Allama Iqbal hailed as the ‘Poet of the East’ and ‘Hakeem-ul-Ummat’ (Sage of Ummah) and foremost Muslim thinker of his day. Muhammad Iqbal was born on 9th Nov 1877, in Sialkot. A Barrister from Lincoln’s Inn, England, and a PhD in Philosophy from Munich University. He was a man who explicitly wrote on the Indian independence movement, human freedom, the role of the British in India, nationalism. He was an Islamic Scholar, Philosopher, Political Visionary, Statesman, and Social Reformist.
Nations are born in the hearts of poets, they prosper and die in the hands of politicians.
He was recognized Urdu poet who conceded political developments of his time in their true panorama and established “two-nation theory”. In a letter, Iqbal compelled Jinnah to “terminate his self-imposed exile in London and return home”.
Jinnah possessed the best qualities to lead the Muslims of India according to Iqbal. He proposed Jinnah to affirm a separate Muslim state for the Muslim League. Maybe now looking at the status of Pakistan in the prevailing times it hurts the heart of each patron.
Just like Sir Syed, he was concerned with the betterment of Muslims and for that, he craved a different path. He was a transcendent man who is extolled across Asia with equal ardour and enthusiasm.
His anniversary is memorialized as the World Urdu Day. During the independence struggle, he penned down stirring patriotic poems, including the famous ‘Saare Jahan Se Accha’, ‘Lab pe aati hai Dua’. His books of Persian poetry include Rumuz-i-Bekhudi, Payam-i-Mashriq, and Zabur-i-Ajam. Iqbal’s Urdu works are Bang-i-Dara, Bal-i-Jibril, Zarb-i Kalim, and a part of Armughan-e-Hijaz.
His lectures were published by Oxford University Press as “the reconstruction of Islamic religious thoughts in Islam.” Rumi had a great influence on Iqbal. Many see Rumi and Iqbal as a connection between the literary world. Millions of young and old across the nations enjoy reading his poetry.
Allama Iqbal is recognized among the greatest poets of the Indian subcontinent and a poet of international fame. He once said,
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.
Sarojini Naidu called him “Poet laureate of Asia”. He was not only a poet of Islam nor was his message only for Muslims; it has a universal appeal.
“People who have no hold over their process of thinking are likely to be ruined by liberty of thought.”― Allama Iqbal
He originated subsequent the revolt of 1857 when Muslims were left to suffer. “By the end of the Mutiny,” says Dr B.R. Ambedkar,
The Musalmans, high and low, were brought down by these series of events to the lowest depths of broken pride, black despair, and general penury
The pitiful condition of the Muslims led him to propose the idea of a different nation which led to the birth of the Islamic State of Pakistan. Mohammed Ali Jinnah, Quaid-e-Azam of Pakistan, was only implementing the idea whose seeds have been sown by the Alama Iqbal. He desired to make a nation in which Muslims prosper.
Allama Iqbal invoked the power by which Muslims can overcome their sense of despondency, and guide them to achieve the impossible. History is an example of how a poet changed the political discourse of the country.
He looked beyond the confines of difficulty or barriers of community and culture to see evergreen fields of prosperity man was celebrated as Sir Allama Iqbal. Iqbal proposes to explore the “secrets of the self” (asrar-i-khudi). His message is a guiding light to the world and is likely to acquire greater significance with the commencement of the new millennium.
In Iqbal’s eyes, Youth is representative of the nation, not only of the current nation but also of the nations to come. Iqbal says:
Mohabbat Mojhe Un Nojawanon Se Hai Sitaron Pe Dalte Hain Jo Kamand
“I have a love for those youngsters who pull the stars down”
In the Twentieth century, Muhammad Allama Iqbal’s work remains the most important, exquisitely poetical writings and remains no doubt of his permanent footprint. He also made a fresh interpretation of the Quran and the Sunnah to discover mutual harmonies like Sir Syed.
Iqbal regarded the Qur’an as a source of basic principles upon which the infrastructure of an organization must be built as a unified system of life. Iqbal rejected theocracy and dictatorship because according to him, it is against the free
spirit of Islam. He also equipped Muslims to acquire modern science, and use science and technology to improve their material permanence.
My ancestors were Brahmins. They spent their lives in search of god. I am spending my life in search of the man.
Allama Iqbal started writing from his school days. The freedom movement was in full swing in India at that time. No writer is as frank, as daring, as undeviatingly critical as Iqbal of the British rule. His poetry was written in the classical style for public recitation.
He simplified the philosophy of life, demystified the purpose of our human existence, and turned the teachings of Islam into an eternal message ready to be deciphered by the masses. We the fraternity of TSA pay reverence to the exceptional soul on legend’s birthday with his very quote:
It is true that we are made of dust. And the world is also made of dust. But the dust has motes rising.