Allama Iqbal was an idealist, whereas Sir Syed Ahmed Khan’s approach was a pragmatic one.
ISLAMABAD: This is with reference to the letter “Sir Syed and Allama Iqbal” by Atif Alvi (February 13), wherein he took exception to the views of Pervez Hoodbhoy’s article of February 9 on this topic. In my view, Dr Hoodbhoy had rightly said that Allama Iqbal was not in favour of Western education and advocated the existence of the Muslim umma, which does not exist in the real sense. Allama Iqbal was an idealist, whereas Sir Syed Ahmed Khan’s approach was a pragmatic one.
Had the Muslims of India followed Sir Syed’s thinking, their level of knowledge and the concomitant economic and social development would have been much higher than the prevailing one.
Dr Najeeb A Khan
Published in The Express Tribune, February 15th, 2013.
