“Time is the very stuff of life, and reality is a process of becoming rather than a fixed state.”
— Muhammad IqbalThe Reconstruction of Religious Thought in Islam (1930), Lecture III, Time and Eternity; close paraphrase, wording not verified word for word
Commentary
This claim expresses Iqbal's conviction that time is real and creative, a view he developed in the third of his lectures, where he engages with Bergson's philosophy of duration and with the Qur'anic and mystical treatments of time. Iqbal presents reality as an ongoing process of self-creation, which underlies his doctrine of the self and his understanding of divine activity. Annemarie Schimmel, in Gabriel's Wing, notes that Iqbal's critique of static metaphysics owed much to his reading of Bergson, though he adapted Bergsonian ideas to Islamic theology. Javid Iqbal's biography describes his father's Cambridge and Heidelberg studies in philosophy, including his doctoral work on metaphysics in Persia, which informed this lecture. Bashir Ahmad Dar argues that Iqbal's view of time is central to his conception of human freedom, since a creative universe allows genuine novelty and responsibility. Schimmel observes that Iqbal's account of God as a dynamic participant in time was theologically provocative, and that critics questioned its orthodoxy. The paraphrase should be checked against Lecture III before any direct quotation, and the phrasing here should not be presented as Iqbal's own words.
Commentary
This claim expresses Iqbal's conviction that time is real and creative, a view he developed in the third of his lectures, where he engages with Bergson's philosophy of duration and with the Qur'anic and mystical treatments of time. Iqbal presents reality as an ongoing process of self-creation, which underlies his doctrine of the self and his understanding of divine activity. Annemarie Schimmel, in Gabriel's Wing, notes that Iqbal's critique of static metaphysics owed much to his reading of Bergson, though he adapted Bergsonian ideas to Islamic theology. Javid Iqbal's biography describes his father's Cambridge and Heidelberg studies in philosophy, including his doctoral work on metaphysics in Persia, which informed this lecture. Bashir Ahmad Dar argues that Iqbal's view of time is central to his conception of human freedom, since a creative universe allows genuine novelty and responsibility. Schimmel observes that Iqbal's account of God as a dynamic participant in time was theologically provocative, and that critics questioned its orthodoxy. The paraphrase should be checked against Lecture III before any direct quotation, and the phrasing here should not be presented as Iqbal's own words.