The Doctrine of Khudi in Iqbals Philosophical Thought

Muhammad Iqbal of Lahore(1877 -1938) is undoubtedly the greatest Muslim poet-thinker of the twentieth century. Iqbals philosophical writings and poetical works had a noteable impression on the religio-cultural and social revival of the East particularly subcontinent Muslim The central theme of Iqbals philosophical thought throughout his works, prose and poetry, especially in Asrar-i-Khudi and Rumuz-iBekhudi is The Doctrine of Khudiʹ. In his opinion the undeveloped condition and the miserable plight of the Muslim nations were due to lost real identity of Khudi and to keep distance from the true spirit of Islam. Iqbalʹs ideal for individual as well as social life is Self-affirmation not Self-negation which was the common teaching of Hindu intellectualism and Sufi pantheism. Hence Iqbal tried to establish afirm theoretical foundation for his viewpoints, and to discover a proper philosophical terminology for conveying his message to all the humanity. On one hand, the inherent genius ,the religious, mysticalattitude, deep familiarity with Islamic culture and science which were his family heritage, and his wide-ranging studies in Eastem and Westem philosophy on the other helped him to achieve the goal. To Iqbal Khudi is a universal and comprehensive reality with different degress in experession, which moves towards perfection.Various factors and principles-which are mostly the same positive and negative re1igio-moral qualities can strengthen or weaken Khudi in human beings till it reaches the highest stage of perfection,that is, Vicegerency of God on earth.