News Highlights:
Obtrusively, India walks away from Muhammad Iqbal: a poet for all ages, the man who penned Tarana-i-Hindi, ‘Saare Jahan se achcha Hindustan Hamara.
Allama muhammad iqbal:
- About:
- Muhammad Iqbal (1877 – 1938), widely known as Allama Iqbal, was a poet-philosopher whose work promoted the philosophy of self-hood and dealt with the intellectual and cultural reconstruction of the Islamic world.
- His best-known Urdu works are The Call of the Marching Bell, Gabriel’s Wing, The Rod of Moses and a part of Gift from Hijaz.
- “Sare Jahan se Accha“, formally known as “Tarānah-e-Hindi“, is an Urdu language patriotic song for children written by poet Muhammad Iqbal in the ghazal style of Urdu poetry. The poem was published in 1904.
- Early life:
- Iqbal was born on 9 November 1877 in an ethnic Kashmiri family in Sialkot within the Punjab Province of British India (now in Pakistan).
- His family was Kashmiri Pandit (of the Sapru clan) that converted to Islam in the 15th century and traced its roots back to a south Kashmir village in Kulgam.
- Education:
- 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 Oriental College, Lahore, from 1899 until 1903. During this time, he wrote prolifically.
- Academic career:
- Iqbal began his career as a reader of Arabic after completing his Master of Arts degree in 1899 at Oriental College.
- He was selected as a junior professor of philosophy at Government College Lahore, where he had also been a student.
- In 1907 he went to Germany for a PhD In 1908, he returned from Germany and joined the same college again as a professor of philosophy and English literature.
- In the same period, Iqbal began practising law at the Chief Court of Lahore, but he soon quit law practice and devoted himself to literary works.
- Political career:
- Iqbal first became interested in national affairs in his youth
- Iqbal was made one of the first three joint secretaries in the Punjab Muslim League.
- Iqbal remained active in the Muslim League.
- He was a critic of the mainstream Indian National Congress, which he regarded as dominated by Hindus.
- He was active in the Khilafat Movement and was among the founding fathers of Jamia Millia Islamia, which was established at Aligarh.
- He was also given the offer of being the first vice-chancellor of Jamia Millia Islamia by Mahatma Gandhi, which he refused.
- Iqbal contested the election for a seat in the Punjab Legislative Assembly from the Muslim district of Lahore.
His role in the creation of the Pakistan Movement:
- Spiritual Father of Pakistan:
- He is widely regarded as having inspired the Pakistan Movement. He is called the “Spiritual Father of Pakistan.“
- In 1930, during the 25th Session of the All-India Muslim League in Allahabad, he delivered his most famous presidential speech, known as the Allahabad Address, in which he pushed for creating a Muslim state in northwest India.
- Iqbal is considered to have given the vision for the creation of Pakistan, whereas Jinnah is the one who shaped this vision.
- The Pakistan government officially named him the “National Poet of Pakistan”.
Pic Courtesy: Wikimedia Commons
Content Source: The Hindu