Dr Allama Muhammad Iqbal

Dr.  Allama Muhammad Iqbal 

Birth ;  9 November 1877 

Sir Muhammad Iqbal  was a South Asian Muslim writer. philosopher. scholar and politician. whose poetry in the Urdu language is considered among the greatest of the twentieth century. and whose vision of a cultural and political ideal for the Muslims of British-ruled India was to animate the impulse for Pakistan. He is commonly referred to by the honorific Allama Born and raised in Sialkot, Punjab in an ethnic Kashmiri Muslim family. Iqbal completed his B.A. and M.A. at the Government College Lahore. He taught Arabic at the Oriental College Lahore from 1899 until 1903. During this time. he wrote prolifically. Among the Urdu poems from this time that remain popular are Parinde ki faryad A bird's prayer an early meditation on animal rights and Tarana-e-Hindi The Song of Hindustan a patriotic poem both poems composed for children. In 1905.

He left for further studies in Europe, first to England where he completed a second B.A. at Trinity College Cambridge and was subsequently called to the bar at Lincoln's Inn and then to Germany where he received a Ph.D. Lahore in 1908, he established a law practice but concentrated on writing scholarly works on politics, economics, history. philosophy and religion. He is best known for his poetic works, including Asrar-e-Khudi – after whose publication he was awarded a knighthood. Ramus-e-Bekhudi and the Bang-e-Dari. In Iran. where he is known as Iqbāl-e- Lāhorī Iqbal of Lahore. he is highly regarded for his Persian works. Iqbal regarded Rumi as his Guide and Ashraf Ali Thaw as the greatest living authority on the matter of Rumi's teachings.

He was a strong proponent of the political and spiritual revival of Islamic civilization across the world. but in particular in South Asia a series of lectures he delivered to this effect were published as The Reconstruction of Religious Thought in Islam. Iqbal was elected to the Punjab Legislative Council in 1927 and held a number of positions in the All India Muslim League. In his 1930 presidential address at the League's annual meeting in Allahabad. he formulated a political framework for Muslims in British-ruled India. Iqbal died in 1938.