LAHORE, April 12: Allama Iqbal was an ardent advocate of democracy and wanted ‘ijtehad’ through parliament. This was the consensus at a seminar on ‘Iqbal and democracy’ organized by the Quaid-i-Azam library at its auditorium on Saturday. Iqbal Academy Director Hafiz Dr Sohail Umar was in the chair.

Delivering a speech, Dr Umar said Iqbal’s concept of democracy could be understood by analyzing his various articles on the subject, his famous lectures delivered in Madras and numerous verses (not a few popular verses), which he had written in his early works.

Unfortunately, he said, Iqbal was generally read in the light of Islam and people became emotional in case of religion, forgetting the true perspective and background related to his criticism of democracy. He added that Islam had discussed the basic principles of governance.

Dr Umar said the Holy Quran laid stress on mutual consultations (shoora system), which had assumed different forms. The election of the head of an Islamic state was done through consultation, but the four Caliphs were elected by different ways — Hazrat Abu Bakar (RA) by consensus, Hazrat Umar (RA) by nomination, Hazrat Osman (RA) by a committee of elders and Hazrat Ali (RA) by a unanimous vote.

Similar was the case with monarchy, which was considered to be against the Islamic spirit. “Although Iqbal criticized democracy, he was in favour of a parliament, which had powers of law-making by moderation,” he said.

Dr Waheed Ishrat, the Iqbal Academy deputy director, said Iqbal was against the ‘secular’ concept of western democracy, but not democracy based on freedom of thought.

He said the great philosopher considered secular democracy and liberalism against the interests of Muslims and the Islamic spirit.

He also said Iqbal was in favour of electing a parliament to take decisions on various political, social, cultural, economic and educational issues for an Islamic state in accordance with the Islamic jurisprudence. For this purpose, he added that Iqbal wanted parliament to redraft Islamic laws in the light of modern-day requirements of the Muslims.

Another scholar, Dr Tehseen Firaqi, discussed in his paper Iqbal’s concept of democracy. He said Iqbal had political thought having different stages of evolution starting from his various articles written from 1909 to 1917. These were — Islam as a moral and political ideal (1910), Muslim Democracy (1917), Political thought in Islam (1910) and Form of government and Modern Science and Democracy.” In 1928, Iqbal had written an article on Divine right to rule, opposing the traditional concept of zil-i-Ilahi.

In his first article on Islam as moral and political ideal, the great Muslim thinker had advocated the concept of democracy for the Muslims’ progress. Mr Firaqi quoted Iqbal as saying that a Caliph could also commit a mistake and misrule, and therefore could be removed for violation of the Islamic law.

According to Prof Abdul Jabbar Shakir, Iqbal’s true concept of democracy could not be understood with his criticism of the system in a few verses.