Iqbal, China and the Muslim world
More than a century ago, Allama Iqbal issued a timeless call: for Muslims to rise above rhetoric and embrace real work grounded in knowledge, science and self-discipline. His poetry, pulsating with spiritual urgency and civilisational insight, did not glorify past empires but urged a reconstruction of thought and society. That call has never been more relevant than it is today.
The post-WWI world order fundamentally altered the trajectory of Muslim societies. With disintegration of the Ottoman Caliphate and the subsequent colonisation of the Arab heartlands, political agency of Muslims was replaced by fragmentation, subservience and ideological confusion. In the century that followed, many Muslim-majority nations failed to develop strong institutions or meaningful influence in global affairs. While pockets of wealth and modernity emerged — often due to oil or strategic alliances — the deeper foundations of progress remained weak or absent.
The 21st century has laid bare this civilisational lag. The Middle East is mired in conflict, authoritarianism and foreign interference. South Asia wrestles with sectarianism and economic volatility. Even relatively stable Muslim states often suffer from weak education systems, declining scientific output and overreliance on external patronage. Worse still, many remain trapped in ideological rhetoric without building the internal capacities needed for real sovereignty.
The tragic examples of Iraq, Libya, and now Iran offer stark lessons. Each, in its own way, challenged Western dominance but they did so without the necessary economic, technological or diplomatic strength. Iraq was destroyed under the false pretense of WMDs. Libya imploded into chaos following the toppling of Gaddafi. Iran, isolated for decades, continues to face economic hardship, international sanctions, and now aggression. In all cases, resistance without capacity led to ruin, not renewal.
In contrast stands China - a nation that, without sacrificing its sovereignty or succumbing to colonial hangovers, has managed a remarkable rise. China's ascent did not begin with defiance or provocation but with a disciplined focus on human development, industrial capacity and strategic patience. It educated its people, modernised its infrastructure and embedded itself in the global economy. It avoided open conflict with the West while gradually becoming indispensable to it.
While one must be critical of China's authoritarianism and human rights record, there is much to learn from its strategic posture. China did not seek validation through ideological slogans or military muscle-flexing. It sought power through productivity.
The real confrontation the Muslim world faces today is not with the West but with internal decay. This includes decaying education systems, corrupt political elites more interested in power than reform, and religious discourse often disconnected from ethics, science and the needs of modern societies. Without addressing these root causes, no amount of protest, pan-Islamic rhetoric or diplomatic manoeuvring will yield meaningful change.
Iqbal understood this. He was not a romantic who merely yearned for a return to the Caliphate. He envisioned a revival rooted in selfhood (khudi), character and relentless striving. He saw Islam not as a nostalgic identity but as a moral and intellectual project — open to the world, engaged with its complexities and capable of shaping its future.
The Muslim world must now reimagine its priorities. It must invest heavily in education — not just religious but scientific, technological and philosophical. It must foster cultures of merit, innovation and critical inquiry; focus on building internal strength and institutional resilience; and realise that economic and technological independence is the new foundation of sovereignty.
China may not offer a perfect model. But it offers a sobering contrast: a nation once humiliated by colonialism, now quietly reshaping global power through discipline, planning and human development. The Muslim world, if it listens to Iqbal, can do the same — not by mimicking others, but by rediscovering its own intellectual and spiritual DNA, and expressing it through the realities of the modern age.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Business Recorder
9 hours ago
- Business Recorder
Minorities Day: PCF organises at mausoleum of Quaid-e-Azam
KARACHI: On the occasion of Minorities Day, President of the Pak Christian Foundation (PCF), Tariq Samuel, organized a grand ceremony at the mausoleum of Quaid-e-Azam, showcasing a practical demonstration of national unity, harmony, and love for the country. The event was attended by leaders of different religions, representatives of civil society, and citizens from across the country, all reaffirming their commitment to minority rights and religious tolerance. Christian, Sikh, Hindu, and Muslim leaders participated in the ceremony and praised the inclusive efforts of the Pak Christian Foundation, pledging their continued dedication to promoting peace, tolerance, and unity. The ceremony was addressed by Reverend Bishop Salamat, Reverend Raees Boota of the United Presbyterian Evangelical Church, Sardar Amar Singh — Vice Chairman, Church of Pakistan (Karachi & Balochistan) and Chairman of Pakistan Khalsa Sikh Council & Member of the National Committee for Interfaith Harmony (Government of Pakistan), Pandit Mukesh Kumar — representative of the Hindu community, Tariq Nation, General Secretary of Church Leadership, as well as pastors and religious leaders from various Christian denominations. President of PCF, Tariq Samuel, paid tribute to the sacrifices of minorities in the creation of Pakistan, stating that minorities are an integral part of the nation's identity and progress. 'Pakistan is our country — our forefathers sacrificed for this homeland and as minorities, we have always stood with our nation. We are proud to be Pakistanis and are ready to make every sacrifice for the peace, development, and prosperity of the country,' he said. The mausoleum administration presented a Guard of Honour to all religious leaders, recognizing their role in promoting peace and unity. Tariq Samuel, along with all participants, laid floral wreaths at the mausoleum of Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah and offered prayers for national unity, harmony, and the prosperity of Pakistan. General Secretary of PCF, Rashid Gill, thanked all religious leaders, guests, and participants, presenting bouquets as a token of love and appreciation, acknowledging their contributions towards fostering interfaith harmony and cooperation. The Pak Christian Foundation reaffirmed its commitment to upholding the vision of Quaid-e-Azam and reiterated that every citizen of Pakistan — regardless of religion, ethnicity, or background — is entitled to equal rights, dignity, and opportunities. Copyright Business Recorder, 2025
Business Recorder
10 hours ago
- Business Recorder
Pakistan: retrospect and prospect—I
Against all odds of what appeared as insurmountable obstacles, Mohammed Ali Jinnah carved a Nation for the Muslims of the subcontinent. He is possibly the only leader to have created a country through resolute negotiations against two hostile parties, the British government and the Indian National Congress. His task was formidable because he was pitted against giant politicians like Gandhi and Nehru, with the Viceroy Lord Mountbatten openly supporting them. The transition was expected to be troublesome but no one anticipated the bloody carnage it would bring. The bloodshed followed the independence. This too happened because of Hindu zealots led by Vallabhai Patel, who refused to accept the partitioning of the subcontinent and the creation of an Islamic country. The riots were bloody. Muslims were massacred. Gandhi, a possibly noble soul and Nehru, the politically correct and astute person, aligned with the oppressed Muslims. Gandhi went on a fast. Patel disliked Gandhi for his softness towards Muslims. My father, in his personal copy, underlined in red while reading, (in year 1995) Maulana Abul Kalam Azad's much publicized book, 'India Wins Freedom', the following lines: 'Sardar Patel was not alone in this attitude towards Ganhiji's fast… A section of Hindus under the leadership of the Mahasabha and the RSS went about openly saying that Gandhiji was helping Muslims against Hindus. They organised opposition even to his prayer meetings where under instructions of Gandhiji, verses from the Quran and the Bible were read along with Hindu scriptures. After he came to Delhi in September 1947, they asked him to stop this practice. People were incited against Gandhiji by describing him as the enemy of the Hindus. One pamphlet went so far as to say that if Gandhiji did not change his ways, steps should be taken to murder him'. They did it. Nathuram Godse, a worker of RSS, did it by pumping enough bullets into Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi's frail body. I quote this for readers to know and correlate Patel's actions with what Narendra Modi is doing in India today. The massacre of Muslims continues unabated. Narendra Modi is reincarnation of Vallabhai Patel. We however remain still thankless to Jinnah for getting us this freedom. We have ruined Jinnah's Pakistan. Jinnah in an interview to the then famous and popular US magazine 'LIFE', which was carried in their edition of 5th January 1948, mentions and enumerates the several challenges besetting the fledgling new country. A reading of those challenges today makes me sad and fills me with regrets that those very challenges continue to dominate our lives even after over seven decades. We shall celebrate tomorrow our 78th Independence Day anniversary. A time to rethink; a day to faithfully and sincerely indulge into self-introspection, asking what each of us has done to strengthen our Nation. All improvements begin with self. The process of self-correction must dominate the itch and temptation to 'correction of others'. The decade of 1947-57 was a period of turmoil and instability, which otherwise should have been a period of rebuilding and strengthening the nascent State. This period saw the departure of many of our founding fathers, including Quaid e Azam. This was followed by the tragic assassination of Nawabzada Liaqat Ali Khan, our first premier. The country had gone into a tail spin. The political instability only grew with each new experimentation on the form of government the country needed: from Westminster model of parliamentary democracy to authoritarian model. The writing of the Constitution remained in the factory till the promulgation of the 1956 Constitution. This had a very short shelf-life. The Constitution construction became both an enabling and a disabling exercise in forging unity between provinces, one of which was separated by 1,000 kilometers of enemy territory. We were struggling with decision on what should be the national language. We attempted to impose Urdu upon a 100 percent Bengali population. Riots after riots dominated the political scene. The changes within the governments and of the governments in Pakistan were so sudden, rapid and regular that Nehru made a jovial remark that 'I m prepared to talk to Pakistan on all issues including Kashmir, but by the time I change my Sherwani (tunic) they change their government.' The nation, politics, economics and people were in absolute disarray. In view of the game of musical chairs that was being played out by the politicians, the armed forces sitting on the sidelines were slowly acquiring power to intrude in the political arena. Following the adoption of the 1956 Constitution, the Governor General Iskander Mirza was elected President by the Constituent Assembly. This period marked for serious skirmishes between the army and the government. President Mirza made a cardinal mistake of Himalayan proportion: he appointed the serving Army Chief, Gen Ayub Khan as the defence minister. In less than a year, in October 1958, Gen Ayub Khan deposed the President, imposed Martial Law and exiled Iskander Mirza. The curtain on the fragile and strong as a spider cobweb fortress of democracy fell, and was to last till the country's dismemberment in December, 1971. The decade between 1958 and 1968 was one of stability, economic growth and development. The political laboratory remained at work. They developed and brought in the concept of Basic Democracy. In other words, controlled and monitored democracy under a Presidential form of government was introduced. Again it withered away at great speed. In the neighbourhood, however, India kept building and consolidating its institutions. They were fortunate to have Jawaharlal Nehru rule without interruption for 17 long years. He set India's direction. Democracy gained a complete foothold. Ayub Khan and his team did extremely well in setting up industrialization. Pakistan emerged as a rising star of South Asia. Our Foreign Policy architects balanced themselves well between Washington and Beijing. The tight rope walk was a classic act without the cover of base nets. Z. A. Bhutto emerged as a young, charismatic and dynamic foreign minister. He framed closer relations with both Beijing and Moscow, alongside cooing up to the power across the Atlantic. Pakistan had gained a place and respect in the comity of nations. The misjudged war of 1965 with India put us behind economically. Ayub Khan was disappointed with its outcome. This started to tell upon his health. He became sick, frail and weak. Additionally, Z. A. Bhutto turned his guns on President Ayub following the Tashkent declaration. Bhutto resigned from the cabinet in protest. He became the leader of the masses, particularly the youth. He formed Pakistan People's Party. The mass agitation against President Ayub resulted in his resignation. Instead of handing charge to the Speaker of the Assembly, he stepped down by making way for the army chief, Gen Yahya Khan, who imposed martial law and announced elections. The decade of 1968- 78 made Pakistan witness its historic lows. The first-ever fair and free elections marked the beginning of the clash of egos. The refusal to give power to the elected representatives led to widespread rioting in the then East Pakistan, eventually leading up to calls for secession and independence. The enemy neighbour exploited our internal unrest .The 1971 war with India was a political and military disaster. The surrender that took place in Dhaka was the worst in the Muslim history. Bangladesh was created. Jinnah's Pakistan was dismembered. The intoxicated military junta handed power to the most popular ever leader of West Pakistan, Bhutto. As travesty of democracy, ZAB crowned himself as the first-ever civilian martial law administrator and President, in December, 1971. As part of his economic policy he nationalised key industries including banking. The move was popular but disastrous and its remnants still ails us. He restored dignity for Pakistan. He negotiated the release of over 90,000 Prisoners of War from India. He regained more than 5000 sq miles of territory that was lost in war. The greatest credit that ZAB deserves is that he gave hope to a nation in utter despair. He restored respect for the armed forces whose morale was at the lowest ebb. In the arena of foreign policy he gave fresh impetus to relations based upon mutual respect. He aligned the Arabs with us. He became extremely popular in the Islamic world. Pakistan under his leadership hosted the historic Lahore Islamic Summit under the aegis of Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC). The ties with China were made more formidable. He exported manpower to the Middle East, a policy that continues to benefit us till date. He began the nuclear programme. All great leaders make small mistakes and end up with gigantic negative results. He called for snap elections, which he would have any case won hands-down but the over enthusiastic sycophants indulged in rigging the results. The consequence was mass agitation supported by dollars that came from somewhere, as he himself put it. Just when the talks with the opposition over re-elections were to be agreed and signed, the wily General Ziaul Haq arrested him in a coup and declared martial for the third time in the country's short history. (To be continued) Copyright Business Recorder, 2025
Business Recorder
11 hours ago
- Business Recorder
Rental commercial property: Question arises on legality of taxation by Punjab govt
ISLAMABAD: A question has been raised on the legality of taxation of rental commercial property by the provincial government of Punjab in cases where the same income is already taxed at the federal level, reflecting double taxation. A review of Punjab Sales Tax on Commercial Property by Muhammad Asif Asgher Attorney-at-Law, former Chief Commissioner Inland Revenue/ former Member, Appellate Tribunal Inland Revenue (ATIR) revealed that Punjab's move to tax commercial rentals reflects the broader post-Eighteenth Amendment trend of provincial revenue expansion. However, the constitutional boundaries of such powers- especially where the same income stream is already federally taxed- remains unsettled. The eventual judicial outcome will determine whether this revenue measure becomes a permanent fixture or another short-lived experiment. Muhammad Asif Asgher stated that the Eighteenth Amendment to the Constitution of Pakistan, 1973 brought sweeping changes, the most significant being the omission of the Concurrent Legislative List from the Fourth Schedule. Prior to the amendment, the Federal Legislative List (FLL) contained subjects under exclusive federal competence (Article 142), while the Concurrent List allowed both the Federation and Provinces to legislate. With the deletion of the Concurrent List, legislative power over its subjects was devolved to the provinces. In addition, certain subjects were removed from the FLL itself. Notably, Clause 49 was amended to read: 'Taxes on the sale and purchase of goods imported, exported, produced, manufactured and consumed (except sales tax on services).' This seemingly small bracketed phrase empowered provinces to levy sales tax on services, creating a significant new revenue stream. Tax expert said that following the Eighteenth Amendment, provinces quickly established their own frameworks for taxing services. Punjab enacted the Punjab Sales Tax on Services Act, 2012, and Sindh passed the Sindh Sales Tax on Services Act, 2011. A key drafting challenge was defining 'services' broadly enough to capture emerging transactions. Section 2(38) of the Punjab Act states: 'Service' or 'services' means anything which is not goods or the providing of which is not a supply of goods, and shall include but not be limited to the services listed in the First [or Second] Schedule. This open-ended definition- whether borrowed from India's GST or developed locally — ensured that almost any activity outside the definition of 'goods' could be taxed. Traditionally, a 'service' involves the application of human effort or skill for another's benefit. However, Sindh was first to extend this to letting out of immovable property, reasoning that it did not involve the supply of goods. Amendments were made to include this within the definition of 'service,' and the Sindh Revenue Board began issuing tax notices to landlords. The Sindh High Court, in 2019 PTD 389, faced constitutional and interpretive challenges to taxing immovable property rentals. Rather than directly ruling whether such letting constituted a 'service,' the Court focused on Section 4 (1) (b) of the Sindh Act, which referred only to 'movable property' in defining 'economic activity.' The Court inferred that immovable property was excluded. The Supreme Court, in 2023 PTCL 96, dismissed the Sindh Government's appeal with a single-line observation: 'The mere renting out of property by a landlord to a tenant is not taxable as it is not a taxable service.' Notably, the Court gave no reasoning, leaving the constitutional question open and arguably outside the binding scope of Article 189. Former Member Appellate Tribunal stated both Sindh and Punjab amended their laws to explicitly include immovable property in 'economic activity.' Punjab's change came via the Finance Act, 2018 (effective 1 November 2018). However, Punjab delayed taxing such rentals until Finance Act, 2025, which revised the First Schedule: (i); Exempt: dwellings rented for non-commercial use. (ii); Taxable: dwellings and other immovable property rented for commercial use. The Punjab Revenue Authority has since begun issuing notices to landlords for registration and tax payment. Landlords argued they are already paying income tax on rental income and that this dual taxation is impermissible. One possible ground, relying on 2017 PTD 1 (Pakistan International Freight Forwarders), is that post-Eighteenth Amendment there is no concurrent taxing power: a single taxable event cannot be subject to both federal and provincial levies. Another round of constitutional litigation appears inevitable, Muhammad Asif Asgher added. Copyright Business Recorder, 2025
