About
Muhammad Iqbal, born in Sialkot (now Pakistan) in 1877, is a major figure of modern Islamic thought. After studies in Lahore, Cambridge and Munich, he earned a PhD in philosophy. A poet in Persian and Urdu, he developed the concept of khudi (self-affirmation) in works such as Asrar-e-Khudi and Javid Nama. His book The Reconstruction of Religious Thought in Islam advocates a dynamic reinterpretation of Islam. Elected president of the Muslim League in 1930, he was the first to propose a separate Muslim state in the Indian subcontinent, laying the ideological foundations for Pakistan. He died in 1938 in Lahore.
* 1877-11-09 — † 1938-04-21
Major works
- Asrar-e-Khudi (1915)poetry
- Rumuz-e-Bekhudi (1918)poetry
- Payam-e-Mashriq (1923)poetry
- Javid Nama (1932)poetry
- The Reconstruction of Religious Thought in Islam (1930)essay
Key milestones
- 1922Knighted by the British Crown, becoming Sir Muhammad Iqbal.
- 1930Elected president of the All-India Muslim League; at the Allahabad session, he first proposed a separate Muslim state.
- 1938Dies in Lahore, where he is buried near the Badshahi Mosque.
Themes
Self-affirmation (khudi)Reinterpretation of IslamMuslim identitySpirituality and modernityNationalism
Sources: britannica.com · poetryfoundation.org
