The Flame of Sinai: Hope and Vision in Iqbal
Sheila McDonough

Lahore: Iqbal Academy Pakistan, 2002, 249 pages.

The current surge of attention and sensitivity to Islam in  western academia
and popular culture often boils down to the question of Islam’s compatibil-
ity – or lack thereof – with modernity. The issue is by no means a simple
one, and is further complicated by the fact that both “Islam” and “moder-
nity” are made to carry a heavy load of multiple definitions that are also
susceptible to ideological uses and abuses. Such influential American com-
mentators as Francis Fukuyama, Daniel Pipes, and Bernard Lewis have
been unanimous in their diagnosis that while Judaism and Christianity have
come to terms with modernity, Islam has so far failed to take that necessary
and crucial step. In the larger context of modern Muslim history, however,
the question is almost two centuries old; it was repeatedly grappled with in
the past and continues to occupy a prominent place in the Muslim con-
sciousness. Sheila McDonough’s new book on Muhammad Iqbal (1877-
1938) can be approached with reference to this particular discourse, for the
question of Islam and modernity was perhaps the most important factor that
motivated and shaped Iqbal’s creative output – a body of ideas whose rev-
elance has tremendously increased in the six decades since his death.

While Iqbal’s poetic and intellectual genius has been greatly celebrated
and widely acclaimed, both within the Indian subcontinent and abroad, it can
be safely contended that his true potential as the twentieth century’s most
important post-critical Muslim philosopher is yet to be discovered. In view of
his work’s creativity, depth, and visionary reach, the number and quality of
English-language studies on Iqbal’s thought leave much to be desired. In this
context, McDonough has done a remarkable service by making the intellectu-
al and imaginal contours of Iqbal’s consciousness accessible to a new genera-
tion of Muslim and non-Muslims readers, many of whom have been recently
sensitized to the question of Islam’s relationship with modernity. Mixing her
serious erudition with a loving sensitivity and an almost artistic gift for dis-
cerning interconnections, McDonough skillfully blends together the accounts
of the vicissitudes of Iqbal’s personal life, his turbulent socio-historical con-
text, and his sometimes shocking ideas to paint a colorful picture of his life,
times, vision, and struggle. The Flame of Sinai is sure to become a classic,
alongside a similar work by another Western admirer of Iqbal, namely, the late
Annemarie Schimmel’s book Gabriel’s Wing. Incidentally, both of these
charming titles come from Iqbal’s own symbolic imagination.

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The book consists of 10 neatly organized chapters and an introduc-
tion. It discusses the Islamic world’s intellectual and historical contexts at
the turn of the twentieth century and the gradual evolution of Iqbal’s ideas
as he struggled to come to terms with his own religious and cultural tra-
ditions, as well as with aspects of western modernity. The author presents
a comprehensive account of the fruits of Iqbal’s intellectual and spiritual
labor through copious excerpts from his prose and poetry. 

Using the image of Moses’ blazing vision on the Sinai as her weav-
ing thread, McDonough follows Iqbal’s life and activities with scholarly
care and critical reverence. She traces his origins in the Punjab in a tradi-
tional, but decaying, Islamic milieu, his transforming encounter with
European thought and society, his struggle to find creative ways to bring
about a true revival among his people at the most basic level of the self,
and his discovery of fresh ways of thinking that seek to blend the best and
the most authentic elements of tradition and modernity. She emphasizes
Iqbal’s openness to new ideas, his rejection of dogmatism and blind imi-
tation of authority, and his readiness for undergoing a never-ending
process of self-criticism and growth. This brings out the irony in the fact
that his legacy has often been superficially treated as a set of final and
immutable truths – as if it were an idol in itself. 

McDonough expresses a respectful gratitude for her mentor, Wilfred
Cantwell Smith, who himself was greatly influenced by Iqbal during his
stay in Lahore and who established McGill University’s Institute of
Islamic Studies with a view to actualize a major element of Iqbal’s vision.
McDonough’s own training in the comparative history of religions at
McGill allows her to see Iqbal’s contributions to that discipline. She takes
him seriously as a major twentieth-century religious thinker in the tradi-
tion of Max Müller, William Robertson Smith, and Thomas Arnold; from
another perspective, of course, Iqbal also belonged to the tradition of
Shah Wali Allah, Sayyid Ahmad Khan, and Shibli Nu’mani on the one
hand, and of Hallaj, Emerson, and Nietzsche on the other. These later
connections have also been duly emphasized by McDonough.

The author notes that Iqbal’s perspectives on the comparative history of
religions as an academic discipline have now entered western academia
through his influence on Wilfred Cantwell Smith and Fazlur Rahman. She
traces Iqbal’s influence on several contemporary Muslim thinkers, including
Abdolkarim Soroush and Asghar Ali Engineer, and also notes similar currents
of thought in Farid Esack. In a well-written section on gender, she attempts
to correct the impression that Iqbal’s ideas are misogynist or otherwise inim-

Book Reviews 133



ical to women’s liberation. One of the most interesting sections of the book
consists of her sensitive and creative comparison of Iqbal and Gandhi.

This timely book is not just another addition to the heaps of laudatory
but superficial books and pamphlets on Iqbal; rather, it actually makes
worthwhile and exciting contributions to the understanding of the relation-
ship between Iqbal’s context and his ideas, particularly in relation to Islam’s
encounter with modernity. Furthermore, it points out the continuing rele-
vance of Iqbal’s numerous concerns, many of which have been virtually
ignored by his so-called followers.

Despite McDonough’s self-conscious attempt to avoid putting words in
Iqbal’s mouth, to a large extent The Flame of Sinai represents her under-
standing of what Iqbal meant to convey through his prose and poetry. Even
though the question of his “real intention” can never be completely settled,
to this reviewer it seems that McDonough’s interpretation comes rather
close to what Iqbal would have wanted us to learn from his legacy. To the
extent that this judgment is true, it is likely to be the result of the author’s
approach to her subject matter, an approach that consistently seeks to locate
Iqbal’s writings in his socio-historical and cultural contexts. Unfortunately,
this edition’s careless editing and proofreading failed to do justice to either
the subject or the author; these mechanical deficiencies are annoying
enough to require a revised edition.

Ahmed Afzaal
Instructor in Religious Studies

Lawrence University, Appleton, Wisconson

134 The American Journal of Islamic Social Sciences 21:2