Sir Muhammad Iqbal (Urdu: محمد اقبال; 9 November 1877 – 21 April 1938),
Allama Muhammad lqbal was born in Sialkot on 9th November, 1877 in a home belonging to a pious and practicing Muslim family. Beginning his educational career at the Scottish Mission School, he went on to acquire his M. A. in Philosophy, before joining Trinity College, and later earning the degree of Bar-at-Law. He furthered his education by getting the degree of doctorate from Germany on 'The Development of Metaphysics in Persia'.
He worked in different capacities at different points of time; he taught philosophy, practised law, got involved in politics, and also attended the second Round Table Conference.
His thesis, 'The Development of Metaphysics in Persia' revealed some aspects of Islamic mysticism formerly unknown in Europe. Through poetic symposia in which memorizing verse was customary, his poetry became widely known. On his return from Europe, he gained his livelihood by the practice of law. He started writing and composing poetry at the age of 15 influenced by an event when he was under the pupilage of Syed Mir Hassan (Shams ul Ulama).
His early poetry consisted of the typical genre of poetry at that age (worldly love, dialogues and stories).
Before he visited Europe, his poetry affirmed Indian nationalism, as in Naya shawalã ("The New Altar"), but time away from India caused him to shift his perspective. He came to criticize nationalism for a twofold reason: in Europe it had led to destructive racism and imperialism, and in India it was not founded on an adequate degree of common purpose. In a speech delivered at Aligarh in 1910, under the title "Islam as a Social and Political Ideal," he indicated the new Pan-Islamic direction of his hopes. His famous poem, "Wataniyat" smashes the idol of nationalism. The recurrent themes of Iqbal's poetry are a memory of the vanished glories of Islam, a complaint about its present decadence, and a call to unity and reform.
Reform can be achieved by strengthening the individual through three successive stages: obedience to the law of Islam, self-control, and acceptance of the idea that everyone is potentially a vicegerent of God (naib, Khalifa or mumin).
Shikwah ("The Complaint"), Jawäb-e shikwah ("The Answer to the Complaint"), and Khizr-e räh ("Khizr, the Guide"), were published later in 1924 in the Urdu collection Bang-e darã ("The Call of the Bell"). In those works Iqbal gave intense expression to the anguish of Muslim powerlessness. Notoriety came in 1915 with the publication of his long Persian poem Asrar-e khüdi (The Secrets of the Self).
He spoke strongly against the capitalism as practiced by the west. He was of the view that this system has ripped human beings of their basic rights and has kicked them into a generational slavery. A slavery of mental and physical anguish.
The significance of the Self (Khudi, Ego) in an individual, lqbal argued, is that it is the source through which we can bring ourselves closest to the Ultimate. Let us, therefore, study the nature and immense power that lies in the human self. labal has gone so deep into the ocean of the self that it has become difficult for a common person to dive with him to that depth.
This is why he had to face severe criticism during his lifetime particularly from religious people. In fact he possessed a very high aesthetic sense, on account of which he adopted a highly literary and poetic method to explain his creative ideas with respect to developing the rich faculties of the human mind through the self. If you want to understand God you have to understand your self first. To understand and then awaken your self you have to pass through strenuous stages; and the most difficult task for you is to fight against yourself.
The Muslim community, as lqbal conceived it, ought effectively to teach and to encourage generous service to the ideals of brotherhood and justice. The mystery of selflessness was the hidden strength of Islam. Ultimately, the only satisfactory mode of active self-realization was the sacrifice of the self in the service of causes greater than the self. The paradigm was the life of the Prophet Muhammad and the devoted service of the first believers.
His philosophical position was articulated in 'The Reconstruction of Religious Thought in Islam (1934)', a volume based on six lectures delivered at Madras (now Chennai), Hyderabad, and Aligarh in 1928-29. He argued that a rightly focused man should unceasingly generate vitality through interaction with the purposes of the living God.
The Prophet Muhammad had returned from his unitary experience of God to let loose on the earth a new type of manhood and a cultural world characterized by the abolition of priesthood and hereditary kingship and by an emphasis on the study of history and nature.
At the annual session of the league at Allahabad in 1930, he gave the presidential address, in which he made a famous statement that the Muslims of northwestern India should demand status as a separate state. This was the peak of his political career and disposition.
After a long period of ill health, lqbal died in April 1938 and was buried in front of the great Badshahi Mosque in Lahore. Two years later the Muslim League voted for the idea of Pakistan, which became a reality in 1947.
He is also called Muffakir-e-Pakistan,
"The Inceptor of Pakistan", and Hakeem-ul-Ummat, "The Sage of the Ummah".
Pakistan has officially recognised him as its "national poet". In Iran and Afghanistan he is famous as lqbal-e Lahori (lqbal of Lahore), and he is most appreciated for his Persian work.
Iqbal lives today through his poetry and philosophical works. However, the nation he wrote for has turned its direction from him. The dream he saw for the Muslim Ummah lies incomplete. He has influenced revolutions in Iran, Central Asia and Egypt. He is more relevant than ever. His poetry, as claimed by him, contains nothing but the love of God and his Prophet (PBUH).
It is now upto to the Shabab-e-Millat (Youth) to study his message and strive to spread it. We can't underestimate the power of planting a seed.
اقبال کا ترانہ بانگِ درا ہے گویا
ہوتا ہے جادہ پیما پھر کارواں ہمارا
Iqbal's song is like the bell of a caravan;
Once more our caravan measures the road.
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