Muhammad Iqbal

**Muhammad Iqbal** (Urdu: مُحَمَّدُ إِقْبَالٍ) (9 November 1877 – 21 April 1938) was an Islamic philosopher and poet. He is honored as the national poet of Pakistan after his death. He is also known as the poet of East. He wrote poetry in Urdu and Persian. His poetry is considered to be revolutionary. His vision of an independent state for the Muslims of British India was a starting point for the creation of Pakistan.

## Early life and education

Muhammad Iqbal was born on 9 November 1877. His father was Sheikh Noor Muhammad, who worked in a small government job but later started his own business, and his mother was Imam Bibi. Both Allama Iqbal's mother and father were very pious and religious-minded people and devoted to a simple life. After early Islamic education and then secondary at a small school in Sialkot, Iqbal was admitted to the Scottish Murray College, Sialkot, where he topped the higher secondary examinations and got a scholarship to study at the famous Government College, Lahore, for BA. On going to live in the hostel there, Iqbal met Professor Arnold, an English teacher who taught many things to Iqbal and guided him in his studies of philosophy and literature. He was very young at that time.

## Early career

Iqbal became well known as a new poet and writer. He used to go to attend the 'Mushaira' at the haveli of Hakim Syed Aminuddin, in BhaatiGate area of Old Lahore city—here, he met many famous poets and writers and began to write good poems which became very popular. He was guided by Mirza Dagh. His first famous poem, _Koh i Himala_ was also printed in Makhzan magazine, owned by Hakim Shuja uddin and Sir Abdul Qadir

After doing his BA and MA from Government College, Lahore, Iqbal was appointed a professor there. In 1905, he was selected for higher studies at the University of London, and then he went to Munich, Germany, where he took a PHD degree.  After all his study, Iqbal decided to go back and teach and also practice law in India.

## Later career, poetic and ideological work

He taught some senior classes at Government College and also practiced Law at Lahore High Court. At the same time, he wrote many famous poems such as _Asrar i Khudi_, _Ramuz i Bekhudi_, _Payam i Mashriq_, _Zabur i Ajam_, _Bang i Dara_, _Bal i Jibrail and_  etc. Because of his learning and knowledge, people soon began to call him 'Allama' Iqbal. In 1922, King George V of Britain, giving him the title of Allama 'Sir' Muhammad Iqbal. He was awarded 5 awards.

He was always concerned about the thoughts, ideas and condition of Muslims everywhere, but specially Indian Muslims who were under British Rule and threatened by the Brahman ruling population. Iqbal believed strongly in Sir Syed Ahmed Khan's 'Two Nation theory' that Muslims and Hindus were two separate nations and should be allowed to live separately. He put forward this idea again in his famous Allahabad Address to the Muslim League, in 1930, and preached this in his poems and lectures. Allama's words and ideas inspired many Muslims, some of whom became leaders of the Muslim League. He was very popular amongst the Muslim masses too. Being such an influential poet for the Muslims of India, Iqbal also saw the Iqbal Day being celebrated during his lifetime across the sub-continent.

## Death

He died on 21 April 1938 in Lahore, Punjab, British India.

## Related pages

- List of Urdu language poets
- List of notable Lahoris

## Infobox (philosopher)

- **honorific prefix**: Allama
- **name**: Muhammad Iqbal
<div style="text-decoration:none; font-weight:normal; font-style:normal; font-size:63%;"></div>
- **image**: Muhammad Iqbal in 1931.jpg
- **caption**: Iqbal in 1931
- **other names**: Poet of the East

- **birth name**: Muhammad Iqbal
- **birth place**: Sialkot, Punjab Province (British India), Punjab Province, British India,
 (now in Punjab, Pakistan)
- **death place**: Lahore, Punjab, British India
 (now in Punjab, Pakistan)
- **deathcause**: Heart Disease
- **nationality**: British Indian
- **alma mater**: Scotch Mission College<small> (Faculty of Arts, F.A.)</small>
Government College University (Lahore), Government College <small>(B.A., M.A.)</small>
University of Cambridge <small>(B.A.)</small>
University of Munich <small>(Ph.D.)</small>
- **notable works**: _The Secrets of the Self_, _The Secrets of Selflessness_, _Message from the East_, _Persian Psalms_, _Javid Nama_ (#Literary work, more works)
- **signature size**: 75px
- **era**: 20th-century philosophy
- **region**: British India
- **main interests**: Urdu poetry, Persian poetry, Law
- **notable ideas**: Two-nation theory, Allahabad Address
- **influences**: Mir Sayyid Ali Hamadani, Syed Mir Hassan, Rumi, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Friedrich Nietzsche, Henri Bergson, Thomas Walker Arnold
- **influenced**: Muhammad Ali Jinnah, Pakistan Movement, Islamic Republic of Pakistan, Ale Ahmed Suroor, Ali Shariati, Fateh Muhammad Malik