Iqbal often set two figures in contrast: the dry, legalistic scholar, obsessed with the minutiae of ritual, and the passionate, spiritual seeker (mard-e-momin), whose faith is a transformative fire. He saw that faith reduced to mere ritual, without the driving force of Ishq (passionate love and intuition), becomes a hollow shell. It becomes a social identity rather than a spiritual reality. It loses its power to transform the individual and, by extension, society.
In our modern, secular age, many feel spiritually empty even while surrounded by material comfort. We are inundated with the constant noise of social media, 24-hour news, and consumer culture, yet we are starved of meaning and purpose. This is the 21st-century’s spiritual crisis.
Iqbal’s message cuts through this noise like a thunderbolt. He reminds us that true faith is not just a list of obligations, but a profound, loving, and all-consuming connection with the Divine. It is this Ishq that gives birth to Khudi (the Self) and provides the ultimate antidote to modern nihilism and despair. It is the heart’s intuition that must guide the powerful tool of the intellect. In an age of distraction, Iqbal’s call is to rediscover this profound inner dimension, to move beyond the form and recapture the living, beating heart of faith.