Introduction
One of the most penetrating critiques of religion in modern Western philosophy comes from Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900). His challenge was not merely atheistic rejection but a diagnosis of religion’s weakness: the tendency to harden into lifeless dogma, suffocating the vitality of life and thought. While Nietzsche’s critique targeted European Christianity, it resonates across traditions, including Islam, where orthodoxy has often resisted new modes of thought.
In the Islamic context, Muḥammad Iqbal (1877–1938) takes up this challenge in his Reconstruction of Religious Thought in Islam. For Iqbal, the true function of the Islamic worldview is not sterile preservation of inherited dogmas but the dynamic application of divine revelation to the evolving world. Where Nietzsche saw dogma as religion’s death, Iqbal argued that the Qur’ān itself demands continuous reconstruction.
Nietzsche’s Critique of Religious Dogma
Nietzsche saw in religion, particularly post-Reformation Christianity, a pattern of decay:
Life-denial:
Dogma turns religion into a system of prohibitions rather than a force of vitality.
Fixity over Becoming:
Instead of engaging the flux of life, orthodoxy seeks rigid truths, stifling creativity.
Loss of World-Affirmation:
Religion degenerates into world-negation, privileging the afterlife over earthly action.
For Nietzsche, the death of God was less about metaphysics than about the collapse of a rigid, lifeless framework that had lost touch with life.
Dogma and Orthodoxy in Islam
Islam, in its Qur’ānic essence, is not life-denying. Its central message is profoundly world-affirming: “Indeed, I will place upon the earth a vicegerent (khalīfa)” (Q 2:30). “Man is only that for which he strives” (Q 53:39).
Yet, as in Christianity, Islamic thought too faced the hardening of doctrines into orthodoxy. Schools of theology (kalām) and jurisprudence (fiqh) often elevated their interpretations to binding dogma. The living dynamism of Qur’ānic revelation risked being reduced to formulae.
Nietzsche’s warning thus applies here: when religion mistakes preservation for faith, it loses its vitality.
Iqbal and the Mandate of Reconstruction Iqbal, acutely aware of this danger, framed his entire project as a call to reconstruct Islamic thought in light of modern knowledge. He argued that:
Reconstruction is Qur’ānic:
The Qur’ān repeatedly urges reflection and renewal: “Do they not ponder (yatadabbarūn)?” (Q 4:82). Revelation, for Iqbal, is not a closed code but a living principle to be applied anew in each era.
Knowledge is Expanding:
Human knowledge is never static — it unfolds with science, philosophy, and history. Each Muslim generation, therefore, has the duty to reinterpret the Qur’ān in the light of new discoveries.
Resistance of Orthodoxy:
Like Nietzsche’s critique of Christianity, Iqbal noted how Islamic orthodoxy resists change, equating reinterpretation with heresy. Yet stagnation, for Iqbal, is itself the real betrayal of Islam.
Nietzsche and Iqbal: Converging and Diverging
Nietzsche and Iqbal share a common enemy: dogma. Both warn against ossified systems that stifle vitality. But they diverge in their remedies: Nietzsche seeks a philosophy beyond religion, an affirmation of life without divine grounding. Iqbal insists the Qur’ān itself contains the antidote to dogma: it demands openness, striving, and world-affirmation. Where Nietzsche pronounces the “death of God” as the death of stagnant religion, Iqbal calls for the rebirth of thought within Islam, not outside it. Implications for the Muslim World The implications of Iqbal’s insight are profound:
Faith as Action:
Islam’s true function is not metaphysical speculation but application of God’s word in the evolving world.
Orthodoxy as Stagnation:
Resistance to reconstruction is a betrayal of the Qur’ān’s spirit.
Knowledge as Destiny:
As the world’s knowledge unfolds, Muslims must unfold their understanding of the Qur’ān.
Religion as Creative Energy:
Far from Nietzsche’s diagnosis of life-denial, Islam’s potential is life-affirming — if freed from dogma.
Conclusion
Nietzsche exposed the weakness of religion when reduced to lifeless dogma, a critique that echoes in the history of Islamic orthodoxy. But where Nietzsche abandoned religion, Iqbal reclaimed it, showing that the Qur’ān itself commands reconstruction as the perpetual task of each generation.
The real opposition, then, is not between faith and reason, but between dogma and vitality. Islam’s future depends on heeding Iqbal’s call: to resist the orthodoxy of stagnation, and to rediscover the Qur’ān as a living force — a divine Word unfolding with the unfolding of human knowledge.