Islamic Modernism: the Case of Dr. Muhammad Iqbāl

Abstract

What is the relationship of religion with modernity? All versions of modern Islam are understandable only in the context of their confrontation with Western European culture as the masters and purveyors of the modern technological-scientific age. This confrontation has both political/economic and cultural/civilizational aspects. Non-European peoples have responded to the European challenge through defense, imitation, or integration of the new culture into their own heritage. For the first time during recorded history, religion is facing a real threat of extinction; the kind of change that history is demanding from religion is such that religion would lose its essence, its eternal element, if it were to give in to its demand.  Refusing to change is not an option either. How religion has to negotiate with the rising tide of unprecedented changes which arose with the advent of modernity. This article will discuss the approach of Muhammad Iqbal in this regard.