AKC Podcast
S10 E04: Between Past and Future: Muslim Political Philosophy in Colonial India
Feb 12, 2024
Explore Muslim political philosophy in colonial India through poetry, literature, and art. Examine complex perspectives on the Mughals and their political past. Uncover the relevance and critique of an ancient book. Discover the impact of a poem on historian Saita Madkhan and the consequences of excluding it. Delve into Iqbal's radical philosophy of time and his exploration of serial and pure time.
32:59
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Quick takeaways
- Muslim philosophers in colonial India contemplated the relationship between the present, the past, and the future, highlighting the ambivalence towards the Mughal dynasty as a representation of both Muslim political sovereignty and British domination.
- Muhammad Iqbal advocated for a philosophy of pure time, rejecting the linear progression of serial time and emphasizing the collapse of past, present, and future distinctions to liberate Indian Muslims from the sense of futility and aimlessness under colonial rule.
Deep dives
Muslim Political Philosophy in Colonial India
Muslim philosophers in colonial India considered the relationship between the present, the past, and the future. While debates on nationalism and religious difference dominated studies on Muslim thought in South Asia, it is important to note that Muslims in colonial India were also contemplating various other issues, including the concept of time. They pondered how the present related to the past and future. The complex portrayal of the Mughal dynasty, which represented both the height of Muslim political sovereignty and the loss of that sovereignty to the British, exemplifies this ambivalence. The Mughal past became a subject of reflection, examining how Muslims in colonial India negotiated their paradoxical position in relation to it.
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