrow interpretation of ‘true’ Islam. This is evidenced by the fact that at its very inception the Nadwa institute posited itself as being open to, and uniting, ‘ulama from several sectarian persuasions.Footnote 43 I argue that this particular social imaginary is shown in Sayyid Sulayman's works on Iqbal wherein he posits Iqbal as having dedicated his life to Islam despite his non-traditional beliefs and practices.
The essence of Sulayman Nadwi's views on Iqbal is summed up in his article ‘Iqbal ke Payam ka Matn wa Sharh’ (‘The Essence and Elucidation of Iqbal's Message’).Footnote 44 It was first published in the Jami‘a–e Milliya-Islamiya's magazine Johar. In the article Sulayman cites two anecdotes from Iqbal's life as integral to, and elucidatory of, his work. The first involves Iqbal's relationship with the Qur'an. As a young boy studying in Sialkot, Iqbal used to recite the Qur'an every morning. One day Iqbal's father, Nur Muhammad, passed by his son and said, ‘When the opportunity arises, I will give you some advice.’ Intrigued, Iqbal asked his father to tell him what was on his mind. His father put him off by saying, ‘I will tell you after your examinations.’ After Iqbal had taken his exams, he again pressed his father. Nur Muhammad stalled for more time: ‘I will tell you after you get your results.’ After the results were announced Iqbal approached his father and asked him for the advice. His father replied, ‘Son, I wanted to tell you that when you recite the Qur'an you should do so as if the Qur'an is being revealed to you, that is, as if God Himself is speaking to you.’ Commenting on this incident to Sulayman Nadwi, Iqbal said, ‘This idea found a home in my heart and its pleasure (lazzat) engulfs me to this day.’Footnote 45
The second incident that Sulayman Nadwi notes as a cornerstone in Iqbal's outlook also involves his father. Sulayman Nadwi relates that one day Iqbal's father addressed him, saying, ‘I would like you to recompense me for all my efforts in educating you.’ Iqbal queried, ‘How would you like me to repay you, father?’ Nur Muhammad replied, ‘I will tell you at a later date.’ Eventually, Nur Muhammad said, ‘Son, I want you to repay my efforts by serving Islam.’ And thus the matter was closed. Sulayman says that on Nur Muhammad's deathbed, Iqbal asked him, ‘Father, have I managed to fulfil my promise about serving Islam?’ For once, Nur Muhammad replied instantaneously, ‘My dear, you have indeed repaid me for my efforts.’ Sulayman ends his narration of these two events by stating, ‘And who can deny that the message that Iqbal delivered to us his entire life was the elucidation of these two essences.’Footnote 46
Sulayman does not simply assert that Iqbal devoted his life to Islam; he eulogizes Iqbal and is unstinting in his praise. He calls Iqbal the ‘Pride of Islam’Footnote 47 and writes,
Iqbal's literary works will be remembered in the ages to come. His writings will become, God willing, Islam's eternal literature. Their elucidations will be written; interpretations of them will be composed; they will serve as the basis for theorizes [sic]; an entire branch of philosophy will be developed around them and evidences will be discovered to support them.
Sulayman adds that Iqbal's works will be compared to the Qur'an's verses and Hadith narrations.Footnote 48
As Sulayman's writings make obvious, in Sulayman's imaginary of Iqbal, the poet-philosopher spent his entire life serving Islam and should be viewed as a Muslim leader par excellence.Footnote 49 Iqbal rendered his service through inspiring poetry and prose, and the version of Islam he embodied was that of a modernist reviver whose particular reform project and interpretations were not always in line with that of the ‘ulama. For Sulayman, none of these particularities were problematic since Sulayman's imaginary was that of the early Nadwa ‘ulama wherein a variety of interpretations of Islamic beliefs and practices were considered acceptable. As the above examination has shown, this particular social imaginary is apparent in Sayyid Sulayman's writings on Iqbal wherein he lauds Iqbal as having dedicated his life to Islam despite his non-traditional beliefs and practices.
However, we see a different understanding of Islam and morality emerge with the rise of the later Nadwa ‘ulama. I turn now to the two who show this particular imaginary in their narrativizations of Iqbal. In these ‘ulama's imaginary, Islam is conceptualized in increasingly conservative terms through adherence to traditional theological ideas and the practice of particular modes of piety and ritualistic actions which are conceived of as the only true markers of one's religiosity. In the following sections we will see two distinct portrayals of Iqbal, both of which are informed by this later Nadwa social imaginary. The first of these portrayals is by Sayyid Sulayman Nadwi's prized student Abu'l-Hasan ‘Ali Nadwi.
Sayyid Abu'l-Hasan ‘Ali Nadwi and Iqbal
Born in 1914 in Rai Bareli, Abu'l-Hasan ‘Ali Nadwi had a long-standing association with the Nadwa. He enrolled as a student at the institute and later returned to teach at his alma mater, beginning his teaching career in 1934. By 1954, upon his appointment as director of education, he had ascended to the top rung of the Nadwa ladder. In 1961 he was appointed the general-secretary of Nadwat al-‘Ulama. In his lifetime he received a number of awards, including the prestigious King Faisal Award and the exclusive Sultan of Brunei Award. He wrote prolifically until his death in 1999.
‘Ali Nadwi's work on Iqbal, originally composed in Arabic, was first published in 1960. He explained this linguistic choice by stating that he felt obligated to introduce Iqbal to Arabic-speaking people.Footnote 50 ‘Ali Nadwi writes that he did not know Iqbal on a very intimate level—mostly because he was too awed by the personality of this great man to initiate repeated contact. However, the two did meet on a number of occasions, one of the most memorable being the time when ‘Ali Nadwi asked Iqbal's permission to translate some of his poems into Arabic. Describing this encounter ‘Ali Nadwi writes, ‘He expressed his pleasure and readily acceded to my request.’Footnote 51
‘Ali Nadwi, a self-reflexive historian if there ever was one, began his work on Iqbal by detailing the reasons for his gravitation towards this great poet. He writes that individuals enjoy poetry for many reasons, the most important and common of these being that the verses echo their own experiences, hopes, and dreams. ‘And man being basically egocentric is attracted by all that reflects his inner urges and speaks the language of his heart. I do not exclude myself from the application of this maxim. Maybe, I admired Iqbal because I found him very close to my ideas and feelings.’Footnote 52
Although Iqbal's thoughts and ideas might have resonated with ‘Ali Nadwi, there was also much dissonance between the two. ‘Ali Nadwi notes this fact in a particularly telling passage at the start of his book, which I will quote at length:
I must make it clear that I do not regard Iqbal to be a great religious leader, a doctor of divinity or a man of unquestionable piety and dutifulness to God nor am I inclined to be hyperbolic in the appreciation of his poetry as the case is with some of his more enthusiastic admirers … In his Six Lectures on the Reconstruction of Religious Thought in Islam there occur interpretations of certain Islamic concepts with which I do not agree. I do not hold the view that none had understood Islam better than him and reached its true spirit. … There are certain aspects of Iqbal's unique personality which do not go well with the profundity of his art and learning and the magnificence of his message … all the same, I believe Iqbal was a poet whom God had inspired to lend articulation to certain truths and doctrines, in relation to current times, that had not been set forth by any other contemporary poet or thinker … When I read him I am stirred to the depth of my being. His poetry opens a new vista to my imagination and fills me up with an intense ardor and enthusiasm for Islam. This, I think, is the real worth and significance of Iqbal's poetry.Footnote 53
Thus, for ‘Ali Nadwi, Iqbal is far from the embodiment of a virtuous Muslim leader. He takes issue with Iqbal's deviations from orthopraxy as well as his interpretations of Islam. Given the Nadwa social imaginary of this time, which emphasized ideological conservatism, ritual practices, and traditional modes of piety, Iqbal was seen as outside the realm of these strict demarcations. However, his influence on lay individuals and the appeal of his poetry to the Muslim masses could not be denied. As ‘Ali Nadwi writes, even he was so moved by Iqbal's words that he was possessed by a sense of obligation to disseminate these verses among Arabic-speaking Muslims.
In examining the entirety of ‘Ali Nadwi's work on Iqbal, one discovers that his engagement with Iqbal is far from critical. His book is a simple narration of those facets of Iqbal's life and work which he deemed notable and praiseworthy. Consequently, Iqbal's reformist ideas about Islam and anecdotes about his wayward lifestyle are simply ignored. Instead, the reader is presented with chapters that discuss a variety of Iqbal's poetic works. Half the book explores specific poems by Iqbal,Footnote 54 while the remaining chapters are dedicated to Iqbal's stance on mostly uncontroversial issues such as ‘Art and Architecture’, ‘The Perfect Man’, ‘Knowledge and Learning’, and so on. This is not to say that ‘Ali Nadwi does not praise Iqbal. There are moments of deep appreciation, but these are tempered by ‘Ali Nadwi's initial disclaimer about the flaws in Iqbal's beliefs and practices. Despite this critique, he identifies three main aspects of Iqbal's life and works, all of which he considers laudable. These aspects are: Iqbal's love for the Prophet and his belief in the permanence of Muhammad's message, Iqbal's faith in the Muslim community and their capacity for leadership, and Iqbal's rejection of Western materialism and his belief in ‘the insolvency of modern ideologies and political, social and economic systems’.Footnote 55
In sum, ‘Ali Nadwi views Iqbal as a flawed Muslim, albeit one whose poetic genius is divinely inspired. He critiques Iqbal's reformist heterodox interpretations of Islam and his errant practices. This critique, I argue, is a direct result of the shift in social imaginary among the later Nadwa ‘ulama. Alluding to this shift, Zaman writes that, although the founding fathers of the Nadwa had aspired to implement a reformed curriculum in the Dar al-‘Ulum, their ambitions did not take flight: ‘Key texts in law and legal theory, theology, even logic and philosophy (which has specially been the object of criticism by the Nadwa's founders) have remained substantially the same as those in other madrasas.’Footnote 56 Similarly, contrary to the rhetoric of the Nadwa's founders, students’ exposure to Western learning has been inadequate.Footnote 57 Consequently, the later Nadwa social imaginary perceives Islam in orthodox terms with a clear demarcation of the realm of correct interpretations and practices. Not only is this particular imaginary of Islam and morality evidenced in ‘Ali Nadwi's discourses on Iqbal, as the above section has shown, it is also clearly apparent in the writings of ‘Abd al-Salam Nadwi, the third Nadwa ‘alim, whom I will now examine.
‘Abd al-Salam Nadwi and Iqbal
In contrast to both Sayyid Sulayman Nadwi and Abu'l-Hasan ‘Ali Nadwi, ‘Abd al-Salam Nadwi paints Iqbal as an embodied individual characterized by piety, monasticism, and traditionalism in both practice and belief. I argue that ‘Abd al-Salam's particular depiction of Iqbal is meant to salvage him from portrayals of irreligiosity, where ‘religiosity’ is defined by an emphasis on conservative theological positions, an adherence to ritualistic practices, and a reverence for Islam's legal dimensions. This particular understanding of Islam and religiosity espoused by ‘Abd al-Salam are the same as that evidenced by ‘Ali Nadwi. As detailed above, ‘Ali Nadwi criticizes Iqbal for his deviations from orthodoxy and orthopraxy. On the other hand, ‘Abd al-Salam lauds Iqbal by selecting those anecdotes from Iqbal's life that depict him as sharing the social imaginary of the later Nadwis.
‘Abd al-Salam Nadwi (1882–1956) was intimately associated with the Nadwa. While he was a student at the institute, his talents were recognized by Nu‘mani who, in letters to a colleague, described the young ‘Abd al-Salam as ‘very talented’ and ‘very capable’.Footnote 58 ‘Abd al-Salam was also a member of the Academy of Authors (Dar al-Musannifin) from the moment it was founded by Sulayman Nadwi in 1915 until the time of his own death. Deeply entrenched within the Nadwa project, ‘Abd al-Salam took naturally to composing historical narratives and compiled numerous books on issues ranging from the lives of the Prophet's companions to the history of Indian poetry.
‘Abd al-Salam's work on Iqbal is titled Iqbal-e Kamil (The Complete Iqbal).Footnote 59 He states that he undertook the project of writing on Iqbal because he realized that all other works on Iqbal were limited to examining specific facets of the poet's life and works. And so he took it upon himself to compose a comprehensive book on Iqbal.
Published in 1948, and written in Urdu, ‘Abd al-Salam's 350-page work is divided into approximately 150 chapters whose titles range from: ‘Birth’, ‘Javid Nama’, ‘Pilgrimage to Ghazal’, ‘Politics’, ‘Education’, ‘Urdu Poetry’, ‘Love for the Nation’, and so on. For the purposes of this article, I will focus primarily on the chapters that address aspects of Iqbal's personal life, habits, and beliefs, as opposed to those that provide summaries of his poetic works. ‘Abd al-Salam's chapters are peppered with anecdotes that emphasize Iqbal's staunch devotion to Islam. Consequently, I argue that ‘Abd al-Salam's work can be read as a polemic against depictions of Iqbal that portray him as irreligious and irreverent. Again, ‘religiosity’ and ‘reverence’ in this particular case are defined in terms of the imaginary of the later Nadwa ‘ulama, that is, in a Deoband-esque fashion. Consequently, we see ‘Abd al-Salam portraying the poet-philosopher as ‘monastic, pietistic and devotional’.Footnote 60 These adjectives pepper his writings on Iqbal; in another place ‘Abd al-Salam writes: ‘Iqbal's ethics and habits were absolutely monastic, pietistic and devotional’.Footnote 61
In terms of Iqbal's adherence to religious rituals, ‘Abd al-Salam's stance can be summed up by the following quotation, ‘Some people think that the majority of Iqbal's life was spent in an irreligious manner … However, his letters reveal that he began to regularly fast, pray and perform the non-obligatory late-night prayer (tahajjud) at least twenty or twenty-two years before he passed away.’Footnote 62 In addition to pontificating on Iqbal's regular and devout performance of major religious obligations, ‘Abd al-Salam elucidates Iqbal's piety through a variety of anecdotes on an array of issues. The point to note is that in all these narrations, Iqbal's controversial practices and actions, such as his extramarital encounters with women and his disregard for conventional Islamic legal interpretations, are completely ignored.Footnote 63 Instead we are presented with episodes that testify to, for example, Iqbal's emphasis on Islamic purity and laws about consuming meat.
In his chapter on ‘Islamic Etiquettes and Purity’, ‘Abd al-Salam portrays Iqbal not just as a traditional believer, but as a proselytizer. He relates that when Iqbal first journeyed to England he lodged as a paying guest with a British landlady. Iqbal had taken along his lota to England and whenever nature called he would to take this vessel with him to the bathroom.Footnote 64 One day the landlady inquired, ‘What do you do with this thing that you take with you into the bathroom?’ Iqbal replied, ‘One of the benefits of Islamic purity is that the use of paper or sand isn't all that is considered necessary; it is essential to clean oneself with water.’ In the words of ‘Abd al-Salam, ‘Iqbal then proceeded to explain the principles of Islamic purity and bathing to his landlady and encouraged her to act upon them. The landlady was ecstatic upon hearing them and replied that she would surely act upon Iqbal's advice. She commented that these Islamic principles are indeed very hygienic.’Footnote 65
A similar picture of Iqbal as a traditional believer firmly embedded in Islam's legal dimensions emerges from the chapter ‘Abstinence from the Meat of non-Dhabihah Animals’. In this chapter ‘Abd al-Salam writes, ‘In Europe, abstinence from this [the eating of non-dhabihah meat] is almost impossible. However, in England, Iqbal was especially careful to avoid eating such meat. He requested Mr. Arnold to arrange his stay in a house where dhabihah meat was cooked and made available.’Footnote 66
‘Abd al-Salam's reclaiming and salvaging of Iqbal's reputation is not just limited to his ritual practices but also encompasses his actions and emotions in other realms of religious life. ‘Abd al-Salam's portrays Iqbal as a man deeply moved by the love of God and the Prophet. For example, in the chapter titled ‘Prophecy and Messengerhood’, ‘Abd al-Salam explains that not only did Iqbal have firm faith in the prophethood of Muhammad, he also possessed an unsurpassable degree of love for the Prophet. Whenever Muhammad's name was mentioned, Iqbal's eyes would inadvertently and uncontrollably well up with tears.Footnote 67 At another point in his book, ‘Abd al-Salam narrates an incident that took place when Iqbal was invited to spend a few days in the mansion of a wealthy Punjabi landlord who wanted Iqbal's assistance on a legal matter. As night approached, the landlord's guests all retired to their luxurious rooms that had exceedingly comfortable beds. Noticing the sumptuous bedding, Iqbal was overcome by the absurdity of the fact that the Prophet had only ever slept on a coarse sheet of cloth all his life, whereas Iqbal had the opportunity to experience such luxuries. ‘Abd al-Salam relates that Iqbal teared up at this realization and it became impossible for him to sleep on the bed. Instead, he sat in the bathroom and cried uncontrollably until his heart was finally at ease. Then he asked his servant to spread his regular bedding in the bathroom and spent the night sleeping on that. Iqbal maintained this sleeping routine throughout the time that he spent in that grand residence.Footnote 68
This trope of Iqbal being moved to tears by the intensity of his religious passion also features in ‘Abd al-Salam's description of Iqbal's attachment to the Qur'an. ‘Abd al-Salam writes that Iqbal had a beloved copy of the Qur'an and that his closest friends and family reported that he used to recite out loud from this copy every morning without fail. Up until this point, ‘Abd al-Salam's narration can be corroborated by many other sources. However, the section that follows is not mentioned in other texts, nor in an interview conducted with Iqbal's lifelong servant.Footnote 69 ‘Abd al-Salam writes, ‘He [Iqbal] used to recite with such longing and intellectual taste, with such pain and love and with such enduring passion and empathy that a river of tears would gush forth. He would continue crying while simultaneously reading to the extent that the pages of the Holy Book would be soaked through by the time that he had finished reciting. Then he would go and place the Book in the sun so that the pages would dry; this was among Iqbal's daily habits for the duration of his whole life.’Footnote 70
‘Abd al-Salam's reclaiming and refashioning of Iqbal is not just limited to the embodied aspects of the poet's life; he also makes a conscious effort to salvage Iqbal's ideas. Unattended to in ‘Abd al-Salam's portrayal is the fact that Iqbal was often reviled by traditionalists for his unique interpretation of various Qur'anic verses, his acceptance of the Baha'i movement as a legitimate sect within Islam,Footnote 71 his statement that ‘Heaven and hell are states not localities’, and his unquestioning acceptance of many Islamic movements and ideas that advocated change and reinterpretation of the faith.Footnote 72 Completely brushing aside these issues, ‘Abd al-Salam instead paints Iqbal as buying into a particular understanding of Islam that is characteristic of the later Nadwa imaginary. Instead of mentioning Iqbal's statement on the nature of heaven and hell, ‘Abd al-Salam devotes an entire chapter to explicating Iqbal's belief in the reality of miracles. In his chapter titled, ‘Belief in Miracles’,Footnote 73 ‘Abd al-Salam describes Iqbal's reactions at hearing Sayyid Nazir Nayazi's narration of the Hadith wherein Muhammad, along with three of his companions, climbed the mountain of Uhad. The story goes that in the presence of the Prophet, the mountain began to tremble. ‘Abd al-Salam writes, ‘Iqbal commented on this hadith by declaring, “This hadith isn't a mere metaphor!” And a few moments later, after straightening his back, Iqbal enunciated each of his words slowly and determinately and repeated, “Remember, this isn't a mere metaphor.”’Footnote 74 ‘Abd al-Salam then spends another page describing in even greater detail how this incident unfolded from the perspective of Mawlana Abu'l A‘la Mawdudi.Footnote 75
What is left out in these particular depictions are not only Iqbal's controversial ideas but also his questionable actions, such as his risqué encounters with women,Footnote 76 his visits to the red-light district of Lahore,Footnote 77 his disregard for conventional Islamic legal interpretations,Footnote 78 his deriding of the Islamic sanction of polygamy as a ‘religious sanction of rape’,Footnote 79 his tobacco addiction,Footnote 80 and so on.
The bigger picture: colonialism, politics, Iqbal, and Islam
The shifting representations of Iqbal among the Nadwa ‘ulama raise several vital questions. What accounted for the shift in the Nadwa's imaginary? To what extent does this transition map onto larger trends within South Asian Islam? What is at stake in these shifting narrations? The sections below address these vital questions. In so doing, they situate the above discussion on Iqbal within the broader religio-political context of South Asia in the twentieth century.
The shift in the Nadwa's imaginary is best understood by examining the institute's particular history as well as the broader transitions that were taking place within South Asian Islam. Of particular significance are the forces that impacted on and induced these transformations, foremost among them the political conditions of the subcontinent.
While several works on the Nadwa paint the institute's creation as emerging from traditional Muslim religious culture, Jamal Malik presents a more nuanced view. He highlights the role of the new religious and socio-political elite that arose in the wake of colonial rule. He writes that the Nadwa's prime movers were not ‘traditional religious scholars but were intellectuals, government employees and a group of the religious elite whose policy was integrationism, e.g., integrating colonial norms into the traditional system’.Footnote 81 The Nadwa's founders sought to favourably impress the colonial governmentFootnote 82 and aimed to ‘allay all British suspicions about this institute by insisting on its strictly apolitical character’.Footnote 83 They succeeded to the extent that they obtained financial support from the Raj.Footnote 84 Starting in 1908, the British granted the Nadwa a monthly grant for promoting secular education at their institute.Footnote 85 Over time, such strategies led to deep tensions and the institute took a different turn: it rejected the Raj and in 1920, at the Nadwa's own initiative, the British grant was discontinued.Footnote 86 This was one of several steps taken by the Nadwa to align more with, and be recognized as, mainstream ‘ulama.
As the rebuffing of the British grant shows, in just over two decades following the establishment of the Nadwa, traditionalist forces within the institute were able to assert their agendas. These conservative influences had been present, but were relatively muted, at the Nadwa's inception when Shibli Nu‘mani, inspired by Sayyid Ahmad Khan, advocated a marriage of traditional and ‘modernistic’ tendencies at the Nadwa.Footnote 87 After Nu‘mani's resignation from his post at the Nadwa in 1913 and his death in 1914, traditional tendencies at the Nadwa gained ascendance.Footnote 88 The conservatives’ rise can be attributed, in part, to ‘their strong ties with traditionally accepted leaders and patterns of social and religious discourse. They took on the charge with the chairmanship of the well-known historian Sayyid ‘Abd al-Hayy in 1915, a charge which is—apart from a short interlude—held by his descendants up to the present day.’Footnote 89 Another major roadblock in the Nadwa's early path towards reform was the cold reception Nadwa graduates received from mainstream ‘ulama. These clerics considered Nadwa graduates unfit to join their ranks. The graduates were viewed as not having the same authority as Deobandi and other students who had studied traditional Islamic texts.Footnote 90
As hinted at above in the discussion of the rise of new elites engaging with, and responding to, colonialism, the effect of politics and colonialism cannot be ignored when chronicling the shifts in the Nadwa's outlook and in South Asian Islam at large. I build on this insight below, while highlighting the impact of the political situation on Iqbal's reception in South Asia.
Stated succinctly, I argue that, while each of the Nadwa scholars examined above led unique lives, the specificities of which influenced their outlook, the broader political context in which they lived also had an indelible influence on them and all South Asian Muslims of that era. In fact, this shared political experience of Indian Muslims in the colonial era strongly coloured and dictated the shifts in the social imaginary of the Nadwa scholars as well as their impressions of Iqbal. Below I build on my discussion of the centrality of colonialism and its impact on the Nadwa and Indian Muslims more broadly.
At the Nadwa's annual session in 1912, Shibli Nu‘mani remarked that ‘the Nadwa ought to become the voice of the entire nation in religion on par with the All-India Muslim League, which sought recognition as the representative of all the Muslims’ political interests’.Footnote 91 Nu‘mani's mention of the Muslim League, a political party representing Indian Muslims, as a model which the Nadwa might emulate, displays the degree to which this party and, more broadly, politics and the political situation in colonial India occupied the thoughts of this early Nadwa pillar. Nu‘mani was not alone in this regard; virtually every reputable Indian Muslim intellectual of that time wrote and spoke about colonialism. In fact, almost all Islamic movements in South Asia originating in the mid-nineteenth to mid-twentieth centuries were responses, in one way or another, to the shifting political situation in India.
Reacting to colonialism—the defining feature of the Indian political landscape from 1857–1947—Indian Muslims of all stripes attempted to enhance and protect the position of their community. The Muslim League—of which Iqbal was a vital member—assumed the mantle in these efforts.
The Muslim League was founded in 1906 as a forum for exchanging Muslim political opinions and ‘safeguarding Muslim rights in all spheres of government’.Footnote 92 The League struggled in its early decades as the subcontinent's Muslims, Iqbal included, traversed the convoluted colonial landscape. In 1930, Iqbal presided over the League's session in Allahabad. There he famously suggested the idea of creating a Muslim state comprising Muslim-majority regions in northwest India. ‘At the time, the full implication of Iqbal's speech was hardly realized, much less taken seriously by the assembled Leaguers.’Footnote 93
During the early 1930s, the League faced financial and leadership troubles: it gained little support and ‘continued to degenerate internally’.Footnote 94 In the 1930s elections, the Indian National Congress won most seats in the provincial assemblies. However, in the coming years, the League's fortunes turned and Iqbal, in part due to his involvement with the League, gained unprecedented recognition. From May 1936 until November 1937 Iqbal wrote several letters to Muhammad Ali Jinnah, the leader of the League and the founder of the nation-state of Pakistan. In his letters Iqbal attempted to channel Jinnah and the League towards the creation of a new Islamic democracy.Footnote 95 He built on his 1930 Allahabad statement, writing, ‘A separate federation of Muslim provinces … is the only course … Why should not the Muslims of North-West India and Bengal be considered as nations entitled to self-determination just as other nations … are.’Footnote 96 Jinnah turned to these letters for guidance until his own death in 1948.Footnote 97
Iqbal died in 1938, just a few months after his famous correspondence with Jinnah. At his passing, Iqbal was ‘eulogized as a “great national poet”’,Footnote 98 a title that attested both to Iqbal's significance in Muslim politics as well as the rise of Muslim nationalism in colonial India. By the late 1930s, the use of the word ‘nation’ and its derivations had become frequent in the League's literature.Footnote 99 In the year of Iqbal's death, the League began to explore for the first time Iqbal's suggestion of ‘full political independence for the Muslim community’.Footnote 100 In 1940, this objective was formalized by the League in the form of the Lahore Resolution.Footnote 101
As the League gathered momentum in the mid-1940s, Iqbal's Allahabad speech, subsequent comments, and dazzling poetry celebrating Islam and Muslims emerged as a rallying cry for the League. They fuelled Muslim nationalism and the eventual creation of a separate nation-state for subcontinental Muslims. While historians debate whether Iqbal imagined a completely separate state or a state within a larger Indian federation, by the eve of partition the former view had gained traction among Muslim League members.Footnote 102
Iqbal's legacy remained centre stage in the League's discourse in the decade before partition. The widespread view, promulgated by many, including Jinnah, was that Iqbal was the first to conceive of the idea of Pakistan and bequeath it to the subcontinent's Muslims.Footnote 103 Emphasizing the depth of Iqbal's influence on South Asian Islam and Muslims, Annemarie Schimmel terms the first half of the twentieth century (in particular 1906–1947) ‘The Age of Iqbal’.Footnote 104
Following the establishment of Pakistan, Iqbal's stature became unparalleled. The Pakistani state embraced Iqbal as a founding father of the country. Parks and roads bear his name and his birthday—called Iqbal Day— was celebrated as a national holiday until 2014. Iqbal's image and verses adorn multiple postal stamps.Footnote 105 His embellished mausoleum in Lahore, located in Iqbal Park, symbolically lies between two grand Mughal monuments, the Badshahi Mosque and the Lahore Fort. Numerous official visits and celebrations take place at the site over which a member of the Pakistani Rangers stands guard.Footnote 106
Iqbal's acclaim, particularly in the decades following his demise, was too great for him to be claimed by only one part of the subcontinent. The Indian state also issued a stamp bearing Iqbal's image in commemoration of the fiftieth anniversary of his death in 1988. Some Indians view Iqbal as an Indian nationalist based on his poem ‘Song of India’ (Tarana-i-Hind), the first line of which is: ‘Better than the whole world is our India’.Footnote 107 Bengali Muslims’ embrace of Iqbal is also noteworthy. One scholar of the subject writes, ‘The fact of the matter is that the impact of Iqbal on the Bengali Muslim mind can, in force and depth, be paralleled only to that of Tagore on the Bengali Mind.’Footnote 108 Similarly, Iqbal's extensive influence on Sri Lankan Muslims has also been documented.Footnote 109 Iqbal's renown stretches far beyond the subcontinent. Scholars across the expanse of the Muslim world and intellectuals in the United States, Europe, and Russia have engaged with his works.Footnote 110
Just as in the colonial period—when the political conditions affected understandings of Islam—the same was, and remains, true for post-colonial Pakistan and Iqbal's reception in that country. In the context of Pakistan, the pressing political question that has often been central to ‘ulama discourse is about the identity of the state. ‘Ulama, Islamists, modernists, and state officials all ask: was Pakistan conceptualized as an Islamic state and is it one today?
Islamists and the ‘ulama overwhelmingly assert that Pakistan was envisioned as an Islamic state. Simultaneously, they emphasize that in its current manifestation the state has fallen short of this ideal identity—a shortcoming which needs to be rectified. In this discourse, Iqbal takes centre stage.Footnote 111
Iqbal's influence on Muslim thinkers interested in the place of Islam in Pakistan is far-reaching. Ghulam Ahmad Parwez (d. 1985), a Muslim intellectual who explored Islamic socialism, and Abu'l A‘la Mawdudi (d. 1979), Pakistan's premier Islamist, ‘separately claimed that their religious and political views and the activities of their respective movements—the Tolu-e-Islam and the Jamaat-e-Islami—are elaborations of Iqbal's views’.Footnote 112 Similarly, the famous Islamist Israr Ahmed (d. 2010) drew extensively on Iqbal to propagate his version of an Islamic state in Pakistan.
In this milieu of national and international recognition, Pakistani ‘ulama have unsurprisingly also embraced Iqbal. His remarks on nationalism and Islam allow both Sunni and Shia ‘ulama to emphasize their state's envisioned Islamic character and push for the realization of such a state in Pakistan. Before partition, traditional Muslim clerics were divided on the religious validity of a separate nation-state for Muslims; however, the tide has since turned drastically in Pakistan. Clerics have welcomed the idea of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan and have found themselves indebted to Iqbal for his role in the state's creation. Importantly, while ‘ulama of various sectarian persuasions have embraced Iqbal, they have not commented at length on his intellectual works and poetry. The Nadwa tradition of engaging with Iqbal's scholarship and verse finds little parallel among clerics of other movements and persuasions.
As we think of whether the Nadwa's works on Iqbal reflect a broader historical trend, we see that Iqbal's reception—while overwhelmingly positive since the inception of Pakistan—has resulted in divergent understandings of the poet-philosopher. Although Sayyid Sulayman Nadwi, Abu'l-Hasan ‘Ali Nadwi, and ‘Abd al-Salam celebrated Iqbal's poetry, and occasionally his religiosity, most Pakistani ‘ulama and Islamists have focused almost exclusively on his political views. Conversely, Muslim modernists such as Fazlur Rahman (d. 1988) have drawn on Iqbal's works on Islamic reform to inspire their own projects.
As we appraise the Nadwa's specific engagement with Iqbal, it is vital to place it within the broader political context described above. That milieu impacts on South Asian Muslim perceptions of Islam, their imaginings of Iqbal, and, of course, the works of the Nadwa scholars.
The works by Sayyid Sulayman Nadwi which celebrate Iqbal's poetry and contributions to Islam were composed at a time when Iqbal's popularity had not yet reached its zenith. Importantly, Nadwi's association with the Nadwa goes back to the institute's early days when it was courting British favour and embracing the study of British-promoted secular subjects. At that time, Sayyid Ahmad Khan's Cambridge-inspired Anglo-Muhammadan Oriental College was also serving as an example for the Nadwa. All these factors led to its openness to relatively non-traditional ideas of education, religion, and morality. As discussed above, this openness affected Sayyid Sulayman Nadwi's appraisal of Iqbal.
In contrast, ‘Abd al-Salam's and Abu'l-Hasan ‘Ali Nadwi's works on Iqbal were written after Pakistan had been founded and Iqbal had been embraced as the country's intellectual father. In the decades leading up to the country's creation, the Nadwa—like many Islamic reform movements of the time—assumed a staunchly anti-British agenda. Of course, reactions to colonialism take diverse forms. However, the specific circumstances of Nadwa, discussed above, led to the adoption of a more conservative understanding of Islam. As detailed earlier, this transition was a rejection of British patronage and secular learning in the midst of a mounting anti-colonial campaign. However, the stance of later Nadwa ‘ulama cannot be explained entirely with reference to colonialism. There are factors specific to post-colonial South Asia that also dictated how Iqbal was perceived by the later Nadwa scholars and why the Nadwa scholars continued to engage with Iqbal. I explain this insight in the section below where I examine the Nadwa ‘ulama’s writings on Iqbal so as to comment on the broader genres of historiography and hagiography.
Historiography versus hagiography
For every image of the past that is not recognized by the present as one of its own concerns threatens to disappear irretrievably.Footnote 113
Given ‘Abd al-Salam's portrayal of Iqbal's beliefs and practices as pietistic, monastic, and traditional, one cannot help but question whether ‘Abd al-Salam's writings fit into the category of historiography or if they would be better qualified as hagiography. In detailing how the historical writings of Nadwa scholars evolved, Qasim Zaman writes that historiography gave way to hagiography,Footnote 114 and he cites another one of ‘Abd al-Salam's books—Siyar-i Sahaba, a book on the lives of Muhammad's companions—as evidence of this shift.Footnote 115
Zaman's distinction between historiography and hagiography appears to be premised on the notion that historiography is a critical venture, whereas hagiography is not. Zaman's understanding finds resonance with Pierre Nora's discussions on memory and history. Nora writes, ‘Memory installs remembrance within the sacred’Footnote 116—consequently, when recorded, memory creates what Zaman would term ‘hagiographies’. In contrast to memory, Nora writes that history is always prosaic and critical, and it calls for the release of remembrance from the hold of the sacred. Nora states,
Memory, insofar as it is affective and magical, only accommodates those facts that suit it; it nourishes recollections that may be out of focus or telescopic, global or detached, particular or symbolic—responsive to each avenue of conveyance or phenomenal screen, to every censorship or projection. History, because it is an intellectual and secular production, calls for analysis and criticism.Footnote 117
In light of this distinction, we can view ‘Abd al-Salam's deliberate and strategic refusal to engage with Iqbal's more problematic ideas and practices as the dissemination of a particular memory. Conversely, we can understand ‘Ali Nadwi's statements regarding the flaws in Iqbal's personality and interpretations as a venture in critical history.
However, I contend that the distinction between memory and history is never this clear. Hayden White informs us that real events are unable to speak for themselves or tell their own story.Footnote 118 More importantly, real events ‘do not offer themselves as stories’.Footnote 119 Consequently, narrativization becomes a problem when we attempt to impose on real events the form of a story. White explains,
What is ‘imaginary’ about any narrative representation is the illusion of a centred consciousness capable of looking out on the world, apprehending its structure and processes, and representing them to itself as having all of the formal coherency of narrative itself. But this is to mistake a ‘meaning’ (which is always constituted rather than found) for ‘reality’ (which is always found rather than constituted).Footnote 120
For the purposes of this article, the most important aspect of White's analysis of narrative construction are his views on the moral enterprise that always informs a story's fashioning. White's arguments on this subject have been detailed earlier in this article. Drawing on those arguments, we see White posit the rhetorical question: ‘Could we ever narrativize without moralizing?’Footnote 121 For him, the answer is a resounding ‘no’.
This begs the question: what then is so different about Sulayman Nadwi's, ‘Ali Nadwi's, and ‘Abd al-Salam Nadwi's portrayals of Iqbal? Can the first two be deemed works of critical historiography (or what Nora would call ‘history’), while the last is best classified as hagiography (or in Nora's terminology, ‘memory’)? If we believe this classification to be correct, then what exactly is the difference between historiography and hagiography? I pose this question in light of the understanding that all historical narratives are informed by particular moral orders and are incapable of representing past events in all their fullness and complexity. At what point, if at all, can we then accurately and objectively deem a work to be hagiography instead of historiography?
As I have attempted to show throughout this article, all the works by the Nadwa ‘ulama discussed above are subjective portrayals since they are informed by the social imaginaries of their authors. These are premised on particular ideas about morality which show themselves in these historians’ works. Thus we see Sayyid Sulayman Nadwi's works lauding Iqbal for dedicating his whole life to the service of Islam. Sulayman's social imaginary, which is that of the early Nadwa ’ulama, envisions morality as situated within a wide range of practices and interpretations of Islam.
The later Nadwa imaginary emphasizes theological conservatism, embodied piety, and ritual performances. On the basis of this understanding of morality, ‘Ali Nadwi critiques Iqbal's thoughts and actions, and deems him to be outside the fold of correct Muslim belief and practices. Nevertheless, he lauds Iqbal for his literary contributions and his ability to touch and stir both the masses and the intellectuals to their very core. While espousing the same social imaginary as ‘Ali Nadwi, ‘Abd al-Salam configures and reads Iqbal in a very different light. Sharing ‘Ali Nadwi's understanding of morality, ‘Abd al-Salam emphasizes Iqbal's adherence to traditional theological positions and details the poet's performance of ritual acts of worship and piety.
Admittedly, at first glance, ‘Abd al-Salam's depiction of Iqbal looks biased and infused with ideas of moral edification. However, the point that this article has attempted to make is that all narrations are subjective and they all have particular moral ideas. Thus, for example, in a less noticeable, yet equally biased, manner, we see that all three Nadwa ‘ulama examined in this article depict Iqbal and his message as specifically for the Muslim community. This results in the marginalization of voices that call for Iqbal to be viewed as a humanist, with a universal message for mankind that emphasizes love for the motherland over love for religion.Footnote 122
The choice of what to include and what to leave out in one's retelling of past events is based on the historian's either explicit or unconscious agenda. Commenting on our inability to articulate the past accurately, Walter Benjamin writes: ‘To be sure, only a redeemed mankind receives the fullness of its past—which is to say, only for a redeemed mankind has its past become citable in all its moments.’Footnote 123 In the meantime, we all envision and articulate the past historically—that is, not in the manner that it really was, but in a manner that seizes ‘hold of a memory as it flashes up at a certain moment of danger’.Footnote 124 This view of all interpretations of the past being informed by the present is echoed in Zaman's appraisal of the historiographic work of the Nadwa ‘ulama when he writes that their literature was ‘responsive to, if not generated by, contemporary concerns and dilemmas’.Footnote 125
Thus, what we see in ‘Abd al-Salam's writings on Iqbal is possibly a response to the perceived threat of the Nadwa losing out on the valence that Iqbal carries among the larger Muslim community generally and South Asian Muslims specifically. Consequently, we see ‘Abd al-Salam attempting to align Iqbal with the Nadwa and redeem him by portraying him as a model Muslim who practised Islam in the manner deemed correct by the later Nadwa social imaginary. In making this particular move, ‘Abd al-Salam is able to legitimize and bolster the Nadwa's social imaginary and the Nadwa's reform project by portraying one of the most popular South Asian Muslim figures of recent times as an individual who shared the Nadwa's outlook and concerns. This then allows the Nadwa to tap into Iqbal's audience and appropriate him and his appreciators for their own project.
Although this appropriation of Iqbal might seem more obvious in ‘Abd al-Salam's case, I argue that we can see similar ideas in Sulayman Nadwi and ‘Ali Nadwi's writings on Iqbal. Their narrations can also be read as responses to ‘moment(s) of danger’Footnote 126 and as attempts to tap into Iqbal's influence and valence among the Muslim masses. Their appreciation of Iqbal might be more tempered than that of ‘Abd al-Salam, but it still exists, as shown by the very fact that they are writing in praise of Iqbal. In fact, even ‘Ali Nadwi, the Nadwa ‘alim most critical of Iqbal's deviation from orthodoxy and orthopraxy, notes the affinity between his ‘ideas and feelings’ and those of Iqbal.Footnote 127 The desire to associate oneself with Iqbal is not just a trend that we witness among these three Nadwa ‘ulama. This romance with Iqbal carries through and remains very much a part of the world view of Nadwa scholars to date. Consequently, we see the posthumous publication of a number of books linking Sayyid Sulayman Nadwi and Iqbal.Footnote 128
This trend raises the inevitable question: why has Iqbal come to be so acclaimed among the Nadwa ‘ulama, despite their differences in outlook and the fact that, for the most part, they occupy culturally and intellectually different positions? The gap between these positions, as I have argued throughout this article, becomes wider with the passage of time; nevertheless, the Nadwa's engagement with Iqbal never ceases. So why then does this engagement occur? By way of answer, I refer to the article's previous section. As I argued, the political milieu of pre-partition India and post-colonial South Asia, coupled with Iqbal's involvement in the Muslim League, led to Iqbal's overwhelming embrace by the South Asian Muslim community. Following the creation of Pakistan, strongly critiquing or ignoring Iqbal no longer seemed within the realms of possibility for South Asian Muslims, given his acclaim. I assert that in these circumstances the Nadwa ‘ulama (especially the later ones) attempted to legitimate their own reform projects by reading Iqbal in such a way that he appeared to be in their own reformist camp. By claiming Iqbal as one of them, and by tapping into the appeal that Iqbal has among the youth and non-traditionally minded Muslims, they aimed to further their own projects. This is most obvious in the writings of ‘Abd al-Salam Nadwi; however, even Sulayman Nadwi and ‘Ali Nadwi strategically refrain from intellectually engaging with Iqbal's controversial thoughts. In doing so, these historians evade the issue of how Iqbal's reconstruction project differs from theirs and how, in light of these differences, their praise and appropriation of Iqbal can be considered unjust. Moreover, the Nadwa ‘ulama conveniently ignore Iqbal's direct critique of the traditionalists and their outlook which features several times in his works.
Given the shifting nature of Islamic authority in India from the nineteenth century onwards, Iqbal was, in some ways, easy to reclaim for the Nadwa scholars. As Muslims devised strategies to sustain authority in the face of colonialism, the figure of Muhammad ‘came to play a larger part in South Asian Muslim piety’.Footnote 129 This is evident in the burgeoning of sira literature in which the Nadwa played a vital part. Reflecting the same trend, Iqbal too—as noted in the comments of all three Nadwa scholars examined in this article—was enamoured with Muhammad, and the Prophet played a central role in his piety and thought:Footnote 130 ‘The Prophet lay at the heart of his thinking from his early nationalist poem, Tarana-i Milli—“The caravan leader for us is the prince of Hijaz,/By his name our soul acquires peace”—through to his very last collection of poems entitled The Gift of the Hijaz.’Footnote 131 Muhammad's authority was also of central importance to all ‘ulama, including those of the Nadwa. This aligning of interests enabled Iqbal's appropriation by the Nadwa scholars.
However, the story does not end here: the ‘ulama's appropriation of Iqbal is not a one-sided process but provides evidence of contrapuntal engagements. Iqbal himself engaged in numerous correspondences with several ‘ulama and, arguably, endeavoured to draw on these ‘ulama’s valence to further his own project. Thus, the Nadwa ‘ulama are not the only ones attempting to narrativize, tap into the other's audience, and propose their own reform project as having a following among those Muslim leaders who lie outside of their immediate camp. Iqbal does the same when he corresponded with the ‘ulama or wrote and talked about them in public forums. For example, at one point he writes about Sulayman Nadwi, stating, ‘Today, Sayyid Sulayman Nadwi is at the zenith of our academic life. Not only is he an intellectual, he is the leader of all intellectuals. His very existence is a river of knowledge and grace from which innumerable streams branch out and thousands of drought-stricken fields are irrigated.’Footnote 132 Similarly, in one of his correspondences with Sulayman Nadwi, Iqbal states, ‘After Mawlana Shibli Nu‘mani, you are the most erudite of teachers. Iqbal will benefit from your criticism.’Footnote 133 Thus, this project of appropriation and appreciation is a two-way street traversed simultaneously by both Iqbal and the Nadwa ‘ulama.
Finally, one might be tempted to think that although the Nadwa scholars and Iqbal's other admirers portray him in varying lights, there existed an Iqbal who possibly could be portrayed in all his fullness. However, this is wishful thinking. Individuals are complex beings who unveil particular facets of themselves in particular situations, as is shown by the variety of views exhibited by Iqbal in different circumstances, especially in his poetry versus his prose.Footnote 134 Just like real events, real individuals also ‘do not offer themselves as stories’.Footnote 135 Consequently, narrativization becomes a problem only when we attempt to paint individuals as cohesive wholes instead of as the multifaceted, complex, and contradictory beings.
