Whose Iqbal — Ours or Theirs?

There are some errors with regard to Iqbal`s educational qualifications.

1)Iqbal got a BA from Cambridge not a doctorate.

2)He got his law degree from Lincoln`s Inn.

3)He did a lot of doctoral work at Heidelberg but ulimately received the degree from Munich University.

The article also fails to mention the exraordinary influence of European philosophers especially Nietschze on Iqbal`s work. The concept of khudi is almost a replica of the idea of Superman. Another extremely important point is Iqbal`s heritage as primarily a Punjabi man. My grandmother lived next door to Iqbal in Lahore and used to regale us with stories of Iqbal having a good time with the drink and dance. Iqbal can be looked at several ways just as Sameer mentioned but considering that the bulk of the intellectual thought that formed the basis for the Pakistan movement came from UP and Bengal, he probably would have stood out out as a sore thumb in Pakistan had be lived beyond partition.

later

-sac

Dukhi Ram,

Yes please do read the `document` which others here have read many times. Ayesha Jalal`s work is one of the best defences of Mohammed Ali Jinnah against the accusations that have been hurled in his direction by the Hindu fundamentalists, and this is how she described her book many times.

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Harimau,

As always, your conclusion doesn`t follow the argument. In any event, you don`t deserve anyone`s attention and like your mentor Jay, you too will fade away.

Harimau 16

And we all know haow the majority in your land of haldi rule over the minorities, as exemplified by the recent events, for example.

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Why it is important to label a dead poet as ours or theirs except for the same win-lose strategy so ingraained at nationalistic level constant bickering and altercation?

As a poet, he belonged to Persian and Urdu languaes. As a philosopher, he was an Islamic philosopher rather than Eastern or Western philosopher. As a Muslim, he was much close to Barelvi sect than anyother and staunchly anti-Ahmedi as his correspondence to pir of Golra and few other mullahs suggest.

Had he lived beyond 1947, he would have stayed in Lahore but not as a major political leader because of his conservative Islamic tilt during later years. As a politician, he was unwinable in Lahore or Sialkot because he did not cultivate followings in any particular constituency. His best shot in Pakistan would have been appointment to Supreme Court laeding, perhaps faster to Chief Justice position of Supreme Court or Shariah Court.

There is no chance of him opting for living in Delhi or Bombay following partition, had he lived.

The idea of communism + god = Islam was not his original. He was merely agreeing to another convert to Islam, Maulana Obaid Ullah Sindhi who went much further with this idea and even met Lenin to discuss it.

Ref 12-heads-without-an-ounce-of-logic-AAmir #: 8

[IMHO ,Patel Nehru can claim more responsibility for the creation of Pakistan than some abstract idea that Allama might have philosophised well 10 yrs before the mechanics & machinery of Muslinm League agenda & manifesto took shape.]

Nehru and Patel did not demand the creation of Pakistan to expel Muslims from India. No matter what crap you are taught in your madrassahs, the fact is that Jinnah and the Muslim League demanded Pakistan and, wearying of the interminable demands of Jinnah, Nehru, Patel, and Mountbatten decided that Jinnah can have his Pakistan so that they wouldn`t have to deal with his crap for the rest of their lives. 50% control for a population that numbered 30% is undemocratic, no matter how you spin it. That was Jinnah`s demand for staying in India. So Jinnah`s vision for India is now implemented in Pakistan where less than 1% of the population controls the other 99%.

We in India thank Jinnah for creating Pakistan and we can see clearly what happens when a minority rules. You Pakistanis were of course afraid of majority rule so you have got exactly what you wanted.

Anyone sing these songs in their school assembly with their throats choking up - only to realize later in life - that Mr. Iqbal came up with the idea for Pakistan ?

(from Sare Jahan se Aacha, Hindustan hamara)

``Majhab nahin sikhata

aapas mein bair karna

Hindi hein ham,

Hindi hein ham

Hindi hein ham,

watan hai hindustan hamara``

``Chisti ne jis jamin par

paigaam-e-haq sunaya,

Nanak ne jis chaman mein

vehdat ka geet gaya

... dum-di-diddly (can`t remember)

mera watan wahi hai

mera watan wahi hai

mera watan wahi hai``

Zafar:

Thanks for the article (what is it with the name Zafar -- it lends a certain amount of erudition to the interactor -- the other Zafar on Chowk is an example). On a recent visit to India, an uncle of mine insisted that I read Iqbal`s `Shikwa (Complaint (to God)` and `Jawab-e-Shikwa`. I now have a copy, and intend to read it (Oxford India Publications, in Hindi, Urdu and English, translation by Khushwant Singh). According to him, this ranks amongst Iqbal`s finest work. Someone else suggested that Iqbal`s other compositions, e.g. `Saare Jahan Se Achcha, Yeh Hindustan Hamara, Bulbule Hain Iski...` are fairly ordinary, have mass (pop) appeal but are not the stuff that makes for a Nobel Prize.

Zafar,

Thanks for the article. It is interesting that we share Iqbal with Pakistan and Rabindranath Tagore with Bangladesh.

mazhab nahin sikhata

aapus mein bair rakhna

hindi hai hum

watan hai

hindostan hamara

i`m not sure whose he was but iqbal was an outstanding poet, though schimmel writes that he thought of his art as being only incidental to his worldview.

in rafiq zakaria`s book on iqbal, dr z speaks of how pramod mahajan said emotionally at a function that ``even iqbal, author of saare jahan se... betrayed his nation.``

sadly, in india iqbal is remembered, if at all, as one of the authors of pakistan and not of shikwa or javidnama.

indeed, the rss quotes extensively from shikwa to show iqbal and subcontinental muslims as warmongering invaders.

- kubwatey bazooey muslim ney kiya kaam tera;

- kalma padhte they hum chaon mein talwaron ki;

- kaat kar rakh diye kuffar ke lashkar kisney etc etc.

i hope in pakistan he is known for more than his political views. did he not speak against the contamination of islam with spiritualism and its attendant fatalism, and against sufis, pirs, fakirs and babas?

how much focus is there in pakistan on any of this when iqbal is mentioned? would be interesting to know.

also request somebody to translate nusrat`s introduction to shikwa:

phir huaa shor ki

ek aur sukhanwar aaya

gulshan-e-nazm ka farkhanda

sunobar aaya

fakhr punjab ka aur

hind ka zevar aaya

main bhi hairan huaa

key kaunsa dilburr aaya

dekhta kya hoon

key hain phool dahen sey jhadtey

aa gaye hazrat-e-iqbal bhi girtey padtey

aakay iqbal ney ek shikwa sunaya subko

naqsh dhoondar tha dil sey dikhaya subko

kissa-e-dard sunatey hi rulaya subko

yes, i know it`s all wrong with bad spelling/wrong pronunciation etc but it`s a beautiful song and would like to know what it means.

aakar patel

Good document on who played what role in creation of Pakistan in Ayesha Jalal `s book .My neighbour & professor of History at Tuft Univ.

http://www.tufts.edu/

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Allama Iqbal is our National Poet, and a Poet for India.. he is also the poet of the East, though I personally find his message inferior to both Tagore and Faiz Ahmed Faiz, in my opinion no 1 and no 2 in their message of Humanism.

Iqbal also is the originator of the idea of Pakistan.

http://salam.muslimsonline.com/