Sir Muhammad Iqbal biography, books and other achievements

SIR MOHAMMAD IQBAL

Sir Muhammad Iqbal was an original thinker, a great poet and eminent (high) Philosopher. He is referred as Allama Iqbal, the thinker of Pakistan, the great poet of East and the sage of Ummah.

•  Iqbal was born on November 8, 1877 at Sialkot. His ancestors are sapru Brahmins.                        
•  Iqbal was the son of sheikh Nur Muhammad how was tailor by a profession. Being an illiterate we could read Urdu and Persian. Also his mother Iman Bibi is known for his wisdom and nobility.
•  At the age of 5, Iqbal joins the local madrasa. His mentor there was Sheikh Hassan. He introduced him with the basis Islamic knowledge and encouraged him to have a refined literary taste.
• After that he was admitted to Sialkot Murray collage ware Mr. Hassan taught him Arabic’s. Iqbal obtained highest degree of that collage i.e. Arts diploma. From here his poetic carrier begins. He wrote and published much poetry during this time. The seed of love for Quran also develops here.
• At the age of 16, he married Karim Bibi a daughter of rich gujrati physician. The marriage was not happy and ends up with the separation of couples.
• He moved to Lahore in 1895 and joined the famous Govt. collage, where he studied English, Philosophy and Arabic. He obtained B.A and M.A in Philosophy.
• After completing his education he was appointed a teacher at Lahore’s Oriental collage where he taught history, philosophy and economics and work on various projects.
• Iqbal’s mental horizon was expended under the support of Sir Thomas Arnold, scholar of Islam and modern Philosophy.
• At Lahore, Iqbal established his reputation as a talented poet in several literary circles like Anjuman….. i-himayat-islam.
• Arnold persuaded Iqbal to pursue his higher studies in Europe.
• In 1905 with the financial assistant of provided by his elder brother Atta Muhammad, Iqbal was able to follow his friend how had already arranged Iqbal’s admission to Cambridge’s Trinity College. Renowned center of Arabic and Persian studies. In the mean time he enrolled as a student of law at Lincoln’s in London and following Arnold’s suggestion, as a doctoral student at Munich University.
• In June 1907 he was awarded B.A form Cambridge and PhD from Munich University for his thesis titled the Development of Metaphysics in Persia, in November.

• In July 1908, Iqbal was admitted to a bar in London on his academic front.
• Iqbal stay in Europe changed him radically. He was able to observe Western civilization at close quarters. He admired some aspects of this civilization but he was critical of its secular character and its rampant materialism. He warns Muslims about the danger of follow the west blindly. In Europe, he witnessed the split created by nationalism between European powers which latter results in World War 1. He rejects the territorial and ethnic (pagan) nationalism of Europe in favor of the ideological universalism of Islam.
• A changed man, Iqbal returned to India in 1908. He set up a legal practice in Lahore and also began teaching philosophy in his alma mater. Due to the financial crises he gave up teaching and dedicates his whole time and attention to legal practice.
• He then married to the niece of very wealthy businessman, Mukhtar Begum. She was a loving and dedicated wife and bore a son and Javid and daughter Munira.
• He took a part in the activities of several welfare organizations. He was elected as the General Secretary lf Anjuman-e-Himayat-e-Islam which was the gathering of Muslim Intellectuals, writers and politicians.
• Meanwhile the political events in India and situation of Muslims elsewhere added to the troubles of Iqbal. Assuming the Hindu political parties demand the partition of Bengal was revoked by the British government. This causes a lot of disappointment for the Muslims of India. The conditions of Muslims all over the world are also depressing. Italy occupied Libya, France attacked Morocco. He was so upset over loss of previous grace of Islam. He began to address Ummah through his poetry. His political and philosophical views began to take on a definite shape while now his poetry was now geared to a special purpose.
• He wants Muslims to be united. He began to address Ummah through his written in Persian as this was considered common language in Muslim world.
• HIS COLLECTIONS
• He published his first collection of poetry Asrar-i-khudi (secrets of self). In asrar-i-khudi, Iqbal explains his philosophy of “KHUDI” or self. Iqbal use the term khudi is synonymous with word the word “ROOH” mentioned in Quran.
• In his Rumaz-i-Bekhudi (hints of selflessness), Iqbal seeks to prove the Islamic way of life is best code of conduct for nations success. A person must keep his individual characteristics intact, but once this is achieved he should scarifies his personal ambition for the need of nation.
• Iqbal brought out another publication Payam-i-Mashriq (the massage of the east). It was written in response to the famous German poet Goethe’s who was complaining about the spreading materialism in east. Iqbal saw the similarity between the conditions of German to that of east.
• The Zabur-e-Ajam published in 1927, includes the poem’s Gulshan-e-Raz-e-Jadeed (garden of new secrets) and BandagiNama (book of slavery). In Gulshan-e-Raz-e-jadeed, Iqbal first poses questions and then answer them with the help of ancient and modern insights. In Bandagi Nama he condemns slavery and point out its impact on a cultural and religion.
• In 1932, Iqbal published the Javid name (book of javed) is named after in a manner he is addressing to his son, who is featured in the poem. It is often compared to Dante’s Divine comedy and dramatizes Iqbal’s spiritual journey through heavenly spheres till he reaches God’s presence. Iqbal rendered himself as Zinda Rud (A stream full of life) guided by Rumi, the master of his journey. Iqbal claimed the aim of this poem is to guide the new generation.
• The first publication of Iqbal in Urdu was Bang-e-Dara (the call of the Marching bell) is written by Iqbal over a period of twenty years. The collection is divided into three parts;

1. The first part was written in 1905 when the Iqbal left India for England. These includes patriotic verses (sara jahan sa aacha)

2. Poem written in between 1905 and 1908, this is the period he spend as a student in Europe. He admired some aspects of the Europe civilization. But he was critical of its secular character and rampant materialism.

3.      Poem between 1908 and 1923, in which Iqbal reminds the past glory of Islam to Muslims and try to bring the unity among Muslims.

• Iqbal preferred to work mainly in Persian for a long time of his career. But after 1930 his work was mainly in Urdu. This Urdu works mainly directed to the Muslim masses of India. Bal-e-Jabril is considered as finest work of Iqbal. The poem was inspired by the visit to Spain.
• Iqbal continued with his mission in his prose work as well. He published a number of journals and newspapers articles on various subjects. He delivered a series of lectures in various cities of India in 1929 which were collected and published in 1930 under the title The Reconstruction ofReligious Thought in Islam. 
• Iqbal played an active and crucial role in India’s political arena. He worked as advocate in Hindu-Muslim unity, Iqbal eventually came to doubt about this unity. He went on to stress the Muslim to have separate religious and cultural unity. He expressed his view to have separate electoral system for Hindu and Muslims in India. He plays an important role in the formation of Muslim league.
• Iqbal concern for the Muslims of the world and those of India was expressed through his literary work and his active involvement in Islamic journeys. Iqbal suffered from several ailments. He died in Lahore in 1938. His tomb is located in space between the entrance of Badshahi Mosque and the Lahore Fort.
  

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