Biography of Allama Iqbal

Allama Iqbal, great poet-philosopher and active political leader, was

born at Sialkot, Punjab, in 1877. He
descended from a family of Kashmiri
Brahmins, who had embraced Islam
about 300 years earlier.

Iqbal received his early education in the

traditional maktab. Later he joined the
Sialkot Mission School, from where he
passed his matriculation examination.
In 1897, he obtained his Bachelor of
Arts Degree from Government College,
Lahore. Two years later, he secured his
Masters Degree and was appointed in
the Oriental College, Lahore, as a
lecturer of history, philosophy and
English. He later proceeded to Europe
for higher studies. Having obtained a
degree at Cambridge, he secured his Figure 1 Allam Iqbal
doctorate at Munich and finally qualified as a
barrister.

He returned to India in 1908. Besides teaching and practicing law, Iqbal

continued to write poetry. He resigned from government service in 1911
and took up the task of propagating individual thinking among the
Muslims through his poetry. By 1928, his reputation as a great Muslim
philosopher was solidly established and he was invited to deliver lectures
at Hyderabad, Aligarh and Madras. These series of lectures were later
published as a book "The Reconstruction of Religious Thought in Islam".
In 1930, Iqbal was invited to preside over the open session of the Muslim
League at Allahabad. In his historic Allahabad Address, Iqbal visualized
an independent and sovereign state for the Muslims of North-Western
India. In 1932, Iqbal came to England as a Muslim delegate to the Third
Round Table Conference.

In later years, when the Quaid had left India and was residing in
England, Allama Iqbal wrote to him conveying to him his personal
views on political problems and state of affairs of the Indian Muslims,
and also persuading him to come back. These letters are dated from June
1936 to November 1937. This series of correspondence is now a part of
important historic documents concerning Pakistan's struggle for
freedom.

On April 21, 1938, the great Muslim poet-philosopher and champion of

the Muslim cause, passed away. He lies buried next to the Badshahi
Mosque in Lahore.

Speech at a public meeting to mourn the death of Allama Iqbal,

Calcutta, April 21, 1938 by Quaid e Azam.
Mr. M.A. Jinnah said that the sorrowful news of the death of Dr. Sir
Muhammad Iqbal had plunged the world of Islam in gloom mourning.
Sir Iqbal was undoubtedly one of the greatest poets, philosophers and
seers of humanity of all times. He took a prominent part in the politics
of the country and in the intellectual and cultural reconstruction of the
Islamic world. His contribution to the literature and thought of the
world will live forever.

“To me he was a personal friend, philosopher and guide and as such the
main source of my inspiration and spiritual support. While he was ailing
in his bed it was he who as the President of the Punjab Provincial
Muslim League, stood single-handed as a rock in the darkest days in the
Punjab by the side of the league banner, undaunted by the opposition
of the whole world. When on account of his serious illness he was
confined to bed, he resigned the post of the Presidentship of the
Punjab League but was instead elected its Patron. He still continued to
guide the work of the Punjab league from his bed and had somebody to
reply to all letters concerning the League. It would have been a matter
of great satisfaction for him to hear the news with great delight that
the Bengal and Punjab Muslims were absolutely united on the common
platform of the All India Muslim League. In that achievement the
unseen contribution of Dr. Sir Muhammad Iqbal was the greatest. No
greater blow has struck the Muslims at this juncture.”

History of Ideology of Pakistan

The ideology of Pakistan stems from the instinct of the Muslim
community of South Asia to maintain their individuality by resisting all
attempts by the Hindu society to absorb it. Muslims of South Asia
believe that Islam and Hinduism are not only
two religions, but also two social orders that
have given birth to two distinct cultures with
no similarities. A deep study of the history of
this land proves that the differences
between Hindus and Muslims were not
confined to the struggle for political
supremacy, but were also manifested in the
clash of two social orders. Despite living
together for more than a thousand years,
they continued to develop different cultures
and traditions. Their eating habits, music,
architecture and script, are all poles apart.
Even the language they speak and the
dresses they wear are entirely different.
The ideology of Pakistan took shape through an evolutionary process.
Historical experience provided the base; with Sir Syed Ahmad Khan
began the period of Muslim self-awakening; Allama Iqbal provided the
philosophical explanation; Quaid-i-Azam translated it into a political
reality; and the Constituent Assembly of Pakistan, by passing Objectives
Resolution in March 1949, gave it legal sanction. It was due to the
realization of Muslims of South Asia that they are different from the
Hindus that they demanded separate electorates. When they realized
that their future in a 'Democratic India' dominated by Hindu majority
was not safe; they put forward their demand for a separate state.
The Muslims of South Asia believe that they are a nation in the modern
sense of the word. The basis of their nationhood is neither territorial,
racial, linguistic nor ethnic; rather they are a nation because they belong
to the same faith, Islam. On this basis they consider it their fundamental
right to be entitled to self-determination. They demanded that areas
where they were in majority should be constituted into a sovereign
state, wherein they would be enabled to order their lives in individual
and collective spheres in accordance with the teachings of Holy Quran
and Sunnah of the Holy Prophet (S. A. W.). They further want their state
to strengthen the bonds of unity among Muslim countries.
As early as in the beginning of the 11th century, Al-Biruni observed that
Hindus differed from the Muslims in all matters and habits. He further
elaborated his argument by writing that the Hindus considered Muslims
"Mlachha", or impure. And they forbid having any connection with
them, be it intermarriage or any other bond of relationship. They even
avoid sitting, eating and drinking with them, because they feel
"polluted". The speech made by Quaid-i-Azam at Minto Park, Lahore on
March 22, 1940 was very similar to Al-Biruni's thesis in theme and tone.
In this speech, he stated that Hindus and Muslims belong to two
different religious philosophies, with different social customs and
literature. They neither intermarry, nor eat together, and indeed belong
to two different civilizations whose very foundations are based on
conflicting ideas and concepts. Their outlook on life and of life is
different. He emphasized that in spite of the passage of about 1,000
years the relations between the Hindus and Muslims could not attain
the level of cordiality. The only difference between the writing of Al-
Biruni and the speech of Quaid-i-Azam was that Al-Biruni made
calculated predictions, while Quaid-i-Azam had history behind him to
support his argument.
The Ideology of Pakistan has its roots deep in history. The history of
South Asia is largely a history of rivalry and conflict between the Hindus
and Muslims of the region. Both communities have been living together
in the same area since the early 8th century, since the advent of Islam in
India. Yet, the two have failed to develop harmonious relations. In the
beginning, one could find the Muslims and Hindus struggling for
supremacy in the battlefield. Starting with the war between Muhammad
bin Qasim and Raja Dahir in 712, armed conflicts between Hindus and
Muslims run in thousands. Clashes between Mahmud of Ghazni and
Jaypal, Muhammad Ghuri and Prithvi Raj, Babur and Rana Sanga and
Aurangzeb and Shivaji are cases in point.

When the Hindus of South Asia failed to establish Hindu Padshahi

through force, they opted for back door conspiracies. Bhakti Movement
with the desire to merge Islam and Hinduism was one of the biggest
attacks on the ideology of the Muslims of the region. Akbar's diversion
from the main stream Islamic ideology was one of the Hindus' greatest
success stories. However, due to the immediate counterattack by
Mujaddid Alf Sani and his pupils, this era proved to be a short one.
Muslims once again proved their separate identity during the regimes
of Jehangir, Shah Jehan and particularly Aurangzeb. The attempts to
bring the two communities close could not succeed because the
differences between the two are fundamental and have no meeting
point. At the root of the problem lies the difference between the two
religions. So long as the two people want to lead their lives according to
their respective faith, they cannot be one.

With the advent of the British rule in India in 1858, Hindu-Muslim

relations entered a new phase. The British brought with them a new
political philosophy commonly known as 'territorial nationalism'. Before
the coming of the British, there was no concept of a 'nation' in South
Asia and the region had never been a single political unit. The British
attempt to weld the two communities in to a 'nation' failed. The British
concept of a nation did not fit the religious-social system of South Asia.
Similarly, the British political system did not suite the political culture of
South Asia. The British political system, commonly known as
'democracy', gave majority the right to rule. But unlike Britain, the basis
of majority and minority in South Asia was not political but religious
and ethnic. The attempt to enforce the British political model in South
Asia, instead of solving the political problems, only served to make the
situation more complex. The Hindus supported the idea while it was
strongly opposed by the Muslims. The Muslims knew that
implementation of the new order would mean the end of their separate
identity and endless rule of the Hindu majority in the name of
nationalism and democracy. The Muslims refused to go the British way.
They claimed that they were a separate nation and the basis of their
nation was the common religion Islam. They refused to accept a
political system that would reduce them to a permanent minority. They
first demanded separate electorates and later a separate state.
Religious and cultural differences between Hindus and Muslims
increased due to political rivalry under the British rule.

On March 24, 1940, the Muslims finally abandoned the idea of

federalism and defined a separate homeland as their target. Quaid-i-
Azam considered the creation of Pakistan a means to an end and not
the end in itself. He wanted Pakistan to be an Islamic and democratic
state. According to his wishes and in accordance with the inspirations
of the people of Pakistan, the Constituent Assembly of Pakistan passed
the Objectives Resolution. The adoption of Objectives Resolution
removed all doubts, if there were any, about the ideology of Pakistan.
The Muslims of Pakistan decided once and for all to make Pakistan a
state wherein the Muslims shall be enabled to order their lives in their
individual and collective spheres, in accordance to the teachings and
requirements of Islam as set out in the Holy Quran and Sunnah.
 Allama Iqbal and Ideology of Pakistan
While dividing his time between law and poetry, Iqbal had remained
active in the Muslim League. He supported Indian involvement in World
War I, as well as the Khilafat movement and remained in close touch
with Muslim political leaders such as Maulana Mohammad Ali and
Muhammad Ali Jinnah. He was a critic of the mainstream Indian
National Congress, which he regarded as dominated by Hindus and was
disappointed with the League when during the 1920s, it was absorbed
in factional divides between the pro-British group led by Sir
Muhammad Shafi and the centrist group led by Jinnah.

In November 1926, with the encouragement of friends and supporters,

Iqbal contested for a seat in the Punjab Legislative Assembly from the
Muslim district of Lahore, and defeated his opponent by a margin of
3,177 votes.He supported the constitutional proposals presented by
Jinnah with the aim of guaranteeing Muslim political rights and
influence in a coalition with the Congress, and worked with the Aga
Khan and other Muslim leaders to mend the factional divisions and
achieve unity in the Muslim League.

Allama Iqbal's statement explaining the attitude of Muslim delegates to

the Round-Table Conference issued in December, 1933 was a rejoinder
to Jawahar Lal Nehru's statement. Nehru had said that the attitude of
the Muslim delegation was based on “reactionarism”. Iqbal concluded
his rejoinder with:

" In conclusion I must put a straight question to pundit Jawahar Lal,

how is India's problem to be solved if the majority community will
 neither concede the minimum safeguards necessary for the
protection of a minority of 80 million people, nor accept the award
of a third party; but continue to talk of a kind of nationalism which
works out only to its own benefit? This position can admit of only
two alternatives. Either the Indian majority community will have
to accept for itself the permanent position of an agent of British
imperialism in the East, or the country will have to be
redistributed on a basis of religious, historical and cultural
affinities so as to do away with the question of electorates and the
communal problem in its present form. "

"I would like to see the Punjab, North-West Frontier Province, Sind
and Baluchistan amalgamated into a single state. Self-government
within the British Empire, or without the British Empire, the
formation of a consolidated Northwest Indian Muslim state
appears to me to be the final destiny of the Muslims, at least of
Northwest India."

In 1930,Allama Iqbal presented his mature political opinion on the

political fate of Indian Muslims in his presedential address at Allahbad
at the annual session of Muslim League.He said:

“I am fully convinced that the Muslims of India will ultimately have to

establish a separate homeland as they could not live with the Hindus in
the United States.”

He also said:

“India is a continent of human beings belonging to different

races,speaking different languages and professing different religions ,I
therefore demand the formation of a consolidated Muslim state in the
best interest of India and Islam.”
He stressed on the formation of a separate state by saying:

“I would like to see the Punjab, North West Frontier Province, Sindh
and Baluchistan amalgamated into a single state self-government
within the British Empire or without the British Empire, the formation
of a consolidated North-West Indian Muslim state appears to me to be
the final destiny of the Muslims at least of North West India.”

In his speech, Iqbal emphasised that unlike Christianity, Islam came

with "legal concepts" with "civic significance," with its "religious ideals"
considered as inseparable from social order: "therefore, the
construction of a policy on national lines, if it means a displacement of
the Islamic principle of solidarity, is simply unthinkable to a Muslim."
Iqbal thus stressed not only the need for the political unity of Muslim
communities, but the undesirability of blending the Muslim population
into a wider society not based on Islamic principles. He thus became
the first politician to articulate what would become known as the Two-
Nation Theory — that Muslims are a distinct nation and thus deserve
political independence from other regions and communities of India.
However, he would not elucidate or specify if his ideal Islamic state
would construe a theocracy, even as he rejected secularism and
nationalism. The latter part of Iqbal's life was concentrated on political
activity. He would travel across Europe and West Asia to garner political
and financial support for the League, and he reiterated his ideas in his
1932 address, and during the Third Round-Table Conference, he
opposed the Congress and proposals for transfer of power without
considerable autonomy or independence for Muslim provinces. He
would serve as president of the Punjab Muslim League, and would
deliver speeches and publish articles in an attempt to rally Muslims
across India as a single political entity. Iqbal consistently criticised
feudal classes in Punjab as well as Muslim politicians averse to the
League.