Iqbal is credited with
developing the idea of Pakistan from the start, although he died nine years
before he could see his dream come to fruition.
Although Iqbal was politically active, he was best known for his inspiring Urdu
and Persian poetry, which many credit for waking up the Muslims of India to push
for their rights. He was also a philosopher, whose seminal work The
Reconstruction of Religious Thought in Islam, was a collection of lectures on
philosophy he had presented in Hyderabad, Aligarh, and Madras.
Born in Sialkot, Punjab, he was a descendent of Kashmiri Brahmins who had
converted to Islam centuries earlier. His love for poetry was evident from a
very young age, and he became a frequent participant in Lahore’s annual poetry
gatherings (Mushairas).
Like Jinnah, he became a lawyer. With degrees from Cambridge University in
England and a doctorate from the University of Munich in Germany, he returned to
Lahore to teach at the local Government College, while maintaining a private law
practice there.
Iqbal took his first important step in the realm of politics during his stay in
England while studying at Cambridge University. There, he became an active
member of the British Committee of the All-Indian Muslim League. When in 1906,
this Committee was active in making British public opinion and political leaders
accept the principle of separate electorates for the Muslims of India, Iqbal was
one of the staunch supporters of the Committee. Upon returning to Lahore, he
joined the existing Muslim League and served as secretary and advisor to the
party.
Iqbal was convinced that the only solution for the Muslims was a two-state one,
thus conceiving the idea for Pakistan, a federation composed of the
Muslim-majority states of India at the time. He died in 1938, not being able to
see that dream come true. However, his close partnership with Jinnah in his
later years allowed him to pass the torch of the Pakistan idea to the man who
would later be known as Quaid-e-Azam.
He is also credited with encouraging a young Islamic scholar and journalist from
Hyderabad, India, to settle in Punjab and to establish and Islamic research
institute for the revival of Islam. This man, Syed Abul Ala Mawdoodi, took up
Iqbal’s offer, going on to become one of Pakistan’s leading supporters and
scholars.
Iqbal’s poetry in Persian left a legacy to the revolutionaries of Iran,
particularly leaders like Ali Shariati, who were inspired by his ideas of
self-reliance and pan-Islamism that transcended the narrow focus on Iran alone,
which marked the 1979 revolution.