WORLD LITERATURE
Title: Iqbal’s Concept of Mard e Momin
Submitted by: Sumbal Chaudhary
Id: 30560
Iqbal’s Concept of Mard e Momin
Allama Iqbal (1877-1938) holds a prominent place among the line of Muslim
philosophers, as far as the current century is concerned there's barely any great contemporary
Muslim thinker who can match his ideology. Not only he had a deep knowledge of the Holy
Quran and Sunnah of Prophet Muhammed but also, he studied the western thought deeply.
Iqbal's philosophy revolves around human kind, though for him the Self is the fundamental
reality of the world, yet “his revaluation of Man is not that of Man qua Man, but of Man in
relation to God.” The vision of the Perfect man that Iqbal presents is unique and fascinating.
But he is not the first to propound this conception. The Idea of Perfect Man, Mard-e-Momin,
Mard-e-Khuda, Sheikh, Kamil, Faqir, Banda-e-Haq, Qalander and Banda-e-Hur are not
unfamiliar. Rumi is probably the first Muslim thinker who has presented a complete picture
of Perfect Man. There are other Muslims who also put forward theories of Perfect Man. Ibn-i-
Muskwaih had undoubtedly initiated the idea which found its culmination in Rumi. Iqbal's
philosophy, in particular his conception of Mard-e-Momin, reveals Rumi's profound
influence. Rumi was Iqbal's acknowledged Murshid and his intellectual progenitor, and it is
only with reference to this great mystic poet that Iqbal admits with pride.
Iqbal’s Perfect Man is a Momin whose greatest qualities are power, vision, action
and wisdom. These qualities are perfectly noticeable in the character of the Holy Prophet,
who was also the complete embodiment of the finest attributes. It is by emulating the
character of the founder of the Faith, that a Momin becomes a master of his destiny and
reaches a stage of perfection. Iqbal has expressed this idea in Bal-i-Jibril by saying that the
Momin is powerful and is a conqueror of difficulties. He is the goal of reason; the sole
harvest of love and all activities in the universe can be attributed to him. Another place he
says that a disbeliever can be recognized by the fact that he is seeking absorption in the
universe, while the Momin is one who is himself the depository of the whole universe
Iqbal's poetry is full of the portraits of his Mard-e-Momin who wakes and sleeps
for God alone and executes the command of Allah in the world. His Perfect Person, a co-
worker with God is not a breaker of Divine Law. He is the master of all created things but a
slave to God. In fact, the degree of his servitude to God is the measure of his perfection.
Iqbal's Perfect Person, has something to teach us. For instance, firstly the tolerance and all
those so-called virtues of modern man are not in contradiction to the simple strong faith in the
spirit. Secondly, man who is just an impotent being completed by him who is nearer to him
than his jugular vein becomes creator of new spiritual worlds. Thirdly to achieve this, an
initial act of submission is necessary, in Dante's philosophy it is repentance whereas, in
Iqbal's a declaration of slavery but slavery of God and only of God. In the light of points
mentioned earlier Iqbal’s Perfect Man is not different from a true and honest Muslim who
does not treat his religion as a belief but makes his life conform to the genuine pattern of the
Islam and Muslim Societies.
Inshort, to Iqbal Mard-i-Momin is a man of this world, and belonged to all
mankind, and lived in all time and clime, as he is an immortal being. He is a world-reality,
above and beyond the limitations of time and space. He cannot be imprisoned by the
boundaries of race, politics or geography. Iqbal’s Perfect Man is timeless. He belongs to no
particular place or country. The whole world is his home. He is commissioned with a
mission, i.e., to establish the Kingdom of God on earth. As well, he possesses great power
and strength, that he can change the destiny of the people. He is the complete ego, both in
mind and body. Out of the richness of his nature, he lavishes the wealth of life on others and
brings them nearer to himself. The more we are advanced in the scale of evolution the nearer
we are to him. For the present he is mere ideal to us, but the evolution of humanity, both in
mind and body, is tending towards his emergence.
References
http://riffathassan.info/wp-
content/uploads/2014/05/Iqbals_Concept_of_Mard_e_Momin_and_Rumis_Influence.pdf
https://www.academia.edu/41094692/Concept_of_MarD_e_Momin
https://www.iqbal.com.pk/944-allama-iqbal-studies/scholarly-articles/1658-the-perfect-man-
of-iqbal
