THE FIRST TENURE OF IQBAL’S LIFE

(1877-1905)

Conducted by: Muhammad Zain Abbas

20-10098
Sir Allama Muhammad Iqbal was a poet, theorist, government official, and in addition a
educationist, lawyer and researcher in subcontinent who is broadly viewed as having boosted
the Pakistan Movement. He is also known as Spiritual father of Pakistan. He is viewed as one of
the greatest significant figures in Urdu literature, with legendary effort in both the Urdu and
Persian dialects.

Iqbal is appreciated by all the eminent researchers of the subcontinent in their writing. In spite
of the fact that Allama Muhammad Iqbal is superlative branded as a prominent poet, he is
likewise an exceedingly acclaimed “Muslim philosophical mastermind of current
circumstances”.

His first book, Asrar Khodi, was written in the Persian dialect in 1915, and among the volumes
of various poems we can mention Rozeh Bohdi, Payam Mashrekh and Zabur Ajam. Surrounded
by these works, his acclaimed works in Urdu include Bang Dara, Bal Jibril, Zarb Al Kalim and the
Armaghan Hijaz piece. In addition to Urdu and Persian poetry, his Urdu and English speeches
and letters were very powerful in traditional, social, spiritual and government debates

In 1922, he was honored by King George V, giving him the title "Sir". For the examination period
of law and theory in England, Allama Muhammad Iqbal became a person from the London
regional office of the Muslim League of India. Then, during the League session in December
1930, he delivered his most significant diplomatic speech, known as the Allahabad Speech, in
which he described the establishment of a Muslim state in northwestern India. In much of
South Asia and in Urdu-speaking places, Iqbal is considered the "Poet of the East". He is also
called "The Thinker of Pakistan" and "The Sage of the Ummah". The Pakistani government has
authoritatively called him the "national poet". His birthday or Iqbal Day is an open occasion in
Pakistan. He is also recognized in India as the creator of the famous song Saare Jahaan Se Acha.

Allama Muhammad Iqbal was born on November 9, 1877 in Sialkot, Punjab, then subcontinent.
His grandparents were Kashmiri Pandits who converted to Islam. In the 19th century, when the
Sikh Empire was conquering Kashmir, his grandfather's family moved to Punjab. Iqbal regularly
repeated and recognized the genealogy of Kashmiri Brahmins in his works. Iqbal's father, Sheikh
Noor Muhammad, who died in 1930, was a tailor, had no formal education, but was a religious
man. Iqbal's mother, Imam Bibi, was a kind and humble woman who helped poor people and
took care of her neighbors' problems. He died on November 9, 1914 in Sialkot. Iqbal adored his
mother and after her death he expressed his sad emotional state in the form of rhythmic
poetry.

Iqbal was four years old when he was sent to the mosque to study the Holy Quran. Just a year
after entering Quranic school, the five-year-old Iqbal became a pupil of Sayyid Mir Hasan (1844-
1929), an eminent scholar of religion and literature who ran a madrassa (religious school) in the
city. During their long relationship, Mir Hasan not only instructed Iqbal in the Islamic religious
heritage, but also helped him cultivate a highly refined literary taste. Unlike many other Muslim
scholars in India, Mir Hasan felt an urgent need for Muslims to acquire a European - which in
practice meant secular - education in addition to a religious education.

The capture of Delhi in 1857 brought the British formal rule over India, much of which was
already under their de facto control. The anger and frustration led many Muslims to reject
anything related to the ruling British, who had previously held Muslims responsible for the 1857
uprising. They accused the British of imposing politics on them because of their former
dominant political and social position. In the field of education, the traditional fields of Islamic
education and Persian and Arabic languages soon lost their dominant position in the society. In
contrast, English and modern arts and sciences gained popularity.
Consequently, the need for researchers in Arabic and Persian has decreased, while the demand
for researchers in English and modern knowledge disciplines has increased. Many Muslim
religious leaders discouraged their followers from learning English - which they called the
language of India's infidel usurpers - and from obtaining a modern education. Sir Sayyid Ahmad
Khan (1817-1898), an educationist and reformer, disagreed with this view. He was convinced
that the salvation of Indian Muslims lay in accepting the fundamental change that had taken
place in the real world. Criticizing the traditional Islamic education system, which he called
stagnant and unproductive, he emphasized the need for Muslims to study English and European
arts and sciences. Mir Hasan agreed with Sir Sayyid and supported his cause. He persuaded
Iqbal’s father to have Iqbal admitted to Sialkot’s Scotch Mission College, where Mir Hasan was
professor of Arabic. At this college, Iqbal obtained the Faculty of Arts diploma (1895)—the
highest then offered by the college—which represented two years of education after high
school. (The Scotch Mission College was later renamed Murray College, which still exists under
that name.

Iqbal, now 15 or 16, began composing poems while at the Scotch Mission, some of which have
been published. Like many other aspiring poets in India, he became a "correspondence
student" of Mirza Dagh (1831–1905), the famous Urdu poet known as the "Nightingale of
India". Dagh admired Iqbal's talent, and Iqbal was always proud to have been one of his
students. In a poem written on the occasion of Dagh's death, Iqbal paid tribute to Dagh's
excellent artistic skills.

At the age of 18, Iqbal had acquired everything the city of Sialkot had to offer. These early years
generated some of Iqbal's basic and distinctive attitudes, likes and interests. His parents gave
him a deep religious and mystical orientation, which he retained until the end of his life. Iqbal's
love of the Islamic scriptures, the Qur'an, is well known. The Qur'an, which he recited regularly,
was a constant source of inspiration for him; in fact, Iqbal claims that his poetry is nothing more
than an explanation of the message of the Qur'an. Iqbal's father once advised him to read the
Qur’an as if it were being revealed to him direct from God, for only then, he said, would Iqbal
truly understand it. This remark left permanent impression on Iqbal’s mind and determined his
intellectual and emotional attitude towards the Qur’an. It later found expression in a notable
verse:

Until the Qur’an is revealed to your own heart,

Neither Razi nor the author of the Kashshaf will make it easy for you.
(BJ, 370)

(Fakhr al-Din Razi (1210-1150) and Abul-Qasim Mahmud al-Zamakhshari (1144-1075) were
commentators on the Qur'an, the latter of which is titled "Al Kashshaf". Clearly referring to his
father's powerful spiritual influence on him, Iqbal said that he did not shape his view of life
through philosophical research, but rather inherited it, and that he used logic and reasoning
only to support and prove this view.

Mir Hasan's influence on Iqbal was also formative. Mir Hassan Alami was a dedicated and
enlightened scholar who not only instilled in Iqbal a deep love for Islamic intellectual and
literary heritage, but also introduced him to modern knowledge. It was through Mir Hasan that
Iqbal met Agha Syed. Iqbal sympathized with Sir Syed's educational movement, although Iqbal
had serious reservations about the value of the European educational system he promoted.
Moreover, if Iqbal's thought offered a unique combination of Eastern and Western educational
traditions, and if this combination was expressed primarily through serious yet eloquent poetry,
it was in Sialkot, mainly under the guidance of Mir Hasan, that its first foundations were laid. a
composition was created and a means of expressing it was chosen, which is poetry. In a poem
written to honor an Indian Muslim saint, Iqbal respectfully talks about his intellectual and
literary debt to a dear teacher. In 1922, when the British government decided to knight him,
Iqbal made his acceptance of the honor conditional on the recognition of Mir Hasan's
scholarship. When Iqbal was asked what books Mir Hasan had written, Iqbal replied that he
himself was the book of Mir Hasan. When Iqbal was knighted on January 1, 1923, Mir Hasan
was given the title of Shamsul Ulama (Sun of Scholars).

In 1893, Iqbal, then 16 years old, married Karima Bibi, who was three years older than him. It
was probably a hastily planned match and there are indications that Iqbal was against it,
although he relied on the decision of his elders in this matter. Karim Bibi gave birth to a son and
a daughter. Tensions between the couple led to their separation, but Iqbal remained
responsible for the care of Karim Bibi, who was to outlive him by eight years.

In 1895, Iqbal moved to Lahore, citing the city's green pastures. Punjab's main city, Lahore, was
known for its educational institutions and cultural activities. Iqbal was admitted to the famous
State College, where he spent four years, earning a bachelor's degree in 1897 - studying English,
philosophy and Arabic - and a master's degree in philosophy in 1899. Soon after, he was
appointed MacLeod Reader in Arabic at Oriental College, Lahore, where he taught history,
philosophy and economics and worked on research and translation projects. He held this
position intermittently until 1904. He was also briefly an assistant professor of English at a
government college and another college in the city.

Iqbal's intellectual and literary talents flourished in Lahore. At State College he came into
contact with the broad and strong tradition of European science. Perhaps his greatest influence
was Sir Thomas Arnold (1864-1930), who taught at Aligarh College before joining Government
College in 1898. Quickly noticing Iqbal's abilities, Arnold trained him in various ways. In addition
to formal training for Iqbal, he encouraged him to undertake several research projects. During
his tenure as McLeod Arabic Reader, encouraged by Arnold, Iqbal wrote a research paper on
the Muslim mystic Abd al-Karim al-Jili's concept of the ideal man and edited, translated two
English books into Urdu (one about Early English) history, another on economics) and wrote the
first Urdu book on the principles of economics.

Lahore boasted of several literary societies which met regularly and provided opportunities for
up and coming poets to present their works to a wide audience. Iqbal quickly established
himself as a great poet. He initially dealt with the conventional themes of Urdu poetry - love,
the suffering experienced due to separation from the beloved, the desire to be reunited with
the beloved - using the usual and popular Urdu ghazal (love poetry in ghazal, literally, romantic
dialogues). had with women). A little later, he chose the order and perfected it (narrative verse)
as the principal form his poetry was to take. But even as a writer of ghazals, Iqbal’s originality at
times burst through the rigid framework of convention and his novel images obsessed the
audience’s attention, winning him acclaim from noted poets and critics of the time.

Three events at this stage of Iqbal's poetic career are significant. First, Iqbal's poetry shows an
increasing influence of English poetry, as evidenced, for example, by his many poems about
nature. But rather than breaking completely with the Indian tradition of Urdu Persian poetry,
Iqbal draws on the literary resources of that tradition, dealing with themes borrowed from
English poetry. It was a new experience and hailed as a breath of fresh air in the sweltering
atmosphere created by the Urdu styles of poetic composition at the time. The Himalayas, a
representative poem in this regard, is briefly discussed in Chapters 2 and 3.

Second, influenced by English literature and European political thought, as well as by political
events in India, Iqbal begins to address themes of patriotism. His "Indian National Anthem" (BD,
83), which begins "Our country, India is the best in the world", became very popular and is
often sung in chorus, practically like a national anthem, in schools and other places. Meetings
were being started to hold across the country.

Thirdly, Iqbal's poetry receives a new direction through his association with the Anjuman-i
Himayat-i Islam (Society for the Promotion of Islam). Anjuman was founded in 1884 to promote
the welfare of Indian Muslims. In particular, she supported students financially, established
libraries and orphanages, helped widows and the poor to stand on their own feet by providing
them with vocational training. He also set up a printing house to produce Islamic literature. The
annual Anjuman fundraising events were attended by both prominent national figures and the
general public. At these meetings, speeches were made on important national and social issues
and poems were read to boost religious sentiments. At the annual meeting of 1900, Iqbal read
his poem ‘The Orphan’s Lament’, which so moved the audience that he was asked to reread it.
Thanks in part to Iqbal’s poem, the Anjuman’s fund-raising event that year was more than
successful.
In Lahore, much more widely than in Sialkot, Iqbal was exposed to both eastern and western
traditions of learning. This can be seen in the subjects he formally studied at a state university -
Arabic, English and Philosophy. As in Sialkot, so in Lahore Iqbal found an able mentor: a
precious stone discovered by Mir Hasan in Sialkot was turned into a brilliant gem by Arnold in
Lahore. Under Arnold's loving patronage, the poet's fortune now became an academic fortune.
Iqbal's studies, writings, and interests were extremely diverse: he taught English, philosophy,
history, and economics at several colleges, and his writings covered an equally diverse range of
subjects. Arnold motivated Iqbal to pursue higher studies in the West. Iqbal had probably
already begun the process of intellectually synthesizing the Eastern and Western traditions. In
the fertile soil of Lahore, the sapling of Sialkot had become a sturdy tree.
References

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