Iqbal and Modern Scientific Theories

Abstract

Western civilization refers to the civilization that emerged in Europe over the past four hundred years. It began in the 16th century AD when Eastern Europe was occupied by the Turks. Greek and Latin scholars fled from there and spread to Western Europe. Europe, which had previously been wandering in the darkness of ignorance, was awakened by the influence of these scholars and by the knowledge of Muslims after the Christian conquest of Spain. This was the time when scientific progress began in Europe. New inventions were made, which not only cured the backwardness and ignorance of Europe. Rather, European nations set out to find new markets, and their greedy eyes were on the countries of Asia and Africa. England, France, Portugal and Holland took the lead and began to capture the newly created countries, first economically and then in this way. In this way, in a short period of time, these nations conquered most of the countries of Asia and Africa and introduced their civilization there. This tradition began with the liberalism and rational thinking brought by Greek sciences. The reason for Iqbal's opposition to Western civilization is political. In Iqbal's time, there were two types of people in India. One was those who looked at everything in Western society with hatred. This was a class of conservatives who were proud of their civilization, whether good or bad. The other class considered themselves enlightened and considered imitating the West as the pinnacle of their lives. Especially those who had come from Europe were dazzled by the glare of the West. Yes, among them were people like Iqbal who did not come back from the West in awe. Rather, they returned home with a clear view of its virtues and shortcomings. But the number of such people was like salt in flour. When the people who were fascinated by the West returned home, they saw every corner of the West as paradise. Iqbal was not only saddened that India had accepted the slavery of the British, but he was also saddened that the entire Islamic world had fallen victim to the greed of European nations. This filled Iqbal's heart with feelings of hatred against Western civilization, otherwise Iqbal would have praised its bright aspects here and there.

Keywords: Iqbal's opposition, Western civilization, Turks, Greek, Latin, British, Christian, Spain, India.