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Life and Times of Allama Dr Muhammad
Iqbal
died 21st April 1938
(1877 - 1938)
Allama Muhammad Iqbal is generally
known as a poet and philosopher, but he was
also a jurist, a politician, a social
reformer, and a great Islamic scholar.
People even bestowed on him the title of "Shaere-Mashriq"
(Poet of the East!). It may sound strange
that Iqbal never considered himself a poet
as is evidenced by his correspondence with
Syed Sulaiman Nadvi [1885-1953].
"I have
never considered myself a poet.
Therefore, I am not a rival of anyone,
and I do not consider anybody my rival.
I have no interest in poetic artistry.
But, yes, I have a special goal in mind
for whose expression I use the medium of
poetry considering the condition and the
customs of this country."
(translated from the original in Urdu;
Maktoobat, Volume I, page195)
Iqbal's
contribution to the Muslim world as one
of the greatest thinkers of Islam
remains unparalleled. In his writings,
he addressed and exhorted people,
particularly the youth, to stand up and
boldly face life's challenges. The
central theme and main source of his
message was the Qur'an. Iqbal considered
the Qur'an not only as a book of
religion (in the traditional sense) but
also a source of foundational principles
upon which the infrastructure of an
organization must be built as a coherent
system of life. According to Iqbal, this
system of life when implemented as a
living force is ISLAM. Because it is
based on permanent (absolute) values
given in the Qur'an, this system
provides perfect harmony, balance, and
stability in the society from within and
the source of security and a shield from
without. It also provides freedom of
choice and equal opportunity for the
development of personality for everyone
within the guidelines of Qur'an. Thus,
in Iqbal's opinion, Islam is not a
religion in which individuals strive for
a private subjective relationship with
God in the hope of personal salvation as
it is done in secular systems. Iqbal
firmly opposed theocracy and
dictatorship and considered them against
the free spirit of Islam.
Humanity, as a whole, has never
faced the challenge posed by the enormity
and the complexity of human problems, such
as it is facing today. The problems have
taken on a global dimension now and
transcend the barriers of race, colour,
language, geography, and social, political
and religious ideologies. Most of the
problems of mankind are universal in nature
and, therefore, require a universal approach
to the solution. Iqbal's universal message
is an attempt to address this challenge
faced by humanity.
Through his travels and personal
communications, Allama Iqbal found that the
Muslims throughout the world had detached
themselves from the Qur'an as a guiding
principle and a living force. After the
disaster following the Balkan War of 1912,
the fall of the caliphate in Turkey, and
many anti-Muslim incessant provocations and
actions against Muslims in India (1924-27)
and elsewhere by the intellectuals and so
called secular minded leaders, Allama Iqbal
suggested that a separate state should be
given to the Muslims of the Indian
subcontinent so that they can express the
vitality of Islam to its fullest. In his
1930 Presidential speech delivered to the
annual session of Muslim League at
Allahabad, Allama Iqbal stated:
"I,
therefore, demand the formation of a
consolidated Muslim state in the best
interests of India and Islam. For India,
it means security and peace resulting
from an internal balance of power; for
Islam, an opportunity to rid itself of
the stamp that Arabian imperialism was
forced to give it, to mobilize its laws,
its education, its culture, and to bring
them into closer contact with its own
original spirit and with the spirit of
modern times."
Iqbal's "Deeda-war"
(visionary), is like Iqbal himself. He could
foresee what others could not. Whereas
others only have a short term view of
things, a visionary sees the problems in a
long term perspective and develops some sort
of cosmic sense. A nation is indeed
fortunate if it produces a few such
individuals in centuries. Such individuals,
although very rare, change the course of
history forever, as indeed Iqbal did.
Pakistan owes its existence to Allama Iqbal.
Thus, the people of Pakistan owe a great
deal of gratitude to this extraordinary
visionary.
Allama
Iqbal's contributions are numerous and it is
not possible to give even a glimpse of his
work here. A brief outline of Allama Iqbal's
life and achievements is presented below:
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1877 |
Born at
Sialkot (present Pakistan) on Friday,
November 9, 1877. Kashmiri origin. |
|
1893-95 |
High School
and Intermediate - Scotch Mission College,
Sialkot. |
|
1897 |
B. A.
(Arabic and Philosophy) - Government
College, Lahore. Awarded Jamaluddin Gold
Medal for securing highest marks in Arabic,
and another Gold Medal in English. |
|
1899 |
M.A.
(Philosophy) - Government College, Lahore.
Secured first rank in Punjab state and
awarded Gold Medal.
Reader in Arabic, Oriental
College, Lahore. |
|
1900 |
Read his
poem "Nala-e-Yateem," (Wails of an Orphan)
at the annual function of
Anjuman-e-Himayat-e-Islam at Lahore. |
|
1901 |
Poem 'Himala'
published in Makhzan.
Assistant Commissioner's
Examination (didn't qualify due to medical
reasons). |
|
1903 |
Assistant
Professor, Government College, Lahore.
Published his first book, "Ilmul-Iqtasad"
(Study of Economics), Lahore. |
|
1905 |
Traveled to
England for higher studies. |
|
1907 |
Ph.D.,
Munich University, Germany (Thesis:
Development of Metaphysics in Persia). |
|
1907-08 |
Professor of
Arabic, London University. |
|
1908 |
Bar-at-Law, London. Returned to India.
Started law practice on
October 22, 1908.
Part-time Professor of
Philosophy and English Literature. |
|
1911 |
Wrote
and read famous poem "Shikwa" (Complaint) at
Lahore.
Professor of Philosophy,
Government College, Lahore. |
|
1912 |
Wrote the
epoch-making "Jawab-e-Shikwa" (Reply to
Complaint). |
|
1913 |
Wrote
"History of India" for middle school
students, Lahore (now out of print). |
|
1915 |
Published a
long Persian poem "Asrar-e-Khudi" (Secrets
of Self). Resigned from professorship to
spread the message of Islam. |
|
1918 |
In
counterpart to "Asrar-e-Khudi", published "Rumuz-e-Bekhudi"
(Mysteries of Selflessness) in Persian. |
|
1920 |
English translation of "Asrar-e-Khudi" by
Prof. R.A. Nicholson of Cambridge University
entitled "Secrets of Self."
Visited Kashmir and
presented his famous poem "Saqi Nama" at
Srinagar. |
|
1923 |
Awarded
knighthood "Sir" at Lahore on January 1,
1923. Published "Pay am-e-Mashriq" (The
Message of the East) in Persian. It was
written in response to Goethe's West-Ostlicher
Divan. |
|
1924 |
Prepared an
Urdu course material for Grade 6,7 students
at Lahore. Published "Bang-e-Dara" (Call of
the Caravan) in Urdu in March 1924. |
|
1926 |
Elected to
Punjab Legislative Council, Lahore
(1926-1929). |
|
1927 |
Published "Zaboor-e-A'jam"
in Persian. |
|
1929 |
Delivered
his famous six lectures at Madras, Osmania
University at Hyderabad, and Aligarh. He
made very thought provoking comments on the
latest scientific and philosophical
developments of the 1920s in the light of
Islamic teachings. |
|
1930 |
President,
All India Muslim League. Elaborated on the
idea of an independent Muslim state in his
presidential speech at Allahabad. [Refer to
1924-28 events in particular and 1912-29 in
general in the Muslims in the Indian
Subcontinent - V 1800 - 1950 CE]. |
|
1931 |
Published "Reconstruction of Religious
Thought in Islam," - a collection of six
lectures, Lahore; it was also published by
Oxford University.
Participated in
Mo'tamar-A'lam-e-Islami (World Muslim
Conference) in Palestine.
Participated in the Second
Round Table Conference, London, September 7
- December 31, 1931. |
|
1932 |
Visited Paris and met French philosophers
Bergson and Massignon. Bergson was
astonished to hear his remark on the Islamic
concept of time.
Published "Javed Namah" in
Persian. It was a reply to Dante's 'Divine
Comedy'.
Participated in the Third
Round Table Conference, London, November 17
- December 24, 1932. |
|
1933 |
Allama
Iqbal met Mussolini in Rome after Mussolini
expressed his interest to meet him.
Visited Qurtuba, Spain and
wrote the poems "Dua" (Supplication) "Masjid-e-Qurtuba."
(The Mosque of Cordoba).
Served as Advisor to the
Government of Afghanistan on higher
education (October 1933).
Awarded Honorary D. Litt
degree by Punjab University on Dec. 4,1933. |
|
1934 |
Musafir (Traveler)
in Persian. |
|
1935 |
Published
"Bal-e-Jibril" in Urdu. |
|
1936 |
Published "Zarab-e-Kalim"
in April 1936, "Pas Che Bayad Kard" in
Persian, and "Payam-e-Mashriq" in September
1936. |
|
1937 |
Ulema from
Al-Azhar University visited Allama Iqbal at
Lahore. |
|
1938 |
Jawahar Lal Nehru visited Allama Iqbal at
Lahore in January 1938.
Allama Iqbal died at Lahore
on April 21,1938. He was a versatile
genius-poet, philosopher, lawyer,
educationist, politician, and a reformer. "Armughan-e-Hijaz"
published posthumously. It was a collection
of Urdu and Persian poems. |
Allama Iqbal's other
famous poems include 'Zubur-e-Ajam' in Persian, and
'Shama-o-Shaer' (The Candle and the Poet), 'Taswir-e-Dard'
(The Picture of Agony), 'Naya Shiwala' (New Temple),
'Tuloo-e-Islam' (The Dawn of Islam), all in Urdu.
The last three were written to unite his countrymen
for the common good.
| |
Translations |
|
English |
"Shikwa"
(Complaint) and "Jawab-e-Shikwa" (Reply to
Complaint) translated by Altaf Husain.
Reconstruction of Religious
Thought in Islam," - a collection of six
lectures, translated by Prof Arberry, Oxford
University. |
|
Arabic |
"Zarab-e-Kalim"
and "Payam-e-Mashriq" translated by Dr.
Abdul Wahab Azzam, Professor, Al-Azhar
University, Cairo. |
|
Turkish |
"Payam-e-Mashriq"
translated by Dr. Ali Ganjeli. |
|
German |
"Payam-e-Mashriq"
translated by Professor Hell. |
|
French |
Reconstruction of Religious Thought in
Islam," - a collection of six lectures,
translated by Madame Eva Meyerovitch, Paris. |
|
Latin |
'Javed Nama'
translated under the title 'II Poema
Celeste' by Professor Alessander Busani. |
|
Indonesian |
Asrar-e-Khudi translated by M. Burhan
Rangkuti. |
Poetry
Baang-e-Dara (1924)
First written in Persian, Bang-i Dara (Caravan Bell)
was translated into Urdu by popular demand. It is an
anthology of poems written over a period of 20 years
and is divided into 3 parts.
Baal-e-Jibraeel (1935)
Baal-e-Jibaeel (Gabriel's Wing) continues
from Bang-i Dara. Some of the verses had been
written when Iqbal visited Britain, Italy, Egypt,
Palestine, France, Spain and Afghanistan. Contains
15 ghazals addressed to God and 61 ghazals and 22
quatrains dealing with the ego, faith, love,
knowledge, the intellect and freedom.
Zarb-e-Kaleem (1936)
This, Iqbal's third collection of Urdu poems, has
been described as his political manifesto. It was
published with the subtitle "A Declaration of War
Against the Present Times." Zarb-e-Kaleem (The Blow
of Moses' Staff) was meant to rescue Muslims from
the ills brought on by modern civilization, just as
Moses had rescued the Israelites.
Armaghan-i Hijaz (1938)
This work, published a few months after the poet's
death, is a fairly small volume containing verses in
both Persian and Urdu. The title means "Gift from
the Hijaz." He had long wished to undertake the
journey to the Arabian Peninsula to perform the Hajj
and to visit the tomb of the Prophet, but was
prevented from doing so by continuous illness during
the last years of his life.
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