I am not a fan of poetry; I never studied Iqbal thoroughly except whatever I learned during my school years in Pakistan. Recent discussion on allegations against Iqbal of conversion from Qadiyani to Sunni Muslim for personal gain, which I believe are malicious and false, gave me a chance to read more about Iqbal. During this discussion it was repeatedly said by some participants that there is no proof that Iqbal played a role in the concept or creation of Pakistan.
See below two samples of e-mails
Excerpt of e-mail by Mian Aslam to Salik Sahib.
He (Iqbal) did not conceive Pakistan. In fact he clarified his position to Colonial Masters through personal letters that he did not mean to promote the idea of a separate country for British Indian Muslim subjects.
Excerpt of e-mail by Wequar Azeem to Salik Sahib.
“Mian Aslam Saheb is right though about Iqbal’s contribution towards making of Pakistan. He has been glorified for conception of Pakistan without the backing of, in fact contrary to, historical facts.”
During my recent study of Iqbal, I came across historic facts which prove that Iqbal conceived the idea of a separate Muslim State and played a role in supporting the efforts of Muhammad Ali Jinnah. Iqbal was the President of Punjab Muslim League when he delivered the famous Presidential address in Allaabad on December 29, 1930 at the 25th Session of All India Muslim League. In this address he specifically addressed the concept of a separate state for Muslims and mentioned the possible future boundaries of Pakistan. He declared in this address;
“I would like to see the Punjab, North-West Frontier Province, Sind and Baluchistan amalgamated into a single State. Self-government within the British Empire, or without the British Empire, the formation of a consolidated North-West Indian Muslim State appears to me to be the final destiny of the Muslims, at least of North-West India.”
The full text of the speech can be read at Columbia University Website URL link http://www.columbia.edu/itc/mealac/pritchett/00islamlinks/txt_iqbal_1930.html
The similar excerpts from speech can be found in book ‘Gabriel’s Wing by Schimmel Ann Marie, published 1962, pages 33, 34. Link;
The author of this book also writes( page 34) that Iqbal did not judge from a hasty time bound point of view, is clear from a letter written in 1909 to a friend ;
“I have myself been of the view that religious differences disappear from the country, and even now act on this principle in my private life. But now I think that the preservation of their separate national entities is desirable for both the Hindus and Muslims. The vision of a common nationhood for India is a beautiful ideal, and has a poetic appeal, but looking to the present conditions and the unconscious trends of the communities appear incapable of fulfillment”
The above letter was written to a friend Munshi Ghulam Qadir Farrah. The reference to this letter can also be found on Columbia University Website.
The author of the book further writes on page 34; “Iqbal willingly lent Mr. Jinnah his help in consolidating Muslim Party. On March 23, 1940-two years after Iqbal’s death-the creation of independent state of Pakistan was accepted officially as the goal of Muslim League.
In my view, above convincingly proves that Iqbal conceived the idea of a separate Muslim State and was also politically active to support Muhammad Ali Jinnah. Claims that no such record exists does not hold up. If some contrary record exists, please bring forward. Please keep in mind that such record should be according to generally accepted verifiable standards.
Fayyaz A. Sheikh
An honest and authentic opinion by Dr. Fayyaz about Hakim ul Umat’s great role in the creation of Pakistan. Stanley Wolpert in his biography of the Quaid-i-Azam, ‘Jinnah of Pakistan’ (page 123)has stated about Iqbal while relating the meeting of Muslim League in Allahabad which also cited by Dr. Fayyaz that ” Iqbal remained deeply religious throughout his turbulent life. … In Allahabad Iqbal was first to articulate the two-nation theory of irrecroncilable Hindu-Muslim difference. He was no calling for complete national separation as yet but insisted that “The principle of European democracy cannot be applied to India without recognizing the the fact of communal groups. The Muslim demand for the creation of a ‘Muslim India’ within [the sub-continent of] India is, therefore, perfectly justified.”
Mirza
Although there are hundreds of books that testify the role of Allama Muhammad Iqbal in the creation of Pakistan and if start quoting from them it will be a book length work, but here I can’t resist quoting from two writers.
Stephen Philip Cohen, in his book “The Idea of Pakistan” published by the Brookings Institution Press, Washington D. C., on page 29 under the heading of ‘The Two-Nation Theory and Iqbal,’ writes, ” . . . The third towering figure of this group was Allama Iqbal, who in his own way propelled the idea of Pakistan forward as effectively as Jinnah or Sir Syed. An eclectic figure who was a great and influential poet from Punjab, Iqbal did not fall into any single category. Caught between cultural conservatism and political reformism, his message was complex and subtle. . . . (page 30) Iqbal’s idea of Pakistan was not based on a European model of a nation state [then there would have been many Muslim and Hindu nation states in the sub-continent ‘Ashraf”] but on an ‘acute understanding that political power was essential to the higher ends of establishing God’s law.'” Like many of his co-religionists, including those who set the stage for today’s Islamic parties, Iqbal saw territorial nationalism as a step toward a larger Islamic Community, a vehicle for perfection of Islam. By contrast, Jinnah envisioned Pakistan as a “nation’ consisting of Indian Muslims.”
M. J. Akbar, in his book ‘Tinderbox: The Past and Future of Pakistan’ published by Harper Collins, New Delhi, writes on page 188, “The disheartened Jinnah had left India in the first week of October 1930 for the comparative peace of London. The president of a greatly depleted Muslim League that year was Muhammad Iqbal, a graduate of Trinity, Cambridge, a doctorate from Munich University, a barrister from Lincoln’s Inn, and the acknowledged poet laureate of Indian Muslims. . . . Iqbal opened the session in Allahabad, on 29 December 1930, with a demand for a ‘Muslim India’ within India. . . . (page 189) Iqbal sought a rational Muslim province, rather than a separate country. A scholar of Islam, he did not fall into the trap of believing that Islam was co-terminus with nationalism; and indeed claimed that this Muslim province would be the best guardian of the Hindu-majority subcontinent against foreign invasion along a vulnerable border: ‘The idea need not alarm the Hindus or non-Muslim minorities within the area. India is the greatest Muslim country in the world. The life of Islam as a cultural force in this living country very largely depends on its centralization in specific territory. Thus . . . the North West Indian Muslims will prove the best defenders of India against foreign invasion, be that invasion one of ideas or bayonets. [And Iqbal’s prophetic voice proved true with the Soveit Invasion of Afghanistan. If there was no Pakistan, the invasion of ideas and bayonets was right on the borders of the subcontinent: ‘Ashraf’]. The geography of Pakistan today is exactly as envisaged in Iqbal’s ‘Muslim India,’ except that it is a separate nation. The father of separation was, of course, Jinnah, who had chosen exile in London.” Jinnah, persuaded by Liaquat Ali Khan, returned from London in 1935 and Iqbal died in 1938.
Mirza