Introduction to Iqbal Studies Online Course

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Dec 12, 2011, 6:28:58 PM12/12/11

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Introduction to Iqbal Studies

"Our teachers give all the wrong messages to our youth, since they take away the natural flare from the soul. Take it from me that all knowledge is useless until it is connected with your life, because the purpose of knowledge is nothing but to show you the splendours of yourself!"(Iqbal – Javid Nama)

Introduction to Iqbal Studies is the first regular course developed for introducing an average learner to the relevance of Iqbal’s message to the world today.

The course has been designed by Khurram Ali Shafique, who has received national awards including the Presidential Iqbal Award for his works in Iqbal Studies. The course is certified by Iqbal Academy Pakistan. and is being offered in coordination with Dr. Iqbal Society of North America (DISNA) and Topline Publishers Pakistan.

Course Outline

1. Induction: abridged translation of an excerpt from Javid Nama, describing the ultimate ideal that Iqbal desires and foresees for humanity. It is a world where people live inside-out, bodies have become contained in souls rather than the other way round, there is no crime and everybody lives in material and spiritual bliss. Is this world possible? That is the question which is central to any genuine learning in Iqbal Studies, and learners will be encouraged to arrive at their own answers.

2. The Conquest of Nature:This is a poem in five segments describing, respectively (a) the birth of Adam; (b) the Devil’s animosity; (c) the Temptation; (b) the sweet challenge of the worldly life; and (e) Adam’s explanation to the Almighty on the Day of Judgment. In five short scenes, the poem gives us a complete overview of the past, present and the future of humanity as Iqbal perceives it. This is the broad outlines in which learners can fill in details as they move along in life and studies, even beyond and after the completion of this course.

3. The New Garden of Mystery: Iqbal summarized his philosophy in the form of nine questions that are cross-cutting across all fields of human knowledge – i.e., each of these questions can be answered through any discipline according to the scope of that discipline. Here, the learners will be encouraged to find answers from brief synopses of Iqbal’s works. The aim of this component is to give the learners a handy introduction to all the poetic works of Iqbal and also to show them the nine basic issues that can be used for summing up the entire philosophy of Iqbal – and possibly also the entire range of human knowledge in the present age.

4. The Sphere of Moon: This section describes the beginning of Iqbal’s spiritual journey in search of immortality under the guidance of the spirit of his mentor, Maulana Rumi, in Javid Nama. On Moon, which is the first stage of the journey, they come across seven visions: (a) the Hindu sage Vishvamitra; (b) the music of Sarosh, the angel who inspires poetic visions; (c) the poetry of Sarosh; (c) the Tablet of Buddha; (d) the Tablet of Zoroaster; (e) the Tablet of Jesus; and (f) the Tablet of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). These visions are brief and engaging introductions to seven cultural forces shaping the human civilization even today. Learners will be encouraged to explore the relevance of these cultural forces, and to develop personal insights about them.

5. Application: These concluding lessons facilitate the learners to make some personal action plans in the light of Iqbal’s thought.

Course Material

The course material comprises mainly of three components:
the course manual;

videos; and
blog.

The Course Manual consists of 27 lessons (see “Course Outline” above to get an idea about the contents of these lessons). It is provided to participants in PDF and MSWord formats. They can take printout and do the activities.

A/V Mini-lectures are brief lectures to accompany many of the lessons. They are uploaded on YouTube for participants to view, and links are provided.

Blog/Discussion Group. Each lesson in the manual leads to an open-ended question involving reflection and thinking from the participants. They are required to post their answers as "comments" on the official blog of the course, or as posts on their own blogs if they have any. Timings are flexible (you can plan whether you want to do it on a daily basis or just once or twice a week).

Frequently Asked Questions

Q. Will the course material be posted at home?

A. You can receive all the course material through the Internet. It will be emailed to you.

Q. If it's online, then why the specific dates?
A. Specific dates for the beginning and end of the course have been assigned mainly to ensure that most participants take part in the online discussion around the same time, and to assign a date when the professional obligation of the course facilitator comes to an end: if there is no end-date, then we would be obliged to remain engaged for an unlimited time, which might not be feasible.

Designed and Conducted by
Khurram Ali Shafique,
author of Iqbal: an Illustrated Biography
Certified by
Iqbal Academy Pakistan
Offered in co-ordination with
Dr. Iqbal Society of North America (DISNA)
and
Topline Publishers Pakistan

Pre-requisites

Minimum age limit is 13+ (minors may be asked to take permission from their guardians). Minimum qualification is lower secondary (Grade 8).

Presently the course is being offered in English only. However, it is designed with special consideration for the difficulties faced by many non-native speakers – we do not want language to become a handicap.

Duration

It is a 10-week course offered four times a year. The next session starts on Tuesday, January 17, 2012. Registration closes on December 26, 2011.

Fee

Foreign applicants: US$ 24 (Twenty-four US dollars) plus postage and handling of the certificate (optional)

Subsidised fee for Pakistani applicants: PKR 1000 (Rupees One Thousand)

How to get enrolled

Foreign participants can pay through Paypal via the DISNA Website.

Pakistani students can send a crossed cheque in the name of "TOPLINE PUBLISHERS" to Topline Publishers, Office #03, Bright Corner, Opposite Askari Park, Off University Road, Gulshan – e – Iqbal, Karachi, Pakistan. Ph: (021)34937440

OR Send the money through Online Banking in the following account: Standard Chartered Bank, Account Title: Muhammad Ubaid, Account No.: 01-1839392-01

For details and queries, please write torepubli...@gmail.com