THE world we inhabit advances through human endeavours. To be human is to act. Idleness is a cardinal sin of humanity that causes pessimism, dehumanisation, and procrastination postponing today’s work to tomorrow, which never comes. Idleness tends to stagnate, while action moves the world.
What causes developments in the world? Bergsonbelievesinelanvital,Schopenhauer in the will to live, Nietzsche in will to power, and Iqbal in selfhood, each of which explains differently how humanity is driven into the future. Iqbal argues that selfhood in action causes changes in the world.
Sir Muhammad Iqbal, a philosopher of human development and action, primarily defends self-development as a means of transforming the potential for action into capability, enabling human agency to be rational, creative, productive, and moral.
Iqbal’s philosophy of ‘self-development’ is actually ‘human development’, meaning people have anaturalpotentialto develop, think, and act. To develop is to act.
Surprisingly, scholars have not explored Iqbal’s philosophical oeuvre, particularly from the perspective of human development, which Pakistan desperately needs.
Action breathes life into ideas. Iqbal writes, ‘The Quran is a book which emphasises ‘deed’ rather than ‘idea’.
Adam, God’s vicegerent on Earth, was bestowed with infinite potential creativity, morality, thinking, and action transmitted to his progeny. According to Iqbal, human beings, as vicegerents, are ‘God’s co-workers’ on the planet.
A human is not only a thinker but also an actor and a creator. Iqbal transforms the idea of Homo sapiens (human, the thinker) into Homo faber (human, the creator) and Homo actor (human, the actor). In The Reconstruction of Religious Thought in Islam, Iqbal states, ‘the world is not something to be merely seen or known through concepts, but something to be made and remade by continuous action.’ Making and remaking the world requires human development, a creative mind, and purposive action.
In Asrar-i-Khudi and Rumuz-i-Bekhudi, Iqbal posited his philosophy of ‘human development’. Freedom, self-respect, dignity, love, economic security, courage, education as training, and, above all, action develop the selfhood of the individual and the nation. However, unfreedom, humiliation, exploitation, hatred, economic dependency, threat, torture, and ignorance destroy the selfhood of people.
Pakistani intellectual Mahbub ul Haq advanced the idea of human development, arguing for a ‘people-first approach’ in public policy to expand people’s sociopolitical and economic choices. Like Iqbal’s,Mahbub ul Haq’s ideas also deserve attention for improving the quality of people’s lives in Pakistan.
Education is the first milestone for human development; any disorder in it means intellectual and moral decadence.
The educational system in Pakistan needs revolutionary changes by appointing heads of institutions who are capable of being real agents of transformation rather than just performer s on social media. Increasing the budget to promote research and incentives for researchers, and ensuring job security to stop brain drain from the profession of education are also needed.
Iqbal articulates: ‘Action makes life a paradise or a hell/ By nature, a human is neither an angel nor a devil.’A paradiselike life on Earth is possible only with the rule of law, justice, equal distribution of resources, and, particularly, education that fosters the freedom to flourish.
Poverty, violence, and ecological decay are pressing challenges to Pakistan and the world. Human development and action areessential to eradicating poverty meaning that people develop enough capabilities to pursue economic activities as entrepreneurs in IT, AI, arts, and crafts.
Peace is essential for life. Peace has two forms: negative and positive. ‘Negativepeace’ is the absence of violence, mostly by force. Negative peace is short-term.
‘Positive peace’ refers to life-affirming activities through arts, literature, sports, cultural festivals, and a culture of dialogue.
Positive peace is long-lasting.
A clean environment sustains life.
Littering, pollution, and deforestation create health and aesthetic concerns.
Reverence for the environment in individual, social, and institutional conduct is required.
Iqbal’s philosophy of human development and action can help meet crucial national and global challenges. Positively, action transforms potential into capabilities, plans into outcomes, possibilities into opportunities, pessimism into optimism, and thought into reality. Action is a supreme virtue, while idleness is a fatal vice. Let people develop and act with freedom for a better future for Pakistan. The wnter has a PhD degree from the University of Canterbury, New Zealand, and teaches philosophy at the University of the Punjab, Lahore.
X: @saad malook.