Why would mind, in spite of being amongst the nobs of nature, not get what heart so easily could, in his philosophy? Why would it always lag behind ‘ISHQ’? In what sense was intuition above reason? Wasn’t that ridiculous of such a learned man to let rationality sag beneath instincts, mind beneath heart...or had he some rational point for that?
Time kept flying and I kept defying the philosophy…or so to say, kept looking for the reason he erected his ideologies on, when so suddenly; in the last place I could imagine…I found my self looking right in the proud eyes of the reason behind his philosophy of ISHQ’s kudos!
That was a lecture (by Professor i so esteemed once) about the origin of universe & life!
The speech rose mildly from various cosmological disturbances, flowed slickly into the making of heavenly bodies, drove earth methodically out of the parent elements in that confusion &….curiously (or at least I found it) went kneeling straight before ‘evolution of life’, staggering me like anything!
What had been smoothing its way straight to the heart & mind a little while ago, as an ‘authentic epoch narration’ so suddenly changed its way & stuck like a stale lump of something in my throat!
‘Evolution’…did the man call it the next ‘scientific’ step’?
I couldn’t help asking then, ‘is evolution your personal explanation for present diversity of life, too, professor’?
‘indeed, yes…for we have no better explanation’, returned the sage man, ‘mind needs reason to swallow stuff, science likewise needs evidences capable of convincing 5 senses & evidences plus reason right now, all are favoring the theory of Evolution’!
Whether was that a shock for me to hear those words tumbling out of the mouth of professor I esteemed the most or just my moment of “grasp”…I did not know then. I just kept trying to follow the lecture, shunning away the subliminal thoughts buzzing in my mind, ‘he said he believe in it? Why would he need evidences to deny it when our ideologies strictly do? Why would someone look for a reason first to nod to the faith, the faith that’s very openly disallowing this fallacious theory? What is the thing that makes a scholarly, mature & sensible man deny the truth…is that the arrogance of having a mind that can think. is that the capability to think up reasons to negate what you can’t see, touch, smell, taste & hear? so it's the mind that becomes mutant'!
‘Bay khatar qoud para aatish’e namrood may ishq
Aqal hai mehv’e tamasha’e lab’e baam abi.........'
There I was...without knowing that I got my answer, I got it! The learned man though couldn’t instill the ‘evidences of nature’ in my mind but very effectively, elucidated the ‘philosophy of Iqbal’ to me.
Why rationalism was said to have an anti-Islamic stance became so obvious!
The idea of evolution seconding ‘atheism’ always weighed more then the ‘theory of evolution’ itself so professor’s answer so suddenly undid the reef knots of my mind that once favored ‘rationalism’!
‘eyes can’t see flow of electron…yet we believe in this something called , ‘electricity’…echoed in my mind, ‘eyes similarly never saw the supreme monarch running worlds for us…should this be enough to believe in, ‘death of God’? If mind always needs reason & reason wants taming of 5 senses…can it be enough to say, ‘there exists no God for 5 senses can’t catch him as He is.’?
Those who will mange to conjure up an answer in negative…beware! You volunteered to take refuge in ‘traditionalism’ or so they call it!
You might be jeered at by the rationalists as soon as you like publicizing your new belief. There is a parasite called ‘religion’…you’d soon be diagnosed with its infection. Some would even suspect you get yourself doped up with ‘dogma’ & this is where the ordeal starts. You’d find it hard to stay put against the flocks of ‘Parasite free rationalists’ hurling at you, hoards of evidences your senses would so willingly love yielding to…but remember, this is where the heart has to take control of mind…where intuition has to overthrow reason (for some time) & where ‘ISHQ’ has to rise above all other passions & what you would see before yourself is called, ‘truth’….subtle truth of nature…the Ultimate Truth!
This is what Iqbal’s Philosophy taught me (or the lecture of an almost atheist)!
Let the heart be your master, the thinker…mind would do good to be a courtier to find it the evidences for the truth it accepts.
Put them right in order…rest would all come right on its own & you will find your right stance amongst the myriads of ‘----isms’ scattered about. This is where you’d be welcomed to the ‘Realm of Truth’!
(Friday, 16 October 2009)
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