Allama Iqbal – A Brief Profile


Allama Muhammad Iqbal (1877-1983) was born in Sialkot, in the Punjab. Allama is a title meaning ‘great scholar’. 
Iqbal was a brilliant student and he went to the UK to study literature at Cambridge university, and to Lincoln’s inn to study law. During his visits to Europe he went to Heidelberg in Germany where he studied philosophy, and he also visited Spain, a country that had once been ruled by Muslims.

The mosque at Cordoba in Spain  greatly inspired equal who was already a noted poet. From 1908 on wards Iqbal lived in Lahore. Through his marvelous poem, written in Urdu and in Persian, Iqbal inspired the Muslim of India. In January 1923 he was knighted for his literary achievements. And became known as Sir Muhammad Iqbal. He made Islam living religion for many as he tried to revive the spirit which had once made Muslims successful.

In 1930 it was Iqbal who first put forward the idea that the Muslims of the subcontinent had to have their own independent state. All Pakistanis today owe him a great debt of gratitude.
Iqbal died on 21st April 1938. His tomb is in the shadow of the Badshahi Mosque in Lahore.