ALLAMA IQBAL’S POEM “MUSNAVI PAS CHE BAYED KARD” AND CONTEMPORARY PERSPECTIVE: A CRITICAL STUDY

Abstract

Allama Iqbal’s epic poem “Musnavi Pas Che Bayed Kard” (So, what should be done?), published in 1936, is considered not only a critique of the situation and events of his time but also suggests to the nations of the East, in general, and the Muslim Ummah, in particular, the solution to come out of the intellectual and political shackles of the West. Emphasizing the fact that the West owes its current glory and advancement to the Eastern civilization and Islamic philosophy, Allama Iqbal has highlighted and differentiated between the just divine world order spearheaded by the institution of prophethood as opposed to the exploitative imperialistic and capitalist order of the day in the garb of Western democracy. The current article is an attempt to draw lessons from the subject poem and the message contained therein, besides its relevance to the present ideological, intellectual, political and economic chaos faced by the Eastern nations as well as the Muslim nations all over the world in comparison to the Western hegemony superimposed by the Western culture and its exploitative world order through its democratic system and financial and banking institutions such as World Bank and IMF.