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Allamah Iqbal loved Hazrat Hussain immensely and considered his life and sacrifice to be a lesson in freedom for humanity. To him Hazrat Hussain’s life was a model for Muslims to emulate and offered a solution to all their problems. Iqbal considered both the arrogant pride of the royalty and the excessive poverty of the hospices to be harmful for Muslims. Therefore a couplet in “Armughan-e-Hijaz” he exhorts Muslim to adopt the example of Hazrat Hussain:
Key Fakhr-e-Khankhahi Hai Faqat Andooh was Dilgiri Faqr Uryan Bang-e- Takbeer-e-Hussain (The genuine poverty in Islam is that of Badr and Hunayn and the war-cry of Hussain) Iqbal despised those strains of tasawwuf which distanced Muslims from bravery, action, and struggle and which pushed them towards monasticism and renouncement of the world. He exhorted the Muslims to shun seclusion and urged them to follow in the foot-steps of Hazrat Hussain by adopting sacrifice. Baman Miya Key Maslake-e-Shabbirem Arzoo Ast (I long for arrow, lance, dagger and sword/ Oh so-called (Muslim) don’t walk with me because I long to emulate Hussain’s sacrifice). Iqbal says that following in the foot-steps of Hussain is not an easy task as it if full of sacrifice and genuine love: Batil Akhir Dagh-e-Hasrat Meri Ast Bahr-e-Haq Dar Khak wa Khoon Ghaltida Ast Pas Banae La Ilah Garweeda Ast deen hast hussain deen panaah hast hussain sar daad na daad dast dar dast-e-yazeed haqqa ke binaye laa ilaa hast hussain Husayn himself is Islam and the shield of Islam. Though he gave his head (for Islam) but never paid allegiance to Yazeed. Truly Husayn is the founder of “There is no Deity except Allah). In “Ramooz-e-Bekhudi” Iqbal has penned a long nazm (of 39 verses) in praise of Hazrat Hussain: Saroo Azad-e-Zabistan-e-Rasool Maani zabh-e-azeem Amad-e-pisr (Hussain is the leader of the lovers and the son of Hazrat Fatima (RA). He is the cypress tree of the Prophet’s garden. In the second couplet Allamah Iqbal is indicating towards a Shiah tradition where Hazrat Ali (RA) reportedly said that the “nuqta” of the letter “Ba” in Bismillah, which is the essence of the Holy Qur’an, is him (Ali). Therefore it points to the glory of Hussain whose father is the “Baey Bismillah” and who himself is the exposition of the ultimate sacrifice. In Baal-e-Jibraeel Iqbal writes: Nihayat is ki Hussain, Ibteda Hai Ismaeel Hazrat Hussain was an apostle of love of God and displayed his passionate love like other lovers of God: Maarkey Wujood Mein Badr was Hunain Bhi Hain Ishq In Ramooz-e-Bekhudi Iqbal expounds on the battle of Karbala : Hurriyat-e-Raaz har andar kaam reekht Khast aan sar jalwa khairul umam Choon sahabe qibla baraan dar khadam Bar zameene Karbala bareed wa raft Lala dar weerana ha kareed wa raft Ta qiyamat qata istabdad kard Mauje khoon o chaman ijad karad In another couplet Iqbal says: Doostan aw ba yazdaan hum adad The battle between truth and and falsehood will continue until the end. Expounding on this Iqbal writes: Aen do quwwat az hayat amad padeed Sateeza kaar raha hai azal sey ta imroz Chiragh-e-Mustafwi sey sharer-e-bu lahbi Qur’an is the key to success for a Muslim and its secrets too can be learned from the example of Hussain. Iqbal says: Za Aatish-e-ao Shola ha Andokhtam |