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Brief Life Sketch of Shair E Mashriq Allama Muhammad Iqbal
Iqbal was born on 9th November, 1877 at Sialkot. His father, Nur
Muhammad was a deeply religious man with mystic knowledge. Iqbals
mother Imam Bibi, was also a religious woman.
Iqbal began his education in a Maktab (Religious School). He was,
however, fortunate to have a teacher in the person of Moulvi Syed Mir
Hassan (1844-1929) who was an excellent teacher and a great scholar of
Persian and Arabic. Syed Mir Hassan was quick to recognize Iqbals
talent. It was under Mir Hasan that Iqbal developed interest in
Persian and Arabic languages and literature.
 It
was a Mir Hassan's advice that Iqbal was sent to the Scotch Mission
School at Sialkot. He passed his matriculation in 1893, and joined the
Scotch Mission College (now called Murray College) for his
intermediate examination.
It was about this time that Iqbal sent some of his verses, mostly
lyrics to the well-known Urdu poet Dagh for correction. After
correcting some poems, Dagh wrote back to Iqbal that his poem did not
need any revision. It may be mentioned that Dagh lived long enough to
see young Iqbal acquire countrywide popularity and he often used to
refer with pride to the fact that at one time he had corrected Iqbals
poems. When Iqbal passed intermediate with honour he was awarded a
scholarship from the Scotch Mission College. The same year, Iqbal
shifted to Lahore and joined the Government College. The subjects
Iqbal studied for the bachelor of arts degree included Arabic and
English literature and philosophy. He graduated cum-laude and was also
awarded a scholarship for further study leading towards a masters
degree in Philosophy. Two years later in 1899, he won a gold medal for
the unique distinction of being the only candidate who passed the
final comprehensive examination. Iqbal obtained his masters degree in
1899. He was recognized as a promising young poet in the literary
circles of Lahore. By far the most pervasive influence Iqbals
intellectual development at Government College came from Sir Thomas
Arnold, an accomplished scholar of Islam and modern Philosophy. Unlike
most western missionaries, who presented Islam as the religion of the
sword, Sir Thomas wrote at Aligarh a monumental study, the Preaching
of Islam, emphasizing the peaceful "propagation of the Muslim faith".
In Arnold, Iqbal found a loving teacher, who combined in himself a
profound knowledge of western philosophy and a deep understanding of
Islamic culture and Arabic literature. This happy mlange of the East
and West, Arnold helped to develop in Iqbal. Also Arnold became a
bridge of friendship between Shibli Numani and Iqbal. In 1904, when
Arnold left Lahore for London, Iqbal composed a beautiful poem
Nala-i-Firaq (Lament of Separation) indicating the students devotion
to his teacher and his determination to follow Arnold to England in
quest of knowledge.
In May 1899 a few months after Iqbals graduation with a masters
degree in Philosophy, he was appointed Macleod - Punjab reader of
Arabic at the University Oriental College of Lahore. However, he
resigned from the position of reader and taught as assistant professor
of English at Islamia College and at the Government College at Lahore.
The first period of Iqbals poetic career ended in 1905, when he left
for higher studies in Europe. During his three years of residence in
Europe, Iqbal composed twenty-four small poems and lyrics. Iqbal
studied in both Britain and Germany. In London, he studied at
Lincolns Inn in order to qualify at the Bar, and at the Trinity
College of Cambridge University, he enrolled as an undergraduate
student to earn a bachelor of arts degree. This enrollment was unusual
since he already had a masters degree in philosophy from the
University of the Punjab, Lahore, and was simultaneously preparing to
submit a doctoral dissertation in philosophy to Munich University. The
German University not only allowed him to submit his dissertation in
English, but also exempted him from a mandatory stay of two terms on
the campus before submitting his dissertation, titled: "The
Development of Metaphysics in Persia". After his successful defence of
the dissertation, Iqbal was awarded Doctorate Degree. This
dissertation, which was published the following year in London, was
dedicated to T.W. Arnold.
Philosophy being first love, Iqbal probably wanted to benefit from the
lectures of the neo-Hegelians, John McTaggart and James Ward, who
lectured at Cambridge to the undergraduates. Moreover, the two
outstanding orientlists, E.L. Browne and Reynold A. Nicholson, were
also at Cambridge lecturing on Persian literature. In view of this,
Iqbals admission as an undergraduate at Cambridge, though unusual, is
understandable. Iqbals intellect was sharpened and his mental horizon
widened under these eminent scholars who admired him and recognized
his philosophic and poetic talent.
In 1915, Iqbal published his major Persian philosophical Poem "Asrar-i-Khudi".
Its continuation, Rumuz-i-bekhudi (Mysteries of the selflessness)
appeared in 1918. These poems initiated a series that included
Payam-i-Mashriq (The message of the East, 1923) a response to Goethes
West Ostriches Divan; Zubur-i-Ajam (Iranian Psalms, 1927); and Javid
Nama (1932) which has been called "an Oriental Divine Comedy". His
generally shorter, more lyrical Urdu poems were also published in
several collections, notably Bang-e-Dara (The Sound of the Bell, 1924)
and Bal-e-Jabril (Gabriels wing, 1936). A collection of his English
lectures on Islamic philosophy was published titled: The
Reconstruction of Religious Thought in Islam (1930). At his best,
Iqbal is one of the great Urdu poets and a great Indo-Persian Poet as
well.
A few critics who clearly ignore the anti-Muslim aspect of European
expansion in Asia have claimed that the message of Iqbal was meant,
above all, for the Muslim world and that it would not have a universal
value. The poet himself has explained very clearly his point of view
on this fundamental question. He said:
"The object of my Persian masnavis is not to attempt an advocacy of
Islam. My real purpose is to look for a better social order and to
present a universally acceptable ideals (of life and action) before
the world, but it is impossible for me, in this effort to outlive this
ideal, to ignore the social system and values of Islam whose most
important objective is to demolish all the artificial and pernicious
distinctions of caste, creed, colour and economic status... when I
realized that the conception of nationalism based on the differences
of race and country was beginning to overshadow the world and that the
Muslims also were in danger of giving up the universality of their
ideal in favour of a narrow patriotism and false nationalism, I felt
it my duty as a Muslim and a well-wisher of humanity to recall them
back to their true role in the drama of human evolution. No doubt, I
am intensely devoted to Islam but I have selected the Islamic
Community as my starting point not because of any national or
religious prejudice, because it is the most practicable line of
approach".
A poet of deep, reflective wisdom and delicate sensitivity, Iqbal
occupies a very distinguished position among the men of letters. His
poems, apart from their philosophic content, are full of concentrated
emotion. The poems have a drama-like quality that penetrates the
unconscious, a hunting quality which characterizes all true poverty.
They are a record of his deepened insight and his experienced visions,
a marvel of suggestiveness. Iqbal joined to the keen intellect of the
philosopher and transcendental vision of the mystic, the exquisite
expression of the artist.
Iqbals dream of a society in which true brotherhood would exist, and
the social rank of man would not be determined by his caste, his
colour or his fortune, but by the kind of life he leads. Iqbal always
condemned the nationalism of the West as founded on mere animal ties
of blood, instead of on harmony of ideals. Iqbal is a seer and a
humanist who has pondered deeply over all the social, political and
economic problems facing the East and examined them in the light of
his Quranic ideology. A poet without a strong conviction can never
conquer his milieu. In this sense, Iqbal was a great conqueror. He had
a purpose before him. It was a high purpose. Iqbal had his own way.
All his life, Iqbal toiled hard to make others see and feel what he
saw and felt. For rising higher than animal level, a person has first
to subjugate the animal within him. To overpower ordinary, selfish
desires is not an easy undertaking. To make ones capabilities conform
to ones ideas and ideals is another difficulty to surmount. To live
according to the dictates of intellect and faith, by subordinating
mistinets to them is to be truly human. It is to become master in
ones own house such a master is a genuine "self".
Iqbal was a "self" power, a will and an unfaltering faith, he composed
poem after poem to mirror the position and condition in which the
Muslims stood at that time. He tried to make them realize their
shortcomings and regain their self-confidence as a nation. He had
started as a nationalist poet, since the major portion of poetry
concerns the Muslims and Islam. But Iqbal was not only a poet but also
a philosopher too. The Nation calls him even Hakimul Ummat, which
means the philosopher of the nation.
Iqbal represents that moderation which is enjoined by Islam. Almost
all of his basic ideas are derived form Islam but he has presented
them not only for the Muslims but for the entire world. He maintains
that the best solutions of the world problems lie in the Islamic way
of life.
Iqbal maintained that every human being has been endowed by nature
various kinds of abilities and capabilities. The first duty of a
person is to know himself or herself. By knowing oneself he means to
know the nature of ones capabilities.
Life is meant for action. This world is a field for the action. The
best of thought is meaningless if it is not translated into action. It
is action which makes life good or bad. Iqbal says:
(Action makes life a Paradise or a hell. Man in his origin is
concerned neither with light nor life).
Iqbal has compared the relationship between the individual and the
society with the relationship that exists between the wave and river:
The individual stands on his relation with his nation. As a solitary
figure, he is nothing. The wave is in the river. Beyond the river
there is nothing.)
A Philosopher by temperament he was not interested in politics
although he had been associated with the Muslim League from his London
Years. He was elected a member of the Executive Committee of the
London branch of the Muslim League in 1908. However, political
circumstances of the last decade of his life forced him to take part
in politics. In 1926, he was elected as a member of the Punjab
Legislative Council; three years later he was chosen President of the
All-India Muslim League which met for its annual session at Allahabad
in 1930.
Earlier, a spilt leading to two factions of the All-India Muslim
League had occurred in 1927 which forced Iqbal to side with one of
these. This rift continued up to February 1930. Thereafter, the
Fourteen Points of the Quaid became a charter of unification between
the two factions. On 28 February, 1930, Sir Muhammad Shafi and
Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah met in Delhi by which the two
factions of the All-India Muslim League were merged. Thus the League
again became united making Quaid as its President.
At that juncture of Muslim political struggle in India, one group of
the Muslim intelligentsia favoured the struggle for the independence
of a united India and had bound its fate with the Indian National
Congress, whereas the other shared a belief in the necessity of
Muslims self- determination and supported the All-India Muslim
League, who later spread the movement for the creation of Pakistan. On
the eve of the Round Table Conference in London when Federal Scheme
was being discussed, the All-India Muslim League held its annual
session at Allahabad on 29-30 December 1930, with Allama Iqbal
presiding the Session. During the course of his Presidential Address,
he emphasized that India comprised of different races, religion and
languages which militated against the creation of organic national
unity. Since persistent and patient efforts to forge communal harmony
had proved fruitless and all out to be useless, the best solution of
the intractable Hindu-Muslim confrontation lay in the division of the
Sub-continent. On this occasion, Allama Iqbal presented the idea of
Muslim India within India. He said:
"Punjab, K.P.K, Sind, Balochistan and Gilgit Baltistan should be amalgamated into a
single state. Self-government within the British Empire, or without
the British Empire, the formation of consolidated North-West Indian
Muslim state appears to me to be the final destiny of the Muslims at
least of North-West India".
Two years later, Allama Iqbal presided over the meeting of the
Executive Board of the Conference on 5 March, 1933. Prior to that, he
had proposed the amalgamation of various Muslim organizations into one
political body which should have its branches every where in British
India. In this meeting of the Executive Board of the India Muslim
Conference, the proposed amalgamation was approved.
It was Allama Iqbal who, as Chairman of the India Committee, said in
August 1934, in an appeal to the Muslims of the whole sub-continent,
that they should observe 14th August, 1934 as Kashmir Day and said
that the dream of Muslim India would be incomplete without the freedom
of the Islamic State of Kashmir.
It may be recalled that when Allama Iqbal proposed the idea of a
separate Muslim State, the Muslim politicians and intellectuals failed
to measure up to Iqbals prescient views and remained bogged down in
the stereotypic politics. At that time, Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali
Jinnah had withdrawn from politics for the time being. Allama Iqbal
was the dreamer of Pakistan and well-wisher of Muslim nation. He was a
Muslim Leaguer and great admirer of Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah.
In his opinion the Quaid was the only Muslim in India to whom the
community had a right to look for safe guidance through the storm
which was coming to North-west India and perhaps to the whole of
India.
In March 1938, Iqbal fell ill very seriously. Despite the best medical
help and the most careful nursing, the poet-philosopher of Islam died
in the early hours of 21st April, 1938.
He was given a funeral which kings might envy and his remains were
buried near the gate of the historic Badshahi Mosque in Lahore, late
in the evening, in the presence of thousands of mourners.
A few days before his death he had told his brother:
"I am a Muslim and I am not afraid to die."
Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah issued the following statement on the
death of Allama Mohammad Iqbal:-
"I am extremely sorry to hear the sad news of the death of Sir
Muhammad Iqbal. He was a remarkable poet of worldwide fame and his
work will live for ever. His services to his country and the Muslims
are so numerous that his record can be compared with that of the
greatest Indian that ever lived. He was an ex-President of the
All-India Muslim League and a president of the Provincial Muslim
League of the Punjab till very recent time when his unforeseen illness
compelled him to resign. But he was the staunchest and the most loyal
champion of the policy and programme of the All-India Muslim League.
To me he was a friend, guide and philosopher and during the darkest
moments through which the Muslim League had to go he stood like a rock
and never flinched one single moment and as a result just only three
days ago he must have read of or been informed of the complete unity
that was achieved in Calcutta of the Muslim leaders of the Punjab, and
today [1] can say with pride that the Muslims of the Punjab are
wholeheartedly with the League and have come under the flag of the
All-India Muslim League, which must have been a matter of greatest
satisfaction to him. In the achievement of this unity Sir Muhammad
Iqbal played a most signal part. My sincerest and deepest sympathy go
out to his family at this moment in their bereavement in losing him,
and it is a terrible loss to India and the Muslims particularly at
this juncture."
On the death of Iqbal, Tagore remarked "the death of Iqbal creates a
void in literature that, like a mortal wound, will take a very long
time to heal. India whose place in the world is too narrow can ill
afford to miss a poet whose poetry had such universal value".
Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru held the view that Iqbal was a poet, an
intellectual and philosopher of a great order. He writes in his
Discovery of India that:
"Iqbal opposed, any society that seemed to him without a religious
foundation". The vision of Iqbal is not very different from the ideal
of democracy as understood in the West.
Allah Bless Islamic Republic Of Pakistan
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