Individuality In the Educational Philosophy of Allama Muhammad Iqbal1 Imam Bahroni Faculty of Islamic Education Darussalam Institute of Islamic Studies Gontor Email:
[email protected] Abstract Nowadays, Muslim Ummah all over the world likely at the cross road, at the position where they watch clearly a phenomenon of life that directs them into surprising modern civilization with full creativities and innovations, but far away from the true values of Islamic education. On the other hand, they observe vividly numerous dimensions of life that direct every individual into strong morality, norms and right way of life to discover the Ultimate Reality. This social fact at the end compelled every one of modern people to select which one among these two is the correct ideal for the truth of life. This article tries to elaborate the concept of individuality in the educational philosophy of Allama Muhammad Iqbal2 . In his Lectures, Iqbal elaborated that individuality is not a datum but an achievement. It is the fruit of a constant, strenuous effort in and against the forces of the external environment as well as the disruptive tendencies within man himself. The life of individuality (the Ego), he further explained is a kind of tension caused by the Ego invading the environment and the environment invading the Ego. An individual is the basis of all aspects of educations, which then must be educated and concerned together with the development of its relationship to the community. Like the philosopher, the educator must necessarily inquire into the nature of these two terms of his active individual and the environment, which ultimately determine the solution of all his problems.